by Fuyumi Ono
"Have you ever been to Kouki before?"
"Yes. Even shortly after the coronation, the disorder was relatively minor. That's how ably the provisional court had been conducted."
"Huh," muttered Youko. She looked at Keiki. "So, what kind of person is Taiki?"
"He is very small."
"Figures," Youko said with a smile. "Your very clear explanations are entirely opaque."
"Is that so?"
Youko laughed. "Well, it was seven years ago. From what I can tell, he's probably changed a lot since then."
"Yes," Keiki replied.
"If you were driven from the Kingdom, Keiki, what would you do?"
"I would return."
"And under what conditions would you be unable to?"
"I really cannot imagine. Taiki is quite young, but he understood the burdens that had been placed upon him. Of course, he found them quite daunting. But no matter what calamities might have separated him from Tai, he would do his utmost to return. I cannot fathom the circumstances under which the contrary would be true."
"I don't suppose it's possible the Royal Tai is there with him?"
Keiki mulled it over. "I do not think so," he answered.
"Why not? If you believe he'd return if he wanted to, then maybe the only other option is that he doesn't want to. Perhaps he's lying low with the Royal Tai."
"If the Royal Tai was with Taiki, then they'd have no reason to conceal themselves. This is not a case of the Royal Tai losing the faith of his subjects and fleeing the kingdom. With the kirin beside him, no army would bar his way to the Imperial Palace."
"Yeah, I guess so."
Youko was lost for a moment in her thoughts. Keiki blurted out, "I do not think this involves anything so simple."
"Why?"
"Because a meishoku was reported. A meishoku is a shoku brought about by the scream of a kirin."
"A scream--"
Traveling back and forth between here and there required the use of the Gogou Gate. By accessing the supernatural powers of the Moon, a gate could be opened in the Moon's shadow. But not everybody could do so. The magical gifts necessary to open the gate or their equivalent ability was necessary. Those qualified included the highest ranks of the mountain wizards, kirin, and their appointed youma.
However, the Gogou Gate naturally could not be opened in the middle of the day. It was also said that it couldn't be opened in center of the Yellow Sea or above the Sea of Clouds.
"A meishoku does not rely on the power of the Moon. The kirin's powers alone create a wrinkle in time and space. That alone makes this a very grave matter. Despite occurring on a small scale, it is nonetheless a shoku. If it were to occur in a city, a great deal of damage would be inflicted in its vicinity. The kirin himself would likely not be left unaffected. Consequently, it is rarely done. I have never seen it done myself."
"Huh."
"Furthermore, I doubt that Taiki knows how to bring about a meishoku."
"Could a kirin be in the dark about such things?"
"In Taiki's case, he is a taika, born in Yamato and raised there until the age of ten. As a result, he does not well comprehend the ways of the kirin."
Youko tilted her head quizzically to the side.
"I'm not sure of how to phrase this. Using words to express the nature of the beast within is quite difficult. I haven't ever caused a meishoku, but I believe I have tried. I cannot concretely recall the memory, but I have the feeling of what a meishoku might be like. That is a meishoku, but that is a terrible thing, and I should not proceed except under the most extreme circumstances. That is the essence of the raw sensations I felt."
"Wow."
"There are many other things of a similar nature. In our youths, we take on the form of the beast. We learn how to take on human form. We transform into the human and return to the beast. We learn to make the transition, but we cannot remember when or under what set of circumstance we did so. If pressed, I could only say: somehow and at some point in time."
"I guess it's like when a human child first learns to walk and talk."
"I think so too. Many kirin powers and abilities come to us when we know ourselves only as beasts. The meishoku is a case in point. I could not tell you when the knowledge came to me. Only that when it did, I recognized it for what it was. I am quite sure I attempted it when I was very young, to see what would happen. It's a feeling like one day realizing that you have legs and running as hard as you can to see what those legs can do. But Taiki is a taika. He lived for ten years in Yamato before coming back, and he had grown up the entire time in human form."
