Akinobu stood on the kitchen table, glaring down at Ryumiko who was still pinned underneath a shell-shocked Chihiro. His glowing eyes glinted at her and she swallowed a little. Despite his tiny size, he was incredibly intimidating with his piercing eyes and the waves of wild power that seemed to roll out of him, her skin tingling from the sensation of Akinobu's prescence.
"Is this racket really necessary, halfling child?" he growled, to which Ryumiko shook her head meekly, never moving her eyes from his. "Then why do you feel the need to engage in such riotous cacophany?"
"U-um... It hurt?" she responded, unsure if her reason for reacting so violently against Chihiro's ministrations was a sufficient enough excuse for her 'cacophany'.
The dragon rolled his eyes before dismissing her with a patronising sigh of disapproval. Decidedly leaving the matter alone for now, he huffed, "I believe an introduction would be very much welcomed little one."
Ryumiko took advantage of her captor's surprise and sat upright, pulling her arms from Retsu's loosened grip and throwing Chihiro off her before she stood beside Akinobu, ready to introduce him to the others.
"Everyone, this is - um- well I call him Akinobu. I sort of rescued him - in a really roundabout way - from Yubaba. I think he's what you're looking for," she said, addressing the final part to Retsu and Yukaoi, who then stared at her in a way that made her think she might have done something quite unusual. "Uh, Akinobu, this is -"
"Retsu and Yukaoi, the prodigious offspring of the Eastern Tenkyu dragons, and Kohaku River, once a dragon of the Northern regions," Akinobu stated, eyeing each of the dragons he spoke of. "I know of these children of mine already, who are the others?"
Ryumiko blinked. It seemed the little dragon knew more about her friends than she did...
"Well, uh, this is Chihiro Ogiro, my cousin in the world of the living, and this is Rin... my er friend?"
"You seem unsure of her status as a friend."
"I'm not unsure if she's a friend, I just am not sure how much information on our relationship you want..."
Chihiro cleared her throat loudly, gaining their attention. She had a look on her face that to Ryumiko, seemed uneasy, "Would you care to translate for us Ryumiko?"
"Translate?" she asked. "Translate what?"
"What... Akinobu's saying," Chihiro clarified, Rin nodding in agreement.
From the ever confused expression on Ryumiko's face, the little dragon in question spoke up, "They are not dragon spirits like the others and yourself, so they can not understand my speech."
"Oh! Sorry!" she said, apologising to Chihiro and Rin.
"In any case, we should make haste to exact my return to the rest of my children," Akinobu said, Ryumiko translating on the side.
"Ryumiko," Yukaoi said, waiting for her to make eye contact before she continued. "Are you aware of what this means?"
When she shook her head, Yukaoi explained, "Our prophecy is fulfilled. Once we return - Akinobu, to the Dragon Clan, you must decide if you desire to claim your birthright as the leader of the Dragon Clan."
Akinobu hummed beside the shocked Ryumiko, "It is not a bad idea. You do indeed have the makings of a fine ruler and it could be a chance for my brother to reveal himself after all these years."
Ryumiko took a step back, taking in the expressions of everyone present. Akinobu and Yukaoi had expectant stares, Haku and Rin seemed expectant as well but in a different way, but it was Chihiro and Retsu's expressions that made her falter. Chihiro was not looking at her, and seemed as if she were about to cry. Retsu wasn't looking at her either, but instead had a grimace on his face aimed at Yukaoi.
"Uh-" she began, she could see Chihiro flinch a little, and Retsu's gaze snapped up to hers in a heartbeat. The grimace was gone but instead his gaze appeared as if he were pleading with her for something. That, combined with Akinobu and Yukaoi's expressions that appeared as if they were expecting her to take up her place as a Noble, wreaked chaos inside of her thoughts. In her confusion, she did what she did best when making tough decisions... she opted for the middle ground, "Um to be perfectly honest, I don't really know what I want... I don't know anything about this world or about the way the Clan works. Can we just show them that I'm a dragon spirit but not tell them I'm a Noble?"
