Heyyaaaahhh! I'm back! OtakuLoverlord21 is back in the house~~~~ Mwahahaha! XD
SO SORRY FOR THE SUPER DUPER LATE UPDATE! oh, I want to remind y'all that there are alot of typos :(
I also discovered that most of the views this story got are from my beautiful, oh-so awesome country, the Philippines! Mga ka-tropa, mahal na mahal ko po kayo! *shot*
Cat's absent...Gaaah, hairballs...how about we move on to the story? The SECOND "Enchanted" is the cue for the song's intro. I already told you that this is a songfic, right? Right? Hell yeah, it is!
Disclaimer: I do not own K-on! And its characters...
ENCHANTED
"Mio-chan, are you ready? I told you to let the ladies render their service to you..."
One last check at the mirror. I wore a lustrous, deep royal blue, sleveless, princess gown topped with white gold laces, silver patterns and tear-shaped diamonds. Fine gloves with the same color of my gown covered my hands up to my elbows, also adorred by diamonds. To finish it all, white gold earrings, a diamond choker, and a very small diamond crown topped my bunned hair wherein I left my bangs and side bangs down to frame my face completed the clothing. Oh, and black stilettos underneath the gown wrapped my feet.
'All done!'
I smiled at my reflection. 'I'm getting quite good at this without anyone's help'.
I wore no excessive make-up for I want myself to be simply elegant as possible.
"I'm done, Papa", I walked out of my room and faced my father.
"Happy birthday, darling. You look stunning! I'm sure countless men would once again would swoon over you at the feast!" Father smiled at me excitedly. He wore a gray-silver coat with black outlines, white long-sleeved dress shirt with a royal blue tie underneath the coat. Black dress pants and white shiny leather shoes completed it all. Silver and blue really completed both my father's eyes and mine, although our hair is different from one another, mine is raven while his is in a deep shade of maroon.
"Thank you, Papa". I sighed and looked complement was just too familiar, it had been repeated by a certain someone from five years ago.
I can sense my father panicking, he changed the topic immediately. "A-Ah! Where'd you go this morning? Taking a stroll by the riverside, perhaps?"
"Nearby the cliff", I brought my head up and watched his expression.
Silence.
It was my father's turn to look away and seems to be hesitating about something as he was looking quite uncomfortable.
"You should know that by now...", I said, breaking the deafening silence. It was absolutely true that I was visiting the headstone nearby the cliff within the palace grounds regularly, especially every year, during my birthday celebrations, the day she was assumed dead.
'Ritsu...where are you?'
"I'm sorry..."
I didn't respond to my father's apology. I already have forgiven him, but I can't just brush off the blood-curdling memory.
My silence made a way for his next sentence.
Something told me that he was not finished yet.
"...I know that I've been making your life miserable since you were young, became shameful of your mother a-and killing y-your best friend but..."
Guilt was written all over his face. His eyes were a now a shade of dim gray which spoke nothing but...rue?
"I have one last request-"
"Marry a clan prince so a man could lead this empire...", Father was quivering and was taken aback. He turned his head to look at me.
His expression just confirmed what I said.
"U-Uh, yes", he cleared his throat, a sudden shift of expression happened. He then looked me in the eye with full of strictness. "Prince Tatsuo of the Tachibana Clan..."
"But Pa-"
"Figure it all out at the feast...", then he walked ahead.
He knew that the answer will be a huge 'NO!'. Limitless clan princes sought me before and father supported those who he thinks deserves my heart and the 'Tennou-sama' title, which were most of them. But their efforts were useless, they, even my father, didn't know that I was still waiting for someone.
I know it might sound crazy, I might sound, but I'm willing to wait for a certain brunette, even if it takes her forever to return to me. When you're deeply engulfed into the deepest abyss called 'true love', wouldn't you feel the same?
'I know that she'll come back...and this love will never be unrequited...'
Enchanted
Moments have passed and I now find myself in the King's Hall, the most spacious and luxurious dining and event hall known to man.
A humongous feast was held here for my eighteenth birthday by my father and the Kotobuki Clan, which was my father's most trusted ally. The guests were the richest of the rich of the entire country. From governors of regions to businessmen and clan families. They all exclaimed that they wish me the merriest of all my birthdays. I wondered if they really mean what they said or just for the sake of the current event. The latter has the highest possibility, 'cause they all went their ways after the talking that was only replied by a fake smile and a 'thank you' of mine.
There I was again tonight
Forcing laughter, faking smiles
Same old tired, lonely place
Two steps.
Three steps.
I feel uncomfortable. Like I'm being watched. Every single movement of mine is intently observed.
Yes, I was the celebrant of this winter night but the look was so intense that I feel like being devoured whole. The gaze somehow feels nostalgic but I can't put my finger on it.
Feeling quite claustrophobic, I made my way pass the the big doors of the event area.
