Tenshi no Uta (1/16)
Sep. 16th, 2014 12:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wendyjolyTitle : Tenshi no Uta
Author : WendyJoly
Pairing : Guess who~
Rating : PG
Genre : SF
Lenght : Chaptered
Beta : Confetti shower to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
chibipinkpetals
Genre : Music, love and star ships
Disclaimer : I owe nothing but Arashi owns surely my soul
Summary : “An Angel has the power to pacify a crowd, to convey emotions people ignore. But…when an Angel sings for his master, this man can feel the fullness of body and mind…however, one Angel is made for a Master and only one. And the master can’t choose his Angel.” But when Ninomiya Kazunari, an Angel fated to belong to the ruler of the galaxy chooses the Commandant of the ship designated to guide him to his Master, what will happen to him?
Note: The concept of Angels belongs to O.S Card, I borrowed it with all the respect due to his huge talent. A gigantic ice-cream pot forgraine2moutarde who created a wonderful banner for this fic, love you BB ♥
PROLOGUE
The day was rising on the smouldering ashes of the town which disappeared under the interstellar battle cruisers bombs.
The city dwellers raised their disbelieving gazes on the explosions in the sky, colouring it with orange, yellow and purple colours, the sound of the stationary ships engines buzzing noisily.
In the middle of the town, into the Orchid Palace, the adults tried in vain to calm the smallest of their residents, awakened by the noise of the battles outside; afraid beyond words.
The Great Intendant waited patiently a report from the guardians of the Palace, those who went out for what seemed like hours before, in order to help the victims. The Succession War, which followed the death of the last Emperor, lasted for what was going for five years now, bringing only misery and devastation in any indexed lands. Without any heirs to succeed to the Emperor, the Barons and noble people of the Empire leagued in opposite clans, dragging the entire galaxy into endless and deadly conflicts. The army, led by the greatest aristocratic families, gradually extinct battle after battle, until a man who didn’t belong to any influential clan set himself as negotiator in order to put an end to this madness.
This General of the Imperial Army, named Okada Junichi, rallied under his purple banner people and warriors who felt the wind of the popular revolt rising. He punished strongly the aristocrats who refused his legitimacy and managed to give back the throne to the Emperor's family.
This determinant role made him the runner of the Empire and if, officially, the inheritors of the Emperor were the rulers, they were no more than the representatives of an outdated era.
From that period, remained his most flamboyant ornament, the Orchid Palace, and some insurgents tried to penetrate it, in an ultimate movement of rebellion, condemning the population to starvation and misery.
For two days, the Imperial battle cruisers tried to break the roadblock to deliver the people and tonight, at last, they yelled their happiness and their relief even though the victory of the Imperial Army was expected.
The soldiers have been welcomed like saviours, giving food and medication to the thousands of starved and injured people , making them forget that they lost everything under the fire of their battle ships. The General Okada wasn’t a man of mercy, especially with rebels who didn’t recognize his authority and he tended to consider the deaths of the civilians as simple collateral damages.
Usui-sensei, sat at his desk a smile curling on his lips when he heard the good news and announced it himself through the different levels of the Palace.
“Great Intendant.” Called his assistant with respect.
“Yes?”
“Someone wants to see you, Sensei. A man of the Imperial Army.”
“Thanks Inoue-sensei, I will receive him.”
The old man went to the door of the Citadel and looked at it, as a man with a sharp gaze and a warrior posture, walked through it. He was surrounded by a small guard and the Intendant figured out that it was a mark of delicacy. No man was allowed to enter the Orchid Palace, and if the circumstances haven’t been so exceptional, he would have received him outside. But this day was remarkable and the Pacificator was definitely not an ordinary man.
“Okada-san, it’s been a while.”
“Usui-sensei, happy to see you so healthy.”
“Thanks to you, General. I don’t like the hard way but I must admit that the sound of the Imperial battle cruisers were sweet music at my ears.”
Okada laughed out loud, his relaxed features giving him his youth back.
“Come to my desk, I’ll offer you a drink. A well-earned rest…you deserve it.”
“Show me the way.”
Okada raised his gaze to the floors of the Palace and his heart skipped a beat.
A majestic stairs rose above him, covered by climbing plants was like an enchanted forest where hundreds of little faces were watching him silently.
“Are you following? If you don’t, you’re going to lose yourself, this Palace is a maze. Sometimes I lose my way, even though I've inhabited it for many years.”
Okada left the children behind him, reluctantly, and entered the large room Usui-sensei used as study.
“Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, Okada-san. You should be relieved too to let this war behind you.”
“Officially the war is over, true, but I won’t let my guard down.”
“As expected from you. How could I show you my gratitude?” said the old man, handing him a cup of his best alcohol.
“Give me an angel.”
The man froze immediately, embarrassed, then smiled.
“You’re pretty blunt.”
“That’s how I am.”
“Okada-san, you know I can’t.”
“I’ll give you everything you want in exchange.”
“It’s not a matter of money or power, the Emperor himself didn’t have an angel…what do you know about the angels, General?”
“I know that just a few men in the galaxy have the chance to own one. I had the occasion to hear one of them once in my life, I was 15 years old and since; my biggest dream is to own an angel.”
“An angel has the power to pacify a crowd, to make feel emotions people ignore. But…when an angel sings for his master, this man can feel the fullness of the body and mind…however, one angel is made for a master and not for another. And the master can’t choose his angel. Why can’t you find another dream? You could find a woman you’ll cherish like the apple of your eyes, you could discover a new universe…it would always be easier than obtaining an angel.”
“I’ll do everything you listed…and I’ll have an angel.” Added the warrior, an unwavering determination enlightening his gaze. “I did all this for this purpose only…so, how do we proceed?”
