Enki pulled up his legs again to the tabletop and crossed them, holding onto the ankles as he shook his head. It seemed Suzaku had forgot that little bit about the disease he'd mentioned.

"Nah. They ain't stuck," Enki's grin was wan and his eyes hooded. How many times since Shōryū had been given the throne of En had kirin in other kingdoms been struck down with shitsudou? Too many times. Always too many times.

"A king who's bad leads to the kirin getting sick. It's called shitsudou. Means 'losing of the way'. The point is that the king's supposed to realize that they're not following Heaven's wishes anymore." Enki shrugged and stared down at the floor.

"An' if they've gotten that far, it ain't often they actually care enough to stop. Then the kirin dies, and within the year, the king does too." Enki grunted and looked up at Suzaku again.

"Some point after that, the fruit that holds the new kirin of the kingdom will grow on Mt. Hou, an' the people'll have to wait for the kirin to grow up and then just hope the king won't fall as quickly as the former."

Because, really. All kings fell at one point, killed, or killing their country.