Giving Word
2nd May 2009
Series: The Seer
Summary: Shizuka learns more about his new abilities, and more about Watanuki's bloodline. Shizuka learns that pledging oneself to one's master is more fun that he thought it would be. It's just like Watanuki to completely miss the point.
Warnings: Implied homosexuality, some violence, and attempts at humour.

Author Notes:
With thanks to _profiterole_ for the beta reading and youkohiei_fan for the story icon on LJ. I'm posting this a day early because I'm going to be super busy taking my scooter to the repair shop (need new brakes and something's up with my fuel injector).

Meanwhile, if I could write for a living, right now would be the point I'd say I love my job. But alas, I do not. In any case, I'm a liar today: I was supposed to post the arc finale but it's too long so I snipped off the first third and am posting it as chapter 30. Arc finale chapter on the next rotation, folks.

PLEASE NOTE that once I post this story's arc finale, I am taking a fiction vacation for the month of September. I need some rest for the muses so I can recuperate and leave behind the pressure of keeping to my weekly schedule. I'm just… a little drained from writing so much. So please be patient with me!

Shizuka watched Watanuki chat with Jason in the afternoon sun, Jason hanging off the wheel of the ship and smiling widely. Judging by the gleeful manner with which Jason spoke and Watanuki's red-faced vehement reactions, the monk could hazard a guess as to what the two were discussing.

Hm, he thought, and sensed through the bond to Watanuki, a corner of his lips quirking when he perceived deep mortification, polite outrage, a measure of uncertainty and… fear? But then again, he probably shouldn't be fishing around in Watanuki's heart for feelings; those things should be shared by choice, shouldn't they?

He pulled his Senses back and turned away.

Moving like a ghost he slipped through the deck doors and down into the ship, through the levels to the holding cells toward the rear of the ship. Most days when he did his rounds, he simply checked these people over but today he stepped into the room, making the three prisoners tense with awareness.

Relaxed and silent, he stood just inside the room. Slowly, he looked the men over, gazed steadily back when they glared at him while trying to conceal their unease and fear. He vaguely noticed the men were actually quite young, maybe even impressionable, bringing further determination to the theory these men might be pawns in a bigger issue. Setting those thoughts aside, here and now, the monk decided would be the best trial of his theoretical new potential.

Expanding his Spirit force, he reached out to the first of the three men on the left, the one who had recently been ill and should probably be the weakest of them right now, given that illness. Gently, Shizuka felt out the man's aura, the level of spirit force ability and reservoir power. Carefully, he filtered through the man's emotions and, to an extent, his character. Satisfied that he had managed the little foray well and his hypothesis on the prisoner had a high percentage of accuracy, Shizuka pulled his senses away.

The young man blinked at him and spoke up in lightly accented Japanese, "What did you do to me?"

Shizuka frowned, "Nothing. I reached into you, sensed you, that is all."

"You…" the young man shook his head. "You felt so… close to me. Like you were right inside my heart and head. Did you… read my thoughts?"

"I cannot read thoughts," Shizuka stated firmly, narrowing his eyes in a small glare. "I simply wished to ascertain what kind of a threat you are. You are a threat, this I know. But this time I wanted to know what kind."

Startled, the prisoner blinked. Then something odd crossed his expression and he stepped slowly forward toward the cell bars. He could not touch them, of course, given the curse seal Sorata had planted into it but he stood quite close,

"I could feel you also," he said quietly. "You are not… evil." Shizuka raised a curious brow. "You're not what they said you would be. You're almost… flat and logical." He shook his head, "You were too logical. I could feel you sift through my thoughts and you did nothing but look and decide. Not judge."

"You are guilty of the crime of attempted murder," Shizuka murmured. "That is judgement enough."

"I have not asked this," said the man, "But what will become of us?"

Shizuka paused, piecing what he understood of their fate, "You will be unloaded in London at my master's city home and into the care of his people there. From there, you will be shipped back to Japan and retained in custody there until such time you may be peaceably released."