Winter was still there but it was not violet nor raging as it was this morning. It was gentle and calm. The breeze also brought its fresh and cool nature. I closed my eyes and smiled.
'Is this...your presence?'
I got lost in the cool caresses, almost drifting me into my dreamland.
Almost.
Until something frosty nuzzled my nose. I opened my eyes to see the cold thing.
The tingly sensation on my nose made me giggle. It was a sakura petal. A pale pink one representing the frigid season. The breeze took action once again and drifted the petal along its harmony. I was in the midst of watching the petal being sailed when my eyes fell upon its source. A sakura tree.
I held my gown up, careful not to step on the beautiful fabric and trip. Lifting my left foot, I stepped down the short flight of stairs. I walked on the snowy path towards the shade of the tree.
"Wow...", I gasped.
The scenery in front of me is so breathtaking. Natural. Cool. Beautiful. Peaceful. Reserved...There weren't enough words to describe this kind of beauty. And to further compliment everything, a beautiful ballad was being played by the band inside the King's Hall.
'Oh Ritsu, I wish you were here with me...'
Walls of insecurity, Shifting eyes and vacancy Vanished when I saw your face
"Well hello there, Akiyama-hime-sama".
A gentle voice came from behind me. I turned around and met golden-amber irises staring into my soul and short spiky tawny locks swinging by the breeze.
'Ritsu...?'
All I can say is it was enchanting to meet you...
No. She's not a man, although she's quite manly, she wouldn't wear a glossy red-black themed butler's tail coat suit. Ritsu's shorter than me, this man's towering. She has her hairband everyday, or she wouldn't be comfortable. But his aura seems all so familiar.
'Just who is he...?'
"Are you...Tatsuo-ouji-san?" I assumed that this man's got to be Prince Tatsuo, for I didn't see him before. The one whom I have the arranged marriage with.
"Haha! Well, I wish I was", the mysterious man beamed.
Your eyes whispered, "Have we met?"
Across the room your silhouette
Starts to make its way to me
The playful conversation starts
Counter all your quick remarks
Like passing notes in secrecy
Although in another person's point-of-view, this man seems to be a little rude in a formal ocassion. With his mischievous grins, playful acts and sarcasm, I found myself laughing along with him. I've never had a conversation this long with someone except with my father and I've never laughed and smiled whole-heartedly that I have to hide my laughter under my white hankerchief. I've never felt this great since the past five years.
'So much for the saying, "don't talk to strangers", then how are you suppose to make friends?'
I feel that I met this guy before because he seems so...familiar. The way he wished me a happy birthday triggers my long lost...memory?
"Hime-sama? May I have this dance?"
I was so lost in trance that I didn't notice that the ballad piece became louder, making it more audible in our spot. The man slightly bowed and smiled at me, making me a victim of his tantalizing eyes.
He smiled, "Your face, princess"
I feel like bursting any second now, I assume that he already saw my flushed face. 'Kami-sama...'
"Ah, I'll keep your hankerchief for now in my pocket so there won't be any hindrance in your hands, princess".
Slowly taking his offered hand after trusting him with my hankerchief, I made my way closer to him. He clasped my left hand with his right one, placed his other hand onto my shoulder blade as I lay my right one on his left shoulder. He again smiled at me and blushed. What an amusing sight. I snickered at his red face.
"Oh I guess we're now even~", I purred.
"N-No!", he looked away, still with his animatedly, colored face.
"Stubborn much?~" He only looked up with his stubbornly cute face. 'Wait. I find him cute?'
He is cute.
'But I'm not falling for him now, am I?'
"I think this is a dance...", he pouted.
"Then why aren't you taking the lead? You're than man, aren't you, Romeo?~", I teased. 'He looks so adorable'.
"Now, may I, Juliet?~", he turned to look at me. We stared at each other for minutes that felt like hours.
'Calm down, wild heart...'
Realizing what we just called each other, I looked away. Seems like he did that too.
'Romeo...I just called him "Romeo"!', the heart skipped beats.
What an awkward situation...I think I'm going to have a cardiac arrest anytime soon. 'I thought the only one that could make me feel this way was...Ritsu'.
And it was enchanting to meet you,
All I can say is I was enchanted to meet you
'But...he called me "Juliet"!'
He suddenly shifted himself closer to me and seeked for my face. Feeling his gaze, I turned to look at him, realizing something.
'He's the one watching me inside the hall?'
"Happy birthday once again, Mio-chan".
This night is sparkling, don't you let it go
I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home
I'll spend forever wondering if you knew
I was enchanted to meet you
He led the dance. Our dance under a beautiful sakura tree. They say that things like these only happen on fairy tales and on one's imagination. If this were to be a dream, I don't want to wake up. Not now. Not ever.
