Aku had never been so happy in her life.
She was laying down on the bed, partially on top of Touke. Her naked body pressed up against hers felt so incredible she wouldn't have been able to imagine anything like it before tonight. Half of her breaths came out as contented sighs. She listened to Touke's breathing, to her heart. She had never felt so close to anyone in her life, and it sent a bubbling feeling of happiness all through her. She could hardly contain it. If it didn't feel so good just laying on Touke she would probably be dancing around the room right now.
But under that came a new determination. The people of Kyou needed Touke. She had stalled for too long already. She couldn't put this off just because she was having fun, for her own happiness. She had to do this now. It might be awkward, but it had to be done eventually, and any moment was as good as any other. She took a long breath to gather herself. She turned her face up towards Touke's.
To see she had been watching her. A slight smile spread on her face. "Hello, there."
Aku smiled back at her, hers much wider, she was sure. "Hello."
"You know, everyone in the building likely heard you."
"That's okay. Let them listen."
"Good philosophy," Touke said with a nod.
Aku let a short silence pass, smiling at her. Now. Do it now. "Hey, Touke."
"Yeah?"
"What do you know of the Taiho?"
Now Touke raised an eyebrow at her, clearly confused as to why Aku was bringing this up all of a sudden. "No more than anyone else. Big, excitable idiot."
"I meant the Kyou Taiho."
"Oh. Not a lot. She's a girl. Red hair. Likes dancing. That's pretty much it. Why?"
"Because you just had sex with her."
Touke gave her a short look. Then burst out into laughter. On her chest, Aku was bounced around a little, and she tried her best to keep an annoyed expression from her face. "Right, you're the Taiho. And I'm the queen of Han."
Aku frowned up at her. "Seriously. I am."
"Sure, Aku. Sure."
She had spent so much time hiding she was a Kirin, and now that she wanted someone to know, she couldn't convince her. "Kirin are light, right?" Aku rolled more fully onto Touke. "See how light I am?"
"You're really skinny," Touke said with a shrug. "Besides, I didn't know that. And do Kirin even have sex?"
"Not usually. Red Kirin are different."
"Right," said Touke, drawing the word out. "Of course."
"Seriously. We are. Ever since I was young they've been saying You'll understand when you're older and it always really annoyed me, but there was nothing I could do about it. A couple weeks ago I finally talked about it with Gyokuyou and she told me all about it."
"Gyokuyou? You mean the Genkun?"
"Well, yeah, of course. She's not really around all the time, but I've met her plenty of times. She's a busy woman, you know."
Touke let out another laugh. "You're sticking to this pretty good. Not the best of jokes, but still, good work."
Aku let out a long sigh. This wasn't working. "Kasshi? Come on out." Kasshi obediently came springing out of her shadow.
At her sudden appearance, Touke jolted in place. She stared at the silent nyokai with wide eyes. Then her gaze tracked back to Aku, who gave her a smile. Suddenly Touke let out a yelp, and squirmed out from under Aku, scrambled away from her. Aku immediately regretted causing the loss of contact. The look on Touke's face was strange, and Aku couldn't place it. "Taiho!" she practically shouted. "I didn't know. I didn't know! I'm sorry! Forgive me!"
Before Touke could prostrate herself, Aku grabbed her bare shoulders, keeping her from the ground. "It's okay. You don't have to do that."
It looked like Touke might cry. "I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you! I didn't know!" She covered her face with her hands and groaned. "I can't believe I had sex with the Taiho! Oh god…"
Rubbing her back, trying to reassure her, Aku said, "It's really no different than having sex with your servant."
Not helping. "You're not supposed to do that, either!" she yelled, somehow even more agitated.
If she was going to act like this, Aku may as well pile everything on at once. As gently as possible, she pulled Touke up by the elbows, turned her, and sat her down on the edge of the bed. Aku stroked her hair for a moment. "I have something else I have to say to you," she said. She kissed her cheek, then sunk to her knees.
