I liiiiiiiiiive! Yes, finally, I'm back kicking and screaming. Enjoy the latest installment!

Story 2

Chapter 3: He is Benitora (But I Call Him Butt-Face Monkey)

So apparently touching her face was addicting. Seriously. Or something. In any case, Yuya was two and a half seconds away from batting not-so-kindly at Tokugawa Benitora's hand. Ever since the festival had ended and the two of them had returned back to the main house and her father had left them alone to 'better acquaint themselves' more than an hour ago, Benitora's hands had traced out Yuya's entire face, fingers mimicking the curious exploring that blind men used.

Benitora was not blind, and he could very plainly see her face.

And ever since her father and their servants had left their presence, Benitora had not shut up once. There had not been a pause in the word flow that spewed from his lips. Though most girls fawned over cliché praise and romantic gestures and Yuya herself often enjoyed such things, for some reason Benitora's actions and words merely annoyed the hell out of her.

"Has anyone told you that you have the most unusual hair?"

Her lips twitched up in a tight smile. "I've been told on occasion that my hair is… quite an anomaly."

"I bet you're not even related to your father. You don't even look like him."

"Why is your hair so bright? Did your mother have an affair with a strange foreigner?"

"You aren't normal!

An anomaly indeed. She had often been critiqued about her golden hair and green eyes. It had all been a double-edged sword, said with a stinging bite, the words slicing deep into her and leaving open, bleeding sores. Her only praise—

"Green and gold go well together. It makes you almost look pretty. Dogface."

—had, of course, come from Kyo.

At the thought of the raven haired samurai, Yuya's heart skittered and darkened, creating a cold, painful knot in her chest. Tears sank their razor-sharp incisors into her eyes.

"It's lovely," Benitora assured. It was then that Yuya realized that he was getting closer, hand outstretched. She wanted to flinch away when his fingers tangled into her soft locks and gently finger combed them. "Lovely," he breathed again, drawing closer again.

Yuya's breath froze in her throat when his lips lingered barely an inch in front of hers, growing closer by the second. As his fiancée, she had no right to pull away. But as Shiina Yuya she had every right to jerk away and give him a verbal smack down.

"Lord Tokugawa, Lady Shiina, I beg your forgiveness for the intrusion, but Lord Shiina asked me to request your presence in the dining area. The late night tea is ready." With her message delivered, the servant politely bowed and slipped out as quietly as she had come in.

Benitora hesitated, torn, before giving up his original intention and delivering a feather-light kiss to Yuya's forehead, his fingers playfully ruffling her hair.

Yuya's eyes shifted to the small window, the pattern of the silver rays of the moon casting dark shadows that danced through the frame. After a few seconds, she allowed a single salty droplet to dance down her cheek.

I love him, she realized, and for a moment, her heavy heart fluttered with life.

She stood and went to where Benitora stood waiting for her.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The ribbon was pulled loose with a silky whisper. Warm hair spilled across her shoulders and tumbled down her back. Moonlight reflected off her milky skin, creating silver highlights.

Slowly, mechanically, she undid the cords and bows that were bound around her waste. In a quarter of the time that it took to put it on, Yuya took her fancy kimono off.

"I see no trouble when I say this. You're a fine man, Benitora-sama, and I trust you completely with the future of my daughter. The wedding is to take place tomorrow evening, right before sunset, so that the sun may set on your past lives and rise on your life together."

Her father was more than ecstatic with Tokugawa Benitora, needless to say. The man had good looks, a prestigious background, an abundance of wealth, and some of the finest manners. Yuya knew that, considering all the odds, she was extremely lucky when it came to her spouse to be. Some woman had to deal with beastly and ghastly men their whole life.

But still, she wasn't in the least bit happy.

Yuya stepped out of the nest of fold and fabrics and picked up her kimono. Usually a servant would help her undress but she had dismissed her servants as soon as she returned to her room after dinner. She had no desire to be around other people.

She was about to change out of her undergarments when she heard it—a rustle of leaves, a gentle scratch from outside. From the corner of her eye, she saw the tree outside her window tremble abnormally against the wind.

Clutching her clothes to her, she slinked to the open window and discreetly peered out. Seeing nothing, she hesitantly leaned out to look about.

"I know someone's out there!" she called, angry at the thought of someone spying on her—especially when she was undressing. "Come out now or I'll make sure you'll regret it so much more later."

Nothing stirred further. The foliage danced and waved in the gentle, late-night breeze.

Pursing her lips, both angry at the possible peeping tom and embarrassed at the possibility that she had just freaked out about nothing, she closed her window tightly and resumed her dressing process.

It was when she was laying down for the night, trying to fall asleep, that the vicious feelings rioting inside her quieted enough for a small, persistent pain to start flooding her chest.

Razor-sharp teeth nibbled the back of her eyes as she mumbled in a tone that was a cross-over of a whimper and a whisper: "Where are you?"

When she finally fell asleep, her dreams were flooded with Kyo.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Laughter jittered all around. Warm, welcoming scents were being burned somewhere. There was the pleasant smell of sake and snacks mingling with the incense creating what would normally be a pleasant smell—a smell of a party.

