The Twelve Kingdoms: Dreaming of Paradise

by Fuyumi Ono

  But for Meiken, that was only additional cause for concern. The geniuses who burned the brightest at the start often burned out the quickest. Like himself. So focused on passing the entrance exams, their field of vision was similarly narrow. Even though they'd made it over that first big hurdle, the shallow reach of their knowledge became stumbling blocks. Deprived of the impetus that had kept them going for so long, they lost sight of their real goals. The naysayers kept all those precedents in mind and waited for Rakushun's fall.

  "I bet coming to En was a bit of a let-down," Meiken said.

  "A let-down?" Rakushun echoed, clearly taken aback.

  "I mean, things here being no so different than they are in Kou, and all."

  "Not so different? There was no way I could attend college in Kou."

  "Well, there is that."

  Rakushun smiled, his furry cheeks dimpling. "Kou and En are nothing alike. Night and day."

  "Really?"

  "Really."

  And he really meant it, Meiken surmised. Rakushun wasn't one to prevaricate. His tail and whiskers gave him away every time.

  "Graduating from a place like this in one piece takes a lot of work. You've got a rough road ahead"

  "Now you're being depressing."

  "Nobody's ever graduated who matriculated at the top of his class."

  "That's just an old myth. Professor Hou said so himself."

  I wish it was. Meiken let out a big sigh instead. He said, gesturing, "Hey, so this is all about you basking in your freedom since leaving Kou and coming to En?"

  "This is—?"

  "You're always in that form."

  "Ah—" said Rakushun, looking down at his gray, furry body. "This isn't because I came to En. I've always gone around like this."

  "Even in a kingdom that discriminates against hanjuu?"

  "Yeah, but it doesn't make any difference what you look like. What you are is recorded on your koseki. And besides, we were poor. I don't need to worry about clothes when I'm like this."

  "Of course." Meiken said, a touch of irony in his voice, "But when you think about it, it's still got to cause a lot of problems. You not being used to your human form is why you're so lousy at archery."

  Archery was considered an aspect of ritual and deportment, a required subject. The emphasis was on learning conduct and decorum and less on hitting the target. Nevertheless, skills required to actually hit a target were necessary, and the archer had to be able to go through all the motions before firing an arrow.

  "You do have a point."

  "Same thing with riding a horse. If you don't master your human form sufficiently to shoot and arrow and ride a horse properly, you'll never fill your card."

  "I can't argue with you about that." Rakushun's whiskers drooped dejectedly. "I must confess that I've been thinking the same thing."

  Watching Rakushun practicing horseback riding and archery was like watching a randomly bouncing ball. It seemed to Meiken that he simply didn't have a good command of his own body. Looking down at the stool he was sitting on, it struck him that Rakushun was so short he'd need it even to open the window. The differences between his human and rat forms were significant enough that he couldn't exactly sell the former as his "true form."

  "The more you do it, the better you'll get. You're never going to graduate if you can't get a handle on it."

  "Yeah."

  "Well, chin up, and prove the folklore wrong."

  Meiken grinned, and so did Rakushun. "You too, Meiken. The legends have it that nobody has ever graduated who matriculated before the age of twenty."

  Meiken clucked to himself as he got to his feet. "More folklore. And that one's going down, if I have anything to say about it." He headed to the door in high spirits, then stopped and looked back over his shoulders. "Tonight, after dinner," he said, pointing his finger at Rakushun.

  "After dinner?" queried Rakushun. "What?"

  "Don't give me that. Archery practice, right?" Meiken laughed as he left.

  Rakushun went to stop him, but decided against it. He scratched his head and said to himself, "Not really the time for him to be worrying about other people."

  He heard a chirp behind him. Turning, his eyes met the gaze of the blue bird perched on the windowsill.

  "Yeah, I guess we kind of startled you."

