"Some day you'll be old enough to start reading fairy tales again."
C.S. Lewis
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It was another one of those same boring days. A serene surrounding with whispers of wind and smiling rays of sunlight, maids and guards chattering as they pass by, and of course, a princess in all her luxurious, peach colored gown skipping in merry mood all the while calling her fiancé's name.
"For kingdom's goodness! Does she ever give up?" murmured the white-haired man as he yawned and stood up from the branch of the oak tree he has been taking his nap on.
"Shiro-kun~! Oh, SHIRO-KUN! WHERE ARE YOU?" shouted the princess in the background.
Watching the brunette-haired princess from the tree with his emerald eyes, the white-haired man pondered for a moment to halt her shouts by greeting her or block it out by taking himself to another tree. However, as he saw the princess about to scene from tripping on the innocent rock, Tόshiro Hitsugaya jumped out from the tree and caught the falling princess in his arms.
"Shiro-kun! Where were you? I was looking all over for you!" she asked, forgetting the fact that she was saved from a hardcore smooching session with the ground that could care less about a broken bone or her wails of pain.
'Curse it! I knew that etiquette session has brainwashed me!' Tόshiro internally screamed as he helped Momo Hinamori, his fiancée, gain her balance once again.
"I was taking a nap… Momo, why are here again?" asked Tόshiro, once again stifling a yawn.
"Well I was wondering…
…HITSUGAYA! YOU NEED TO HURRY UP AND COME!" with the blur of colors, Hitsugaya was swooped up from the ground and taken away in split seconds, leaving the princess interrupted and alone with frenzy shouts of her hair being messed up.
"Nice save Matsumoto, but as much as I hate you hugging me, I hate you having carried around like a bag of flour." He glared at the busty woman as he dusted off any invisible filth from his ivory colored cotton trouser, which went very well with his pastel green collared button up shirt and his genetically famous white hair.
"Mah! No time for that! Stop with your blabbering, I am your godmother for speaking out loud! Anyhow, you need to hurry up and follow me. Apparently there is something going on at the town nearby and I think we should check it out!" her arms swung above her head in excitement and patiently waited for the young man as she saw him rake a hand through his white hair.
"Matsumoto, I really don't think I have the time for that. Seeing as that you never really do those works I assign you…
…MATSUMOTO-SAMA! WHERE ARE YOU! YOU NEVER PAID ME FOR THE MALT SCOTCH WHISKEY YOU ASKED ME TO BUY FOR YOU! MATSUMOTO-SAMA!" with a little jump of surprise, Rangiku gave an apologetic smile and started running off to another hall.
"Oops, gotta run! Here's the map to the town! Talk to you later!"
With that, Rangiku Matsumoto, duchess of Soul Society's 10th District, came with the wind and went with the wind.
"SHIRO-KUN! OH SHIRO-KUN! I THINK YOU SHOULD TRY THIS PINK TIGHTS ON! I THINK IT PERFECTLY COMPLEMENTS MY GOWN FOR THE UPCOMING FULL MOON FESTIVAL!"
"Shit…" cursed the white-haired man as he grabbed the map thrown to him by his strawberry blond so-called godmother. He took a beige cloak on the nearby chair and wrapped it around himself. Finding a blond-haired man coming to his direction, Hitsugaya smirked as he jogged up to meet him.
"Izuru! Momo needs someone to try on the pink tights. Go see if you can help her out. And while you are doing that tell her I am going out for a walk."
"Histugaya-sama! Wait, I…"
"That's an order Izuru. I'll try to be back before dinner." with that Tόshiro discreetly escaped the palace and headed toward the town.
While walking on the road, Hitsugaya looked at the map and frowned. The district he was heading to was Inuzuri: the 78th District of Rukongai. Every now and then, the prince would hear about the district and its filth but never really seen it himself. Nonetheless, it wasn't much of his concern since Hinamori's father was in charge of the said area, and instantly shrugged off the thought of filth knowing what a gentleman the Rukongai King was.
