DISCLAIMER:
The characters belong to Sai Yukino and Kairi Yura, Kadokawa Shoten,
Madhouse Studios, etc., i.e., not me.
I'm just borrowing them for a
while to spin a tale
Submitted to
Saiun
Challenge's Week 6 Prompt. Word Count: 300 Words
Won joint Third Place.
Avoidance
Measures
By firewolf
June 2008
@>;-'-
Reishin never told Yuri his
true reasons for moving Kouyuu to Kiyou over her objections that he
couldn’t be trusted to raise the boy alone. She thought it inadvisable
since Kouyuu had an obsessive desire to please him. This was
understandable given the boy’s history of being sold whenever his
owners tired of or had no more use of him. However, Reishin thought
Kouyuu would out grow this once he became confident of his permanence
in their lives.
Yuri had little doubt
Reishin loved and was very proud of their son since Kouyuu was
astoundingly gifted and intelligent. Her husband practically spoiled
the boy with gifts of books and the best tutors he could find. She
never heard, however, that the music tutor approached Reishin to
prohibit Kouyuu from playing the flute. And Reishin agreed because
Kouyuu unconsciously injected an unsettling quality to any music he
played with the flute.
Reishin also kept from her an
evening incident during a street festival when a florist was freely
giving away his unsold merchandise and offered them a droopy rose.
Enchanted, Kouyuu accepted the rose and restored it to newly plucked
freshness. Fortunately, no one noticed nor understood why the man raced
away from them screaming.
After that event, Reishin
brought Kouyuu with him to Kiyou, determined to shield his son within
the magic dampening borders of the capital city.
Even if Kouyuu was originally
of the Hyou clan, Reishin swore that they rightly delivered him into
his keeping through the two thieving finches, which promptly
disappeared when they alighted on the boy’s shoulder with Yuri’s
handkerchief. That clan lost all rights to even associate with his son
when they abandoned him to the slavers. And Reishin was damned if he’d
risk having Kouyuu attract their attention and try to reclaim him.
~owari~