The Hino residence in chiyoda-ku wasn't far from the Imperial Palace. Just across from Chidorigafuchi Kōen, according to their mother, who pointed out the cherry trees from the twilight-tinted safety of the Rolls Royce’s backseat. Their driver, a stiff man wearing a funny hat, said nothing as Alec pressed his fingers and nose to the glass.
"I wanna see," Daz whined and tugged at the bottom of Alec's shirt. Though the younger of the two by far, Daz had a temper which Alec was very well aware of. Any other day, he'd have been pushed out of the way, bitten or clawed at. Alec turned to look at his sunny-haired brother and frowned at the way the three-year-old was chewing on his lips and clutching Baxter--the ragged teddy bear they'd both loved a little too much.
He felt, more than saw, their mother's eyes upon them from her side of the bench seat. "Come on," Alec muttered and sat back so that Daz could climb onto his lap and peer out the window. Alec locked his arms about Daz's middle and tossed his head to try and get his fringe out of his eyes.
Rei leaned over to brush the offending curl behind his ear and he ducked his chin as he smiled at her. "Are you certain we can't—" she began to ask.
"I don't want to cut it." Alec tapped the back of the empty passenger seat with the toe of his shoe. The driver glanced back at them and he stopped.
"Alright," the woman nodded and turned back to her window as the car made a left across the main boulevard. Tall walls to either side of the street blocked the view of what was, he judged by the rooftops peeking over the barriers, a rather wealthy neighborhood. It was like that in Britain, too—the taller the walls, the more money the owner had. As if they didn't want people to see it.
" Mum," he ventured as the car turned down another empty, wall-lined street, "Why do we have to stay with him?"
"You need to know your grandfather."
The reply was the same every time he asked and Alec groaned. "But you never talk about him," he complained and fidgited in the seat. "Not like Mammy and Pappy. Or Sofu."
Alec watched as Rei tapped one finger upon her knee; it was the same gesture as when he received a low mark on his coursework, or after a fight with their father. When they'd passed another red, triangular "stop" sign, she breathed out a sigh and flattened her hand against her leg.
"I have no relationship with him, this is true," Rei said and turned from the window to meet his eyes, "But this does not mean that you two should not be given the opportunity. Japan is a part of you, as it is a part of me... this includes your grandfather. And he wants time with his grandchildren."
"But what do we call him?" Alec asked with a frown.
Their mother's lips pursed as she thought. "'Sofu' is technically correct."
"We already got a Sofu," Daz protested from around a mouthful of mohair.
"You could use Ojiisan," Rei continued. "I should have taught you something different for Sofu."
"Why?" Alec shoved the bear back into Daz's mouth to keep the boy from whining out another question. Daz gurgled something and slapped his hand, but he bit down on Baxter's ear and didn't try to interrupt again.
"'Sofu' means 'grandfather,'" Rei leaned closer to the window as the car stopped in front of a gated driveway. "He's my Sofu, he's your Sousofu. Your great-grandfather."
Their driver's window rolled down so that he could chatter at an intercom mounted into the brick wall. Whatever was said was short, and a moment later the gate swung wide to emit them. "Yes. Ojiisan." Rei gave a short nod. "Call him that."
"Yes, Mum," Alec replied and turned to look at the gardens as they rolled past.
Unlike their Mammy and Pappy's estate, which sprawled fence-less on the moors, every inch between house and wall of the Hino residence was covered in lush gardens. A large, green-watered stream wound its way through the yard and under the house, which Daz exclaimed over in half-intelligible squeaks. The toddler wriggled over the seat as Rei opened her door and gestured for the boys to follow her before the driver could offer any assistance—a fact which, Alec noted, seemed to puzzle the man.
Once out of the car, Alec was surprised to find that even the driveway was decorated. It had been paved in grey and blue-tinted cobble stone that flowed into a path that lead through the gardens to the front door, complete with a bridge over the stream. Rei moved toward the door, and Daz clung to Alec's hand as they travelled in her wake.
