[Multi-Chapter] The Cut Sleeve: Chapter 2
Title: The Cut Sleeve (Chapter Two)
Genre: AU
Rating: PG
Pairings: None for the moment
Characters: Arashi, Kanjani8, NewS
Disclaimer: Done purely for entertainment purposes. I only own my warped imagination.
Summary: Several years later they all find themselves living lives that some of them didn't quite expect.
Author's Note: Based loosely on Qing Dynasty China, both politically and culturally. Please forgive any mistakes I've made (some purposefully for artistic license's sake, other's completely unintentionally). Dedicated to catacombkid who wanted an Ohno-with-a-harem fic and got me started writing this beast. ♥
Prologue
Chapter One
"Jun... Jun, it's time to get up."
Jun made a sound of frustration and rolled over to bury his face in a pillow, covering his head with another to block out the annoying noise that was ruining an otherwise perfect sleep. He could just feel sleep starting to drag him back down with it when someone yanked the covers from his body, the cold air of the room enough to make him throw off the pillow and sit up with a soft growl. "What the hell?"
"Language," Nino clucked, his face the picture of innocence even as he stood at the foot of the bed with Jun's silk comforter pooled around his feet, one end of it still gripped loosely in his hand. "It's 9, Jun dear, and you're going to be late for breakfast with the Emperor."
Jun uttered another obscenity and practically leapt out of bed, his face drawn up in a scowl as he rushed across the room to his oversized wardrobe to hurriedly find something acceptable to wear, his loose hair flying wildly about and making him look that much more frantic. "I thought I told you to wake me up at 8... you know I can't be late for this, Nino! The new recruits are arriving today and I have to go help with the selection right after breakfast. If I show up looking rumpled what kind of impression will that make?"
Nino chose not to answer and crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the foot of Jun's bed with a look of poorly disguised amusement as he watched the other rush around.
"And where is my hair clasp?" Jun muttered to himself, pausing in his wild search to turn and give Nino a narrow-eyed look. "You could help me, you know."
"What do I look like, your servant?"
"... you are my servant," Jun huffed as he gave Nino a look that hovered somewhere between annoyed and desperate.
Nino broke into a grin and shook his head as he stepped forward and grabbed the other's shoulders to steer him back towards the bed. Once he'd gotten him seated he motioned to the outfit laid out carefully on one of the chairs. "Don't worry, I took care of it."
Jun looked at the outfit and then back at Nino, his eyebrows arching as he finally took the time to look at the clock perched on his bedside table, which clearly read 7:30. "You--you did that just to see how worked up I'd get!"
Nino shrugged as Jun met his eyes and laughed softly. "It got you out of bed on time, didn't it? And I didn't even have to put up with you whining about how tired you are, either."
"I'm getting a new servant," Jun hissed, crossing his arms over his chest as he gave Nino his most evil look.
Nino just smiled and patted the other on the shoulder, totally unaffected by a look that would have most (if not all) of the palace staff running for cover. "You can thank me later, when you show up to breakfast looking stunning and the Emperor falls all over himself to compliment you."
"The emperor doesn't fall all over himself to compliment anyone," Jun grumbled but still managed to look somewhat appeased by Nino's words. "Just for this I'm making you fix my hair."
"Yes master," Nino answered, his voice teasing as he poked Jun in the shoulder playfully. "Come on... you need to start getting dressed. You wouldn't want to keep the Emperor waiting."
--
"Good morning, your highness." Sho clasped his hands in front of him and bowed his head as the door opened and a very regal, if somewhat tired looking Ohno greeted him. He smiled a little and dropped the formality as the other leaned in and laid his head on his shoulder with a loud yawn. "You know you can't go to breakfast yawning. The heads of the banner houses are here to honor the new trainees and you need to make a good impression."
"I know," Ohno answered, his voice soft as he gave another soft yawn. After a few more beats he lifted his head from the other's shoulder and forced himself to stand up straight as he adjusted the front of his robe. Mixing politics with food was never something he'd taken much pleasure in, but it was a necessary evil he was slowly getting used to, however reluctantly. "You invited Jun?"
"Of course," Sho answered with a slightly rigid nod. "I invited all of the concubines. It would be a bit rude not to invite him since he has the highest rank.”
"You don't have to keep pretending you don't like him," Ohno mumbled as they started toward the hall where their guests awaited them, their footsteps echoing dully through the corridor.
"Who? Jun? I never said I didn't like him," Sho answered, his brows furrowing slightly.
Ohno shrugged and gave Sho one of his half-smiles. "You act disapproving. Whatever you think about male concubines I know you like Jun."
"Whether I like Jun or not doesn't have anything to do with it, your highness," Sho sighed, some of the stiffness dropping from his shoulders as he gave Ohno a slightly worried look. "I know you care about him, but he's male and right now you should be focusing on having children to carry on your line. If anyone's thinking of taking power for themselves now is the time to do it, when you're childless and it would be up for grabs should anything happen to you. Focusing on a male concubine now of all times is just weakness you can't afford."
