The Shogun's Daughter
By: StarlightSakura
Chapter 2
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*bright flashing lights* DISCLAIMER: Me no own, you no sue. I dun even own Whitney
A/N: second chapter for all & to all a good night/day/whatever it may be!!!! (woohoo, looks like I still have a lil caffeine left in me)
~!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!~
"Father, why must I join you? I don't even know anyone in that village." A girl around the age of 15 asked an older man sitting across from her in a carriage.
"Because my dear. There will be young men there and I think that one of them would suit you well as a husband. It's time you start thinking of having a family." Said the older man.
"But father, I am only fifteen. I don't want to get married yet."
"Your mother was fourteen when we were married. It would bring her such joy to know you were married. She always wanted to see you on your wedding Whitney." The older man told his daughter.
"Father, where did you get my name from? It doesn't sound Japanese." Whitney asked her father, changing the subject.
"That is because your name is not Japanese. I told that your mother was from another country where Whitney was common name. When we you were born, she thought it would be a nice name for you. A rare, different name for a rare child like you." He explained.
"Shogun-sama, we have arrived." Someone said from the outside of the carriage.
The carriage came to a stop and the door opened. The older man came out first and looked upon the house and the residents who were waiting outside. He held his hand out towards the carriage and Whitney grabbed it and slowly came out. Her brown hair glistened in the sunset as she stood straight up. She also looked over the house and it's residents. Immediately her gaze landed on a certain orange haired young man.
'Who is he? I wonder if I could talk to him.' Whitney told herself.
"Welcome to our home, Shogun-san. It has been so long since your last visit. These are my cousins, Sohma Kagura."
The brown haired girl smiled and bowed. "Hello."
"Sohma Hatsuharu."
*bow* "Welcome."
"Sohma Kisa."
*bow* "Good evening."
"Sohma Yuki and his fiancée, Honda Tohru.
*bow* "Hello."
*bow* "Welcome shogun."
"And Sohma Kyo."
*bow* "Hi."
'Sohma Kyo hmm? Well that's a start.' Whitney told herself.
The shogun bowed to them. "Thank you for having me. I hope you don't mind that I brought along a guest. This is my daughter, Soichiro Whitney." He said directing their attention to the young girl standing by his side.
Whitney bowed "Hello."
Shigure smiled. "It is no problem, we would be happy if she joined us tonight. Welcome Whitney-sama, I am Sohma Shigure." He said. "Please come in. Yuki and Tohru will show you to your rooms." He added, holding his hand out to the doorway leading to the house.
The shogun and Whitney walked towards the door and were followed by the Sohmas. Whitney turned slightly to look for Kyo but couldn't see him without making it obvious she was looking for someone. Instead Whitney just looked forward and sighed. 'Ah well, I'll probably see him later.' She told herself.
As dinner was being brought out, Whitney sat next to her dad and noticed that Kyo was sitting across from her. Whitney smiled at him. "How are you doing?" she asked politely.
Kyo looked at her and nodded. "I'm doing well, and you, Soichiro-san?" He asked.
"I am well." She said. 'What else do I say? I would really like to talk to him some more.' She told herself.
At that moment, a plate of food was placed in front of Whitney. 'Well, at least now I have time to think about what I would like to say to him. He doesn't seem to talk much.' Whitney let out a soft sigh.
After dinner, the shogun and Shigure sat in one room talking while everyone else sat outside in the yard and talked.
"Well, shogun-san, it looks as though you've raised Whitney well. She is a fine young woman." Shigure told the shogun.
"Please, Arima-kun is fine. No need to be formal Shigure-san, we've known each other since we were their age. Yes Whitney is a beautiful girl. She looks like her mother. And I think she has a certain fondness towards your cousin, Kyo." The shogun said.
(Note: After this, the shogun will be referred to as Arima & yes, I got the name from Soichiro Arima from Kare Kano, such originality, ne? ^.^)
Shigure looked at the group of teens out in the garden. He noticed Whitney stealing glances at Kyo. "Yes there is something she likes about him. Ah yes, I have been meaning to ask, how is your wife? Why didn't she join you and Whitney? Is she not well?" Shigure asked.
"The dead can't travel Shigure-san." Arima told his friend.
"I'm sorry Arima-kun. I didn't know." Shigure said. There was silence among the two as they remembered the deceased wife.
