Disclaimer: I do not own Yami no Matsuei

Disclaimer: I do not own Yami no Matsuei

"See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared."-Exodus, 23:20

Meetings and Departures

-August, 1908

"Thank you. I apologize."

The four youngest Tsuzuki children peeked around the corner as the door to Takashi's office slid shut. Kazuko took one last pause to stare down the hallway, glaring at the wisp of hair that was the last of Asato to duck behind the wall, and then turned, clutching her last commission. A group of people awaited her at the opposite end of the small hallway.

"And what are you four doing?"

The children gave quadruplet jumps and turned around. Emiko stood over them, frowning, her arms crossed.

"Don't waste a moment of your lives thinking of those people ever again," Emiko continued, loud enough for the small herd to hear her. Kazuko sent a venomous glare at her, to which Emiko returned an equally icy gaze. "There's one thing the revolution ushered in that I wish it hadn't: disloyalty."

"Emiko-san, you're staying?" Ruka asked.

"Of course I am. I've been with all of you since you were born. Your mother wouldn't forgive me if I abandoned you."

"Takenaka Emiko, empress of sanctimony," Kazuko snorted.

"Better than being a deserter," Emiko shot back.

"Fine then. Go ahead and get yourself killed because of that little monster."

A handful of running steps and a hard, audible slap, and suddenly the hallway was filled with jeers and squeals, the sound of flesh hitting flesh and wall and floor, children screaming for an authority that had gone missing.

"Stop it."

"What is the meaning of this?"

The door to the office snapped open and Takashi, flanked by his eldest, stepped out into the hallway, this mask of indifference he had worn for his absconding staff members replaced by the seething anger he had suppressed.

"Stop it!"

Hayate and Daisuke yanked the two women, bruised, clothes torn, away from each other, as the fraternal twins of anger struggled against their captors, starved for the violence Aimi had held in check for years with her imploring eyes and sad smile.

"Stop it!"

The din settled almost immediately at the shriek erupting violently from Asato's throat, breaking the silence it had kept refuge in for the handful of days since the men took Aimi away. His wide purple eyes disappeared behind screwed-up lids and without warning his little body slammed into the wall, as if shoved by some invisible force other than his own self-hatred.

"Stop that right now, Asato," Takashi said, his voice low and barely controlled as he reached out to grab the boy's arm.

"No!" Asato wrenched his arm free from Takashi's grasp and rolled away before smashing his head against the wall. He reeled and lurched forward, snatching up Kazuko's hand and refusing to relinquish it even as she cried out as if burned by his touch.

"You want to…you want to… I'm sorry, do it, you want to, do it, please, I'm sorry…"

Kazuko shoved him away viciously, sending him crashing to the floor, realizing too late that it was exactly what he wanted.

"Asato-otouto, stop it, please!" Ruka screamed as Asato stumbled back onto his feet and reeled back toward Kazuko. Her hand flailed in front of her as she tripped backwards, smacking him across the face.

"Go away!" Kazuko shrieked, tripping backwards. "Just…just get out of here, God damn you! Go die and rot! God damn you back to Hell!"

Asato missed the hard, sudden slap Takashi gave to Kazuko's face along with the barked order to get out of his house. Within seconds he had disappeared from the hallway, and he shut the door against Ruka's frightened wails for him to come back.

It had been a long morning.

The confusion of the war had sent a lot of people across the country, and the resulting omnipresent pessimism had caused a crisis among her people as the spiritual power they depended on depleted as well as the availability of land. They had lost some of the older and less powerful to agnosticism alone.

Once they had rejoiced at the government's installation of required Shinto worship, but nationalism outweighed magic by leaps and bounds, proving to be no good to them.

Possessing dreams of high officials to convince them of the reality of the supernatural was not an easy job. Luckily though, she had managed to catch one during a daydream, the easiest time to convince anyone of anything. She herself felt revitalized by his belief in her existence already. Surely the children would be feeling less ill by the time she got back…

"Children…speak of the Devil."

"Hey…what's the matter, Bouya?"