After an hour of walking, the clear blue sky gradually morphed into a deathly shade of gray. The temperature seemed to have lowered causing the white haired man to shiver all the while the mist started to gather, hindering his sight of the path he was to follow. Tόshiro stood in his steps and searched the area with his emerald eyes as he figured out the silhouette of the trees. Hitsugaya instantly knew that he has entered the Forest of Menos and his general instinct warned him to be cautious as his hand went to the side of his hip to feel that his dagger was securely placed.
Hitsugaya, though now grown up to be a fine young man ready to take over the thrown any given moment, remembered the stories his godmother Matsumoto told him when he was little.
Flashback
"Once upon a time, there was a witch who found comfort in the Forest of Menos. She kept a white tiger for a pet, and manipulated young little children to visit in and out of her house for an errand. If they didn't do what she told them to do… RAAAWR! She would throw you to her pet tiger as a dinner and would laugh wickedly MWHAHAHA!"
Temporarily shocked by the realistic evil laughter from Rangiku, the ten-year old Hitsugaya tugged at his godmother's sleeve and scowled.
"There's no such thing as a witch aunt Matsumoto…" he said in a confident tone.
"How would you know?" she asked with her eyebrows raised.
"'Cause it's a fictional figure only from fairy-tales." he said with a huff of a pout.
"Well you can't prove me wrong until…" as she stared into young Tόshiro 's eyes full of unyielding confidence, Rangiku raised her hands in defeat, "bah whatever! But she exists!" she brought her arms and crossed it as she mimicked Tόshiro's pout.
"What makes you feel so confident about it aunt?" he inquired, finding it a bit silly that his aunt would believe in such a mythical being.
"It's in the eyes. Witches have - eyes that mark… GOSH! Look at the time! Well, that's a story for another day. It's already so very late, and I believe you should be sleeping!" with that, the strawberry blond brought her hands to tug him in his feather-soft bed with an emerald eyed white tiger embroidered on the sheet.
End Flashback
So engrossed in the thoughts of his early childhood, did the white-haired man not realize that the trees started to lessen in amount and the route led him closer to the entrance of the village. A shiver down his spine stopped Hitsugaya in his track and brought him out of his daze as his hand unconsciously tugged the cloak closer to warm his body. Realization sunk in as his eyes as he stared at the wooden sign that read 'Welcome to Inuzuri.'
For odd reasons, the sign looked beaten and felt as if the paint that was used to write 'Inuzuri' was written with blood, for its color had a grim shade of red. Also, the scratch on the edge of the said sign did nothing, if not worsened, the white-haired man's suspicion as to what could be waiting up ahead.
"Damn, I forgot to ask Matsumoto about what has triggered her interest to bring me here…" murmured Tόshiro, as he sighed and resumed walking to the village with a hood over his head to cover his white hair and emerald eyes that could possibly cause him unwanted troubles.
One by one, as Hitsugaya passed the houses, he noted the absence of villagers that should be around. The few people he actually saw seemed to be cautious and reclusive as they scurried away into their house or avoided any eye contact, nonetheless a greeting.
As he continued to walk deeper into the center of the town, Hitsugaya could hear the shouts and the mutters that underlined it. Suddenly captivated by the sounds of voice, Hitsugaya hurried his steps to get closer to the source(s) of the noise.
Closer and closer, the veil of the mist got thinner and Hitsugaya could see the audience that surrounded a plump, round looking man standing above a wooden stand.
"SILENCE!" shouted the orator, a flabby man most likely a noble, as he raised his equally flabby hands to shush the crowd with his simple act, and oddly enough, the audience hushed immediately. Tόshiro, interested to know what was going on, joined the crowd and looked at said the man.
"As the 43rd Duke of Inuzuri, Cassius Dio, I hereby announce the beginning of ceremony from the capture of the witch!"
There were diverse reactions. For one, Hitsugaya felt the urge to laugh at such word: witch. Witch was a mythical creature that only lived in the words of fairy tale and imagination of gullible children and their Lala Land. However, men shouted cheers and drank to their hearts' content. The little kids played the game of Capture the Witch, in which a role of witch was given(marked by having a pointed hat on) and played as a game of tag where once touched by the witch, the said child will have to shriek and act as if dead. The only way to kill the witch was by snatching away her hat. Women chatted and danced, made food and glanced. Once, a woman was caught staring at something and her husband came over and chided her in hushed voice to look away.