The old man breathed out deeply and touching his forehead tiredly, he kept on:
“Each year, we’re discovering a lot of skilful children, but a very few of them are able to become angels, the only way to figure out is the years of formation we’re offering to them. Like the name of the men they are fated to be with.”
“How much time do you need to find one for me?”
“Only the Goddess in her endless wisdom knows…30, 40 years, maybe more.”
“30…or 40 years?!”
“But it’s the goal of a life. If you can’t wait~”
“I….I’ll wait for him. Do what you have to do.”
“I promise I’ll do my best to find your angel, General.”
Okada bowed at him humbly, ignoring if he could be satisfied by this agreement. Could he live long enough to meet the one who was his destiny?
~Ã~
The old Intendant wondered if today was finally his lucky day. The Oracles prophesied it, 10 moons ago, but those long years of life passed to serve the Orchid Palace taught him how the fate could be ironic sometimes. Just like the Goddess Oracles…their sibylline predictions deceived him more than once and deceptions after deceptions, he ended by thinking that his life won’t be long enough to honour the promise he made to the Ruler, 40 years ago. Each year without fail, he received a message from him with those few words “Did you find him?” written with a black ink, and each year he answered invariably by return of post “Not yet.”
Yet, when he entered this little town of the Hoshi moon, surrounded by the close-protection force of the Orchid Palace, he could have sworn, feeling the twist of excitement inside his stomach, that he would find a pearl like he never met in his entire life as Master Singer. Perhaps not the One but probably an apprentice particularly interesting…his intuition never failed to him.
He put his hood on his forehead, leaving his red cape, like a sign of his high rank, trailing in the dust which covered this entire piece of land. The sooner he could leave this moon, the better he would be.
This planet was known because of the fuel it produced and most of his dwellers were mere driller only able to dig the floor until their death. The old man thought that it would be an extraordinary irony if one angel can be found among this poor folks, but he couldn’t miss his chance…even a tiny one.
The citizens of the town stared at him with fear or angst and he smiled in response to appease the atmosphere. Most of them surely never saw a man of his rank, he could have sworn. And why a nobleman should come here? You should be a very unlucky man to land here, where nothing ever grew.
He asked to his guards to gather the people of the town on the main place like he did for the five towns he already visited and he lined up the boys each of them dirtiest than the previous one, in a disparate and flaw way.
The Intendant felt his heart beating faster, asking his guard’s help, when he crossed the deep gaze of a tiny little boy. He shouldn’t be more than 3 years old, but his soul, should be thousands years old.
The old man approached the boy and immediately a woman put her hand on his shoulder.
“Is it your boy, Madam?”
The very young woman nodded slowly.
“What’s your name?”
“He doesn’t talk, all he can do is sing.” Answered the woman with a rough voice.
“Will you sing for me?” Whispered the Master.
The boy opened his mouth and the heart of the old man ran wild. The Earth around him disappeared and the dwellers vanished to his conscious, coming back only when the last note flew by. It was a rough singing, imperfect and vacillating. But for the Master, he was an angel to be without any doubt. He wiped a tear and stood up, supported by a guard.
“May I speak to you Madam?”
The woman stared at him suspiciously but accepted to guide him to her home. It was a room dug in the roc and there were only a mattress she probably shared with the boy.
“I’m teacher in the Orchid Palace, in the Hiroo System. We’re looking for boys possessing artistic skills for them to become the Elite of the galaxy. I don’t really know if it rings a bell for you, but I can offer to the boy a luxurious and rich life, close to the Imperial family.”
He was used to this kind of speech but today, he sincerely prayed to find the words which could touch the heart of this mother. He couldn’t leave without the boy.
“How much?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“For the kid, how much you give to me?”
The old man gazed at the little boy sat on the floor that was playing with a wooden stick and sighed with sadness for him. In this life of misery, losing a mouth to feed was surely a benediction, the maternal feelings were probably a luxury she couldn’t afford.
“Your price will be mine.” He murmured eventually, reaching out.
He took the boy’s hand and bowed at the mother.
“What’s his name?”
“Kazunari. Ninomiya Kazunari.”
“Come, Kazunari-kun, I’ll show you your new house. We’ll take care of you, out there.”
CHAPTER ONE
Kazunari became pensioner of the Orchid Palace naturally; he never showed any sign of surprise or sadness. He sounded to be passive in front of any kind of event and he left his planet quietly, letting the old man guided him to the star ship, his mother taking just a few seconds to bid him farewell.
The journey went smoothly and the Great Intendant’s arrival has been celebrated like a real event since he found a new child and the smile adorning his face was rare and pretty revealing.
The old man grabbed the little boy’s hand and brought him at the first level where tens of children were gathered in an Olympian calm.
“This is the Garden, Kazunari. You will be with children of your age and you will learn a lot of things. Do you understand?”
Kazunari nodded slowly.
“Well, I’m going to introduce you to the Garden Intendant, Mae-sensei.”
A man, almost a teenager crouched at the boy’s knees and gently held his hand to greet him.
“Kazunari, I’m Mae-sensei, I’m going to take care of you from now.”
The young man raised his gaze to the Great Intendant, asking in silence if the boy was able to understand and after a quick nod, he stood up and dragged him behind.
The place was huge, even for an adult, and Kazunari kept his eyes on the ceiling, astonished by the greatness of it. They settled him down into a dormitory he had to share with 5 children of the same age and he met a nanny who’d take care of him from then on. He rapidly figured out that those nanny were the only women of the Orchid Palace and they lived into the city, going back home when night fell. They had the particularity to always keep an absolute dumbness.
~Ã~
During the next four years, Kazunari learned the basis of every Art taught at the Orchid Palace. He was taught to draw, taught to play an instrument and read a score, taught to dance and above all, taught to sing; which was considered as the major Art. Every child was taken in charge the same way, in spite of their skills and natural proneness, observed all day long by their teachers.