Her suggestion was met with silence and a drastic change in the expectant faces of her peers. Chihiro was relieved, Haku huffed as if he expected such a choice from her, Rin was biting her ladle in contemplation, Yukaoi and Akinobu had mixed expressions of shock and intrigue... Retsu was smiling.
As if sensing the butterflies that were going crazy in her stomach, Akinobu spoke, "I don't see anything wrong with that."
Although Yukaoi saw a few things wrong herself, "She's not going to be able to hide it forever. Sure she can show proof she's a spirit but she can't show proof she's a dragon. Nobles don't have reptile forms! Besides, you are asking us to lie to our superiors, for which the penalties could be great if she were caught!"
Akinobu's eyes flashed with something that made Ryumiko believe that the little dragon delighted in a secret penchant for misconduct.
"I am more than willing to offer my authority to assist in her concealment if necessary. It will give her a chance to learn about our culture and make alliances within the Clan before abruptly claiming her dominance if she so chooses. Besides, she can choose to reveal her true identity, stay or leave the Spirit World once Yubaba is eliminated as a threat. You will all be able to assist her if the need arises,"Akinobu told Yukaoi.
Yukaoi raised a snow white brow at the little dragon, "That we can do. However the humans can not go to the Clan's fortress, you of all dragons should know this. Do you really think Ryumiko would be comfortable leaving her cousin behind?"
Both Yukaoi and Akinobu turned to face the girl in question. And unfortunately for Ryumiko, there was no mid-ground here.
"You should go Ryumiko," Chihiro announced, every pair of eyes now swivelling to her direction. "I don't want to stop you from learning about your... dragon spirit side. This might be a once in a lifetime opportunity, you should go!"
"But what about you? What will you do?"
"I'll be waiting here with Zeniba if you ever need me," she reassured, and seeing Ryumiko was about to pursue the matter, she stopped her younger cousin. "Zeniba will be able to protect me from Yubaba just fine!"
"I shall stay as well," Haku declared, his eyes fixed on Chihiro while his words were intended for Ryumiko.
"See! As I said, all shall be well. Then we shall leave tomorrow!" Akinobu happily declared with a quick flare of light and a flick of his tail. He caught Yukaoi's gaze and added, "Is there anything else you would like me to settle?"
Though she knew it was petty and her spite excessive, Yukaoi found herself venomously eyeing the small dragon, muttering under her breath, "Tremendous ego for such a diminuitive wisp of a spirit..."
It had been decided that Retsu and Yukaoi would be taking Ryumiko and Akinobu to the Clan's fortress the next day, however the rest of that day would be spent teaching Ryumiko the basics of formal dragon ettiquette so that she could behave in a way that would be considered acceptable by the Clan leaders. They had decided to convene outside, for extra room and comfort, but considering that Ryumiko knew about just as much as a rock knew about dragon manners, the teaching was bordering on spartan, especially since Yukaoi and Akinobu were constantly trying to best each other, trying to teach her more information than the other and feuding about which lessons were more important than others. Quite honestly, Ryumiko was spending more time placing mental bets on which of the two would win the arguments than actually learning anything.
"Do not confuse her with so many forms of self-introduction!"
"She needs to know how to introduce herself properly, regardless if they are a Clan Leader or not! She is bound to meet other important dragons before she actually gets around to meeting the Leaders!"
"You can teach her that later, now she has to know..."
While the two bickered about which form of bow would be most appropriate for her introduction, Retsu noticed the lapse of educational conversation, and chose to offer his piece of advice to her.
"Because you have returned our power to us, an act which is highly honourable, you have the right to look the Clan leaders in the eyes as equals, however since this is your first meeting, I would suggest you keep your eyes just below their eye level. We appreciate modesty," Retsu instructed, and encouraged by her nod of complete understanding - a nod which had previously been an uncertain one when Akinobu and Yukaoi were forcing as much as they could onto her at the same time - he continued. "If any of the Clan leaders give you something, which may not happen but in the event that it does, bow while accepting what is offered, and do not raise your head until the other lets go of what you are receiving."
"So I bow even if it's not really a gift?" she asked
Retsu nodded, "Yes. You bow to receive anything from the Clan leaders, regardless of the object."
"What if I am given something from someone else?"
