The Shogun's Daughter And The Cursed Boy

By: StarlightSakura

Chapter 3

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*bright flashing lights* DISCLAIMER: Me no own, you no sue. I dun even own Whitney.

A/N: Hey howdy hey! Well, I was reading over the other two chapters and it seems I didn't quite finish the title. I suck at titles, as Whits-kun knows, but I originally had this story titled "The Shogun's Daughter" then I decided to add in "And The Cursed Boy" but I forgot to add it into the first two chapters. So from now on, it shall be The Shogun's Daughter And The Cursed Boy. Although I'm 99% positive that it'll change during the course of this story. Anywho...ON WITH THE STORY!!

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The next morning, Kyo woke up and saw the sun shining in through his window. He got out of the futon he slept on, put on his clothes and left his room. As he stepped out, he bumped into Tohru and changed into his cursed form of a cat.

"Ahh! I'm so very sorry Kyo-kun." Tohru said quietly so as not to wake up anyone else. "I'm so, so, soooo sorry." Tohru apologized as she brought Kyo's clothes into his room.

The orange cat followed her in and slid the door closed with his paws. "It's okay Tohru, just as long as Whitney or her father didn't see." The orange cat said.

"True. Still, I'm very sorry. Umm, about Whitney-san. Has she found out about you yet?" Tohru asked.

"No. I want to try and keep it a secret from her as long as possible."

"Why her? You never used to care about who knew about your curse and who didn't."

"I know, but with Whitney, it's different. I don't know why but when I'm with her, I feel like I don't have a curse on me at all. I think it's because she doesn't know about me and I'm afraid that when she does find out, she won't want to see me anymore."

"Why don't you tell her now?"

"I can't. I don't want to risk losing her now. She's the only friend I have outside of this house. Did she say anything about the way Kagura acted last night?" *poof!*

Quickly, Tohru turned around and handed Kyo's clothes back to him. "No. She didn't say anything, but I could tell she was hurt. She really likes you Kyo-kun. You like her too, don't you?" Tohru asked.

Kyo slowly nodded. "I can't explain it. I like her, yet I can't be truly honest to her without running the risk of losing her. She's a good person, and a great friend. I just don't know what to do or tell her." He tried to explain. "I'm sorry, I'm not making any sense am I?" He added as he finished putting his clothes on again.

Tohru stood up and walked to the door. "Don't tell her anything. Let her find out on her own. If she really likes you for you, she won't care, just like me. I don't care about your curse, I care about you. Keep your hopes up and keep believing that she won't care about your curse. Believe me Kyo- kun, the day she finds out, it won't matter in the least, she will still love you. Now, if you'll excuse me, breakfast won't make itself." She said as she left Kyo's room.

"If she really likes me for me, she won't care." Kyo told himself. A smile came across the young man's face. He left his room and headed to the one that was two rooms over.

Slowly, Kyo opened the door and poked his head in. He looked around and saw Whitney, asleep on the futon that was lent to her. Kyo quietly walked in and sat down next to her. The morning sun shone down on her face, giving her a glow similar to the one the night before on the hill.

"Please don't leave me Whitney-san." Kyo told the sleeping girl.

"Kyo-kun." The girl whispered in her sleep.

"Yes, you can call me Kyo-kun." Kyo watched her as she slept. 'I'd better go before she wakes up.' Kyo told himself. Before he stood up, Kyo leaned towards Whitney and kissed her forehead. Then he got up and walked out of the room.

As Whitney's door closed, Whitney slowly opened her eyes. "Kyo-san?" She asked. She sat up and looked around the room and saw nobody in there except herself. 'I could have sworn I heard his voice in here just a little while ago.'

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In the dining area:

"Good morning everyone!" Whitney said cheerfully as she came into the room.

"Good morning Whitney-san. How did you sleep? Well I hope." Shigure asked the cheerful girl.

"I slept very well, Sohma-san, thank you. Um, do you know if Kyo-san is up yet?" Whitney shyly asked.

"Yes he is, I believe he is out in the gardens." Shigure said. "Why don't you go find him and tell him to come inside for breakfast?" He added.

"Okay Sohma-san." Whitney left the room and headed towards the gardens. She looked down for her sandals but noticed they weren't there. 'They must be in the front. Ah well, I'll just go out barefoot.' She told herself.

As Whitney opened the door, the morning dew gracing the multi-colored flowers and leaves made the garden appear as if she had just walked into a magical land nowhere near the Sohma house.

"Wow, it's so beautiful. So much different than back home." Whitney told herself as she stepped out. The soft grass flattened as she stepped onto it but pooped right up again like a spring, leaving traces of morning dew on the bottom of her foot. "Kyo-san. Kyo-san, are you here?" Whitney called out.