To Yuya, it was merely sickening. It gave her a dull headache and she wanted nothing more than to lock herself in her room. However, her father said that she was to have the party whether or not she liked it.

Her headache was thickening. Desperate for fresh air, Yuya started for the outside world, hoping it would help calm her nerves.

"Benitora-sama has to be crazy to like someone like you," a woman said. She had a slender, elegant face and had a natural cutesy look to her.

"I'm sure a lot of people think that," Yuya responded with a chipper smile. "And I'm one of them."

With no further comment, she sidestepped the woman. Mid-morning air felt refreshing in her lungs. The sun shined down on her and illuminated her liquid gold tresses. Enjoying the temperate atmosphere, Yuya perched a seat under a nearby tree, her back against the trunk. She sat so that she couldn't see the party that she was happily missing. The faint chitter-chatter of the women that had been invited was a dull background noise.

She relaxed against the tree, deciding that she didn't care if her expensive kimono got grass stains. It was perhaps her not-so-great mood that inspired those feelings. She had been sitting there for several peaceful moments when she felt it.

The tree moved.

To be precise, it jerked and then the thin trunk trembled—like someone had jumped out of it. Swallowing a shriek, Yuya scrambled onto her knees and then her feet, heart fluttering as fast as the wings of a hummingbird.

"Who's out there?" she called demandingly, anger washing over her at the thought that it might be the very same person that she had heard the night before. "Answer me!" With each word that left her mouth, the pool of irritation that swirled in her chest grew hotter.

But, like the night prior, nothing stirred. The trees swayed with the wind patterns. Everything was so natural it almost seemed unnatural, like it was mocking her paranoia.

But it's not paranoia, she seethed. I felt it that time. I'm sure—

"Come out!" she shrieked, more frustrated than annoyed by that point. "Get your damn—"

Her cry was immediately cut off by firm, warm flesh. Alarmed, Yuya impulsively latched onto whatever it was that had a hold of her. She discovered slim, muscular fingers that were attached to a hand. A muscular hand.

More curious than scared, she tilted her head so that she could get a look at the person that had snuck up on her. The warm hand slipped away from her face when she moved and settled on her shoulder and collar bone.

She nearly choked.

"Kyo?" Eyes widening, she whirled and wrapped her arms around her samurai's torso. His heartbeat was a beautiful tune beneath her ear.

He pushed her away gently rather than return the sentimental embrace. "You shouldn't go around latching onto men," he informed her almost coldly. "You're engaged now, remember?"

Yuya gave him a disbelieving look. "You still think that I should get married," she murmured dishearteningly.

"Dog Breath, he's Tokugawa Benitora. He's the only man in this world who could even come close to deserving you," Kyo growled impatiently.

Green eyes flooded. Yuya stared up at Kyo with incomprehension. His harsh tones and heartless words stung her deep. "Why do you want me to do this?" she whispered, voice cracking. "Just… why?"

"You need to marry someone," Kyo said shortly. "And if it's not him, it may be someone a lot worse."

When Yuya blinked, her vision blurred and something sharp and hot ate away at the back of her bottom eyelid. "What if I don't want it to be him?"

Red eyes looked at her levelly. "This is no time to be making demands. He's better than—"

"And what if I know who I want it to be?" Yuya interrupted softly. "What if I love someone? What am I supposed to do then?"

Kyo's hard expression softened. "Is that what's bothering you?"

Her bottom lip started trembling as his answer.

And then he shook his head, ebony locks trembling with his movement. "But who could you really love, Yuya? You spend all your time in your room and barely go out. The only people you know are your servants and family. And no matter your feelings for servants, your father would not permit you—"

Yuya grabbed the hand that was still on her shoulder and gently moved it so that it lay on her chest, roughly above her heart. Her emerald eyes stared unrelentingly into his crimson. She trembled as she silently told him what she was afraid to aloud.

Kyo didn't speak. He didn't move. He didn't even blink. Then his expression hardened and Yuya, fearful of what he may say—his words always hurt her more than anything else—closed her eyes. She tried to block everything out. But he didn't beat her down verbally.

When she had closed her eyes, a small dewdrop had slid out of each of her eyes, leaving a warm trail in their wake as they shivered down her cheeks. They crested her cheeks when Kyo's fingers gently brushed them away.

Yuya's eyelids fluttered open. Kyo's expression was completely unreadable—completely void of emotions. Desperately, with the last of her courage, she breathed her plea, "Please. Please, Kyo. I… I… Take me away with you? I—I love you."

His fingers found her hair and twirled a strand for a moment. Then Kyo pulled free of her tresses and ran a hand down her cheek, almost experimentally. His thumb brushed across her lips and Yuya's heart skittered in her chest. His other hand slid down her neck, over the dip and swell of her collar bone, and stopped over her singing heart.

His reply, a mere word, almost echoed in her head.

"No."

He left as silently and completely as he had appeared.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

This story has gotten waaaay too serious. O.o What ever happened to the light-heartedness? This has gotten a little out of hand, no? XD In any case, I do believe that there is only one more installment before the second part is complete. Hoo-rah!

Shout out to Jennipher-san for once again editing. :)

Review, please?