"It is polite to bow when it is a gift to show your thanks, but you do not have to if they are serving you food or hand you something trivial," he answered noticing she had suddenly gotten very pensive. He was about to ask if she was okay but she spoke before he got a chance to.
"Have I... offended Yukaoi?" she asked tentatively, flicking a worried glance in his sister's direction.
"How would you have offended her?" he asked, quite intrigued by her sudden worries.
With her eyes now trained to the floor she answered, "Well, all this time I have been wearing the clothes she's given me, but I don't think I've ever said thank-you... let alone this kind of thanks."
Fighting back the urge to laugh a little, Retsu cleared his throat before he addressed her, "No. You don't need to show such gratitude for that." I'm sure Yukaoi does that because she thinks you are a like a new doll she can dress and groom as she desires... he added mentally, remembering the many times he had seen her smile appreciatively at Ryumiko, with the same satisfied smile she used when she had successfully and single handedly prepared a feast for their family.
Although his words were meant to remove any notion that she needed to thank his sister, Ryumiko felt differrently about the matter, "Well then how should I show my gratitude?"
"To express thanks for an action someone does for you, there are three different kinds of gestures-"
Ryumiko inwardly groaned. Of course there are three different ways to say the same thing!
"-the first is the most polite, and the one you always use for your superiors. You touch your forehead with the fingertips of your right hand and then with that same hand you gesture to the recipient of your thanks."
Retsu showed her the gesture as he spoke, touching his forehead then holding his hand out as if he were handing her something. It oddly resembled blowing a kiss... only using his forehead instead of his lips...
Taking no notice of her distraction, he continued, "The second you use with your equals and subordinates, and it is done by simply touching their shoulder, using your left hand to show you are equals and your right with your subordinates."
Ryumiko noticed he didn't give her an example of this like he had with the previous one.
"-And the third you use with those you are close to. You graze their cheek with the palm of your hand."
Again, he did not demonstrate the gesture.
"When giving thanks, you must be confident and not unsure of your relationship with the other person. I should also mention that any gesture can be used to compliment or offend the other party so caution is necessary. For example, you can disrespect someone by using a gesture that exhibits subordination where respect is required, and you can compliment greatly by thanking a subordinate as an equal or as someone close to you," Retsu explained.
There was a short silence, then Ryumiko stood and with a flutter of her dress, she walked over to Yukaoi carefully placing her bandage encased left hand on the dragoness' shoulder. Yukaoi was startled out of her argument with the infuriating little dragon when Ryumiko had touched her shoulder, and after a few moments, she recognised the expression of thanks. Unsure if Ryumiko knew what she was doing, she flicked wide silver eyes at her brother who nodded meaningfully.
"And what have I done to earn such gratitude?" Yukaoi asked her, suprise evident through her tone.
Removing her hand, Ryumiko pressed it to the dress she was wearing, "For these! And for the time I discovered I was a spirit and panicked."
The dragoness' white lips pulled into a bemused smile, and she reached out with both hands and clasped the blue eyed girl's right hand, "The pleasure is all mine."
When she was released from Yukaoi's grasp, she quickly hurried over to Restu, whispering, "What did that gesture mean?"
Retsu smiled at her, "She expressed exactly what she said."
"Yes but what level of politeness?" she asked.
"The most polite."
"Why would she when I obviously wanted to show we're equals?" she asked, a deep frown developing between her brows.
Retsu mused thoughfully, "It is probably because she was also appreciative of your offer to be equals."
The frown erased in a split-second, "Oh." But the frown then returned full force after a brief moment and she began rubbing her temples. "This is so confusing! How am I supposed to know what the other person is thinking all the time?"
He laughed quietly, "You trust your instincts."
She was watching the two dragons and the little glowing ghostly serpent teaching her cousin with warm brown eyes. She was huddled on a cushioned window seat with a thick wool blanket over her legs that had her small bare toes poking out from the edge of the fabric. Her face was illuminated and warmed by the morning sun filteringg through the glass and steam from the cup of tea she cradled in long slender fingers, curled in a plume that glided over her cheeks. And this image of Chihiro was being immortalised in Haku's memory as he watched her from his prime position at the breakfast table.
