Again, thank you to all my reviewers and followers! It means a lot!
I changed the summary, if anybody was curious about that (but I doubt anybody noticed)
Here's Chapter 3!:
I must be withering away from boredom.
After my little escapade on deck, which was entirely Ali's fault, (though Usui doesn't know that) I was confined to his bedroom for the rest of the day, while Usui took care of his regular duties. I'm not even allowed to go visit Suzuna, as she is apparently "still sleeping."
My heart squeezed in pain. Suzuna never sleeps for longer than eight hours, no matter what condition she is. This left me with the conclusion that Suzuna was desperately attempting to avoid me, because of Usui's accidental revelation to her that I was one of the favoured.
I put my head in my hands in misery. Life had never been so complicated for me. I had always had everything planned out, with dreams of finishing school and following my mother's footsteps as a midwife. Males dared not to mess with me, in fear of my infamous fighting skills, and I got along easily with other girls who admired my fearlessness and protective instinct for them.
Now I have a perverted fiancé who I wouldn't mind, but with him came an extremely striking lady who had made her detest for me clear from the beginning. And to top it all off my sister is frightened of me. I wouldn't blame her for hating me too, seeing as she got forced to leave her hometown and be on the run as a fugitive because of me. All of this change because of my wretched ability.
Suddenly I could feel the anger and frustration that had been building up for days inside of me come out as tears welled up in my eyes. I curled into a ball. I wanted to go back to the simple days, the days where I awoke with the sun streaming down on my face through the window of my small bedroom, and the aroma of freshly baked bread teasing my nostrils. The days where I would chase Suzuna through the prairie field outside our house with the sun streaming on our faces. The days of happiness and petty problems which would never affected anyone but me. The days without stress and torture, the days where my mom would always be waiting for my when I arrived at my house.
As more thoughts of my former life came out, I could feel more and more frustrations at my situation flowing out from me. If I ever found my bastard of a father, I would make sure for certain that he would pay. Pay for leaving us alone, pay for leaving me alone with this stupid inheritance from him. I would make sure he never forgave himself. More and more fury poured out of me as my rage mounted.
*Bang.*
The door slammed open with a resounding crash. I looked up quickly, startled, as Usui dashed into the bedroom. He was drenched. Water dripped from every article of clothing he was wearing, and his hair was glued to his face instead of its usual wild spikes. Usui yanked of his captain coat, and immediately enveloped me in a hug.
My anger left me immediately only to be replaced by overwhelming sorrow, as I began blubbering in his embrace. It was stupid how the tears only began to spill with his consoling presence beside me, making me feel as if I was a five year old child.
"Shhh Misaki, it's okay, I'm here for you. You need to calm down." He said reassuringly, rubbing my back. I instinctively snuggled closer to him, though if I was in a rational state, I would have been mortified at this action of mine.
"Wh-why are you so wet?" I questioned through sobs.
He looked away reluctantly. Not good.
"The foulness of your mood was so intense that it caused a sudden rain storm outside. I came to soothe you before it went out of hand," he answered hesitantly.
"I…I did what?!" I gasped. The range of my ability hadn't struck me until now. Guilt crushed my heart, as I thought of all the possible outcomes of what my actions could have led to.
"It was nothing we hadn't dealt with before," Usui said quickly, in attempt to make me feel better. "Nobody was even injured."
Though this information took a little of the guilt weighing on me off, I still felt extremely remorseful. I should've known letting my emotions run wild would result in my favoured also running wild with it. Hadn't it also done that when I was about to be taken advantage of by that foul captain?
"Usui," I said slowly. "Take me out on deck. I need to see the extent of the damage I've caused."
Usui nodded. He could understand why it was important for me to see the extent of my powers, and for that I was grateful. "I need discuss a serious matter with you after though, so don't run away on me," He added with a sly wink. He then reahced out his hand to me, and I grabbed it, allowing him to pull me up.
What greeted my eyes when we reached the deck was not a pretty sight. Men were still scooping water off the deck with buckets, and every person I laid my eyes upon looked like a drowned rat. As a cold breeze blew by, the men quivered and shaked, some even stopping their work in order to preserve their body heat. With my limited handed down knowledge of healing, I knew that there was a risk of a very high fever among the men at the rate it was going. And Usui wouldn't have enough supplies to handle every single one of them.
