Ukyou Kuonji
5th January 2003, 05:54 AM
**track seventeen** Intermezzo (part two)
Ah, and another thing I forgot to bring with me to Ryokuto - my CD player.
I'll have to take that along when I go back. I pop a random disc into the
player, and settle in as I listen to the familiar sounds of applause
followed by a fast electric guitar lick. Only... the words sound a little
different, this time around:
"Through the passing strange I fell
To the wide-eyed opposite
My gender was hidden well
Now I don't know where I left it
I... woke up in Escher's world today
My mother said it was okay..."
Ouch. I know *that* feeling. I sit up, and shut the player off.
And while I'm up, I catch a silhouette falling across the rice paper walls.
"Who's there?"
"O...onii-sama?"
Reina! I shunt my bedroom door open. "Come on in. What's been going on?
You really haven't been yourself these past few days... huh?" My gosh...
he's crying! "Reina?" I walk over to him and hug him. "What is it,
ototo-chan?"
"I don't *wanna* be myself, onii-sama..."
Hm? I lead him into my room, and shut the door. I get on my knees, so I
can look him straight in the eye. "What do you mean by that, Reina?"
His tears dry up as he stares at me like I was the most clueless individual
on the face of the planet. And I guess I am, because I don't know what's
bothering him. "*Look* at me, Shun..." I stand up, and take a step back to
appraise what might be so different about my little brother all of a sudden.
I don't see anything unusual. He stands about chest high on me, with a
tousled shock of light-coloured hair that comes to just below the nape of
the neck. Most folks might be hard pressed to tell if he was a boy or a
girl, but then, that's -
"That's it. I hate being like this."
"Like what?"
"Like a girl, Shun. Don't you get it? We were raised like this so we could
take over the ryokan. Now that Yui's here... we've wasted our lives..."
I blink. Wasted? "Reina... what are you talking about? We were raised
this way because that's what we are - the Kisaragis have always been
bishonen. We might as well take advantage of our inborn beauty. It's not
because we were being groomed to take over the ryokan someday - if that was
the case, I'd have been raised as a girl, yes, but Mom and Dad wouldn't have
bothered raising you like that...
"Anyway, I never wanted to run this ryokan..." I know it sounds like sour
grapes to some of you, and I'm pretty sure that others of you want me to
break into some sort of silly song about lumberjacking. Well, I'm not gonna
do it. Reina's too upset for that right now. "If I did, I'd be taking more
business and hotel management classes. But I'm taking drama classes and the
like. I want to be an actor." Of course, maybe less so now than when I
entered Ryokuto, but at least in the real world, I wouldn't have to do it
24/7.
"You mean, like Ojii-sama does with his Kabuki?"
"Ah... something like that. See? You've got to find your own road,
Reina-chan. Something that allows you to use your beauty," and I run my
hand along his chin, "to your best advantage."
"But girls don't want this kind of beauty, Shun-chan... they want a *real*
man. What girl could possibly be interested in a half-man, half-girl,
anyway?"
Well, the good news is, he hasn't been poking through my collection of manga
while I've been away at school. Wait a minute... "What's this about girls,
Reina-chan?" His eyes widen, and he quickly looks down at his feet. He'd
obviously not intended to tell me so much. I grin. "Is there someone
you're interested in, Reina-chan?"
He shuffles his feet, and nods.
My grin gets broader. "Anyone I should know?" His eyes dart back and
forth for a moment, and then he leans in, and whispers a name in my ear.
No, I'm not telling.
"I see. Well, if you think she'd be more impressed by a more masculine
personality, go for it... see what you can do. You've got it in you to act
that way. And once you finish going through puberty, it may be that much
easier." Mentally, I shrug. Reina's a Kisaragi, too... puberty doesn't
seem to affect us as much as most males. Sure, we grow to adult size and
all, but that's about it. But he needs the hope right now - and maybe a
warning, too: "Acting macho isn't gonna feel right, though, I can guarantee
it."
I don't think he's been listening. "Macho, huh..." He draws himself up to
his full height, turns, and sort of swaggers out of the room. He's walking
kinda funny... like he was a bit bowlegged or something. I think he's
overdoing it. In fact, I *know* he is.
Once he shunts the bedroom door behind him, I can hear this "Hwwahk! P-TU!"
I bring my hand to my forehead, and make a mental note to inform Reina that
spitting will not impress *any* girl, regardless of how macho he thinks it
is.