I looked up and watched the sparkling stars and...oh, I guess it's gonna be a night with a blood moon.
We spun gracefully around the majestic tree, sakura petals as the background. It felt so unreal and magical. And I was...I was so enchanted as I drowned myself into his molten-gold orbs and somehow, in his gaze, all I can feel is pure and innocent love...for me.
"Akiyama-hime-sama?"
Like all good things, this little moment of ours came to halt. The soft ballad was at its peak and someone from behind us called me.
I'm a gentle person, but can also be irritated. Hearing the call, my partner ended our fantasy ride. He bowed and left, hiding himself into the sea of people inside the building, leaving me both disappointed and wonderstruck.
I didn't even know his name.
"KIMI wo miteru to itsumo HAATO DOKIDOKI!- (When I look at you, my heart always goes thump-thump!)"
"Yui-senpai!"
"A-Ah! Wrong song! I'm s-sorry Azunyan, everyone!"
The lyrics the singer sang just described what I feel in this moment. The band made no accident.
"Here you are, Akiyama-hime-sama. The Emperor wants you to meet Tatsuo-ouji-san inside the hall. Hime-sama?"
"A-Ah, yes. Thank you for telling me, Kotobuki-oujo-sama", I said, a little annoyed.
"Have you seen my fiancé? I've been missing his golden orbs for quite a while now.", she smiled.
'Don't tell me...'
"N-No, I haven't seen anyone out here until you came.."
"Oh, really now?", she smiled slyly. 'W-What?!'
"I have to go on ahead, Hime.", then she walked back into the building.
'Don't t-tell me that...wait, did that man just called me "Mio-chan" before we danced?'
The lingering question kept me up
2 am, who do you love?
I wonder 'til I'm wide awake
And now I'm pacing back and forth
Wishing you were at my door I'd open up and you would say, "Hey,
It was enchanting to meet you,
All I know is I was enchanted to meet you"...
Father told me that my protests about the forced marriage were useless and futile. Prince Tatsuo asked me for a dance, to which I strongly declined. I didn't see the mysterious man anymore nor feel his prescence. I couldn't take what my father's forcing me to do. It's like he just kept me as his daughter for royalty issues and the face of his empire. I'm tired of being used all the time, so I ran. I ran away on my heels. I ran with tears streaming down my face. I ran as fast I can so the soldiers that my father sent won't find me. The crowd inside were startled and gasping. But I don't care anymore. All I wanted was Ritsu. Even though, I must say that I'm on the verge of falling in love with a man I just met, I still want her. I know she'll come back.
I cried and cried in front of the headstone. I don't know how I got here, all I know is I don't want to see anyone except for a particular being. I just can't take these forced things anymore.
'Ritsu...'
I don't care if the winter shifted from gentle to fierce like this morning or it's following my wave of emotions.
"Ritsu! You said you'll come back!", I shouted from the top of my lungs.
'Just where are you...?'
I held the stone close and continued to cry over it. I don't care if looked ruined, 'cause I am ruined, from the inside.
As I shout out her name over and over again, like that of five years ago, the winter breeze just became a snowstorm. The gusts were blowing so hard that every time my tears fall down my face, they would get carried away by the vicious blows.
"Where are you!"
I'm not giving up on what I believe is true. She never left me alone, she never did. I can feel her until now. I can feel her prescence enveloping me everywhere I go. But I want to see her and feel her touch again. I want to tell her how much I love her.
'It is never too late for those to come true, right?'
"Please don't cry, I'm right here..."
This night is sparkling, don't you let it go
I'm wonderstruck,blushing all the way home
I'll spend forever wondering if you knew...
This night is flawless, don't you let it go
I'm wonderstruck, dancing around all alone
I'll spend forever wondering if you knew
I was enchanted meet you
I turned around and saw the mysterious man from earlier.
"What are you...doing here?", I asked, utterly shocked.
'I thought nobody was able to follow me here. I didn't see him there before, how could he be here? The snowstorm is raging on...'
"I'm here because...here, your hankerchief. I'm sorry, I forgot to return it and..." He kneeled down, knees dipping in the piling snow and wiped my tears with the white fabric.
He leaned closer, cupped my face and whispered. 'What is he...doing?'
"...Mio-chan, I have returned. Please don't cry..."
This is me praying that
This was the very first page
Not where the storyline ends
My thoughts will echo your name
Until I see you again
These are the words I held back
As I was leaving too soon
'Mio-chan...?'
"R-R-Rits-su...?"
The figure looks nothing like a paranormal being. Except a...full-grown Kyuuketsuki... He smiled.
"I told you I'd come back, hadn't I?"
I can't move. My brain stopped working. My heart was beating too fast. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to say. I can't believe this...
'Ritsu...is that really you?'
"The knight promised that she'll come back for her princess. And so she did..."