An unfamiliar, warm hand descended on Asato's head; a woman with long black hair halfway pulled up in a bun knelt over him. Her long-nailed fingers gently brushed dirt and tears off his face.

"It's no good to lie in the middle of the road. Someone will run you over."

"I deserve it," Asato whispered into the dust.

"I doubt it, but even if you do, think of the horse that'll trip over you; does it deserve a broken ankle?" she teased, gently cupping and lifting his face so he looked up into hers. "What's your name, Bouya?"

He hesitated. "Tsuzuki…" The name didn't belong to him. "A-Asato."

"Well, Tsuzuki-kun, let's get you off the ground." She took hold of his much smaller hands and half-dragged him to his feet, and then knelt to pick him up. Inadvertently he clung to her; she returned the tight embrace.

"Oh, and by the way, my name's Suzaku," she said, sitting on a cluster of rocks not far away from the roadside. "You can call me Suzaku-neesan; near everyone does. Do you have an older sister?"

Asato nodded. "Ruka."

"Such a pretty name." Suzaku adjusted him so he sat in her lap facing her. "How about a mother? Do you have one of those? Where might she be?"

The innocent, facetious questions of an awkward authority figure ripped fresh holes in Asato's heart. Tears welled in his eyes and his face disappeared into Suzaku's bosom.

"Tsuzuki-kun? Is your mother…?" Suzaku pulled the rest of his body closer to her, wrapping her one hand around his head and using the other to soothingly rub his back. "I'm so sorry; I never would have said anything if I…"

"I killed my mommy."

"I am sure you did not," Suzaku said, tweaking his ear for emphasis.

"No, I did!" Asato yelled, looking up. Suzaku nearly winced at the pained, tearful little face. "They hurt her 'cause they hate me. 'Cause my eyes…"

"I've seen eyes stranger than yours," Suzaku interrupted firmly, fingers working the boy's face to take away his tears. "One of my friends has children with pure white eyes. And I have a friend who doesn't have any eyes. That's nothing new, where I'm from. My same friend with the children; he has blue hair, too. And so do they, come to think of it. In fact, you'd fit right in at Gensoukai, if only you weren't so normal."

"G-…Gensoukai?"

"Well, it's more like a really big clan than a country right now. I was…ah, negotiating with some government folks today on my clan's behalf."

"Sorry I 'stracted you…"

"Don't be. I was actually on my way back home." Despite the boy's stubborn tears Suzaku felt herself even more rejuvenated. The conversation with this child sitting in her lap was bolstering her life-force more than entering someone's dreams ever had. She had been on the verge of dying not long ago and being with this boy reminded her y that she was a phoenix, reborn from ashes, in every wa. The boy himself was just so pure…

"I think I'd like to take you to Gensoukai with me," Suzaku said. "You could help a lot of us there."

Asato shook his head. "No…no I couldn't. I can't help anybody."

…so pure and there was so much love and…

'A contract…five minutes with him and you want to make a contract.'

"No, believe me. I feel better just sitting here with you; the ones I'm with surely would—"

"Are you sick?" Asato interrupted, feeling a knot of panic in his intestines. Aimi's gray face appeared in his mind's eye.

"I was, but you've made me feel much better. My…my clan is very different, in that we need other people to acknowledge us so we can stay alive. You're the longest talk I've had with an "outsider" since…well, it's been a very, very long time."

"And it makes you…not sick?"

"Yes."

"I make you better?"

"That's right." The wonderment in the child's eyes struck Suzaku as excessive.

"S-so…if I went with you…"

"Asato-otouto!"

"Is that your sister?" Suzaku asked, not really needing an answer. Asato stiffened as he turned and slid off Suzaku's lap; Suzaku sensed his plans to flee and grabbed his hand.

"Asato-otouto!" The greenery on the opposite side of the road parted like the Red Sea for a new Moses. A visibly furious Ruka stomped nearly the entire way across the dirt road.

"You…you…you…thank you, lady."

"It wasn't any trouble," Suzaku said, half-smiling.

"Asato-otouto, let's go home now," Ruka said, stabbing the air with her proffered hand. "Kazuko left; they all did, and Daddy wants to tell us something."

