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.
Guard Duties
By firewolf
June 2008
@>;-'-
Ensei winced at the delighted
though muffled squeal coming from the viewing pavilion and let out a
long suffering sigh. Kouyuu must have bent over again and made a rather
lovely presentation of his ass to Jyuusan Hime and the maids. The
former Governor of Sa province immediately pinched himself to clear his
mind of the image that thought provoked. Really, the summer couldn't
end fast enough for Ensei.
It was stressful for him to
discreetly ensure Kouyuu's privacy from
more sinister eyes. Any day now, he expected either Shuuei or Seiran to
find out about Kouyuu's near nude wolf bathing activities and go
homicidal on the persistent few whom Ensei regularly chased off. Not to
talk about what either man would say to him in wondering why he never
said a word to them about his Emperor appointed duties.
On top of that the delighted
squeals and whispers of the girls were
really getting on his nerves. Fair is fair, Ensei grumbled, if he was
driving off the men then he really should also chase away the women
too. But he just couldn't work up the courage to confront Jyuusan Hime.
Still, at the end of the day,
Ensei really couldn't blame the Prime
Minister's Aide for his predicament. Kouyuu was just being
practical; if it had been him and he was sure he wasn't being watched,
he'd have gone totally bare. After all, why risk getting his good
clothes wet or lug around an extra set of clothes? It was a perfectly
sound move to just take off everything and set the clothes aside where
they wouldn't get in the way. Fortunately, Kouyuu was a very prudish
man or the viewing pavilion would really have been used the way
Ryuuki's perverted ancestor had intended, to view a nude bather.
Ensei shuddered at the
thought and steadfastly told himself not to
dwell on the memory of what he saw. But it was hard! For an
administrator who was unused to regular physical activity, Kouyuu had a
remarkably *fine* body. Then again, Ensei also realised he could credit
himself for some of that impressive muscle tone since he did start
teaching Kouyuu fisticuffs a few months back and was still sparring
with the man at least twice a week.
When the Emperor and Jyuusan
Hime first showed Ensei their secret
assignment for him, he had to admit that he was stunned at the vision
Kouyuu unintentionally made of himself while bathing his guard wolf.
Even when he tried not to, the former Sa Governor couldn’t help but
think wistfully of the play of sunlight upon the shimmering mist the
small waterfall created around the pale, and near nude aqua-haired
scholar.
However, memories of how
fuckable the Prime Minister’s Aide looked also
inevitably evoked thoughts and fears of staring down the business end
of Ran Shuuei’s blade. Ensei forcefully shook himself from these
thoughts and took a moment to make a scan of the surrounding trees
again, hoping to see a voyeur to vent his frustrations upon. Not that
there were all that many since he started patrolling the area whenever
Kouyuu took his wolf to the harem grounds for a bath.
There were still a few
persistent perverts, but they always wisely fled
before Ensei could get close enough to identify them. Then again there
were also the ones who'd boldly approach the viewing pavilion like
Kouki, Shuurei’s boss, who'd claimed that he was just checking on Ensei
to see why Shuurei allowed her assistant to take off so often; and
Anju, who Ensei was sure dropped by frequently because he wanted to
mess with his mind just as much as he liked ‘playing’ with Shuurei.
Ensei growled to himself, he
just wished Shuuei would get on with it,
apologise to his best friend and start making amends already. If
everyone *knew* for sure Kouyuu was off the market and had the former
general for a significant other, no one would dare intrude on the man’s
privacy and Ensei could give up this nearly weekly guard duty.
Honestly! If Shuuei didn’t
realise he was in love with Kouyuu by now…
During the horrible weeks
when Kouyuu had lain in a coma at the prison,
the ex-General's care and concern for his comatose friend was all the
guards and most of the military men gossiped about. Shuuei’s
attentiveness in keeping his friend’s frail body and bed clothes clean,
then later his desperate efforts to feed and get sustenance into a body
growing thinner day by day, moved many of the hardened soldiers to
tears.
It was difficult not to
marvel and feel touched to watch the man as he
leaned Kouyuu’s limp body upright against his own and spooned a weak
broth to pale lips, then patiently wipe away most of the liquid as it
dribbled away un-swallowed. It eventually came to a point where Shuuei
would take the liquid in his mouth as a means to transfer it into
Kouyuu’s to force him to swallow the desperately needed nutrients.
Ensei was sure that Shuuei gained more respect and admiration from the
soldiers for the care and devotion he showed to his best friend during
these weeks than in all his previous years of service as their
commanding officer.
However, after Kouyuu woke
from his coma and was finally released from
prison, the blasted man suddenly backed off and didn’t allow anyone to
tell the aqua-haired scholar the lengths which his best friend had gone
to in caring for him. The man was hopeless! It seemed even long after
the incident was over, the soldiers were still quietly arguing over
what was really between the Emperor's twin flowers.
