Kokoro No Kaitou : Chapter 2
~*~
That night, I had the strangest dream. I dreamt of a full moon, it's milky light bathing the world in beauty. I felt a strange longing well up in my heart, a longing for the moon. But why? Why would I feel longing for the moon? I didn't understand it then, though I do now.
I also dreamt of a man, one bathed in that same milky light. My father would be ashamed if he heard that I was dreaming of strange men, but at the time, it didn't matter to me.
He was a handsome man, that's for sure.
Tall, at least two heads taller than myself, with silver hair the length of my own. And he had breath-taking golden eyes. He was clothed in all white, from his shirt right down to his shoes. And the oddest thing about him was his ears and tail. Both were slightly darker silver than his hair, and looked silky soft to the touch.
He was standing there, watching me with an unreadable expression. As if he were expecting me to do something worth watching.
I saw my hand reach out for him, and he reached out his own as well, and then-
Someone was shaking my shoulder, rousing me from my dream of the handsome man. The servant lowered her eyes in respect.
"Forgive me, Hime-sama, but your father requests your presence." She said in a lightly shaking voice.
I sighed and sat up, dismissing her. My father wanted to see me, eh?
I knew he was going to tell me whether or not the man from the night before would be my husband or not.
So, I quickly ran a brush through my hair and changed into a nice kimono, a bright red one with golden sakura blossoms floating gently across the bottom. I walked out of my room, rubbing the sleep from my eyes and yawning. I walked quickly and deliberately towards my father's quarters, where I had taken the fat old man to the night before.
However, the only thoughts on my mind at the moment were of the red-haired boy from the previous night.
I knocked lightly on the door, and my father's warm voice answered back.
"Amaya, come in."
I did as I was told, and gently slid the door closed behind me. I bowed to my father, who was sitting on the floor, a paper before him. I folded my kimono underneath me as I kneeled as well.
"You called for me, Father?"
He nodded. "Hai. It's about that man. His name is Akira, and he has shown a great interest in you. He has asked for your hand in marriage, and I'm seriously considering his offer."
I tensed, but forced a smile to match his own. "Is that so, Father?"
He nodded and picked up the paper, his eyes scanning over it before looking at me again. "Amaya, he has offered many great things for you hand. A fortune. This family would be wealthy!"
It was starting to look like I was going to be marrying that fat old man after all.
"You are dismissed, Amaya."
I stood and bowed once more in respect before leaving the room. As soon as I had closed the door behind me, I was fuming. I hated being treated like a piece of property! 'This family will be wealthy' he says. How insensitive!
As I stormed down the hall, I forced myself to calm down. I could worry about that later. The decision wasn't permanent yet.
But, I was still curious about the red-haired captive in the dungeon.
I reached my room, stopping briefly to change out of my nice kimono and into a brown yukata - I remember the conditions of that dungeon, and I wasn't about to ruin a perfectly good kimono just to visit a prisoner. I had only seen the dungeon once, as a child. I had been playing with a rubber ball when it had bounced down the dark dank steps and into the abyss below. I had been scared, seeing as how I was at the tender age of three, but I had swallowed my fears and made the trek into the place anyways.
I still have nightmares about what I saw down there that day.
Men, thin - nothing but skin and bone, moaning in the darkness. Reaching out with their pasty hands, begging for any food that I could spare. The newer ones were rowdy and loud, yelling rude things to me as I scooped up my ball.
Needless to say, I never made a return trip.
Before I realized what had happened, I was standing before those dark, dank stairs once more. I could hear the loud moans from where I stood, as could I smell the stench of those who hadn't bathed in months.
Holding my yukata sleeve to my nose, I walked down the stairs, taking care not to slip and fall. The stairs seemed to go on forever before they ended.
One guard stood there, lazily chewing on a blade of grass. He looked lazily over at me, and then seemed to realize who I was.
"Hime-sama!" He said, standing straight up and then bowing deeply. He did not rise. "What brings my Princess down to these lowly parts?"
