Okay, Renge is gonna come in now, and I'm sorry for the way she appears, but from what I've read, the kitsune can be a trickster or it can be a loyal servant and things like that, but they're always very wise and intelligent, which -although Renge is not exactly the type to be smart she does make trouble, which foxes are known for- I think would benefit to our heroine greatly. I may have developed some of the characters too early, but I like how its going so... oh well I guess.
Anyway, on with the story. (PS: thanks Tsubasa Kaida!)
Chapter 6
The staircase was a long way up, but with a simple snap of his fingers, Kyouya somehow commanded the stairs to become a kind of escalator as it flattened and carried them up by itself. Haruhi still wasn't comfortable with being carried. She wanted to walk for herself, but she knew Hikaru was not about to let her do that. On the up side, she did feel a little better to be in the arms of someone she felt was trustworthy. The way the stairs were going, it was actually a fast and unnaturally smooth ride up the tower, but it was still a rather long way up. The last window she saw was way above the tree tops. Now she understood why it had taken so long for Kyouya to get all the way to the bottom of the tower. Why did he feel the need to live in a place so high?
By the time they finally reached the top -or at least what she figured was the top- she'd gone through at least four or five more waves of pain. The room they entered next was not what she expected at all. So far this entire world had been feudal era and renaissance-like, but this room met the standards of modern day technology and even that of the future. It was like a big laboratory for a mad scientist in the midst of testing and creating. It really made her question this Kyouya's methods, but it did meet her quota for the real Kyouya. She didn't really feel like she saw him as a mad scientist, but sometimes he had that sadistic air about him like a scientist looking for benefits to his research. She started to wonder exactly why he had decided to help her.
"There." Kyouya pointed to what looked like a medical bed, with the exception of the straps on it to hold down whatever patient he pleased to entertain as he turned to a table of chemicals.
Hikaru turned a distrusted and incredulous expression toward Kyouya, seriously questioning the elf's motives. "What exactly are you going to do?"
Kyouya turned quizzically to Hikaru as if wondering why the demon would ask such a question of him, but when he saw the raised brow toward the bed, he just chuckled gently. "It's not what you think."
"Oh yeah?" Hikaru challenged defensively. "Then just what do you do in here the whole day with all this? A planet this underdeveloped shouldn't have technology so advanced. Just who are you, anyway, elf?"
Haruhi turned to look at the demon when the words 'planet' and 'underdeveloped' came up. She had only come across them in stories of future space exploration, such as Star Ocean or Star Trek. Could it be that this was just one world in an ocean of many within her mind? Or perhaps it was only a theory taken to be real?
"He is Saburo Ikasu, son of Grand Duke Yuudai Ikasu and Grand Duchess Etsuko Ikasu, the third and youngest Prince of the Elves' Galactic Otori Sovereignty in the Enman Galaxy, the third most powerful force in the universe," Tamaki explained cheerily, as though he were proud of the elf, "He is also the apprentice Master of Healing and Knowledge, but although he has mastered the magical healing, he is still exploring other methods, such as science. I don't expect that he uses this bed very often, unless he has a real patient in real pain and needs them to be still, or something to that effect."
From Tamaki's words, she could only gather that it had to be true. So it wasn't just a world or a single planet, it was an entire other universe inside her head. The very thought made her head spin with overwhelming awe, and she found herself looking out at the sky from the nearest window. Well it was either that or everyone was crazy, and she would rather go with the more comforting choice.
"So you see, I'm not all evil." Kyouya smiled rather calmly as he mixed elixirs.
"If you're from the Otori Sovereignty," Hikaru's expression changed to one of bewilderment and disbelief, "then what in the Deva's name are you doing all the way out here in this god forsaken place? Shouldn't you be living in luxury in Enman? Come to think of it, aren't you supposed to be the heir to the throne of a Castle in solar orbit?"
The question wiped the smile from the elf's face. "Yes, but…" He paused what he was doing for a moment, as though trying to find the right words to explain. "I… I was accused of the crime of treason, which was never mine, but I was wrongly banished nonetheless, and my right to heir of the throne was taken by my eldest brother, Daichi the Master of Illusions." And that was all he cared to say before he went straight back to his mixing.
Tamaki's happy-go-lucky attitude faded a little, saddened by the harsh realities his friend had to face alone. "After the incident," he chimed in with less of a pep in his talk, "Saburo had nowhere to go, so as his good friend, I convinced my family to allow him to live here in the Suki Galaxy. My grandmother refused to let a traitor –even an alleged one– live on a planet in any of the better systems, but he had already chosen to reside on this, the planet Fuannai, because it is underdeveloped, and thus has the raw material he needs to continue his studies."
