Author's Note: By request here is Beauty and the Beast. I really think the Romantica couple fits the best for this. More first meetings coming soon! Maybe involving other couples?
"I'm always worried about Misaki, Manami. He doesn't fit in with everyone else around here. He doesn't act like all the other guys. He's always reading manga...and being cute. You can't blame them for thinking he's a bit...odd." What Nii-chan didn't know was I'd been standing with my hand on the doorknob this whole conversation. "I'm afraid to leave him alone, when I go to the business convention next week." I backed away from the door slowly. I was careful not to make any noise when I walked upstairs. So he thought I was weird too.
No one here seemed to like me. Sometimes I wished I lived somewhere else. Somewhere faraway where I could read all I wanted and cook pastries. Somewhere with a nice kitchen. I sat on my bed and stared at the wall. I had to get out of hear. I would do it when Nii-chan went on his business trip. I would run far away. If no one liked me...I would just leave. They would be sorry then. I packed up a bag and shoved it under my bed. It wouldn't be long until Nii-chan left, just a couple days.
I told myself this all week. When people gave me weird looks in town, when I left the library, when I went shopping. I watched from my window as Nii-chan's car pulled away. Manami was already fast asleep on the couch. I snuck out the back door and walked down the dirt path I normally took into the woods when I wanted to escape for awhile. I walked a little faster. I was starting to get scared of leaving home, but there wasn't much for me here anyway. I'd always been different.
It didn't take long for me to get lost. I could see the sun rising in the distance. I'd been walking for more than eight hours. Finally, I came to a huge mansion. "No one needs a place this big." It was weird talking aloud in complete silence. I placed my hands on the gate. A not so frightening bear was on the front. With a push it opened. I slipped through and made my way up the cobblestone path. "Hello?" The door was halfway open.
I could hear my footsteps echoing off the walls when I remembered you shouldn't enter someone's house with your shoes on. I slipped the off and placed them against the wall, and out of the way. The floor was freezing. "Anyone home?"
"Well what do you know? A traveler." A tall man in a white suit was sprawled out on one of the many couches.
"Isaka! We never get lost travelers!" A red haired woman was next to him. They were in the middle of a jigsaw puzzle.
"Hi I'm Misaki. I just need some directions to the nearest town." They both looked at each other.
"Why don't you stay awhile? I'm Aikawa and this is Isaka. You must've traveled for a long time." What nice people.
"I guess I could use some time to rest. I did leave at sunset..." Aikawa was steering me toward the bathroom before I could say anymore.
"You should have a nice bath. I'll go get the master of this mansion. He would be delighted to meet you. He always says to welcome travelers. If you're lucky he'll like you and then you can stay awhile." I was left in a huge bathroom. I shrugged off my clothes and took a relaxing bath. Any village wouldn't look appealing next to this place. Why would the master want to welcome travelers though?
I pulled on the clothes that had appeared while I was bathing at some point. I walked in the hallway to find Aikawa waiting. "Oh, great!"
"Why would the master of a mansion like this want to meet me?" Aikawa placed a finger on her lips.
"Well...the master has been looking for someone to spend his life with for a long time. Everyone who's been here so far, he has turned away. He wants someone similar to his first love. His first love betrayed him and married another." How horrible...
"He can't possibly want me. I'm a boy." Aikawa shrugged and took me deeper into the seeming endless hallways and staircases.
"Good luck." She pushed me into a room and ran off. It took a minute for my eyes to adjust, only then did I see him sitting on the edge of the bed, a wine glass in his hand.
"Oh...um...thank you for letting me stay here." His hair was almost silver...his clothes looked like something out of a Victorian film. Purple eyes...they had a beastly look.
"Welcome to my home, Misaki Takahashi." He knew my name already. "You can call me Usagi." What? Usagi?
"I was just lost...if you happen to know where the next town is I can leave as soon as possible." He smiled.
"That won't be necessary. Stay as long as you like. After all, you won't be able to see the world and experience new things if you rush through now, will you?" What was with this guy..."I can tell you're different from other people from your town. Many people have gotten lost on their way somewhere."
"How..."
"How can I tell? Why else would someone your age runaway...someone with so much...promise." He crossed his legs. "Another person by the name of Takahashi is here...perhaps you know him?" Nii-chan. "I won't let him go though. He's insulted me and everyone who lives here horribly." He kidnapped Nii-chan.
"You have to let him go back! Manami is pregnant and he has to take of her. He also has to work..." He didn't look like he cared.
"How about...I stay instead. You can take me and let Nii-chan go." He looked like he was thinking about.
"That doesn't seem like such a bad proposal." I followed him to the room where Nii-chan was sitting in a chair and staring at the wall. "You're free to go."
"Misaki, what are you doing here?" Nii-chan stood up and ran over.
"If you leave in time you can still make it to your convention. Misaki is taking your place." Nii-chan went pale.
"No!" Usagi sipped on his wine. He'd brought it with him when we left his room.
"You have no say in this matter. Isaka." Isaka was by Usagi's side in minutes. "Take him wherever he needs to go as long as it's not here." Isaka practically dragged Nii-chan out. "Welcome to your new room." Usagi strode out of the room. "Oh and you wouldn't want to be trying to escape anytime soon. Security here is pretty tight." Was this going to be better than being home? I doubted it.