"Well now I'm hoping that Whitney will marry soon. I would like to see her children. I was hoping she would take a liking to one of your cousins, apparently she has." Arima said adding a small laugh at the end of his sentence.
'It appears she has. I wonder what she'll think when she finds out about Kyo?' Shigure told himself, looking at the young, love struck girl. "How about we help them along? Kyo-kun! Come here for a little while." Shigure called.
"Yes?"
"Why don't you take Whitney and show her around the village? I'm sure she would like to see it." Shigure suggested.
Kyo nodded and ran back to the group. He kneeled down next to Whitney and whispered Shigure's suggestion in her ear. Whitney's eyes lit up and she looked at her father as if asking for permission. Arima nodded his head, recognizing her silent question. She looked at Kyo and nodded with a smile. He offered her his hand to help her to her feet and she accepted.
"Be back before it gets too dark out. Have a good time." Arima told his daughter.
"I will, Bye father. Bye Sohma-san." Whitney said to the two men, bowing as she left.
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In the village market:
"Kyo-san? Sohma-san is your cousin, right?" Whitney asked as they walked down the market aisles.
"Yeah. My parents left me at his house and ran off. They didn't want to have children. I don't even know who they are."
"Oh. I'm sorry I.I didn't know." Whitney said.
"It's okay. How could you know? What about your mom?" Kyo asked.
Whitney put down the gold ring with a cat's face that she was holding and was silent for a while.
Understanding her silence, Kyo regretted his question. "Sorry." He said.
"No, it's okay, like you told me, how could you know? She passed away five years ago." Whitney said. A tear made it's way down her cheek and she tried to wipe it away discreetly but Kyo saw her.
"I am so sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry." He told her. Suddenly, he got an idea. "Come with me, I want to show you something. Oh go on, I see something I've been wanting. Sir, I'd like to buy this." He said. He picked up the ring and paid the man for it, making sure Whitney didn't see him buy it.
"Buying a ring for your lady huh? What a nice man you are." The old man said. He handed the ring to Kyo along with a flower. "Give that to her before you give her the ring." He added.
"She's not my lady but thanks anyway sir." Kyo said. He took the ring and started walking away.
"Take the flower son." The old man insisted.
Kyo gave in and took the flower. It had white with purple tinted petals that circled the middle at least four times. 'These aren't native to this land.' Kyo told himself.
Kyo ran up to Whitney, grabbed her hand and led her away from the market.
"Kyo-san, where are we going?" Whitney asked.
"It's one of my favorite places, you can see the whole village from there, and further." He said as he pulled Whitney behind him.
After about five minutes of walking, Kyo stopped at the bottom of a hill. "C'mon. We just have to get to the top." He said enthusiastically.
The two walked up the hill and when they reached the top, Whitney gasped. "Oh wow Kyo-san. This is so beautiful. Oh my goodness. I'll bet that not even the gods themselves get a view like this. Oh my, we can even see the sunset in a little while. It's so beautiful Kyo-san!" She exclaimed.
"Well, let's sit and watch it." Kyo said. He sat on the ground. "I'm sure your dad won't mind. Shigure knows I always come here. When my cousins come in from the next village, I always bring them here."
Whitney sat next to him. "I'm sure he won't mind. Wow, Kyo-san. This place is really amazing." She said.
Kyo held out the flower to Whitney. "Here, for you. This too. Think of it as an apology for making you cry." Kyo put the ring on Whitney's finger.
"Thank you Kyo-san! Thank you!" Whitney said. She was about to give Kyo a hug when he stopped her.
"Stop! Uh.look, the sun's going down, watch how the colors mix into each other then fade away." He told Whitney. 'Just don't hug me!' He yelled to himself.
"Okay." Whitney said. She was disappointed but she just assumed Kyo wanted her to see the sunset.
'I wonder what would happen if I hug her. That old witch did say if a girl hugged me. She said nothing about me hugging a girl.' Kyo told himself.
Kyo decided to take his chances. He grabbed Whitney from behind and wrapped his arms around her, surprising the girl. Kyo closed his eyes, praying that he wouldn't change. When he opened them, he saw Whitney looking up at him in surprise.
"I thought you wanted me too see the sunset." She told him.
Kyo smiled at her. "Surprise."
Whitney smiled up at him, turned around and let herself relax in his arms. She lay her head against his chest and closed her eyes. 'He's so nice and warm.' She told herself.
