Koiji

(Love's Pathway)

A TGS-based story

By C.S. Hayden © 2006

Disclaimer: Gargoyles is the property of Disney and Buena Vista Television. Characters from the fanfics of Kimberly T. appear by permission. Roslin is the property of Kiwifluff, Mozu's #1 fan. All original characters and plot are the creative property of Christi Smith Hayden.

Part VIII

Part VIII

"Are you sure that Kirin got the message?" Beatrix asked for the third time.

"Well, I sent it with Mozu," Ariana said. "He was the only one I could find last night. The meeting that Kirin was at went on forever and I was too busy moving my stuff in with Midori to wait for him."

Beatrix sighed. "There's nothing for it, I suppose. I'll use the time to get the others comfortable with their parts."

The badger-faced Londoner had reserved one of the pavilions near the fields to stage the play rehearsals and was anxious to begin. She had recruited a few others to fill in the remaining parts and Ariana had been surprised at just who showed up. Mawson was playing the role of devilish Don John with Dodger as Borachio, his devious accomplice. They made a very convincing pair of villains. Li Kao and his friends became Dogberry and the comedic night watch and hammed it up like they were starring in a Chinese opera. Lucy had managed to separate Graeme from his techno toys and they were engrossed in their parts as Hero and Claudio. Watching them made Ariana feel a little lonely and that was something she could not stand.

"Tell you what, Bea," Ariana said, "I'll go track Kirin down. He might be in the rookery teaching again. I can run lines with him if you like."

"We're going to break for dinner around midnight. Try to bring him back for rehearsals then." Beatrix tapped the script against her chin thoughtfully. "If you can, see if you can round up some extras to fluff out the cast. Midori said she'd ask her rookery sisters but it couldn't hurt to have a few more."

"Will do."

Rather than run around all over Ishimura looking for Kirin, Ariana decided to look in the most obvious place first. Kirin was continuing to teach the rookery so the junior teachers could participate in the Grand Miai so it only made sense to follow the sounds of hatchlings at play. They led her to a sheltered area in the center of the compound where the clan's head rookery keeper had her hands full.

"I'm afraid Kirin isn't here, Ari-chan," Sakaki said to her question as she shooed the last of her charges into the schoolroom. She seemed annoyed as she glanced up and down the length of the courtyard. "I wish I knew where he was – he was supposed to be here earlier so I could go over tonight's lesson plans."

"That's odd." Ariana frowned. "We had a play rehearsal scheduled but he didn't show for that either."

One of the hatchlings, a little green female with pronged curved horns and a heart-shaped face, poked her head around the edge of the door. "Is sensei not coming tonight?

"I'm sure he has only been delayed, Keiko," Sakaki said. "After all, he has been staying at the south watchtower with his Tengu students. Go take your place and I will begin the lesson."

"Lady Sakaki!" They both looked up to see Takakura sailing down on silent feathered wings into the courtyard. He was wearing loose black trousers and began pulling his gingko-patterned haori closed around him as soon as his feet touched the ground. As he approached, Ariana realized that Takakura's hair was wet and was leaving damp patches on his silk jacket. "A thousand pardons – Master Kirin has sent me ahead to ask for his class to join him at the docks."

Sakaki looked the young Tengu up and down. "Oh, dear," she murmured. "Don't tell me… Kirin went fishing."

Takakura laughed. "It could not be helped. There was a school of tuna just off the point, positively daring us to go after them." He glanced at the classroom door, which by this time, was filled with hatchlings. "A shark tried to help itself to our catch and Master Kirin speared it. He thought that the class might enjoy seeing it up close."

"Oh, please!"

"Please-please-please!"

As the din grew, Sakaki threw up her hands. "All right, all right," she said, raising her voice over the clamor of the hatchlings. "Line up two-by-two! Let's go see sensei's big fish!" She rolled her eyes and said to Ariana, "Some things never change – Kirin's first love was fishing."

"No kidding," Ariana laughed back. "I watched him catch trout bare-handed when I was with the Tengu."

Sakaki chuckled under her breath. "At least you know what you're getting into."

