A Working Relationship
Pairing: Kihatsu (Buou)/Yuukyou

Notes: I finished reading the last volume of Houshin Engi and started writing this fic about 30 minutes later. I'd had the idea for this WAFFly blurb ever since I finished volume 20 of the manga and was waiting to see how this relationship played out according to canon before I wrote the fic. Yeah, it's cute and fluffy. I can't help it, there's a romantic sap lurking deep within my shounen manga-loving soul. Spoilers for the ending of Houshin Engi, so don't read this until you finish the manga. The title sucks. I hate titling fics. =_=

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"Aw geez, Tan...can't I have a break from these for one stupid morning?" Kihatsu rolled his eyes and buried his face in his hands, sighing dramatically. "I swear, all this work's taking a toll on me. Look at me..." he held out his hands, "I'm half the man I used to be. Can't you tell?"

"You look perfectly healthy to me," responded his brother, straightening the tall hat that perched atop his head. "Come on, these are important. You're the leader of the people - they named a dynasty after you, for goodness sakes. I think you can put in a little more effort."

Kihatsu groaned and slouched petulantly in his chair. He hadn't realized just how hard it was to be the Emperor until...well, until he actually became the Emperor, and found himself wondering just how in the hell his father managed to do this job for so many years and still be as chipper as he was. This would have been a great job for Hakuyuukou if he was still alive. Kihatsu was sure of that. His older brother had been popular and actually liked hard work. Sometimes, Kihatsu felt like perhaps he'd be better off running around incognito like he had before, chasing after any Purin-chan that he desired. Those truly were the days...even if the successes were few, they certainly paid off in the end. He grinned to himself, basking in the memories of his younger, freer days.

"Get your lazy butt to work."

A scroll whacked Kihatsu over the head and he jumped in his chair, startled out of his reminiscing. "Tan, you jackass, don't hit me. I'm working, I'm working."

He turned around to find Yuukyou in place of his younger and more responsible brother. She raised an eyebrow at Kihatsu and crossed her arms over her chest. "You're lucky that I was raised by the laziest man on earth. I'm pretty good at motivating people."

"Alright, ma'am," Kihatsu sighed.

"You know, you were never this lazy on the battlefield," Yuukyou observed, moving some of the scrolls closer to Kihatsu and perching on the edge of the Emperor's desk. "I remember first meeting you and being impressed by your prowess in battle. What happened?"

"Fighting...tactics...life and death. That stuff is interesting. It makes a difference, changes lives, that kinda thing," Kihatsu searched his desk for an ink brush, and Yuukyou handed him the one tucked behind her ear. He nodded gratefully and started to write characters on the scroll in front of him. "Desk jobs suck, on the other hand."

"Yeah...well, when you've spent your whole life shearing sheep, it's nice to actually be able to sit down and work once in a while," Yuukyou explained, unrolling scrolls as she talked. Every day passed similarly - while Kihatsu was an enthusiastic ruler, eager to get the human world back on its feet, he also had about thirty minutes worth of patience when it came to routine paperwork. Ever since the inception of the Shuu empire, Yuukyou and Kou Tan had worked by the Emperor's side, nudging him along and providing him with the help that he needed in order to rebuild an ailing capital and world. With the death of the In empire came freedom for the people, but it carried with it more responsibility than Kihatsu had ever faced. In turn, this became a lot of responsibility for Yuukyou, who was generally considered one of the Emperor's second-in-commands and advisors.

While she tried to keep a cheerful demeanor, sometimes the stress got to her as well. After all, it wasn't as easy to satisfy the demands of an entire nation as it had been the sheep. Yuukyou simply made sure that she always remembered the importance of her job, and also that without her help, the Emperor would probably have abdicated and ran off into the far-off countries to chase women again.

"These are death certificates..." Yuukyou set a stack of scrolls on the floor next to the Emperor's desk. "These are birth certificates, and these are land transfer claims. They all need your insignia, and you should probably log them - don't want an incident like last time, where we all had to stay up until two in the morning looking for one that you forgot to sign."