Ohno smiled and laid a friendly hand on Sho's shoulder as they walked. "Once I have children the mother's family will be vying for power. There’s always going to be someone wanting power, Sho. You worry too much."
"And you don't worry enough," Sho murmured back, his shoulder drooping beneath the other's hand. "I know you think I'm paranoid, Ohno, but this is serious. The nobility around here are vultures when they sense any sort of weakness and a lot of them are already upset that your father even named you his heir to begin with-- I just don't want them to get any ideas."
"I'll be fine." Ohno stopped them both in their tracks and turned to Sho, his expression more serious than Sho had seen it in a long time. "Thank you for worrying."
Sho opened his mouth and then closed it, making a small sound of assent as he met Ohno's eyes and nodded at him dumbly. He could have gone on arguing with Ohno all day but it would have been wasting his breath, really. And for all his preaching and worrying he knew that none of it was anything Ohno hadn't thought of himself before. Contrary to most of the after-dinner gossip in the upper city and even, to a certain extent, around the palace, Ohno was good enough at reading people and atmospheres to know what an alarmingly large proportion of the Nobility thought of him. He just didn't worry about it nearly as much as he should.
Ohno smiled and started to walk again, leaving Sho standing behind him still looking defeated. "Cheer up. I heard a rumor that they brought in fresh pineapple and mango just for this meal.”
Sho fell into step beside him with a sigh.
--
“I’m going to kill him,” Subaru murmured under his breath as he slumped into a nearby chair and gave Yasu a look of long-suffering.
“No you won’t, because he’s your cousin’s best friend,” Yasu answered, laughing softly as he paused in his kitchen duties to set a glass of rice wine in front of the grumpy looking older man.
“That won’t matter if he keeps this up. I’ve never heard someone talk so much,” Subaru grumbled as he picked up the glass of warm wine and took a long, grateful swig. He’d agreed to take in his cousin Aiba while he was in the capital to take the state exam, and gladly so, but he hadn’t thought when he’d agreed to let Aiba’s friend stay as well that he’d be quite this irritating. They’d only been here two days and already the other had managed to scare away a group of good paying customers, break an entire set of their best plates and had made one of the more reasonably attractive serving girls threaten to quit three times.
“He’s not that bad,” Yasu argued as he set back to work on that night's meal, his voice doing as much to soothe Subaru’s frayed nerves as the wine. “He’s just not used to the city yet. Give him some time. If you manage not to kill him I think you could be friends.”
“Not likely,” Subaru snorted, unable to help the disbelief in his voice.
“You’re friends with Maru.”
“… that’s different. I’ve known that idiot since he was born.”
Yasu just clucked his tongue as he filled a bowl with fresh dumplings and placed them on the table beside the other's glass of wine , letting the silence speak louder than his words could have.
Subaru sighed, whispered a soft thanks as he picked up a set of chopsticks and shoved a dumpling into his mouth, chewing it a bit more aggressively than was necessary as he worked out some of his frustration in the only way he could. He would have prefered working it out on Yoko's face, but Yasu was probably right-it wasn't a good idea. For one thing, it would upset Aiba and he didn't want to do that, even if the other's friend was a complete idiot. For another, it would upset Yasu, given how much the other hated unnecessary violence, and the thought of upsetting Yasu upset him, which was completely counterproductive.
“I’ll draw a bath for Aiba and Yoko. I can probably talk them into staying upstairs for the rest of the night.” Yasu promised as he reached out to squeeze Subaru's shoulders and effectively broke his train of thought.
Subaru reached up, his hand covering one of Yasu’s and giving it a light squeeze in silent apology. He tilted his head back to meet the other's eyes and offered him a sheepish grin. Yasu was getting way too good at taking care of him without being asked. “Thanks.”
“Anytime,” Yasu chuckled, his hands giving the other’s shoulders a brief squeeze, lingering a moment longer than necessary before he pulled away. "And I'll ask around and see if anyone knows of someone who needs an extra set of hands during the day. I'm sure there's work to be done somewhere in the city that would suit Yoko and give him a bit of extra spending money."
Subaru nodded and gave him a look of gratitude that bordered on teary-eyed. "What would I do without you?"
"Drink all your profits and kill your cousins' friends," Yasu answered with a wink and a soft laugh as he turned his attention back to finishing dinner.
--
“Jun, you look radiant today. Yellow isn’t usually your color.” Pi lowered his teacup and gave the older man a practiced smile.
Jun returned the smile as he settled into his chair at the head of the table, the expressions of the other concubines reflecting a mixture of apprehension, curiosity, amusement and straight out fear at such a pointed comment. He couldn’t say he really blamed them for their reactions, given his reputation around the palace, but, then, that wasn’t really his fault. Being in the Emperor’s harem was a constant struggle and that didn’t change even when you were at the top. If he was known to have a sharp tongue and an even sharper temper it was what his position and years of being surrounded by scheming young men and women hoping to win the Emperor’s attention had bred into him.