"He never spent any time as a beast?"
"No, he did not. A kirin with no memory of himself as a beast would lose many of the powers that he should have as a kirin. When I met him on Mt. Hou, he couldn't transform, and he had not tamed any youma as his shirei. Nor do I believe he knew how to cause a meishoku. I think something happened such that he did it instinctually. Something very bad. Something very terrible happened to his person. As long as he is engulfed in that maelstrom, Taiki cannot return."
"I see," said Youko. She remained mum for a minute. "Still, don't you think we should save Tai, Keiki?"
Keiki returned her look, and then averted his eyes. "Please do not ask me questions I have no business answering."
Interlude
The impurities were accumulating. The boy was not aware of them in the slightest. To be sure, only the beast imprisoned within was being injured, and not the surrounding "human" shell. And, of course, nobody else had the slightest idea that this was going on. Their attention was drawn instead to something else entirely: the number of strange accidents that seemed to occur wherever he went.
"This is the second time my son's been injured playing with him," the woman snapped at his mother. "Now he's got a hairline fracture. Keep him away from my kid!"
His mother watched her march off and heaved a sigh.
"He fell down all by himself," his brother charged. "He was chasing us around waving a stick and tripped over his own two feet and fell in the ditch."
"Is that so?" their mother said mostly to herself.
"He's always pulling stunts like that. Hiding our stuff, pushing us down, waiting for us on the way home and throwing things at us. He deserved what happened to him."
"Oh, don't say things like that."
"Why? He's the bully. Serves him right."
"I said, no more," his mother stated flatly.
The object of her scolding glared at his brother and mother. "It's his fault. Something happened when he got spirited away. He's different. Everybody says how he creeps them out. And I'm the one who pays for it."
The boy hung his head. Because it was true.
At first, the people around him had been admiring and sympathetic, celebrating his return with great displays of affection. When that died away, only the strange looks remained. At length, he grew used to it, benumbed. Next came a courteous isolation. He was labeled "out of the ordinary." And the other children in the neighborhood picked that up and tormented him with it. His brother was apt to get involved as well.
"It's got nothing to do with me, but they all badmouth me as well, and push me around and throw stuff at me."
The boy's younger brother seemed on the verge of tears. He picked up a toy and threw it at him.
"Stop that right this minute!"
"Why are you always taking his side?" he shouted, as he continued to fire off whatever he could lay his hands on. His ammunition exhausted, he grabbed his older brother instead.
Or rather, he tried to grab him. Before he could actually do so, a plank of wood fell on his head. A piece of the shelving below the lintel in the genkan abruptly shook loose and fell on him. The plank was not very heavy, and he managed to avoid a direct hit. His younger brother gaped, and then realizing the calamity that had almost befallen him, burst into loud wailing. His mother screamed as well and ran up to him and clasped him to her bosom. Coming to the realization th
at he had suffered no grievous wounds, she looked back at the elder of her two sons, her eyes filled with a confusion of wonder and fear.
Sanshi giggled rather maliciously. Sanshi, came Gouran's scolding voice out of nowhere. Sanshi pretended indifference. That's an evil little kid. "We can't allow any further harm to come to Taiki."
Sanshi was only looking out for him. She had no choice but to tolerate them feeding him impure food. She didn't understand this world very well. But what she'd grasped in her clouded, semiconscious state was that Taiki needed somebody to watch his back while he was in detention. His jailers were few, and they provided him with the barest minimum of security and the basics of life. Furthermore, from what Sanshi could see, his jailers weren't aware that they were poisoning him.
"The enemy's agents could be anywhere."
They were cleverly manipulating his jailers. But who were they? She detected no overarching desire on their part to harm Taiki. Nor did they seem to hate him or behave with hostility toward him. Detaining Taiki like this, and conspiring to commit regicide, probably arose out of animosity toward Gyousou.
