CHAPTER 13
Kyoko was beginning to feel paranoid with men. Suddenly, they all seemed to have the ability to give her malicious smiles and glances that told her they knew some secret of her. Or that they knew something was about to happen to her; something she should, but she could not know.
It was terrifying.
Kuon had fought the fever for two more days after she had finished the dressing. During this time, she gave him impromptu sponge baths. Nothing perverted, she told herself, though she could linger on the task longer than necessary.
It would be easy to blame her adolescent hormones for that need to touch him all the time. She could also justify herself by claiming that she had lived with him for so long in the form of a ghost, that now that he had a physical form it was irresistible to check whenever possible if he remained solid.
However, Kyoko preferred to defend herself from her own conscience by reminding herself that she had always avoided his intimate parts, leaving that task to the patient himself when he was lucid enough to understand what she demanded of him. Kuon, even feverish, had the nerve to smile at her embarrassment and promise that he would do his best to be conscious the next day in order to enjoy her attentions.
He fulfilled his promise on the third day, much to Kyoko's chagrin. Kijima and Taira, the two traitors who were supposed to help her in the task of keeping the great Master Kuon safe from his own foolishness, "forgot" to warn her that the patient was well. Not only conscious, but also awake and feeling full of energy.
Well, maybe not full of energy, but recovered enough to tease her.
"Do you like what you see, Milady?"
Kyoko should be reaping the herbs for the infusion that "Kuon the Cheater" would need to drink later, but the truth is that she was pulling them out as if the poor plants were to blame for the embarrassment she felt.
And they were, in part. If they were not so efficient, he would not be well enough to mock her.
The scene was repeating in Kyoko's mind ever since. Her hands, practically healed from the burns, slid the sponge that washed him and the cloth that dried him right after, in a coordinated work that seemed wise to her. What was not wise was the fact that she was so distracted by the activity that she only noticed the vivid green eyes on her when they were full of pure lust.
"Do you like what you see, Milady?"
Hell, she blushed so fast that her head seemed about to explode. She stuttered stupidly as if she were a silly girl, not an independent woman almost 28 years old, stuck in a teenage body a decade younger.
Damn handsome men and their ability to melt female brains!
There was no disguise for her bodily reactions, just as there was no disguise for the fact that she did not even realize he was no longer feverish. That is, she was shameless enough to ignore crucial information about the patient she was supposed to be caring for. There was no sweat, no tremor, no incoherent babbling during a nightmare. Only a man lying down, seemingly in peaceful sleep, and the fool rubbing him.
Unaware even of the volume growing under the towel that covered his hips.
"Argh, I'm so stupid!"
"Oh no, Milady is very clever!"
Kijima's voice was the last thing she needed to hear at the moment. Traitor!
"Is there anything I can do for you, Sir?"
If she had not spoken so threateningly, if she had not looked at him as if she wanted to kill someone, and if she had not been the promised lady of his Master and friend, Kijima would have replied "yes, a sponge bath, please!" However, even the gallant Kijima knew that it would be suicidal. He could not even tell who would kill him first: the unusually fearless Lady Kyoko or Lord Kuon.
"My Lord wants to see you"
Maybe asking for the sponge bath was a wiser attitude, after all. Because the moment the sentence left his mouth, Kyoko became the demon himself.
"Oh really? Then you can tell your Lord that five centuries from today seems a reasonable time for me to want to see him again!"
She returned furiously to the interior of the Solar, leaving with a stunned Kijima the mission of finding out what to do with the herbs that she abruptly deposited in his hands. Kyoko huffed as she thought about how Kuon Hizuri looked nothing like the lovely ghost she knew. Well, perhaps the lust and the unnerving habit of provoking her. Nevertheless, where was the gentleness? The consideration?
A real gentleman would tell her that he was awake or at least pretend to be asleep. Kyoko would be pleased with any other attitude that did not involve embarrassing her and then laughing as she fled the bedroom.
"We will leave at dawn to Hizuri II. Be ready by then"
Kuon used his usual command voice, the one that used to be effective against the fools who defied or disobeyed him. Unfortunately, he had a lot of experience with that, as everyone seemed to doubt that he was more than a young (a.k.a inexperienced) and lucky (a.k.a incompetent) man. The fact that influential people surrounded him became his burden. Even being the favorite to marry the heiress Mogami weighed on him.
Few saw his merit. The majority only saw his surname.
It was no wonder his skills were always on the test, much less that he needed only a split second to go into combat mode. Kuon was always tense, always ready for the threats and challenges about to emerge from the shadows.
At that moment, Kyoko was not the young orphan he was determined to marry, but one more person whom he needed to persuade to obey him. Therefore, he was not surprised when she just raised a challenging eyebrow. In fact, he was counting on that.
Kuon responded to her challenge steadying both feet on the floor and crossing his arms. The effect would have been better had it not been for the grimace of pain he could not prevent.
"Milord is not in a condition to make such a journey. Your shoulder is-"
"My shoulder is fine thanks to your care"
"But your fever can-"
"If my fever returns, Milady will know what to do. Not to mention that your sponge baths are-"
"All right! Tomorrow, at dawn!"
