The gardens were quiet, the place beside the lotus pond empty, as the courtiers and other inhabitants of the court had foregone it because of the weather, preferring the revelry inside. Even the birds that usually flitted around to amuse the maidens were gone, hiding in the foliage. It was cold, foreboding rain, and everyone was inside, enjoying the festivities following the Test of the Emerald Champion. Everyone, that is, but for a lone Phoenix samurai.

‘If only I could have been deemed by the soul of the Shiba to be worthy. If only I could have had their blessing then this would never have happened,’ Shiba Aikune thought, as he stood alone in the Imperial gardens. He’d refused he company of the Phoenix shugenja wanting to make sure he was well, and the Phoenix courtiers trying to express their outrage at his disqualification. He didn’t want anyone to break into his thoughts, and dark as they were, they were made darker by the overcast sky.

He had been disqualified from the Test of the Emerald Champion, by a technicality, but if he had stopped the shugenja from healing him, he’d have died that night. He knew it was all for the best, that he could still serve his clan in other ways, but this defeat hurt him. He had known who really won that duel, who had really been the better man.

‘That Scorpion, Bayushi Kwanchai. He knew that I would be declared ineligible even before he aimed his strike. Their clan was the only one allowed to use magic, a right the Phoenix should have, as a natural right of the guardians of magic. He knew he was the victor even when he lost. And that’s the thing I hate the most. I hate winning that way, by a disqualification that caught me in its claws and brought me down with it as well.’

His thoughts went to the Emerald Champion; to the post he wanted to win, to bring prestige to his oft-slighted clan. It was one of his few chances to prove himself, to show that even if he wasn’t just a pawn of the Elemental Council he could still be worthy and be of service to his clan and the Empire. Now it was gone, and he had to wait for battle, to show his strength in fighting. As if the thoughts were traveling a path they led to thoughts of the new Emerald Champion, the Crane Yasuki Hachi.

He’d heard that the Crane grew angry at their disqualifications, but he thought it was just a rumor. Why would he be angry, when the path to victory became clearer for him? ‘He was probably secretly glad he didn’t have to fight,’ he thought, angry at the lost opportunity. In his anger he remained unaware of the coming rain, until—

He felt a raindrop graze his cheek, and looked up. Rain was falling. It wasn’t a drizzle by any means. It was a pure, driving rain, and though as a Phoenix he always preferred the warmth of a good fire his mood didn’t want one. He needed the rain more.

He extended a hand, and let the rain patter softly against his palm. It felt so cold. In these moments he could almost imagine they were Yaruko’s tears, that she was crying at his defeat. She wanted him to feel her sadness, he knew that, in his heart. And as always it felt like she was there again, her gentle presence beside him once again, calming him.

‘I will become what you want me to be, here, Yaruko. I swear I will. I will do what I must to be worthy of being with you someday.’ He swore those words in his heart.

But how could he be worthy? The Ancestral sword of the Phoenix had ascended to the Heavens, and always it had been the sword that chose who will become the new Champion of the Phoenix. At his mother’s death, the post will be empty, but he knew he could never take her place. He was too independent, brash, according to some, and would never follow the whims of the Elemental Council. They’ll most likely choose one of his cousins, or worse, decide that a shugenja would be better suited for the position.

All of the sudden a shadow fell over him, and the rain stopped drenching him. He looked up and found an umbrella overhead. It had to be one of their Phoenix servants who, on seeing his lord getting wet in the rain, decided to bring this. He turned, about to say he didn’t need it, when he found himself looking into Yasuki Hachi’s smiling eyes.

