I've now officially started 4 stories, none of which I have finished. Bleh
Well, I wanted a more semi-serious story (lol let's see how long that'll work out) cause everything ive tried to write turns out cute and fluffy and errrrghh
Special thanks to WhiteAngel83 for coming up with this amazing title for me, she's amazing~
"You wanna go, Misaki?" a blonde haired boy with reddish brown eyes asked her, lifting his shiny sword in front of his face. The raven haired girl's lips curled into a smile.
"You're on, Kuuga!" she exclaimed, jumping up off her queen-sized bed and throwing open her closet. She grabbed her favorite sword, which was in a dark brown scabbard. "I'm going to change, so please get out," she informed him. He nodded and exited her room, closing the door behind him. Misaki changed into some men's clothing which she'd managed to sneak back into the palace when she went shopping with Kuuga one day.
"I'm ready!" she announced, opening her bedroom door. Kuuga grinned.
"Great. Now let's hurry before your mother awakens," he said. Misaki nodded eagerly and ran downstairs, Kuuga not far behind.
"Princess! What are you doing?!" one of the maids asked. Misaki giggled.
"Relax, Satsuki! I'm just going out for a bit. Send my regards to Mother, okay?" she said, waving to the purple haired maid.
"The queen won't be very pleased," Satsuki warned. Misaki rolled her eyes.
"I'm going with Kuuga- I'll be perfectly safe with him!" she assured her. Satsuki sighed.
"I'll try to come up with an excuse for you...but this is the last time, okay?" she said. Misaki nodded.
"Thank you. Bye!" she responded gratefully, grabbing Kuuga by the arm and running out the front door with him. Luckily, the castle didn't have a ton of guards, so it was pretty easy to sneak out without being caught.
"To our usual spot." Kuuga told Misaki. She nodded in agreement, and they both took off, feet thudding against the ground.
The two kept running until the castle was completely out of sight. Spotting a familiar forest, they shared an identical smile and headed for it. Misaki was very athletic for a princess, so she could keep up with Kuuga easily.
"We should fight by the waterfall!" Misaki exclaimed as they neared the large forest. Kuuga gave her a thumbs up.
"Sounds good to me," he agreed, entering the dark place. Misaki grinned in satisfaction, following right behind Kuuga.
"En garde!" the raven haired princess yelled, thrusting her sword forward. The blonde knight professionally blocked her hit and pushed her sword off his. He raised his sword above his shoulder and brought it down like a large hammer. Misaki raised an eyebrow at his strange antics, but blocked the blow nonetheless.
"Damn, where'd you learn to fight this well?!" Kuuga asked, turning his sword to the side to try and hit her again. Misaki laughed.
"From you, silly!" she grinned, blocking his sword with hers. Kuuga smirked and twisted his weapon in such a way that it made Misaki's sword fly out of her hands and land on the ground. He playfully stuck his tongue out at her.
"I'm still better than you~" he taunted. Misaki rolled her eyes.
"I'm getting better everytime. We should come back here tomorrow!" she suggested. Kuuga raised an eyebrow.
"Are you kidding? You'll be grounded tomorrow." he stated, sliding his sword back into the scabbard. Misaki walked over to where her sword laid in the dirt and grass. Picking it up, she flicked off a few chunks of soil on the blade and slid it back into her own scabbard.
"Well, I'll just escape out the window or something like I always do," she simply replied. "Besides, didn't you help me get in trouble?" she pointed out. Kuuga grinned sheepishly.
"Yeah...but Queen Minako is a very forgiving person. She always gets rid of your punishments after a day or two," he laughed. Misaki smiled at that.
"That's true. I'm lucky to have a mother like her, honestly." she replied with a nod. Suddenly, a loud growling sound interrupted their chat. Misaki's face turned dark red, while Kuuga stifled a laugh.
"Shut up... I skipped breakfast," she admitted, the blush still evident in her face. Kuuga snickered.
"Alright then, princess. Let's go grab something to eat," he suggested, heading off towards town.