It was said that it was absolutely impossible for a Kirin to prostrate herself before anyone but her liege. Kirin weren't required to do it for any other human, or even during rituals before Tentei. No one at all. A long time ago, Aku hadn't really believed this, so had decided to test it out on Sekto. That had really made Sekto uncomfortable. But sure enough, her head refused to lower much further than halfway. No matter how hard she tried to push she couldn't get it down. She still wasn't completely sure Touke was the queen. There was a lot of evidence she was, but she wasn't quite sure she could believe it. The form the evidence came in was very strange. So she considered this as the final test, a way to be sure without a doubt that Touke was Kyou-Ou
She lowered her head toward the ground. That simple action seemed to take forever. At some level, she was waiting for it to happen, for her to reach a point where she couldn't lower herself any further. But it didn't come. Her head touched her hands. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Above her, Touke let out another of her yelps. Aku opened her mouth to say the ritual phrase, but for the life of her she couldn't remember what it was. Her mind was too distracted by the gravity of the moment, by the frothing feeling of happiness and excitement swirling in her head. She had actually found Kyou-Ou! So instead she made something up, to the effect of, "Always to serve you, never to desert you, to protect and guide you until the day I die, this is my vow." She waited a short moment, filled only by Touke's shuttering breathing. "Say you accept."
"I can't," she squeaked out.
"Do it. Please."
Touke hesitated another long moment. Finally she said, so lowly Aku almost couldn't hear her, "I accept."
She felt a greater sense of contentment just with the words. She shook it off for the moment. It took a few degrees of looking up for Aku to spot Touke's foot. Gently, she touched her horn to it. Her muscles froze, and something entered her. It was like a great wind pushing into her, flapping about inside of her with great force. If she weren't frozen in place she would probably shudder. Then it rushed forward, gathering in her horn, then passed through it into Touke. Now she let herself feel her happiness, feel her relief. She had done it. Her search was over. She could finally get to Kyou, and start helping put the country back together. She could finally do her duty she had been being educated her whole life to do.
Touke let out another yelp. When Aku looked up, it was to find her plastered against the wall, breathing heavily. "What was that? What did you do?"
Aku sat up fully. "Nothing. Tentei just blessed us."
"Oh god. This is really happening, isn't it?" Touke sat there, not looking at Aku, panting as though there were simply not enough air in the room. Aku decided to give her a little time. A few minutes passed before she had calmed a little. "Okay," she said. She repeated the word a few times. "Okay. What's next?"
"We go to Houzan to receive the Mandate."
"Right. Of course. I knew that. Do I bring anything?"
"No, just yourself. You don't really have to worry about material possessions ever again."
That made Touke laugh. It was a cold, bitter laugh, strangely enough, like it were funny in a painful way. "I guess not. When do we leave?"
Aku was about to say right away, but then she considered. "What time is it?"
"I dunno. Gotta be midnight by now."
"Alright. Tomorrow morning, early." She thought of something again. "I'm sorry, do you have anyone you want to say goodbye to?"
Touke shrugged. "Not really. I been alone a while now. Other than single nights sometimes."
For some reason, Aku found herself smiling. She slunk over to sit on the bed next to her. "What, do you do this often?"
"Never with the Taiho."
For some reason, Aku found herself laughing. "I'd hope not. You can only have one of us."
Touke grunted, still staring off into space. "So I'm stuck with you."
"Until you mess something up and we both die."
"That's a cheerful thought."
"Relax. Someone might kill us before you can mess it up."
"That makes me feel so much better."
"Especially how things are going now, we might not even get to rule." Touke gave her a weird look at that, but Aku didn't feel like talking about the Chousai at the moment. There was plenty of time to fill her in later. "Never mind for now. It's getting late, and we should probably sleep. We have a long day tomorrow."
Touke nodded. "I'll just go home then."
As Touke moved for her clothes, Aku grabbed her wrist to stop her. "It's okay. You can stay. If you want to."
Touke paused for a long moment as though considering. "I dunno. I figured you wouldn't want me around all the time."