"I think we should get going. It's almost dark and I just remembered there's no moon tonight. Some pretty wild animals have been known to come here at night." Kyo said as he let go of Whitney and stood up, again offering her his hand.
Whitney lifted herself up but almost ran into Kyo. Before she fell onto him, Kyo caught her. Kyo looked down at her as the setting sun cast a glorious glow around her. Kyo found himself lost in Whitney's deep green eyes.
"W.we should go." Kyo said. 'Yeah, let's go before anything else happens that may cause me to change.' He told himself.
The walk back to the house seemed shorter to Whitney. "Ummm, Kyo-san, why did it take only a short while to get back here?" She asked.
Kyo smiled. "Well, we didn't go through the village for one. The hill is actually closer to the house than the village is." He explained.
When they got inside, Shigure and Arima were waiting for them. "Well, you two are back in time. I thought you would have gone to show Whitney the hill." Shigure said.
"I did, but tonight there's no moon so I didn't want us to get stuck wandering around the forest for a while." Kyo explained.
"Ah I see. Tohru-kun made some tea and snacks for everyone before we go to bed. Yuki, Tohru and the others are in the garden eating them, go join them." Shigure told the two.
"Thank you, Sohma-san." Whitney said.
As Whitney and Kyo walked past Shigure and Arima, Arima noticed a flower in her hand and Shigure noticed the ring on her finger.
"Did you see that flower? It was so beautiful." Arima told his friend.
Shigure shook his head. "Did you see the ring? A golden one with a cat on it." He asked.
Arima shook his head. "Why don't we just arrange a marriage between the two?" He asked with a smile.
"No. Kyo says he doesn't want to get married but I feel that, given some time, both alone and with Whitney, he will slowly open up to the thought of marriage. If Kyo and your daughter do fall in love, I'm sure they would tell us. But as of right now, an arranged marriage will not work." Shigure said.
"You're right. Whitney wants to get married, but she feels she is too young right now. Hopefully Kyo can change that." Arima said. "I really want to see Whitney's children. Although I know it will be hard for me to let her go." He added, looking at his daughter as she conversed with Shigure's teenaged cousins.
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In the gardens:
"Where did you two go?" Yuki asked Kyo and Whitney.
"Shigure suggested I show her the village so I did and then I took her to the hill." Kyo answered. He looked at Whitney and smiled. 'Why do I keep looking at her? I should know that when she finds out about my curse she'll run away like everyone else does. But still, I should be living in the present, not thinking about the future. It will be fun while it lasts." He told himself.
Kagura noticed the look Kyo gave Whitney and the blush that crept across her cheeks. "Did you have a good time?" She asked with a hint of jealousy in her voice that went unnoticed by everyone else.
"Yes I did. We saw the sunset and it was so beautiful. And look what Kyo- san got me." She said. She showed them the flower and the ring.
Everyone looked at it. They admired the flower and complimented how they had never seen one like it before and complimented the ring on how beautiful it was.
"So, Whitney-san, you like cats?" Tohru asked.
"Not really, but this ring was just so beautiful, I felt attracted to it. Look at the eyes, they are deep red gems." She said.
"Kyo-kun, how come you never got me a ring like that?" Kagura asked, the anger in her voice rising.
"W.well, it really was more of an apology gift than a..." Kyo tried to explain.
Too late. Kagura had sent him flying to the other side of the garden.
"Oh my! Kyo-san!" Whitney yelled. She stood up as she saw Kyo fly by.
"It's alright Whitney-san. Kagura-kun loves Kyo with all her heart. I guess you could say that's her way of showing it. We try not to get her jealous when Kyo does something for us and not her." Hatsuharu said.
"Oh. I'm sorry, I guess then I got her jealous didn't I?" She said, lowering her head.
"No, Kagura usually keeps control when Kyo does something for someone else. I guess she's starting to realize how much she loves him." Hatsuharu continued.
"Oh." Whitney said. She watched as Kagura threw Kyo around the garden. 'She loves him huh? Well then, maybe I should stay out of her way. They are closer to each other than Kyo and I. We barely met today and Kyo and Kagura have known each other since they were little.' Whitney told herself.
"I brought some more tea and crackers." Said a small, barely audible voice.
"Ah, thank you Kisa-chan. Come, sit down with us." Yuki said.