Near the top of the bridge, Daz came to a sudden halt and pointed with Baxter at three huge, glittering gold, black and white bodies just below the surface of the water. "Fish," he gasped.
"Those are koi," Rei said from the other side of the bridge where she had stopped to wait for them. "They are very old, and very expensive. You are not to play with them. Alec, do you hear me?"
"Yes, Mum." Alec nodded and pulled Daz the rest of the way over the bridge. Daz whined for the fish, and Alec gripped his hand a little harder to keep the boy from running back.
The path wound around brilliant green bushes and precisely placed rock gardens until it reached a large front porch with three steps up to it. Their mother went to the door and rang a bell set into the dark wooden frame. After helping Daz up the steps, Alec stopped and turned to look back at the garden.
From the airport to the gate, Tokyo had seemed like every other city their family had ever visited. It reminded him of the Christmas they'd spent in New York, of the brick-oven taste of Chicago pizza pie, the tang of salt in Hawaiian air, the chill of a Quebec spring; he'd never been anywhere that he felt out of place. Even though the signs here were written in squiggles instead of words, even though the people spoke like sparrows twittering at one another, it hadn't been weird.
But within the walls of the Hino compound everything felt... Japanese. It wasn't an easy feeling to have, or to describe, and the alien taint of it made his skin crawl. Looking up at his mother, Alec wondered when her hair had become so straight and black, when her eyes had taken on a slant, when her words had become strange to his ears.
The door opened to reveal a grey-haired man in a business suit who bowed when he saw them. In another moment, Daz had pulled himself from Alec's grip and cried "Ojiisan!" as he wrapped himself around the man's leg.
"Daz," Rei snapped and bent to pry him away from the red-faced man. Her voice softened the instant she gathered him into her arms. "No, Daz, that isn't your Ojiisan."
"Raw-san," the man said and cleared his throat. He stepped aside and bowed again. With a hand on Alec's shoulder to guide him, Rei swept through the door without another word. On the other side of him was a small alcove where they deposited their shoes.
"Who's he?" Daz asked as he peered over her shoulder.
"The butler," their mother replied as she stepped barefoot toward a flight of stairs to say something in sparrow-talk to the man. Whatever he said in reply must have made sense to her, because she lead the boys through a doorway and down a hall.
For such a large house, the inside was very cramped, Alec thought. It was filled with delicate tables and expensive-looking porcelain things, and rugs like the ones his Mammy wouldn't let him walk over when he was carrying something to drink. Some of the walls were paneled with the same dark wood the door had been made of, and others were so thin he thought they might be made of paper.
"What does raw-san mean?" Alec asked softly.
His mother shook her head. "Law, Alec. The 'L' can be difficult to pronounce for some people."
"No it isn't." He frowned. "It's an 'L'."
"Alec," Rei sighed. She seemed to want to say more, but they had stopped in front of a door and it was opening.
The man on the other side of it was bald and his head shone in the light from a large open door at the back of the room. His shoulders alone filled the frame of the door, set into a suit which reminded Alec of the kind his father wore to court, and he towered over Rei with a scowl the match of any she could produce. "Reichan," he said and tilted forward a sketch of a bow.
"Tadaima," she replied, expressionless.
Where other Japanese sounded like sparrows, Alec found that when Ojiisan spoke it was more like a barking dog. His words were gruff, clipped—growled, almost—as he and Rei faced off over a low table and tea. Daz was curled up asleep on one of the cushions beside their mother, and Alec sat cross legged, looking out the open back door. Unsurprisingly for this house, it lead to another porch and a square garden surrounded on all sides by more rooms and a low-slung porch.
The stream reappeared from under the house not too far from the door, and fell into a pond beside a heavy-blossomed cherry tree. It swayed in the breeze and a few pink petals drifted toward them.
"Arek."
He jumped and turned to find both the adults staring at him. Alec's back straightened the way that it did when his grandmother gave him the look which said his posture had slackened. "Yes sir?"
Ojiisan gestured toward the garden. "My garden, you rike?"