There wasn't really any reason for Aku not to tell the truth. "I'm happy when you're around, happier than I've ever been. That's usually the way Kirin are with their kings. Not that I don't like you all on my own as well. So you can stay if you want."
Again, Touke considered for a short while. Then she sighed. "Okay. I can't believe I'm doing this," she muttered as she moved toward the bed again.
"Doing what?"
"Sleeping with the Taiho."
Aku smiled as Touke slid into bed next to her. Once she was settled, Aku returned to how she was before this conversation—laying halfway on her, her headed settled on her shoulder. "I'm nothing special. Just an ordinary girl."
"Right. You had me convinced before you pulled the youma out of nowhere. Then made it disappear."
Aku hadn't even really noticed Kasshi slide back into her shadow. She had been busy. "That wasn't technically a youma. That was my nyokai."
"What's a nyokai?"
Aku was about to explain the proper meaning, then decided to go with the simple one she had told the refugees. "She's like my mother."
"Ah." Silence fell. Aku had never been more comfortable in her life, cuddled into her queen like this. She was so blissfully happy she couldn't believe it. It was time to sleep, but if she didn't fall asleep for hours she wouldn't have minded. This was the best place to be in the world. After a few minutes, Touke said, "Taiho."
"You can keep calling me Aku."
"Right. What's it called when the Taiho gets sick? When the king messes up."
What was this about? Was she already worried about that? "Shitsudou."
"Right. I'll try not to do that to you. If I can help it."
Aku felt the smile on her lips. "Okay. I'll try to keep you from messing up."
"Okay. Deal."
Aku didn't want to wake up. She was having the best sleep of her life. Touke was a better pillow than any she had ever had. She felt so warm with Touke, so content. Her sleep had been completely dreamless. Or at least mostly—her dreams had seemed to be nothing but emotion, floating and bright. And she didn't want it to end. She wanted to go back into that warm, safe place, where nothing could ever be wrong. Really, it felt sort of like that in real life too, laying here in Touke's arms. She let out a long, happy sigh.
But there was real life to consider. They had to get to Houzan. Well, first she would say goodbye to those refugees that had followed her, and then they would leave. If she pushed Nansou a little more than usual, the trip should be a little shorter. Then they would stay a night or two—maybe longer, depending on the signs—with the nyosen. Then they would ascend the mountain, and head off for Soufuu. If they even made it that far. The real world demanded she get up.
Stupid real world.
"Taiho!" came a soft, high voice. "Taiho! Taiho!"
Aku opened her eyes. The room was filled with a gentle light, slipping in through the single window. It was just after dawn, she guessed. On the ground in front of her was one of her shirei, trying to get her attention. It was a long, tubular thing, almost completely made of fur. It had been one of the first she had ever pacified. It was mostly useless, but adorable. Apparently, though, they were well-hated by people on shouzan—they liked chewing off toes while the victim slept. Lately, she had been having it carry letters back and forth with Mei, the governor. This must be her reply.
Very slowly, she started moving. She hoped if she would move slowly and gradually enough she wouldn't wake up Touke. But even as she moved, Touke said, "I was wondering how long it would take for that damn thing to wake you up."
Aku groaned at her. "I'm up. Hold on, Shomou." Her body somewhat reluctant—she wondered if it were because she was tired or because she didn't want to remove herself from Touke—she pushed herself up, and crawled off the bed and down to Shomou. She took the letter from his paws. "Good job, boy," she said, scratching behind his ear. The little thing purred.
"Are you really petting your youma? That is a youma, right?"
"Sure, why not? And they're called shirei." Mei's response seemed very light, and when she opened it, she saw it was indeed short. Very short.
Aku Taiho— (Mei always addressed her letters like that, as though she were trying to find some balance between showing respect and using the name Aku had chosen for herself.)
I do not have a lot of time, and I want to ensure this reaches you in sufficient time. So I will be brief.