"I had a sensei in the castle," Kyouya said forlornly, a small smile returning to his lips, "but I must continue to gather as much Knowledge as I can and study the art of healing, so forgive me of any mistakes I might make, but such things are required for the learning process when one has only nature as a teacher."
Though not exactly satisfied by the answer, Hikaru hesitantly laid Haruhi on the bed, but he remained stationed closed by in case it was a bad decision. Haruhi on the other hand was grateful for a comfortable place to lie at last. Her pain mercifully started to fade a bit as she relaxed into the mattress and watched how Kyouya worked, trying to gauge what his exact expected merit from this situation would be.
"I've never had a true human as a patient before, to tell the truth," Kyouya said as he finished up, his prior attitude returning, "The closest thing I've ever had are the Fuannaians here, and I must say I'm rather excited to have the chance to experiment."
Haruhi sighed. "Experiment, huh?" It all made sense now. First she was a slave, and now she was someone's guinea pig. Was that how this whole adventure was going to be?
"What?!" Hikaru screamed, going on the defense again. "We're not just some toy for you to use and abuse! What is with the higher class these days?!"
It was Tamaki who chuckled this time. "Don't get him wrong, sweetheart. Elves are not normally the sadistic type."
Haruhi begged to differ, and so did a fuming Hikaru. However, she didn't want to wrongly judge the counterpart of Kyouya, who as similar as he may be to the real Kyouya, was still a complete stranger to her. The fact that he was an elf told her that there were things about this Kyouya that she couldn't just assume simply from his appearance or personality.
"Indeed," Kyouya replied, "I don't know what magic or potion works on the human body. I only know what I've been taught and what I've been learning thus far, so all I can do is try different things."
"Oh Hohohohoho, Silly Elf!" Said a female voice with that familiar giggle of dread. "That's what you have me for!"
Haruhi looked in the direction of the voice and wasn't at all surprised to see Renge's face. She too looked different from her original counterpart. Her hair was considerably longer and less restrained, making her look more like country trash than french elegance, and she was barefoot. Haruhi didn't fail to notice the very obvious fox tail, nor the fox ears that flicked in every direction like little radar dishes. She donned a rather revealing dress made of raw earthly materials such as leaves, flowers, molted feathers, shed scales and fur, and gemstones. It flowed and billowed gracefully behind her as she crossed the room to hang on Kyouya with a small blush and a sly smirk. Haruhi rolled her eyes. Even though she had changed her preference in the real world, it wasn't luck or coincidence that Renge in this world would be all over Kyouya.
The Elf Prince grunted quietly, but he didn't pull away. "Lady Moriko, please, now is not the best time." He didn't seem to mind her affections in any way. In fact, it honestly looked as though he were perfectly comfortable with her touch. Haruhi blinked in surprise and bewilderment. Was it possible that…? Nah, it couldn't be.
"Now, now, Saburo!" The fox girl chirped cheerfully. She purposely pressed herself into his back, earning herself a very slight blush from him, which made Haruhi reconsider her thoughts on what kind of relationship they had. They couldn't be… lovers… could they? Or maybe they weren't yet but potentially could be. Was that it? "We did have a deal, didn't we? Let me help! Besides, that potion would kill a human."
"What?!" Haruhi cried, completely forgetting all prior thoughts.
"Just what are you trying to pull!?" Hikaru exploded.
Kyouya looked at the potion as if trying to figure out the quirks. "…Really...?" He looked surprised by her sudden claim, but Haruhi found it particularly frightening, as did Hikaru. Renge, on the other hand, didn't seem the least bit fazed by the startling information, as though it either didn't matter to her or she was proud of being right.
If Tamaki had been taken by surprise by the fox girl's claim, he didn't seem to be upset by it. In fact, he just smiled calmly, as though it was all just a game to him. "You should probably toss that one, Saburo."
"Guess so." Kyouya looked rather alarmed that he had been wrong in his elixir mixing as he went ahead and disposed of what he'd created. Perhaps he was upset that he could very possibly have killed his patient.
Tamaki chuckled softly at his friend. "Everyone makes mistakes, don't kick yourself over it." He shrugged, as though the fact that the Elf could have killed Haruhi didn't concern him at all. He then turned to Renge and kneeled before her in a gentlemanly way. "Hello, beautiful duchess of the forest. It is quite ravishing to meet you again!"