The atmosphere was created to allow a personal evolving but certainly not to a group progression. The only time the children shared was the choir lessons and they weren’t allowed to say a word. Kazunari was talented in many fields but his skills for singing rapidly hoisted himself at the rank of elite in the Garden.
Usui-sensei followed cautiously his progress and as the boy was about to celebrate his 7th birthday, when for the very first time, he scribbled a ‘maybe’ which embarrassed him more than he could admit, in response at Okada’s letter. He was attached to this talented boy and he can’t help but wondering if the life he was meant to live wasn’t too hard for his tiny shoulders.
Kazunari passed brilliantly the first stage, celebrated by his teachers and he was allowed to join the House.
The Great Intendant came to him in person at the Garden’s door where the little boy waited quietly.
“It’s been a long time, Kazunari?”
The boy nodded and the Great Intendant laughed.
“You’re not very talkative. But I heard you sang pretty well. Will you sing for me, Kazunari?”
He nodded once again and the old man held his hand.
“I’m happy. One day, I will remind you this promise and you will have to honour it, okay? I should warn you, my memory is excellent in spite of my age…Well, I will guide you to your new home. We are going to climb the big stair until the next level which is called ‘The House’. Your life will change a bit. You won’t follow any lessons but the singing one from now. In the House, some boys are following courses to become painters, dancers or composers but you will be a singer. And Nogizaka Sensei will take care of you.”
The man has a stern look and pinched lips. Kazunari stared at his mentor once again then followed his new teacher. After a few steps he looked back and waved the old man who imitated him.
“I will guide you to your bedroom, Kazunari.” Said the Professor, striding along the corridor.
In this big empty room, two beds and a boy, older than him. He gazed at him entering the room, without raising his colourful hand from the canvas he was working on.
Kazunari has followed drawing lessons when he arrived at the Orchid Palace but he never saw this kind of painting. He felt his belly painfully twisting and he crouched by the older's side, unable to take off his eyes of the effulgent colours.
The other turned to face him, astonished.
“I’m Ohno Satoshi and you?”
“What’s that?” He murmured softly, pointing the canvas with his little finger.
“Don’t know. You like it?”
He would have liked to say that it was so beautiful that it was painful, that it was almost unbearable, but he had no words for this. He didn’t have the necessary language and for the very first time of his life, Ninomiya Kazunari regretted to have never spoken to anybody. Maybe would he have known the words to tell how much he was touched by the painting? He simply nodded and tried to smile.
“You are cute.” Said the Satoshi. “Do you want to be my little brother? I had a little brother a long time ago.”
Kazunari didn’t really know what a little brother was but it sounded to be sweet so he put his hand in Satoshi’s which was covered by so many colours.
He followed the singing lessons all day long, alone, sometime with one or two students and after a few months he heard about the angels for the very first time. An older boy told him that the best singers climbed to the Paradise and became angels. He didn’t ask anything, too afraid to be treated like a fool but when the night fell, he slid into Satoshi’s bed and dared to ask.
“Satoshi, what is the Paradise?”
“This is the level above us.”
“What is an angel?”
“The singers of the Paradise. When you sing very well you go to the Paradise and you become an angel.”
“Is there some painters out there?”
“No, only angels. Painters, composers or dancers stay in the House.”
“And after?”
“After…I don’t know.”
“All the singers don’t go to the Paradise?”
“They don’t.”
“Where are they going?”
“I don’t know. They stay in the House too, I guess.”
“So, I don’t want to become an angel. I want to stay with you.”
“You have to go to the Paradise. You are the best singer at the House. Each time you sing, I could die from happiness. Your life will be wonderful out there.”
“Why?”
“The more you climb, the more life is beautiful. When you were at the Garden you didn’t know me. But you sang very well, you entered the House and now we’re together.”
“True.”
“So, sleep, you have to sing tomorrow.”
Kazunari fell asleep, holding tight his brother’s hand and the next day, during his lesson, his Professor noticed his progress. As if, step by step, his heart opened slowly to deliver a more pure and subtle song.
~Ã~
Five years passed by and it was obvious for everybody in the Palace that Kazunari was meant to be an angel. His professors repeated endlessly how talented he was, extraordinary and they asked his transfer to the Paradise when he wasn’t even ten. Usui-sensei struggled to keep him in the House a bit longer, because he knew what would happen once at Paradise. He spared him until now, letting him sharing with the sweet Satoshi’s path but he knew that the rivalry between angels could be hard to bear. However, it was part of his apprenticeship, thought the big Intendant bitterly. When he would leave the Palace he would be exposed to the harshness of the world and more than often the angels had been the objects of political interference and manipulation among the highest rank of the Empire. If Kazunari was, like he feared, fated to be the angel of the most hatred and loved man of the Galaxy, his task would be difficult. To face some hurdle here, during his teenager days could be essential to his future sanity.
The day of his 12th birthday, without warning, he came to him and in spite of the anxious looks the boy threw to him, he guided him to the Paradise.
“Do you know where we’re heading, Kazunari?”
“To the Paradise?”
“Exactly. You will become an angel.”
“I would prefer staying with Satoshi.”
“I know, but you can’t. He’s a painter and you will become the most precious artist of the Galaxy. But you will sing for him and your singing will be more beautiful. Come with me.”
Kazunari followed him reluctantly on the bog stair and he discovered an enchanted universe, more fantastic than the House. He rushed on a colourful parterre reminded him his brother’s paintings and couldn’t help but closing his eyes to smell it.
“What is this, Sensei?”
“Flowers.”
“Flowers? What is it for?”
“Flowers make the world most beautiful. They will make your singing most beautiful too. So you know why the Palace is called Orchid?”
“I don’t.”
“I will explain to you, later.”
“When?”
“Are you curious now?!” Laughed the old man. “At first, I have something to show to you.”
