Profile
TANASHIRI
ABOUT
Astrid's distant relative from her mother's side. As she's unaware of her Xibagantan culture, she's never met Lani or Tanashiri. They lived on Mzoi for most of Astrid's life until recently.
LIKES
DISLIKES
PERSONALITY
- Positive Traits: Reliable, refined, composed, educated, logical, humble, polite
- Negative Traits: Aloof, unskilled in handling strong emotions, dry, inhibited, unsociable, unadventurous, passive
BACKSTORY
After the death of her father at age 12, Lani and her mother, Perla, were left without a source of income. Searching for a job to keep her and Lani afloat, Perla found a position under the wealthy Qivain family, who sought the service of a live-in maid. To boot, the family approved the request to host her child, as well, albeit hesitantly. From then, Lani and her mother would live in a room in the basement of the Qivain Estate, along with a few other servants of the house. This is where Lani spent most of her time, aside from the courtyard where she was allowed to visit.
Not considering how it would make her daughter feel, Perla told Lani not to disrupt the family, including any of the children. So she did not. Lani would operate on different schedules than them and eat at different times. She would attend regular school while the children stayed home with their private tutors. Seldom did she see them, and when she would, there would be quick and admittedly awkward exchanges. By the time she was 13, she hadn’t made any significant relationships within the family and only knew their names. She was incredibly lonely and only had her books to keep her company. She dreamed of living an exciting and crazy life like the protagonists of each story, and that moment of escape was enough to satiate her deep, deep boredom.
One day, while reading in the courtyard, Lani was alerted by noises coming from the upper floors. A boy with blue hair had opened the window to briefly lean out. As he did, she was awestruck. That boy was the most beautiful she’d ever laid eyes on. Their eyes met for the first time and she couldn’t bring herself to do anything but stare dumbly at him. After a while, he broke the contact and shut the window. Lani had never seen him before. She assumed he was a visiting friend of one of the children who lived there. She didn’t know who he was, but suddenly, the prince from the book she was reading looked just like him.
Her mother didn’t speak about the family often, thinking such discussion was unnecessary and possibly disrespectful. (Of course, her mother never spoke with her often at all.) Lani was under the impression that there were four kids, the only ones she'd seen before. According to her mother, after Lani asked about a boy with blue hair, there was a fifth. The middle child, age 14. He’d apparently been bedridden the past few years, suffering a condition- similar to stress cardiomyopathy- that required expensive and dangerous surgery to correct. Not only was his body weakened, so too was his resolve to live.
Deeply saddened by the information she learned, Lani was determined to somehow cheer the boy up. Despite her mother’s initial order, Lani worked to make more of a presence in the house. That way, she could have a chance at meeting the boy. She used the excuse of helping her mom with work to approach the family more often. Even so, they would not make any effort to include her aside from one of the sisters, Noemi, who would occasionally make conversation with her. As a whole, the family knew her as Perla’s air-headed daughter who couldn’t guarantee results when asked for a favor. Compared to her mother, a skilled worker, Lani was inept at completing tasks quickly and efficiently. Her work was mediocre, at best. The older children started to get annoyed with her, wondering why she was trying to insert herself into their lives when she was only the help. Her mother often scolded her for trying to interfere.
Most every day for a year, Lani and Tanashiri would see each other from the courtyard and the window, respectively. Her yearning for the boy grew. By the time his 15th birthday came around, the family held a ball in celebration. Lani, attending as a servant, was ecstatic that the boy would finally leave his room. Seeing him then was just as breathtaking as the first time. His parents arranged many beautiful girls to select for his choice dance. Instead of focusing on them, his eyes drift to the back of the room and he chooses Lani, a girl that no one outside of the family knew. The decision irritated his parents; They wanted that dance to be reserved for a special lady. Even so, he saw nothing special about the ones they’d chosen for him.
As they danced, he told her that he would often see her staring at him from the courtyard. He figured he might choose his “secret admirer,” although he called her that jokingly. Of course, he was correct to call her that. To this day, she considers that the most magical night of her life, like she was a princess dancing at a royal ball. His smile, his relaxed eyes peering into hers, the image is forever ingrained in her memory. His family didn’t recall that scene so fondly, however. In fact, they were quite dismissive of his decision, insisting that he isn’t actually interested in her, as if trying to convince Tanashiri, himself. Even if he was, they had no intention of letting him fraternize with an incompetent servant. They warned her shortly after to stay away from him. Her kind of personality could mean bad news for his stress-induced heart condition.
The nights following after, however, she continued to yearn sadly from the courtyard, now sure that she could never talk to him properly. One night, however, he invited her to his bedroom, letting an emergency escape ladder down for her . She climbed up to his balcony and they talked. They hit it off, even with Lani’s awkwardness and her tendency to get flustered when he spoke to her. It was fair to say he’d charmed her. From his classy nature, to his appreciation for the arts, to the skillful way he played the harp, he’d caught her. To her, he was the ideal boy, the type you’d read about in books. Her prince charming. From then on, she would often sneak into his room and whether it was conversation or story books, they would share everything with each other.