“You’re too kind, Pi,” Jun answered as he gave Pi his most benevolent smile. “I must say you’re looking well today yourself. I’ve always admired the way you can make clothing that… old fashionsed look new again. That robe looks absolutely stunning on you.”
“Thank you,” Pi answered, his smile tight-lipped enough to let Jun know that he’d won this round. He felt a more genuine smile on his lips as the rest of the table relaxed around him and picked up lost threads of conversation.
Still smiling he turned and motioned to Nino, ignoring the slight smirk the other offered him as he leaned in to fill his tea. It was too early to worry about desperate social climbers like Pi right now when he had much bigger things on his mind. He just prayed that the trainees weren’t as unimaginably stupid this year as the previous bunch and that there would be less scheming. He really couldn’t take having to deal with any more backwater, power-hungry boys and their ill conceived power plays. It only ever amounted to more work for him and the servants and a general sense of chaos until the new concubines were selected and settled in to their positions.
“Jun, did you hear the news?” A bright-eyed boy spoke to his left, giving Jun a secretive, almost shy smile. Jun couldn’t quite remember his name-Tegoshi, maybe?-- and was actually a little surprised to even see him here. He was one of the poor boys stuck at the bottom of the harem’s power structure, never having attracted the emperor’s attention as Jun had and lacking the drive or connections to garner attention from the palace officials like Pi. Still, he was a nice boy despite all that and Jun couldn’t help but like him and pity him a little, given he’d been in the exact same position not that long ago.
“Well, I hear a lot of news,” Jun answered in a soft voice. “You’ll have to tell me what news you mean, exactly.”
“Two men were caught sneaking into the kitchen last night,” the boy whispered, his eyes wide as he leaned in in a conspiratorial manner. “I heard that the Captain of the guard forced the kitchen staff to throw out all the wine and half the food. The rumor is they were carrying poison.”
Jun smiled to cover his shock and gave the boy a slight bow of his head as the concubines along the table gasped and looked at each other in varying states of alarm. “I’m sure whatever happened, the guards took care of it. They’re well trained in their jobs. Now, let’s not talk of such things before breakfast. It’s vulgar.”
He picked up his tea and sipped it calmly, glad to see the looks of relief on the others’ faces. He didn’t dare turn around to look, but he was pretty certain that Nino’s expression was just as calm and impassive as his own-and that the other was just as worried. Whether the rumors were exaggerated or not, gossip about would-be assassins within the palace walls was never a good thing and the fact that he (and by proxy, Nino) hadn’t heard anything about this was worrisome. It was definitely something to deal with later.
For now he had to focus on getting himself and the rest of the concubines present through breakfast and greeting the new candidates for the Emperor’s harem as smoothly as possible. Given the tendency for dramatics among the concubines and the looks that Pi kept giving him he was fairly certain it wasn’t going to be an easy task. He almost wished they were serving wine with breakfast instead of tea.
--
"Captain, it's time for tea," a whey-faced serving girl murmured, her head bowed and hands crossed in front of her in a subservient pose as she addressed him.
"Right. Bring mine here," Toma murmured without looking up, his face screwed up in an expression of intense concentration as he poured over the list of applicants for the newly opened positions in the Imperial Guard. Of all of his duties as the Captain of the guard this was one of his least favorite. It wasn't that he disliked recruiting new people-- just the opposite, in fact, as fresh blood always gave the old guards an often much needed jolt of vitality-- it was that he hated the tediousness of dealing with paperwork. In most cases he could get away with shunting it off on one of his secondary officers, but with something as important as this, where his choices could ultimately put the Emperor's life on the line, there was no getting around it.
Toma let himself get fully absorbed in the task at hand as the serving girl disappeared out the door in a soft whisper of silk, his head starting to ache a little from pouring over the nearly one hundred names of hopeful (either through their own hope or the hope of a relative aspiring for power who'd thought to nominate them) candidates. Their exam scores, rankings and brief histories of their positions and military experience were included on the scrolls, but they never really told Toma what he wanted to know.
His pride was still smarting a little from the last time he'd done this and his choices, which had seemed so excellent at the time, had turned out to be less than ideal.
Add to that the close call they’d had in the kitchens last night and the fact that Ohno was not only his Emperor but his friend and it just made this selection seem that much more important. He couldn’t afford to bring in anyone knew who was less than completely trustworthy.
The soft sound of the door sliding open and the muffled slide of footsteps across the lush carpet alerted Toma to the serving girl's return long before she laid the teacup and a tray of delicate looking biscuits on one of the only clear spots on the desk. He registered it briefly and just as quickly dismissed it, his attention too focused on his work to bother with niceties. He made a mental note to apologize to the girl later and have a friendly chat with her when he had more time to afford one.