Asato shook his head and stepped back; Suzaku's grip on his hand tightened.

"You have to come home."

"No."

"Asato-otouto!"

"Don't…don't call me that."

"You're my brother!"

"No I'm not. I killed Mommy…"

"No!" Ruka yelled, her eyes glistening. "No you didn't! It was them, and everyone who left's an idiot, and…and you're my brother!"

The wetness in her eyes burst forth into sobs. Asato's hand pulled free of Suzaku's and he ran, not backwards but forwards, flinging his arms around his sister to will away the first tears he remembered seeing from her.

"You're a Tsuzuki!" Ruka yelled, wrenching him off her by the shoulders and shaking him. "Mom said you were her son so you're part of my family! You have to come home, Asato-otouto; you have to stay with me!"

Suzaku stood and deftly pulled them out of the street, away from the path of an oncoming carriage. Ruka was still yelling, but her sobbing combined with Asato's made the words unintelligible. Suzaku found herself trapped between the rock she'd been sitting on and the two crying children clinging to each other.

She sat down, and waited.

"Sir?"

"What do you want, Emiko?"

"I wanted to apologize for causing such a disturbance this morning," Emiko said, bowing. "It was entirely unprofessional of me."

"You're forgiven." Takashi rose only to sit again by the window, breathing his anxiety deeply.

"They'll be fine," Emiko said gently. "So long as those two are together, they'll be okay."

"Do you think so?"

"I've been with both of them since the day they were born; I know so." She smiled nostalgically. "I remember the day Asato came; Ruka wouldn't let go of his ear, remember?"

"Yes…I remember that day quite vividly."

"They look after each other, those two. It's good. Ruka's the only girl; she needs someone to boss around, to empower her. And Asato…he really needs someone to protect. He's so much like Aimi-sama; he loves looking after people…Sir?"

"Yes?"

"What you did this morning…when Kazuko said those awful things…why did you hit her?"

"You said it yourself, Emiko."

"Sir?"

"Because he's so much like Aimi."

"Tsuzuki-kun, I think you should go home," Suzaku said gently. The sun was fading into a red and orange sky, and the wailing had finally subsided into soft whimpers and sniffles hidden in each other's shoulders.

"But you said—"

"You can't come with me. Not with a family waiting for you. Just you guys believing should be fine for now. I wasn't expecting to come across you two, so I already made out better today than I thought I would."

"But I want to help you!" Asato yelped. "You can't die, Neesan!"

"Me too!" Ruka tugged on Suzaku's hand, having heard of her plight when Suzaku retold the story just to distract them all. "Can't we help you some other way?"

"Well…there is a way you can…"

Suzaku was bombarded with a chorus of "How? How?" and she placed her index fingers on both pairs of lips to shush them.

"It's called a contract."

"Daddy makes those all the time!" Ruka said, comfortable in the pseudo-familiarity. "What'a we gotta do?"

"Not much, besides believe in me. In return, I appear whenever you need me. I protect you, and you keep me alive."

"Like a dog?" Asato asked.

"Well…yes." Suzaku laughed. "Like a great big guard dog, but better."

"So where do we sign?" Ruka asked eagerly.

"You don't; I do. Here, give me your hands."

Four palms thrust themselves in front of Suzaku as four eyes looked up at her expectantly.

"Whenever you need to see me like this, in my human form, all you need to say is…" Suzaku placed the tip of her nail at the edge of Asato's right hand, "'Come out, Suzaku'." As she spoke the words she drew a pattern across the children's hands. "But when you need me in my phoenix form, you have to say…" she drew a more complicated pattern, "'I bow to thee and beseech you, the god who protects me. Come out, Suzaku'."

Asato withdrew his hand quickly, looking stricken.

"What's the matter?"

"We're…" Ruka swallowed and sized up the woman before her, trying to measure how much discretion lay in her. "We're Christians. We only believe in one God."