From behind a tree, Kyo peeked his head out and saw Whitney coming towards him. 'She's so beautiful.' He thought to himself. He watched as her pink and white kimono swung with her every movement. He watched as her soft, brown hair gently swayed in the breeze. It was then he noticed a touch of blonde streaking through her hair. He watched as she took light delicate steps as if she would damage the grass if she stepped too hard. He watched as she brought her hand up to her face as she called out his name. He watched as the morning sun set a glow all around her body, giving her a heavenly appearance.

"Kyo-san? Where are you Kyo-san?" Whitney called out. She walked past the tree Kyo was sitting behind and looked around.

Kyo decided to come up behind her. Kyo slowly walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him. "Good morning Whits-kun." He told the startled girl.

"Kyo-san! You scared me! And since when did I allow you to address me so informally?" Whitney asked, calming down from her startled state.

"It's the least you can do since I said you can call me Kyo-kun."

"I never heard you say that."

"Why Whits-kun, I told you earlier this morning when I stopped by your room. You called me Kyo-kun and I told you it was all right for you to address me that way."

"You were in my room?" A slight blush found it's way across Whitney's face as she realized she had been talking in her sleep. "S.Sohma-sa.san said break.fast is re.ready. You sh.should come and eat." She stuttered out.

"Well then, we should go inside, shouldn't we." Kyo said. He let go of Whitney and started walking towards the house. He turned and noticed Whitney standing in the same place. "Whitney-kun, Sohma-san said breakfast is ready. You should come and eat." He said, repeating Whitney's words.

Whitney cleared her head by shaking it and followed behind Kyo.

"Good morning Yuki-san, Honda-san, Hatsuharu-san, Kagura-san, Kisa-san." Whitney said as the five teens sat down around the table. "Sohma-san, is my father up yet?" Whitney asked.

"I thought I heard him get up awhile ago. Why don't you go check on him? We'll wait for the two of you." Shigure said.

"I think I will." Whitney said. She got up from the table and left the room.

"So, Kyo-kun, It seems you are fond of Whitney-san. Am I right?" Hatsuharu asked his cousin.

"She is a good friend Haru-san."

"But I'm curious to know if she knows."

"What business is it of yours?"

"Oh, I'm just curious. So that way when she runs from you in fear, she'll come to me."

"What did you say?!" Kyo yelled.

Shigure decided it was best not to have an argument started so early in the morning. "Calm down boys." But he also decided it was the perfect time to question Kyo's actions in the garden earlier. "So, Kyo-kun, how come you didn't change when you were out in the garden holding Whitney-san so close to you?" One thing he didn't think of was that Kagura was at the table.

"Kyo-kun! You were what! I'm the only one meant for you!!" She yelled. She picked up Kyo and threw him into the next room. "Why can't it be me!! I love you Kyo! We are supposed to get married dammit!" She yelled as she continued beating up the poor orange haired boy.

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At the other end of the house:

"Father? Are you awake yet father?" Whitney asked as she knocked on her father's door.

"Come in, Whitney." A voice said.

Whitney opened the door and walked in to find her father holding something in between his hands. "Are you okay father?" Whitney asked, a hint of worry apparent in her voice.

"I am fine Whitney. Look at this." Her father opened his hands to reveal a bird egg.

"Wow. Where did you find it father?" Whitney asked.

Her father handed her the bird egg. "I found on the window sill. Keep it Whitney. Take care of it and raise the bird when it hatches."

Whitney held the bird egg close to her chest. Then she took her black hair ribbon from her hair and made a makeshift nest for the egg. "I shall father. I will take care of it as if it were my child." She said. "Oh! I almost forgot! Everyone is waiting for us."

Just then, a loud crashing sound came from the dining area, followed by a person screaming, "OWWWW!!!!!!"

"Someone probably said something that made Kagura-san mad again. Did you know she is in love with Kyo-san?" Whitney told her father. She looked at the helpless bird egg she held in her hands and sighed.

"No, I didn't Whitney. We better get to the dining area before poor Kyo gets badly injured.

As the two walked down the long hallway, Whitney looked up at her father. "Father, why did you give me this egg?" she asked.

"Too give an idea of what it will be like to be a mother."

"Father! You really do want me to have children soon don't you?"

"I only want to see you children before I die. If a war starts and something happens to me, I can die happy knowing that you became a wonderful mother to wonderful children. Besides, I'm sure your mother would love to hear about them from me when I see her again."

"Father don't say things like that!" Whitney scolded.

