This is the second story in the third Gaiden.


Otogibanashi no Hajimari [The Beginning of the Fairytale]

“What were you thinking about when you left your house?”

There was a man who had asked him that.
If he had asked why, he would have answered “so I wouldn’t be killed,” but he had said “what were you thinking about?”

Shouka without thinking had let slip his true feelings.

(…that time, what was my answer?)

Hokuto, who like a wild animal let loose his innermost thoughts, was always drawing out “truths” unknown to Shouka himself.

(…Ah, that was it. I remember.)

Closing his eyes, Shouka lightly scooped up the forgotten answer from the depths of his memories.

(…A fairytale.)

Prologue

—The sound was sealed.

“You are a gentle child.”

The eyes of his great aunt, beautiful, graceful, to whom all bowed their heads, grew soft at the sight of the flowers that the young Shouka always picked for her.

“And, a very wise child.”

Letting go of them to teach him the biwa by her own hand, she closed her eyes to listen to the sounds. She smiled with satisfaction at the five year old child who could perfectly play a song which was said to be of the utmost difficulty even for adults.

“Sound does not lie. I very much look forward to seeing what will become of you.”

That smile also appeared sad.

“….And, an unfortunate child. To at your age, already no longer know innocence.”

The eyes of the boy who had stopped playing the biwa, and was now quietly looking up, were no longer those of a small child. Having been born the eldest of the direct line of the Kou clan, from since before he could remember, he had watched the struggle for power. Perhaps that was his destiny.

“You are the boy who best embodies the qualities of the Kou clan. You will protect the Kou clan, Shouka.”

Shouka gently smiled. But, he did not nod to his great-aunt’s words.

Then he began to play again.
From her youth until now, Kou Gyokukan had been known as “Biwa-hime”, the greatest player of her era, surpassing both the Ran and Heki clans. She had even been called one who could fascinate like a god or demon, and she had, when formerly in the Inner Palace of the emperor, received markedly the favor of the emperor. Without letting it be known to others, she passed down her sound to him. Then later, after she breathed her last, even when everyone was lamenting that the secrets had not been passed on, Shouka had said nothing. He simply sealed his tone within the curtain of his silence, alone.

“Sound does not lie.”

–In exchange for hiding the bloody road he was already walking in secret.

Shouka suddenly awoke in the break room of the archives. In a moment he had completely awakened all five of his senses, a sensation he was used to. Even having just woken up, he certainly did not confuse reality and dream.

“This was a dream I haven’t had for a long time.”

The fact that his internal sensations were well ordered showed that as expected, he had awakened as he had planned.

—It was the middle of the night. Due to longstanding practice, Shouka did not need much sleep. Just a nap of one koku [some ridiculously small unit of time] was sufficient. So, it was extremely rare for him to dream like he did today.

The murmuring night wind, like the faint flapping of the wings of a bird, made him feel as though the hair on his body was moving the wrong way. The night unqualifiedly sharpened and clarified all sensations. Shouka took a deep breath, and thought about Shuurei, who had returned to Sa Province.

His daughter had cried and cried, then, raising her head, set off to Korin Village. Just like his wife, once she had decided something, she would persist in it, with a will of steel. Shouka smiled slightly.

“….Considering she is your and my daughter, Shuurei has grown into a child almost too good to be true.”

Shouka raised a hand to the string which tied back his hair, then noticed that his fingertips were slightly trembling. Really, could anyone have imagined that there would be a time when his fingers would tremble?

Shouka slowly put his hand on his forehead. His mind, which was as precise as the revolutions of the heavens, had become troubled even because of such trifling things.

“…..Ha…. really, since I met you, I’ve just kept on being out of sorts.”
Shuurei would be safe. Shuurei had moved unconsciously, Yuushun had calculated, and in the shortest possible time the preparations had been perfectly set out. Since the methods of treatment and the doctors had been arranged and packed up, there was no reason that things would not be resolved.

Even should the worst come to pass, the Jyasenkyou cult and the rest would be killed by Ensei and Seiran, and matters would end there. If the two of them couldn’t clear it up, then his younger brothers would do something.

Shuurei’s death was in no way a factor.

He should have absolutely, with complete conviction classified it as a “trivial matter.” But in spite of this, he could not be completely calm. Like the beating of the wings of an insect, like the swaying of the trees in the wind, in a place separate from reason his mind was uneasy. While tying his hair, Shouka took a deep breath. With his reason, he suppressed the emotions frothing up.

(I still must not move.)

Unbidden, in the back of his mind there came the sound of a biwa. It was the sound of his great-aunt, who had understood Shouka more than his parents.

From the time he had understood the true state of affairs within the Kou clan, his mind had been made up. If he did not grasp it, then peace would not come. If he did not preserve it, happiness would not continue. For that reason, it was necessary for him to dirty his hands.

–Even if until his death he would be a stranger to peace.

Happiness did not just happen. It was fragile, easily broken, and someone would always need to diligently protect it. And even then, it could easily shatter. The previous king and the previous Black Wolf were no longer there. If he relied on Shou Taishi, he would continually make a fool of himself. And so therefore….

(I must always be able to return “to myself.”)

Not letting himself be carried away by his emotions, a reason of ice, this was the proof that Shouka was Shouka. Shouka came out of the break room, and pushing his way through the darkness and the musty shelves of books, and opened one of the half-screens. The light of the stars came in, and lightly, vaguely shone. Because the clouds were hiding it, he did not know what shape the moon was. Yes—it had been a night just like this. The very first piece on the board had been put into motion.

Shouka, who had not even reached the age of ten, left his two younger brothers and set out from the Kou house.

“What were you thinking about when you left your house?”

In the second he recalled the voice of Hokuto in the dream. The atmosphere of the quiet night changed in a flash. In a burst, at the same time there was a sound like the beating of the wings of a bird, Shouka’s entire body became alert. Before he could consider things, his body moved. In the next moment, Shouka’s figure disappeared from the archives.

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