The Chousai, calling himself Kyou-Ou, has demanded the supplication of the provinces under his rule, and that we cede over our armies. I have been in correspondence with my colleagues. We expect three of the provinces—Ten, An, and Fu—to heed his call, and we are unsure about Ken. Four of the others—Kai, Sou, E, and ourselves—will surely ally against the Chousai, and possibly Retsu. It is likely Retsu will align with us should you and our liege arrive, and possibly Ken. We are very near civil war. With the Royal Army in consideration, the combatants in this imminent war will be rather evenly split. It is my hope that with your arrival Retsu and Ken will come about, and we will have the advantage.
I know you dislike violence. (That was an understatement.) I did my very best to prevent this conflict. If we have the advantage, we should be able to take Soufuu quickly, and put an end to the war. That is why we need you to find our liege as soon as possible. If you truly have left for Han, I wish you greatest luck in finding him.
Plan B is in effect. I'll be waiting.
—Mei (She always signed with simply her given name, not her uji or even her azana.)
With a long sigh, Aku set the paper down, and rubbed the side of her forehead. War. Of course. Because it would have just been too easy without killing people. "Is something wrong?" asked Touke from behind her. Without a word, Aku handed the letter over her shoulder to her.
"Okay, Shomou," she said with another sigh. "I don't have anything to write with, so you'll just have to carry this verbally. Tell her I found Kyou-Ou. I'm on my way. Do you have that?"
Shomou nodded his fuzzy head. "Yes, Taiho." Aku gave him a few more scratches, then he vanished.
"I can't do this," Touke muttered.
Aku turned around to look at her. She was holding the paper in her hand, staring down at it. The expression on her face was a strange mix of horror and regret. Her hands were shaking slightly. Aku had expected a reaction similar to that, so it didn't surprise her too much. "Of course you can. We'll have most of the governors and their armies on our side."
"No. I mean…" Touke gulped. "I can't do this. This queen thing."
"Of course you can. Tentei chose you."
"I mean…" Touke's face was slowly turning red. "I can't…" She mumbled low enough Aku couldn't hear.
"You can't what?"
When Touke spoke again it came as a sudden shout. "I can't read, okay?!" Then her eyes grew watery, and Aku knew she was about to cry.
Aku sprung up, and took a spot just next to Touke on the bed. She held her, rubbing her back. Then she thought of something. "But we traded name characters."
"I can write my name and a few other things. I pretended to know what yours meant." Her voice was wet and stuttering. "How pathetic is this? I'm a hundred years old and I can't even read. I can't do this, I can't."
"It's okay, it's okay," Aku insisted. "It's no big deal. I'll teach you. And until you get the hang of it I'll just read everything to you."
"You can't be serious. You'll be busy."
"I'll make time. Look, I'll start with this." Aku, with her arm still around Touke, picked up the letter and read it aloud.
That probably wasn't the best thing to do to reassure Touke. Her face had gone from red to white. "No. I can't do this. I can't lead people into a war."
"The governors, Mei, will do most of the leading. You just have to be there. And maybe fight a little."
"Fight!" repeated Touke with another dark laugh. "I can't fight. You need someone to clean and I'm your girl, but there's no way I can swing a sword around."
"Don't worry," Aku said softly, hoping to sooth her just with her voice. "It's okay. My shirei will protect you. I already assigned some to watch over you. And I have a hinman just for you."
"What's a hinman?"
"Hinman know how to fight pretty well. I'll attach it to you right now, just in case."
Touke turned her head to look up at her. "Attach? This ain't gonna be weird, is it?"
Aku could only laugh. Yes, it was probably going to be weird.
Shomou: 鼠毛
An Province: 殷州
Fu Province: 渢州
Ken Province: 綣州
Kai Province: 愷州
Sou Province: 聡州
E Province: 懐州
Retsu Province: 厲州
Azana (字): a name given to adults for formal situations (in the past, not anymore). I used the native Japanese reading because I'm not sure if the on'yomi can be used for that. I know azana were used in the original material, but I can't remember if they were used with this meaning or something else. Oh well.
Uji (氏): a chosen formal surname. Same as above.
