Tortoise and Fox [BL]

4.13

"I am Jun Mizuhara."

Minato wasn't sure what Jun's relationship was with Princess Xinyi. But in order to understand—he had to find Jun. Princess Xinyi—he thought the princess would return to her home. But the Jun he knew would—

Minato darted out the palace, urgently taking a carriage back into the heart of the kingdom. The servant pulling the carriage cried out for the prince to stop, but before the carriage had stopped moving, Minato had already leapt out. The downpour had thinned to a misty drizzle. Grey light permeated the dense clouds and cast a shine to the pavement and stone archways.

Beijie continued to prove confusing for Minato—he deliberated on which of many archways to follow, only for the laughing of passing children to flutter by. Minato twirled around, and with a smile, called out to the kids.

"Excuse me, I'm not from this kingdom. Do you happen to know a plaza that was used for last night's gloveless dancing? There was a pair of musicians, and lights strung up throughout. It was the highest plaza of all of them—over its edge I could see even where Beijie's fields began."

The kids chattered amongst themselves, before the bravest of them responded in a small voice.

"That one... only the adults are allowed to be at. It's too high up for us, so we don't know how to get there."

Minato crouched down, matching the boy's nervous gaze with a gentle smile.

"I see, thank you very much everyone. By chance do you know any adults who would know?"

The boy nodded again, this time with a smile of his own. The other kids pushed and shoved around him, giggling.

"Yeah, we know."

Upon a handsome stranger requesting help, the kids happily led Minato through the tunnels, out to a group of townsfolk gathered under a waterproofed roof eating a steamed meal. Some of the kids ran out to hug the older men and women, to which a chaotic chattering occurred, before finally a kindly looking man with aging wrinkles spoke up.

"I helped lead the set-up of Zhongshan's plazas for yesterday's festival. You're looking for Shangshan—it is the highest, and where youth tend to flock for the thrill. Our older bones don't enjoy climbing up there anymore..."

Many laughed at his remark. Minato smiled—the people were as friendly as Jun were.

"Could you direct me on how quickest to reach there? I'm looking for a person named Jun Mizuhara."

"You asked the right folk," a woman chimed in. "Jun just passed by here for a bit of food before he headed up!"

Minato's heart pounded. "Really?"

"Really," the man confirmed. "He comes around whenever he's down—this place has his comfort food, as he calls it. He always bounces back, but... it seemed a different sort of sorrow this time around."

The man looked at him knowingly. "He's quite the saint around here. We all treasure him—and I hope you are aware of that too."

"I know. I know," Minato said. He truly hoped the crowd understood how heartfelt he was—how he had seen so much of what Jun Mizuhara meant to this kingdom... in so many special ways.

"Good."

With that, the man listed off a string of instructions, to which Minato hurriedly committed to memory. And when he reconfirmed the correct direction, Minato practically flew up the first set of stairwells. He clutched the damp glove tightly in his pocket, unable to tell if the cold dampness came from the continued rain or the clamminess of his palms.