As he was memorising her matured profile, finding that while he still adored the image of her when she was younger, he decided that he definitely liked the way her features had grown over the past eight years, becoming more womanly and alluring. He remembered treasuring the last image of her before she left to go back to the realm of the living in the eight years of their separation, often wondering at odd moments what she looked like since her departure from the Spirit World.
Though now that she was finally before him, he wasn't sure how he should behave. He already knew his instincts told him to never let her go again, and he would given the chance, however Chihiro was human and seemed to have believed he had abandoned her over the years. Which meant he'd have to win her over before she returned to the Living World. Just how he did that though was beyond him, since eight years ago, he didn't really have to court her, they just fell in love together... but now it was fairly one-sided in his opinion and he had no experience in courting at all.
As far as he knew, courting required communication of feelings, something he clearly had issues with. It also required mutual trust, something he was in the middle of repairing since the misunderstanding involving Yukaoi, and affection, somthing he had a lot of, but he wasn't sure about Chihiro anymore... Eight years ago, she had somewhat depended on him for help, and she kept as close as she could to him throughout her time in the Spirit World. Now she was indepedant, she didn't really need to rely on his help all that much and most annoyingly, it appeared she was doing all she could to get away from him...
With a scowl, he stood up determinedly and sat on the other end of the window seat with his back leaning against the wall so that he was directly facing her.
Chihiro was startled out of her watchful supervision over her cousin and she whipped her head to find Haku seated across from her, his green eyes intently focused on hers. Matching his gaze and taking a wary sip of tea without breaking eye contact, she searched his face for clues as to what he wanted to say. Instead of continuing their passive power struggle, he gave the barest hint of a frown and then pulled the edge of the blanket down slightly, making sure her toes were covered before her returned to his orignal position but choosing instead to keep his eyes on something beyond the window.
Taking another sip of tea, Chihiro raised an eyebrow at the dragon's antics. Even as a child she often had no idea what was going on in that head of his. On rare occasion he allowed her to see emotion in his expressions but usually she had to guess by what little inkling of emotion that shone in the depths in his gaze. And though she could guess how he was feeling, she never really knew what he was thinking.
At first when he had sat down opposite her on the window seat, she had initially assumed he was about to argue about something judging from his expression, but then he had suddenly switched to 'mother hen mode' and fixed a tiny problem with her blanket she wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't already found it. It was an oddly sweet gesture, but she wouldn't lie if she said she was a little confused with her own conflicting emotions.
She was aware of the part of her that was begging her to give up her stubborn pride and just fling herself into his arms, but there was the side of her that had grown in the past eight years that had somewhat given up on her first love. So she was still quite in love with the river dragon, she knew it, but her confusion lay with the fact that she thought she wasn't. Rather than confusion about their relationship - though that was another matter entirely that had to be dealt with - she was more confused with her own doubt about what she really felt and what she thought she felt.
Although now that she thought about it, she remembered the first time they had moved there, she had acted like she hated her parents for deciding to move, but reflecting on it, that was just a front for her own terror of trying to make new friends in an unfamiliar school. To her, it seemed that not just Haku, but also she herself had a lot of issues expressing what she really felt.
"What do you do at this 'college'?" Haku asked out of the blue.
The abruptness and unexpected nature of the question, combined with the high level of concentration and deadly serious expression from Haku caused Chihiro to spit out her tea as she erupted into a fit of giggles. She came to the quick conclusion that Ryumiko must have mentioned college at some point during her stay, but that was trivial knowledge compared to the sight of Haku's austere face fluctuating between bewilderment and pouting.
At first the poor dragon was completely shocked from Chihiro's reaction to what he believed was a simple question about how she was faring in the world of the Living. Once her reaction finally sunk in, Haku didn't know what was quite so funny about what he said, until it dawned on him that she wasn't laughing at the question, but at him. What was so funny about him? When his face melted into a frown, the giggles subsided and she spoke with amusement blatantly clear in her voice.
"Well I have been studying art for a while, and I am also doing a few side subjects on top... Why the sudden question?"