Blinking with surprise, "We aren't to be interrogated?"

Assessing the value of his words, Shizuka answered, "No. We have reason to assume the Councillors of the Watanuki estate have likely not been managing things according to Lord Watanuki's instructions and have thus incurred Monou-san's wrath." He shrugged a shoulder, "As far as my master is concerned," the title felt off on his tongue, "You are pawns in a bigger issue. Not our concern."

Silence reigned and, his original curiosity satisfied, Shizuka had no reason to linger and turned to leave.

"Wait," called the young man. He hesitated when Shizuka paused then offered, "My name is Sanyun. What is yours?"

"Doumeki," the monk replied, prompted to answer partially by the fact Sanyun had offered his name first before asking for his, idly noting the Chinese name. He inclined his head in acknowledgement, which Sanyun returned.

"Thank you for answering me, Doumeki-san," Sanyun said slowly, almost as though startled to be giving thanks.

With a final nod, still rather surprised at how far his abilities had progressed, Shizuka turned and left, shutting the door firmly behind him.

His next stop, armed with the knowledge he had gleaned from his books and research fuelled by his conversations with Jason, he entered the room where the Astor Arms chest had been sealed and kept. The venomous box still leaked that nasty sludge and emitted a foul-smelling smoke—

Shizuka paused, realising for the first time he could smell the stench of hatred off of it. Making a seal with one hand, he mentally recited the spell for Understanding, a minor but complex spell for seeking a vague kind of comprehension of the intentions behind something magically unknown. Oddly, the spell released into the arms chest… but returned no answers. Instead, the monk perceived only distant rhythmic creaking.

He pushed his awareness into more focus of the arms chest, trying to ignore the sounds of the ship and its crew, and did the spell again. This time, the distant rhythmic creaking only seemed louder.

And then Shizuka realised that was his answer. With power to spend, Shizuka curled his hand for a third time and cast the spell once more. The distant noise resolved itself… into that of a child crying. No, hiccupping with tears.

Curious and a little confused, Shizuka sensed over the chest once more, seeing that the answering feel in his spell felt a lot like the presence of hate in the actual arms chest. Turning his findings over in his head, however, he found no answers.

With a soft sigh, he abandoned that idea and circled around the chest slowly, looking for more clues. One full rotation later, he bent toward the latch, eyes following the insignia of the curving Phoenix and the vague D of its elegant tail-feathers. Finding nothing further, he straightened to move away but he spotted a smaller carving on the front right corner plate of the chest.

Moving closer, he found the name 'Astor' carved in flowing, elegant script. Strangely, the A and the S seemed to almost overlap and the ending script of the R trailed in a little loop like a tiny I. In fact, had he not known Watanuki's father's name, he'd have read it as Satori and that wasn't—

Shizuka froze.

A long moment later, his brows lowered in a tense little frown. He added his new idea to the growing list in his head and turned, leaving the room as quietly as he'd come.

--

"Pardon me?" Watanuki blinked, looking confused. His hands fluttered nervously down from the table top to over his lap, a sign that he had heard clearly enough but maybe hoped he hadn't.

"Was your father," Shizuka patiently repeated, "Of any other descent than English?"

"Well…" the noble hesitated here, "From what I understand, his own mother was Japanese but a peasant woman. It's why he was ever in Japan in the first place, looking into his own mother's past, that he met his wife. My mother."

Two generations of Japanese Seers, Shizuka was willing to bet. He could feel that familiar headache begin to creep up on him again. "And was your father's family line always named Astor?"

Watanuki blinked in surprise but the monk only waited patiently, remaining silent even as Watanuki began to shift uncomfortably in his seat, "Err…"

Yes, a head ache.

"Not exactly," the noble hedged. Trying to gather his words, he paused and stared at his hands, "I believe the name changed with my great-grandfather. He was disowned by his own family, my great-great grandparents, and left to seek his fortune, so to speak."

