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Falling Sakura by rasinah
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= Falling Sakura =

“Konzen…oh, you’ve got a visitor?”
“It’s ok. Come on in.”
“My name’s Goku. And you, ojisan?”
“This *oniisan* is Tenpou. I’m an old friend of Konzen’s…”

* *

The wind extended its soft fingers to caress the long golden blond tresses of one who stood by the sakura tree. Eyes the color of mulberry watched a group of high ranking military granddads drinking sake and chattering away with distaste. He glanced away then, tired of the spectacle before him. A movement caught his eye; it was a lone sakura bloom floating down. Konzen Douji held out his palm to receive the cerise bud.

“I thought you don’t like flowers,” a mellifluous voice interrupted the dreamy moment.

Konzen looked over his shoulders and saw the owner of the voice approaching him with an amused smile. The presence of the Marshal had alerted the wind, for it then rushed to meander through the dark mane and even tugged at the black tie and pristine white lab coat he was wearing. For a military geek, Tenpou Gensui was too fine looking. He stopped a few inches before Konzen, hands securely tucked into the pockets of his coat, apparently waiting for the blonde to say something.

“Things…have changed…”

* *

“Please call me Ten-chan.”
“Great! Ten-chan it is!”
“Tenpou…I didn’t know you’re fond of children? You, the military geek, Marshal of Heaven’s Western Army.”
“And I’ve never seen you more alive…”

* *

“You’ve changed, Konzen.”
“What? Get out, old hag!”
“What’s wrong? It’s dull when nothing changes…”

* *

A chuckle escaped the brunette and the vivid green eyes behind the glass barriers shone with merriment. “Aye, things have changed. Not only for you but for me as well. Tenkai’s not the same anymore…at least for the both of us, minus all the fishy business the upper command has in their stinking minds.”

“Chh…”

“You don’t like it? It was you who said you’re so bored, you might as well be dead; except there’s no death here in Tenkai. Isn’t that so, Konzen?”

The nephew of the great Kanzeon Bosatsu said nothing, merely lowered his gaze to the flower in his palm. Strange how it felt in his hand; weightless, as if nothing’s there but its presence unmistakable. Slowly and carefully, he closed his hand over the flower and relished the feel of the soft, silky petals brushing against the undersides of his fingers. He felt something tugged at his heart when he realized how unappreciative he had been towards the simple pleasures of life.

* *

“Goku is it? That’s a good name. Go-one that can grasps. Ku-what’s invisible to the eyes…”

* *

“Do you remember the days from eons ago?” he asked out loud suddenly as he turned back to look at Tenpou, his gaze challenging.

Tenpou’s eyes widened slightly and one slender brow shot up, pointed as an arrowhead. “Me? I should be the one asking you that.”

“You’re mocking me,” growled Konzen. But upon seeing Tenpou flashing an apologetic smile, he softened his tone. “I was an outcast since the day father gave me away to the old hag. No one dared to be my friend, for they fear offending me would anger the great Kanzeon. Neither do they try to win my favor, for they know Kanzeon would not hear recommendations and referrals. Se preferred choosing hir own dogs on hir own accord. I’d learned to accept my fate and I kept telling myself that if I do not care for the things around me, then I’ll have no worries about being attached to them. Being immortal, too, made me realized that I’ll be alone for the rest of my life so why bother with anyone or anything. Then, I met another outcast…”

At this, Tenpou stepped closer to the blonde and then leaned against the sakura tree. He regarded the other man closely who had a faraway look his violet eyes. Konzen Douji had been given to the Goddess of Mercy who desired to have a child se could raise as hir own. Konzen’s mother, who was incidentally the Goddess of Fertility, had four sons before Konzen which was why it was hardly a problem for her to hand over her newly born babe. After all, the child was in good hands, despite the complex anatomy. But unfortunately, the child grew up to be one who had no talent for living. However, his fiery temper and fierce determination to stay true to his own principles had more than make up for his shortcoming and were often a source of amusing entertainment for his aunt.

“An outcast who had, and still has, his nose deep into books, and who often got into trouble with bullies,” Konzen continued as he took his place beside the brunette. “You are an ordinary, no relations whatsoever with any of the main kamis here. You were supposed to be a bureaucrat, but you refused to accept your destiny and instead enrolled yourself in the military academy. You loved reading anything that has to do with Down Below, and you think the only way you can go down there is by being in military. But your colleagues, many of them who have blood ties with the fighting god family, dislike you.”