"Ryumiko mentioned your interest in pursuing art at this 'college' briefly." Chihiro smiled, having guessed corretly how Haku had discovered college. Haku continued. "I have no knowledge of such an institute and I would like to know more," he answered flatly.
Brown eyes studied green for a moment and then Chihiro spoke, "Seeing as I'm also interested in what happened here since I left, why don't we take turns in asking questions?"
Haku raised an eyebrow in interest. He was also pleased that they had somehow broken the tension and were engaging in a normal conversation. The fact that Chihiro had willfully presented this offer to extend the length of their discourse herself, made sharing their stories much more appealing. "That sounds appealing..."
She took that as a cue to begin, "You already told me what happened to you and Rin after I left, but you stopped right after you escaped to Zeniba's. Can you tell me more?"
Haku hummed thoughtfully. To be honest, the only real important parts after she had left for the world of the Living with her parents, were the bits he had already told her and remembered completely. It was a bit of a struggle to rememeber the menial events succeeding their narrow escape from Yubaba... "After we consulted Zeniba about our curse we decided that four spirits living in this tiny cottage would have been too crowded, so Rin and I purchased the cottage. We wanted to keep an eye on Yubaba as well as an eye out for you incase you returned. However we didn't anticipate your cousin to be the first human through those gates before you."
Chihiro giggled, "Yep that's Ryumiko. Always ruining other people's plans."
"What plans has she ruined for you?" Haku asked.
Chihiro's giggle died down. Crap.
"W-Well aside from college... I was going to hang out with this guy, Allen," she regretfully noticed his visible stiffening. "But when I went to go look for Ryumiko who went missing, he didn't turn out to be as nice as I'd hoped."
He relaxed the tiniest bit at the knowledge that this, Allen, was deemed unworthy of her affections, but part of him raged at one particular detail.
"What do you mean he was not 'nice'?" he asked tersely.
Chihiro threw a confused glance at the sudden anger in his voice, "It wasn't a big deal or anything."
"Did he hurt you?" he asked, his voice bordering on a growl.
She was oddly shocked. Allen was dull but they had been friends before they'd tried to date, and she felt slightly offended by Haku's judgement of her friend, "What? No, he's not that kind of person!"
"You said you thought he was nice but then he turned out to be unpleasant. It seems you do not really know what 'kind of person' he is. Did he say anything to hurt you?"
She was surprised Haku felt so vehemently about this but she felt it was in their best interests that she explained exactly what happened, "No! But I told him I couldn't go out with him for dinner because of Ryumiko, and then he decided that I wasn't interested in him and said that he basically didn't want to date me because I seemed like I was in love with you!"
There was a still silence and Haku blinked in shock as her cheeks slowly began to glow a vivid red. After a few stunned moments as both processed what had or what had been inadvertantly said, a smirk spread over Haku's face.
"Hmph. Idiot," he noted quietly to himself.
"What?" she asked incredulously, not quite sure if she had heard him correctly.
"He was a fool for not considering your affections," he clarified. It was a good thing for him, because it meant that Chihiro was not going to be conflicted with feelings for Allen and could focus solely on-
"Haku?" Chihiro asked, the blush receeding but maintaining a delicate rosy hue that settled on the tops of her cheeks. Now having his full attention, she continued, "Yesterday, when we were talking... What were you going to say before Rin interrup-"
"Chihiro!" cried Ryumiko as she burst into the cottage with wobbly enthusiasm.
Chihiro and Haku shared a glance that clearly expressed their mutual desire to strangle the poor girl that had picked the worst possible time to come in. Before Chihiro could voice her irritation, her cousin began rubbing her unbruised cheek against her own. After a few rubs, Ryumiko ran off again, well, really she stumbled awkwardly away trying not to hurt her sore ankles, leaving Chihiro completely stunned and Haku grinning a knowing smile.
"She told you she loves her family... You," he translated for her.
She brought a hand up to the cheek that had been nuzzled by Ryumiko, and her fingertips lightly grazed the affecionate warmth that lingered there. A small smile crept onto her lips. It seemed that maybe she wouldn't have to worry about the distance growing between her and her cousin in the future.
