A Fateful Meeting Between Two Souls
Warning: Use of language! Yaoi!
Chapter 6
The Youkai World was truly a sight to behold.
From the mountainous rocky range to the enormous clear waters; from the lush green forests to the colored open sky, youkai of all kinds live together and wander the land to their hearts content.
Off to the side, there lies a white temple known as the White Sand Prison. That is where all judicial matters occurred if any youkai had broken any one of the Legislator's laws and rules. The house is also the law enforcement; arresting the violators, hold confinements, and maintain peace between conflicted parties. It also housed fair trials for the defendants if possible.
Large white doors opened and a figure entered barefooted through them. The figure had an appearance of a boy; short, slender stature with a slightly tan skin. Over his form is a black shirt underneath a spotted kimono with a sash. He has two golden bracelets on each of his wrists and bandages wrapped around his legs. His medium red hair tied together into a low ponytail by a golden ring. His bangs swept to one side of his face, almost covering his tired filled, forest green eyes.
He is one of the most powerful, influential youkai that leads the balance of the Youkai World along with other two. This is Justice.
Justice walked sluggishly, exhausted from all the unnecessary paperwork thanks to someone's temptation with alcohol and their friend's big mouth. He rubbed his forehead to alleviate the large headache.
We already apprehended all of the culprits from that restaurant battle-royal, but to explain why the Legislator and one of the Guardians was among them was another troublesome matter.
Justice sighed, already wanting to skip the upcoming meeting and go straight to his chambers to sleep the day away. But alas, the meeting was at his place as per requested by the Executive and he has to be there no matter what. Something about being the mediator if anything goes wrong again.
I think that was Aka's idea after seeing how at least half of the Guardians barely tolerates you.
He came across another set of large white doors. Beyond it was a large room with no windows, the room size was capable enough to hold the meeting with the other Governors and the Guardians. Pushing the doors, he already regretted for even coming.
"Get back here, you useless, annoying monkey!" That was a high pitched female growl.
"Ha! Ha! Kiss my hairless ass, kitty-cat!" And that was a childish male laughter.
"I dare you to say that name again, you fucking primate!"
"Which name? Oh, I know! Stripy kitty-cat!"
Justice really regrets coming even if it's in his own home. In front of his eyes, he sees a large orange-yellow tiger with black striped patterns chasing a medium light-brown monkey around the room. The former was the Guardian of the Fire, Ki. The latter was the Guardian of the Arrow, Daidai. The room was already covered with claw marks and broken furniture.
Looking around, he sees two other Guardians already sat at their seats.
One was a male silver-jade snake with glowing green eyes. His scales were shiny, almost sparkling from the lantern lights. He laughed at the display of violence and destruction. His name was Midori, Guardian of the Shield.
"No matter how many times I watch these two go at it, it never gets too old! This goes to show how much they love each other," said Midori, his voice was low but laced with amusement.
Next to the snake was a female dark-blue dragon with glowing indigo eyes. Her scales glowed subtly, almost like she was incased in an aura. Her presence alone speaks of superiority and wisdom. Her name was Aizome, Guardian of the Water. Her sheer large size could have taken the entire room, not counting her wingspan of 120 feet.
Don't ask how a freaking humongous dragon can fit inside a room only a third of its size.
"Hold still, you incompetent fool!"
"Lighten up Ki! You will get wrinkles making those hideous faces!"
His eye twitched, irritated by the chaos. "If you two don't stop with this roughhousing, then I have no choice but to lock you two up for property damage and disturbing the peace," Justice said, his tone oozing with the threat.
The tiger and monkey immediately stopped; the former's glowing yellow eyes narrowed at the latter's mirth filled glowing orange eyes. Daidai took his chance and ran back to its seat, snickering on the way. Ki growled and stomped back to her seat. "Next time, you won't be so lucky," she snarled.
Justice sighed again, "I honestly do not want to know what happened this time because I am tired and I want this meeting to get over with." With that said, he strides to an empty cushion seat and seated crisscrossed, one elbow propped on his knee and face resting on his palm.
