The Shogun's Daughter
By: StarlightSakura
Chapter 5
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*bright flashing lights* ...
A/N: -_-... Uhhh, where's my disclaimer?
Tasuki: I thought I'd do it for ya.
Me: TASUKI!!!! What're you doing here? *jumps into Tasuki's arms*
Tasuki: I told ya, I'm doin the disclaimer. DISCLAIMER: She no own, you no sue. If ya even try to sue, I'll burn ya to a crisp!!
Me: YAY!!!! On with the story!!! Tasuki so pretty.
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Before dawn at the Sohma house:
"Whitney-san! Whitney-san! Wake up!" Shigure yelled as he came into Whitney's room.
Slowly Whitney opened her eyes. "Wh......... what's the matter, Shigure- san?" she asked sleepily.
"A messenger has brought word of your father's condition."
With that, Whitney shot out of her futon, wrapped her night robes tighter around her and ran out of her room towards the front of the house. When she got to the door, all the other Sohma's were standing outside staring at Whitney. She saw the man on the horse and ran up to him.
"Ken-sama! Ken-sama! What happened to my father? Is he okay?" She asked frantically.
"Calm down child. Your father was struck by two arrows in his chest. Fortunately they both missed his heart but he is bleeding a lot. I do not know if he will live."
Hearing this, Whitney dropped to her knees. She was speechless as she stared straight ahead. "F...father." She whispered. "How, how much time does he have left?" she asked.
"I don't know. I came right after I got help for him. I thought you should know."
"I want to go to him."
"Whitney-sama, I did not bring another horse."
"Then why did you come?!" Whitney yelled.
Shigure came up behind Whitney and laid a hand against her shoulder. "We have plenty of horses. You can ride one of them back to the capital." He told her calmly. "Get up first." He added. Shigure allowed Whitney to lean on him while she got up. "Come now, you should go change. Hatsuharu, go tell the stablemaids to get our fastest horse ready to leave." Shigure told him. Hatsuharu nodded and made his way to the stables.
In less than ten minutes, both Whitney and the horse were ready to go. Shigure helped Whitney onto the horse. "Don't forget to come back to us as soon as your father gets better." He said.
Kyo walked up to Whitney and handed her the unhatched bird egg. "It's not very motherly to leave a baby behind." He told her.
Whitney smiled and grabbed the egg from him. "Thank you and don't worry, I'll return as soon as my dad is better." With that said, Whitney gently placed the egg between her and the horse and took off as fast as the horse could go, leaving Ken behind her.
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At the capital:
"Shogun-sama! Whitney-sama has arrived! I brought her from the Sohma home!" Ken said as he and Whitney arrived in the capital.
Immediately, the shogun sat up in his bed in the palace. Covering his chest were white bandages with small blood stains on them. An officer saw the bloodstains get a little bigger. "Shogun-sama! Lie down, you are making you wounds bleed." He told the shogun as he made him lie back down on the bed.
Whitney came in, still wearing her night robe and holding the bird egg. "Father! Are you alright?" She asked as she ran to his bedside.
"I'm fine Whitney. I wasn't hurt too badly. Just some scratches. They managed to hit away from my heart, so I shall be alright, I'm sorry for worrying you. I was hoping that you could stay at the Sohma's for at least a few more days, just so we could make sure everything was safe here." The shogun said looking at Ken.
"I'm sorry for taking off, but I thought it best for Whitney to know, just in case anything happened to you. Have there been any more attacks?" Ken asked as he bowed in apology.
"I wouldn't know, I have been unconscious since yesterday evening. I only awoke a few hours before you arrived."
"I see. I'll go ask outside." Ken said as he left the room.
"I have to go check on a few other men. Soichiro-sama, don't let Shogun- sama get out of his bed." The officer said as he left.
"I see you brought the egg with you. I can tell you will be a good mother someday." The shogun said with a smile.
"Father, even with wounds as bad as yours, you still manage to say such things. I almost forgot it in the rush of the moment. Oh, and I have to return Sohma-san's horse as soon as you are better." Whitney said as she remembered the horse.
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The capital, two weeks later:
"I'm glad you are better father, but I don't think you should come with me. A carriage will be following me the whole way. And what will you do if the capital is attacked again?" Whitney asked as she mounted the horse she borrowed from Shigure and her father got into the carriage that would bring her back.
"Do not question my actions Whitney. I am going with you and that is final." Arima said as he told the carriage driver to start off.