Takakura accompanied them halfway across the compound before leaving to attend a meeting with the other clan representatives. Midori was just leaving the young females' quarters as they passed but she joined them, along with Toshi who had been sitting on a wall nearby.

"What's going on?" Midori asked. "Are we having a parade?"

"No," one of the hatchlings said, "we're going to see sensei's big fish!"

Ariana rolled her eyes. "Apparently, that's where Kirin was instead of the play rehearsal. Beatrix was besides herself."

"The fish will be welcome," Toshi said. "With so many extra mouths to feed, we've had to be careful with our supplies. When I did my turn in the kitchens, Mizuumi was constantly doing inventory. She'd count every mouthful if she could."

"That's a thought," Sakaki said, pursing her lips. "Toshi, please go tell her about the fish and ask her to send down some helpers with some ice to the docks."

"As you wish, Sakaki-san." The young teal male trotted off on his errand.

They turned past the main courtyard and headed down a sloping path lined with fine-bladed silvery grass that came up to the hatchlings' waists. Ishimura kept the clan's fishing fleet in a sheltered inlet that came up against a sheer bluff going up to the compound above. Most adults flew down to the docks but, as the hatchlings were not yet steady on their wings, Sakaki had chosen the longer route by footpath. The young gargoyles didn't mind; they were excited by the change in their routine and eagerly pointed out new things along their journey.

Halfway down, a flutter of feathered wings announced Roslin's arrival. The Belgian goat girl had changed from her traditional peasant clothes to an off-shoulder black shirt and blue jeans for a more modern look. "Ariana! Takakura dit que Mozu était vers le bas ici. L'avez-vous vu?"

"Je ne suis pas sûr mais vous êtes bienvenu pour venir avec nous." Curious faces looked back at them and Ariana said in Japanese, "This is Roslin from the Paris clan. She doesn't speak Japanese so I'm going to switch to English now. Will that be all right, Sakaki?"

Sakaki smiled graciously and gave a small bow. "I do not mind," she said, carefully pronouncing her words. "It will be good practice for the hatchlings. We started them on English this year."

Ariana turned back to Roslin, who was a little wide-eyed from all of the attention from the hatchlings. "This is the class that Kirin's been teaching. Rumor has it that the Tengu crew have been fishing."

"Ah," Roslin said. "Mozu said zey often did zat." She smiled and dimples danced in her cheeks. "So silly males."

The path came over a gentle rise and they could see three winged figures working near a shed on the edge of the docks. There were wooden beams leading from the shed to heavy posts and on these beams, several large fish were hanging. The shortest of the three gargoyles disappeared into the shed as they approached and Ariana bit back a smirk as Roslin quickened her pace.

"Kirin-san!" Sakaki called out from her position at the head of the line. "What have you been up to?"

"You know me, Sakaki," Kirin said from behind the body of a five-foot-long shark that he was wrestling down from a hook with Tancho's help, "I've never met a fish that I didn't want to invite to dinner."

"You mean, as dinner, don't you?" Sakaki said, shaking her head.

"It's all the same thing, neh?" Kirin said as he and Tancho laid the shark out on the sloping concrete slab, "Come here, class. How many of you have seen a silver-tip shark? Mind your feet – it's slippery here."

As the hatchlings surged past her, Ariana barely noticed the shark. She was too busy looking over Kirin. His hair was still wet and dark gold against his dappled green skin. He had a navy-and-white printed cloth wrapped from his waist to his knees in dhoti fashion much like he had been when Ariana had found him in his schoolroom practicing with his swords. Kirin caught her looking. Ariana met his eyes and smiled slowly and deliberately. He huffed and glared back, but smiled when he did so.

"These should be sharp enough now, sensei," Mozu said as he came out of the shed with several long curved knives in his hands. He was wearing a sleeveless grey tunic but it was tied loosely and was hanging off one shoulder. Unlike his brothers, Mozu was not bulky but lean and sleekly muscled. The center of his chest and torso was a lighter brown that became darker to the sides.