Alec glanced at his mother, who sipped her tea with no offer of help, and then nodded. "It's big," he said and brushed his hair out of his eyes yet again.
"It very ord." Ojiisan punctuated the fact with a sip of tea. "Hotokesama wa..."
"Our ancestors," Rei supplied.
"Our ancestors," Ojiisan picked up, "plant this garden... many year ago. It hold much memory for me. For you mother, as also."
Rei snorted.
"Is that where the fish came from?"
Ojiisan tapped his tea cup with one finger. After a few moments, he nodded, "They called... you are know this word?"
"Koi," Alex supplied.
The man's eyes cut toward Rei, who rolled hers. When he looked back at his grandson, Ojiisan's frown deepened just a hint. "No," he shook his head, "Koi is being..."
One of the man's hands waved loosely as he searched for the word, "By person is not being belong."
Alec's brows creased together as he considered that. "You mean... they're wild?"
"Ah, yes," Ojiisan nodded as he said, "Wyird. Very good. This fish is being nishikigoi."
"Oh..." Alec looked back at the pond. He was sitting too far away to see the fish, but he could imagine them—bright and huge. They must be very well fed, he thought, to be so big. One of them looked to be the same size as Daz.
Rei said something, but the language she spoke told him that she didn't mean it for his ears. He looked back and noticed for the first time the rigidness of his mother's back, and the way that she clutched her teacup. Her eyes blazed beneath the veil of her dark lashes, and the tightness at the corners of her of her mouth betrayed her.
Ojiisan was no better. His attention was once more on his daughter and all air of civility was but a thin mask. They were fighting, Alec realized with a shock; they'd been fighting since the three of them had walked through that door. A knot like lead worked its way into his stomach and he stared at his forgotten cup of tea.
When her cup was empty, Rei allowed a nearby maid to take it away. She glanced at Daz and bit her lip. The boy was still sleeping, clutching Baxter. Alec watched from the doorway as his mother ran her fingers through Daz's bright curls, then bent to kiss his temple.
She rose from her kneel with silent grace and gestured for Alec to follow her out of the den and back to the hallway. Her hand fell upon his shoulder as they walked to the door and the knot in Alec's stomach rolled. He tugged at the ends of his shirt, "I don't... do we have to?"
"I know it's hard, Alec," Rei replied, "But you'll be fine. I'll be back for you and Daz in a few weeks."
"Okay," he muttered.
At the door, Rei turned him toward her and knelt in front of him. Her pale hands cupped his head and she caressed one thumb across his cheek. The ghost of a smile painted itself across her lips and she leaned in to leave a kiss upon his brow.
"Mum," Alec asked before she rose, "Why can't Ojiisan say my name? Sofu doesn't have any trouble."
Rei pursed her lips and wound one of his curls around her finger, "Sofu's had ten years of practice, Alec. Give him time. He's... trying." Her face tightened at the last word, and at that she stood up.
"I have to go," she stated, and moved to retrieve her shoes. A moment later she was gone. Alec stared at the door until he felt eyes upon the back of his head. He turned to meet Daz's gaze over the head of the chewed upon teddy bear.
The Hino residence was big enough to get lost in, they found, and a lot of its rooms were divided by paper. In his broken English, Ojiisan explained to an inquiring Daz that that made it easier to redefine. Any area could be a living space, or a bedroom, or a tea room... and if you wanted to change the size of a room, you could do that too.
It had all been built by someone named "Meji"—or something like that, Alec gathered—and he had been the one who had incorporated a few hard-wood walls into the design. "Amerika," their grandfather huffed and shook his head. Still, he showed the house with a sense of pride that Alec found palatable.
At the end of the tour, the boys found themselves in a small room with mat flooring where their luggage had been placed near a window. There was nothing in the room otherwise, but Ojiisan seemed happy to show it to them. Daz whined softly and fiddled with his bear.
Ojiisan frowned, looking down at the toddler. Alec caught Daz and pulled him into his arms before the boy could launch into a fit. "He's tired," he explained as he found a comfortable place for Daz's weight. "He slept on the plane, but it was a long flight..."