Tenpou laughed. He did not know what had gotten into Konzen for he was surely being very articulate. Reminiscing was also very unlike Konzen, but Tenpou did not mind. The old days from eons ago had been precious to him. He still remembered the first time his eyes fell upon a pair of fair feet in inch-high clogs. Though it was a blurry sight since his glasses had flung off him just before he kissed the ground–courtesy of two burly boys, it was an image that had stuck firmly in his head. Then came a voice, deep and sinuous, asking what was going on. The two boys, in their roughened baritones, mimicked the question made by the clogged angel and demanded who he was.

“Konzen Douji. If you two airheads have brains, at least the size of your foul stinking pie holes, you’d know who I am.”

And before he could even finish, the bullies had already scurried away like hyenas abandoning their prey at the roar of a lion. Tenpou, meanwhile, had reached about for his glasses and had just put them on when he saw the retreating back of a sylphlike young boy about his age dressed in sleeveless pale indigo tunic-and-leggings ensemble with a golden belt embracing his waist.

“Matte…matte kudasai!”

Konzen had stopped but did not turn round. Instead in an icy tone, he had brushed Tenpou off. “Do not be mistaken. I happened to be on one of my afternoon walks and I hate having my tranquility disturbed by loudmouths.” And then he walked off, just like that.

“Yes, they disliked me. And they always try to make life a living hell for me in the academy,” Tenpou agreed. “I can fight but I prefer not to. What’s a punch or two? Not much harm there but those bullies didn’t know. All I had to do was fake a few cries and they’d stop. But there was this guy who always happened to be on one of his afternoon walks whenever I got into trouble. Not that I needed his help…but of course, he didn’t know that until much later.”

Konzen issued a sidelong glance. “Chh…”

Tenpou smiled fondly. “We’re both outcasts, and because you noticed that, you took the chance to let your guard down a bit. You allowed yourself to trust me just enough without breaking your principles. And me, well…I decided enough is enough. Before, I didn’t want to fight because I didn’t want the animosity to intensify. But since knowing you, I realized that I only have myself to answer to. I didn’t have to be like pemmican, beaten around and shaped as pleased.”

“And to show your new found ideology, you beat a dozen boys to a pulp and got yourself ‘supervised’ by Goujun, Dragon King of the Western Sea,” Konzen sneered.

The brunette shrugged easily. “I’ve got to show them my stand. Anyway, Goujun is not that bad. Because of him, I’d learned a whole lot more about military tactics. He’s a wise man; he knows potential when he sees one. And like you, he allowed himself to trust me. You know the army does not accept ordinaries like me into their top folds. But Goujun convinced the upper command that my talents surpassed those from the fighting god lineage. After putting me through a couple of trials, they had no choice but to agree with the dragon king. And till this day, no other Gensui in all of Tenkai could rival me.” Seeing Konzen giving him a sardonic look, Tenpou quickly added, “Goujun said that, not me.”

“We’ve been through much…” Konzen mused after a few moments of silence.

“Yes, we did.” Tenpou paused. “But then when I started my career and with you starting to work for Kanzeon Bosatsu, we drifted apart. It was bad for the both of us, for I began to immerse myself more deeply into the ways of Down Below and you’d become more withdrawn. We were back to our old ways. Like a falling sakura, those days slipped away from us; forgotten.”

The two of them glanced upwards and as if on cue, another bloom took its flight down. Tenpou then extended out his hand and watched as the flower settled limply in his palm. Konzen revealed the one in his hand and they exchanged glances.

“Konzen!”

“Oi, Tenpou!”

The two old friends looked up to see Goku and Kenren jogging towards them. Tenpou raised his free hand and waved, while at the same time addressing the blonde. “Those two, they know how to appreciate the things around them…unlike us. We’re like yang while they are the yin. Between us, there’s only strength and sensibility, but no sensitivity. Our past had been practical, but our present and possibly our future, is positively lively with those two around.”

And as Goku and Kenren closed in, Tenpou continued, “We’ve caught the fallen sakura before it reaches the ground; saved our past from being totally forgotten. But at the same time, new buds grow in their place; new friends found. Let’s keep these precious blooms–they will serve as ornate reminders. What do you think, Konzen?”

“Konzen, Ten-chan!”

“Oi, saru…stop yelling! They are right before us.”

“It’s ok, Kenren. Things have been rather...quiet lately.”

“Yes, I agree,” Konzen said suddenly, interrupting the flow of the conversation. “Let’s keep them…Tenpou.”

“Fine by me…Konzen.” “

What are the two of you talking about?”

“Naa, Konzen, Ten-chan…keep what?”

The sakura tree looming above began shedding more of its cherry tears….

- FIN -

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