Strictly speaking, Taiki wasn't the enemy. In that case, the persecutions and unreasonableness of his jailers could be overlooked. However, when it came to others--
"Just a warning. That even though taken captive, Taiki is still a kirin."
She had only reached out slightly with a hidden hand. Anything more would sap Taiki's psychic energy. Therefore a warning would have to suffice.
"I'm compromising as much as possible."
What Sanshi really wanted to do was take Taiki and flee. Aside from the king, there was no one on earth as exalted as the Taiho. No good could come from allowing him to be seized by these peasants, forced to live in these menial surrounding, abused by course language, not to mention the attempts to beat him.
The strain on her body and mind made it difficult to endure the humiliating behavior Taiki was being subjected to. If his jailers were the ones raising their hands to him, she was supposed to pretend not to see anything. No matter how disrespectful, how abusive their behavior, she had to grit her teeth and take it. The same went for the contaminated food they were feeding him.
"I can't stand it--" So why does Taiki have to stand it too? "Why won't the Royal Tai rescue him?" Sanshi muttered to herself.
From the shadowed golden darkness, she heard Gouran answering in similar tones, "If he lives--"
"Nonsense."
"But he was lured to Bun Province."
Sanshi pressed her hands to chest. Or would have in the real world. If that was true--if perchance the rebels had gotten to Gyousou--if he was already dead--
Then who would come to rescue Taiki? What would they do if this state of affairs simply continued on and on? As these thoughts occurred to her, Sanshi felt true fear for the first time.
Even though in small amounts, the poisons were accumulating. That dimming golden glow proved it. If this went on for many more years, what would become of Taiki?
Part Four
isai awoke in the dead of night. When she opened her eyes, someone was sitting in the shadows at the side of her bed. Moonlight spilled through the doorway from the adjoining room. The sounds of cicada flowed through the windows.
"Your Highness?" said Risai.
The shadow raised her head and nodded. "Sorry. Did I awaken you?"
"Not at all," Risai murmured. "You know, everybody's been looking for you."
"Yes. I ran away and hid, you see."
"Ran away and hid?" Risai queried.
The Royal Kei did not elaborate. The room once again fell into silence. The sounds of the night floated on the cool breezes. At length, the Empress spoke again from the shadows.
"What kind of person is Taiki?"
Risai started a bit. Coming from her same home town, Taiki's existence must hold a special place in her heart.
"He's kind of small," Risai said.
Soft laughter answered from the cloaking darkness. "Keiki said the same thing. And I told him such descriptions are not really helpful."
There was humor in her voice. Risai had to smile. "That's really what he's like. Small and innocent. Guileless in the extreme. Yet with enormous reservoirs of empathy."
"He certainly is a kirin, then."
"He does resemble Your Highness in some ways."
"Me?"
Risai nodded. "He's very laid back. From the perspective of my class and rank, Taiki is a person of very high social status, and yet does not act that way in the slightest. Gyousou-sama says that Taiki is quite unaware of his social position. It's not that he doesn't misuse his rank and authority, but rather that he pays it no mind. Your Highness seems to deport herself after a similar fashion. The first time I heard your ladies-in-waiting address you by your given name, I was quite taken aback. But then I thought, ah, the Taiho is like that, too."
"I see." Risai sensed a wry smile on her shadowed face. "There's no such thing as social class in Yamato. Well, no, it does exist, but more as a state of mind than anything else. My ladies in waiting, Suzu and Shoukei, are more my friends than my retainers. Surmounting class doesn't seem something easily done here."
"And the Daiboku? He addresses you informally as well."
"Yes. I don't know that I would call him a friend. More a colleague."
"A colleague?"
"A colleague who helps me hold up the kingdom. Once upon a time, he was a member of a rebel gang."
"A rebel--" said Risai dubiously.
