The Twelve Kingdoms: A Thousand Leagues of Wind

it's more shallow."
    Suzu jumped and turned toward the sound of the voice. Next to her she saw a boy stretching as he peered out at the sea. At first, Suzu had been the only passenger on the boat. After three ports of call, the number had increased to eight. He must have been one of the passengers who came on board at Bokko, the last port of call.
    "Shallow?"
    "Shallow seas are bluer than deep water. You don't know much about the ocean, do you?"
    Suzu glared at him. "I've never lived close to the ocean before."
    "Really?"
    The boy let go of the railing and laughed. He looked to be twelve or so. With his freckles and hair the color of oranges, he made a cheerful impression. When he laughed, his whole face lit up.
    Suzu asked, "Are you going to En or Kei?"
    "Kei," he answered.
    Oh, Suzu smiled. "I'm Suzu. Pleased to meet you."
    The boy cocked his head to one side. "That's a funny name."
    "I'm a kaikyaku."
    "Kaikyaku?"
    So there are things people here don't know, either. "I'm from Yamato. I was washed ashore here."
    The boy's mouth gaped open in surprise. "No kidding? That's great!"
    "It's not great. It's pretty awful. It means I can't ever go home again."
    Huh, the boy muttered, and stretched again. He looked down into the waves. "So your luck's not so good."
    "No."
    White waves washed the sides of the ship, vivid against the dark surface of the ocean. If you shifted your gaze to the open sea, your eyes met the clear line of the horizon dividing the heavens from the water. Somewhere beyond that distant horizon was the country where she had been born. She had wept profusely when she heard she could never go back again. She knew that it was possible for wizards to cross the Kyokai and had indulged the fantasy that if she served Riyou well, she would get a promoted to the class of wizard who could do so. But when she found out that she would have to become a wizard of the air, and a count as well, she gave up on the idea.
    "Hey, cheer up." The boy hit Suzu on the shoulder. "There are lots of kids who can't go home again."
    Suzu scowled at him. "No, there aren't. There aren't that many kaikyaku here."
    "Even if you're not a kaikyaku. Like when your kingdom gets all messed up, your home gets burned down, there are people like that."
    "That's different from what I'm talking about! I can't go back to the place I was before. Your house burns down, you can build a new one. Do you know what it means to never return to a place you once loved? Do you have the slightest idea what you're talking about?"
    The boy looked up at Suzu with a perplexed look on his face. "I kinda think it's the same thing."
    "You're just a child. You don't understand."
    The boy puffed out his cheeks. "Kid or an adult, being sad is being sad. Not going home again would hurt the same, wouldn't it? You know how sad it is not being able to ever go home, but so do a lot of people."
    "I'm telling you, it's not the same thing!"
    The boy sulked for a minute. "Well, then, have it your way. Go on crying your eyes out. Excuse me for butting in."
    Everybody here is just the same. Nobody understands anything. She said aloud, "Brat!"
    The boy didn't turn around.
    "So what's your name?"
    The boy tossed the answer back over his shoulder. "Seishuu."

Part VI
    akushun's hirsute tail stood straight up. "Youko left the palace?"
    Rokuta gave that sight a curious look and with the tips of his fingers motioned for him to calm down. "Mum's the word," he said, glancing around at the surrounding tables and the waiters delivering the food.
    "Oh, yeah. Sorry."
    Rokuta grinned and then with an annoyed expression picked up the bandana that had fallen onto the table in front of him. After covering his head with the bandana, he looked like an ordinary child again. "She just took off for a while. She asked for a visa, so I sent her one."
    "What is going on with her?"
    "Who knows?" said Rokuta, tossing a dumpling into his mouth. "All kinds of stuff. I got the feeling last time that she had a lot on her mind."
    "Yeah," Rakushun muttered.
    "It's because she's such a serious person. To make matters worse, everybody over there is so uptight and argumentative. You tell them to sit back and take it easy, but they're just not the kind of people who can do that."
    Rakushun nodded. He picked up his chopsticks again and stopped. "I was thinking of going to see how she was."
    University was in recess over the New Year's holiday, the last part of December and the first part of January.
    "You're being