I like to think that Yaone likes Kou. I like to think that someday he'll like her back. I dunno if this is canon or not, but given the number of shounen- ai stories that are almost DEFINITELY not canon… I think I'll get away with it. And I know nothing about plants, and less about medicine, so stick with me, okay? Saiyuki and related awesomeness is copyright Kazuya Minekura.
One would think that the thick plastic gloves would hinder feeling quite a bit. Not for Yaone. At seven years old, she had been able to tell sugar from salt from touch alone. She'd always had a talent for things like that. Even now, as she rummaged through jars and bottles in the dreary interior of Houtou castle, her mind rattled of uses and characteristics. Maybe not names… she had never been good at names.
Like this one. It was a deep red, almost brown powder, finer than talcum dust, not quite as soft. Mixed with water, sulphur and… oh, what was the name… that light greenish- blue fiber over there, it could put a room full of gods to sleep for days. Add a bit of ordinary seaweed and it could kill the lot of them.
She didn't really need that particular powder, but she put it in her pack anyway. It couldn't hurt, and she liked the color. It was the same color as Kougaiji's eyes… and even if she never saw the look she wanted to in those eyes, it was still a nice color.
Thinking of eyes led her off an a whole other track. This blue liquid turned to a gas when it touched air. That gas would temporarily blind an opponent… the darker the blue the longer the blindness. She had a whole string of them, from clear to almost black.
Mix the black one with these orange seeds and blindness will spread to paralysis.
Mix the clear one with the same seeds and it would create an aphrodisiac which… well… let's just say Yaone wondered if there wasn't a reason Gojyo was such a pervert.
And… thinking of love brought her back to Kougaiji.
Which was absolutely stupid because there wasn't any way she would do anything like… that.
Not that she couldn't. Her eyes flicked from jar to bottle to vial. A drop of this purple liquid slipped into a drink, or even baked into a bun would make a person vulnerable to any advances made on them… and have no memory in the morning. She'd never actually used that one, but she'd heard that it didn't work in alcohol. Something about permanent inability so store short- term memory.
Mix that liquid with a bit of these dried leaves, and it would create a permanent love spell, almost to the point where the poisoned person would become a willing shikigami. She hadn't used that one either, because she didn't really want anyone to know she could do it. They'd never let her near the kitchens again.
This one was a bit simpler, if less effective. The shredded yellow fiber, ground to a powder and mixed with just a tiny bit of water would make a person unable to lie to themselves. It wasn't as effective, because it only worked if the person really was in love. The effects were also incredibly temporary. This one she had used before.
Hell, she was pretty much addicted to it by this point.
Which is why she knew she loved Kougaiji, more than she'd really ever admitted.
It was also why she knew she'd never give any of these things… right?
Right.
I think.
Still… he did have a lot of inner conflict… she could see it on his face as he stalked around the castle. And maybe that last one would help him out a bit.
Right?
Right?
Tata! Chapter one, complete! So, dear and loyal Saiyuki fans, is she gonna do it? Let's hear opinions… Sits and waits for feedback