Flowers
A small girl that appeared to be around 7 years old sat quietly in front of her low mahogany table, one pale childish hand holding a calligraphy brush and the other hand carefully holding her long sleeves out of the way. She was clad in traditional Japanese attire, a light lilac kimono with very detailed patterning. Her long white hair, white as the color of freshly fallen snow, trailed past her waist to the floor. She had on a big, dark blue, silk bow in her hair, and it had chrysanthemums embroidered in silver thread. Overall she looked like a doll, immaculately and neatly dressed, just like the dolls that the adults have given her to play with.
She was practicing her calligraphy and composing a poem, like her instructor had told her to. She was nearly done and wondered when her instructor would come back, listening for the sound of footsteps approaching. She finished but continued to sit silently in front of her work, her pink eyes staring at the dark wood of the table as if she was lost in thought. A short while later, a thin and stern looking middle aged woman dressed in a simple dark brown kimono entered and sat down in front of her pupil.
"Shizuka-sama, I see you have finished your assignment," the lady said, glancing at the writing in front of her.
The girl nodded and watched as her teacher read over her work. Her teacher's strict expression seemed to soften a little as she finished reading.
"Ah- you have written a wonderful poem on cherry blossoms," her teacher praised but paused and added "however it seems…a bit short."
"I cannot make the poem any longer," the girl replied in a quiet voice.
"And why is that, my lady?" her teacher looked at her.
"I have never seen cherry blossoms except in pictures and from the distance through the small window up there," she pointed to a small rectangular window with bars across. The window was located high on the wall, almost touching the ceiling. "Therefore I am unfamiliar with the very imagery I portrayed with those words and cannot add more"."
Her teacher stiffened and sighed, recognizing the familiar discontent in her student's words, "My lady it is for your own good that you are kept here. Here you have servants to tend to your needs and you are kept away from the ugliness and corruption that exist in the world. I hope to hear no more regarding this matter."
The girl nodded quietly in response to her teacher's scolding. Her teacher stared at the small child in front of her. She had taught this child ever since the child was old enough to walk. This child was the princess of the once powerful but now fallen Hio family and kept isolated in this cage, alone except for her and a few servants. The child had always been quiet, hence her name Shizuka which meant silence. She was well behaved and a wonderful student, but she was still a pureblood and had to be treated with caution and wariness. Moreover, members of the Hio family have been known to have gone insane… However, this strict teacher occasionally felt something akin to pity for this student of hers. If only she was not a pureblood…
Her teacher sighed once again and rose to leave "My dear lady, I will be back in a few hours, in the meantime you shall look over the readings I have assigned you." She bowed and left, her footsteps eventually fading away.
Once she was outside again she breathed in the fresh air and stared at the cherry blossoms. It was that season again and the pale pink petals of the flowers were falling and drifting everywhere, covering the floor in a sea of pink. As she stood there looking at the flowers, she had a sudden idea. It went against her usual actions but she was in one or her rare sympathetic moods. She went over to the closest tree and inspecting it closely, chose a small branch laden with cheery blossoms and plucked it off. Then she carried it gently as to not crush the delicate flowers, back into the dark cage.
The girl looked up from her reading, taking her glance away from the scrolls with the old literature recorded and looked at the entrance to her cage. Her teacher appeared and quickly entered, carrying something she recognized from paintings as a branch of cherry blossoms.
Her teacher cleared her throat a little awkwardly and said "Shizuka –sama, seeing as you have been a diligent student, I have bought you this branch of cherry blossoms to reward you for your good work and behavior". She handed her surprised student the flowers.
She looked at the expression of her small student and noted how it changed from slight surprise to a rare but subtle expression of happiness. It was common for the rest of them to take things like flowers for granted, so it was odd that something as simple as this could bring such joy to her student. She was struck with another idea that would kill two birds with one stone. She could quell some of her student's discontent and still perform her assigned duty to raise this girl into a refined and competent young lady.
"Shizuka –sama, how do you like the flowers?" she inquired.
"They are even prettier in real life than they are in paintings," the girl replied.
The teacher smiled slightly and proceeded "Very well, Shizuka –sama, you shall start taking classes in flower arrangement soon."
Surprise flickered for a short moment in the girl's eyes and she nodded. Her teacher turned to leave once more. As her teacher locked the door behind her, the girl quickly spoke "Thank you sensei."
Her instructor was caught off guard by this expression of gratitude and quickly nodded in response and left.
When she was alone again, the girl inspected the flowers in front of her carefully and curiously. They were delicate and had a sweet aroma. If just a single branch was so lovely, wouldn't the whole tree be even more stunning? She felt a small pang of sadness at the thought that she would never be allowed to see the flowers in their natural state. After all she was to be kept for eternity in this cage, only catching glimpses of the world through her small window and through her readings.
Note: I have noticed a lack of stories about Shizuka who happens to be one of my favorite characters so I decided to write one. This is intended to be a bunch of ramblings taken from different phases of her life. I have only written one story so far but I will probably add more...though I will probably take a while. The stories are intended to adhere to what little canon facts we know about her, though with a lot of my own "interpretation".
Shizuka probably seems out of character here, but my reasoning is that she wasn't always the cynical, cold, vengeful pureblood she was. I have a feeling that early in her life she was more "normal", and maybe even a tiny bit naive (she was locked up in a cage after all), but as she got older she realized that no matter what, nothing will ever change and she will always be regarded with caution and wariness- thus she became colder, more cynical, and more heartless. However, she still had enough love and sympathy in her for her to fall in love with her ex-human and to care for Ichiru, but she kept that better part of her hidden and instead put on her cold and heartless facade.
Anyway, I wish there were more stories about Shizuka, I find her a fascinating character.