Kazunari kept silent and heard a song afar. Without thinking further he moved and followed the wonderful sound.
He opened a door and saw ten boys in line, all of them so handsome. Or was it the way they were singing which was so pure that they sounded to be so handsome? Kazunari wondered. He felt the same strange sensation he sensed when he discovered Satoshi’s paintings for the first time. He crouched and stared at them singing, curbing his mad envy to join them.
“What are you thinking about the angels, Kazunari?”
“They are wonderful.” He murmured in an undertone, feeling so pitiful suddenly.
“Would you like to become an angel?”
“Could I?”
“You can become the best of all.”
Kazunari turned back to the angels and closed his eyes to savour this concert of new sensations inside him, which fed his own song.
“Hello, Kazunari, Usui-sensei talked to me about you and I must confess I looked forward to meeting you. I even spied one of your lessons to listen to your song.”
The boy raised his gaze on the new incomer, his new teacher. He wasn’t stern like Nogizaka-sensei. His eyes were smiling sincerely and he sounded to be young like Mae-sensei, if his recollections were reliable enough.
“A lot of things will change from now.” Said the big Intendant. “Your lessons will be individual except once a week, when you will join the choir of the angels. You will be alone in your bedroom too. Well, not really, since someone will take care of you. Come with me, I will introduce him to you.”
Kazunari walked behind him along the huge corridor and Usui-sensei opened a yellow door and pushed him gently into the bedroom. Once the threshold passed, a young man, greeted them joyfully.
“This is Aiba Masaki. He will take care of everything for you. You have only to focus on your lessons. He will sleep in your bedroom and if you need anything, you just have to ask him, he will inform me. I take my leave. The courses will begin tomorrow.”
“Usui-sensei?”
“Yes, Kazunari?”
“I didn’t say to Satoshi that I had to go. May I go down with you?”
“I’m sorry, you won’t go down anymore, it’s forbidden. You will leave the Paradise when you will leave the Palace. I will talk to him for you.”
Kazunari pouted but as soon as the Great Intendant left the room, he felt someone pulling his sleeve. He turned back and faced Masaki.
“Come with me, I’ll show you around.”
“I’m not really interested.”
“Please. You have a lot of new outfits, would you like me to bath you?”
“No, thanks.”
“I have to bathe you! You have to be prepared to be an angel.”
“What for?”
“For your Master of course!”
“What is a Master?”
“Someone for whom your heart will sing.”
“My heart already sings for Satoshi.”
“Who’s Satoshi?”
“My brother.”
“Ah, the painter!”
“You know him?”
“I knew him when I was in the House.”
“You’ve been there too?”
“I go there from time to time. I lived there a long time ago.”
“What did you do?”
“I sang.”
“So, why aren’t you an angel?”
“I wasn’t talented enough to be an angel. And I wasn’t strong enough to do concerts everywhere in the Galaxy, so I asked to Usui-sensei to take care of an angel.”
“But…don’t you sing anymore?” Said Kazunari, baffled.
“No, I don’t, but now I have you. I will listen to your song every day. I’m gonna call you Nino, it’s pretty, ne? May I bathe you now?”
Kazunari saw the expectation into his gaze and felt the need to protect him, like Satoshi did with him, thus he accepted.
~Ã~
Life was really different in Paradise. He didn’t see the angels who were very hostile since his arrival. Kazunari didn’t get the reason behind their behaviours but most of them didn’t even accept to cross his gaze. Masaki explained to him that they were jealous and they perceived his presence like a threat. It was true that the Professors were very attentive to him and if it wasn’t new for him, he had to face the truth. He was treated differently by the teachers and it’s only after several years of harassment and bad jokes, as his Art was finally incomparable, that he understood why.
He had the chance to take his lunch with the Great Intendant in his office. He bowed at him respectfully and the old man took him into his embrace.
“You grew up, Ninomiya-kun…” He sighed as he detailed the Angel. “You are so handsome.”
“Please, not at all.”
“You are surely the most beautiful Angel I ever seen. And don’t be humble, it’s true. I still remember the day I guided you to the Garden as you were a toddler. Ah…your voice was already so pure, so particular. Do you remember, I told you I’ll explain you the meaning of the Orchid one day?”
Kazunari nodded quietly and the old man turned back to lead him outside.
There was a little garden bathed by the sun and at the centre, under a glass cover, the most beautiful and improbable flower. Tiger, so colourful, it was bent under the weight of the corolla, struggling against the gravity miraculously.
“This is an Orchid. It was found on the planet amongst the rocks and a desert place, thousand years ago and the Palace was built around it. Kazunari, do you know what the angels become?”
“Not really.”
“Each angel is meant to be with his Master.”
“Do I have a Master too?”
“You have a Master who’s waiting for you since decades. You will be the apple of his eyes. Like you are currently mine.”
“Will I have to leave you, Usui-sensei?”
“Alas, yes. But you’ll be happy with him. He’s a great man, the greatest of the Galaxy.”
“But…I never left the Palace of the Orchid. I don’t want to leave you, I don’t want to leave Masaki like I did with Satoshi.”
“Oh, he will go with you. He will take care of you out there too. Kazunari…excuse me, this is unavoidable. Since he knows I found you, he’s very impatient to meet you. You’re 17 years old now. It’s time for you to meet him.”
The young man hung his head to think over it. He didn’t really have the choice. During his entire life, he lived to sing, his entire life he had been spoiled at the Palace, in order to meet this man.
When he raised his gaze, he smiled and bowed at the Intendant.
He came back to Paradise and sat on his bed, quickly joined by Masaki who took his hand to caress it.
“Nino, what’s happen?”
“We are leaving the Paradise soon.”
“Yeah? We’ll meet your Master?”
“Hm…”
“When?”
“Next month.”
“Are you happy?”