"Oh! I don't mean 'god' like God, God," Suzaku explained hastily. "People used to think we were gods, so we worded our contracts like that. That's something I can't really change, but it's nothing you should be worried about, anyway. "

"Oh, so it's like when Daddy was in England; he said they all said "gods" when they were talking about Greek stuff," Ruka explained to her skeptical brother. "He showed me it, in his books."

"If you don't want to say it, just summon me in my human form," Suzaku offered. "I doubt you're ever going to need me in my phoenix form."

"O-…okay," Asato said, reluctant.

"Good. Then, I think now is when I take my leave of you. Ruka-chan, Tsuzuki-kun, it's been a pleasure."

"Oh, um, Suzaku-neesan?"

Suzaku stopped at Ruka's call. "Yes?"

"You just called me "Ruka"."

"Right. Should I not have?"

"No, you can," Ruka assured quickly, "but you didn't say "Asato"."

"Nope," Suzaku drawled, smiling. "Didn't you say he was a Tsuzuki, Ruka-chan?"

"I am not even going to bother with yelling at you two."

"Thank you, Daddy," Ruka murmured.

"I am going to remind you that it is incredibly foolish to leave the house right now," Takashi continued as if Ruka had said nothing. The two children were seated on the floor, looking down, and still holding hands. "I've already informed your brothers of this. We have never been popular, but now…after your mother…even without that, I have been told to my face that no one can guarantee our safety anymore, not even the police. There is no one we can rely on in Ageo. Hereafter you both are absolutely forbidden to leave the house."

"Yes, Father," Ruka and Asato said as one.

"In any case, you will be too busy packing up your things to want to go wandering."

"What?" Asato asked.

"You don't think we can possibly stay here if we can't trust anybody, do you? I won't risk any of my household's safety just for my job."

"Where are we going?" Ruka piped up.

"Tokyo. I'm near enough to run the station, but far enough to keep all of you safe."

"When are we moving?"

"As soon as earthly possible. Ruka, go start now. Alone," he added, seeing the pair rise together. "I want a word with your brother."

"Okay…" Ruka bit her lip but obeyed.

"Asato, I absolutely mean it," Takashi said, as soon as the door slid shut behind Ruka. "You are forbidden to leave this house before we leave for Tokyo. If I find you've risked your life again like you did today…don't disobey me. You aren't ready to be with your mother."

"I won't."

"I know…" Takashi ceased the pacing he had started upon Ruka's exit. "I know we both want to join her…but she asked me to keep you safe, and I will not let you go to her. It's the only thing I can do for her. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Now, go join your sister. She's probably waiting for you down the hallway."

Asato rose, and hesitated at the door. "Um…"

"What is it?"

"We met a lady today," Asato said, "me and Ruka. She wasn't from around here. She called me "Tsuzuki"."

"And?"

"Do you…if we ever see her again, do you mind if she still calls me that?"

"No," Takashi said, listlessly. "I don't care. It doesn't matter anymore."

"Thank you."

"Thank you," a female voice whispered to Takashi as Asato disappeared.

Note regarding the contract: I re-listened to Tsuzuki's chant to summon Suzaku, and he says "kami" instead of "shikigami". "Kami" is one of those nebulous words that translates best as "one(s) residing above", and as far as I can tell, "kami-sama" is used as a title for a singular God (in Fruits Basket, Haru demands of Motoko, "Who do you think you are? God?" using the phrase "kami-sama". I think that if he were referring to gods in the Shinto sense, he'd just say "kami". Besides, I'm not entirely sure that traditional kami make rules).

In any case, considering the Tsuzuki family's fear of being found out, I imagine they would have used "kami" to refer to God, since there's no pluralizing of words in Japanese, so an outsider wouldn't know if they were referring to a Christian God or Shinto gods. Hence there was confusion and holy horror from Ruka and Asato, since they'd see it as heresy to refer to Suzaku as "kami".

I do wonder how Suzaku's line ("I don't mean 'god' like God, God.") would sound in Japanese.

"Kami to shite kotoba wa onaji no yoo ni jitsu no kami-sama imi suru kangaeru hazu desu imi shite imasen."

I think.

The above, if I'm right, translates to "I don't mean that you are supposed to consider the word 'god' to mean the same as the actual God."