Alec glanced out the window. It was still bright morning outside and he rubbed one eye. Now that the excitement had worn off, he wasn't feeling very well himself. Ojiisan rubbed his neck, watching the two of his grandsons, then he went to one of the panels and pushed it aside to reveal a hidden closet. The revelation got Daz to stop whining as he peered at what had to be the world's best hide-and-go-seek spot.
From within the closet, Ojiisan pulled a big futon, like the one that their mother had in her work room. Unlike that one, which had a frame high enough for it to be sat on, Ojiisan laid the mattress on the floor and got some covers from inside the closet. A pointed look from the man was all it took for Alec to set Daz upon the floor and go to help spread the blankets out.
"This sreep room," Ojiisan explained, "for share."
He deposited two thin pillows onto the mattress and closed the curtains over the windows. "I wirr send a maid to wake for dinner."
With that, Ojiisan left the room and slid the wall shut behind him. Daz crawled into the bed with another whine and put his face into the pillow. Alec laid himself upon the other side of it, and drifted into sleep to the sound of his brother breathing.
By "maid" Ojiisan had meant "Nanny," Alec found when the woman woke them that afternoon. She looked to be their mom's age, he thought, but she wasn't as pretty. There was something ferret-like about her face, and her gaze was always pointed toward the floor. But unlike Ojiisan, she spoke perfect English and introduced herself as Takashi Sora, "but you may call me Sorachan, if you like."
Daz, now napped, thought that this was good idea and did so; Alec was not so sure.
Sorachan gave them apple slices when Daz asked for a snack, and then she took them to a room off the garden that was much like their bedroom in its simplicity. She sat Daz with her at a table and showed him several games that were covered in those strange squiggle-marks meant to be writing.
Alec stood at the door to the garden and frowned as he watched Daz play the game with the nanny. It had to do with cards, like Old Maid, and she explained the squiggles on each as they went.
"Where is Ojiisan?" He asked.
"Your grandfather has business to do," Sorachan explained with a smile as Daz matched two of the squiggles. "Very good, Dazkun! The senator is a busy man, Aleckun, but you will see him at dinner tonight."
"Oh." Alec chewed his lip. "Can I go play in the garden?"
Sorachan smiled, but her eyes frowned as she looked at the garden. "Are you sure you won't play cards with us, Aleckun?"
Alec shook his head. Her smile grew wider as the eye-frown deepened, but she nodded. "Alright. Do be careful."
Though careful to keep in sight of the open door, Alec stepped out onto the broad porch. Sunset was turning the sky colours and somewhere in the city beyond a siren wailed. There was a dirt path near where he stood, but Alec stepped off the porch and into the soft green grass instead.
Laughter from inside made him pause. It was only Daz, he realized, getting another match right. Alec swallowed a sigh and marched himself to the pool's edge.
This time of day, the water was brown and dim. He could see the bottom, but only in hazy shapes of rocks distorted by surface ripples and reflections of flowers. Above that, a hazy mockery of his face stared up at him; his halo of curls a black spot against the melting orange sky. Without looking up, he could see a sliver of moon hung alone in the murky blue.
A splash further in the water made him look up, just in time to see a golden body plunge back into the darkness. Apparently it was deeper than it looked. As he leaned a little closer, a call from behind him got his attention and he looked up to see Sorachan waving him back in.
The bathhouse attached to the main house was strange. After soaping themselves up and rinsing themselves off, they were allowed to soak together in a tub deep enough to come to Alec's chin. He blushed with more than just the heat of the water as he kept Daz from coming to harm in the water; the toddler seemed oblivious to danger of drowning. They hadn't taken a bath together in years... but, with their mother gone, who was going to help Daz? his mind questioned him. Without an answer for that, Alec kept his mouth shut.