Kuon smiled triumphantly as he got exactly what he wanted with his teasing. He had prepared himself for a much more difficult battle, considering that she had promised never to return to his castle, but he would not question what seemed to be his lucky day.
In Hizuri II, they would be far from the constant vigilance of the housekeeper and her grumpy husband. That is, it would be easier to seduce her. He would not need to kidnap her anymore, which made his plans easier.
Kuon's authoritarian attitude annoyed her almost as much as the squeaky voice with which she agreed. Kyoko wanted to be able to blame the new body by that demonstration of weakness, but she knew that her reaction would not be very different even though she was in her original body.
There was nothing to do now that she had impetuously agreed to accompany him to Hizuri II. On the other hand, the more she thought about it, the more Kyoko conceded that Kuon's enervating order blessedly gave her an idea and a new hope. What would be the event that would send her back to the twenty-first century, if saving Kuon Hizuri's life were not enough? Thanks to "Lord Bossy", now Kyoko was betting that returning to Hizuri II would be the final step of that time travel. After all, she had left from the palace; it made sense that she needed to be there to travel back.
Not that she had many reasons to return home. As Kuon had survived there would be no ghost waiting for her five centuries from now. Not to mention that she had contributed to change the past, so Kyoko wondered what she would find when she returned to the twenty-first century.
Deep in her mind, the desperate idea that her body had perished persisted. If so, all she had was that body she was still getting accustomed to, unfamiliar people who knew everything about her life that she did not, a man who acted as if she were his property and who only wanted her for her heritage and a world in which she would never fit.
Not to mention the doubts: would she still have a place to go back to? Was she still the housekeeper of Hizuri II? On the other hand, if she returned to the future to which she belonged, what would happen to the Kyoko of that time? Would she die again? What about all the people at the Solar Mogami she had come to know in the last few days and who loved the girl with a moving sincerity?
Kyoko had read her diary. Was that really her 16th-century version? Because it was hard to believe that she could be so blind to the affection that surrounded her. Kyoko Mogami could feel miserable even though she was a young woman surrounded by love. She felt lonely even having faithful friends and caretakers.
She believed they treated her well out of obligation, nothing more. Young fool! Kyoko had never seen a more obvious case of a person so obsessed with receiving the affection of her absent parents that she became blind to all the people who loved her and never abandoned her. The same could be said about her platonic relationship with Kuon Hizuri: Kyoko Mogami was an expert when it came to pursuing the affection of people who ignored her.
What bothered Kyoko most was the similarity between the two. Her two versions, past and future, clung to men who eventually demonstrated how replaceable she was. They both saw signs of love in clouds of smoke and fell in love with just what they wanted to see.
Kyoko got lost in such ruminations as she packed up her luggage. A small suitcase was her goal, but Manaka stepped in and started adding handkerchiefs, shawls, perfumes, clothes, shoes, jewelry, and a myriad of other items.
In her heart, Kyoko wanted to try on everything she saw, especially the clothes and jewelry, and take it all with her. She never had much, contrary to the Mogami heiress. However, she managed to persuade herself to remain modest and persuaded the girl about the needlessness of so many items only after stating that someone would take the remainder of her belongings to Hizuri II.
For some reason, the room maid seemed to believe her Lady was moving to the palace, a possibility that Kyoko refused to even consider.
When the suitcase was ready - a suitcase scandalously small and unworthy of a Lady, according to Manaka - Kyoko looked at the bed, contemplating sleeping. It was when she inevitably remembered that Kuon slept there for a few days.
The three men were rehoused in other bedrooms as soon as Okami discovered that Lord Kuon was lucid and well enough to want to leave the next day. After all, it would not be decent if they continued to occupy the Lady's room without a pressing need justifying such boldness. To Kyoko's embarrassment, however, Kuon insisted on sleeping in the room where she had slept the last few days. And he would not let her change the sheets.
"Please, Milady. Allow a convalescent man the balm of sleeping surrounded by the scent of such a beautiful lady"
Shameless man! Womanizer! Kyoko knew that game well, unfortunately. Just as much as she knew how foolish she could be with frivolous gallantry of handsome men.
That night she could hardly sleep. Whenever she closed her eyes, Kyoko remembered intense green eyes and a velvety voice speaking things that made her shudder. It did not help that his portrait was permanently looking at her.
It was as she suspected when she was still in the 21st century: Kuon Hizuri had all the traits of a playboy, which scared the hell out of her! Just as she had prophesied on the night of the fireplace episode, the man was the natural predator of women like her.
Well, if Kuon was already recovered enough to flirt, she was no longer needed there. Therefore, the same magic that had brought her could take her back. Fast. Before her treacherous heart became convinced of the perilous idea of being exactly where it should be.
A/N - Yay! We have made progress! XD
This chapter took a little longer because I caught a cold. To make matters worse, I also had a terrible writer's block. I'm better now, thank goodness!
Many hugs to you, dear readers, and especially to those who make writing less solitary by sharing their thoughts with me. I really love to read your reviews (wich I do almost compulsively)! See you soon! ;)