[Prompt# 30][Saiunkoku Monogatari] Garden Medley

[lovefujitez]

 Title: Garden Medley
Day/Theme: 30. "Gardens were meant to be seen, smelled, walked through, grubbed in."
Series: Saiunkoku Monogatari
Characters: Ran Kyuuren, Kou Shureii, Sa Kokujun
Disclaimer: Characters mentioned in fic are not mine
Rating: PG
Word Count: 586

 

 

Kou Shuurei missed the lush greenery that abounds in the outlying provinces of the kingdom. The gardens in the Imperial Palace and other family mansions she has visited in the city boasts of beautiful trimmed gardens lavished with colorful, sweet scented blooms, and ponds made brilliant by the huge koi fishes.  Somehow, Shuurei feels it to be different. She stared at the dried tree trunks and almost dried soil in their garden and wished she could see the garden in its former beauty once again.

She recalled the beautiful silky pink petals of the sakura blossoms fluttering playfully around during a sunny spring morning.  The ancient giant trees that lined the backyard flourished then and during the summer the strong branches covered with thick lush leaves kept the backyard shaded and cool.  There was a time she remembered tending to young men who had fallen from the trees.  She tried to recollect that afternoon, but her mind couldn’t seem to bring back that memory.

‘I’ll ask Seiran if he remembers,’ Shuurei thought, but lately Seiran had been busy working at the Imperial Palace.

She sighed as she picked up the water bucket quietly sitting next to her. The only area that seems to    survive is her vegetable garden and the young cherry blossom tree that was given to them by Reishin-sama. Shuurei began the process of watering the radishes and leeks.  The white vegetables look very healthy and ready for picking, but she’ll wait for three more days before she, and Seiran will harvest the vegetables from their garden.  She smiled happily checking on the healthy green leafy vegetables lined up on the outer rows.

Suddenly, the high pitched, erratic sound of flute pierced her ear and Shuurei couldn’t help but shudder.  Eventually, she ended up dropping the wooden bucket and covered her ears with both hands as she ran towards the house to find her guests.

“It looks like my house guests have awakened,” Shuurei noted.  Her friendly flute player stood in the dining room with Sa Kokujun smiling appreciatively and enjoying the flute tunes played by Ran Ryuuren. Shuurei sat on the empty chair and joined in listening to her guest’s torturous flute playing.

“Shuurei-san, isn’t Ryuuren-san so talented?” Kokujun smiled, “ I love  Ryuuren-san and his wonderful flute playing.” 

Shuurei released a heavy sigh instead of responding for fear that she might say something she would regret. The music abruptly stopped and Ryuuren disappeared without notice.  Within minutes, he returned to the dining room, jumping from a window overlooking the vegetable garden.

Her eyes popped upon seeing her carefully tended vegetables worn by the pompous flute player.  The succulent bok choy sat on top of Ryuuren head, the fat radishes and thick leeks were strung together like some kind of wing attachment and the polished jicamas proudly hand over his chest. He even turned the biggest radish into a flute and played a new tune that hurt her ears.

“What have you done to my vegetables?” Shuurei asked frantically.

“The vegetables are ripe,” Ryuuren announced.

“Three days, I was waiting for three more days, and the vegetables would be bigger and taste much better,” Shuurei complained.

“They called to me,” Ryuuren explained. “Now I have to compose a medley of garden variety tunes.  This is a good opportunity to start a new journey.”

“I will accompany  Ryuuren-san.” Kojukun announced and followed the colorful musician out of the Kou mansion.

“I didn’t get to enjoy the fruits of my garden." Shuurei cried in frustration.

 

 

 

Comments

[obasan45.livejournal.com]

OMG! I can't believe this!
The first Ran Ryuuren fanfic that doesn't make him out to be cute!
I, who think Ryuuren is nothing but a spoilt, inconsiderate BRAT, thank you!

"pompous flute player"
Yesh! Absolutely!

Oh, and a flute carved out of a fat radish?
haha, what an idea! I like!