"Ah, Tanjiro! You grow more handsome by the day! Believe me, the pleasure is mine." She beamed as he took her hand and kissed it delicately. "How have you been, dear Crowned Prince? Last time I saw you, you were fighting the High Queen for the title."
"Never better, Princess!" Tamaki beamed back at her as he straightened. "All I had to do was threaten to leave her without an heir since her son refuses to produce another son without my mother."
"Ah, your mother!" Renge crooned. "She is beautiful, even by nymph standards, and you resemble her greatly."
Tamaki smiled his gratitude at her. "I thank you, gentle Lady of the Forest!"
Haruhi blinked a few times. So Renge was royalty as well, was she? She turned to Hikaru and murmured. "She's a Princess?"
"I seriously doubt it," Hikaru scowled, irritated by Renge for whatever reason, "She looks more like a forest spirit, to me, and a 'foxy' one at that."
"Forest spirit..." Haruhi repeated curiously, realizing just how obvious the evidence of that was as she studied the appearance of Renge's counterpart and observing the level of respect the fox girl was given.
But Renge seemed to have heard them, because her ears twitched and instantly she was gliding over to the bedside. She didn't waste any time getting right in Haruhi's face. "Hiya! I'm Moriko Warugashikoi, kyubi-no-kitsune elder and Guardian of this, the Houshakuji forest! You know, I don't think I've ever noticed your presence before. Who are you?"
Haruhi backed away. She didn't particularly feel like having Renge so close. Although it didn't matter all that much, she wasn't quite as used to it as she was with the twins. However, this Renge especially didn't seem right in the head, and there was no way she was going to trust a kitsune. Not completely at least. "Uh... Haruhi Fujioka."
For some odd reason, Tamaki was overwhelmingly excited by her name. "Oh my, you never told me your last name!" He leaned in too.
Haruhi leaned away from him. Having him so close –especially when he was on a roll because of her– was usually never very pleasant. "I didn't think it was that important." Not to him, anyway.
"Fujioka… Isn't that the name of the planet your Kingdom resides on, Tanjiro?" Saburo mused aloud with a curious expression, but his words went unheard. He seemed unbothered by it, like he had expected to be ignored.
"So do you have a last name, too, darling?" He turned to Hikaru, his violet eyes flashing with a familiar spark that the real Tamaki had when he felt inspired.
"Like I'm gonna tell you!" Hikaru rebelliously spat at the Crowned Prince's feet. "A bastard prince like you doesn't need to know shit like that. Why do you care, anyway?"
Haruhi noticed the smile on Renge's face turn to a frown. She turned sympathetic eyes on Tamaki, as though she were aware of the true meaning behind the demon's insult, but the Prince didn't let his guard down a second time.
"Guess your right!" He just shrugged acceptingly without allowing his excitement or his grin to falter, as though he had come to expect such treatment. "It is your name after all!" But Haruhi was pretty sure she saw the comment hit him pretty hard, and he almost did falter.
Haruhi sighed. Renge seemed to notice something was up, for her ears twitched again. She turned back to Haruhi and kneeled on the floor, folding her arms on the bed and resting her head sideways on her forearms. "Where are you from? Your aura doesn't feel... how do I put it? ... Normal, I think?"
Haruhi looked to Renge, blinked, and started to wonder. Even for a kitsune, she was significantly intelligent and keen, much unlike the Renge she knew. However, her Renge was an expert on characters and their development. In fact, she never missed or dismissed a flaw or strength. Did that somehow apply to her kitsune counterpart? "…I... uh... that's... kinda hard to explain..." Before she could say more, yet another wave of pain overwhelmed her.
Hikaru was immediately beside her. Kyouya took time to examine the situation as he hurried over, and Tamaki watched from behind them, looking genuinely concerned. Renge looked Haruhi over, trying to find the cause until Hikaru showed her. One look at the wound and the kitsune's brown eyes widened.
"My goodness, it's worse than I sensed when I first came in!" She exclaimed, but when she turned to Kyouya, her concern seemed to melt away. "You idiot. You don't need potions to heal this."
"How's that?" Kyouya blinked in bewilderment, as if he honestly didn't understand.
She shook her head at him. "You really are a Noble," she sighed, "It's bad, but nothing a little stardust can't cure."
"Stardust?" Hikaru repeated incredulously.
"You mean the essence of those burning balls of gas in the sky?" Tamaki asked. Even he seemed to be confused by her claim.