"You'll give yourself a headache sitting like this."
Toma jumped, ready to turn and tell the serving girl to leave him be in less than polite terms when the familiarity of the soft voice in his ear and the hands that were suddenly on his shoulders struck him. He turned, his eyes a little wide and his expression harrowed. "Pi... I really don't have time now."
Pi smiled slightly and shook his head as his grip on Toma's shoulder's tightened. "All I came here for was tea... and to keep you from overexerting yourself. You didn’t even take the time to come to breakfast. If you stay holed up in here and give yourself a stroke from too much thinking where will that leave the rest of us?"
"Please... you'd have whoever replaced me at your beck and call before sundown. The rest of the guards already fawn over you as it is," Toma answered, unable to help the smile he could feel tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"Probably, but I'm used to you by now," Pi shot back, his smile widening into a grin as he started to move his hands on Toma's shoulders, massaging them gently. "Drink your tea and give your mind a rest before I have to drug you."
Toma snorted but reached for his tea anyway, already starting to relax a little under Pi's practiced hands. "Idle threats."
Pi laughed softly and continued to work Toma's shoulders as a comfortable silence fell around them. Toma closed his eyes as he sipped at his tea, letting the warmth and Pi's comforting presence soothe his currently battered nerves. He'd never understand why he could take being thrown off a horse, trampled on, kicked in the head and beaten to a pulp and come up swinging and eager for more, but when you threw him in a room with paperwork for half a day all he wanted to do was crawl underneath a rock and hide. Shun had always said it was because some men were meant to lead with words and others with actions. Toma was and would always be a man of action.
"You're undoing all my hard work," Pi mumbled, his voice gently chiding as he felt Toma start to tense beneath his fingers again.
"Sorry," Toma murmured sheepishly, letting his half-empty teacup rest against one knee as he tilted his head forward and tried to push all thoughts from his head. Nearly two years later and he still felt a pang everytime he thought of Shun and the hole the other had left in his life when he left.
"No worries."
Toma shivered as gentle fingers started to run through his hair, the simple, familiar action enough to relax him. Once the tension had finally drained from his neck and shoulders again he turned and offered the other a grateful smile. "Thanks."
Pi nodded, letting his hands drop down to his lap as he returned the other's smile. He leaned forward and brushed his lips against Toma's cheek. "Just be sure to hire someone attractive."
Toma laughed as he watched Pi stand and move towards the door in the well-practiced, graceful glide that was characteristic of all the Emperor's concubines but that somehow seemed to suit him more than most of the other young men. "Only if you promise to stay out of trouble."
"It's not my fault trouble always happens to the people around me," Pi answered, giving Toma a playful wink before disappearing out the door.
Toma turned his attention back to the papers still covering his desk, but this time with his lips curled upwards into a slight smile.
--
Ohno smiled and nodded his head as the banner heads turned to leave, murmuring various blessings and well-wishes on their way. He waited until they were gone, leaving him alone with Sho and a servant who was busily tidying up the empty teacups and scattered papers left in the meeting’s wake, to relax. He reached for his lukewarm cup of tea and sipped at it, his face thoughtful as Sho shuffled papers and made notes beside him.
“I’ll hand these over to the right officials later,” Sho promised as he sorted them into various piles that seemed to be logical enough for him but made no sense at all to Ohno. “Some of their requests are a little extravagant, but I think we should be able to manage most of it with all the new trade we’ve been doing in the south.”
Ohno nodded, swirling his tea around in his cup as he stared down at the table a bit blankly, the soft rustle of papers and the occasional murmur as Sho talked to himself the only sounds in the room. A soft breeze blew through the window and rustled his hair, bringing with it the scent of spring flowers and the hushed voices of servants moving about somewhere nearby on the palace grounds.
Ohno sat his cup down suddenly and looked up at Sho, his expression curious. “Do you know someone named Nino? I think he’s a servant here in the palace.”
“Nino?” Sho froze, his hands caught mid-motion as he gave Ohno a slightly confused look. “Uh… well, one of Jun’s servants is named Nino.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” Sho answered, hesitating for a moment as a slight flash of worry crossed his features. “You haven’t heard any rumors about him, have you?”
“What? No… I met him in the garden,” Ohno answered with a slight shrug, his face still thoughtful. “I wonder why Jun’s never mentioned him. What does he do?”
“Uh…,” Sho stammered, opening and closing his mouth a few times before he could actually manage words. “He’s Jun’s personal servant. So I guess he does a little bit of everything.”
“Personal servant… do you think he’s busy now?”
“Well, Jun is greeting all of the harem candidates today. He’s probably helping him see to that.” Sho coughed discretely into his hand, not quite sure what to make of Ohno’s sudden interest in a servant.
“Hm. I guess so. It’ll have to be some other day, then,” Ohno murmured as he reached out and picked up his teacup, his eyes staring off into space again.