"I like the sound of that." Misaki agreed, the embarrassment she felt earlier now gone and replaced with the excitement of food.
"Excuse me sir- ma'am? Uh, would you like to buy an apple?" a merchant in the town asked Misaki. She found it amusing how people were unsure of her gender at first glance- since she had the clothes of a male (her hair was tucked under a hat) but the face of a woman. She had to admit, her body wasn't the most curvy or feminine, so that wasn't much of a giveaway.
"Maybe next time," she waved him off, not really feeling like eating fruit. She wanted something with meat in it...
"Misa- I mean, Mitsuki, want some of this?" Kuuga asked, pointing to a stand that was selling grilled pork on a stick. Misaki didn't want her name revealed in public- it wasn't like nobody else had the name Misaki, but she would rather not raise any suspicion about herself.
"Oh! Pork skewers!" she cheered, running over to his side. "It looks delicious... I want one," she said, staring at the meat which was cooking on a grill. "I brought some money, so I'll buy one for you too, kay?" she told him, walking to the lady that owned the stand.
"Hi, what would you like?" she asked. On the inside, Misaki rolled her eyes and wanted to sarcastically say 'I'd like a large pizza with extra cheese' because quite frankly, they sold nothing besides pork.
"Two skewers, please," Misaki ordered politely, keeping all snide remarks to herself. After all, it wasn't the lady's fault- it was a part of her job.
"Sure thing! That'll be 150 yen please," she said, holding out her hand to take the cash. Misaki handed her the money, then proceeded to walk back to Kuuga's side.
"I had money too, you know," he informed her. Misaki shrugged.
"Too late now. Think of it as a treat," she responded nonchalantly.
"Excuse me, here you go!" the lady called, holding two pork skewers out towards Misaki. Misaki walked a few feet ahead and took them from the lady's hands.
"Thank you very much!" Misaki grinned, earning a smile from the lady. She walked by Kuuga and handed him one of the snacks. "Enjoy."
"Shall we head back now?" Kuuga asked. Misaki shook her head.
"I don't want to leave yet..." she mumbled, scanning the busy area. Suddenly, Kuuga pointed at a strange looking stand.
"Why don't we check that out?" he suggested.
"Well, we don't have anything else better to do," she said with a shrug. The two made their way over to the dark blue stand with an older lady sitting on the other side of it. She had a very dark blue hood on which could be easily mistaken for black.
"Err- hi," Misaki greeted awkwardly. The hooded lady looked up and made eye contact with Misaki.
"Ohh, hello child. Would you like your fortune to be told?" she asked. Her voice was a bit raspy, but she still sounded quite young for how she looked.
"Uh, sure. You're a fortune teller?" Misaki responded, holding out her hand for the lady to take.
"More of a prophet- I don't predict the future. I state facts," she replied, taking Misaki's hand in hers. Misaki nodded as if she understood, but she was still quite confused.
The lady studied her hand and occasionally ran her finger over the veins of her hand. After a while of observing, she closed her eyes for a few seconds, before letting Misaki's hand go. Misaki and the fortune teller made eye contact, and she suddenly felt a bit anxious. The wind blew, playing with loose locks of hair which escaped Misaki's cap.
"On the night of a full moon, near a cherry blossom tree," the prophet started, "you'll meet a man."
"A man?" Misaki repeated as if in a trance. The lady nodded.
"When you meet him, you must run. Run for your life and don't look back," she said in a dead-serious tone. Misaki's eyed widened.
"W-What happens if I don't run...?" she asked, her voice wavering a bit. The lady had a grave look on her face.
"Then...one of the two of you...will die." she answered. Misaki's face went pale. What kind of sick joke was this?!
"Ah...really? Haha, thanks for your time," Misaki dismissed the topic. "Come on, Kuuga. Let's head back now." she hastily said. Kuuga nodded in agreement.
As the two ran off back towards the castle, the prophet stared at their retreating backs and sighed.
'That poor girl's in for one hell of a ride...'