Midori turned towards Justice, "Ah my lovely beasty friend! How good is to see you after what happened with the last meeting. Tell me, did any good happened with the Executive after that day?" If the snake had any eyebrows, anyone would have seen him waggling them.
Justice turned away muttering, "No…"
Daidai giggled, "Obviously it wouldn't work because that birdy wouldn't know flirting even if you have to stand butt naked in front of him."
Ki rolled her eyes. "Now that would have been traumatizing. I already seen your naked ass one too many times."
"I have a gorgeous ass and you are welcome to stare anytime."
"Fuck no!"
The snake sighed pitifully, "We have something more important than appreciating Daidai's butt. My sweet Justice, you shouldn't be treated this way after all you did for him. How about I comfort all your woes and sorrow as we hold each other under the full moon lit sky?"
"No thank you," Justice said, shuddering at the request.
The tiger snorted, "Justice isn't that desperate to come to you of all youkai. Go make your nauseating attempts of courtship with Kuro or someone else."
"You are just jealous of my tender relationship with Kuro-chan. You couldn't possibly understand what it means to have a connection like the sun with nature or the moon with the ocean. It is as though the universe itself made it this way so Kuro-chan and I could find each other."
"I wouldn't go near that connection even with a ten-foot tree log!"
"Now, now, you don't have to be shy about it. I can tell you the wondrous pleasures of companionship. I mean there are certain areas much larger to define."
"You shameless bastard!"
Daidai laughed while rolling around the floor.
Justice sighed for the umpteenth time. Why do we even have these meetings? His eyes shifted towards the only silent Guardian. The dragon didn't move nor spoken since he first entered the room. Aizome had her eyes closed, meditating despite all the racket around her. How lucky you are.
He heard the large doors opened once more. Justice turned to see the Legislator coming in with a black dog, a red-orange cat, and a silver rat. He sweated-dropped seeing how Murasaki's being surrounded by a black aura and was glaring at both Kuro and the Legislator even without physically expressing his irritation.
He's probably still pissed off from their latest stunt. "It's good to see you again, Legislator. Did you finish your paperwork?" Justice asked.
The handsome light-blue haired man said, "Got them finished on time. My hands never cramped this much before."
"You're telling me. My tongue was sore from holding that stamp for so long. Also Murasaki, can you stop glaring daggers at me? I can feel your murderous intentions," Kuro whined. The Legislator just whistled innocently, ignoring said murderous glares.
"Try asking me that again AFTER you pay off the damages," the rat deadpanned, violet eyes gleaming with annoyance.
Aka shook his head as he moves towards the empty cushion beside his redhead friend. "Good afternoon, Justice," Aka greeted warmly. The cat sat next to the redhead, dropping a small, colored wrapped box next to him. "Murasaki and I got you something for letting us use your home as the meeting point again." Surveying the damaged room, he sweated-dropped, "I see Ki and Daidai finished their usual business."
"Thank you, Aka." Justice slightly smiled; he and Aka always got along despite having different tolerance and views for a certain bird youkai. He took the box and unwrapped the paper. When he opened the box, a familiar sweet scent immediately filled his nose. It was his favorite treat of all.
Dangos.
Quickly, Justice picked up one stick and shoved a piece of the dumpling into his mouth. Closing his eyes, he savored the sweet treat, happily moaning as he shoved another dumpling into his mouth.
Aka giggled at the redhead's blissful expression. At least he gets some peace after dealing with our troubles.
"Kuro-chan!"
"Midori-chan!"
And of course, the peace wouldn't last, Aka sighed. Turning around, he saw what was probably one of the most disturbing yet eye-catching scenes ever. In front of him, he sees both the dog and snake tearfully running and slithering respectively towards each other in slow motion like the ones humans would see in terrible romantic movies.
"Kuro-chan!"
"Midori-chan!"
"God, I'm going to puke," Ki groaned after witnessing both Guardians hugging and crying like they found each other after a long time. "Must they do this idiotic greeting every time we meet up. I rather deal with the monkey."
"And that's saying something!" Said monkey quipped.