He was in the process of handing over the knives when Roslin made a high-pitched squeal. She was staring at him gleefully while applauding with the tips of her fingers against her chin. Her stubby goat tail was twirling around like a propeller.

Mozu froze for a moment like a deer in headlights and then instinctively ducked behind Tancho.

"She's already seen you, featherhead," Tancho said as he reached up to take down a fish. "There's no point in hiding now."

"I-I'll just go fetch some trays to put the fish in, shall I?" Mozu fled back into the shed.

Tancho said nothing but began to cluck like a chicken, much to the amusement of the hatchlings. He also had wrapped a cloth around his hips like Kirin but his was a lighter fabric that had grown more transparent as it got wet. He was still wearing his fundoshi underneath it but that didn't hide much. Everywhere you looked, it was long, tall, naked grey gargoyle.

"Bodhisattva…" Midori breathed under her breath, fanning herself with her hand.

Biting back a grin, Ariana shot a sidelong glance at her friend. She knew Midori had been enjoying Tancho's company so she was prepared for the enamored look on her face; what Ariana didn't expect was the equally appreciative look on Toshi's. The young Ishimuran healer had glided in a few moments before and was eyeing Tancho from top to bottom with a slow, calculating grin.

Midori caught Ariana's expression and turned her head to see what she was staring at. She elbowed Toshi and muttered, "Stop that – you're drooling."

"You first," Toshi shot back.

"Shut up."

Ariana was a little surprised but she decided that she had better things to do than wonder about her friends and their love life. Admiring her own boyfriend, for example – she couldn't help a triumphant little grin at being able to think of Kirin as precisely that. His hair was a wet tangled mess and his skin was drying in salt-crusted patches but she found him irresistible. As the group of curious hatchlings crowded around him, Ariana felt like she was seeing Kirin in his youth, before so much unhappiness changed his life.

"Sensei!" Keiko's eyes and mouth were all perfect circles as she stared at the fish hung up by their tails on the dock. "You caught all these?"

"No...," Kirin drawled out as he helped Tancho secure the largest of the tunas, which was nearly as big as most hatchlings present. He glowered at the shark. "Takakura and Tancho got the two big tunas and Mozu got those two smaller ones. My fish," he kicked the shark, "was taken by this thing." The whites of his eyes glowed faintly as he muttered something under his breath. From his general demeanor, Ariana suspected that Kirin was using some rather colorful words at the shark.

"But where's your boat?" one of the little males asked as he looked off the end of the dock. "Did you leave it out in the harbor?"

"I learned to fish a different way when I was with the Tengu," Kirin said, nodding at Tancho who nodded back and went off to pick up a bundle laying to one side. "You fish as a team using fishing spears." Mozu joined him and picked up a short spear with a wicked-looking barbed head and a length of cable on the other end. "The lighter flyer throws the spear and the stronger flyer acts as the anchor." Tancho looped the rest of the cable around his shoulders and pulled back as if he had something on the line. "It's a good way to catch fish if the conditions are right, like they were this evening."

"Even the shark? It's so big!"

"That was unintentional." Kirin looked chagrined. "I was aiming at my tuna when the shark bit into it. When I threw the spear, I didn't expect to hit the shark and when I did, there was no going back. It took all four of us to get it to shore."

Tancho snorted. "Sensei got mad at the shark. What a stupid fish, neh?"

Kirin dropped down on his knees and hoisted the head of the shark up so it was looking at the hatchlings, who all took a step back. "You are a VERY naughty shark. I'll bet you're sorry now, aren't you?" There were one or two nervous twitters. Kirin took grip on the top and bottom of its jaws and manipulated it like a puppet, saying in a higher-pitched voice, "I'm a bad, bad shark! Sorry-sorry-sorry!"

It was the most unlikely thing she ever imagined Kirin doing. Ariana was trying desperately not to burst into hysterics when she heard Sakaki snort. She looked over to see the older female hiding her giggles behind her sleeve while the hatchlings all howled with laughter.

"Oh, I had forgotten how silly he could be!" Sakaki said, wiping her eyes.

"Kirin?" Ariana giggled back. "But he's so serious!"