I was at a loss for words for a second. What would I tell him? That I had seen a handsome boy that I wanted to meet?
"I believe someone was brought here last night." I said slowly.
He looked up at me from his bowed position. "Hime-sama? What about the prisoner brought here last night?"
"I'd…like to see him."
"But, Hime-sama, he's a dangerous demon! A brutal, murdering monster of a demon! It's dangerous to be near him!"
I wasn't about to be shot down that easily. "Listen, you will bring me to him whether you like it or not. Otherwise, my father will hear about how you refused my wishes."
This seemed to make the man see from my point of view.
He straightened. "Very well, Hime-sama."
He started walking down the dark and narrow hallway, grabbing a torch from off of the wall. I followed him as he led me down the twisting, snaking corridor, my geta sticking lightly to the floor when I walked. People were reaching out to me, and I felt guilty. Here I was, trotting around in my clean yukata, while they were starving and dirty in the basement, without a drop of sunlight to lighten the burdens on their souls.
The man in front of me stopped, and I almost ran into him. He turned to me with a pleading look in his eyes. "Hime-sama, please reconsider what you're about to do."
I gave him a firm glare. "I'm sure."
He heaved a sigh and turned to a large wooden door, sticking a key into one of the seven locks in the old wood.
"Very well. If it is my Lady's wish to see this scoundrel, then it shall be so. However, should he try anything, please, call for me. I shall be right outside the door along with three other guards, and we shall immediately come and help my Lady."
I nodded and he finished with the rest of the locks. He opened the door for me, and after I had entered the pitch-black room, he placed the torch in the holder and left me. The wooden door closed with a soft thud.
I blinked while my eyes got used to the dimness of the room.
The boy was sitting there, on the floor, eyeing me warily. He had quite a bit more bruises than the night before, letting me know that someone had beaten him since I had last saw him.
Again, a shiver ran down my spine when his green orbs met my blue-green ones.
"Can I help you, milady?" He asked in a kind voice, ringing with politeness.
Suddenly, I felt foolish. I had come all the way down here, determined to see this boy, only to come face to face with him and have nothing to say.
I decided to start with introductions, and see where it went from there.
"My name is Amaya, sir. And yours?"
Again, he eyed me carefully before replying. "You may call me Kurama. How would you like me to address you?"
I must have been gaping at him like a fish! Nobody had ever asked me how I wanted to be addressed-they had always referred to me with the utmost respect automatically.
He raised an eyebrow, and I found myself blushing. That's right! He didn't know that I was the daughter of the Lord here! He must have thought that I was a servant, with the way that I was dressed the night before.
"Please, Amaya will do just fine."
"Alright, Amaya-san." He said.
I loved the way my name sounded when it came from his mouth.
"I saw you yesterday." He said. "You were the pretty woman in the white yukata."
I nodded, blushing again. I was thankful for the dim light-hopefully he wouldn't see me acting like such a lovesick child. But I wasn't lovesick, I was just…I wasn't sure. Flattered, maybe?
He smiled kindly and moved to sit up straight, only to fall back again with a cry of pain.
"Daijobu ka?" I asked, concerned for the boy's health.
"I'm fine. I'm sorry you have to see me in such a state." He said, smiling again. "Normally, I don't lay around moaning."
I giggled. "Kurama-san, why are you in here, anyways?"
"Apparently, they have mistaken me for someone else." He said.
I nodded slowly. My eyes drifted to his fresh wounds. "Did the guards…hurt you?"
He seemed surprised by my question. "Hai, milady. For refusing arrest. Or so they said."
"Well that's hardly fair." I said, putting a hand on my hip. "They have fed you, right?"
He shook his head, and I it was my turn to be surprised. "Not even a little bit?"
Again, he shook his head. "Iie, they haven't fed me or gave me water."
How could the guards neglect to feed the prisoners? They may have been criminals - some of them anyways - but they were still human beings.
Speaking of humans, hadn't the guard said that this boy was a brutal demon? He sure didn't look like one.
Now, I was full of motivation again. I was going to make sure that this boy was fed! And properly, might I add.