Sho nodded, holding in a sigh as he turned back to the papers spread out in front of him and began sorting them a bit more slowly than before.
Genre: AU
Rating: PG
Pairings: None for the moment
Characters: Arashi, Kanjani8, NewS
Disclaimer: Done purely for entertainment purposes. I only own my warped imagination.
Summary: Several years later they all find themselves living lives that some of them didn't quite expect.
Author's Note: Based loosely on Qing Dynasty China, both politically and culturally. Please forgive any mistakes I've made (some purposefully for artistic license's sake, other's completely unintentionally). Dedicated to catacombkid who wanted an Ohno-with-a-harem fic and got me started writing this beast. ♥
Prologue
Chapter One
"Jun... Jun, it's time to get up."
Jun made a sound of frustration and rolled over to bury his face in a pillow, covering his head with another to block out the annoying noise that was ruining an otherwise perfect sleep. He could just feel sleep starting to drag him back down with it when someone yanked the covers from his body, the cold air of the room enough to make him throw off the pillow and sit up with a soft growl. "What the hell?"
"Language," Nino clucked, his face the picture of innocence even as he stood at the foot of the bed with Jun's silk comforter pooled around his feet, one end of it still gripped loosely in his hand. "It's 9, Jun dear, and you're going to be late for breakfast with the Emperor."
Jun uttered another obscenity and practically leapt out of bed, his face drawn up in a scowl as he rushed across the room to his oversized wardrobe to hurriedly find something acceptable to wear, his loose hair flying wildly about and making him look that much more frantic. "I thought I told you to wake me up at 8... you know I can't be late for this, Nino! The new recruits are arriving today and I have to go help with the selection right after breakfast. If I show up looking rumpled what kind of impression will that make?"
Nino chose not to answer and crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the foot of Jun's bed with a look of poorly disguised amusement as he watched the other rush around.
"And where is my hair clasp?" Jun muttered to himself, pausing in his wild search to turn and give Nino a narrow-eyed look. "You could help me, you know."
"What do I look like, your servant?"
"... you are my servant," Jun huffed as he gave Nino a look that hovered somewhere between annoyed and desperate.
Nino broke into a grin and shook his head as he stepped forward and grabbed the other's shoulders to steer him back towards the bed. Once he'd gotten him seated he motioned to the outfit laid out carefully on one of the chairs. "Don't worry, I took care of it."
Jun looked at the outfit and then back at Nino, his eyebrows arching as he finally took the time to look at the clock perched on his bedside table, which clearly read 7:30. "You--you did that just to see how worked up I'd get!"
Nino shrugged as Jun met his eyes and laughed softly. "It got you out of bed on time, didn't it? And I didn't even have to put up with you whining about how tired you are, either."
"I'm getting a new servant," Jun hissed, crossing his arms over his chest as he gave Nino his most evil look.
Nino just smiled and patted the other on the shoulder, totally unaffected by a look that would have most (if not all) of the palace staff running for cover. "You can thank me later, when you show up to breakfast looking stunning and the Emperor falls all over himself to compliment you."
"The emperor doesn't fall all over himself to compliment anyone," Jun grumbled but still managed to look somewhat appeased by Nino's words. "Just for this I'm making you fix my hair."
"Yes master," Nino answered, his voice teasing as he poked Jun in the shoulder playfully. "Come on... you need to start getting dressed. You wouldn't want to keep the Emperor waiting."
--
"Good morning, your highness." Sho clasped his hands in front of him and bowed his head as the door opened and a very regal, if somewhat tired looking Ohno greeted him. He smiled a little and dropped the formality as the other leaned in and laid his head on his shoulder with a loud yawn. "You know you can't go to breakfast yawning. The heads of the banner houses are here to honor the new trainees and you need to make a good impression."
"I know," Ohno answered, his voice soft as he gave another soft yawn. After a few more beats he lifted his head from the other's shoulder and forced himself to stand up straight as he adjusted the front of his robe. Mixing politics with food was never something he'd taken much pleasure in, but it was a necessary evil he was slowly getting used to, however reluctantly. "You invited Jun?"
"Of course," Sho answered with a slightly rigid nod. "I invited all of the concubines. It would be a bit rude not to invite him since he has the highest rank.”
"You don't have to keep pretending you don't like him," Ohno mumbled as they started toward the hall where their guests awaited them, their footsteps echoing dully through the corridor.
"Who? Jun? I never said I didn't like him," Sho answered, his brows furrowing slightly.
Ohno shrugged and gave Sho one of his half-smiles. "You act disapproving. Whatever you think about male concubines I know you like Jun."
"Whether I like Jun or not doesn't have anything to do with it, your highness," Sho sighed, some of the stiffness dropping from his shoulders as he gave Ohno a slightly worried look. "I know you care about him, but he's male and right now you should be focusing on having children to carry on your line. If anyone's thinking of taking power for themselves now is the time to do it, when you're childless and it would be up for grabs should anything happen to you. Focusing on a male concubine now of all times is just weakness you can't afford."