"Not with the little ones, Ari-chan," Sakaki said. "He might be stern but he will go to extremes to keep them from fearing him."

While the hatchlings were still tittering, Kirin slipped into teacher mode. "As you can see, we've already gutted out these fish but I have saved some of the more interesting bits of the shark to show you. Does anyone know what is the biggest part of the shark?"

"The teeth!"

"The fins?"

"The stomach?"

"Close!" Kirin smiled and nodded at the hatchling that had made the last suggestion. "It's the liver. Unlike bony fishes, sharks rely on their oily livers to keep them afloat so that organ takes of thirty percent of their body cavities."

"And it's very tasty," Tancho said, winking at the class. "It's my favorite part of our New Year's feast."

"Really?" Sakaki tilted her head. "How is it prepared?"

"It's a regional specialty," Kirin said. "They salt the liver down to preserve it and draw off the oil for medicinal use but later they cook what's left over. In Osaka, they call it 'cooked skin of whale' but it's full of omega-three, fatty acids, and vitamins – perfect for a winter meal."

Keiko wrinkled her nose. "It doesn't sound very good."

"Trust me, if you had been snowed in for weeks, you'd be surprised how good it tastes." Kirin pushed the tray with the liver aside as Tancho placed another in front of him. "Now this is the stomach and you never know what you might find in a shark's belly. They are the goats of the sea – sharks will eat anything and frequently do!" He slipped the sharp blade into the organ and cut a large U-shape flap in it. "Let's see what this shark has been up to, shall we?"

The bolder, more curious hatchlings leaned forward while the more squeamish stepped back towards Sakaki. Ariana opted to stay back as well; she wouldn't admit it to anyone but the strong fishy smell on the dock was beginning to get to her.

"Hmm...," Kirin prodded around the stomach with the knife. "This was a shark that liked to stay close to shore," he said, "because here's a old shoe," he pulled out a rubber boot, "and here's a license tag for a car, and what's this?" He pulled out a what looked a wad of blue woven material "I believe this may be a wallet."

"May I see that, Kirin-san?" Toshi asked, having been unable to resist getting a closer look. He took the object over to a bucket of water and rinsed it off. "Yes, I believe you are right. Most of the contents have been damaged by stomach acid but there's a laminated ID card in here. May I take this to Constable Omi? He may be able to find out who it belongs to."

Kirin glanced towards Sakaki, who nodded. "Yes, please do. In fact, Tancho, find him a bucket and he can take all these things with him." He ran his hand along the shark. "Who is brave enough to touch the shark?" The little females backed off but two-fingered Jiro was pushed forward by his rookery brothers. "Come closer," Kirin said, "and tell us what you feel."

Jiro bit his lip as he knelt besides the shark and touched it tentatively. His eyes widened. "It's smooth this way but it's rough that way!"

"That's right. Woodworkers used to use shark skin to smooth wood before sandpaper was invented." Kirin tossed his head towards Tancho and Mozu. "The Tengu still use it in some of their handicrafts. Different areas on the shark's skin make different grades of smoothing."

Some of the other little males had come forward and were patting the shark. A couple of adults had turned up with large plastic bins and buckets of ice. A grey female with a twisted horn came up besides Sakaki. She stood with her head tilted away so her defect was less obvious but she needn't have bothered because she was an attractive female from any angle.

"Ah, Mizuumi," Sakaki said. "I see you've come down from the kitchens. Haven't Kirin and our Tengu guests caught some fine fish?"

"Yes, indeed!" Mizuumi made a quick bow. "I am very grateful, Kirin-san. We've already prepared tonight's meal but this will be a very welcome addition to the menu. I'll have to think of something really special to do with that shark. It will feed so many!"

A little orange-skinned female tugged on Mizuumi's dress. "Will we eat some of sensei's fish?"

Pursing her lips, Mizuumi considered. "Yes...," she said slowly, "I think I can come up with something suitable just for the rookery class."

"What? What?"