Dinner was to be taken in a room that was eerily reminiscent of their British grandparent's, just on a slighter scale. Alec stood in the doorway, fingering the tail of his good dress shirt, and stared at the dark wood, polished dining set. The china plates had been laid out, and covered dishes had been set along the middle of the table. Unlike every other table he'd seen in this house thus far, this one was of a proper height and featured real chairs. If he overlooked the bamboo mat flooring and the paper walls, the decorations even made it feel like home.
...only not.
Swallowing hard against a roll of his stomach, Alec shook his head and ventured toward the front door. A knock resounded against it as he approached and, without heed to the butler nearby, strode forward to open it. "Hello?" he ventured, and then grinned when he saw who it was. "Mr. Warren!"
"Hello Alec," the Ambassador grinned and gave him a brief bow. He let his attention shift to someone standing behind the boy, and Alec turned to see the butler looking disgruntled. Alec stepped aside as Ambassador Warren greeted the other man in sparrow-talk, as did the elegant woman draped upon his arm, and the butler bowed to them both.
They stepped inside, depositing their shoes beside the door without a second's hesitation, and then ventured further into the hall. "Your grandfather didn't mention you'd be here, Alec." Warren observed, "But it is a pleasure, as always. Have you met my wife, Harva?"
Alec smiled shyly up at Harva Warren, a willowy beauty with golden locks and brilliant blue eyes, and did his best impression of a Japanese bow. Her kind laughter lit his cheeks, and she dipped her head in response. "A pleasure. Your father is Jude Law, correct?"
"The lawyer." Alec nodded and brushed his hair from his eyes.
"A fine young man," Harva confirmed with a smile at her husband, "David was just saying so. I did not realize that your mother and the Senator were related."
"It's a small world," Warren chuckled. His eyes flickered to the doorway as steps behind them heralded his grandfather's entrance. The large Japanese man seemed as impassive as stone work, like a statue of an ancient warrior. Senator Hino gave a stiff, practiced bow, which Warren and Harva reciprocated. Afterward came a shake of hands, and more sparrow-tongue.
Alec frowned as he noted that Ojiisan's words didn't sound as harsh with the Ambassador as they had that morning with his mother. As they were about to retire to the dining room, a bundle of blond came dashing down the hall from the room where Sorachan had been keeping him. She twittered something urgent from behind, but Daz ran headlong into the Ambassador's legs.
Harva stepped aside with startled gasp, and then began to laugh as her husband backed up a few steps. He didn't fall, and Daz wrapped his arms about the man's leg to keep from falling, himself.
"Daz," Alec groaned and moved to yank the boy free, when the Ambassador waved him off.
"Quite the tackle there. Have you thought about rugby?" Warren chuckled as he helped Daz to stand upright. Ever the social nitwit, the toddler was grinning from ear to ear and very proud of himself. He didn't seem to catch Ojiisan's frown or the raise of eyebrows, much as he hadn't caught the discomfort of the butler.
Daz giggled and pointed into Warren's face. "I know you!"
"Yes, Sir Daz, I do believe we've met." Warren teased with a grin. He took the boy's finger gently and shook it as though it were a handshake. Daz seemed inclined to go along with this. "You were smaller then. I'm surprised you remember."
"You have funny ears," the toddler assured him. "And my dad said you were worth putting up with. What does that mean?"
"Well," the Ambassador paused as he considered that. "I think that it means we may be friends."
"Oh," Daz frowned. A moment later he'd forgotten the conversation entirely and turned to tug on his grandfather's jacket. "When's dinner?" Though her face betrayed nothing, Alec thought he noticed Sorachan tremble in the hall doorway.
With a hesitant hand, Ojiisan touched Daz's hair and his dark eyes rose from the boy's cheerful face. Alec had no idea what he said, but it seemed to please the Warrens, and the party moved into the dining room.
His place was across from Harva, and he helped Daz to climb into his "big-boy" chair. This thrilled the toddler, who wasn't used to sitting with the adults on formal occasions, and Alec sent a silent prayer to God that he wouldn't have one of his fits. No matter that Warren and his wife might have heard of the youngest Law's legendary temper tantrums, Alec had the distinct feeling that Ojiisan had not.