"Let me guess," Shizuka sighed, tucking his hands into his robe sleeves to hide that he clenched them, "He married a Japanese lady."

"Ahh, yes." Watanuki's cheeks coloured a little in faint embarrassment. "Is this relevant to my current… situation?"

"Yes," Shizuka stated firmly, thinking three generations. But just to be sure, "And the ability to see Spirits has been rather traditional in your family, hasn't it?"

Watanuki blinked at him again; answer enough.

Headache beginning to thump in his temples, the monk flatly added, "And since he was disowned, he took on his wife's name, Satori." Watanuki's eyes went wide and large in evident surprise, confirming Shizuka's unhappy suspicions, "But it was likely altered upon return to England; into Astor. Correct?"

"How did you…?" Watanuki shook his head, irritation beginning to colour his expression and cheeks shifting colour to reflect his new state of emotion, "Where on earth do you discover these things?"

"Believe me, Watanuki," Shizuka reassured, "I am aware of the power behind names. I have not mentioned this finding to anyone since I first had my suspicions about it." Watanuki seemed to calm a little but his eyes had taken that particular shade of bright blue the monk often silently likened to blue fire. Shizuka paused then quietly asked, "Is there a reason you did not mention this to me before?"

"Honestly, I had no idea it would matter at all," Watanuki answered stiffly. He frowned a bit to himself, half turning away and scowling, "And then nosy bodyguards like yourself had to go butting into ancient family history."

Half to get answers and half to irritate the young noble, Shizuka finally asked, "Is there a reason you never call Jason by name?"

Watanuki stilled.

And by that, the monk realised something else, adding the numbers up in the simplest equation and arriving at a not too pretty answer. "I find it as odd in the same way he used to mispronounce your name." Narrowing his eyes, "And the only answer that conjures is that it's because neither are your real names. Or at least, that's not what you called each other as you grew up together."

Pale-faced, eyes reflecting a touch of fear, Watanuki met Shizuka's gaze. Guilt hit the monk at the sight of that, worry and protective instincts of his own echoed in Watanuki's feelings for Jason filtering through the bond. But then again, perhaps Watanuki would understand his own position, given the young noble felt a similar way for Jason;

"Watanuki," Shizuka said quietly, firmly, "I am asking because I know how much he means to you. That is the reason why I try to help him."

"You sound," Watanuki said, trying to sound offhand but not quite able to mask his suspicion, "Like I matter the most to you. Like I matter to you the way… he matters to me."

Shizuka said calmly, "You do."

Sucking in a startled breath, Watanuki demanded, "And he matters to you by extension from me?"

"Exactly."

"Do you realise how you sound?" Watanuki half-screeched with flustered frustration. A throb of something the monk couldn't identify resonated down the bond and curled in his gut. "You can't say things like that!"

"If I didn't say what I mean, I'd be lying," Shizuka pointed out, wondering what Watanuki was thinking now. That unidentifiable throb came again, stronger this time.

"What?! That's not…!" the noble spluttered helplessly, cheeks pink. Then he suddenly growled, slamming one hand down on the table and leaning forward, "Don't you like him all on your own? He's a nice person!"

"Not as much," Shizuka dared to quietly answer straight into Watanuki's darkening blue eyes, "As I like you." Watanuki went absolutely dead still… and Shizuka, despite resolving himself not to, began to worry at the silence.

"Stop worrying," Watanuki hissed, straightening up and folding his arms. "You're not the one who had to hear such words."

That was rather interesting, to be on the receiving end of the mind-reading-like reactions. Some of his emotions must have leaked through the bond; Watanuki's nonchalant response to it was, he had to admit, rather reassuring.

He set aside the odd tumble of feelings for now, "I can worry as much as I want, especially over you."

