‘A Dance in the Rain’ – an Otogi Zoshi fanfiction

Mansairaku and Minamoto no Hikaru (Otogi Zoshi 2004)

Minamoto no Hikaru’s fingers played her flute expertly as a beautiful dance scene unfolded in front of her. Fleetingly, she recalled how she wasn’t expecting it – at all – when she ran out of her house in despair earlier, in the rain, after receiving the shocking news that her father wished her to return to her pre-magatama maiden life. Deep inside, she understood why he wanted her to stay at home. He had lost his son Minamoto no Raikō a while ago, he certainly didn’t wish to lose his only daughter either. But the daughter herself wasn’t ready to give up her freedom, certainly not after she collected two sacred magatama stones and was unexpectedly grounded due to her being deemed “underperforming” by the two main ministers.

The Minister of the Left and Minister of the Right were indeed quite a challenge for her. She used to think that she served a noble cause by collecting magatama stones, yet after witnessing firsthand how self-serving those two ministers, she grew disheartened. And what was this mightier-than-thou attitude from Abe no Seimei, the Palace Onmyōji?! Unceremoniously brushing her off after she almost lost her life during her quest to obtain the water magatama, in service of her country! Hikaru started to believe in what Watanabe no Tsuna said, that the Onmyōji and the court weren’t to be trusted.

"A Thousand Years of Longing" - An 'Otogi Zoshi' fan-fiction

Mansairaku and Minamoto no Hikaru (Otogi Zoshi 2004)

Mansairaku watched as the short-haired girl skipping along the pavement, the hot summer sun made her sweating more than she normally would.

A drop of sweat fell on her  left eyebrow; still thick as a summer bamboo bush as he remembered it. Casually, she brushed the sweat away and continued walking, skipping along the pathway.

How come a girl skip so lively in such a hot summer day, Mansairaku wouldn’t understand; not that his body was particularly disturbed by the extreme heat of this particular summer. After all, since his tenure as Tenkai, he hadn’t felt extreme cold or extreme heat for centuries now, hence his indifference in donning the black coat since the turn of the century. He chose the coat more of from the practicality viewpoint, for it obscured him from the curious eyes of passer-by, though indeed there were women - and men - that would glance at him every now and then, mostly admiring his look, though some of them would also retreat after sensing his immense loneliness.