"Almost!" Renge replied, as though she were happy for the chance to explain. "It's the same thing but not so hot, and it's more like the essence of... well... everything!" She held up her arms and spread them wide, as though that would help them understand.
Whatever Tamaki had been feeling before, it seemed to be consumed completely by awe. "…Everything…?"
"What the hell does that mean?" Hikaru snorted skeptically.
But the kitsune did not elaborate. She simply giggled with the smile of a girl who knew more than she was letting on and held out a palm, with which she summoned a small pouch. It had the appearance of opalescent liquefied silver and glittered almost blindingly in whatever light it came in contact with. There was an odd air emanating from it, a nearly overwhelming sense of vitality and the power to give life just as easily as it could be taken away. It almost felt like the pouch and whatever was in it was breathing.
Everyone, even Kyouya and Tamaki, stared with curiosity as she pulled back the cloth covering Haruhi, then reached inside the beautiful pouch and sprinkled a small amount of a powdery substance that glowed iridescently and solidified in the wound. She did the same to the brand mark, even though it was officially a permanent scar, in which the dust not only glowed but began to foam and produce a small amount of a clear pink gooey-like substance. She turned to Kyouya then and held out a hand, to which he responded by handing her two fresh pieces of cloth that she used to rewrap the wound and keep the watery substance within the scar.
"There!" She exclaimed with pride in her work, straightening and dusting her hands off. "It won't work right away, but it should heal pretty quickly. I've seen it work for humans in about two days max!"
"But it does work, right?" Hikaru asked, folding his arms. He seemed to have changed his mind after having experienced a taste of the aura of the powder.
Renge was almost overenthusiastic. "Of course it works!" She growled at him, then turned away and smiled again. "I've seen its power millions of times before!"
Haruhi lay there in pain while they talked, desperately willing the dust to just work already. Even right now would be awesome. Both the wound and the scar began to itch so terribly it hurt, and combined with the wave of pain she was experiencing and she that felt she might not be able to handle anymore. She had to lay on her side to make things more comfortable for herself, but the torment did not cease. No one seemed to notice as she squirmed in her horrible discomfort, so enraptured in their own conversation about the stardust that they didn't even hear her whimpers. At one point the pain became so intense that she nearly lost her vision and all sense of her surroundings. Hot tears stung her eyes and she would have cried out…
But it suddenly stopped altogether. Puzzled, she attempted to move and found not even the slightest discomfort. It wasn't even sore anymore. She felt for the wound, but she found only mended skin. She felt for the indented scar shape on her shoulder where the brand mark was, but found the same thing. "Uhm..." She sat up just to be sure, but no pain came to her at all. "Are you sure two days is the fastest? Cause, uh..." As she wiped the tears that fell form her eyes, she felt Tamaki's gaze on her, watching as if expecting something from her that even she couldn't fathom. Her eyes immediately met his, thinking maybe he knew what was going on, but everyone else got in her way.
"What do you mean?" Renge asked, as if it were impossible for the dust to work any faster than the so proclaimed two days.
"You shouldn't get up, you're not well." Kyouya instructed.
"Let me see." Hikaru immediately sat beside her, peeled the cloth away, and pulled off the wrappings. His amber eyes widened as if in shock. "AH! It's gone! Both of them!"
"What?!" Renge shrieked, looking shocked and she rushed over to inspect the wound and the scar, only to find them no longer there. "You're right! But I don't understand! I used exactly a pinch of stardust so neither should have healed so fast!"
As the two fussed over her, Haruhi looked at Tamaki and Kyouya to see their reaction. Kyouya looked surprised, but Tamaki looked more satisfied than anything else, which she found peculiar. Kyouya looked to the Crowned Prince expecting the same surprise as his, but when he saw Tamaki's expression, he seemed to suspect something because he smiled too, but Haruhi couldn't even begin to guess what was going through their heads. There was still a deep connection between the two of them that she still couldn't understand half the time. Tamaki noticed her looking at him and smiled back with that same old goofy prince grin of his as if to cover up whatever it was he was hiding. Upon remembering his earlier reference to her as 'a bad slave' and how unconcerned he was that she could have been killed if Renge hadn't come, she glared at him and looked away.
"Well, that's odd," Renge said when she and Hikaru were finished fussing, "I hope there are no side effects."
Hikaru shook his head and sighed as he accepted his confusion. "Guess we'll find out."