"Argh!" Watanuki plunged his hands into his hair with frustration. "I'm never going to get through to you! How can you embarrass me like this? When we get to London, you're going to cause the greatest uproar the ton has ever seen, I can just imagine it!" He turned away, hands clawed upward into the air and despaired, "You're going to make me lose my mind…"

Immediately the thought drifted into Shizuka's head that there were more interesting ways he might be able to make Watanuki lose his mind. But he forcibly shook those thoughts away before they could make him lose his. Point to focus on: the fact he knew, of course, how to behave at court. Things didn't really change much across cultures in that respect… but Watanuki didn't need to know that.

He stamped down on his amusement lest Watanuki sense it, "Maybe you should instruct me so I don't make a misstep."

"That's a fantastic idea!" Watanuki exclaimed, hopping to his feet. His eyes nigh on sparkled at the notion and had begun to glaze over with possible scenarios. And if he had anything in common with Shizuka's tutors, they would be filled with formal dances and place-settings.

"Or Jason can instruct me, in return for the magic lessons," the monk suggested, wondering how that would come over.

"No!" Watanuki vehemently and very quickly stated. And then he blushed, backing up a pace before he could stop it. Valiantly, he tried to recover, "Overall that would probably be the best idea." The colour over his cheeks spread out, "It would certainly mean less trouble for me. But the Gods know you learning from that tricky cousin of mine would probably make you only more liable to make a faux pas than not." He scowled, "And he might even try to get you to do something outrageous without your knowledge."

Shizuka waited.

"Hold it!" Watanuki gasped, "What do you mean, magic lessons? My cousin's learning magic?" Palms on his cheeks, framing his face, he gave the monk an alarmed look.

"Lessons so he can control that ill-luck of his," Shizuka clarified. Watanuki stared. "He has power, that much is clear. And I know we plan to discuss some of his problems when we get to France with the Lady—"

Watanuki had slapped a hand over the monk's mouth. He hissed, "Don't say it. Don't say her name! Are you crazy? She'll know right away—and for goodness' sake, can you not stay out of my family's business at all?"

"I have already said—"

"Yeah, yeah," Watanuki flapped the hand in the air, "Anything about me is your concern." He huffed, "All this contract business makes no sense at all. I'd have thought you'd just limit yourself to keeping me alive rather than getting yourself dragged down into all this." He grimaced and a sharp and blossoming ache tore through the bond into Shizuka's chest and the monk watched him hunch a little over the original pain. "Don't know why you can't just keep out of it," he grumbled to himself as he turned away, "Not like you're sticking around."

Of course. "I'm not leaving," Shizuka said firmly, voice gravelly with echoes of the ripping pain. If this is how it felt in echo, how did Watanuki feel?

The noble turned to stare over his shoulder so quickly, he might have cricked his neck. "What?"

Dutifully, the monk repeated, "I'm not leaving."

Aghast, "What do you mean by that?!"

"This is my last assignment for my Order." Shizuka shrugged, "After this, I can go where I want. Or stay. And I want to stay." A pulse of rising hope slipped out through the bond, reassuring him that Watanuki liked the news.

But then the noble loudly and rather alarmed demanded, "Who decided this?!"

Matter-of-fact, "I did."

"You don't get to decide these things!" Watanuki shrieked, wide-eyed and panicked, the emotion leaking into the bond. "You can't just invite yourself to stay! What?! Then you can just invite yourself to leave!!"

Oh, so that was the problem, was it? "I'm not going to leave you." He paused then added something guaranteed to get another of those amusing reactions, "Besides, I'd miss your cooking."

Choking out a high-pitched scream, Watanuki jumped back.

The monk almost smiled except he was kind of too busy enjoying the heart-warming sensations he had in reaction to the sudden hope and longing to trust he could sense from Watanuki –somewhere amidst the terror and uncertainty.

"Doumeki-san," Jason called out as he pushed the cabin door open, "Are you terrorizing my cousin again?" He smiled as he shut the door carefully behind himself.

"Save me!" Watanuki squealed, reaching out for his cousin and holding tight. He pointed, "That thing is professing his future of moochery to me!"

"Moochery?" Jason asked, puzzled, angling a startled look at Shizuka.

