Predictor of the Future - Chapter 14
Title: Predictor of the Future
Writer: Tacuma811
Pairing: Perfect Pair
Chapter: 14
Genre: AU, romance, friendship, angst
Word count: 1058 words
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis
Previous Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
Chapter 14
The King married three months after he had chosen his bride. He made her grow out her hair, because he preferred girls with long, beautiful hair, and he tried her out in bed, because he wanted to be pleasured at night. So she did what he asked and passed the last tests to become the next Queen.
Fuji didn't get to see anything of the wedding. He wasn't invited and his help wasn't needed, so he didn't get to be there or see anything of the wedding at all. He heard from the servants that it had been the most beautiful event ever. Everything had been decorated white and the bride and groom had looked wonderful themselves. Fuji didn't really care about it, he just hoped they would be happy together. He had used his day off to sleep in and to talk to the people he hadn't seen in a while.
But the Seer wasn't the only one who hadn't been able to enjoy the wedding. The harvest in the East of the country hadn't been too well for a few years already, but things were getting out of hand now. The East was the driest part of the county and because of the heat most of their grains had burned to ashes. Because of the royal wedding not much had been arranged to make sure the people in the East wouldn't stare, but now that the festivities were over the Earl went to the King to make sure something would be done for his people.
Fuji was also called to join the meeting. He greeted the King and the Earl. He had seen the man before. It was the black-haired man that was always scowling. He knew now the man was named Sanada Genichirou. Tezuka had learned him the names of all the Dukes and Earls.
'We have to do something, Your Majesty,' said Sanada. 'My people have little food left, they can live for another month, but when the winter will come they will die. Not just the young children and the old people will die, also the hard working men who pay taxes will die. We have to do something!'
'Where do you want to get food for so many people?' asked the King. He didn't seem to be interested in this conversation. He was looking bored and was drawing something on a piece of paper.
'There is plenty of food in the other parts of the country!' said Sanada frustrated. 'They all had a perfect harvest. They could share that food with us.'
'Fuji, is it true what he says?' asked King Atobe.
'It is, Your Majesty,' answered Fuji. 'If we don't do anything nine out of ten people will starve in the East, while the other parts of the country will have food left.'
'It will cost a lot of money to ship all that food to the East,' mused the King. He was frowning, but his pen didn't leave the paper. 'Cant the people of the East go and buy their food in the other parts of the country?'
'They don't have enough money for that, Your Majesty,' answered the Earl. 'Most families live from the food they grow on their land and earn money by selling little parts of that. They don't have food themselves, let alone something to sell.'
'Your Majesty,' said Fuji. 'With your permission I'd like to speak.' King Atobe told him to speak and Fuji stood up. 'If you don't do anything about this a fifth of the people of this country will die. Thousands of people won't see the next Spring. You will lose twenty percent of you tax money! The East will become a dessert and our neighbor country will invade and easily take over the Eastern part of our country from us. From there they will fight to get more land. We will fight back and we will prevent them from getting any further, but we won't be able to take the East back from them. Both armies will get weaker and lots of soldiers will find death in that war. The Southern neighbor country will take it's chance and invade as well. They will take our entire country and their King will personally kill you!'
King Atobe had been listening to the seer with wide open eyes. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. If nothing happened the fate of his country would be terrible.
'Alright, let every city send food to the East and make sure it will all be safely locked in barns. When the people of the East run out of food the food from the barns should be divided, so all of the people will get something to eat. Make sure the healthy, strong men will stay healthy and strong!'
'Thank you, Your Majesty,' said Sanada and he quickly gathered his men to make arrangements and get everything done. Tezuka Kuniharu joined him to help him with the shipping of the food. The King left the room to take a nap, but Fuji stayed behind and watched how they were arranging everything. It didn't take too long before they were done. Sanada had already prepared most things before he went to talk to the King. All he needed was his permission to help his people and after that he could send his men to the different parts of the country to gather food, making sure the people there would still have enough left themselves.
'Thank you very much, Seer,' said Sanada to Fuji when he was about to get back to the East. 'I don't think I could have convinced the King without your prediction. Would things really turn out that bad if we didn't gather food?'
Fuji smiled. 'No, I just made that up,' he answered. 'A few hundred people would die. Our King might not care about that, but for us that is too much. I know you wanted to save them all. The King needs good reasons before he will give permission, so I gave him good reason to help your people. I want them to live.'
The Earl was speechless. He bowed shortly and muttered something that sounded like another 'thank you' before he quickly walked out of the room, leaving a smiling Fuji behind. Nobody else would ever know the truth.