'I'm on the verge of falling in love with this 'man'...but it seems like I'm falling in love with Ritsu all over again...'
"I-I...I, R-Ritsu, is that...really you?"
'I can feel the old Ritsu again within me...why didn't I realized this under the sakura tree?'
"Yes, Mio. I see that you're falling in love with me all over again", her signature smirk that only she can do.
"How d-did y-you..."
"I'm the sakura petals that you whispered everything to...I watch over you"
I was enchanted to meet you...
'So that's why I can feel her prescence everyday. Why didn't I realize that the man from the hall was Ritsu...why?'
I was still dumbstruck by the flash of sudden events. I can't believe it.
"Why don't we continue our interrupted dance, Milady?", she stood up and offered her hand.
I was longing for this person yet why can't I still move? Why am I still crying? Because of joy? Then she did something...
"Mio, please stop crying...", she kissed my forehead like when we were still young but now, I can feel passion in her action.
I calmed down, stood up and darted my eyes on hers. Drowning in her golden-amber irises, we danced gracefully and passionately under the blood moon and in the midst of a sinister snowstorm. Even though the temperature's frigid and dropping, I can't feel it. All I can feel was Ritsu's hot touch and comfortable warmth finally wrapping my soul. All I care about right now was she was here with me and what we're gonna be.
The gusts, although vicious, created a soft harmony through the trees around us. The hundreds of sakura petals sailed through the wind, encircling our position and danced with us.
Please don't be in love with someone else,
Please don't have somebody waiting on you
Please don't be in love with someone else,
Please don't have somebody waiting on you...
"You're the only one waiting for me, Mio...I only came back because of you..."
Hearing that, I brought my hands up to her shoulder and buried my face onto her chest.
"Not a day should pass that I don't miss your smile, Ritsu...", I whispered.
I feel like melting in her hold. I wanna lay her down and feel her warmth. I don't want to lose her again.
"Mio..." She leaned down and kissed my tears away. Held my waist closer, she held me like she held my heart inside.
This night is sparkling don't you let it go
I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home
I'll spend forever wondering if you knew...
"Don't worry...Mio, your love was long ago returned..."
Pair of luscious lips were a few inches away from mine. Her eyes were closed, while I was wide-eyed.
'She returned my feelings long ago...and right now she's proving everything...'
"Ritsu..."
"I love you..." Her hot breath mingled with mine, tickled my senses. I wasn't able to respond. I can't.
Ritsu proceeded a little then abrubtly stopped, a seductive smile flashed on her pale skin.
'Oh how she loved teasing me...'
"A-ah..."
I closed my eyes and continued what she stopped. I kissed her like mad. Like I never kissed her secretly when she's sleeping back when we were children. Like I never want to breath anymore. Words aren't needed to reply.
We roamed each other's tongue like there's no tomorrow. There is no tomorrow. I can die in her arms right now than to taste the harshness of my father again. Her every movement in me was like heaven's touch. I feel like bursting everytime we sway along the dance of sakuras. I tasted even her sharp fangs. Fangs. Which makes our love forbidden. Kyuuketsuki.
This night is flawless, don't you let it go
I'm wonderstruck, dancing around all alone
I'll spend forever wondering if you knew
I was enchanted to meet you...
She slowly pulled away, ending the enchanted dance.
"We only have this moment, Mio"
Sounds of swords closing to us...
Orders of my father...
Like that of five years ago...
It's happening again...
'No...'
"...I won't last long here. I have to go, Mio."
'...please..'
I can't lose her again. I can't stand in a cruel world without her again. Then...
"Take me with you!", I cried. "I don't want to be separated from you! I...I..."
The sakura petals started to flow weakly as I cry in her arms desperately.
'...don't go...'
Heavy stomps of men echoed through the snowstorm...
They located us...me...
"...If that is what you wish, my princess..."
Please don't be in love with someone else,
Please don't have somebody else waiting on you...
"Mio! Don't you dare hide from your father!"
"Akiyama-hime-sama! Where are you!"
"There she is! Who's that?"
"The Kyuuketsuki! Get that damn kid away from Mio. Now!"
She kissed me again. Deeply and more passionate than the first one.
The gusts turned slowly into thin air, as I felt our bodies doing the same.
There's no turning back now.
The soldiers and the Emperor arrived at our former place only to find a white hankerchief and a pale, blood-stained sakura petal over it.
O/N (OtakuLoverlord21's Note): and CUT! That's a wrap! *clap* *clap* *clap*
:D ne, ne minna-san, I'm a lousy writer, right? I wanna get better at this! And I will! With your help! Pleaaaaaaassseee! Let me know your suggestions, praises, and criticism of all sorts on your Reviews! :) :) :)
Hey, check out my other MiTsu story! "What LOVE really means".
Hello Kitty OtakuLoverlord21 | Awooooooo!