Near the back of the room, Sorachan stood in silent attendance with the butler as a maid helped them to pass around the dishes and filled their drinks. The conversation was in Sparrow, which was mildly annoying to Alec, but as most of these dinners had more to do with business and boring gossip than anything he cared to hear about, he didn't protest it.
Instead, he poked with his fork at what appeared to be a cluster of tentacles upon his plate. Turning over the pink, gelatinous mass, he was queasy to find that his first impression was correct. The suckers wiggled strangely when he poked the octopus leg, and he swallowed acid.
Beside him, Daz slurped down three of the noodle-like appendages, being sure to make as much noise as possible while doing so. This earned him a side-ways glance from Ojiisan and an amused smile from Harva. The woman raised an eyebrow at Alec, her blue gaze flickering between his plate and face. "It's hard at first," she said quietly as she cut a section of her own tentacle off the main portion. "I suggest closing your eyes. But the taste is good, once you get used to it."
Alec wasn't at all sure about that.
He stared down at his plate and tried not to imagine the writhing creatures featured on the documentaries his tutor made him watch. Turning it over again so that he couldn't see the suckers still attached, he cut off a portion like Harva had, and speared it with a fork. Eyes squinched shut, Alec shoved the mess into his mouth and forced himself to chew.
It was like trying to chew a rubber ball. He swallowed because he had to and sat still, waiting for his stomach to rebel. When it, by some miracle, did not, he opened his eyes again to find everyone staring at him. Cheeks burning, he dropped his eyes to his plate.
"You want that?" Daz chirped into the silence. After a barely perceptible shake of his head, the toddler reached forward with bare hands to grab the tentacles and shove them into his own mouth.
Ojiisan made a noise rather akin to a snort, and Alec looked up to see the old man staring at Daz with a clear expression of revulsion. Though he didn't blame him one bit, Alec felt himself frown in return and grabbed a napkin to dab the mess off of Daz's face like their mother would have done. The toddler wriggled his nose and tried to duck away. He'd had practice at this, though, and soon Daz was cleaned up whether he liked it or not.
A moment later, the maid came around again to take their plates and replaced it with a much more normal meal of hamburger steak and rice. Though the two didn't seem to go together by Alec's way of thinking, he decided it wasn't worth mentioning. Both of these foods, after all, were at least edible.
He'd just reached for his brother's knife and fork when Sorachan leaned into his vision. Slapping one hand over the instruments he looked up into her startled face. "I can do it," he said as politely as he could manage and then picked up the utensils to cut his brother's steak. The toddler fidgeted and whined that he could do it himself, though they both knew their mother would have never allowed it, so Alec ignored the protests.
Sorachan continued to hover until Ojiisan shook his head at her. Her frown tightened, and she retired back to her place beside the butler. "So Alec," Warren said as though nothing had happened, "How are your parents? I haven't had the chance to see them since Christmas."
Alec dropped Daz's knife a little too hard and muttered an apology. He took it away again when Daz reached for it, handing the boy the fork instead. Daz's bottom lip threatened a pout, but the toddler speared some hamburger and stuffed it in his mouth rather than put up a fuss. With a breath of relief, Alec returned to his own meal.
"They're fine," he murmured and began to cut up his own food. He glanced up at the Warrens's expectant pause and ran his teeth across his bottom lip. "My mother's visiting some old friends."
"Ah," Warren nodded as if he understood and said something in Sparrow. Ojiisan growled a reply, once again the dog, and Alec was certain he heard his mother's name dropped into the conversation. He bristled around a bite of steak.
"Perhaps your mother is staying in the area?" Harva asked while the men's attention had turned. She smiled politely at Alec's look, "I have been wanting to meet her. It's amazing, all this time that David and your father have been friends, I hadn't had the chance to meet Rei. I've heard many good things about her charity work in Britain."
"Oh," he nodded slightly and pushed his bangs back again. "Yeah. Mum does work with the church a lot. She's visiting our Aunt, though."
"I didn't realize she had any sisters."