He stood there stunned. He didn’t know when and how the Crane had managed to sneak up to him, but he must have been too lost in his thoughts to notice.

~~~~

The sounds of celebration hushed as he left the banqueting halls as soon as he could possibly could. He breathed easily as he headed for his own chambers, feeling a little bit freer now that the air wasn’t fraught with politicking and intrigues. With his rise to his new position, he had to keep himself above these petty squabbles. They were small compared to the threat of the Shadowlands, but when did the courtiers see it that way?

Yasuki Hachi was in no mood to laugh and be merry today.

It was a mood that had been with him since yesterday, when he became the Emerald Champion. He was troubled by what had happened during the test, hated the manipulations that got him this position. He knew that the Anvil, Hantei Naseru, would expect something in return, one way or the other, and so will the Scorpion whose shugenja’ insistence they were the only one who should cast spells in the presence of the 'Emperor' designated then. They were to blame for his getting this position, but still, he felt it was unfair.

He wondered how the past three Champions had managed to hold everything together while the Empire roiled before them. The badge of Championship felt heavy with the weight of his responsibilities. But he was a Crane, and he knew how to survive through adversity. He will face each problem with a composed face, betraying no sign of disquiet, as was proper for a samurai.

He had requested a moment alone, followed only by two of his most trusted retainers. His relatives Doji Nagori and Tanitsu were in court enjoying the little power games between courtiers. He was free for the moment, but soon he will have to discuss matters with his Magistrates. He glanced at the gardens, and saw it was raining. ‘How unfortunate. I would have wanted a walk through the gardens,’ he thought.

A flash of red and gold caught his eye. He stopped, and saw that the Phoenix contender for the Test of the Emerald Champion, Shiba Aikune, stood alone, with no umbrella to shelter him from the driving rain. His eyes were to the sky, looking like he was asking for the Heaven’s blessing, and then he looked down at his open palm. ‘What is he doing in the rain?’ Hachi thought. He turned to one of his retainers. “Get me an umbrella,” he commanded. The retainer bowed and hurried to fetch one.

‘What could have possessed this Phoenix to be out in the rain so soon after his injury? I know the Phoenix shugenja are some of the best healers in the land, but it is insane. Sickness would render him useless in the field of battle. The Phoenix is still fighting for their lands, as the Crane and Crab fight over the Yasuki estates. Why did his people allow him to do such a foolish thing? Is he such a brash fool he is like a Crab berserker who knows nothing but to fight when the bloodlust comes over him?’

He ruefully shook his head. He could be brash in his own way. The retainer came back with an umbrella, and he took it from the retainer’s hands. “I want tea in my rooms, and a bath ready when I get back. Go to the Phoenix and tell them that Shiba Aikune would want the same. See to it,” he told both of them, before he stepped out, alone, into the Imperial gardens, the umbrella open and above him. For a moment he thought what talk that would elicit, but dismissed it as trifling. It would be obvious that Aikune had been drenched by the rain.

‘Fool,’ he thought, when Aikune didn’t even sense his coming near, though he had been careful to alert the young man by creating soft splashes as he walked. ‘An assassin could have gutted you and left you for dead by this time.’ He stood a few inches behind Aikune, sheltering him under the umbrella.

Aikune looked up first, probably wondering how an umbrella got above him. He turned, about to tell the servant he thought was there his thanks, and paused when he saw who was behind him. A moment of stunned recognition, and then he took a step back into the rain.

“You defeated my purpose,” Hachi pointed out. Aikune still didn’t take the hint, just standing in the rain, his eyes guarded. Hachi sighed. “If you’re not going to get under this umbrella you’ll just make yourself ill.” He knew he sounded like a mother hen, but it was not going to do to have Aikune ill with him aware of it.

Aikune still remained under the rain, his hair now heavy from the downpour, his kimono clinging to his shoulders and torso. The mon on his happi coat was dull in the faint light. ‘What a stubborn fool, Hachi thought, getting annoyed at the stubborn façade the Phoenix presented. He had thought Aikune would be grateful; instead he was being cold-shouldered for an act of kindness he needn’t have performed. “I would have expected you to be in the festivities celebrating your proclamation as Emerald Champion, Hachi-sama,” he said, the honorary “sama” inflected so that it sounded like an insult.

“It gets boring. And the lady I was looking for was not in the crowd.” He shrugged. It was true, anyway. He’d spent precious minutes asking for her, since she made her impression on him during the Test. “It seems she and her father left early.”

Shiba Aikune thought which faction’s members had left early. All of the major factions were there, surely no one would dare express their dismay at another Crane Emerald Champion, so it had to be a minor clan. And the only one that left so far was— “Toku’s daughter?”

“Hm? You know her?”

“I know of her.” Aikune shook his head. “And I know of your reputation.”

It was a sort of remark that in any other case would have made Hachi challenge the speaker. But not today. He knew of Aikune’s reputation of being a brash hero as well. He formed his face into the semblance of complacency. “It is always nice to have one’s reputation precede you. It makes dealing with people so much easier.”

“Hm,” Aikune grunted, thinking how typically Crane the answer had been. Hachi raised an eyebrow. He decided that since there was no way he could convince the other young man to seek shelter the umbrella he stepped forward to take them both in the umbrella’s protection. It wouldn’t have been so awkward if they would just converse, or if Aikune would just stop being so stubborn about staying out. Hachi decided it would be best if they just talked.

“I regret that I did not get to face you during the test.”