Kihatsu took the brush out from between his teeth and flashed a grin at Yuukyou. "Hey, but it's been a long time since I've been up that late with a girl, even if it was just you..."

"You wish," Yuukyou mumbled, hiding her words in a feigned cough. "The ones next to the transfer claims are marriage licenses. You should probably take care of those at around the same time, since I'm sure a lot of them pertain to the same people."

Work continued throughout the day, and as the sun began to set, Kihatsu yawned loudly and stretched his hands over his head, pulling his arms high. "I think that's enough for one day, don't you?"

Yuukyou had been in and out over the course of the day, as she was the one who greeted guests in place of the Emperor. While she could have kept going for another hour at least, Yuukyou considered the current situation - Kou Tan was out of the castle on an errand and wouldn't be back until the next morning, and to tell the truth, she decided that she could use an early evening as well.

"Mmm," she said as she nodded, "All right, I guess it wouldn't hurt to leave some of these for tomorrow."

"I don't think it'd hurt to leave 'em ALL for tomorrow," Kihatsu threw Yuukyou another grin, "But you and Tan'd kick my ass if I slacked like that, wouldn'tcha?"

"Do you really hate the work that much?"

"Nah," Kihatsu shrugged. "I just like seeing you two freak out when I complain. Both of you guys should relax more. You're prettier when you're not scowling at me, anyway."

Yuukyou looked away quickly - she could feel a blush spreading from behind her ears. As much as she tried to ignore it, she couldn't help but notice her growing attraction to the Emperor. She didn't want to like him - but as she spent more and more time with him, working closely with him and devoting her life to his empire, most of the things that annoyed her about him were changing into endearing quirks instead of reasons to smack him over the head. And he WAS a handsome man. Sometimes Yuukyou wondered why he hadn't had more luck back in his days of chasing women all day and night.

"You, um, want to go for a walk or something?" Yuukyou broke her silence, turning back towards Kihatsu. "I think we can leave the guards here...things have been pretty safe, especially now that the sennin world has Nataku and Raishinshi on patrol duty."

"'Kay," Kihatsu agreed. "Seems like forever since I've actually been out of this castle...may as well see what my kingdom's becoming."

Yuukyou called the servants to clean up the dishes from the evening's dinner, which had been eaten at the Emperor's desk. This too was a common occurrence, what with all the work that had been piling up as Chouka rebuilt itself. As the servants cleared the used dishes, Kihatsu and Yuukyou crept out the back entrance of the castle and walked down near the servants' quarters.

"You can see the whole city from up there," Kihatsu commented, and he and Yuukyou climbed up the winding staircase to the lookout tower. There was only one window - Yuukyou stood at the window, resting her arms on the sill, and Kihatsu stood behind her, looking out over her head. Quite a kingdom he had, Kihatsu mused. Everywhere he looked, he could see the signs of progress. The frames of buildings stood tall, illuminated by the setting sun. Off in the distance, he could see Nataku circling over the city, waiting for any sort of violent outbreak so he could step in and do what he was best at. Kihatsu felt a strange sense of pride. This was his kingdom now. He wondered if his father was watching from the world of the Gods, and what he would say if he could see what kind of Emperor his son had become.

"It's kind of amazing, isn't it?"

Yuukyou looked back over her shoulder, a smile spread wide over her lips. Kihatsu looked down at the young woman standing in front of him, the buildings outside blending into the orange sunset that bathed Yuukyou's slender form. There was something beautiful about her tonight, that was for sure.

Some ten years ago, Kihatsu might have tried to grope the woman in front of him, all the while screeching enthusiastically. Things were somehow different this time around. Something inside Kihatsu told him to not take such a risk - after all, with his 80 percent failure rate, who was to say that this woman wouldn't reject him with a slap in the face?

It was all right when the unknown beauties of the kingdom brushed him off, but Kihatsu's better half told him to treat this one with care.

"Yeah...amazing."

Of course, he wasn't talking about the rebirth of Chouka, but Yuukyou didn't need to know that. She turned from the window and headed towards the spiral staircase, the Emperor following close behind. When they exited the lookout tower, Kihatsu and Yuukyou stood at the juncture of two streets before choosing the short path that led towards the rocky lakeside that stood just outside the city walls.

