『私の姫を呼び出し人』
幕間一
Interlude One
The wooden door slowly creaked open. A crimson-haired boy carefully peeked his head out, looked left, right, before easing the door wider. Grinning, he stepped over the boundary that separated the Fujitsubo compound from the rest of the world, then turned back to his companion.
"C'mon, Kō-chan!"
A small voice emerged from behind the door, hushed with apprehension. "Are you sure about this, Renji? What if-"
"Quit yer yappin' and come!" The boy grabbed the girl's hand, not roughly, dragged her through the doorway, and started running towards the direction of the village. Despite the boy's confidence, seven-year-old Fujitsubo Kōyō was still gripped with fear of being caught sneaking out of the house. She had made a terrible mistake, she grumbled inwardly. She should never have agreed when Renji, upon winning the race up to the maple tree for the tenth time, demanded that as a reward, she should follow him to meet his friends. She was foolish then, too tempted by the prospect of meeting the characters of Renji's tales in real life to put up a real argument. So here she was now, and she was going to pay the price.
They were nearing the village. The brunette girl halted, causing the boy to brake as well. She shook her hand out of his grasp.
"Listen!" She had ordered forcefully. "You'd better make sure I'm safe here!" The boy grinned easily.
"Ii ja, Kō-chan." He jabbed a thumb proudly to his chest. "I'm yer guardian, remember?"
The girl snorted. "Much of a guardian you are, sneaking me out of the house."
The boy only laughed, as he started running down the streets he had once called home, gesturing for the girl to follow. He was really excited, she noticed. Over the span of Abarai Renji's residence in the Fujitsubo household, he would sneak out of the house every two weeks or so. When Kōyō first found out, he had hastily confessed that he was visiting his old friends back in the village and had sworn her to secrecy. The daimyō's daughter had warned that he would be caught sooner or later but he never did and increasingly, the boy started inviting her along on his trips as well, to which she consistently declined. That was not to say that she wasn't curious – she was curious, very so, but she shuddered to think how otō-sama would deal with her insubordination.
Renji, needless to say, was beside himself with joy when he finally succeeded in persuading her to come along. Even now, he wore on his face the huge grin that always materialised whenever he talked about his former street urchin days.
Baka. The brunette couldn't help smiling amusedly at the boy's enthusiasm.
"Hora, Kō-chan!" The boy exclaimed loudly, as he turned into an alley. "Welcome to my humble abode."
'Humble' was an overstatement. The girl came up short at the sight at the end of the alley. The makeshift shack was haphazardly built with rotting wooden planks, flimsy cardboard and tattered cloths. The whole thing looked ready to collapse any second. He lived in that for eight years?! the girl couldn't mask her shock as she threw an alarmed look at the boy beside her. How many others are there like him? There was a pungent stench hanging in the air, heavy and moist.
The redhead boy, seemingly oblivious to all these, eagerly rushed forward to...what Kōyō, after finding no other possible entrance, concluded was a door. "After you," he mock curtsied as he drew the sorry excuse of a curtain aside for the girl.
Inside, there were three boys seated on the dust floor. Upon seeing Renji enter behind the girl stranger, they jumped to their feet, all smiles.
"Renji!"
"Renji-nī!"
"Ren-chan!"
They crowded around the redhead, as the said boy laughed and greeted them back with equal vigour.
"This is Kōyō, guys!" the redhead boy introduced, quickly pushing the girl, who had clung to his arm when the other boys rushed forward, in front. "I told y'all about her." Something resembling pride flared inside the chestnut-haired girl upon hearing that Renji had mentioned her to them.
"Konichiwa, Kōyō-chan!"
"Wah, she's really cute!"
"Has Ren-chan been treating ya well, Kō-chan?"
The redhead boy smacked the smallest boy on the head in reprimand. "Baka. Of course I treat her well!"
"Konichiwa," she smiled nervously at all of them, not used to the attention.
"Oh, right," Renji asked. "Where's Rukia?"
Rukia was the single girl in their group – Kōyō knew this from Renji's stories. She also knew that she was like their big sister, always looking out for them and, from what the Fujitsubo girl had gathered, someone whom all the other boys worshipped.
"Do you worship her, too?" she had inquired, her gray eyes probing, when Renji first introduced Rukia.
"Me? Bah, of course not!" the redhead boy had straightaway rejected the notion. "If Rukia's their big sis, I was their big brother. Rukia's too. I can't worship my own younger sister!" Despite his words, the girl noticed a slight blush colouring his cheeks.
What about me? she had wondered but did not dare to ask. What am I to you?
A chorus of joyous cries broke Kōyō from her reverie. Renji had unfolded the cloth bundle that he had been carrying to reveal the food inside. The boys cooed with amazement at the array of pastries and buns laid before them.
"My cook made those," the Fujitsubo girl announced. "He," here she shot the redhead boy a dirty look. "-stole them from the kitchen." She had expected them to side with her, to likewise condescend Renji for his misbehavior, but to her surprise, their response was the total opposite.