One night, Tanashiri reveals that his surgery was coming up in a few weeks and he’s not confident that he’ll survive it. The reason his parents threw a huge ball for his birthday, despite it never happening before, is because they were afraid it’d be his last. Lani, shocked and without a clue what to say to comfort him, had an idea. She invited him out to a night on the town and he accepted. Spending the whole night together, she briefly forgot about her debilitating crush on him. That night, he was just a boy who needed very much to live and one she was happy to help.
Lani tells him that, even if words don’t hold much weight, that if he believes he won’t die, he won’t. She tells him that to live means to have faith that each day will be better than the last, and since he’s still alive, he owes it to himself not to lose hope so quickly. When she returned him to his room in the early morning hours, Tanashiri had time to reflect. He was suddenly overcome with a deep sadness. He’d spent the past few years as a recluse, shutting himself off from the outside world and purposely avoiding the sweet-looking girl from the courtyard. Her advice was given way too late and, if he were to die during surgery, he would have spent his last moments sick of life. The stress from this revelation caused such heartache that it triggered an episode of his cardiomyopathy.
Lani, who was preparing to climb off his balcony, saw him collapse and rushed to his parents’ room to get him to the hospital. When he arrived, the surgery was rescheduled for that night and his parents, thinking Lani was to blame for his episode, were quickly filled with disdain. They proclaimed that Perla was fired and both she and Lani will be sent away for good. Lani’s world came crashing down around her, but she accepted her fate. After all, she may have just killed their son.
After the lengthy surgery, however, they received the news that he’d made it through. He’d need a while to recover. Hearing this, Lani pleaded for her mother’s job. filled with relief that their son was still alive, Mr. and Mrs. Qivain decided to have her job reinstated under the condition that Lani never speak to Tanashiri again. Lani agrees, knowing that she could never face him again anyway.
Tanashiri’s recovery took three months and, all throughout, Lani didn’t try to contact him. Each time he looked to the courtyard to try and catch a glimpse of her, she wouldn’t be there. His parents and siblings would visit frequently, but seeing as they barely did so before, it seemed they only decided he was worth caring about if he were starting to get healthier. He knows he didn’t make it easier for them to visit by shutting other people out, but he’s still a little bitter and conflicted. Regardless of his feelings, his physical recovery went well and he resumed lessons that used to take place outside of his home. When he left, he would occasionally see Lani outside, feeling some strange emotion bubble up in his chest when she quickly hid herself.
Lani resumed her life without any companions. With the family now scornful of her, she returned to her storybooks, but she found it too painful to read a book that featured a prince. Her prince had been taken away from her. She remained at work in the main house, careful not to disturb the family and operating on a different schedule, just as it was when she first got there.
One day, while the other servants of the household were away from the basement, Tanashiri snuck down to Lani’s room. Shocked, she urged him to forget about her. She almost killed him, after all. He tells her that even if he did die that night, the time they spent together would’ve been worth it. He told her he missed the little songbird that perched herself on his balcony. Just like that, she was charmed again, but still hesitant to spend time with him. He’d brought books that she lent him a while back, suggesting that they just read separately and enjoy each other’s company.
“My parents have little reason to be upset if we do this,” He said, “Simply existing in the same place and time shouldn’t warrant any accusations of being a bad influence.” Taking his word for it and unable to poke any holes in his logic, Lani happily accepted his offer. From then, Tanashiri would secretly skip his outside lessons and find pockets in his schedule where he could visit Lani. They would have dates, where they read together, take walks, nap, etc. On the very lucky occasion that they could both leave the house, they’d have fun in town. Instead of just exploiting the loophole of his parents’ orders, spending time with each other under the ruse of just “doing separate things in each other’s company,” they ended up fully ignoring it and the two became fully present in each other’s lives. They would spend hours together in secrecy, even at night.
After a few years, it occurred to Lani that they’d never put a label on their relationship. They spent lots of time together, he gave her charming nicknames and smiled at her, but they’d never kissed or confessed any feelings. She certainly grew to love him, but she wondered if Tanashiri was even interested in labeling what they had. That is, until the day Tanashiri pointed out that they have no anniversary date and she could pick one if she pleased.
“Anniversary? For what?” She was a little dumbfounded.
“to celebrate the day you became my partner, of course.” He smiled at her and her mind went blank. She went on some stupid ramble confessing that she really, really loved him and she was worried he didn’t feel the same way.
“How could I not feel the same way,” He began, “About the girl who saved my life.”
Confused beyond anything, she recalled that she almost killed him, rather than saved him. He continued.