Ensei had to take his hat off
to the soldier who started the betting
pool concerning the pair. And it was a pretty generously growing pot
too, over whether the pair was really just friends, or
soon-to-be-lovers who would finally publicly acknowledge their love.
How they managed to keep word of the betting pool from reaching
Shuuei's ears, Ensei would never know.
It was an interesting bet.
The ‘just friends’ camp had ample evidence
to brandish, after all, Shuuei was quite renowned for being a frequent
visitor to the red light district, and he did still visit the Kogarou
once every other week if not weekly. Then, there were also the
whispered stories of the unrequited crushes Shuuei had. The first one
being with his brother’s wife, and from whom he first fled the Ran
province with a broken heart. Then there was his alleged crush on one
of the emperor’s ladies in waiting, Shusui. These points seemed to
affirm the ex-General’s inclination towards the fairer sex.
The ‘soon-to-be-lovers’
school argued back that the Prime Minister’s
Aide was thought to be a misogynist. So it was not a stretch to imagine
he would find love in another man’s arms. Li Dono certainly paid no
attention to the many paintings of gorgeous women often cast before him
by prospective father in laws.
However, the 'just friends'
camp pointed out that Kouyuu had a
respectful and friendly relationship with Kou Shuurei and Jyuusan Hime;
was remembered to have been kind to the palace handmaiden, Kourin; and
had a great affection and deference to his adopted mother, Yuri Hime.
It could be easily explained that Kouyuu generally didn’t like ‘other’
women because of the harassment from prospective father in laws who
wanted to nab him for their daughters because he was recognised as
‘The’ son of the head of the influential Kou clan and now the Prime
Minister’s Aide.
Personally, Ensei placed his
money with the ‘soon-to-be-lovers’ camp.
But with the way the situation stood between the best friends, Ensei
was also quite convinced he’d turn old and grey before Shuuei finally
made his move. And it was Shuuei who needed to make the first move.
For all that Ensei didn’t
really know the two men very well; even he
could sense that Shuuei had broken something in Kouyuu. He didn’t know
when it happened, but there was a very raw guilt in Shuuei’s manner
around his best friend, and a pain in Kouyuu’s eyes whenever he laid
eyes on him. Ensei was sure neither man realised how much they revealed
to those who looked closely enough. It was quite obvious to their
friends that the two men were miserable in their awkward friendship.
The former Governor of the Sa province hoped they’d clear this up soon.
*~*
The ringing yell of the Prime
Minister’s Aide brought Ensei grumbling
towards the harem grounds once again, but this time, he was delightedly
surprised at the new wrinkle to the usual pattern. He turned to Jyuusan
Hime to verify what he saw and was faced by her bemused expression.
“Yes, it appears my pathetic
Aniue finally stopped being an idiot.” The
woman sighed wistfully as they noted the modest way Kouyuu attired
himself in a short sleeved white robe which covered his body to mid
thigh, a match for Shuuei’s own light blue under robes.
Ensei’s lips pulled into a
grin as he saw Shuuei nonchalantly playing
with his sword while letting his gaze sweep meaningfully over their
surroundings. He nearly burst out laughing when he heard the ex-general
proclaim rather loudly to his best friend that he’d take Shiro for a
run through the woods to make sure she was thoroughly dried off once
they were done with her bath. If there were any hopeful voyeurs in the
woods, they made themselves immediately scarce.
Jyuusan Hime's expression
struggled to settle between disappointment
and relief as they watched Kouyuu welcome Shuuei to assist him in
bathing his wolf with a shy smile. Ensei could understand her conflict.
On one hand, the girls had lost the opportunity to ogle a near nude
Kouyuu. On the other, the Emperor's twin flowers were finally repairing
their broken friendship.
As for Ensei, he was
delighted to know he was closer to winning the pot
of the betting pool. If they’d just officially hook up before winter,
he might even win a tidy little sum with his side bet for guessing the
season when they’d acknowledge their relationship. In any case,
whatever happened, it just warmed his heart to see the two men relax in
each other's presence again.
Ensei chuckled as he turned
to Jyuusan Hime. “It looks like your
beloved Aniue just killed your fun.”
Or at least that’s what Ensei
initially thought when twin splashes and
loud cries brought their attention back to the trio. The wolf pup stood
triumphantly over the two thoroughly drenched and soaked to the skin
men sitting in the chest high waters.
“SHIRO!”
Ensei almost choked in his
effort to control his laughter, while the
girls were less restrained though carefully muffled behind their long
sleeves. “Oh, I don’t know.” Jyuusan Hime coughed between stifled
snorts of laughter. “It seems Shiro’s quite determined to provide us
with entertainment.”
Ensei was ready to laugh his
agreement when the two men stood up. Then
he noticed how the wet robes had turned almost translucent and now
clung to every curve and crevice of the pair of very *fine* looking
young men.
The muffled squeals of
delight from the ladies sent Ensei running. He
had already done his duty by Kouyuu in secretly protecting him for much
of the summer. Those two were on their own from here on out.
~owari~