"Now, now," Sakaki said as she shook her finger at the hatchlings, "if Mizuumi-san tells you, it won't be a surprise, will it?" She smiled at their pouting faces. "Let's go back up to the classroom and Kirin-san will join us as soon as he's cleaned up." She shot an amused but no nonsense look over her shoulder at Kirin. "I have a worksheet about sharks that we can do while we're waiting."

Ariana nearly laughed at the sheepish way Kirin rolled his eyes at Sakaki's unspoken order but he merely said in a mild tone, "That should be plenty of time, Sasaki-san. I'll be along as soon as I'm done here."

The hatchlings said their farewells in unison as Sasaki led them away back up to the compound. Their excited chatter echoed off the bluffs long after they were gone.

"I guess she told you, neh?" Tancho said with his hands on his hips. "I'll stay and help with the fish."

"Let me check with Mizuumi first." Kirin went over and began to speak to the grey female directing her helpers.

Toshi looked over the rail. "Where'd you dump the guts? We try not to dispose of it so close to the shore."

"No, sensei said you had rules about that." Tancho threw a thumb over a shoulder. "Most of it is in that barrel back there. I suppose you use it for fish bait, neh?"

"That and in the crab traps."

The casual way the two males were talking about fish offal made Ariana a little queasy. Until they had mentioned it, she had been able to ignore the smell but now it was even more obvious. She swallowed hard and looked away from the pier, swaying slightly as she did.

Midori nudged Ariana and whispered, "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," Ariana whispered back. "I was in a hurry to get to rehearsal so I didn't eat very much earlier. Stomach's a little off, that's all."

"Ah."

Kirin returned as Mizuumi began to direct her kitchen helpers in carving up the shark into more manageable sections for transport. "She says your help is more than welcome, Tancho. I'll leave you with my knives." He handed them over hilt-first to the grey-skinned Tengu in an almost ritual gesture. A curious wave of vertigo swept over Ariana and she winced at the taste of bile in the back of her throat.

"I'll take good care of them, sensei." Tancho bowed as he accepted them.

"But first, I could use a snack." Kirin glanced around and deftly removed the eye of the largest tuna with a twist of a talon. He popped it into his mouth and began to chew.

Ariana's beak gaped open. "You ATE that!?"

"Of course," Kirin said as he ran his tongue around his teeth. "Delicious."

"You ate an EYEBALL." Her stomach roiled. "Raw!"

Kirin merely shrugged. "I prefer them steamed with soba noodles but really it's not unlike large caviar, the way that it bursts on the back of your tongue." He turned the fish over and began to reach for the other eye. "Do you want one?"

She bolted to the dock railing and promptly threw up.

For a few minutes, all Ariana could do was listen to the pounding in her ears and taste the sour bile in her mouth. She sank to her knees and rested her forehead on the rough wood. The dock creaked as someone knelt and curled a tentative arm around her shoulders.

"Bishoujo?" Kirin stroked the hair back from her face. "I am sorry – I did not mean to make you ill. Will you be all right? Midori is fetching you some water."

Against her will, her stomach spasmed and she retched over the side again. Kirin said nothing but carefully supported her until she was left with nothing but dry heaves.

"Kirin!" Midori scolded as she knelt on Ariana's right. "What are you thinking? You reek of fish guts – go away! I've got her!" She pressed a water bottle to Ariana's beak. "Here – rinse and spit. Once you get the taste out of your mouth, you'll feel better."

Gratefully, Ariana took a swig and rinsed her mouth out. She was horribly embarrassed – it wasn't like her at all to lose control like that, much less throw up.

Midori clucked her tongue at her. "Oh, dear," she said with a sigh. "That will never do – you'd better come with me." She winked at Ariana. "A change of clothes is definitely called for."

"Ariana?" Kirin was standing there on the dock, clenching and unclenching his hands helplessly. "I-"

"It's okay," Midori said as she steered Ariana away. "She needs to get cleaned up. She'll meet you later at-"

"Rehearsal. Plum Pavilion after midnight."

"At rehearsal, then. Bye!" Midori waved at them as she firmly escorted Ariana farther down the docks to a good launching point so they could soar back up to the compound. By the time they landed, Ariana had regained her composure.