"I kind of miss my own country sometimes," Kihatsu admitted, sitting down on top of one of the slabs of rock, motioning for Yuukyou to sit down next to him. "Chouka is our home now, but...nothing can beat the place you grew up in."

Yuukyou nodded. "I miss the sheep sometimes," she laughed, "During the summertime, I'd watch my father sleeping, and I'd sometimes go lay down next to him on top of the sheep too." She leaned backwards and tipped her head towards the sky, closing her eyes and feeling the sun on the surfaces of her eyelids. "The bed I've got here is nice, but it's not quite like sleeping with the sheep." Yuukyou laughed at her own words. "I sure sound like a country girl, don't I?"

She waited for some sort of derogatory comment or joke from the Emperor, but all she could hear was the sound of the water lapping against the rocks. "Emperor?" Yuukyou said nervously, cracking an eyelid open. Maybe he'd fallen asleep? She opened both eyes and sat up, bumping her forehead into Kihatsu's. He sat back quickly, rubbing his forehead, and chuckled. "Ow...you've got a pretty hard head for a country girl."

Curse the luck. Watching Yuukyou relax in the dim sunlight, the urge he'd had to kiss Yuukyou for the last hour had welled up inside him until he couldn't take it any longer. He sighed, slightly disappointed. He couldn't put his finger on it, but at some point he had come to realize that his Purin-chasing days were over. It wasn't recent, either. Kihatsu had known that he was falling for Yuukyou for some time now. He didn't figure that she liked him much, but it wouldn't hurt to at least try to kiss her.

Kihatsu rolled his head around on his neck, stretching it out and cracking it from side to side. "All that desk work's doing a number on my back," he sighed. Upon hearing this, Yuukyou stood up and rearranged herself in a kneeling position behind the Emperor.

"You want a backrub?"

"That'd be lovely, Yuukyou," he replied, and leaned back into her hands. Yuukyou swallowed, tried to calm her racing nerves, and gripped Kihatsu's shoulders. Aside from the sudden closeness to the Emperor, she was also remembering something that her father had once told her...something he said that he'd learned after years of observing the sennin and their pupils.

"95% of backrubs lead to sex. Everyone knows this."

She wondered how exactly her father learned this, since most of the persons in question were male, but decided to leave that thought for another day and concentrate on the situation in front of her. She gently lifted the Emperor's shoulder muscles, rubbing them between her fingertips. He sighed. "Thanks..."

"N...no problem." Great, now she was starting to sound like a nervous little girl as well as blush like one. Yuukyou didn't know quite what she was getting herself into, but decided to just run with it and hope for the best.

Concurrently, Kihatsu was enjoying the pressure of Yuukyou's hands on his body, and listening her babble idly about the work they had coming up over the next few days. His mind was elsewhere, namely, thinking about the best way to try and kiss Yuukyou again.

"Should I do you now?" he asked, figuring he might as well return the favor after she had gone to the trouble of giving him a backrub.

Yuukyou gasped and scooted back quickly, blinking repeatedly. Kihatsu's brow twisted into an expression of confusion. "I guess I could, but I kind of thought we'd be married before we did anything like that...oh, I guess my father was right after all."

Kihatsu coughed. "What are you talking about? I didn't think there were any marriage requirements regarding backrubs."

Yuukyou could have smacked herself for being so stupid. She took three deep breaths and tried to regain her normal, calm demeanor. "I was just...reminding you that you didn't log all of the marriage licenses," she lied, and Kihatsu raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Mmhmm." He could almost hear the wheels in Yuukyou's head turning as she prepared to make a speech about the importance of diligence in work, and figured that this was his best chance to not only get out of a lecture, but also get what he'd been desiring all night. Kihatsu faced Yuukyou, put a hand behind her neck, and closed his eyes, drawing their faces closer and brushing his lips lightly against hers.

In the seconds before their lips met, Yuukyou cycled through a full range of emotions. Fear, anticipation, anxiety, excitement, and overall concern over her potential performance, having never been kissed before. After the first touch of Kihatsu's lips on her own, though, those thoughts flew from her head, replaced by nothing short of complete surrender to her feelings.