As Whitney and the carriage got closer to Shigure's home, the sun set and dark clouds appeared overhead and a slight drizzle started. Whitney looked up to the sky and smiled. She liked it when it rained. As they rode on, the rain got stronger. Her father asked if she would like to tie the horse to the carriage and ride in it for a little bit, but Whitney declined. She held her head up and opened her mouth to taste the rain.
By the time they got to Shigure's house, Whitney had gone into the carriage with her father but when the driver announced that the Sohma household was in sight, Whitney jumped out of the carriage and ran to the front gate.
"Please inform Sohma-san that Soichiro Whitney and Shogun Soichiro Arima have arrived and are soaked." Whitney told the two servants with a giggle. With a smile and nod, the servant turned and ran into the house. A little while later, Kyo came running out.
"Whits-kun! We were starting to miss you! Thought you had forgotten us." Kyo said as he picked Whitney up and swung her around.
"Kyo-kun, it's only been two weeks." Whitney said. She wrapped her arms around Kyo for the first time. Quickly Kyo looked down at her in shock, but only for a brief moment before there was a soft, *poof!* The next thing Whitney knew, she was hugging a small orange cat. "AHHH! KYO-KUN!" she screamed as she dropped the cat.
Arima had seen the whole thing as he was getting out of the carriage. Immediately he ran to Whitney and looked at the cat that was now sitting on the ground hanging his head. "What is going on here? Whitney! Get away from it!" he yelled.
It was then that Shigure and the rest came out of the house. "Why hello ther..." Shigure said in a cherry tone that stopped when he saw Arima holding Whitney and noticed an orange blur disappear into some bushes. "Oh dear." He added in a serious tone.
"Sohma-san, what's going on?" Whitney asked. She held her palm to her chest in an effort to calm herself from the shock she had just received
"I would like to know as well."
Shigure sighed, figuring it was about time they had found out the truth about Kyo. "Arima-kun, let's go inside. I'll explain everything there." He said.
When everyone was inside and sitting around the table, Shigure told Whitney and Arima all about Kyo and his curse. From how he had gotten it, to how he was rejected by all the villages, to what had happened outside in the rain.
'Poor Kyo. He must be so sad, not having a friend outside of his family. I wonder why he didn't tell me. Maybe he thought I would reject him also? I would never! Then again, he didn't know me well enough to trust me. I wonder how father's taking this. He doesn't like being around people with curses. He thinks they bring bad luck!' Whitney was telling herself. She looked at her father who was already yelling across the table.
"...about to let my daughter become friendly with someone who is cursed?! Why didn't you ever tell us Sohma-san?! Let's go Whitney!" He finished as he stood from the table.
Whitney looked at him. "But father I..."
"LET'S GO!"
Whitney moved back a little at her father's outburst. She slowly stood up, turned to the Sohma's, bowed and left the room.
"Well, that went well, I think." Hatsuharu said.
Outside, Arima had grabbed Whitney's arm and was pulling her towards the carriage and laying down some new rules. "You are not to come to this village any longer unless I am with you. And you are not to see Sohma Kyo or any of the Sohma's ever! And Kyo is not allowed to see you. I will not have my daughter getting involved with anybody cursed or anyone that are familiar with someone that's cursed!" He told her.
"But father you can't!" Whitney yelled back as she struggled to free herself from his grip.
"YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SEE HIM!" he yelled.
"He needs someone to be there for him. He has no friends outside of his family." Whitney said as tears started threatening to fall any moment.
"That is his own damn fault! There is no good reason for anyone to be cursed! If they are under a curse, they are a bad person that must not be amongst others!"
Arima practically shoved Whitney into the carriage and when the door was closed, Whitney stuck her head out the window and saw an orange haired boy standing on the roof looking at them.
"KYO-KUN!!!" Whitney yelled as she stretched her hand out towards the fading figure as the carriage sped off.
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In the capital:
*KNOCK, KNOCK!* A hand knocked on the hard wooden door.
"Come in." A soft voice said from the other side.
The door opened and a boy about 16-years-old with black hair and brown eyes came in. He looked around the dark room and noticed a figure curled into a little ball on the balcony outside only visible because of the light of the moon. The boy walked towards the balcony and stopped at the door.
"Whitney-chan? Are you alright?" he asked.
Whitney looked up, the moon making the tears that had been falling down her cheeks glisten. "Hello Rei-chan." Was her only reply.
"What happened? We haven't seen each other in days. Is something wrong?"
"I'm fine."
"Whitney-chan, tell me. I promise I won't tell anyone else."
"I said I'm fine." Whitney said, a little irritation showing up in her voice.
