This has been edited and revised as of December 23, 2012.
Disclaimer - I do not own Gosick.
He couldn't believe himself. He had broken a rule. On the second day too. He could just hear his brothers in Japan, laughing and ridiculing his stupidity.
Wait. No. He had spoken to her on the first day, didn't he? Great. Just what he needed. A rule-breaker on the first day. At this rate, he would be disowned within the next week...if his brothers or his father heard about it. He really hoped that they wouldn't.
But for the time being (and he hoped, for at least the next month), he was still the third son of an imperial soldier. And he would need to fulfill his promise in honor of the position.
And thus...here he was. Back again. Third day on the job and he was rummaging around under his bed during work hours. Again. Except this time, he wasn't looking for candy. No. He was looking for a book. Or...he hoped there was a book under there to find.
"..." Kujo grunted, stretching his hand farther under the bed. Please let there be something...aha!
Evidently, there was a book to find. Sighing with relief, he pulled the book out from his harassed piles of clothes.
He rushed out the door. After all, now came the real problem. The stairs.
...
He was at the top. Finally. All those agonizing hours spent running/climbing/trudging (although, in most part, it was trudging) up those stairs hadn't done him any good thus far. But he was still at the top...for the time being.
Slowing his rapid heartbeat down, Kujo walked past the threshold and handed her the book with a nervous smile.
And...he wanted to smack himself. In the head. Hard.
So much for upholding a promise. He had forgotten his first one!
"Hold on." He groaned, cringing at the thought of running down, across the estate, into his room, back across the estate, and up those stupid stairs again just for a piece of candy. But he was an honorable (or, maybe not so much anymore) third son of an imperial soldier, and he had to keep his promises. Even if it killed him...literally.
The girl, however, surprised him by tugging his hand, which pulled him towards her. "Sit," she commanded in her raspy voice. He sat down. It was a much better option than getting that candy, after all.
The swishing of crisp paper echoed in the otherwise silent room as the girl swiftly turned the pages of her book. Finding nothing else better to do, Kujo resigned to watching her read.
What were her circumstances exactly? Why was she here, locked up in the Marquis' tower? She obviously wasn't well fed, but she also didn't have the dangerous aura of a criminal. Who was this girl? He began to look around. Searching for a clue, or even a hint, of who this girl was.
As far as he could see, there was no scratching on the wall, and if there was, it was either too dark to see, or it was covered with a layer of dust. And this girl was the only thing in the room, so there weren't any suspicious items to be wary of. He squinted. What was that in the corner? It seemed crumpled, in a shape of a crude ball...
The letter. From the first day. But what was in it that would cause it to have such a cruel fate? Was it-
"I'm done."
He stared at the girl. She was done? That soon? It couldn't have been just a few minutes, but she was already done? Granted, it was an incredibly short book, only a hundred pages or so. But, it wasn't possible to be done in such a short amount of time. In disbelief, he exclaimed, "Really? Can you give me a summary?"
Staring straight ahead, her eyes deep in trance, she began, "It was a folk tale from a faraway country. A golden fairy lived there alone. She knew all the mysteries of this world and would give advice to people who had troubles. However, in recompense, she would demand the person's soul, which she would eat." She turned towards him. "Why did you choose this book? Are you trying to tell me something?"
He vehemently denied the accusation. "No. No. I haven't even read this book before."
Silence ensued as the girl contemplated his answer. Finally nodding in reply, she asked, "...Will you bring me another book tomorrow?"
"Yes." Kujo could feel his left eye beginning to twitch. He just made another promise without thinking! He would have to go through all this trouble again, wouldn't he? He began to wonder how differently things would have played out if he had just done the right thing and gotten the stupid candy.
"Misfortune crosses the path of those who betray honor..." Kujo darkly muttered, remembering the quote from one of the magazines his brothers had sent him.
Getting up, Kujo swiftly turned around and prepared to march out the door. No more promises. No more. He was going to be disowned and fired at this rate.
Just as he was about to walk past the threshold however, he realized-
He didn't know her name...
Turning around, he asked, "What's your name?"
The girl immediately flinched; her eyebrows furrowed. As if looking for an excuse not to give her name, her eyes quickly began to dart around. Shaking, and therefore causing her raspy voice to fluctuate, she finally murmured, "...Vikki."
So, I guess an extra crediting is needed. Thank you to the translator of episode 5. Without you, I would have to make up a random story out of the blue. Also, thanks to Nameless Forest for giving me motivation to update.
Anyway, now that it's chapter four, and with the story well along its way, I would like to know how this revision is doing compared to its original. Is it better? Worse? Is Kujo too OOC? Does the setting not make sense? If you see any errors, please feel free to review or pm me. I appreciate any and all reviews. Thank you for reading thus far.