“The night of my surgery, I was trapped in the space where life and death meet. The doctors worked tirelessly to rescue me, I’m sure. But no matter their impact on my body, there’s one thing they couldn’t fix: My spirit. I’d already recognized that death is inescapable whether I die an hour or 100 years from now. So, I resigned myself to death while still walking. That is, until I remembered your words. The ones that taught me the faith of finding something better. Better than anything yesterday had to offer. That day, I had to find my vitality. It pushed me through to the side that chooses life. And I’m all the better for it now.”
Lani’s mind swam trying to keep up. She got the gist, though. They shared their first kiss that day and as she broke away, she spoke.
“Today. Our anniversary is today.”
Two more years passed on in secrecy. Their system was perfect, where they were careful not to leave traces of a relationship. However, during those two years, Tanashiri’s parents were introducing the idea of him getting married, telling him they’d be happy to set him up with someone suitable. He declined but they continued anyway, re-introducing a girl named Divina, one of the girls lined up for him to dance with at his birthday ball. Even though she had talents and hobbies that mirrored his, she was snobby in a subtle way and bitter that Tanashiri picked a servant to dance over her, even after all the years that passed. She was unappealing to him. He wanted Lani. He ignored their pestering until he turned 20 when his parents assumed he’d be marrying Divina. Tanashiri outright denied their assumption, which displeased them greatly. They begrudgingly complied and said he could pick his own bride but Divina and her greatly influential family would not be happy about it. He couldn’t bring himself to care.
Already adults, Tanashiri enforced that they no longer have the authority over him that they once did. Hiding was over. He brought Lani and their relationship out of the shadows, shocking his parents beyond belief. They were convinced that the two were completely detached from each other over the past few years. Surprisingly, they said nothing and left them to their business. They thought they were in the clear and could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
That night, however, Perla approached her daughter in tears, announcing that she was let go and that they had to leave the Qivain Estate. Perla called relatives in a different region of Mzoi who were willing to take them in until they could get back on their feet. They were set to leave as soon as possible. Unbeknownst to his parents, Tanashiri tried to leave with them for support. But Perla could not allow it. She snapped. Her daughter landed her in hot water twice now, all because of that boy. The Qivain family always held a quiet hatred for Perla for dragging Lani into the household. She was blamed for Lani endangering their son, and now she loses her source of income all because they want to be together.
It was no secret that Perla and Lani weren’t close, as her mother worked often and made no commitment to her daughter other than supporting her financially. Though, that was all she thought she needed to do. Since her husband died, Perla grew tired of the burdens she had to carry on her shoulders. Of everything. Unfortunately, that included her simple-minded daughter who didn’t seem to know the meaning of sacrifice. Perla had turned bitter. The flavor Lani hates the most. Her mother firmly believed that she and Tanashiri together spelled disaster and couldn’t handle it anymore. Perla was adamant on kicking Lani out too if they didn’t leave Tanashiri behind so they could restart. Perla thought she was being generous. She had no reason not to kick her out, since Lani was already 19. That statement was all Lani needed to hear. She wouldn’t return to her mother. She and Tanashiri left on their own without a clue of what to do.
They spent a day in a motel with the money Tanashiri brought, wondering what to do from there.
While they talked, Tanashiri mentioned a member of the family who’d stolen from his husband and ran away to Iinowae. He’d told Lani about it before, just because it made for an interesting story, but it gave her an epiphany. They had no relatives they could think of to turn to on Xibagantu, and they absolutely cannot be found by Tanashiri’s family, so what better place than Iinowae, where a relative could give potential asylum? Of course, they’d have to face the social justice issues when they got to it, but it seemed to them like the best option.
“A Qivain leaving Xibagantu for Iinowae… History repeats itself.” Tanashiri smirked.
“How are we gonna find the money, Shiri?”
“Well, my relative stole from his husband before he left.”
“Yeah? So…?”
“And like I said, history repeats itself. Understand?”
“Yes… No, I don’t, I’m sorry.”
“I’m saying we should steal, love.”
“OH!”
“And I know the perfect marks.”
Tanashiri explained that they would steal from the people who deserved it most: His parents. But it could be tricky. They can’t sneak in like it were a heist. They needed to be more upfront with it. So, a few days later, Lani confronted Mr. and Mrs. Qivain, who were shrieking at her to tell them where Tanashiri was and to bring him back home. Lani, who stood her ground, told his parents that she’d left Tanashiri alone somewhere. If they wanted her to break things off with Tanashiri it wouldn’t be cheap. She demanded a large sum of money. Of course, with them being rich, they handed it over all but immediately. Lani told them the coordinates to Tanashiri’s location so they could bring him home and assured them that moment would be the last they ever saw of her. They rushed off to find their son. Of course, they wouldn’t find him there. Because once she got the money, she and Shiri who’d been hidden nearby rushed to the nearest travel center and made for Iinowae. And they wouldn’t have to worry about marriage laws in Iinowae, because they’d already gone down to city hall the day prior and married then.
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