"Way to go, Renji-nī!"
"Arigatō, Ren-chan!"
The redhead boy snickered at the girl's shocked expression, slinging an arm around her shoulders. "Didn'tcha know, Kō-chan? Stealing food is our way of life around 'ere. Right, guys?" The other boys cheered in agreement.
The brunette girl's cheeks flamed with humiliation. These boys shared something in common with Renji – a whole livelihood – that she didn't and knew nothing of. This was where he belonged and where she didn't. She suddenly felt lonely and awkwardly intrusive in this tiny, run-down shack.
"What's with all the noise, you guys?"
All heads whipped to the doorway, where a feminine head was peeping in.
"Rukia-nē!"
"Ren-chan's come to visit us again!"
The dark-haired girl chuckled, before entering the shack. "Sō ka." She was smaller than the Fujitsubo girl had imagined her to be – though she was of Renji's age, Kōyō could see that she was no bigger than her in stature. "Yo, Renji."
"Yo, Rukia."
He was smiling at her, a genuine smile. The brunette girl felt her insides squirm uncomfortably. Renji may not worship Rukia, but his affections for her were apparent.
"Come quick, Rukia-chan!" the youngest one was tugging at the sleeves of her robes earnestly. "Ren-chan brought us food again, and there's more this time!"
"Alright, alright," the girl laughed, allowing herself to be dragged along, her violet eyes shining kindly. Kōyō caught herself wondering if her eyes had that same kindness in them.
She glanced at the group of kids now crowding around the food stash, excitedly discussing how to distribute it. Renji was amongst them, fitting in seamlessly with the bunch. Fujitsubo Kōyō realised then, with a stab of sorrow, that even though he was her only friend, he already had many others.
She sighed. It was going to be a long afternoon.
"Hey, hey!" the redhead boy shouted after the brunette girl. They were finally on their way back to the Fujitsubo compound. After the goodbyes, the girl had immediately turned and stalked quickly away from him – now the boy ran to catch up with her. "What's up with ya?"
The girl spun around and the boy halted in his tracks, stunned at the fierce look she was shooting him.
"I don't want to go back there again," she declared firmly, her voice determined.
"Huh?" A look of confusion flashed across his face, but he relented. "Fine. If ya don't want to, I won't bring you again." The girl shook her head vigorously, quickly correcting him.
"I don't want you to go back there again."
The boy frowned. "Why? I can't do that."
"Why not?" The chestnut-haired girl pressed on, carefully justifying herself. "That place is too secluded and unsanitary. What if something happens to you there? What if you contract an illness? It's unsafe and dangerous - no one would know you're there."
The redhead boy sounded impatient. "What of my friends, then?"
"What of them?"
"They're my family!"
"I'm your family, now!"
Her outburst surprised them both. The two of them hadn't gotten along, initially. The boy was teasing, unruly and carried with him the uncouthness of the streets while the girl was dutiful, condescending, and generally clumsy with social interactions. There had been a lot of ice to thaw between them and back then, Kōyō would have hated to be associated with the redhead.
But as time passed, the daimyõ's daughter knew she had gradually, albeit grudgingly, started accepting the boy as family.
"Could it be…" the boy was giving her a strange look now, head cocked to one side. "Kō-chan, are you...jealous?"
"I-I'm not!" Even as she outright denied it, she knew that the boy had hit the bull's-eye. And judging from the growing smirk on his face, she knew the boy noticed, too.
"Aww, Kō-chan," the boy teased, to the girl who was turning red with embarrassment. "I'm touched that you care."
"I don't!" the girl retorted loudly, the blush still tainting her cheeks. "Who would ever care about you, Renji no baka!"
The boy laughed. "You're a terrible liar, Kō-chan no nakimushi." And then, he said on a more serious note, "Ya can't stop me from returning there, Kō-chan. They are my friends and I can't and won't abandon them."
"But," he quickly added, with a grin, as the girl opened her mouth to argue. "Yer right, you are my family now. I am living with the Fujitsubo household, after all. Therefore, no matter how many times I visit my friends, I will still be yours. That fact ain't gonna change."
"So don't worry, Kō-chan-" he repeated, jabbing his thumb proudly to his chest.
"I'm yer guardian, remember?"
Fujitsubo Kōyō had never appreciated the boy's overly self-confident and egotistical nature. But somehow, his words this time seemed to make him grow bigger, his voice kinder and his smile warmer. She felt the warmth spread to her insides and, with a great relief, as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, she found herself believing in his words.
"Much of a guardian you are," she replied, smiling.
This time, she didn't object when they walked back to the Fujitsubo compound together, hand-in-hand.
Back from a trip. This piece underwent several revisions overseas - mainly because it wasn't planned for and I had multiple ideas of how to go about writing it. The next chapter (back to the main story) will be up...soon, hopefully.
Feedback and reviews are greatly appreciated!