The small girl set the tray on the ground and sat next to Tohru and leaned her head on her shoulder.
"Kagura-kun! Stop beating on Kyo-kun! Kisa-chan brought some more food." Hatsuharu told his raging cousin
Kagura stopped her Kyo-thrashing and looked at the young man she now held at arm's length. "Oh my! Kyo! Not again! Who keeps doing this to you?" She asked innocently.
Quickly recovering, Kyo looked at his cousin. "Who do you think? Let me go." He told her. He looked over at the group and saw a look on Whitney's face that seemed kind of, hurt and sad. "Let go." He told his cousin in a stern voice. Immediately she let go.
"Thank you Kisa-chan." Kyo said as he sat down.
Kagura sat down next to Kyo and started scooting closer to him. Kyo noticed her movements and scooted away from her, unknowingly getting closer to Whitney. The closer Kagura came to Kyo, the closer Kyo came to Whitney.
"Baka. Stop scooting over. You are about to knock over Whitney-san." Yuki told his cousin.
"Well tell her to stop getting so close to me." Kyo said, pointing towards Kagura.
"Why don't you want me next to you Kyo-kun? Don't you love me?" Kagura asked in an innocent voice.
"I have to love you, you're my cousin."
"Don't you love me more than that?"
At that moment, Whitney stood up, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and look at her. She smiled at them, "Well, I'm pretty tired, I guess it was from all the walking, if it's not too much trouble, I would like to go to sleep now." She said rubbing her eyes and yawning.
"Sure. It is getting pretty late, maybe we should all go to sleep. Kisa- chan is already asleep." Tohru said. She picked up the sleeping girl. "Come on Whitney-san, Kisa's room is near yours, you can help me put her into bed." She told Whitney.
Whitney nodded. She walked to where her father and Shigure were sitting.
"Father, Sohma-san. I'm going to sleep now. I shall see you in the morning. Good night." She said.
"Very well, I think that I'll be going to sleep soon as well. Good night Soichiro-san." Shigure said.
"Please, Whitney-san is fine. Good night father."
"Good night Whitney."
She followed Tohru and soon after, everyone else in the household followed.
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~*~*END CHAPTER TWO*~*~
By: StarlightSakura
Chapter 2
~!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!~
*bright flashing lights* DISCLAIMER: Me no own, you no sue. I dun even own Whitney
A/N: second chapter for all & to all a good night/day/whatever it may be!!!! (woohoo, looks like I still have a lil caffeine left in me)
~!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!~
"Father, why must I join you? I don't even know anyone in that village." A girl around the age of 15 asked an older man sitting across from her in a carriage.
"Because my dear. There will be young men there and I think that one of them would suit you well as a husband. It's time you start thinking of having a family." Said the older man.
"But father, I am only fifteen. I don't want to get married yet."
"Your mother was fourteen when we were married. It would bring her such joy to know you were married. She always wanted to see you on your wedding Whitney." The older man told his daughter.
"Father, where did you get my name from? It doesn't sound Japanese." Whitney asked her father, changing the subject.
"That is because your name is not Japanese. I told that your mother was from another country where Whitney was common name. When we you were born, she thought it would be a nice name for you. A rare, different name for a rare child like you." He explained.
"Shogun-sama, we have arrived." Someone said from the outside of the carriage.
The carriage came to a stop and the door opened. The older man came out first and looked upon the house and the residents who were waiting outside. He held his hand out towards the carriage and Whitney grabbed it and slowly came out. Her brown hair glistened in the sunset as she stood straight up. She also looked over the house and it's residents. Immediately her gaze landed on a certain orange haired young man.
'Who is he? I wonder if I could talk to him.' Whitney told herself.
"Welcome to our home, Shogun-san. It has been so long since your last visit. These are my cousins, Sohma Kagura."
The brown haired girl smiled and bowed. "Hello."
"Sohma Hatsuharu."
*bow* "Welcome."
"Sohma Kisa."
*bow* "Good evening."
"Sohma Yuki and his fiancée, Honda Tohru.
*bow* "Hello."
*bow* "Welcome shogun."
"And Sohma Kyo."
*bow* "Hi."
'Sohma Kyo hmm? Well that's a start.' Whitney told herself.
The shogun bowed to them. "Thank you for having me. I hope you don't mind that I brought along a guest. This is my daughter, Soichiro Whitney." He said directing their attention to the young girl standing by his side.