Noticing the change in her tone, Rei headed back towards the door. "If you do not want to talk about it, that's okay. I just want you to know that I'm here for you." He said. He started opening the door.
"Rei-chan wait."
The boy turned. "What is it?"
"Can I talk to you?"
Rei closed the door, walked back to Whitney and sat on the edge of the balcony. "I'm listening."
Whitney took a deep sigh and told Rei everything that had happened. By the time she was finished, Whitney's eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks and clothes were stained by freshly cried tears. "I... I don't care if Kyo-kun is cursed, he's my friend, I can't stop thinking about him. He must feel betrayed by me now. I just want to tell him that I don't care about his curse, I... it doesn't matter to me." She finished.
Rei kneeled next to Whitney and pulled her into a hug. "Whitney-chan, you've fallen in love with him and you have only known him for a few weeks. You should move on with your life. There will be other men that you will meet and maybe you will marry one of them. Leave your past where it belongs, in the past." He told her.
"I can't."
Rei kissed her head. "I know how you feel. I'll tell you what, I will tell your father that you are going to my house for the day tomorrow and then you and I can go to Sohma-san's village. You will be able to see him again and your father would never know."
"I can't do that! What if father finds out?"
"He won't. Trust me."
Whitney was silent for a moment. Then she wrapped her arms around Akira and laid her head on his chest. "Thank you, Rei-chan." She whispered.
"Well then, I have to go get some stuff for my mother. I will come by tomorrow to pick you up." Rei said as he stood up.
Whitney walked with him until they were at the front doors of her house. Whitney unlocked them and watched as Rei walked into the dimly lit streets of the sleeping capital. "Thank you." She whispered when he was gone.
As for Rei, as soon as he was out of sight of the palace, he sat on a stone on the side of the road and looked up at the stars. "Why him? I've known her longer so why couldn't she have loved me? We have always been together, we have always been the best of friends. I guess that all I can do now is help her out when she needs me. If I love her I will do it. I must be crazy, helping the girl I love be with the man she loves. I'm so stupid! But I told her I would help her. I may lose her but we will always be as close as ever." He told himself. "But still, why couldn't it have been me?" He asked as he got up and walked back to his home.
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~*~*END CHAPTER FIVE*~*~
By: StarlightSakura
Chapter 5
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*bright flashing lights* ...
A/N: -_-... Uhhh, where's my disclaimer?
Tasuki: I thought I'd do it for ya.
Me: TASUKI!!!! What're you doing here? *jumps into Tasuki's arms*
Tasuki: I told ya, I'm doin the disclaimer. DISCLAIMER: She no own, you no sue. If ya even try to sue, I'll burn ya to a crisp!!
Me: YAY!!!! On with the story!!! Tasuki so pretty.
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Before dawn at the Sohma house:
"Whitney-san! Whitney-san! Wake up!" Shigure yelled as he came into Whitney's room.
Slowly Whitney opened her eyes. "Wh......... what's the matter, Shigure- san?" she asked sleepily.
"A messenger has brought word of your father's condition."
With that, Whitney shot out of her futon, wrapped her night robes tighter around her and ran out of her room towards the front of the house. When she got to the door, all the other Sohma's were standing outside staring at Whitney. She saw the man on the horse and ran up to him.
"Ken-sama! Ken-sama! What happened to my father? Is he okay?" She asked frantically.
"Calm down child. Your father was struck by two arrows in his chest. Fortunately they both missed his heart but he is bleeding a lot. I do not know if he will live."
Hearing this, Whitney dropped to her knees. She was speechless as she stared straight ahead. "F...father." She whispered. "How, how much time does he have left?" she asked.
"I don't know. I came right after I got help for him. I thought you should know."
"I want to go to him."
"Whitney-sama, I did not bring another horse."
"Then why did you come?!" Whitney yelled.
Shigure came up behind Whitney and laid a hand against her shoulder. "We have plenty of horses. You can ride one of them back to the capital." He told her calmly. "Get up first." He added. Shigure allowed Whitney to lean on him while she got up. "Come now, you should go change. Hatsuharu, go tell the stablemaids to get our fastest horse ready to leave." Shigure told him. Hatsuharu nodded and made his way to the stables.
In less than ten minutes, both Whitney and the horse were ready to go. Shigure helped Whitney onto the horse. "Don't forget to come back to us as soon as your father gets better." He said.
Kyo walked up to Whitney and handed her the unhatched bird egg. "It's not very motherly to leave a baby behind." He told her.
