Chapter 39: The Fragile and Fleeting Beauty of the Sakura

[Scene: The Japanese Countryside. Amid hot springs and ancient temples the cherry trees are in full bloom so the entire landscape is filled with cloudlike foliage in varying shades of pink. Some of the cherry blossoms are nearly white, some are a dark fuchsia, but most are a deep vibrant pink. Some of the trees are so sparse that the pink appears on the twisted ebony branches in tiny dots. Many of the others are so full that the cherry blossoms that the ground beneath them is carpeted in pink petals. Some are even hung with paper lanterns to add a golden glow to the pink.]

[Zoi has never seen anything like it.]

[He and Kunzite been walking for hours, checking out the festivities and exploring the different types of trees. Zoi knows school is about to start back home, and he secretly hopes Kunzite hasn't noticed. He wishes could spend several days studying all the different types of cherry blossoms.]

[All around him, groups and couples and have claimed spots under the trees, and are opening baskets on blankets or mats and drinking sake and eating flower themed bento or little pink cakes. Kunzite has bought a similar box and a straw mat. Some people are walking around in traditional kimono's and parasols, while others walk in plain white robes.]

[As they pass by some mist covered mineral springs, Zoi is shocked to see people take off their white robes and climb into the water, which ripples pink from the reflection of the trees.

Zoi: [blushes and looks away] Those people…they're are all naked.

Kunzite: I should hope so. They are bathing.

Zoi: Outside?

Kunzite: The hot springs here are very therapeutic and are rumored to have healing properties.

Zoi: Yes…but… they're naked.

Kunzite: Yes.

Zoi: In public.

Kunzite: It's perfectly normal here. Everyone does it so nobody minds. [Gives Zoi a sly smirk] I take it you wouldn't be up for a soak.

Zoi: [shakes his head vehemently] I'm not even sure I'm ready to let you see me in a bathing suit.

Kunzite: [looks him over as if trying to visualize it] That slender back…that tiny waist…those slim long legs of yours that go on forever… I'd have to rub you down with sunscreen to protect that delicate skin of yours. .. hmmm…Now I wish I'd taken you to a beach in Southern California instead of here.

[Zoi smirks at him. On the one hand, he doesn't want Kunzite to see how pale and girlish he looks in his bathing suit. On the other hand, he'd love to see how dark and manly Kunzite looks in HIS bathing suit.]

Zoi: I'm sure that if you did, you'd probably feel let down.

Kunzite: You forget that I've already seen you in your underpants.

Zoi: [jabs his arm with his fist] Oh, that's right, you rogue.

[Kunzite finds a huge, three hundred year old cherry tree that conveniently unclaimed and sets their basket down.]

[Zoi giggles to think that Kunzite was around when that tree was a sapling.]

Zoi: [settles onto the mat] Are there a lot of your kind?

[Kunzite opens the box and extracts a tiny stone teapot and two tea bowls. He pours tea for the both of them.]

Kunzite: If by my kind you mean Shitennou, there are only the three of us, not counting Beryl. If you're referring to creatures of the Dark Kingdom, far more walk the earth than you'd suspect.

Zoi: [giggles] Actually, that explains a lot. You've already told me of yourself and Beryl. What about Neffy and Jeddy? What were they like before?

Kunzite: Nephrite was fairly close to what you would call a gladiator. Except he wasn't a slave, he fought for money. And to impress the women. He was undefeated in the arena, but he fell and busted his head on a rock after sneaking out of a married woman's bedroom. He was a charming rogue. Metalia and Beryl seemed to warm up to him right away. I did not.

[Hands Zoi his tea]

Kunzite: Then she brought in Tanzanite, and that gave Nephrite and I a common enemy for a while.

Zoi: I've heard of Tanzanite. What was he like?

Kunzite: He was a warlord of the Far Eastern mold. The younger son of a powerful nobleman, so he was expected to make his own way in the world while bringing honor to his clan. He went from village to village, sacking them to unite them under his father's banner and taking their most beautiful virgins as his unwilling brides. He was elevated to the Shitennou after he was nearly assassinated by the poisoned hairpin of a prostitute who had disguised herself as a maiden in the hopes of getting close enough to end his reign of terror.

Zoi: Good for her.

Kunzite: [Smiles at the memory] She seemed like a lot of fun. And pretty too. Personally, both Neffy and I felt Metalia should have left him there and brought in the prostitute instead, but Beryl had other ideas.

Zoi: [makes a sour face] So you liked this prostitute, did you?

Kunzite: [smiles] Not nearly as much as I like you, but I certainly liked her a lot more than I liked Tanzanite.

[Zoi sulks so Kunzite feeds Zoi a little pink cake with a flower on it.]

[Zoi chews on it for about two seconds and then spits it out into the grass.]

Zoi: Yuck. [wipes his mouth with the back of his hand]

Kunzite: What?

Zoi: That thing had sweet bean paste in it, didn't it?

Kunzite: This is Japan. Everything has sweet bean paste in it.

Zoi: If there is one thing I hate more than anything in the world, it's sweet bean paste.

Kunzite: [amused] Oh, really?

Zoi: [nods] They shouldn't be allowed to sculpt a cherry blossom on anything that disgusting. It's false advertising.

Kunzite: [grins] You were expecting cherry pie filling?

Zoi: I was hoping for cherry pie filling…[drinks some tea to wash the taste out of his mouth] …So the last of you was Jeddy?

Kunzite: [nods] He was a witchhunter, though not a very good one. The rest of us had a real genius for killing. He merely had the enthusiasm. He wasn't even near death when she elevated him. At first, none of us could understand what Mother saw in him. I didn't realize until much later Mother was playing matchmaker.

Zoi: Matchmaker?

Kunzite: [nods] She hoped Jadeite and I might become lovers.

Zoi: [nearly chokes on his tea] You and Jeddy? Lovers?

Kunzite: That was the plan anyway. The others kept bedslaves, both human and youma. I considered it beneath my dignity to demand sex from a servant. However I had a reputation for being a bit…illtempered. Mother hoped that if she found me a husband, it might loosen me up a bit.

Zoi: But you didn't…I mean… with Jeddy…

Kunzite: [Chuckles] Of course not. Mothers are notoriously horrible when it comes to playing matchmaker or their sons. She just assumed I'd like him, since he's a blue eyed blond, and that's what she likes. But I had less than no interest in someone like him.

[Kunzite tries to feed Zoi another cake. Zoi turns his head. He thinks Kunzite's trying to torture him, but Kunzite gives him a look of pleading, so he eats it anyway, just to make Kunzite happy]

Kunzite: And he was far more taken with Beryl, of all people.

[The cake tastes like cherry turnover.]

Zoi: [grins] Did you buy that cake like that? Or was that something you just conjured up?

Kunzite: [lowers his eyes innocently] Oh, let's just say it's a rather recent creation…