"Yes!" Watanuki stressed vehemently, clawing the air, "Free-loading! Parasitical dependence! Moochery!"

Jason swallowed his laugh but Shizuka noticed and rolled his eyes. "I'm sure Doumeki said no such thing. He was probably trying to compliment how well you take care of him."

"He's decided to stalk me!" the noble wailed, holding on even tighter.

This time, Jason couldn't stop the laugh before it slipped out, "But he's bound to you for the next five years." He chortled, looking laughingly at the monk, "His job really is stalk you."

Watanuki gasped and ducked behind him in useless self-preservation, and Shizuka shot them both a weary, slit-eyed look. "Oi."

"Hmm?" Jason grinned, pointing at himself, "You talking to me?"

"Ahh. You and that silly one behind you."

"My name isn't Oi!" Watanuki screeched, popping back out to shake a fist at him.

"Quit that and sit down," he instructed. "With Jason here, we have a few things to iron out." The cousins paused, blinking at him. Then they blinked at each other. "Don't bother running," Shizuka warned, "We're on a boat. There's nowhere for you to go."

With resigned sighs, they both sat down and Jason grumbled, "Way to kill the fun."

TBC

Author Notes, part 2:
Now, I don't normally reply to unsigned reviews because I would never remember everyone and I'm also a little too lazy to go looking things up when I can just hit the reply button. But on this occasion because these are valid concerns:

Thank you to Chara for trying to be helpful in chapter 27!
I hope I'm answering this in the way you meant: I did spell "Faye" correctly. Jason Astor is British and Faye (pronounced "fey") is a British name --in the story, I'm implying that the name is both a reference to and derivative of "Fae" (also sometimes spelled Fey to refer to being of the Fae) and it's attached magic. Kind of like the initial D (taken from Canon xxxHoLic) that I mentioned and its reference to Deus. More on this will come up in later chapters. By the way, spelling in your next review should be "cliffhanger" and "aggravating." XD Don't worry, I'm totally teasing by correcting your spelling by return...

Yulin the Accountless:
Thank you for your comments along the way, I really appreciate it. You gave me a real and whole review of your take on this story and I really like readers word things out carefully because it helps me to see my own story from a reader's perspective. I have more to say but for now I will just reply with the following thoughts:

Actually, you're the only one to guess Jason's mother correctly! Then again, I didn't provide a lot of hints (it's not really relevant to the story) so I wasn't expecting anyone to get that and I'm truly amazed you picked that up. Sometimes I will decide something to weave into my writing but then realise it's not important to the plot and simply leave it without expounding –some people love that. I have readers from my original fiction writing who shake the things they remember in front of my face when they correctly figure things out. It's become a sort of game between me and them to see what I can sneak past them.

As for the confusion, I know what you're saying. Thing is, no one knows the answers yet in this story and things are only just getting pieced together. A lot of the trailing suppositions in the Jason-Sorata-Arashi-Doumeki conversations are integral to the plot, as you observed, so I also need to ask (in part) for your patience. If it helps, you will have a lot of answers in the Shadows & Sailing finale chapter. If you still have questions after that, let me know. Some will still be intentional but some might not be so do voice your concerns.

On the DouWata... you know, I noticed only a few people realised that the ribbon incident was actually supposed to be between... well, romantic partners. A lot of Watanuki's reaction was because HE knew what it was about and then realised Doumeki had NO idea. I really laughed while I was writing that.

Truthfully, it frustrates me to no end that people keep asking for more DouWata. It seems that half the readership miss the fact that romance is only a secondary plot and is not yet the primary plot. I wonder sometimes how they could miss there's a lot more going on here like, hmm I dunno, murder, subterfuge, pirates, mythical creatures and magical concerns..? Part of me thinks these guys are missing out so much of the plot by concentrating so much on figuring out the DouWata parts. So really, thank you for saying you appreciate how this is going in terms of the story.

Corrections and more questions, as always, are welcome, everyone!