Yes, it was this occasional peeks to somewhere, something, or someone that sent the white-haired man a vibe of insecurity. Quickly, Tόshiro caught onto the direction of the ganders and followed it with his own emerald eyes, only to have him immediately freeze at the sight.
Beside Duke Dio, who was seating in a finely curved and cushioned oak chair, there stood a figure of a human, both hands and feet chained. This being was cloaked in depth-less black which loosely covered the upper half and stopped right above the knee allowing only, a glimpse of smooth, pale white skin and slender pair of legs. Frustration inched toward the white-haired man for it was hard to get any details of the face since the head was covered with a hood and the prince was quite a distance apart. Searching for anything else, his eyes were attracted to the equally slender pair of pale white feet.
The feet, he noticed, was scratched, bruised, and bare. It piqued Tόshiro's curiosity that he couldn't find any trace of blood, then it happened.
The last ray of sunshine, that could be found through the labyrinth of clouds and mist, waved its adieu and townsmen became silent. With the help of young man and woman, children were taken to the church, which stood behind Duke Dio. And just as darkness veiled the sky in endless pitch black, tension crawled to the surface of earth, grasping the crowd in shackles of what Tόshiro knew to be a dangerous combination of fear and hate.
Duke Dio stood from his chair, and looked at the crowd over the floor of the podium.
"It is time, fellow men and women. As the Deuteronomy quotes "No one shall be found among you who makes a son or daughter pass through fire, who practices divination, or is a soothsayer, or an augur, or a sorcerer, or one that casts spells, or who consults ghosts or spirits, or who seeks oracles from the dead. For whoever does these things is abhorrent to the Lord;" and with the guidance of Saul from our Hebrew Bible we "hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land." With the help of our Friar Laurf Vincent, we shall carry out the holy directions and burn the witch tonight!"
Ending the speech in a roar, the crowd went wild as people started chanting in languages foreign to him. The only thing he could grasp was the anger, the hate, the fear in their voices that screeched out from men and women alike, and shook some in body and mind. For a brief moment, Hitsugaya felt as if choking from the overflowing emotions; as if they became tangible hands that held, tortured, and choked him in pain and agony. It was the most fearful experience he has ever dealt with, and the proud prince could care less that he was shaking just from the tension, nevertheless the fact that he allowed emotion to get better of him.
Then the freezing, deafening silence draped the crowd.
Everyone's eyes were directed to the black clothed being. Closer and closer, shoving the crowd out of the way in rough manner he saw that the figure was petite. Another step forward, he was right behind the front, where guards in their armors had their spears pointed directly behind the figure's back trying to keep their space from the said individual. People made way for the guards and the witch, and this bounded creature walked in flowing graceful motions to the rusty steel pole.
Whoever it was, whether it be a human or a witch, this person had confidence. Even without sight the black clothed individual approached the execution floor with steady footsteps and straight back, which the prince admired until the hood, in a teasing motion, slowly slipped off and Hitsugaya finally saw the rest of the mysterious figure's face.
Midnight black hairs flowed out. Even without touching them, the prince knew them to be as soft as silk.
Adorned by those slightly wavy hair, the curve of the face brought out a sense of poised dignity contained within the small stature.
In that elegant angular face, pink plump lips remained pressed together in mute restraint.
Only her eyes were hidden by red lace cloth, blind-folded to obscure any view of the world.
The rock, which missed her in mere millimeters, was what brought the dazed prince to reality. Suddenly, more rocks were headed to the shackled woman and the throwing, the yelling, and the screaming resumed.
Tόshiro didn't do anything for few minutes. Images presented before him were sunk into his head without a second of thought. The voices became faint as it became thuds and then nothing. All he did was watch and hear and take in.
