Saiunkoku Monogatari - Only a Madman
May. 29th, 2007 01:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sub_dividedAnother Saiunkoku ficlet, another one-line joke.
Precisely at the appointed time, Kou Kurou sent the servant at the gate to inform the master of the house that he'd arrived. He didn't need another servant to show him to the correct room. Walking briskly, he passed though the outer rooms and into the inner courtyard, and from there to the small pavilion half-hidden behind a copse of ornamental trees. The man he saw leaning against the railing there brought him up short.
"What are YOU doing-"
"Emergency Kou family meeting!" Kou Reishin declared, sweeping in. "I'm worried about Shuurei."
Kurou started. "Emergency-"
"Kou family meeting? Is there such a thing?" Kou Shouka finished his thought. Kurou eyed his eldest brother with open dislike, a how-dare-YOU-steal-my-line look. Shouka only smiled back apologetically from his place against the rail.
"I'm declaring one right now! And I'm the head of the household, so you two have to listen to me." Reishin brought up his fan, but not before Kurou caught the beginnings of a pout at the corners of his mouth.
"All of the prerogatives and none of the responsibilities, hmm?" Shouka smiled gently as he said it, to show that he didn't mean to seriously criticize. But Reishin's eyes welled up with tears anyway.
"Brother..."
"This meeting is about Shuurei?" Kurou cut in. Seeing Reishin degrade himself before their eldest brother made him uncomfortable.
"That's right, Shuurei!" Reishin began to fan himself rapidly, mind already wholly occupied with his adorable niece. Kurou and Shouka shared a look: too easy. "I've had reports that bandit groups in Sa are looking for a woman fitting her description. Will she really be all right?"
"She has the family crest," Kurou pointed out.
"And Seiran and the former Governor are with her," Shouka added. "I vouch for both of them myself."
"But what if they're outnumbered? Separated? Ambushed? What if Shuurei is taken in by our enemies, or by the enemies of the emperor? She's so sweet and trusting..."
"Perhaps..."
"No sane person would threaten the life of the eldest daughter of Kou," Kou Kurou said darkly. In the silence that fell after that remark, the three brothers shared a look that could only be described as 'bloodthirsty'.
Soon, however, Reishin wavered. "But what if he isn't sane?"
"Now you're only worrying yourself," Shouka said soothingly. "Even in Sa province, dangerous madmen do not just grow on trees."
MEANWHILE, IN SA PROVINCE:
"Lin Senya?"
Sa Sakujun smiled in a way that could only be be described as 'predatory'.
"That's right. And your name was-?"
XDXDXD
I kind of want to expand on the "Kurou hates Shouka because Shouka turns Reishin, whom Kurou admires, into a babbling idiot" theme, but I'm not sure what else to say besides "Kurou hates Shouka because Shouka etc".
Lunch!
Precisely at the appointed time, Kou Kurou sent the servant at the gate to inform the master of the house that he'd arrived. He didn't need another servant to show him to the correct room. Walking briskly, he passed though the outer rooms and into the inner courtyard, and from there to the small pavilion half-hidden behind a copse of ornamental trees. The man he saw leaning against the railing there brought him up short.
"What are YOU doing-"
"Emergency Kou family meeting!" Kou Reishin declared, sweeping in. "I'm worried about Shuurei."
Kurou started. "Emergency-"
"Kou family meeting? Is there such a thing?" Kou Shouka finished his thought. Kurou eyed his eldest brother with open dislike, a how-dare-YOU-steal-my-line look. Shouka only smiled back apologetically from his place against the rail.
"I'm declaring one right now! And I'm the head of the household, so you two have to listen to me." Reishin brought up his fan, but not before Kurou caught the beginnings of a pout at the corners of his mouth.
"All of the prerogatives and none of the responsibilities, hmm?" Shouka smiled gently as he said it, to show that he didn't mean to seriously criticize. But Reishin's eyes welled up with tears anyway.
"Brother..."
"This meeting is about Shuurei?" Kurou cut in. Seeing Reishin degrade himself before their eldest brother made him uncomfortable.
"That's right, Shuurei!" Reishin began to fan himself rapidly, mind already wholly occupied with his adorable niece. Kurou and Shouka shared a look: too easy. "I've had reports that bandit groups in Sa are looking for a woman fitting her description. Will she really be all right?"
"She has the family crest," Kurou pointed out.
"And Seiran and the former Governor are with her," Shouka added. "I vouch for both of them myself."
"But what if they're outnumbered? Separated? Ambushed? What if Shuurei is taken in by our enemies, or by the enemies of the emperor? She's so sweet and trusting..."
"Perhaps..."
"No sane person would threaten the life of the eldest daughter of Kou," Kou Kurou said darkly. In the silence that fell after that remark, the three brothers shared a look that could only be described as 'bloodthirsty'.
Soon, however, Reishin wavered. "But what if he isn't sane?"
"Now you're only worrying yourself," Shouka said soothingly. "Even in Sa province, dangerous madmen do not just grow on trees."
MEANWHILE, IN SA PROVINCE:
"Lin Senya?"
Sa Sakujun smiled in a way that could only be be described as 'predatory'.
"That's right. And your name was-?"
XDXDXD
I kind of want to expand on the "Kurou hates Shouka because Shouka turns Reishin, whom Kurou admires, into a babbling idiot" theme, but I'm not sure what else to say besides "Kurou hates Shouka because Shouka etc".
Lunch!