"Thanks," she said as she sank down on one of the benches in the changing room. "I don't know what came over me."

"Don't thank me just yet," Midori said, bringing over a small plastic basket. "I was serious about you changing clothes. You've got yuck all down your front." As Ariana looked down and grimaced, Midori giggled. "I did us all a favor. The next time you decide to hurl, don't do it into the wind."

"Did Kirin see?"

"Oh, I wouldn't be surprised if some of it didn't get on him too." Midori helped Ariana thread her wings out the back of her shirt. "He deserved it."

"Eeuw." Carefully, Ariana stripped off her clothes and went into the adjoining bathroom for a quick shower. When she came back out, Midori was rifling through Ariana's things. This was a habit of Midori's that used to irritate her until Ariana realized how talented her friend was at putting an outfit together.

Midori looked up. "Feeling better?"

"Much."

"So...," Midori sat down and cupped her chin in her hand. "Want to tell me about it?"

"What?"

"Ari-chan, I've seen you eat more disgusting things. You like that jalapeno fudge, for Buddha's sake!"

Ariana had been thinking about that as well. The problem was that there were some things that she really couldn't tell Midori about. "I know, I know," she said finally. "I think maybe I'm just a little stressed out, what with guys fighting and Brooklyn brooding and all this other stuff." She sighed. "I really wish I was back home, just doing my own thing and not having to worry about anything else."

"Well,"Midori said, "let's go with a little New York City girl glam, neh?" She held up a pair of Ariana's favorite jeans. "I bet I can find something great to go with this."

The evening had passed in a blur. Kirin had taken a quick shower and had joined Sakaki in the classroom but his mind had been on Ariana the entire time. He was very worried about her but until the rookery class went off for their midnight feeding, he wasn't at liberty to go check on her. Gargoyles were a hardy breed but they did occasionally get sick and Kirin had witnessed Ariana's problem with low blood sugar back in the Tengu village. Her nausea could be anything from food poisoning to preg – he shuddered. It was entirely the wrong season for her to be in that condition.

"Sensei?" Keiko asked in a high piping voice. "Are you cold?"

Kirin smiled down at her. "No, but thank you for asking."

"Your hair is still wet," she said in all seriousness. "You should be careful that you don't get sick."

"It's a very warm night, Keiko-chan. I think it will be all right." In truth, Kirin hadn't noticed but typically the little girls in the class had fussed over the state of his hair. As long as it hadn't been dripping on the floor, he could have cared less but they had badgered him into letting them comb it out and re-braid it while he sat on a low stool and conducted the reading lesson. He did, however, draw the line at the brightly colored ribbons that they wanted to finish it off with.

Kirin left the hatchlings in the care of blue-skinned, red-haired Sugi at their table in the dining hall. Takakura and Tacho were sitting off by themselves and waved him over. They had a tray with an assortment of dishes from cold soba noodles to grilled meats on bamboo skewers. Kirin was just starting to raise an eyebrow when Takakura pointed to his rookery brother.

"Don't look at me, sensei," the long-nosed Tengu said, "this is all Tancho's doing. He's made nice with the kitchen staff and this is his reward."

"That's right," Tancho said as he handed over a bamboo tray with a heaping mound of soba and a small bowl of savory broth to dunk it in. "I like working for Mizuumi. There's a lot to be said for a boss who pays up in delicious food." He laughed. "She's marinading your shark in a soy mixture with ginger, garlic, and fruit juice for your class. It smells wonderful!"

"I made your apologies at the council meeting," Takakura said as Kirin slurped up noodles. "Yama made a joke of your fishing obsession, his words not mine, and the meeting went on from there. The Koreans made another bid to re-establish the Okinawa clan but Yama and the Chinese delegate argued against it. They want to visit the site before making a decision."

"Anything come from it?"

Takakura pursed his lips thoughtfully. "There was an older female among the Koreans this time who made a very compelling rebuttal. She's a good speaker and her arguments are sound, but she rubs me wrong somehow." He frowned. "Like I'm a bug about to be ground beneath her foot."