Even with the threats, both verbal and physical, the petite woman didn't do anything but only approach closer to the execution ground where her death waited. It felt forever to Hitsugaya and he only recognized the cuts on her legs and clothe as she halted her steps and turned around standing as if expecting for Friar Laurf Vincent to appear through the guards; in which the friar did. Small drips of crimson red started to fall from the cuts. Yet, there wasn't a single movement from her stern face until everyone gradually quieted, as well as the assault, and her lips twitched to a smile.
Friar opened his mouth and started preaching.
"Thou who has sinned…"
The words slipped through Hitsugaya while his eyes solely focused on the prisoner's face. No cuts, only a toothless smile. Was that a cynical one? Gracious? Sad? What was it?
"… may thou repent and revive from the embrace of His holy presence…
…STOP!"
The abrupt interruption made the friar frown. His eyes traveled through the crowd and gradually reached the source of the sound.
"Doest thou know what thou has committed?" the friar asks.
"Do you know what you are doing?" replied Hitsugaya.
"Who doest thou think thou art?" the friar replies in a haughty attitude with a sneer, his frown deepening causing his face to become disoriented: almost cynical.
"Tόshiro Hitsugaya, imperial prince to be crowned as the next king of Soul Society, and fiancé of Momo Hinamori, the first princess of Rukongai." replied the prince in his cold, calculating, composed voice as he took the beige hood off from his face allowing the view of his stunning white hair and piercing green eyes.
Collective gasps were heard throughout. The Duke ran to Hitsugaya and repeatedly bowed humbly.
"My liege! What brings you to this humble abroad?" without raising his head, Cassius Dio asked in trembling tone.
"Raise your head Dio, for what I see in front of me is the exact reason why I decided to visit Inuzuri." still void of any emotions, Hitsugaya questioned from the back of his head how he was able to so quickly and dexterously slip on his mask of nonchalance and power.
"But without a single notice…
… this is exactly why I came without a single notice. Instantly remove this woman from her bounds. Duke Dio, what heinous act is this?"
"Prince Hitsugaya, what thoust see…
… it is not a what, but a who Friar Laurf Vincent. Have you not learned the basics of English in your monastery? Has your abbot not taught you how to distinguish a who from what? If not, I shall definitely make it my business to visit the abbot you have came from and preach the abbot myself, for this is nonsense."
"But she is a witch…"
Low whispers erupted from the crowd and Tόshiro tried to contain his irritation as he opened his mouth.
"That is fairly enough from you Friar Laurf Vincent. Duke Dio, extricate those shackles immediately. This is an order." Hitsugaya's strident voice silenced the crowd. But even before the guards were able to take a step closer to the woman, the Friar grabbed the blindfold and eradicated the piece of cloth.
Harshly grabbing her chin, the friar lifted it up so that her face was directly facing Hitsugaya. Fluttering her eyes open, Hitsugaya was instantly lost in the mesmerizing depth of her amethyst eyes.
"Her eyes, Prince Hitsugaya, is the physical evidence that mark her as witch."
"Hmph, to think I would have been man-handled by bunch of brutes." said the amethyst eyed female.
"Silence wit…
… you shut up."
Her sultry voice was silky smooth like magic. With such simple words from the raven haired individual, Friar Laurf Vincent's mouth shut itself closed with a loud CLUCK, the sound of his teeth clashing together with strong force.
"Has Matsumoto not taught you better than to stand still like an idiot while a lady is shackled with chains?" the mention of his aunt immediately drew Hitsugaya out of his amazement.
"How…?"
"Eesh," with a CLUNK the steel chains dropped from her hands and then mythical figure slipped both her feet off from the shackles, "Matsumoto was my guardian… well temporarily since I was capable of handling myself. Anyhow, she and my deceased sister go way far into their childhood."
"Wha…?"
"I was hoping you had the sagacity to not only understand simple English but to also read further into it..." her eyes narrowed into mere slits as she walked toward the incredulous prince, "I was told you were precocious… but it seems you are a bit too tenacious for your own benefit to accept that fairy tales can exist in reality; especially, a witch at that."
Her dainty little feet now stood directly in front of his, and unconsciously he gulped as her face leaned toward where he could feel her warm breathe against his own neck. However, the next thing that happened was the last thing he expected to happen.