“I don’t know. I’m happy to stay with you.”
“I won’t leave you alone, never, promise! May I bathe you now?”
Author : WendyJoly
Pairing : Guess who~
Rating : PG
Genre : SF
Lenght : Chaptered
Beta : Confetti shower to
chibipinkpetals Genre : Music, love and star ships
Disclaimer : I owe nothing but Arashi owns surely my soul
Summary : “An Angel has the power to pacify a crowd, to convey emotions people ignore. But…when an Angel sings for his master, this man can feel the fullness of body and mind…however, one Angel is made for a Master and only one. And the master can’t choose his Angel.” But when Ninomiya Kazunari, an Angel fated to belong to the ruler of the galaxy chooses the Commandant of the ship designated to guide him to his Master, what will happen to him?
Note: The concept of Angels belongs to O.S Card, I borrowed it with all the respect due to his huge talent. A gigantic ice-cream pot for
graine2moutarde who created a wonderful banner for this fic, love you BB ♥
The day was rising on the smouldering ashes of the town which disappeared under the interstellar battle cruisers bombs.
The city dwellers raised their disbelieving gazes on the explosions in the sky, colouring it with orange, yellow and purple colours, the sound of the stationary ships engines buzzing noisily.
In the middle of the town, into the Orchid Palace, the adults tried in vain to calm the smallest of their residents, awakened by the noise of the battles outside; afraid beyond words.
The Great Intendant waited patiently a report from the guardians of the Palace, those who went out for what seemed like hours before, in order to help the victims. The Succession War, which followed the death of the last Emperor, lasted for what was going for five years now, bringing only misery and devastation in any indexed lands. Without any heirs to succeed to the Emperor, the Barons and noble people of the Empire leagued in opposite clans, dragging the entire galaxy into endless and deadly conflicts. The army, led by the greatest aristocratic families, gradually extinct battle after battle, until a man who didn’t belong to any influential clan set himself as negotiator in order to put an end to this madness.
This General of the Imperial Army, named Okada Junichi, rallied under his purple banner people and warriors who felt the wind of the popular revolt rising. He punished strongly the aristocrats who refused his legitimacy and managed to give back the throne to the Emperor's family.
This determinant role made him the runner of the Empire and if, officially, the inheritors of the Emperor were the rulers, they were no more than the representatives of an outdated era.
From that period, remained his most flamboyant ornament, the Orchid Palace, and some insurgents tried to penetrate it, in an ultimate movement of rebellion, condemning the population to starvation and misery.
For two days, the Imperial battle cruisers tried to break the roadblock to deliver the people and tonight, at last, they yelled their happiness and their relief even though the victory of the Imperial Army was expected.
The soldiers have been welcomed like saviours, giving food and medication to the thousands of starved and injured people , making them forget that they lost everything under the fire of their battle ships. The General Okada wasn’t a man of mercy, especially with rebels who didn’t recognize his authority and he tended to consider the deaths of the civilians as simple collateral damages.
Usui-sensei, sat at his desk a smile curling on his lips when he heard the good news and announced it himself through the different levels of the Palace.
“Great Intendant.” Called his assistant with respect.
“Yes?”
“Someone wants to see you, Sensei. A man of the Imperial Army.”
“Thanks Inoue-sensei, I will receive him.”
The old man went to the door of the Citadel and looked at it, as a man with a sharp gaze and a warrior posture, walked through it. He was surrounded by a small guard and the Intendant figured out that it was a mark of delicacy. No man was allowed to enter the Orchid Palace, and if the circumstances haven’t been so exceptional, he would have received him outside. But this day was remarkable and the Pacificator was definitely not an ordinary man.
“Okada-san, it’s been a while.”
“Usui-sensei, happy to see you so healthy.”
“Thanks to you, General. I don’t like the hard way but I must admit that the sound of the Imperial battle cruisers were sweet music at my ears.”
Okada laughed out loud, his relaxed features giving him his youth back.
“Come to my desk, I’ll offer you a drink. A well-earned rest…you deserve it.”
“Show me the way.”
Okada raised his gaze to the floors of the Palace and his heart skipped a beat.
A majestic stairs rose above him, covered by climbing plants was like an enchanted forest where hundreds of little faces were watching him silently.
“Are you following? If you don’t, you’re going to lose yourself, this Palace is a maze. Sometimes I lose my way, even though I've inhabited it for many years.”
Okada left the children behind him, reluctantly, and entered the large room Usui-sensei used as study.
“Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, Okada-san. You should be relieved too to let this war behind you.”
“Officially the war is over, true, but I won’t let my guard down.”
“As expected from you. How could I show you my gratitude?” said the old man, handing him a cup of his best alcohol.
“Give me an angel.”
The man froze immediately, embarrassed, then smiled.
“You’re pretty blunt.”
“That’s how I am.”
“Okada-san, you know I can’t.”
“I’ll give you everything you want in exchange.”
“It’s not a matter of money or power, the Emperor himself didn’t have an angel…what do you know about the angels, General?”
“I know that just a few men in the galaxy have the chance to own one. I had the occasion to hear one of them once in my life, I was 15 years old and since; my biggest dream is to own an angel.”
“An angel has the power to pacify a crowd, to make feel emotions people ignore. But…when an angel sings for his master, this man can feel the fullness of the body and mind…however, one angel is made for a master and not for another. And the master can’t choose his angel. Why can’t you find another dream? You could find a woman you’ll cherish like the apple of your eyes, you could discover a new universe…it would always be easier than obtaining an angel.”
“I’ll do everything you listed…and I’ll have an angel.” Added the warrior, an unwavering determination enlightening his gaze. “I did all this for this purpose only…so, how do we proceed?”