"Oh well!" Renge stood up, as though just completely tossing the subject aside was perfectly appropriate. "Since you're better now, let me dress you up! I have an outfit I think you'd both really look cute in! Come on!" She didn't bother waiting for them. She just grabbed them both by the hand and dragged them away into another room. "We'll be done in a minute, boys!" With that, she slammed the door shut.
Inside, Haruhi noticed it was a regular bedroom, probably Kyouya's. Well, regular for an elf. It had a touch of forestry in it, like it was literally the inside of a tree, but it looked like a clearing in the forest with a pond of beautiful pristine water –into which cascaded a column of water falling from a hole in the ceiling, and from which trickled a stream out the round window, which engulfed the entire left side of the wall and was obscured by branches of bushy leaves and flowers– to complete it. From the window flew a few birds that were nesting inside the branches of the bed. There were three cats –one a big panther, the other two some other smaller species– and one big wolf alongside some other creatures of the wilderness. Definitely an Elf's bedroom, but compared with the research room, it seemed to fit Kyouya's kind of split personality well.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Renge said as she rummaged through what Haruhi suspected was Kyouya's clothing, "Saburo lets me share his room too, but only when I'm in fox form. He feels more comfortable that way. These are all his friends that he's nursed to health from injury or illness. Some have either come needing or asking for his help or where helped per my request, and the rest are voluntary test subjects."
"So why are you here?" Hikaru asked as he was approached by the wolf. It sniffed at him as though trying to smell whether he was friend or foe, and he calmly backed away, unsure of the result that awaited him.
As far as she was concerned of Renge lingering within Kyouya's chosen environment, Haruhi had a feeling it had to do with something about Kyouya.
"Oh, I'm one of his patients," she explained, "Some people can be so mean. I was just trying to have some fun with this demon, and he put a curse on me! A curse! Can you believe that? How rude! Anyway, when Kyouya found me, he didn't think of me as a kitsune, just a regular fox who needed his help. So he took me in and tried everything he could to lift it. In return, I promised to serve him as a loyal friend."
That came as a sort of surprise to Haruhi. Taking in those in need sounded more like the dream Kyouya than the real Renge had dreamed up, but this Kyouya acted a lot like the real one, which made it kind of confusing. However, it really wasn't all that complicated considering she knew that Kyouya was really a kind person underneath the exterior shell that he surrounded himself with all the time. She noticed the small loving blush on the kitsune's cheeks and knew she was right. Renge fancied Kyouya, just like she had in the real world.
"What kind of curse?" Hikaru asked, but he wasn't particularly concerned. He seemed more bored than curious from the way he was staring out the window.
Renge's happy-go-lucky mood suddenly faded into a forlorn demeanor. She even paused what she was doing. Haruhi watched her as a pang of concern rose in her heart. It probably caught a small part of Hikaru's attention, because he looked at the kitsune over his shoulder. "It's a curse that would slowly destroy my forest if I ever fell in love, and if I were to be loved in return render me a totally mortal woman, and I would die from a fatal disease with no cure."
"That's terrible." Haruhi said with a heavy heart. Both Renge and her forest, tied to an early death? Only a demon would do something so cruel, so of course it would be a demon who cast the curse. What was worse, it seemed that the curse was already coming true with the way the kitsune and the elf appeared to feel about each other. There had to be a way to lift it, there just had to be. "Did Saburo ever lift the curse?"
Renge hesitated a little. "N-no, not yet..." She replied sadly, but as she continued what she had been doing, she suddenly recovered her prior up beat attitude. "But, uh, he's working on it! I know he can do it! Ah, here!" She pulled some pieces of clothing from the drawer, changed them with a snap of her fingers, grabbed them and rushed over to Haruhi. "This would be perfect for you! Try it on!"
"What, here?!" Haruhi backed away as the mortified blush crept into her cheeks. Did she mean let them see her naked?
"Oh, you don't want us...?" Renge looked confused by Haruhi's reluctance at first, but then she seemed to realize the obvious, "Oh! I forgot! Humans like their privacy. Alright, we'll turn around, but tell me if you need help!" With that, she grabbed Hikaru and forced him to face the other way.
Yes I know, I apologized already for Renge's appearance. Slutty and clingy, well, not exactly the real Renge, but this Renge is a fox so cut her some slack, and lets not forget that she's a cursed kitsune. I'm not exactly sure what that curse is yet, but I need to think of something that has some significance to the real world. Everything that happens in this alternate world has a big significance to the real world, so pay attention to everything. If you have any questions, please don't be afraid to ask!