Murasaki shared the same sentiment as he moved to sit next to Aka. "At least you don't see them four days per week." He nodded his greetings to Justice.
"Kuro-chan! They are not supporting our deep relationship! Have they blinded themselves with society's traditional morals?" Midori tearfully asked.
Kuro sighed, "It is truly disappointing to see our friends not on the side of our love."
Give us a break already, Aka thought mournfully.
Daidai hopped onto the Legislator's shoulder. "Lighten up everyone! All of you are being so angsts lately and it really kills the mood! How is it going, Legislator? I heard you and Kuro duke it out with some youkai over a beautiful, busty woman. Did you two win?"
The Legislator laughed, "If arranging another outing with the woman and her friends means we won, then we won spectacularly, the ladies just love us chivalrous men." He petted the monkey as he fanned himself. He walked towards his own plush seat as he flagged down a servant to bring him some refreshments.
"Said ladies ran off after that fiasco with your money," Murasaki deadpanned.
"And I had to do an unnecessary amount of paperwork because both of you can't reign in your worldly desires," Justice muttered through his mouthful of dangos. "Anyways, when are the others getting here?"
"The other six cannot make do to personal reasons and half of those reasons are not wanting to deal with the Executive's melodrama," Aka replied. "Honestly, I am getting tired of hearing the same old arguments from him." The cat shook his head exasperatedly, just thinking of what the Executive want this time gave Aka a headache.
"They had the right idea," Ki snorted. She sharpened her claws on the floor.
Justice stopped eating for a moment, contemplating on an idea that itched the back of his mind for quite some time. "All of you don't exactly like the Executive. Why is that?" He wanted to question them before, but he never had the nerve to do so. There was always something stopping the beast youkai for asking the them.
The Legislator made a noise of interest, sipping from his cup of sake. "Now you mention that, more than half of you Guardians never sided with him despite having some similar view of our two worlds. Some of you argued with him when given the opportunity. Then again, the Executive was no better."
The Guardians in the room also went silent. Not one said a word to answer their current predicament. Aka sighed, "I can't say I like him because I can barely tolerate his presence and I know for a fact that the Executive loathe me. I just don't admire the ideals he believes in especially ones concerning about the Human World." The cat shivered when he remembered the dark look on the bird youkai.
"Honestly Aka, you shouldn't bother yourselves with these humans. They are all greedy and dirty and will only taint the purity of the Youkai World. You should cut yourself from their world before you get hurt. We don't want that, right?" The Executive said smirking.
"What I do is none of your business," Aka hissed.
Murasaki added, "I can respect and tolerate him on several occasions, but he crossed the line when he insulted Aka and his place among the Guardian's." He stroked the cat soothingly when the rat sense his mate's weariness.
Justice noticed the action. The memories still haunt you even after all these years. A glimmer of sadness hits him. "You know; he didn't mean to cause trouble; he just-" He couldn't have finished that sentence.
He just couldn't let go of the past.
"Don't worry about it. We couldn't change anything even if we wanted to," Aka replied wistfully, knowing what Justice thought. The cat cuddled against his mate's side.
He and I were never the same after that.
Ki growled, bringing the topic back, her yellow eyes flashing. "For me, I just hate his guts. Plain and simple. You don't need a reason to like or dislike someone in my opinion."
Daidai shrugged, "He and I get along swimmingly as long I don't leave him any 'surprises' every time I visited the Bird Cage."
Kuro and Midori, after settling down from their moment and already seated on their own cushions, at the same time replied, "For us, we're best friends!"
"...what?" Disbelief crossed everyone's face with the exception of Aizome and Murasaki.
"I can feel his desires and longing to be in my companionship every time he cast his hot gaze at me. It sends shivers down my scales," Midori swooned.
"Not only that, he appreciates me being around him because never once had I heard him complaining about my long narrative tales of woe and sorrow. Plus, he lets me stay at his place when I need to," Kuro praised at the Executive's generosity.
The sound of gagging and groans resonated in the room.
"Actually, both of you just barged into his home, whining about not leaving, and practically forced him to listen your chatters," Justice deadpanned, rolling his forest green eyes. Give him more reasons to hate you guys.