The shadowed girl nodded with great air of sincerity. "Not long ago, there was a terrible governor in Kei. He ruled with an iron fist and exploited the people. I had just acceded to the throne, and lacked the power to drive him from his seat of power. So instead I gave my support to Koshou. To strike down the governor, he chose compatriots from among the people--many who so feared the governor's despotic rule that they feared even criticizing him--and together they spent many long months planning the revolt."
Youko leaned forward. The moonlight illuminated the side of her face. She had a severe look on her face, as if steeling herself against a deeper pain. "I wonder if that sort of thing would be possible in Tai."
Risai caught her breath. So this was the subject she wished to broach. "I don't think that it is," she said. Youko seemed on the verge of saying something further, and Risai cut her off. "I understand what you are trying to say. If the people were so inspired, there should be nothing to hold them back. I know how foolish it sounds--how much like an excuse it sounds--to say that such a thing is impossible. But I must insist that it is."
Risai stared up at the ceiling. Though the summer night air filled the room, Risai felt a block of ice in her heart. Her ears had stopped ringing. Yet she could still hear that cold wind blowing through her.
"I escaped Asen's clutches together with only a few troops of my own. I heard that they were caught and taken back to Kouki. Not only my soldiers, but the commanders serving the other generals as well. Many civil servants fled from Asen's presence, and all of them ended up on the lam, accused of assassinating Gyousou-sama and Taiki, and plotting to usurp the throne."
At first, Risai had interpreted this turn of events in a straightforward manner. "The King and Saiho having died, and Asen offered himself forward as the man to take charge of the kingdom in their stead. But not everyone went along with his version of things. Doubts about Asen gradually mounted, and in time a significant number of people grew dissatisfied with his rule. While searching for Gyousou-sama, I gathered together those with similar sentiments and put together an anti-Asen coalition. But nothing good came of it. We were building castles out of sand. No matter how often we organized people together, there were always a suspiciously large number of defectors. Everything we built was doomed from the start."
"I see."
"The defectors either betrayed us to Asen, or simply disappeared into the night. In time, the patriots were all silenced. We had already lost any safe havens where the volunteers could
gather. Those who hadn't been captured were forced deep underground to escape Asen's clutches. Those who harbored any doubts about Asen understood that a moment's carelessness would drag everybody around them into the maelstrom. If a rebel was known to be in a certain village, Asen would spare nothing to burn that town to cinders and salt the earth. Even now, there must be many people with opportunities to strike back at him. But it is next to impossible for them to seek each other out, to communicate and join forces."
Risai paused and then said, "Your Highness must know about the harsh winters in Tai. Heaven has turned its back upon us. Disasters strike with increasing frequency. Youma flood the land. It takes everything they've got for the people merely to stay alive. The only question on their minds is how to survive the coming winter."
It was said that the only reason anybody remained alive was because of the kouji. Having acceded to the throne and reorganized the Imperial Court, Gyousou took action even before delivering the Inaugural Rescript. The riboku upon which the kingdom was founded, known as the roboku, was located in the heart of the Imperial Palace. Gyousou made a request to the roboku, and Heaven granted him a plant called keihaku.
"Keihaku?"
"Yes. The keihaku is a plant like a brier. It grows freely in the harshest of environments, producing white flowers over a long growing season, from early spring until late fall. After shedding its flowers, it bears a large fruit the size of a quail's egg. When this fruit is dried, it burns as well as charcoal."
No one could survive the harsh winters in Tai without fuel. But charcoal was a limited resource, and the people required a supplemental source of energy. Keihaku, though, could be planted in the corners of fields. A rich harvest, dried and stored away, could tide things over until spring. A single person could prepare enough charcoal for a family, a great boon to the people of Tai.
"Keihaku originally only grew in the Yellow Sea. His Highness made the request to the roboku and obtained it for Tai as well. The spring His Highness disappeared, keihaku appeared on the roboku. Before three years had passed, white keihaku flowers could be seen in every nook and cranny around Sui Province. In the midst of this disastrous chain of events, the people were provided with the means to survive the winter. The people came to call it the "gift of He who lives in Kouki," or kouji.