Determination gripped me. I suddenly knew exactly what I could do to make this situation even remotely better, so I didn't live with the guilt for the rest of my life.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I still felt my favoured waiting at the depths of my mind, nibbling at my sanity, waiting for me to break so it could take my fury out on the world. I relaxed as much as I was capable, and let a bit of the power leak through my control.
Immediately it was as if my senses were aflame. I could feel the power of the water surrounding us, willing me to use it, to jump of the thing that separated us and flow along with it. It was my partner, my ally, the one I could trust. I needed to break free of my obligations, and ride the current to unknown destinations.
Focus. I was here for a specific purpose. Drawing on the water vapour in the air, I willed it to heat.
Nothing happened. The temperature didn't even rise a degree.
Closing my eyes again, I thought of the feeling of sitting beside a toasty fire, working under the sun on a hot day, of Usui's embrace…
The effect was instantaneous. Heat prickled my skin, and I opened my eyes to see the water drying rapidly off the men's clothes on deck. The stormy clouds up ahead cleared up, allowing the sun to break through the clouds. It was now a beautiful autumn day, with the sun glinting of the water, and not a cloud left in the sky.
Usui looked at me proudly, and I grinned at him. Joy emanated from my heart, and I suddenly felt like singing, dancing, or simply giving an emotional speech about how lucky we are to be alive.
I blinked, and the blissful trance ended. Using my favoured for positive means had left such a giddy impression on me. It was quite disturbing when I really thought about it. My favoured only worked off emotion in its present state, meaning I would need to practice more with it if I ever hoped to gain any control over it.
With that resolution in mind I turned to face Usui, only to see him staring at me. I could feel my face flush the colour of a tomato, causing him to smirk.
"What did you want to tell me?" I inquired, trying to steer his focus away from my blushing face.
"Not here, somewhere more private," Usui replied, casting a look around. Men were everywhere, and most seemed to be looking at us, though not many attempted to conceal their curiosity. One glare in particular sent chills running up and down my back. Ali.
Usui led me back to his bedroom, and then crashed onto the bed. I gently shut the door and sat beside him, observing his angular face from my higher vantage point. He wore a brooding expression upon his face, which made him look so much like such a philosopher that I almost giggled. Almost. I don't giggle, as I am not that girlish.
What was this man doing to me?!
"Misaki," Usui said to me softly. I glanced at him, surprised by his sudden break of the comfortable silence which had filled the bedroom.
"What's wrong?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
"We need to hold the marriage ceremony within the next week or so."
At this phrase, I felt my body seize up in shock. Of all the topics I had imagined Usui would want to possibly talk to me about, that had not been one of them. I could feel my heart rate accelerating.
"W-wh-why?" I spluttered.
"I desperately wanted to give you as much time as you needed to feel comfortable, please believe me," he pleaded. "However, another pirate ship made contact saying they would like us to be involved in a friendly trade at the end of the month. There is no way to avoid them without making enemies of several other ships who are in their alliance. You got to understand, during the trade they will fight dirty. If they see you attached to me without a real tie like marriage would be, they will likely set you as their condition in order to force me to negotiate a high price in your stead. Suzuna would also be protected by our marriage too. You got to understand, I tried every possible route in my power in attempt to avoid making contact with them but I wasn't able to-"
I covered his mouth with my hand, effectively cutting him off. "You are right. So please breathe."
Usui chuckled, and then took an exaggerated breath. "There, happy?"
I felt the corners of my mouth lift at his childishness. Then abruptly, I sobered again.
"What is it?" Usui probed, noticing my sudden mood change.
"Can I visit Suzuna?" I begged. I really needed a long chat with her, and I was tired of her ignoring me.
"I'll take you there." He responded immediately, causing my heart to lift. Suzuna's lack of presence in my life lately had had me feeling empty inside, as if there was a piece of my heart missing that would never be filled. I missed her; I missed her so much that it hurt.
Usui led me out the back entrance of the bedroom, and through the maze of hallways that filled the interior of the ship. When we stopped outside Suzuna's room, I took a deep breath, and hoped that by some miracle she wouldn't hate me. Usui pressed her room key into my hand, ruffled my hair, and then with a swish of his long coat he was gone. I knocked softly on the door, thinking it was better to give her a chance to let me in first.
"Go away," came Suzuna's muffled voice through the door. I winced.
"I'm coming in," I announced, and before hesitation overtook me, I slid the golden key into the door and opened it.
