Ash and Honey [BL]

Fu Ran's lashes tapped against his cheek when a few rays of light peeked into his window. A comfortable spring warmth lapped at his skin. Gone were the days of chilly mornings, because summer was nearing closer.

He did not dream at all last night. How long had it been since he last woke up breathless, panting, and dripped in sweat? It was like a breath of fresh air after yesterday's horrors.

Shi Wei Ji knew sympathy after all.

He pulled himself from his covers, fingered the loose strands of his hair to his back, and absent-mindedly walked to his bathroom door. A breeze wafted a steamy scent from beneath the slab barrier. The warm heat of his outdoor bath called his name and whispered sweet nothings.

He still wanted a bath.

When his fingers undid his belt, and the thin white robes fell to the ground, his house creaked under a sharp movement. Fu Ran's neck snapped backwards—What?

What?

Not far from his desk, on the other side of his bed, a figure had lifted his head. Orbs of amber had grown tiny in shock, and the man's mouth completely hung ajar. 

The?

The man's face was a piercing shade of pink, past his ears, and under his jaw.

Fuck?

There was no mistaking it. Fu Ran couldn't have woken into yet another nightmare. Tian still hunched over the floorboards where he was locked in kowtow the previous night. Fu Ran swallowed, and for a moment his mind blanked.

Realization flashed across Tian Han's face before he dropped his forehead to the floor with great intensity.

The silence was so thick, the sounds of busy life could be heard outside Xingti Pavilion. The distant sounds of Peak Masters going about their newfound busywork, and their new lives of picking up slack around the mountain sect.

Fu Ran was frozen.

The heat of embarrassment painted his cheeks and his ears—he felt like he was steaming. Curse that damned Tyrant Emperor!

Fu Ran plucked up his discarded robe and hastily dressed, before he snapped, "Get up."

Tian Han sat up at the demand, his gaze somewhere else. 

Zero miscommunication was the goal, so Fu Ran probed for clarification, "Are you intending on doing this every single day until you get the answer you want?"

"I—" Tian Han swallowed and his fingers tightened into his pants. "I will do what is needed," after a pause, Tian Han added, "—for Wan Yu."

Fu Ran's brow twitched. How foolish can one man be? He was, legitimately, almost furious. How come he felt like the villain in this situation? To another it would appear that Fu Ran asked a sad man, who was only concerned for his family, to bow to him all night while he slept like a baby. Fu Ran drew his lips into a straight line.

Wan Yu wants a teacher? Is that all? If that was true… Fu Ran's fear had nothing to do with Wan Yu. 

There was always a possibility that the Tyrant Emperor may not be so harsh on someone who looked after his family, afterall previously Fu Ran never saw a child in his nightmares. So he could only imagine some horrid event took place.

Regardless of facts, the choice was obvious no matter what. His face twisted in worry. If he said no, and something happened to Wan Yu, then Fu Ran would no doubt face the wrath of the Tyrant Emperor. So, the better option was to take the potential future where that didn't happen, right?

Somehow, he didn't believe that at all. He was chased by death in every sense of the phrase, and burdened by an inescapable fate. But when he swallowed, he had already made up his mind.

"Fine," Fu Ran said. 

Tian Han's lips curled, into a wide and toothy smile. "Really?" The tone of his voice changed to excitement. He tried to stand, but sloppily fell on one knee, and his body shuddered at the strain of being bent over all night.

That immature expression really bothered Fu Ran. Childish, he thought.

"I'll tell Wan Yu!" Tian Han beamed. "...As soon as I can stand again."

***

Not even three weeks later Fu Ran stared down at three little disciples. 

How did it come to this…? How had one turned to three?

Despite the mental frustration, he knew exactly how it happened. When the Bloody Entrance Exam finished, there were only six surviving children after the gruesome events. And to add insult to the injury, there were only eight Peak Masters remaining.

Most of them weren't looking to take on a disciple this year, or were simply burdened with the extra workload of the deceased, so half of this year's disciples were pushed onto Fu Ran. It was held to a collective vote a week after the conclusion.

And just like that, he had become a Shizun once more—but not just to Wan Yu. Now there were two more children whom he had barely known for two weeks.

Luckily, he had already gotten over the hardest part: learning their names and quirks. 

Lin An was a pretty little disciple in pinks and purples. Going against her boyish name, she preferred to dress quite fashionably. Her hair was braided neatly on the back and she had decorated it with flowers picked from the garden near the disciple dormitories. 

But, despite being 13 already, she would cry at the slightest thing. Even when she was told there would be no more flowers come winter did she begin to sob.

She had barely walked into his private garden 15 minutes ago, before she was found crying in the koi pond because she fell. And just last week after she broke Fu Ran's favorite teacup? She cried even more.

If it weren't for Yi Yang, and the fact that there were only six students to take, she might have failed on the spot.

She did have a lot of flaws, and yet she was the kindest among the three. She would fix what she broke, and tirelessly apologize to anyone she inconvenienced.

Lin An smiled and swayed her arms in joy, unaware of her teacher's harsh critique. Beside her stood the oldest of the three: Meng Xiao.

Now Meng Xiao was rowdier, much rowdier.

It must have been his age, since he was nearing that rebellious age of 15. He preferred black clothing, even though he was given a set of blue disciple's robes. He had pitch black eyes that were mostly covered by matching messy hair. Fu Ran wanted to tie it up for him, but he just kept undoing it and wearing it loose.

Fu Ran crossed his arms, and inspected the bandages covering the boy's body. However Meng Xiao practically hissed in response and turned his nose up against the prying gaze.

During the Bloody Entrance Exam this boy successfully managed to defeat a Fall Corpse on his own. Like Wan Yu, he had skill with a blade that was undeniable.

"Would ya stop looking at me? I'm fine," Meng Xiao complained.

"You're injured." Fu Ran huffed and shook his head. "Even the Peak Elder told you to be easy on your wounds, because they may still contain traces of corruption."

"And it healed last week."

"You reopened it three days ago." To Fu Ran's facts, Meng Xiao shut up, but he didn't look happy. 

In just these last two weeks, Fu Ran had found Meng Xiao in a pool of blood on three occasions. Even once was too much. He turned to look at the tiniest disciple:

Wan Yu.

Fu Ran smiled. The perfect and good, filial disciple. Wan Yu so far, had always been the first to arrive when called, and the last to leave when saying goodbye. 

It was actually frightening how detailed he performed any task asked of him. Be it missions for other Peak Master's, senseless tasks of his guardian, or Zhi Lao borrowing him to train with his own disciples, he completed everything asked of him with a perfect ease.

The biggest issue Wan Yu brought to the table was that he struck a particular chord with Meng Xiao. The two didn't get along, and Meng Xiao wanted to challenge Wan Yu to a fight every morning.

But even that wasn't his fault. He was absolutely the perfect disciple, to a degree that he was hard to train on the same schedule as the other two.

"Are you ready to train today?" Fu Ran cocked his head and smiled gently. The children stood firmly on the cobbled ground beneath his wisteria tree with their swords in hand. They nodded the minute the question was asked.

If nothing else, he thought, I think I got lucky. They were so studious most days, and well behaved aside from quirks.