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In the dining area:

When Whitney and her father came into the dining area, they were shocked to see Kagura bandaging Kyo's wrist.

"Kyo-kun! Are you alright? What happened?" Whitney asked as her eyes widened in shock.

"I'm alright, really. Kagura just threw me too hard and I think my wrist may have been broken. I'm alright though. Don't worry about me."

"Oh Kyo-kun! You poor thing, tell me who did this to you." Kagura said in a sweet, innocent voice. She was about to hug the boy when Kyo held his arm up against her chest.

"Not now, we have guests." Kyo whispered to his cousin. He disguised his whisper by using Kagura as a support so he could stand up. "Well, I guess we should eat." He said with a smile.

"Shogun-sama, I have been meaning to ask you, where did you and your wife get the idea for Whitney-san's name?" Tohru asked.

"Well, her mother was from another country. She liked the name and always wanted to name her daughter that. So when Whitney was born, she was excited because, as she said, 'She will be the only Soichiro Whitney in all of Japan.' And she is, as far as I know." Arima explained.

"That's nice. Shogun-sama? As you know, Yuki-kun and I will be getting married sometime next year. We would be quite honored if you and your daughter would be able to join our families in celebrating the wedding."

"How thoughtful of you Honda-san. I shall see to it that nothing prevents us from attending. Just tell me when it will be held and we shall be there."

"Very well. Once we have set the date, we shall inform you."

It was then that Kisa noticed the bird egg on the table. She pulled on Hatsuharu's sleeve and pointed it out to him.

"Whitney-san, what's with the egg?" He asked.

Whitney looked at it and smiled. "A new responsibility." She said. She looked at her father and smiled again.

At that moment, a man ran into the dining area. "Shogun-sama. I am sorry to interrupt you but you are needed back at your village. A messenger has just brought me word that the village is being attacked." He said.

"What?! Prepare the carriage immediately! Shigure-san, I hate to leave you now and I don't want to burden you in any way, but, will it be okay if I leave Whitney here for a while? Just until I send for her? I don't want her getting hurt." Arima asked as he stood from the table.

"It is not at all a burden. We would be glad to have Whitney here with us, especially if it ensures her safety." Shigure told his friend.

"Thank you. I'm sorry to leave you Whitney. I don't want you to get hurt."

"That's okay father, I understand. Be safe father. If it isn't too much trouble, can you make sure my friends stay safe?"" Whitney said.

Arima kissed his daughter's forehead "I will." He then made a quick trip to his room and walked out the door where the entire Sohma household was waiting to see him off. There he climbed into his carriage and with one last wave goodbye to all of them, the carriage sped off, picking up speed as it left.

"Be safe daddy." Whitney said as she watched the carriage speed away.

"Don't worry, he will be fine. Your father won't let himself go like that." Shigure said as he placed a hand on Whitney's shoulder.

"I know he won't, but still, he's my father, I worry about him. I don't want to lose him like I lost mother." Whitney's voice started to quiver as tears threatened to fall. "I never cry when he leaves. He doesn't like to see that. But when he leaves, I... excuse me." Whitney said. She turned and ran towards the garden.

Kyo was about to follow her when Shigure stopped him. "She's a strong girl. Let her have a few moments to herself." He said. "Come, let's go inside. There's no more reason for us to be out here." He added.

Everyone went back inside, except for Kisa, who went into the gardens to look for Whitney.

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In the garden:

Whitney ran into the gardens, unaware that the dark clouds overhead threatened rain. She stopped under a tree with vines wrapped around the trunk and sat with her back against it out of everyone's view. There she brought her knees up to her face, hugged them, lowered her head and started to cry.

"Father. Please, Be safe. I don't want anything to happen to you. Come back safely." She whispered to herself.

Just then, Whitney felt a small arm gently fall on her back. She knew it wasn't Kyo, he would have wrapped her in a hug. Whitney looked up and saw a little blonde haired girl.

"Kisa-san."

"It's alright Soichiro-san. Cry all you want."

The small girl wrapped both her arms around Whitney as much as she could. All Whitney could do was hug the small girl back and continue crying.

After about five more minutes, Whitney let go of Kisa. "Thank you Kisa-san. You knew just what I needed. Ready to go inside?" Whitney told the girl as she rubbed her eyes.

Kisa nodded and stood up. Whitney stood up as well and began walking towards the house. Kisa followed and slipped her small hand into Whitney's.

"You're welcome, Soichiro-san."

"Whitney-kun is fine."

Kisa looked up at Whitney and smiled. As the two walked hand in hand back to the house, the threatening clouds parted and a ray of sunshine broke through.

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~*~*END CHAPTER THREE*~*~