"Aunt Minako isn't Mum's sister," Daz said, "She looks like you. Only not. Mum says she's 'mixed,' like we are."
Harva's eyebrows lifted slightly, and she seemed to hesitate, "You wouldn't be speaking of Abe Minako, would you?"
Alec nodded, "Yes, Miss. The singer."
"It is a small world," Harva shook her head with a sad smile. She raised her glass to her lips, sipping the wine the adults were having and pursed her lips over what looked to be a troubling thought.
The rest of the dinner passed quietly. Dessert was fruit with whipped cream, so it wouldn't make Daz too hyper. Alec kept a careful eye on Sorachan; she seemed to get the message about interference and kept her distance. When Daz had wolfed down his bowl, and half of Alec's, Alec forced him to hold still for a face cleaning once again.
Daz wasn't too pleased; he beat at Alec's hands this time and gave an imperious whine. Across the table, Harva covered her smile with one hand. "Your brother takes such good care of you, Daz," she commented with a twinkle in her bright blue eyes.
"He's a turd," Daz pouted and crossed his arms over his chest. Alec rolled his eyes and dropped the napkin back on the table as Daz began to kick his feet at the table. It jumped and vibrated a little with each hit, and the two politicians were startled from their conversation.
Alec reached over to grab his brothers arm and hissed, "Stop that."
"Mum." Daz scowled in return.
Resisting the urge to groan, Alec looked at his grandfather. "Um... Can we be excused? Daz needs to get ready for bed."
"No I don't!" The other boy scrubbed one eye. "I want mum."
Ojiisan watched this a moment before giving a slight nod. Turning, Alec gathered the toddler into his arms as best he could. Holding on to a three-year-old who "dinnit wanna!" was about as difficult as swallowing that octopus. Alec shoved Sorachan's hands away when she touched his shoulder and half-carried, half-drug his brother out of the room along with a few pieces of toddler-clutched cutlery that clattered to the floor in a trail behind them.
By the time that Daz had whined and cried himself to sleep, Alec had a few sore spots dotting his cheek and chest that might end in bruises. He laid beside Daz on their palett and watched his temperamental little brother sleep. Annoyed as he was, he couldn't bring himself to blame the boy; not completely, anyway.
Alec looked up when he heard the wall of their room slide open and saw Sorachan poke her nose in. He glared at her until she left, then put his head back on the pillow and stared at the ceiling.
The noises of the house were different here, too. He could hear the quiet babble of water in the stream and the rustle of leaves from the tree outside. Far, far in the distance, as if belonging to another world entirely, came a hum of traffic. It was hard to remember that they were in a city half a world away from where they belonged.
When he thought what might have been an hour had passed and he was still unable to sleep, Alec stole from the bed as quietly as he could and made his way to the split in the wall. Slipping through the smallest crack he could make of it, he let himself out into the hall and put the wall back into it's place. Most of the lights in this area of the house were off. He paused by a circular window that overlooked the garden and saw his grandfather in an open-walled sitting room, still talking to the ambassador and his wife.
After a moment, Alec turned and continued on his wandering.
Every hall looked the same, to him. Paper screens, potted plants by the windows, accent tables, and the occasional rug. Upon inspection of a section of wall, he began to understand which sections were "doors," and which weren't. Opening one, he found another bedroom with a large pallet already laid out and bedclothes draped across it.
Beyond that, there was nothing in the room but a lamp upon the floor, one of the short-legged tables, and a book with squiggle marks set upon it. Alec closed the wall, and continued down the hall until he found another opening.
This room was a study that bore another pseudo-resemblance to its European kin. A large desk, near the floor, with a pillow for a seat, yes, but bookshelves lined the walls and there was a computer on the desk and a cup of forgotten tea beside it.
After a cautious glance around, Alec stepped into the room and crossed to peer at the books on the shelves. Row after row of squiggle-text greeted him, in every shape and size imaginable. Some were dusty old tomes like the law books his father kept while others were bright and new. They all had the same smell—that wonderful, exotic mixture of leather, dust, and ink that all good libraries had.