The old man breathed out deeply and touching his forehead tiredly, he kept on:
“Each year, we’re discovering a lot of skilful children, but a very few of them are able to become angels, the only way to figure out is the years of formation we’re offering to them. Like the name of the men they are fated to be with.”
“How much time do you need to find one for me?”
“Only the Goddess in her endless wisdom knows…30, 40 years, maybe more.”
“30…or 40 years?!”
“But it’s the goal of a life. If you can’t wait~”
“I….I’ll wait for him. Do what you have to do.”
“I promise I’ll do my best to find your angel, General.”
Okada bowed at him humbly, ignoring if he could be satisfied by this agreement. Could he live long enough to meet the one who was his destiny?
The old Intendant wondered if today was finally his lucky day. The Oracles prophesied it, 10 moons ago, but those long years of life passed to serve the Orchid Palace taught him how the fate could be ironic sometimes. Just like the Goddess Oracles…their sibylline predictions deceived him more than once and deceptions after deceptions, he ended by thinking that his life won’t be long enough to honour the promise he made to the Ruler, 40 years ago. Each year without fail, he received a message from him with those few words “Did you find him?” written with a black ink, and each year he answered invariably by return of post “Not yet.”
Yet, when he entered this little town of the Hoshi moon, surrounded by the close-protection force of the Orchid Palace, he could have sworn, feeling the twist of excitement inside his stomach, that he would find a pearl like he never met in his entire life as Master Singer. Perhaps not the One but probably an apprentice particularly interesting…his intuition never failed to him.
He put his hood on his forehead, leaving his red cape, like a sign of his high rank, trailing in the dust which covered this entire piece of land. The sooner he could leave this moon, the better he would be.
This planet was known because of the fuel it produced and most of his dwellers were mere driller only able to dig the floor until their death. The old man thought that it would be an extraordinary irony if one angel can be found among this poor folks, but he couldn’t miss his chance…even a tiny one.
The citizens of the town stared at him with fear or angst and he smiled in response to appease the atmosphere. Most of them surely never saw a man of his rank, he could have sworn. And why a nobleman should come here? You should be a very unlucky man to land here, where nothing ever grew.
He asked to his guards to gather the people of the town on the main place like he did for the five towns he already visited and he lined up the boys each of them dirtiest than the previous one, in a disparate and flaw way.
The Intendant felt his heart beating faster, asking his guard’s help, when he crossed the deep gaze of a tiny little boy. He shouldn’t be more than 3 years old, but his soul, should be thousands years old.
The old man approached the boy and immediately a woman put her hand on his shoulder.
“Is it your boy, Madam?”
The very young woman nodded slowly.
“What’s your name?”
“He doesn’t talk, all he can do is sing.” Answered the woman with a rough voice.
“Will you sing for me?” Whispered the Master.
The boy opened his mouth and the heart of the old man ran wild. The Earth around him disappeared and the dwellers vanished to his conscious, coming back only when the last note flew by. It was a rough singing, imperfect and vacillating. But for the Master, he was an angel to be without any doubt. He wiped a tear and stood up, supported by a guard.
“May I speak to you Madam?”
The woman stared at him suspiciously but accepted to guide him to her home. It was a room dug in the roc and there were only a mattress she probably shared with the boy.
“I’m teacher in the Orchid Palace, in the Hiroo System. We’re looking for boys possessing artistic skills for them to become the Elite of the galaxy. I don’t really know if it rings a bell for you, but I can offer to the boy a luxurious and rich life, close to the Imperial family.”
He was used to this kind of speech but today, he sincerely prayed to find the words which could touch the heart of this mother. He couldn’t leave without the boy.
“How much?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“For the kid, how much you give to me?”
The old man gazed at the little boy sat on the floor that was playing with a wooden stick and sighed with sadness for him. In this life of misery, losing a mouth to feed was surely a benediction, the maternal feelings were probably a luxury she couldn’t afford.
“Your price will be mine.” He murmured eventually, reaching out.
He took the boy’s hand and bowed at the mother.
“What’s his name?”
“Kazunari. Ninomiya Kazunari.”
“Come, Kazunari-kun, I’ll show you your new house. We’ll take care of you, out there.”
Kazunari became pensioner of the Orchid Palace naturally; he never showed any sign of surprise or sadness. He sounded to be passive in front of any kind of event and he left his planet quietly, letting the old man guided him to the star ship, his mother taking just a few seconds to bid him farewell.
The journey went smoothly and the Great Intendant’s arrival has been celebrated like a real event since he found a new child and the smile adorning his face was rare and pretty revealing.
The old man grabbed the little boy’s hand and brought him at the first level where tens of children were gathered in an Olympian calm.
“This is the Garden, Kazunari. You will be with children of your age and you will learn a lot of things. Do you understand?”
Kazunari nodded slowly.
“Well, I’m going to introduce you to the Garden Intendant, Mae-sensei.”
A man, almost a teenager crouched at the boy’s knees and gently held his hand to greet him.
“Kazunari, I’m Mae-sensei, I’m going to take care of you from now.”
The young man raised his gaze to the Great Intendant, asking in silence if the boy was able to understand and after a quick nod, he stood up and dragged him behind.
The place was huge, even for an adult, and Kazunari kept his eyes on the ceiling, astonished by the greatness of it. They settled him down into a dormitory he had to share with 5 children of the same age and he met a nanny who’d take care of him from then on. He rapidly figured out that those nanny were the only women of the Orchid Palace and they lived into the city, going back home when night fell. They had the particularity to always keep an absolute dumbness.
During the next four years, Kazunari learned the basis of every Art taught at the Orchid Palace. He was taught to draw, taught to play an instrument and read a score, taught to dance and above all, taught to sing; which was considered as the major Art. Every child was taken in charge the same way, in spite of their skills and natural proneness, observed all day long by their teachers.