  The bird again flew over to the desk and cocked its head to one side. Rakushun got another grain of silver from the jar and presented it to the bird. Watching it peck at the expensive feed, he said in earnest, "I'm a lucky fellow, thanks to Youko."

  There was no denying that Kou was a tough kingdom for a hanjuu. When Rakushun came to En from Kou, he felt like a refugee leaving a devastated country behind, like he'd escaped by the skin of his teeth. He'd heard that a hanjuu could attend school in En, could find employment, could even become government officials. Get a koseki like any regular person, and a hanjuu could receive an allotment and stipend. He'd be treated like anybody else. He had longed for En as if for a lover.

  "Well, it didn't exactly turn out to be heaven, either."

  When he saw the place with his own two eyes, he saw that there was good, bad, and everything in-between.

  "But there are good blokes like Meiken. Just getting into college has proved a real windfall for me. My only real problem is keeping at it and graduating."

  Rakushun rested his chin on the desktop and muttered, "Along with paying tuition."

  He saved some money anticipating the time when he might make it to En. But it wasn't nearly enough to last him all the way to graduation.

  "I've opted out of everything I could this year. But once this economizing starts to hurt my grades, that's where I draw the line."

  Would he graduate? Could he keep on living in En until that day came? And if he did graduate, then what?

  In any case, compared to his life in Kou, living here was like night and day. Though his mother had given away her last farthing to get him an education, Nothing existed for Rakushun beyond that. As long as he remained in Kou, every avenue was blocked. He hadn't needed to give any thought about what the next year would bring, let alone his "future." That was the one thing he hadn't needed to worry about.

  "Yeah, En and Kou really are two different worlds." He stroked the throat of the blue bird. "You really are something."

  The bird again opened its beak and that dearly familiar voice again filled the room. The girl who had become Empress of Kei. Even receiving her letters by this means, she lived a world apart from his own. Youko was listed upon the Registry of Gods, and would never age beyond the age she had been when they last parted. As a citizen of the world below, Rakushun would only grow further and further apart.

  Youko had only recently acceded to the throne. She knew nobody in the Imperial Court and could trust only Keiki. The last thing she needed to be worrying about was Rakushun. She had enough troubles of her own. The future of Kei and all its millions of people rested on her shoulders.

  "All I did was pick up something lying at the side of the road."

  Lying there as good as dead. Hardly something he would ever consider worshipping. No normal person could have just walked by on the other side. Taking her home and nursing her back to health was something anybody could have done.

  What he had received in compensation far exceeded what he had done.

  Even if he hadn't met Youko, he would have made his way to En somehow. But wasn't so naive as to believe that a person with no connections could carve out much of a future for himself. Thanks to Youko, he'd gotten those lucky breaks. He could never tell a soul, but that lucky break has come from the Royal En himself.

  The King had smoothed the way, making it possible for Rakushun to take the university entrance exams without first graduating from a provincial college. He'd found him a place to stay in the meantime, given him free access to any book he wished to read, and a tutor to help him prepare for the exams. That's what had made his present existence possible.

  But from this p
oint forward, he would shape his future according to his own efforts. He'd been given what he needed to make it possible. Thinking back to a time when he had utterly lacked the means to do so, he could only conclude he had been blessed beyond measure.

  Ruminating over this, listening to Youko's voice, he said aloud, "And in particular—" and gave the blue bird another grain of silver.

  This silver was also a gift from the Royal En. It was the one thing he had specifically asked for that he never could have otherwise managed. There was no way someone like him was even going to lay his hands on an old silver spoon.

  The bird happily devoured it and trilled. Rakushun reached out and placed the bird atop his head. When the bird was perched thusly, it would remember everything that the person said. Rakushun didn't know whether it had been trained that way, or behaved according to instinct.

  "Hey, Youko. You sound like you're in a good mood."

  Her crimson hair and emerald eyes—those were the only fashion accessories Youko had ever needed. Surely by now, she would be clothed in the finest silk and adorned with expensive jewels. But that wasn't the Youko that Rakushun pictured in his mind's eye.