Ryumiko stared fascinatedly at the glow of her bandages in the moonlight that streamed through the bedroom window. The stark white linen on her limbs glowed, making her body luminescent in the light. She was too distracted by the sight to fall asleep.
"Are you sure you are distracted from sleep by the light of the moon, and not by the events of tomorrow?"Akinobu asked judiciously.
She sighed, "Are you sure none of them will find out I am not a full Reptillian dragon? I mean... I can't avoid transforming into a dragon forever!"
She could hear the dragon 's rumbling laughter, "That is why I am going to help you. I will also be your mentor in all things regarding my children's behaviour during your stay in the Dragon Clan, if you desire for me to do so of course."
She sat bolt upright with frantic thoughts, "No, no, no, no, no! Akinobu, please don't leave! I need you to help me! I can't do this on my own!"
Hearing the dragon's chuckle again, she pouted. The stupid dragon was teasing her. Slapping her hand on the side of the bed in an immature way, she whined, "Don't do that Akinobu! I'm stressed enough as it is!"
Before she got a chance to lay back down again, the door opened with a long, slow creak. Whipping her attention to the door, she caught sight of worried vibrant gold in the crack between the door and the wall.
"Retsu?" she whispered.
Hearing his name, he opened the door wider and quickly hopped into the room, "I heard you moving and I thought something might have been wrong. Are you okay?"
She smiled, "Yep. Just having an animated... discussion with Akinobu."
Retsu moved to the chair that was still placed next to the bed and sat down, studying the girl intently. Something was off and he couldn't quite put his finger on it. "Are you sure you're okay Ryumiko?"
She swallowed thickly and it was clear to Retsu that she was avoiding looking him in the eyes. "No! It's fine! Akinobu's helped me a lot anyway!"
"Liar."
"Quiet you!" she snapped mentally.
Though Retsu wasn't fooled anyway. Her restlessness, fidgeting, obvious lies and anxious wringing of her blanket's edge were large indicators of her distress. But she was also clearly unwilling to discuss her problems. He needed a way to alleviate her fears without invading her desired silence.
Ryumiko however was waiting patiently for Retsu to say something, since he was just sitting there silently. So she was suprised when his voice, though quiet, suddenly cut through the silence.
"Turn around," he instructed.
Although she sent him a rather perplexed gaze, she shuffled so that her back was facing him. She was about to ask what he was doing but her words had no chance to form when she felt fingers running through her hair. As her eyes drooped to a close, she could feel his fingertips lightly brushing over her scalp and trail down to the tips of her hair before returning back to the top of her head. She noticed that the movements were not random strokes but rhythmic and purposeful... and they were oddly calming despite her hyper-awareness of Retsu's fingers in her hair. Her lips twitched into a small smile as a thought occurred to her.
"Are you trying to tell me something through a dragon gesture?" she asked humorously.
He ran his fingers through her hair for a few more lengths before replying, "In a way."
"And what would that be?" she asked.
"We use this to tell others not to worry. To be calm. To go to sleep untroubled," he answered succintly.
She pursed her lips, "I guess I'm not great at lying then, huh?"
"Not particularly no."
"But you aren't going to ask me what's wrong?" she asked, wondering why he chose to comb through her hair with his fingers instead of asking her directly.
"I can guess you are nervous about tomorrow, and I assume you have great concerns for the future. But I also thought you might have desired to share your worries when you felt like it," he answered. "Also, it is not healthy for the mind to enter sleep in a state of stress."
She smiled. "Thank you Retsu."
"You are more than welcome Ryumiko."
And after a couple of minutes, she was soundly asleep.
Oh...Wow...
My apologies everyone! I can't believe I haven't updated since Easter! Time sure does fly when you are in your last year of highschool :/
Anyway, I'm seriously sorry for my lateness! I felt so bad everytime I thought about my stories (which was a lot by the way!) and as you have probably seen by now, this chapter is relatively monstrous in size, and that's because I have been working on it sporadically over the past months and wasn't sure where to end it. But I thought I found a good ending.
And poor Haku and Chihiro just can't seem to get their timing straight XD
Also! I can't believe I've hit 200 reviews already! It means a lot to me guys and I'm glad you are enjoying this as much as I am!
Many thanks to you dear reviewers!
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