The atmosphere was created to allow a personal evolving but certainly not to a group progression. The only time the children shared was the choir lessons and they weren’t allowed to say a word. Kazunari was talented in many fields but his skills for singing rapidly hoisted himself at the rank of elite in the Garden.
Usui-sensei followed cautiously his progress and as the boy was about to celebrate his 7th birthday, when for the very first time, he scribbled a ‘maybe’ which embarrassed him more than he could admit, in response at Okada’s letter. He was attached to this talented boy and he can’t help but wondering if the life he was meant to live wasn’t too hard for his tiny shoulders.
Kazunari passed brilliantly the first stage, celebrated by his teachers and he was allowed to join the House.
The Great Intendant came to him in person at the Garden’s door where the little boy waited quietly.
“It’s been a long time, Kazunari?”
The boy nodded and the Great Intendant laughed.
“You’re not very talkative. But I heard you sang pretty well. Will you sing for me, Kazunari?”
He nodded once again and the old man held his hand.
“I’m happy. One day, I will remind you this promise and you will have to honour it, okay? I should warn you, my memory is excellent in spite of my age…Well, I will guide you to your new home. We are going to climb the big stair until the next level which is called ‘The House’. Your life will change a bit. You won’t follow any lessons but the singing one from now. In the House, some boys are following courses to become painters, dancers or composers but you will be a singer. And Nogizaka Sensei will take care of you.”
The man has a stern look and pinched lips. Kazunari stared at his mentor once again then followed his new teacher. After a few steps he looked back and waved the old man who imitated him.
“I will guide you to your bedroom, Kazunari.” Said the Professor, striding along the corridor.
In this big empty room, two beds and a boy, older than him. He gazed at him entering the room, without raising his colourful hand from the canvas he was working on.
Kazunari has followed drawing lessons when he arrived at the Orchid Palace but he never saw this kind of painting. He felt his belly painfully twisting and he crouched by the older's side, unable to take off his eyes of the effulgent colours.
The other turned to face him, astonished.
“I’m Ohno Satoshi and you?”
“What’s that?” He murmured softly, pointing the canvas with his little finger.
“Don’t know. You like it?”
He would have liked to say that it was so beautiful that it was painful, that it was almost unbearable, but he had no words for this. He didn’t have the necessary language and for the very first time of his life, Ninomiya Kazunari regretted to have never spoken to anybody. Maybe would he have known the words to tell how much he was touched by the painting? He simply nodded and tried to smile.
“You are cute.” Said the Satoshi. “Do you want to be my little brother? I had a little brother a long time ago.”
Kazunari didn’t really know what a little brother was but it sounded to be sweet so he put his hand in Satoshi’s which was covered by so many colours.
He followed the singing lessons all day long, alone, sometime with one or two students and after a few months he heard about the angels for the very first time. An older boy told him that the best singers climbed to the Paradise and became angels. He didn’t ask anything, too afraid to be treated like a fool but when the night fell, he slid into Satoshi’s bed and dared to ask.
“Satoshi, what is the Paradise?”
“This is the level above us.”
“What is an angel?”
“The singers of the Paradise. When you sing very well you go to the Paradise and you become an angel.”
“Is there some painters out there?”
“No, only angels. Painters, composers or dancers stay in the House.”
“And after?”
“After…I don’t know.”
“All the singers don’t go to the Paradise?”
“They don’t.”
“Where are they going?”
“I don’t know. They stay in the House too, I guess.”
“So, I don’t want to become an angel. I want to stay with you.”
“You have to go to the Paradise. You are the best singer at the House. Each time you sing, I could die from happiness. Your life will be wonderful out there.”
“Why?”
“The more you climb, the more life is beautiful. When you were at the Garden you didn’t know me. But you sang very well, you entered the House and now we’re together.”
“True.”
“So, sleep, you have to sing tomorrow.”
Kazunari fell asleep, holding tight his brother’s hand and the next day, during his lesson, his Professor noticed his progress. As if, step by step, his heart opened slowly to deliver a more pure and subtle song.
Five years passed by and it was obvious for everybody in the Palace that Kazunari was meant to be an angel. His professors repeated endlessly how talented he was, extraordinary and they asked his transfer to the Paradise when he wasn’t even ten. Usui-sensei struggled to keep him in the House a bit longer, because he knew what would happen once at Paradise. He spared him until now, letting him sharing with the sweet Satoshi’s path but he knew that the rivalry between angels could be hard to bear. However, it was part of his apprenticeship, thought the big Intendant bitterly. When he would leave the Palace he would be exposed to the harshness of the world and more than often the angels had been the objects of political interference and manipulation among the highest rank of the Empire. If Kazunari was, like he feared, fated to be the angel of the most hatred and loved man of the Galaxy, his task would be difficult. To face some hurdle here, during his teenager days could be essential to his future sanity.
The day of his 12th birthday, without warning, he came to him and in spite of the anxious looks the boy threw to him, he guided him to the Paradise.
“Do you know where we’re heading, Kazunari?”
“To the Paradise?”
“Exactly. You will become an angel.”
“I would prefer staying with Satoshi.”
“I know, but you can’t. He’s a painter and you will become the most precious artist of the Galaxy. But you will sing for him and your singing will be more beautiful. Come with me.”
Kazunari followed him reluctantly on the bog stair and he discovered an enchanted universe, more fantastic than the House. He rushed on a colourful parterre reminded him his brother’s paintings and couldn’t help but closing his eyes to smell it.
“What is this, Sensei?”
“Flowers.”
“Flowers? What is it for?”
“Flowers make the world most beautiful. They will make your singing most beautiful too. So you know why the Palace is called Orchid?”
“I don’t.”
“I will explain to you, later.”
“When?”
“Are you curious now?!” Laughed the old man. “At first, I have something to show to you.”
Kazunari kept silent and heard a song afar. Without thinking further he moved and followed the wonderful sound.
