Chapter Twelve: An Unwanted Rival
"Baron?"
The tawny youth looked up from his labors, seeing the redheaded woman approach him with a tall cool glass of lemonade. She smiled softly as he placed his tool aside.
"Thank you for doing this. You have no idea how much I appreciate this." The old quilter didn't have the first clue on how to deal with grass this length, having never encountered it before.
Baron smiled warmly and nodded his head at the compliment while quenching his thirst with the offered drink. After all, men couldn't live on tea alone.
"Haru's worth it, Ms. Yoshioka. I don't mind."
The front yard was finished now, and the offensive tails bagged and waiting for pick-up by the garbage truck Naoko would call when Baron was finished. The redheaded woman took back the glass, and smiled warmly at him before entering the house once more. The young man sighed softly, and noted his ungloved hands for a few seconds. They were a bit blistered, despite the gloves he was wearing, but, with a little luck, he should be able to finish the job before Haru returned home.
The tawny youth couldn't wait to see the look on her face. He pulled his slightly moist gloves back on and reached for the sickle again.
"How dare you."
The tall man froze at the new voice, and looked around for its owner. The voice was kind of whiny, like he just wanted to complain.
"I beg your pardon?" The young gentleman asked the air in front of him, wondering if he was dreaming.
"These cattails are a gift for Miss Haru. We worked really hard to make them grow so fast, and what do you do? You cut them down!"
Baron felt sharp claws rake his ankle, making him grimace and look down.
It was a cat, giving him the glare of death. An ordinary cat by every sense of the word, with his brown-spotted fur, except for the little fact that he was standing on his hind legs, in order to look more intimidating. The blonde man stared, wondering if he had gone mad. And since the cattails were still so high, he couldn't even ask Naoko later if she had seen the cat talk too.
"Did you just speak to me?"
"You bet I did. You have some nerve, destroying Miss Haru's present like this."
The golden youth glared.
"I don't know why you wanted to give her cattails, but I'll have you know that she's terribly allergic to them. Your gift is making her miserable."
That put the cat in his place, falling on his back with disbelief.
"A-allergic?! Oh my my my my my, this is embarrassing. The king won't be very happy when he hears about this."
Baron kneeled down in order to talk to the brown cat better.
"What king?"
"Why, the Cat King of course! Miss Haru saved his son's life yesterday, and sent her gifts to thank her. Hmm, I wonder if she liked the mice any better."
Baron started choking.
"You sent her mice?!"
"Of course, enough to feed her and her mother for weeks."
The human groaned.
"You have no idea how humans think then. If any human man sent a human girl mice, he should completely expect to earn the girl's undying scorn. No wonder her mother was so jumpy earlier."
The cat's mouth dropped wider.
"Oh dear. But surely she liked the necklace!"
"Jewelry is completely acceptable, although I can't be certain if your idea of fine jewelry and a humans' idea of fine jewelry coincide. What else did you do to the poor girl?"
"Well, we gave her friend a hundred lacrosse sticks to replace the one Miss Haru broke saving the prince, and I was actually looking around for her just now in order to see if she would accept the last gift."
Baron winced.
"Dare I ask what the last gift is?"
The cat blinked, took careful note of the human's tall stature, and ran off into the grass before answering.
"Marriage into the royal cat family!" The cat's voice cut off as a glow of blue came and left the tall grass. Baron's jaw dropped.
"No…" he whispered. It was against the laws of nature. He had finally found a girl that he was attracted to, after years of searching, and he had no intention of letting go of her so soon. The golden youth tried to find the cat through the grass, but it had disappeared.
'Haru.' He stood up, and opened the door enough to call within. "Ms. Yoshioka?! Where does Haru work?"
"In the Ghibli building. If you want to pick her up for lunch, just go left at the front door for two blocks, take another left, and it should be the third building to your right. She works on the tenth floor, just tell her secretary that I'm vouching for you."
"Thank you so much." Baron closed the door, ran around the little house, and started running.
He was no stranger to the activity, and he was grateful for the fact. He had been approached many times by the track coach in middle and high school, but Baron had always politely turned the men down, since he wished to follow his father's footsteps as a swordsman. The blonde youth knew exactly how long to make each stride, and how to breathe as the wind brushed against his face.
'This must be why the cats tried so hard to sabotage our date last night. They were under orders to by their king, to clear the way for his own purpose. Surely Haru couldn't want this. Not after all the fun we had together. No, I can't let this happen to Haru. But… what if she does want this? Am I just going to create more trouble for her by interfering?'
The young man growled under his shortening breath, trying to silence his wild thoughts until he could hear the lovely brunette's side of the story. He suddenly remembered how she had cut herself off last night, when he had asked after the cat she had saved. Did she know the feline was a prince? Was he the one that the king wanted her to marry?
He made the turn left, and started counting buildings. That one!
The blonde man stormed in through the glass doors, and ran to the elevator. A secretary stood up from behind her desk in a panic as the lad stepped inside the moving doors.
"You can't go in there without an appointment!" But she was already too late, for the golden man was now going up the floors, leaning against a wall as he regained his breath.
'Please let me reach her in time.'
The doors finally slid open, revealing a light brown-haired secretary, who looked up as he ran to her.
"Quickly! I need to talk to Haru!"
She blinked.
"And who are you?"
"Baron von Gikkingen."
The secretary lit up like a Christmas tree.
"Oh! She mentioned you." The young lady nearly leapt out of her seat and started pushing him toward a door twenty paces away. Getting the idea, Baron ran towards it, and yanked the door open as Haru's voice rang loud and clear.