"Greetings Prince Tόshiro Hitsugaya. I am Rukia Kuchiki, last child of the Kuchiki family and the only to survive beyond the age of sixteen as a female..."
Her hands slightly lifted her tattered black cloak and curtsied, dipping her head a little to express her acknowledge to the prince. Then, she lifted her head and for the second time that day stared straight into Hitsugaya's emerald eyes with her own amethyst one.
"… and the heiress of the Kuchiki household after my elder brother Byakuya's lead."
Once again, gasps and chatter broke through the crowd as they whispered about the newly heard information. Many in the continent of Bleach knew of the Kuchiki household. One, they held a reputation of strict rule-followers and carriers, as well as their world-wide acknowledgement of their intelligence and wisdom. Two, they were the keepers of the continent's accurate history ever since the first universal language was written. Lastly, they were famous for their male lineage that dominated in all areas females can possibly dream of. The final reason has a long infamous history of hereditary in which females of Kuchiki blood were fated to die in their coming age, also known as their sixteenth birthday.
"To abbreviate, I am the true successor that will end the curse brought upon my family and
… THE WIFE-TO-BE OF 50TH KING, Tόshiro HITSUGAYA."
"MATSUMOTO!"
"Hitsugaya! Isn't this such a great news?" even before the surprised prince could make any remark on his godmother's question he was embraced by her warm hug.
"Rangiku, I do hope you know that the poor guy is being suffocated by your assets."
"Poop! R-u-k-i-a, you sound like your older brother~"
"Well, I didn't say "Matsumoto…""
"THAT'S IT! EXACTLY LIKE YOUR OWN BROTHER!"
"We are related by blood you know."
"ENOUGH! Are you trying to kill me? Matsumoto, immediately release me from your vice-death-grip on me!"
"You both are no fun! Can't even handle a joke!"
At the abrupt visit of so much nobilities, the townsmen, their duke, and the friar simply hung their mouth open. However, the duke and the friar came out of their stupor and immediately fell to the ground along with their head stooped low.
"My apologizes! I will immediately order my servants to prepare rooms for your comfort. I beg that you pardon us with your grace!" Duke Dio silently cursed at his position meanwhile the friar next to him inwardly cursed in colorful languages that could make a sailor blush.
"No need for that. We'll be heading to the castle." with that, Rukia touched the air with a finger as an elegantly crafted pair of doors emerged. Her hands pulled at the white gold handles engraved with swirling patterns, and turned around to smile at the friar who still had his head low on the ground.
"Friar Laurf Vincent, there is a saying in a poem I've once read, that states "Non sunt in coeli, quia g-x-d-d-b-o-v x-x-k-x-z-t p-g i-f-m-k." Now then, I hope you all the best rest of the day."
Then, she took a step into the black-and-white checkered portal along with the strawberry blonde duchess pushing the dubious white-haired prince into their way home.
xXx
Their way toward the Soul Society kingdom was the oddest experience the prince had yet to experience. To describe the feeling, it was like walking on a cloud. There was no sense of gravity nor was their any sense of direction. For all he knew, he could've had walked with his head pointed to the floor or the doors could have moved while he walked at the same spot over and over again! To add on, the awkward silence, which hung on the air, did nothing to improve the situation in hand. Nevertheless, the duchess and the prince followed the emblem of enigma, passing numbers of doors in all shape, form, and design. Finally, they saw the mark of their arrival as Rukia pushed open a door: carved out of gold, decorated in emerald, and engraved with a familiar symbol.
The next thing Tόshiro Hitsugaya saw was the beautiful midnight sky view of his kingdom and the sensation of falling into an endless hole just as Lewis Carroll described in his Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
xXx
"WHAT IN THE HOLY HEAVEN!" with a shout and a gasp, Tόshiro jumped to a sitting position from his king-sized feather bed. He caught onto his breathe while recognizing the features of his bedroom chamber: a room with a floor covered by wide plank, maple wood, and four walls as well as the ceiling painted in soft pastel green. His room was unique for the fact that the ceiling was engraved with a large king's regalia, printed in viridian and shadowed in white. Directly opposite wall of Tόshiro's bed were multiples of windows, about eleven feet long and seven feet individually, that nearly stretched over the whole wall, and they were draped in phthalo green satin curtains making it hard for the crescent moonlight to enter his room. For the final touch, couched and such were scattered around the area, which he found comfort in.