"Details. Details," Kuro and Midori waved off Justice's retort.
One of them was about to counteract that statement, but a powerful yet soft command resonated throughout the room, "He's coming."
Everyone went silent and turned towards the voice to see Aizome opening her eyes, revealing a pair of glowing indigos. She didn't move nor speak after that because she was facing the large doors with an impassive face. She was waiting and everyone tensed at the incoming presence.
They all knew who was behind those doors.
Aka gritted his teeth as the doors opened to reveal a tall, lean man wearing a Chinese style robe with black gloves and black boots. His pale complexion compliments his slicked-back white hair and red eyes. What unnerves Aka the most was the blank look staring straight into his own red eyes and the smug smirk.
That wasn't a good sign.
"Shall we start this meeting?" The Executive stated rather than questioned.
Justice looked between the Executive and the Guardian of the Sun and thought, Oh boy...
(At the Mononokean)
The Mononokean watched the falling and rising chest of its sleeping Master. It was relieved to see Itsuki settled down after what had happened a few moments ago. The Mononokean shifted its attention towards the dark haired teen who was sitting up against the wall beside Itsuki. One leg up to propped his arm and the other leg lay straight in front of him. He used his other hand to pet Fuzzy, who was dozing off beside the boy.
Occasionally, the teen would glance back at Itsuki, like he was checking if the blonde was still there, sleeping at peace and not in pain. Soon after, he would stare at his beaded bracelet which was not glowing like before.
He was a strange human if you ask the Mononokean's opinion. Normally, a human wouldn't be so calm and collected after encountering a youkai let alone recognizing one. Yet here was someone not only interacting with a youkai but also know the existence of the Mononokean and its Master.
What astonished the Mononokean the most was the powers the human displayed. It never seen such potent raw energy before in a youkai other than the Governor's, let alone a human.
The bell softly rang.
"I never got your name. Who are you?"
The dark-haired boy didn't look up, but he replied, "My name is Hanae. Ashiya Hanae. I am fifteen years old and a high school first-year."
"Thank you for sharing and it's nice to meet you. As you already know, I am the Mononokean. The blonde sleeping beside you is Abeno Haruitsuki, my current Master. I apologized for my behavior from before."
"Don't worry about that. You were just worry for your Master. I would have been the same if my Mom or Oneechan were in the same situation." He smiled to let the Mononokean know it was forgiven.
"How do you know about the youkai? It's very rare to see a human so friendly interacting with one."
"Straight to the point I see. Let's keep it short for now and tell you that I can see youkai since I was child."
"But how do you know about my existence? Haruitsuki is the only human who knows of my existence."
"Already throwing a hard ball. I can't say because then I would be breaking my promise with them."
"And by them, you mean the Guardians of the Youkai World. They informed me they were watching you."
"I cannot confirm nor deny that claim."
An impatient emoji. "Then, what can you tell me? You seem to know more about this situation like the one before. I am grateful for what you did to help Haruitsuki, but you are still a stranger, a powerful one at that."
Hanae didn't say anything for a while. He continuously stroked the dozing youkai on his lap before answering, "I can say for sure that I will never harm your Master. I don't think I can for the matter."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Hmm...just a feeling." An enigma grin appeared on the teen's face.
"...you are very strange. You know that, right?"
"I had been called that sometimes," Hanae quietly chuckled.
"Just one last question. Why did you kiss Haruitsuki?" This what got the Mononokean's curiosity the most.
Hanae didn't say anything this time. He was contemplating on how to answer the rather intimate question without giving away his knowledge about his friends.
A soft groan shifted his attention back to the blonde. Seeing the slight disturbed expression on the slumbering Mononokean Master brought a pang to Hanae's heart. He loath seeing the blonde in any pain or discomfort. Like before, he brought his hand and card through the blonde tresses in hopes to calm the nightmares within Itsuki's mind.
Instantly, Itsuki settled down, breathing in and out evenly with a peaceful face. This brought warmth to Hanae's heart. He had an inkling feeling as to why this keep happening, but he wouldn't push the notion just yet.