  "I'm doing okay myself—"

  Chapter 4

  The bird crossed the kingdom in three days. A grain of silver was all it needed to fly that far. Their words flew back and forth between Kankyuu and Gyouten literally on the wing. Due to the distance between the two capitals, a letter delivered by surface mail would take a good two months.

  The bird flew through the skylight high up on Gyouten Mountain and was promptly snagged by a bureaucrat, who caged it and bore it reverentially to Kinpa Palace on the shores of the Sea of Clouds. The bird couldn't fly above the Sea of Clouds under its own power. It set down at the highest point it could manage.

  The cage was passed from an official of the Outer Palace to one of the Inner Palace. After another transfer, it arrived at heart of the Imperial living quarters in the Seishin and was delivered to the Empress's paper-strewn desk just prior to her retiring.

  Youko perched the bird on the bookcase next to her desk and stroked its wings. The bird opened his beak and spoke—the words of her first true friend in this world, his voice.

  I'm doing pretty well myself. I've more or less gotten used to university life. The dorms are pretty comfortable. The homework is tough but I'm managing. Nothing too out of the ordinary, which isn't to say that I haven't stumbled over a few oddities. The food here in En is good too.

  So you met my mom, eh? I'm sorry she didn't show you a little more respect. I did tell her. Well, that's the kind of a woman she is, not one to bite her tongue. So give her a break, please. Though I don't think you would take it personally.

  But surely she would have minded her manners if the Kei Taiho was with you? Don't tell me you were just wandering around there on your own. Good grief, at least take a bodyguard with you next time.

  I do understand you wanting to go back to Kou to see what was what. I'm glad you were able to get it done. I'm curious as well about how Kou is doing and would like to catch up on conditions there. My mom's a tough lady. I wouldn't normally have any concerns about her getting by on her own. But I do worry about natural disasters and youma and the like. Knowing that nothing's out of the ordinary so far puts my mind at ease. I'm really glad you went to visit her.

  Yeah, I heard from the En Taiho that the Kou Taiho had died. He drops by the university now and then. So does the Royal En. When do those guys ever work? You always hear about how competent and efficient the En ministers are. I think that's because they don't do anything.

  I'm telling you, when they drop by, it's like being visited by a couple of cat burglars. It'll be the middle of the night and I'll hear tapping on the window and go to take a look and there's somebody floating there in the air. Practically gives me a heart attack every time.

  The subject of my grades, though, hasn't come up. I got that recently from another source. I can't resist patting myself a bit on the back. I had a pretty good feeling when I was taking the test. On the other hand, there is this folklore about students who matriculate first in their class never graduating. There are stories like that all over the place. It's kind of ironic to hear them at a university.

  I guess the En Taiho would know about these legendary difficulties when it comes to graduating. There's no shortage of exemplary public servants here in En, so knowing you're in the running is a real compliment. Needless to say, hearing it certainly beats just knowing it. I'd better keep serious and graduate. The time to give thought to my future is after I've put these myths and rumors behind me.

  Conditions in Kou are definitely going to get chaotic after this. I'm not sure what use I could make of myself in that regard. There's not likely to be much recruiting of government officials going on in Kou by the time I graduate. I never anticipated that Kou would face a dynasty with an empty throne. The Royal Kou certainly had his problems, but things will likely turn for the worse without him.

  No doubt about it, a kingdom just can't do without a king. Of course, when people say stuff like that, I imagine it's got to weigh heavy on your mind, Youko. You just can't go take a stroll whenever you feel like it. No matter how confident you are in your own abilities, I'm not sure you should be frequenting a place where youma are bound to be popping up. You've got to take care of yourself. Your being in the world really counts for something now.

  When I say stuff like that, I probably sound like the Kei Taiho. But he's got a point, you know. You don't have a king where you came from, so it's no wonder you don't understand all the ramifications. The dignity of the kingdom and majesty of the monarch are very important. It's all well and good to resist getting too full of yourself, but to a certain extent, the people won't devote themselves to a king who isn't full of himself. And his ministers will be less inclined to follow his orders.