Then he took a deep breathe as he closed his eyes and leaned his head against his hand. Sighing, he brought his head back up to the left of his bed, where he knew portraits of his families and friends would be, and opened his eyes only for his forest green to be clashed with her regalia purple.
Temporarily shocked, Hitsugaya closed his eyes, rubbed his thumb against his temple, and mumbled with a growl.
"It was just a dream…"
Just as those words left his mouth, Tόshiro felt an addition of weight on his bed and opened his eyes only for them to be gulfed in pitch darkness. Forcefully pushed to lie down on his bed, his hands grabbed onto the intruder's, ready to change from defense to offense at any given moment. However, he was not given the opportunity as a he heard the window creaking open and felt the cold breathe tickle right beside his left ear.
"If it was a dream," she said, momentarily halting as this mysterious female kissed the temple he just rubbed, "you wouldn't be hearing this."
"And if this was a dream," she said, her tongue snaking its way out to tease his neck as she exhaled some cool air against his flushed skin, "you wouldn't be feeling this."
"And if this was a dream," he said, his hands gently grasping her little delicate ones as he pulled them away from his eyes to entangle his fingers with hers, "I would never wake up in hopes to continue seeing you."
"Well Prince Hitsugaya, you would be seeing me for quite a while!"
With that the witch escaped from his hold and took her leave, leaping out of the window, on a white haired, emerald eyed tiger.
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A/N
"Non sunt in coeli, quia g-x-d-d-b-o-v- x-x-k-x-t p-g i-f-m-k." it is a first recorded usage of the word "fuck" in a poem Flen Flyys and Freris, composed sometime before 1500. By using the substitution cipher on phrase after "Non sunt in coeli, quia…" it translate to "They[the friars] are not in heaven because they fuck wives of Ely[a town near Cambridge]." Now, I used this because it was hilarious. However, I thought it went with the story very nicely because Rukia would know this… seeing that as a Kuchiki heiress she would know some of the most interesting histories around the world, and just as capable on elegantly mocking the friar who treated her a like a piece of trash.
There is a two definition to "REGALIA" one is "the ensigns or emblem of royalty," another is "a shade of violet" indicated in Wikipedia "Category talk: Shades of violet."
Author's Note:
First I find it hilarious I actually used Old English, though it was only partial, in Japanese anime characters. But what can I say? I've wanted to tried this in a very long time. Second, it really was hard for me to prevent myself from breaking the tension and just crack out and throw in a random comment… I mean, it's been so long since I wrote and look at this! A serious, dark, gloomy one-shot? Geesh! I feel older than what I already feel! Anyhow, this is a one-shot dedicated mainly for my dear mademoiselle Fairy in hopes to succeed her HitsRuki multi-chapter "By Myself" Anyhow, forgive me for not writing! I haven't had the urge or the motivation to write these days. I've been beta-reading and trying to help other fellow lovely writers but me…? BAH! I've gave up on myself. Not to mention that school has been whipping my buttocks lately… with stuff and more stuff! Yeah, I know… EXCUSES. I shall try to write and continue to do so(I miss writing!). However, until I find the strong desire to do so, please be patient with me and stick around.
GAH! I know I haven't finished any of the stories I wrote before… and did state that this was a one-shot. AND YES, IT IS A ONE-SHOT AT THE MOMENT! But, depending on my muse I think I'll continue this as a really short multi-chapter.
So if I continued this it would be
-The Introduction of the Witch(this one)
-The Study of the Witch
-The Story of the Witch
-The Marriage with the Witch
ANYHOW! To all you HitsuRuki fans I send you my well regards! The increase of fans on this pairing has most definitely grew! I remember back… nevermind that. Anyhow, anyway, and anywho! Thank you all who has listed me and/or my fanfic in your favorites, and/or has alerted me and/or my writing! You guys always bring smile to my scowling face!
R & R