Saiunkoku Monogatari, Reishin/Kouyuu, fucking in the rain - 1/3
The summer storm pattered down on the tile outside the window, bringing a fresh breeze into Kou Reishin's estate that drove away the scents of that evening's supper and the tang of incense. Kouyuu barely felt it, as he stared at the small scroll that Reishin had pressed into his hand a few moments before.
It was barely more than a scrap of paper, rolled up tightly and sealed both with a spot of wax and an ornamented red ribbon, and tied in an elaborate knot that Kouyuu knew despite its elegance and seeming complexity, it would fall open at a touch. Despite Reishin's many attempts to teach him, he'd never learned the delicate movements required to tie such knots.
"You will go to Shuurei's house tonight and deliver it to her father," Reishin instructed. "Take the carriage. I don't want you getting lost, and the rain will ruin your clothes and the scroll, besides."
"What is it?" he asked stupidly, even though a part of him was whispering frantically that he already knew.
Reishin sighed. "Don't be silly, boy. It's a marriage proposal."
Kouyuu looked up, his heart thumping. "For who?"
That earned him a rap to the forehead that he was pretty sure he deserved. "For you, idiot. And my beautiful neice, Shuurei. Though I might have thought you'd figure that much out, it appears you left your brain at the palace this evening."
Kouyuu's fingers tightened and he heard the paper crinkle. "But...but...Reishin-sama..."
"No buts!" Reishin brandished the fan at him. "Go on and deliver that message, and tell Shouka you won't leave until you receive his blessing."
"No! Why won't you ever listen to me!" Kouyuu shouted, startling even himself. Reishin actually took a step back, the fan opening with a snap as if to shield him from his adopted son's anger.
He rallied quickly, stepping closer once again. "Now, now boy, there's no need to get irrational--"
"I'll be irrational if I want!" Kouyuu exclaimed. His hands closed into fists and the scroll crunched. Reishin made an urgent sound in his throat, but Kouyuu turned and bolted before he could protest the abuse of the precious scroll.
Out into the rain, and half-blind with anger, Kouyuu fled.
The rain was warm, but fierce, and it soaked him to the skin within minutes. He finally fetched up against a large cherry tree, long since lost all of its blossoms and beginning to swell with fruit. Blowing hard like a racehorse, he looked around but all he could see was gloom and, in the distance, the lights of the house.
He hadn't been paying attention to where he was going, and it was probably a miracle that he hadn't strayed from the grounds. He turned around and leaned against the wet bark of the tree, gazing through the curtain of the rain towards the warmth of the lanterns hanging from the eaves of his house. At least he knew how to get home.
If he was even welcome there anymore after that display.
He glanced down at the sad, crumpled bit of paper in his hand. He tugged on the end of the ribbon and it fell open in his palm. The fine rice paper was literally dissolving in the rain, and the ink had run, making the proposal virtually unreadable. He could only make out a few characters.
I ruined it, he thought, and despite everything the fact that he'd disappointed Reishin once again made him want to cry.
A swishing sound and a soft gasp made him look up to see with shock that Reishin was hurrying towards him. His hair had come free of its confines and the wooden box had been lost at some point. The long black hair cascaded loose over his shoulders, slicked down by the driving rain. In fact, Kouyuu had never seen Reishin look so bedraggled.
"Stupid child!" he snapped, holding up his robes out of the grass. He looked like he was wading towards Kouyuu.
He hadn't lost his fan, though, and he smacked it hard onto the top of Kouyuu's head. "Look what you made me do!"
Kouyuu was too stunned to try to avoid the hit, or to do anything but stare at Reishin with his jaw slack. "R-Reishin-sama, what are you doing?"
"Well I had to come find you, didn't I?" Reishin said. "You might have gotten lost and ended up somewhere terrible. What is the meaning of this behaviour, Kouyuu?"