Ohno smiled and laid a friendly hand on Sho's shoulder as they walked. "Once I have children the mother's family will be vying for power. There’s always going to be someone wanting power, Sho. You worry too much."
"And you don't worry enough," Sho murmured back, his shoulder drooping beneath the other's hand. "I know you think I'm paranoid, Ohno, but this is serious. The nobility around here are vultures when they sense any sort of weakness and a lot of them are already upset that your father even named you his heir to begin with-- I just don't want them to get any ideas."
"I'll be fine." Ohno stopped them both in their tracks and turned to Sho, his expression more serious than Sho had seen it in a long time. "Thank you for worrying."
Sho opened his mouth and then closed it, making a small sound of assent as he met Ohno's eyes and nodded at him dumbly. He could have gone on arguing with Ohno all day but it would have been wasting his breath, really. And for all his preaching and worrying he knew that none of it was anything Ohno hadn't thought of himself before. Contrary to most of the after-dinner gossip in the upper city and even, to a certain extent, around the palace, Ohno was good enough at reading people and atmospheres to know what an alarmingly large proportion of the Nobility thought of him. He just didn't worry about it nearly as much as he should.
Ohno smiled and started to walk again, leaving Sho standing behind him still looking defeated. "Cheer up. I heard a rumor that they brought in fresh pineapple and mango just for this meal.”
Sho fell into step beside him with a sigh.
--
“I’m going to kill him,” Subaru murmured under his breath as he slumped into a nearby chair and gave Yasu a look of long-suffering.
“No you won’t, because he’s your cousin’s best friend,” Yasu answered, laughing softly as he paused in his kitchen duties to set a glass of rice wine in front of the grumpy looking older man.
“That won’t matter if he keeps this up. I’ve never heard someone talk so much,” Subaru grumbled as he picked up the glass of warm wine and took a long, grateful swig. He’d agreed to take in his cousin Aiba while he was in the capital to take the state exam, and gladly so, but he hadn’t thought when he’d agreed to let Aiba’s friend stay as well that he’d be quite this irritating. They’d only been here two days and already the other had managed to scare away a group of good paying customers, break an entire set of their best plates and had made one of the more reasonably attractive serving girls threaten to quit three times.
“He’s not that bad,” Yasu argued as he set back to work on that night's meal, his voice doing as much to soothe Subaru’s frayed nerves as the wine. “He’s just not used to the city yet. Give him some time. If you manage not to kill him I think you could be friends.”
“Not likely,” Subaru snorted, unable to help the disbelief in his voice.
“You’re friends with Maru.”
“… that’s different. I’ve known that idiot since he was born.”
Yasu just clucked his tongue as he filled a bowl with fresh dumplings and placed them on the table beside the other's glass of wine , letting the silence speak louder than his words could have.
Subaru sighed, whispered a soft thanks as he picked up a set of chopsticks and shoved a dumpling into his mouth, chewing it a bit more aggressively than was necessary as he worked out some of his frustration in the only way he could. He would have prefered working it out on Yoko's face, but Yasu was probably right-it wasn't a good idea. For one thing, it would upset Aiba and he didn't want to do that, even if the other's friend was a complete idiot. For another, it would upset Yasu, given how much the other hated unnecessary violence, and the thought of upsetting Yasu upset him, which was completely counterproductive.
“I’ll draw a bath for Aiba and Yoko. I can probably talk them into staying upstairs for the rest of the night.” Yasu promised as he reached out to squeeze Subaru's shoulders and effectively broke his train of thought.
Subaru reached up, his hand covering one of Yasu’s and giving it a light squeeze in silent apology. He tilted his head back to meet the other's eyes and offered him a sheepish grin. Yasu was getting way too good at taking care of him without being asked. “Thanks.”
“Anytime,” Yasu chuckled, his hands giving the other’s shoulders a brief squeeze, lingering a moment longer than necessary before he pulled away. "And I'll ask around and see if anyone knows of someone who needs an extra set of hands during the day. I'm sure there's work to be done somewhere in the city that would suit Yoko and give him a bit of extra spending money."
Subaru nodded and gave him a look of gratitude that bordered on teary-eyed. "What would I do without you?"
"Drink all your profits and kill your cousins' friends," Yasu answered with a wink and a soft laugh as he turned his attention back to finishing dinner.
--
“Jun, you look radiant today. Yellow isn’t usually your color.” Pi lowered his teacup and gave the older man a practiced smile.
Jun returned the smile as he settled into his chair at the head of the table, the expressions of the other concubines reflecting a mixture of apprehension, curiosity, amusement and straight out fear at such a pointed comment. He couldn’t say he really blamed them for their reactions, given his reputation around the palace, but, then, that wasn’t really his fault. Being in the Emperor’s harem was a constant struggle and that didn’t change even when you were at the top. If he was known to have a sharp tongue and an even sharper temper it was what his position and years of being surrounded by scheming young men and women hoping to win the Emperor’s attention had bred into him.