The room was dark, causing me to squint, as the only light source was from the small window. Once my eyes adjusted, I looked around seeing a small four poster bed with a lump surrounded by blankets upon it. A chestnut drawer sat beside it, in which several unused candles lay. Striding over, I sit one and allowed the light to fill the cabin.
"Go away," Suzuna whimpered from the bed.
"No. I'm not going away till we sort this out. And if you don't feel like talking, that's fine here. You can sit and listen to me talk."
Suzuna threw a pillow at me, and then went back to her blanket igloo. I sighed. This was already going worse than I hoped it would.
"Suzuna I'm going to explain myself anyway. Please hear me out. Then make I'll leave and never talk to you again if that's what you want."
She didn't respond. I started my tale anyway, trying to get it over with.
"I'm going to guess you're mad at me because I didn't tell you I was one of the favoured? Well just to let you know, I didn't find that out until the night that mother instructed us to flee. Even then what she told me about this despicable curse was bare minimum. I had no idea what I was doing, or if what she had told me was even a fairy tale or not. Apparently, the only reason I never knew I had this talent is because it only awakens on my seventeenth birthday. I also lied to you; I take the blame for that fully. I thought you would hate me if you knew, and you have no idea how much it would break my heart to lose you to, just after I lost mother. You got to understand-" my voice cracked, effectively cutting me off. I tried again. "You've got to understand how tough it was. I love you Suzuna, please believe me.I know I must seem like a monster to you now, but I love you."
"Stop." Suzuna interrupted my rambling, and sat up on the bed. "I don't think of you as a monster. Had it ever occurred to you that I was just sad that you didn't trust me?"
"I'm so sorry Suzuna," I apologized, tears spilling down my face. Looking at Suzuna, I saw that she was also crying as well, and suddenly we were both sobbing and hugging each other, like we would do when we were five and got into a fight. It was a pleasantly nostalgic feeling.
Eventually, when we both calmed down, Suzuna had ended up on my lap and I was stroking her hair gently, telling her tales of what had happened since I had arrived on the ship.
"Are you happy with Usui?" Suzuna asked me softly. I looked out the window, pondering how to answer her question.
"I'm not going to give you one of those soppy answers from the romance novels," I said, a smile playing on my lips. "But I feel differently around him than other males. He has me constantly on an edge. It's such a strange passion, you know?"
Suzuna stared at me with wide eyes causing me to blush. Finally she spoke again, breaking the awkward silence.
"This Ali you described sounds like quite a character. I fear meeting her," she said, and then shuddered. I laughed. Talking to Suzuna had somehow made everything magically feel better again. My mind was in a settled calm in which it hadn't been for a while.
In the silence that followed, Suzuna's eyes gradually drooped as her breathing evened out, and she fell asleep. I sat there for the remainder of the evening with her head upon my lap, watching the fading evening light, and pondering about the strange direction in which my life has taken.
A light knock on the door caused my eyes to fly open. At some point I had fallen asleep with Suzuna's head still on my lap. Gently moving her head off of me, I walked quietly over and answered the door. It was Takeru again.
"The captain requests your presence on the deck," he said with a twinkle in his eye. I rolled my eyes, and followed him out of the door, locking it behind me, making sure Suzuna still had a key.
The night air was cool on my face, and I was still dressed in the gown Ali had handed to me this morning. I lightly walked over to where Usui was leaning against the railing and facing the water, the same brooding expression on his face that had been there earlier today. He turned towards me, a peaceful smile lighting up his face when he saw me.
"Care to dance?" He requested smoothly.
"It would be my pleasure," I replied, curious by his sudden request.
Usui pulled me too him, and we began waltzing, the waxing moon shining brightly overhead. I was proud to say I actually knew how to dance, as it was required from all fifth year students at the academy. Usui's dancing skills were admirable however. My eyes spent traveled unconsciously his body; to the way his muscles contracted as he twirled me about, the way he seemed to be extremely flexible without even trying.
After pulling me up from a dip, Usui's playful expression darkened.
"Truthfully Misaki, I didn't only pull you out here to dance with me," He began with a sad smile. "Although, the dancing was a lovely memory. However I'm afraid I need to confess something before we marry."
"Hmmm?" I asked, not really paying attention to his words, instead more to the closeness of our bodies.
"Misaki," He began in a serious tone. I glanced up at his face searchingly. Whatever he had to say couldn't be that bad could it?
"I am one of the favoured as well."