Whitney bowed "Hello."
Shigure smiled. "It is no problem, we would be happy if she joined us tonight. Welcome Whitney-sama, I am Sohma Shigure." He said. "Please come in. Yuki and Tohru will show you to your rooms." He added, holding his hand out to the doorway leading to the house.
The shogun and Whitney walked towards the door and were followed by the Sohmas. Whitney turned slightly to look for Kyo but couldn't see him without making it obvious she was looking for someone. Instead Whitney just looked forward and sighed. 'Ah well, I'll probably see him later.' She told herself.
As dinner was being brought out, Whitney sat next to her dad and noticed that Kyo was sitting across from her. Whitney smiled at him. "How are you doing?" she asked politely.
Kyo looked at her and nodded. "I'm doing well, and you, Soichiro-san?" He asked.
"I am well." She said. 'What else do I say? I would really like to talk to him some more.' She told herself.
At that moment, a plate of food was placed in front of Whitney. 'Well, at least now I have time to think about what I would like to say to him. He doesn't seem to talk much.' Whitney let out a soft sigh.
After dinner, the shogun and Shigure sat in one room talking while everyone else sat outside in the yard and talked.
"Well, shogun-san, it looks as though you've raised Whitney well. She is a fine young woman." Shigure told the shogun.
"Please, Arima-kun is fine. No need to be formal Shigure-san, we've known each other since we were their age. Yes Whitney is a beautiful girl. She looks like her mother. And I think she has a certain fondness towards your cousin, Kyo." The shogun said.
(Note: After this, the shogun will be referred to as Arima & yes, I got the name from Soichiro Arima from Kare Kano, such originality, ne? ^.^)
Shigure looked at the group of teens out in the garden. He noticed Whitney stealing glances at Kyo. "Yes there is something she likes about him. Ah yes, I have been meaning to ask, how is your wife? Why didn't she join you and Whitney? Is she not well?" Shigure asked.
"The dead can't travel Shigure-san." Arima told his friend.
"I'm sorry Arima-kun. I didn't know." Shigure said. There was silence among the two as they remembered the deceased wife.
"Well now I'm hoping that Whitney will marry soon. I would like to see her children. I was hoping she would take a liking to one of your cousins, apparently she has." Arima said adding a small laugh at the end of his sentence.
'It appears she has. I wonder what she'll think when she finds out about Kyo?' Shigure told himself, looking at the young, love struck girl. "How about we help them along? Kyo-kun! Come here for a little while." Shigure called.
"Yes?"
"Why don't you take Whitney and show her around the village? I'm sure she would like to see it." Shigure suggested.
Kyo nodded and ran back to the group. He kneeled down next to Whitney and whispered Shigure's suggestion in her ear. Whitney's eyes lit up and she looked at her father as if asking for permission. Arima nodded his head, recognizing her silent question. She looked at Kyo and nodded with a smile. He offered her his hand to help her to her feet and she accepted.
"Be back before it gets too dark out. Have a good time." Arima told his daughter.
"I will, Bye father. Bye Sohma-san." Whitney said to the two men, bowing as she left.
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In the village market:
"Kyo-san? Sohma-san is your cousin, right?" Whitney asked as they walked down the market aisles.
"Yeah. My parents left me at his house and ran off. They didn't want to have children. I don't even know who they are."
"Oh. I'm sorry I.I didn't know." Whitney said.
"It's okay. How could you know? What about your mom?" Kyo asked.
Whitney put down the gold ring with a cat's face that she was holding and was silent for a while.
Understanding her silence, Kyo regretted his question. "Sorry." He said.
"No, it's okay, like you told me, how could you know? She passed away five years ago." Whitney said. A tear made it's way down her cheek and she tried to wipe it away discreetly but Kyo saw her.
"I am so sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry." He told her. Suddenly, he got an idea. "Come with me, I want to show you something. Oh go on, I see something I've been wanting. Sir, I'd like to buy this." He said. He picked up the ring and paid the man for it, making sure Whitney didn't see him buy it.
"Buying a ring for your lady huh? What a nice man you are." The old man said. He handed the ring to Kyo along with a flower. "Give that to her before you give her the ring." He added.
"She's not my lady but thanks anyway sir." Kyo said. He took the ring and started walking away.
"Take the flower son." The old man insisted.