Whitney smiled and grabbed the egg from him. "Thank you and don't worry, I'll return as soon as my dad is better." With that said, Whitney gently placed the egg between her and the horse and took off as fast as the horse could go, leaving Ken behind her.
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At the capital:
"Shogun-sama! Whitney-sama has arrived! I brought her from the Sohma home!" Ken said as he and Whitney arrived in the capital.
Immediately, the shogun sat up in his bed in the palace. Covering his chest were white bandages with small blood stains on them. An officer saw the bloodstains get a little bigger. "Shogun-sama! Lie down, you are making you wounds bleed." He told the shogun as he made him lie back down on the bed.
Whitney came in, still wearing her night robe and holding the bird egg. "Father! Are you alright?" She asked as she ran to his bedside.
"I'm fine Whitney. I wasn't hurt too badly. Just some scratches. They managed to hit away from my heart, so I shall be alright, I'm sorry for worrying you. I was hoping that you could stay at the Sohma's for at least a few more days, just so we could make sure everything was safe here." The shogun said looking at Ken.
"I'm sorry for taking off, but I thought it best for Whitney to know, just in case anything happened to you. Have there been any more attacks?" Ken asked as he bowed in apology.
"I wouldn't know, I have been unconscious since yesterday evening. I only awoke a few hours before you arrived."
"I see. I'll go ask outside." Ken said as he left the room.
"I have to go check on a few other men. Soichiro-sama, don't let Shogun- sama get out of his bed." The officer said as he left.
"I see you brought the egg with you. I can tell you will be a good mother someday." The shogun said with a smile.
"Father, even with wounds as bad as yours, you still manage to say such things. I almost forgot it in the rush of the moment. Oh, and I have to return Sohma-san's horse as soon as you are better." Whitney said as she remembered the horse.
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The capital, two weeks later:
"I'm glad you are better father, but I don't think you should come with me. A carriage will be following me the whole way. And what will you do if the capital is attacked again?" Whitney asked as she mounted the horse she borrowed from Shigure and her father got into the carriage that would bring her back.
"Do not question my actions Whitney. I am going with you and that is final." Arima said as he told the carriage driver to start off.
As Whitney and the carriage got closer to Shigure's home, the sun set and dark clouds appeared overhead and a slight drizzle started. Whitney looked up to the sky and smiled. She liked it when it rained. As they rode on, the rain got stronger. Her father asked if she would like to tie the horse to the carriage and ride in it for a little bit, but Whitney declined. She held her head up and opened her mouth to taste the rain.
By the time they got to Shigure's house, Whitney had gone into the carriage with her father but when the driver announced that the Sohma household was in sight, Whitney jumped out of the carriage and ran to the front gate.
"Please inform Sohma-san that Soichiro Whitney and Shogun Soichiro Arima have arrived and are soaked." Whitney told the two servants with a giggle. With a smile and nod, the servant turned and ran into the house. A little while later, Kyo came running out.
"Whits-kun! We were starting to miss you! Thought you had forgotten us." Kyo said as he picked Whitney up and swung her around.
"Kyo-kun, it's only been two weeks." Whitney said. She wrapped her arms around Kyo for the first time. Quickly Kyo looked down at her in shock, but only for a brief moment before there was a soft, *poof!* The next thing Whitney knew, she was hugging a small orange cat. "AHHH! KYO-KUN!" she screamed as she dropped the cat.
Arima had seen the whole thing as he was getting out of the carriage. Immediately he ran to Whitney and looked at the cat that was now sitting on the ground hanging his head. "What is going on here? Whitney! Get away from it!" he yelled.
It was then that Shigure and the rest came out of the house. "Why hello ther..." Shigure said in a cherry tone that stopped when he saw Arima holding Whitney and noticed an orange blur disappear into some bushes. "Oh dear." He added in a serious tone.
"Sohma-san, what's going on?" Whitney asked. She held her palm to her chest in an effort to calm herself from the shock she had just received
"I would like to know as well."
Shigure sighed, figuring it was about time they had found out the truth about Kyo. "Arima-kun, let's go inside. I'll explain everything there." He said.
When everyone was inside and sitting around the table, Shigure told Whitney and Arima all about Kyo and his curse. From how he had gotten it, to how he was rejected by all the villages, to what had happened outside in the rain.
'Poor Kyo. He must be so sad, not having a friend outside of his family. I wonder why he didn't tell me. Maybe he thought I would reject him also? I would never! Then again, he didn't know me well enough to trust me. I wonder how father's taking this. He doesn't like being around people with curses. He thinks they bring bad luck!' Whitney was telling herself. She looked at her father who was already yelling across the table.