If I ever see Aka and Murasaki again, then I will ask them about this.
With that thought, Hanae brought his bead bracelet back to eye-level. Never before did the beads glow as intense as they did when he kissed the blonde. Sure they may had done a few fireworks displays over the last five years, but not to the point where it would compete against the sun.
Sighing, Hanae knew the answer will not come to him unless…
"Hey Mononokean, I know this might be out of left field, but can I ask you a favor?"
A confused emoji, "...Depends on the favor."
"You want answers as to what happened between me and your Master, right? And I want to know what's the deal with my beaded bracelet. Then, there is only one way to find out," Hanae said, giving the Mononokean a look it couldn't describe.
"Yes?" The scroll rustled with a questioned emoji, though Hanae could see the underlying caution.
"I think it's time for me to play catch up with my old friends," Hanae said, closing his eyes with an enigma smile across his face.
I'm coming to find you guys and I am not happy whatsoever.
(OMAKE)
A phone rang through the Ashiya household. The family matriarch, Ashiya Hanami, quickly ran across the hall and picked up the phone.
"Hello, Ashiya's residence. Who am I speaking to?"
"Jeez Mom, you couldn't read the caller ID or you couldn't recognize your own daughter's name," a soft yet teasing female voice said through the receiver.
"Hanako! It's nice to hear you again. How are you doing in college, sweetie?" Hanami asked, quite happy to hear her eldest daughter.
"Well nice to hear you too, Mom. College is pretty good on this end, but enough of that. I called to ask you if anything strange happened to Hanae?"
"Other than the school sending a female uniform to Hanae instead the male version, then I don't think anything else happened."
"...wait. Female uniform…"
Silence was all Hanami could hear until a high pitched laughter ranged through her ears.
"Oh God! Didn't I tell that would happen if you name your son 'Hanae'? Did it come with a skirt and everything? Oh my stomach! This is too freaking awesome!"
"...yes. Honestly, you and your brother are sometimes too alike," Hanami sighed.
"Sorry, but that's just rich, Mom. Oh Lord, I need a drink of water." The laughter subsided as Hanako continued, "Anyways, I called because I think something good happened to Hanae. Like the type where you won a lottery good. Call it my woman's intuition, but I think Hanae found somebody special."
"Goodness! I had the same feeling when a shipment of forget-me-nots came this morning. It must be a sign! Sweetie, your little brother might have his first love! I hope this person will get along with Hanae," Hanami gushed, looking forward into a future meeting with her son's future lover.
"Oh Mom, something tells me they are getting along very well." Hanako giggled through the phone. She can't wait to pry the juicy details from her little brother when she visits.
She's getting those details one way or another.
(END OMAKE)
Author's Note: I am sorry for this slow update! Finals are coming up so I won't be able to write for some time. Hopefully, this extra-long chapter will help ease your annoyance.
What do you guys think of the Guardians introduced so far? The monkey, tiger, snake, and dragon? Do you like them or not? Their characters will be explored further later on.
What is the relationship between Aka and the Executive? What happened in their past? It may be not what you think at first. Also, what do you think of the hints between Justice and the Executive? Thinking I might pair them up together.
Hanae is planning something. Also, he is not happy at the end. Prepare for a storm everyone! Please note that he is protective of Itsuki at this point (Sounds familiar from two other certain Guardians). Will be explained either by the next chapter or two.
Oh boy! Hanae's Mom and Oneechan don't know how well they are getting along! (giggles) They are getting excited for the relationship though! Also, they are very open-minded so they don't care if the person Hanae loves is a girl or guy. I hope you like the names I gave to these two women. I tried to keep it with the word 'Hana' include in it.
Rough Translations: (Note that some words aren't fully spelled because I wanted that way)
-Daidai: Orange
-Ki: Yellow
-Midori: Green
-Aizome: Indigo
-Dangos: Japanese dumplings and sweets made from rice flour; Often eaten yearly and served either three to four on a skewer. Recommend eating while drinking green tea. Various types of dangos served.