I'll do it later.
Ah, and another thing I forgot to bring with me to Ryokuto - my CD player.
I'll have to take that along when I go back. I pop a random disc into the
player, and settle in as I listen to the familiar sounds of applause
followed by a fast electric guitar lick. Only... the words sound a little
different, this time around:
"Through the passing strange I fell
To the wide-eyed opposite
My gender was hidden well
Now I don't know where I left it
I... woke up in Escher's world today
My mother said it was okay..."
Ouch. I know *that* feeling. I sit up, and shut the player off.
And while I'm up, I catch a silhouette falling across the rice paper walls.
"Who's there?"
"O...onii-sama?"
Reina! I shunt my bedroom door open. "Come on in. What's been going on?
You really haven't been yourself these past few days... huh?" My gosh...
he's crying! "Reina?" I walk over to him and hug him. "What is it,
ototo-chan?"
"I don't *wanna* be myself, onii-sama..."
Hm? I lead him into my room, and shut the door. I get on my knees, so I
can look him straight in the eye. "What do you mean by that, Reina?"
His tears dry up as he stares at me like I was the most clueless individual
on the face of the planet. And I guess I am, because I don't know what's
bothering him. "*Look* at me, Shun..." I stand up, and take a step back to
appraise what might be so different about my little brother all of a sudden.
I don't see anything unusual. He stands about chest high on me, with a
tousled shock of light-coloured hair that comes to just below the nape of
the neck. Most folks might be hard pressed to tell if he was a boy or a
girl, but then, that's -
"That's it. I hate being like this."
"Like what?"
"Like a girl, Shun. Don't you get it? We were raised like this so we could
take over the ryokan. Now that Yui's here... we've wasted our lives..."
I blink. Wasted? "Reina... what are you talking about? We were raised
this way because that's what we are - the Kisaragis have always been
bishonen. We might as well take advantage of our inborn beauty. It's not
because we were being groomed to take over the ryokan someday - if that was
the case, I'd have been raised as a girl, yes, but Mom and Dad wouldn't have
bothered raising you like that...
"Anyway, I never wanted to run this ryokan..." I know it sounds like sour
grapes to some of you, and I'm pretty sure that others of you want me to
break into some sort of silly song about lumberjacking. Well, I'm not gonna
do it. Reina's too upset for that right now. "If I did, I'd be taking more
business and hotel management classes. But I'm taking drama classes and the
like. I want to be an actor." Of course, maybe less so now than when I
entered Ryokuto, but at least in the real world, I wouldn't have to do it
24/7.
"You mean, like Ojii-sama does with his Kabuki?"
"Ah... something like that. See? You've got to find your own road,
Reina-chan. Something that allows you to use your beauty," and I run my
hand along his chin, "to your best advantage."
"But girls don't want this kind of beauty, Shun-chan... they want a *real*
man. What girl could possibly be interested in a half-man, half-girl,
anyway?"
Well, the good news is, he hasn't been poking through my collection of manga
while I've been away at school. Wait a minute... "What's this about girls,
Reina-chan?" His eyes widen, and he quickly looks down at his feet. He'd
obviously not intended to tell me so much. I grin. "Is there someone
you're interested in, Reina-chan?"
He shuffles his feet, and nods.
My grin gets broader. "Anyone I should know?" His eyes dart back and
forth for a moment, and then he leans in, and whispers a name in my ear.
No, I'm not telling.
"I see. Well, if you think she'd be more impressed by a more masculine
personality, go for it... see what you can do. You've got it in you to act
that way. And once you finish going through puberty, it may be that much
easier." Mentally, I shrug. Reina's a Kisaragi, too... puberty doesn't
seem to affect us as much as most males. Sure, we grow to adult size and
all, but that's about it. But he needs the hope right now - and maybe a
warning, too: "Acting macho isn't gonna feel right, though, I can guarantee
it."
I don't think he's been listening. "Macho, huh..." He draws himself up to
his full height, turns, and sort of swaggers out of the room. He's walking
kinda funny... like he was a bit bowlegged or something. I think he's
overdoing it. In fact, I *know* he is.
Once he shunts the bedroom door behind him, I can hear this "Hwwahk! P-TU!"
I bring my hand to my forehead, and make a mental note to inform Reina that
spitting will not impress *any* girl, regardless of how macho he thinks it
is.
I'll do it later.