"...about to let my daughter become friendly with someone who is cursed?! Why didn't you ever tell us Sohma-san?! Let's go Whitney!" He finished as he stood from the table.
Whitney looked at him. "But father I..."
"LET'S GO!"
Whitney moved back a little at her father's outburst. She slowly stood up, turned to the Sohma's, bowed and left the room.
"Well, that went well, I think." Hatsuharu said.
Outside, Arima had grabbed Whitney's arm and was pulling her towards the carriage and laying down some new rules. "You are not to come to this village any longer unless I am with you. And you are not to see Sohma Kyo or any of the Sohma's ever! And Kyo is not allowed to see you. I will not have my daughter getting involved with anybody cursed or anyone that are familiar with someone that's cursed!" He told her.
"But father you can't!" Whitney yelled back as she struggled to free herself from his grip.
"YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SEE HIM!" he yelled.
"He needs someone to be there for him. He has no friends outside of his family." Whitney said as tears started threatening to fall any moment.
"That is his own damn fault! There is no good reason for anyone to be cursed! If they are under a curse, they are a bad person that must not be amongst others!"
Arima practically shoved Whitney into the carriage and when the door was closed, Whitney stuck her head out the window and saw an orange haired boy standing on the roof looking at them.
"KYO-KUN!!!" Whitney yelled as she stretched her hand out towards the fading figure as the carriage sped off.
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In the capital:
*KNOCK, KNOCK!* A hand knocked on the hard wooden door.
"Come in." A soft voice said from the other side.
The door opened and a boy about 16-years-old with black hair and brown eyes came in. He looked around the dark room and noticed a figure curled into a little ball on the balcony outside only visible because of the light of the moon. The boy walked towards the balcony and stopped at the door.
"Whitney-chan? Are you alright?" he asked.
Whitney looked up, the moon making the tears that had been falling down her cheeks glisten. "Hello Rei-chan." Was her only reply.
"What happened? We haven't seen each other in days. Is something wrong?"
"I'm fine."
"Whitney-chan, tell me. I promise I won't tell anyone else."
"I said I'm fine." Whitney said, a little irritation showing up in her voice.
Noticing the change in her tone, Rei headed back towards the door. "If you do not want to talk about it, that's okay. I just want you to know that I'm here for you." He said. He started opening the door.
"Rei-chan wait."
The boy turned. "What is it?"
"Can I talk to you?"
Rei closed the door, walked back to Whitney and sat on the edge of the balcony. "I'm listening."
Whitney took a deep sigh and told Rei everything that had happened. By the time she was finished, Whitney's eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks and clothes were stained by freshly cried tears. "I... I don't care if Kyo-kun is cursed, he's my friend, I can't stop thinking about him. He must feel betrayed by me now. I just want to tell him that I don't care about his curse, I... it doesn't matter to me." She finished.
Rei kneeled next to Whitney and pulled her into a hug. "Whitney-chan, you've fallen in love with him and you have only known him for a few weeks. You should move on with your life. There will be other men that you will meet and maybe you will marry one of them. Leave your past where it belongs, in the past." He told her.
"I can't."
Rei kissed her head. "I know how you feel. I'll tell you what, I will tell your father that you are going to my house for the day tomorrow and then you and I can go to Sohma-san's village. You will be able to see him again and your father would never know."
"I can't do that! What if father finds out?"
"He won't. Trust me."
Whitney was silent for a moment. Then she wrapped her arms around Akira and laid her head on his chest. "Thank you, Rei-chan." She whispered.
"Well then, I have to go get some stuff for my mother. I will come by tomorrow to pick you up." Rei said as he stood up.
Whitney walked with him until they were at the front doors of her house. Whitney unlocked them and watched as Rei walked into the dimly lit streets of the sleeping capital. "Thank you." She whispered when he was gone.
As for Rei, as soon as he was out of sight of the palace, he sat on a stone on the side of the road and looked up at the stars. "Why him? I've known her longer so why couldn't she have loved me? We have always been together, we have always been the best of friends. I guess that all I can do now is help her out when she needs me. If I love her I will do it. I must be crazy, helping the girl I love be with the man she loves. I'm so stupid! But I told her I would help her. I may lose her but we will always be as close as ever." He told himself. "But still, why couldn't it have been me?" He asked as he got up and walked back to his home.
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~*~*END CHAPTER FIVE*~*~