“You’re too kind, Pi,” Jun answered as he gave Pi his most benevolent smile. “I must say you’re looking well today yourself. I’ve always admired the way you can make clothing that… old fashionsed look new again. That robe looks absolutely stunning on you.”
“Thank you,” Pi answered, his smile tight-lipped enough to let Jun know that he’d won this round. He felt a more genuine smile on his lips as the rest of the table relaxed around him and picked up lost threads of conversation.
Still smiling he turned and motioned to Nino, ignoring the slight smirk the other offered him as he leaned in to fill his tea. It was too early to worry about desperate social climbers like Pi right now when he had much bigger things on his mind. He just prayed that the trainees weren’t as unimaginably stupid this year as the previous bunch and that there would be less scheming. He really couldn’t take having to deal with any more backwater, power-hungry boys and their ill conceived power plays. It only ever amounted to more work for him and the servants and a general sense of chaos until the new concubines were selected and settled in to their positions.
“Jun, did you hear the news?” A bright-eyed boy spoke to his left, giving Jun a secretive, almost shy smile. Jun couldn’t quite remember his name-Tegoshi, maybe?-- and was actually a little surprised to even see him here. He was one of the poor boys stuck at the bottom of the harem’s power structure, never having attracted the emperor’s attention as Jun had and lacking the drive or connections to garner attention from the palace officials like Pi. Still, he was a nice boy despite all that and Jun couldn’t help but like him and pity him a little, given he’d been in the exact same position not that long ago.
“Well, I hear a lot of news,” Jun answered in a soft voice. “You’ll have to tell me what news you mean, exactly.”
“Two men were caught sneaking into the kitchen last night,” the boy whispered, his eyes wide as he leaned in in a conspiratorial manner. “I heard that the Captain of the guard forced the kitchen staff to throw out all the wine and half the food. The rumor is they were carrying poison.”
Jun smiled to cover his shock and gave the boy a slight bow of his head as the concubines along the table gasped and looked at each other in varying states of alarm. “I’m sure whatever happened, the guards took care of it. They’re well trained in their jobs. Now, let’s not talk of such things before breakfast. It’s vulgar.”
He picked up his tea and sipped it calmly, glad to see the looks of relief on the others’ faces. He didn’t dare turn around to look, but he was pretty certain that Nino’s expression was just as calm and impassive as his own-and that the other was just as worried. Whether the rumors were exaggerated or not, gossip about would-be assassins within the palace walls was never a good thing and the fact that he (and by proxy, Nino) hadn’t heard anything about this was worrisome. It was definitely something to deal with later.
For now he had to focus on getting himself and the rest of the concubines present through breakfast and greeting the new candidates for the Emperor’s harem as smoothly as possible. Given the tendency for dramatics among the concubines and the looks that Pi kept giving him he was fairly certain it wasn’t going to be an easy task. He almost wished they were serving wine with breakfast instead of tea.
--
"Captain, it's time for tea," a whey-faced serving girl murmured, her head bowed and hands crossed in front of her in a subservient pose as she addressed him.
"Right. Bring mine here," Toma murmured without looking up, his face screwed up in an expression of intense concentration as he poured over the list of applicants for the newly opened positions in the Imperial Guard. Of all of his duties as the Captain of the guard this was one of his least favorite. It wasn't that he disliked recruiting new people-- just the opposite, in fact, as fresh blood always gave the old guards an often much needed jolt of vitality-- it was that he hated the tediousness of dealing with paperwork. In most cases he could get away with shunting it off on one of his secondary officers, but with something as important as this, where his choices could ultimately put the Emperor's life on the line, there was no getting around it.
Toma let himself get fully absorbed in the task at hand as the serving girl disappeared out the door in a soft whisper of silk, his head starting to ache a little from pouring over the nearly one hundred names of hopeful (either through their own hope or the hope of a relative aspiring for power who'd thought to nominate them) candidates. Their exam scores, rankings and brief histories of their positions and military experience were included on the scrolls, but they never really told Toma what he wanted to know.
His pride was still smarting a little from the last time he'd done this and his choices, which had seemed so excellent at the time, had turned out to be less than ideal.
Add to that the close call they’d had in the kitchens last night and the fact that Ohno was not only his Emperor but his friend and it just made this selection seem that much more important. He couldn’t afford to bring in anyone knew who was less than completely trustworthy.
The soft sound of the door sliding open and the muffled slide of footsteps across the lush carpet alerted Toma to the serving girl's return long before she laid the teacup and a tray of delicate looking biscuits on one of the only clear spots on the desk. He registered it briefly and just as quickly dismissed it, his attention too focused on his work to bother with niceties. He made a mental note to apologize to the girl later and have a friendly chat with her when he had more time to afford one.
"You'll give yourself a headache sitting like this."