He was near the back of the room when he found the first book in English. Pulling it from the shelf, he found that it was a tome of love poems, a collection by many writers, but there was a black ink squiggle on the front that might have been a signature. He thumbed through it, but found nothing save a few dog-eared corners that didn't seem significant, so he put it back. As he did, his fingers touched something cold and metal hidden behind the books.
Alec glanced at the open door of the study, then pulled the book back out and its neighbors with it. Stuck at the back of deep bookcase was a thin picture frame. He frowned as he picked it up and resettled the books into their places.
His mother grinned from behind the protective glass, standing near the edge of a group of girls all decked out in scholar's robes. They were from different schools, that much was apparent, and they were backed by a shrine, not a university... but there was a kinship between them that stood out from the photograph, as easy to read as any book.
He'd seen this photograph before, Alec realized after a moment, sitting in a similar frame in his mother's study. The girls were his aunts, though he'd only met two of them more than once. Aunt Minako hadn't looked to age a bit, he thought with a wry smile, and Aunt Ami wore glasses now, but her smile was the same.
The other two, though... Aunt Makoto would be the one with the rose-bud earrings, he decided, because she always referenced her rose garden the letters she sent them. Aunt Usagi was the other blond. Her letters were hard to read, but Rei had remarked once to their father that Usagi was the "epitome of blond jokes," whatever that meant.
It wasn't improbable for Ojiisan to have pictures of his daughter's graduation, but Alec couldn't help but wonder why it had been stuck behind the books. Had it been an accident? Recalling their attitudes toward one another earlier, he wasn't sure.
Unwilling to put it back where he'd found it, though it would give away that he'd been in the room, Alec found an empty space of shelf and set the picture upon it. After making certain that it wouldn't fall, he slipped from the study and closed the door behind him.
He found the garden several times in his wanderings, but it wasn't until he'd made a full circle of the house (pointedly skipping the den and the bedroom) that he exited onto the porch. Moonlight hung above, brighter now that the sun had gone, but there remained an orange glow of pollution to the west. Unbothered by this, Alec glanced to where the opening for the den should have been, to find that it was done up for the night. The Ambassador and his wife must have left.
Stepping off onto the grass, Alec ventured once again to the pond. It was hard to see the fish at night, but he liked the sound that the water made as it moved. Settling beside it, he dipped his fingers into the stream. A moment later, something scaled and fluid brushed against them, and he yanked his hand back.
"Warrior of much power is nishikigoi," a familiar growl stated from behind him.
Alec looked back to find Ojiisan standing at the edge of the porch. He slipped on a pair of sandals before stepping down into the grass. The suit he'd worn at dinner had been exchanged for a blue robe with short, flared sleeves and matching, high-ankled pants. A closer inspection proved that what Alec had thought was white trimming was a secondary robe beneath the first. Trying not to stare at the strange clothing, Alec turned instead to the problem of warrior fish.
"Warriors?" He dipped his fingers back into the water. Once again a body brushed him, but this time he did not jump.
"Many time ago," Ojiisan explained as he lowered himself gingerly to his knees beside Alec. One withering hand joined his in the water, "In time of ancestor, koi swim Huáng Hé river. Each year, they is try swim up waterfarr to heaven gate."
As he spoke, Ojiisan took his hand from the water and mimed the fish leaping up into the air. "They swim is very fast, strong. The one that reach top is become dragon. Those one that not this do is being catch by man. That one is take to kitchen and look at death rike warrior.
"Very brave," Ojiisan said as he dropped his hand to his knee and stared at the water, "As man is being. Brave, with much honor."
"It's an honour to die?" Alec asked and frowned at his reflection in the now-still pool. In it, he saw his grandfather turn to watch him.
"Honor is fight," he explained in a tone Alec could not identify, "To achieve very great thing. To see danger, be know it. To, at every cost, fight for what is want be true. Nishikigoi is being sign of man."
"Never give up," Alec summarized in a whisper.
"Hai," said Ojiisan. Alec assumed that this meant "yes."