The Emperor paused, waiting a moment for Yuukyou's approval, and when he encountered no resistance, he circled his other hand around her waist and pressed his mouth fully against hers. As they continued to kiss, the kisses becoming deeper every time their lips parted and rejoined, Yuukyou wrapped her arms around Kihatsu's neck, grateful that they were both seated and she didn't have to stand on her toes to kiss him.

When they finally parted for a breather, Yuukyou pushed her brain back into Thought mode, and offhandedly remembered what the Emperor had said to her the first time they had met.

"You've got about a year to go before you're a Purin-chan."

She had been so mad at him back then, but he had changed during the time Yuukyou had known him. Thought took the backseat again as Kihatsu surrounded her in a strong embrace and kissed her again. The sun finished setting behind them, and the moon and stars started to appear as dusk turned into evening.

"Hey..." Yuukyou murmured, leaning back into Kihatsu's arms and playing idly with his fingertips, "Remember when you told me that I wasn't a Purin-chan yet?"

"Yeah," he chuckled, "I remember that...you weren't a Purin-chan, I wasn't an Emperor. Stuff sure has changed, hasn't it?"

"So you're saying I'm a Purin-chan now?" Yuukyou smiled, and felt the Emperor rest his head against the top of hers.

"Nah, you're better than a Purin-chan," he replied, squeezing her around the middle. "You know, Yuukyou, I was thinking..."

"That's a first," she laughed, and Kihatsu harrumphed, mildly annoyed. "I'm just kidding, you know that. What were you thinking about?"

Kihatsu swallowed, and sighed thoughtfully. "I'm not getting any younger, you know?"

"Neither am I," she answered, and felt his strong arms draw tighter around her. "Too bad we're not sennin, and could live for another 500 years if we wanted." Yuukyou sighed. "I wish I could spend the rest of my life with you. I mean...like this. Even if I didn't love you, I'd still hang around, because who knows what would happen to the Empire if I were to leave?"

"Let's get married, Yuukyou." Kihatsu grasped Yuukyou's hands and pulled her to a standing position, staring down into her eyes.

"M..."

"You said that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with me, right? Well, I feel the same way. I don't know what I'd do without you. Plus," he leaned in, whispering into Yuukyou's ear, as if there was a crowd of people around to hear, "There's things I want to do with you that you're supposed to be married to do with a good conscience." Kihatsu could practically feel the blush radiating off of Yuukyou, and kissed her gently. "What do you say?"

Yuukyou's heart was thumping up against her tonsils, but she pushed it back down to its normal location and responded with a nod, "Sure...let's get married."

Kihatsu grinned, his smile spreading wide across his face. "See, I told you that you were more than just an average Purin-chan. You're MY Purin-chan."

Yuukyou couldn't stop smiling, feeling an unfamiliar warmth spreading throughout her body. "There's just one thing I'm worried about, though."

"What's that?"

"Well...I hope my father will wake up for our wedding, that's all. I'd feel bad if he slept all the way through it." She laughed and kissed her new fiancee on the lips.

"Yeah...hey, come to think about it, Tan'll probably have a heart attack once he hears that his playboy brother has finally decided to settle down." Kihatsu smirked. "I can't wait for him to come back tomorrow so I can tell him the news."

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From his vantage point in the sky, Nataku observed the situation on the rocks below. He'd thought of calling Raishinshi to show him what his older brother was up to. However, somewhere deep inside that Paopei body of Nataku's was a sympathetic soul - or, at the very least, one that recognized that Raishinshi would probably spoil the moment entirely if he knew what was going on. Plus, Nataku knew that Raishinshi would throw a fit of grand proportions when he found out that Nataku didn't call him during this time of great importance. And he'd react in his usual way - an outburst of violence.

"Hm. I could use a good fight. I'll look forward to this," Nataku said to himself, and flew off into the light of the moon, leaving the Emperor and his new fiancee to their own pursuits.

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C&C if you want. Who knows, maybe it'll inspire me to finish one of the four fics I have sitting on this computer in semi-hibernation. ^_~