He opened a door and saw ten boys in line, all of them so handsome. Or was it the way they were singing which was so pure that they sounded to be so handsome? Kazunari wondered. He felt the same strange sensation he sensed when he discovered Satoshi’s paintings for the first time. He crouched and stared at them singing, curbing his mad envy to join them.
“What are you thinking about the angels, Kazunari?”
“They are wonderful.” He murmured in an undertone, feeling so pitiful suddenly.
“Would you like to become an angel?”
“Could I?”
“You can become the best of all.”
Kazunari turned back to the angels and closed his eyes to savour this concert of new sensations inside him, which fed his own song.
“Hello, Kazunari, Usui-sensei talked to me about you and I must confess I looked forward to meeting you. I even spied one of your lessons to listen to your song.”
The boy raised his gaze on the new incomer, his new teacher. He wasn’t stern like Nogizaka-sensei. His eyes were smiling sincerely and he sounded to be young like Mae-sensei, if his recollections were reliable enough.
“A lot of things will change from now.” Said the big Intendant. “Your lessons will be individual except once a week, when you will join the choir of the angels. You will be alone in your bedroom too. Well, not really, since someone will take care of you. Come with me, I will introduce him to you.”
Kazunari walked behind him along the huge corridor and Usui-sensei opened a yellow door and pushed him gently into the bedroom. Once the threshold passed, a young man, greeted them joyfully.
“This is Aiba Masaki. He will take care of everything for you. You have only to focus on your lessons. He will sleep in your bedroom and if you need anything, you just have to ask him, he will inform me. I take my leave. The courses will begin tomorrow.”
“Usui-sensei?”
“Yes, Kazunari?”
“I didn’t say to Satoshi that I had to go. May I go down with you?”
“I’m sorry, you won’t go down anymore, it’s forbidden. You will leave the Paradise when you will leave the Palace. I will talk to him for you.”
Kazunari pouted but as soon as the Great Intendant left the room, he felt someone pulling his sleeve. He turned back and faced Masaki.
“Come with me, I’ll show you around.”
“I’m not really interested.”
“Please. You have a lot of new outfits, would you like me to bath you?”
“No, thanks.”
“I have to bathe you! You have to be prepared to be an angel.”
“What for?”
“For your Master of course!”
“What is a Master?”
“Someone for whom your heart will sing.”
“My heart already sings for Satoshi.”
“Who’s Satoshi?”
“My brother.”
“Ah, the painter!”
“You know him?”
“I knew him when I was in the House.”
“You’ve been there too?”
“I go there from time to time. I lived there a long time ago.”
“What did you do?”
“I sang.”
“So, why aren’t you an angel?”
“I wasn’t talented enough to be an angel. And I wasn’t strong enough to do concerts everywhere in the Galaxy, so I asked to Usui-sensei to take care of an angel.”
“But…don’t you sing anymore?” Said Kazunari, baffled.
“No, I don’t, but now I have you. I will listen to your song every day. I’m gonna call you Nino, it’s pretty, ne? May I bathe you now?”
Kazunari saw the expectation into his gaze and felt the need to protect him, like Satoshi did with him, thus he accepted.
Life was really different in Paradise. He didn’t see the angels who were very hostile since his arrival. Kazunari didn’t get the reason behind their behaviours but most of them didn’t even accept to cross his gaze. Masaki explained to him that they were jealous and they perceived his presence like a threat. It was true that the Professors were very attentive to him and if it wasn’t new for him, he had to face the truth. He was treated differently by the teachers and it’s only after several years of harassment and bad jokes, as his Art was finally incomparable, that he understood why.
He had the chance to take his lunch with the Great Intendant in his office. He bowed at him respectfully and the old man took him into his embrace.
“You grew up, Ninomiya-kun…” He sighed as he detailed the Angel. “You are so handsome.”
“Please, not at all.”
“You are surely the most beautiful Angel I ever seen. And don’t be humble, it’s true. I still remember the day I guided you to the Garden as you were a toddler. Ah…your voice was already so pure, so particular. Do you remember, I told you I’ll explain you the meaning of the Orchid one day?”
Kazunari nodded quietly and the old man turned back to lead him outside.
There was a little garden bathed by the sun and at the centre, under a glass cover, the most beautiful and improbable flower. Tiger, so colourful, it was bent under the weight of the corolla, struggling against the gravity miraculously.
“This is an Orchid. It was found on the planet amongst the rocks and a desert place, thousand years ago and the Palace was built around it. Kazunari, do you know what the angels become?”
“Not really.”
“Each angel is meant to be with his Master.”
“Do I have a Master too?”
“You have a Master who’s waiting for you since decades. You will be the apple of his eyes. Like you are currently mine.”
“Will I have to leave you, Usui-sensei?”
“Alas, yes. But you’ll be happy with him. He’s a great man, the greatest of the Galaxy.”
“But…I never left the Palace of the Orchid. I don’t want to leave you, I don’t want to leave Masaki like I did with Satoshi.”
“Oh, he will go with you. He will take care of you out there too. Kazunari…excuse me, this is unavoidable. Since he knows I found you, he’s very impatient to meet you. You’re 17 years old now. It’s time for you to meet him.”
The young man hung his head to think over it. He didn’t really have the choice. During his entire life, he lived to sing, his entire life he had been spoiled at the Palace, in order to meet this man.
When he raised his gaze, he smiled and bowed at the Intendant.
He came back to Paradise and sat on his bed, quickly joined by Masaki who took his hand to caress it.
“Nino, what’s happen?”
“We are leaving the Paradise soon.”
“Yeah? We’ll meet your Master?”
“Hm…”
“When?”
“Next month.”
“Are you happy?”
“I don’t know. I’m happy to stay with you.”
“I won’t leave you alone, never, promise! May I bathe you now?”