"Some females are like that." Kirin poured himself a cup of water from the pitcher on the table. "It could also be that she thinks you're too young to be sitting in council. Did you voice an opinion on her proposal?"

"I did as you suggested and made the offer to host a flight of warriors from Ishimura with the Tengu." Takakura smiled slyly. "Of course, I may have given the impression that our clan is bigger than it is. She didn't like the sound of that at all – you should have seen the look she gave me."

"What did Yama think?"

"He said it had been a long time since Ishimura had visited us and that perhaps it might be a good idea for a group to go back with us to get reacquainted," Takakura said with a harsh laugh. "He puts on a good face but I think he liked making the Koreans nervous."

Kirin chuckled softly as he blotted his beard dry. "Yes, Yama is very good at plots within plots. I think that is why Kai lets him play at politics." He rose from the table. "If you will excuse me, I'm off to rehearsal."

The Plum Pavilion was not far from the field where they had played baseball the previous night. The winding stream that twisted through the formal gardens widened here before feeding into the irrigation system that fed the farm crops surrounding Ishimura. Although he could have easily flown the distance, Kirin enjoyed the long walk. Fireflies were flickering in and out of the lush green rice paddies in the lower fields. He wondered if hatchlings still caught the little glowing insects and kept them in rough woven grass cages made like they did in his rookery days. The thought of it made him smile as he came in sight of the pavilion.

A number of young gargoyles were gathered there being directed by Beatrix, the badger-faced female from London. She was in her element – the shy bookish creature Kirin had met before was gone and a more confident, forceful personality had taken her place. Drama was Beatrix's passion and it made her come alive. She caught sight of him and bustled towards him.

"Kirin! Glad you could make it," Beatrix said, brandishing a copy of the script at him. "Ariana said you were teaching earlier so we worked around your scenes."

"A thousand pardons," Kirin said with a small polite bow. "I hope my absence did not cause too much trouble."

"No, it was fine. It gave us time to work with the other members of our cast. You're not our only guest star after all." Beatrix chuckled quietly. "Li Kao and his friends Ox and Shen are going to be Dogberry and his constables and Mawson has volunteered to be our villain Don John. It's going to all work out splendidly, I can just tell."

Kirin glanced around casually but finally had to ask, "Is Ariana here? She was not feeling well earlier."

"Oh, yes, she and Midori turned up a while ago. Midori is helping Dorcas with the costumes. Ariana offered to run the guys through the second scene of Act II while I was sorting out the staging. She's not in that scene so it's a big help." Before Kirin could do or say anything, Beatrix clapped her hands together and called out loudly, "Attention, everyone! Now that we're all here, let's try to have a full run-through, all right?"

"Hullo there." A Londoner with a deer's head complete with a full rack of antlers came up to Kirin. "I'm Prongs – I'll be playing the prince, Don Pedro. You'll come in on my left side, Graeme on my right. Mawson and Dodger will follow behind." He gestured to the side of the pavilion. "We'll wait over there for our cue."

Kirin took a moment to familiarize himself with the play. Ariana had told him that the London clan had a tradition of putting on plays to entertain both their clan and their human guardians. Since the young Londoners did not have enough actors to play all the parts, Beatrix had modified the play for their performance.

That was evident quickly enough as Musgrave, the spiky dragon-like gargoyle that was playing Leonato, strode to the center of the stage and proclaimed, "I have learned in this letter that Don Pedro of Arragon comes this night to Messina, and in fact is not three leagues hence! He writes that he has lost very few of his party and none of name."

Lucy came up to him, looking anxious. Musgrave smiled benevolently at her. "A victory is twice itself when the achiever brings home full numbers. I find here that Don Pedro hath bestowed much honor on a young Florentine called Claudio."

Ariana's voice rang out. "I pray you, is Signior Mountanto returned from the wars or no?" She sashayed out with her hands on her hips and Kirin's heart stopped.

It wasn't so much what she was wearing but what she wasn't.

Which wasn't very much at all.

To be continued in Part IX of "Koiji"...