Kyo gave in and took the flower. It had white with purple tinted petals that circled the middle at least four times. 'These aren't native to this land.' Kyo told himself.
Kyo ran up to Whitney, grabbed her hand and led her away from the market.
"Kyo-san, where are we going?" Whitney asked.
"It's one of my favorite places, you can see the whole village from there, and further." He said as he pulled Whitney behind him.
After about five minutes of walking, Kyo stopped at the bottom of a hill. "C'mon. We just have to get to the top." He said enthusiastically.
The two walked up the hill and when they reached the top, Whitney gasped. "Oh wow Kyo-san. This is so beautiful. Oh my goodness. I'll bet that not even the gods themselves get a view like this. Oh my, we can even see the sunset in a little while. It's so beautiful Kyo-san!" She exclaimed.
"Well, let's sit and watch it." Kyo said. He sat on the ground. "I'm sure your dad won't mind. Shigure knows I always come here. When my cousins come in from the next village, I always bring them here."
Whitney sat next to him. "I'm sure he won't mind. Wow, Kyo-san. This place is really amazing." She said.
Kyo held out the flower to Whitney. "Here, for you. This too. Think of it as an apology for making you cry." Kyo put the ring on Whitney's finger.
"Thank you Kyo-san! Thank you!" Whitney said. She was about to give Kyo a hug when he stopped her.
"Stop! Uh.look, the sun's going down, watch how the colors mix into each other then fade away." He told Whitney. 'Just don't hug me!' He yelled to himself.
"Okay." Whitney said. She was disappointed but she just assumed Kyo wanted her to see the sunset.
'I wonder what would happen if I hug her. That old witch did say if a girl hugged me. She said nothing about me hugging a girl.' Kyo told himself.
Kyo decided to take his chances. He grabbed Whitney from behind and wrapped his arms around her, surprising the girl. Kyo closed his eyes, praying that he wouldn't change. When he opened them, he saw Whitney looking up at him in surprise.
"I thought you wanted me too see the sunset." She told him.
Kyo smiled at her. "Surprise."
Whitney smiled up at him, turned around and let herself relax in his arms. She lay her head against his chest and closed her eyes. 'He's so nice and warm.' She told herself.
"I think we should get going. It's almost dark and I just remembered there's no moon tonight. Some pretty wild animals have been known to come here at night." Kyo said as he let go of Whitney and stood up, again offering her his hand.
Whitney lifted herself up but almost ran into Kyo. Before she fell onto him, Kyo caught her. Kyo looked down at her as the setting sun cast a glorious glow around her. Kyo found himself lost in Whitney's deep green eyes.
"W.we should go." Kyo said. 'Yeah, let's go before anything else happens that may cause me to change.' He told himself.
The walk back to the house seemed shorter to Whitney. "Ummm, Kyo-san, why did it take only a short while to get back here?" She asked.
Kyo smiled. "Well, we didn't go through the village for one. The hill is actually closer to the house than the village is." He explained.
When they got inside, Shigure and Arima were waiting for them. "Well, you two are back in time. I thought you would have gone to show Whitney the hill." Shigure said.
"I did, but tonight there's no moon so I didn't want us to get stuck wandering around the forest for a while." Kyo explained.
"Ah I see. Tohru-kun made some tea and snacks for everyone before we go to bed. Yuki, Tohru and the others are in the garden eating them, go join them." Shigure told the two.
"Thank you, Sohma-san." Whitney said.
As Whitney and Kyo walked past Shigure and Arima, Arima noticed a flower in her hand and Shigure noticed the ring on her finger.
"Did you see that flower? It was so beautiful." Arima told his friend.
Shigure shook his head. "Did you see the ring? A golden one with a cat on it." He asked.
Arima shook his head. "Why don't we just arrange a marriage between the two?" He asked with a smile.
"No. Kyo says he doesn't want to get married but I feel that, given some time, both alone and with Whitney, he will slowly open up to the thought of marriage. If Kyo and your daughter do fall in love, I'm sure they would tell us. But as of right now, an arranged marriage will not work." Shigure said.
"You're right. Whitney wants to get married, but she feels she is too young right now. Hopefully Kyo can change that." Arima said. "I really want to see Whitney's children. Although I know it will be hard for me to let her go." He added, looking at his daughter as she conversed with Shigure's teenaged cousins.