  Social status matters, and slighting it often leads to trouble. The king is the top dog, and bears the greatest responsibility when and where he acts as such. The higher the rank, the greater the privileges and the more substantial the duties. A king who doesn't take the position seriously will be seen to be taking his duties just as lightly. The tendency is to see such a king as trying to avoid doing his duty. You've got to know when to put on airs and when not to. All things in their season.

  At any rate, not having had a king or social status, I don't suppose you'll suddenly "get it" just being told these things. I think it'll come to you in time. Until then, the Kei Taiho will be there to nag you. You won't go wrong listening to what he has to say. A good king is a happy king. Since coming from Kou to En, I've becoming totally convinced of that. A good king is one who works on behalf of his subjects, or as the Kei Taiho says, does nothing except that which is done for the good of the people. Pay attention when you're around him. It'll pay off in the long term.

  The two of you seems to be getting along fairly well. And getting along with the bureaucracy as well. Sure, there will be things you aren't used to, but ultimately competence will win out. And it sounds like you've got good people around you.

  Ah, Gyokuyou is the name of a Goddess on Mount Hou. She's the one in charge of the wizardesses. It has come to mean a beautiful girl. Any talented, attractive girl is called "Gyokuyou." Lose those attributes and you'll lose the name. It's mostly a nickname. My mom's little sister was called Gyokuyou. She died before my mom and dad got together, so I never met her.

  When you become a notable Empress, you can count on a lot girls being named Youko. Though when I think about it, that'll be kind of odd.

  Yeah, a person's nicknames tend to pile up. People start calling you something, and soon everybody does. Before long it's as good as your real name. Coming up with nicknames doesn't take a lot of ingenuity, so like breeds like. It's a surprising phenomenon. Here at university you'll get tagged with one in no time at all. I ended up with the same nickname as my father. Not a bad thing, but a tad awkward on my part.

  Ah, what is it about names?
Seriously, you're really going with "Sekiraku"? I dunno. It's all news to me. The era name is proudly proclaimed on the occasion of the opening of the new dynasty, in order to pray for the happiness of the people and the tranquility of the realm, and to solemnly usher in the new era. Not to indulge in personal whims like you're naming a pet. Mind you, I've just sharing my opinions, that's all.

  Well, ah, hmm. I forgot what I was going to talk about next. Going to school here is a pretty good deal. Most of the professors are fair and approachable. Most of my dorm mates are good people. The facilities are great, the library is well stocked, many of the professors live here and you can drop in on them whenever. The food's good—but I think I already mentioned that.

  The Royal En is always looking out for me. He says I can crash at the Imperial Palace if I want, and has offered to get me a house. Turning him down all the time can get to be a pain after a while.

  I mean, I'm grateful and all, but, well, you know. Not the kind of thing I can go showing off in front of the professors and other students. And even taking all that out of the equation, I seem to have been deemed a member of your retinue, like when the store manager throws in something extra for free. I hate to have to say it, but this degree of attention is getting on my nerves. If the opportunity ever comes up, I'd appreciate if you'd tell you-know-who to back off a little.

  Though after a bit of thought, I suppose that sounds rather rude. After all, the king lives way above all the rest of them who live above the clouds. I wonder if it's thanks to you that I'm so at ease around people like that. Or maybe I take after my mom.

  Well, it's okay either way. That's why I've been able to live such a good life. One of my professors got me a scholarship, and that'll take care of my tuition and dorm fees. At this rate, if things turn for the worse in Kou, I'm thinking I'll go get my mom. Seeing as she's getting by working for other people, she can do the same thing anywhere. One of my professors said that they could hire her as a dorm mother. I'm really indebted to so many good people. My luck really started improving since I met you. Youko. I'll never be able to thank you enough.