Toma jumped, ready to turn and tell the serving girl to leave him be in less than polite terms when the familiarity of the soft voice in his ear and the hands that were suddenly on his shoulders struck him. He turned, his eyes a little wide and his expression harrowed. "Pi... I really don't have time now."
Pi smiled slightly and shook his head as his grip on Toma's shoulder's tightened. "All I came here for was tea... and to keep you from overexerting yourself. You didn’t even take the time to come to breakfast. If you stay holed up in here and give yourself a stroke from too much thinking where will that leave the rest of us?"
"Please... you'd have whoever replaced me at your beck and call before sundown. The rest of the guards already fawn over you as it is," Toma answered, unable to help the smile he could feel tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"Probably, but I'm used to you by now," Pi shot back, his smile widening into a grin as he started to move his hands on Toma's shoulders, massaging them gently. "Drink your tea and give your mind a rest before I have to drug you."
Toma snorted but reached for his tea anyway, already starting to relax a little under Pi's practiced hands. "Idle threats."
Pi laughed softly and continued to work Toma's shoulders as a comfortable silence fell around them. Toma closed his eyes as he sipped at his tea, letting the warmth and Pi's comforting presence soothe his currently battered nerves. He'd never understand why he could take being thrown off a horse, trampled on, kicked in the head and beaten to a pulp and come up swinging and eager for more, but when you threw him in a room with paperwork for half a day all he wanted to do was crawl underneath a rock and hide. Shun had always said it was because some men were meant to lead with words and others with actions. Toma was and would always be a man of action.
"You're undoing all my hard work," Pi mumbled, his voice gently chiding as he felt Toma start to tense beneath his fingers again.
"Sorry," Toma murmured sheepishly, letting his half-empty teacup rest against one knee as he tilted his head forward and tried to push all thoughts from his head. Nearly two years later and he still felt a pang everytime he thought of Shun and the hole the other had left in his life when he left.
"No worries."
Toma shivered as gentle fingers started to run through his hair, the simple, familiar action enough to relax him. Once the tension had finally drained from his neck and shoulders again he turned and offered the other a grateful smile. "Thanks."
Pi nodded, letting his hands drop down to his lap as he returned the other's smile. He leaned forward and brushed his lips against Toma's cheek. "Just be sure to hire someone attractive."
Toma laughed as he watched Pi stand and move towards the door in the well-practiced, graceful glide that was characteristic of all the Emperor's concubines but that somehow seemed to suit him more than most of the other young men. "Only if you promise to stay out of trouble."
"It's not my fault trouble always happens to the people around me," Pi answered, giving Toma a playful wink before disappearing out the door.
Toma turned his attention back to the papers still covering his desk, but this time with his lips curled upwards into a slight smile.
--
Ohno smiled and nodded his head as the banner heads turned to leave, murmuring various blessings and well-wishes on their way. He waited until they were gone, leaving him alone with Sho and a servant who was busily tidying up the empty teacups and scattered papers left in the meeting’s wake, to relax. He reached for his lukewarm cup of tea and sipped at it, his face thoughtful as Sho shuffled papers and made notes beside him.
“I’ll hand these over to the right officials later,” Sho promised as he sorted them into various piles that seemed to be logical enough for him but made no sense at all to Ohno. “Some of their requests are a little extravagant, but I think we should be able to manage most of it with all the new trade we’ve been doing in the south.”
Ohno nodded, swirling his tea around in his cup as he stared down at the table a bit blankly, the soft rustle of papers and the occasional murmur as Sho talked to himself the only sounds in the room. A soft breeze blew through the window and rustled his hair, bringing with it the scent of spring flowers and the hushed voices of servants moving about somewhere nearby on the palace grounds.
Ohno sat his cup down suddenly and looked up at Sho, his expression curious. “Do you know someone named Nino? I think he’s a servant here in the palace.”
“Nino?” Sho froze, his hands caught mid-motion as he gave Ohno a slightly confused look. “Uh… well, one of Jun’s servants is named Nino.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” Sho answered, hesitating for a moment as a slight flash of worry crossed his features. “You haven’t heard any rumors about him, have you?”
“What? No… I met him in the garden,” Ohno answered with a slight shrug, his face still thoughtful. “I wonder why Jun’s never mentioned him. What does he do?”
“Uh…,” Sho stammered, opening and closing his mouth a few times before he could actually manage words. “He’s Jun’s personal servant. So I guess he does a little bit of everything.”
“Personal servant… do you think he’s busy now?”
“Well, Jun is greeting all of the harem candidates today. He’s probably helping him see to that.” Sho coughed discretely into his hand, not quite sure what to make of Ohno’s sudden interest in a servant.
“Hm. I guess so. It’ll have to be some other day, then,” Ohno murmured as he reached out and picked up his teacup, his eyes staring off into space again.
Sho nodded, holding in a sigh as he turned back to the papers spread out in front of him and began sorting them a bit more slowly than before.