~!*!*!*!*!*!*!~
In the gardens:
"Where did you two go?" Yuki asked Kyo and Whitney.
"Shigure suggested I show her the village so I did and then I took her to the hill." Kyo answered. He looked at Whitney and smiled. 'Why do I keep looking at her? I should know that when she finds out about my curse she'll run away like everyone else does. But still, I should be living in the present, not thinking about the future. It will be fun while it lasts." He told himself.
Kagura noticed the look Kyo gave Whitney and the blush that crept across her cheeks. "Did you have a good time?" She asked with a hint of jealousy in her voice that went unnoticed by everyone else.
"Yes I did. We saw the sunset and it was so beautiful. And look what Kyo- san got me." She said. She showed them the flower and the ring.
Everyone looked at it. They admired the flower and complimented how they had never seen one like it before and complimented the ring on how beautiful it was.
"So, Whitney-san, you like cats?" Tohru asked.
"Not really, but this ring was just so beautiful, I felt attracted to it. Look at the eyes, they are deep red gems." She said.
"Kyo-kun, how come you never got me a ring like that?" Kagura asked, the anger in her voice rising.
"W.well, it really was more of an apology gift than a..." Kyo tried to explain.
Too late. Kagura had sent him flying to the other side of the garden.
"Oh my! Kyo-san!" Whitney yelled. She stood up as she saw Kyo fly by.
"It's alright Whitney-san. Kagura-kun loves Kyo with all her heart. I guess you could say that's her way of showing it. We try not to get her jealous when Kyo does something for us and not her." Hatsuharu said.
"Oh. I'm sorry, I guess then I got her jealous didn't I?" She said, lowering her head.
"No, Kagura usually keeps control when Kyo does something for someone else. I guess she's starting to realize how much she loves him." Hatsuharu continued.
"Oh." Whitney said. She watched as Kagura threw Kyo around the garden. 'She loves him huh? Well then, maybe I should stay out of her way. They are closer to each other than Kyo and I. We barely met today and Kyo and Kagura have known each other since they were little.' Whitney told herself.
"I brought some more tea and crackers." Said a small, barely audible voice.
"Ah, thank you Kisa-chan. Come, sit down with us." Yuki said.
The small girl set the tray on the ground and sat next to Tohru and leaned her head on her shoulder.
"Kagura-kun! Stop beating on Kyo-kun! Kisa-chan brought some more food." Hatsuharu told his raging cousin
Kagura stopped her Kyo-thrashing and looked at the young man she now held at arm's length. "Oh my! Kyo! Not again! Who keeps doing this to you?" She asked innocently.
Quickly recovering, Kyo looked at his cousin. "Who do you think? Let me go." He told her. He looked over at the group and saw a look on Whitney's face that seemed kind of, hurt and sad. "Let go." He told his cousin in a stern voice. Immediately she let go.
"Thank you Kisa-chan." Kyo said as he sat down.
Kagura sat down next to Kyo and started scooting closer to him. Kyo noticed her movements and scooted away from her, unknowingly getting closer to Whitney. The closer Kagura came to Kyo, the closer Kyo came to Whitney.
"Baka. Stop scooting over. You are about to knock over Whitney-san." Yuki told his cousin.
"Well tell her to stop getting so close to me." Kyo said, pointing towards Kagura.
"Why don't you want me next to you Kyo-kun? Don't you love me?" Kagura asked in an innocent voice.
"I have to love you, you're my cousin."
"Don't you love me more than that?"
At that moment, Whitney stood up, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and look at her. She smiled at them, "Well, I'm pretty tired, I guess it was from all the walking, if it's not too much trouble, I would like to go to sleep now." She said rubbing her eyes and yawning.
"Sure. It is getting pretty late, maybe we should all go to sleep. Kisa- chan is already asleep." Tohru said. She picked up the sleeping girl. "Come on Whitney-san, Kisa's room is near yours, you can help me put her into bed." She told Whitney.
Whitney nodded. She walked to where her father and Shigure were sitting.
"Father, Sohma-san. I'm going to sleep now. I shall see you in the morning. Good night." She said.
"Very well, I think that I'll be going to sleep soon as well. Good night Soichiro-san." Shigure said.
"Please, Whitney-san is fine. Good night father."
"Good night Whitney."
She followed Tohru and soon after, everyone else in the household followed.
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~*~*END CHAPTER TWO*~*~