~~~

Aikune watched the Crane’s face as he made the statement. There was nothing there to belie the sincerity in his words. But the face could always be made to look sincere. It wasn’t that hard. Anyone who lived in court learned the tricks of the trade.

But there weren’t any of those signs there. This Crane actually did feel regret. Did that mean he hadn’t taken part in the manipulations the Anvil and the courtiers had done? If so, then did he hate everything that happened, felt, like Aikune, that he was just a pawn they were toying with?

Aikune realized he’d actually hate being in Yasuki Hachi’s place right now. It was awkward and dangerous. Those people who put him in his place would expect favors in return, but didn’t they remember that the post of Emerald Champion answered only to the Emperor and the Empire. With no Emperor (or Empress, as Aikune reminded himself) Hachi only acted for what was good for the Empire.

But what was going to be good for the Empire now?

‘Not anger,’ he realized. ‘Not anger directed to those who are innocent.’

He nodded, slowly. Hachi wondered what he was thinking. “I regret I never got to face you in a duel as well, Hachi-sama.” No inflection of disrespect, no inflection of anger this time. Let his clan be angry with this man. It was not his manipulations that cost Aikune the duel.

Hachi nodded, pleased at having made the stubborn Phoenix see his view.

“But why did you bring an umbrella out here, when you could have ordered one of your retainers to do so?”

“Well, you would have refused it outright if I had sent one of my retainers—” Hachi shrugged. “And I thought you would need company.” He glanced outwards, not looking at Aikune. The rain was still falling, but not as hard as before. “And there’s another thing—”

Aikune glanced at where Hachi was looking, and saw his gaze was to the lotus pond, where glimpses of the golden scales of the goldfish residing there would sometimes break the monotonous grayness of the surface.

“I was wondering why a Phoenix would allow his fire to be extinguished by adversity.”

Aikune smiled. He was not much good in philosophy, as his teachers’ often lamented, but he understood the allusion. “Because he was a fool to believe it would be the same end to all the times he will try to soar.”

“Hm, that’s strange. I’m sure the Phoenix will always rise from the ashes, reborn.” Hachi extended the hand holding the handle of the umbrella, signifying that Aikune must have the umbrella. Aikune took it, puzzled. “Well,” he said, “—my duty here is done then.”

He took a step out of the shelter of the umbrella, into the rain. For a moment he just looked up the sky, the same way Aikune had been, moments before, and then he went on walking under the rain.

Aikune didn’t move for a moment, looking at his hand holding the umbrella, then at the departing Emerald Champion. “Wait!” he shouted, and followed the Crane. Hachi stopped walking, turning back and waiting for him to come near.

“Why are you walking under the rain? You had the umbrella.”

“I just had it to give it to you. I’ve given it to you. I think you still want some time alone, so I can’t ask you to bring me to the halls under the umbrella. That’s why I’m going back in with no umbrella.”

Aikune mentally shook his head. He knew it was a way to make him go in, this, but he might as well play along. “I would have thought a Crane like you wouldn’t want to get wet.” He held the umbrella over the two of them. “I’ve thought enough under this umbrella. I think it is time for me to go on to where I should walk.”

“And that is to the festivities?”

Aikune shook his head. “No, I can miss the festivities for now. What I meant is to a hot bath and warm tea.”

Hachi chuckled. “I thought as much. I told my retainers to tell yours to have both ready when you come in.”

“I hope it is ready then.” He paused, and then, without looking at the Crane, he said, “One of these days, Hachi-sama, maybe we can test each other’s mettle by sparring in the sword master’s dojo, when both of us have recovered from this rain.”

“It would please me.” They smiled at each other before mounting the steps to the Imperial palace. Aikune closed the umbrella and courteously held it out for Hachi.

“This is yours. I thank you for allowing me to use it for a moment.”

“You are welcome.” Hachi took it. The bowed to each other as equals and parted ways.

========

I can’t help this but—

~I'm walking in the rain yuku ate mo naku
kizutsuita karada nurashi
karamitsuku koori no zawameki
koroshi tsuzukete
samayou itsu made mo
Until I can forget your love
—Endless Rain, by X-Japan, the song to blame why rain always appears in my new fan fiction.