I gave him a slight bow - I had decided not to let him know that I was the Lord's daughter. I liked being treated like an equal, not like a princess. So, I was going to let him believe that I was a servant to the princess.
"Well, I really must be going now, Kurama-san. Would it bother you if I visited you again tomorrow?"
He smiled kindly again. "Not at all, Amaya-san. I would very much enjoy your company. It makes my situation seem much less dreary to have a beautiful woman such as yourself around to talk with."
I blushed, and averted my gaze. I knew that if I looked into those emerald green orbs, he might see my feelings showing themselves. Which was not what I wanted.
"Alright then. I'll come back tomorrow."
I turned and started to leave, and he called after me.
"Oi, Amaya-san!"
I turned back to him, curious as to what he had to say.
He smiled kindly again. "Oyasumi nasai, Amaya-san."
I returned the gesture. "Oyasumi nasai, Kurama-san."
I left then, and the guard locked the door behind me.
"Hime-sama, did he say anything to you? Anything that offended you?" He asked, trailing along behind me as I walked back down the corridor. I whirled on him, and he jumped, quickly lowering his eyes in respect.
"No, but he did mention that he hasn't been fed anything at all since he arrived here! I want you to have the cooks make a proper meal for everyone here tonight."
He opened his mouth to protest, and then seemed to decide against it. "Demo, Hime-sama, your father, Takahashi-sama, has a policy of not feeding his prisoners. H-He say that they d-don't deserve to be fed. I-I can't just go against his orders. Gomen nasai, Hime-sama."
I bristled. Well, it appears that if no one was going to feed him, I'd have to do it myself!
Deciding that he could survive the night, I retired to my room and changed into my sleeping yukata. I closed my door to make sure that everyone thought that I was going to sleep, and then sat by my other door, which led out to the gardens of my family's estate. I sat there, staring out into the yard, then my eyes drifted up to the waxing moon. Two days ago tonight, the moon had disappeared from the sky, and it was currently growing now.
I remembered my dream, and the silver-haired man from it. He had been a kitsune, now that I thought about it. He had had fox ears atop his head, and a tail. But why would I dream of someone like that? I'd never seen a kitsune in my life, so how could I dream of one? I had, of course, heard of them before. They were known tricksters, always playing pranks on mortals and the like.
Maybe it meant that someone was trying to trick me…
As I glanced back up at the celestial body in the sky, my heart started to ache.
There it was again, that strange longing.
But why? Why was I longing for the tsuki?
I shook my head to rid myself of the feeling, and looked back over at my futon. Would anyone notice if I just ran away? Not until morning. It would solve quite a few problems if I did. I wouldn't have to marry anyone that I didn't want to, and everyone, not just Kurama, would treat me as an equal. That would be wonderful.
But it was also cowardly.
Running away was not the solution.
My head started to throb lightly, telling me that I needed sleep.
I obeyed, and my body and mind were both grateful for the rest.
~*~
That night, I had the same dream. Of the mochidzuki, the full moon, and of the silver-haired man. Only this time, the scene changed to another time, and it was of Kurama. He smiled kindly at me as he had the night before, and said something to me. However, though his lips were moving, no sound came out.
What was he trying to say?
~*~
Author's Notes: Yeah, I know, I know. Boring chapter. Still, the real action comes in the next chapter, when we discover something slightly odd about Akira…
I'd like your opinion: Should I have Hiei in the story? It is an AU, and I can have him be one of Youko's thieving partners. Should I add him in? And Kuronue? Should I add him in as well?
Well, please review and tell me what you think. If you want your opinion to be heard, then you have to get the review in to me by February 29, 2004. That's this Sunday.
Also, I'll be trying to update regularly, about once a week on Thursdays. I figure that that will work for everyone.
Thanks go out to:
Alucard The No Life King: Thank you! You're my first reviewer, making YOU my new best friend! LOL
Kaija Katake: Thank you!!
passerby: Thanks!
~*~
That night, I had the strangest dream. I dreamt of a full moon, it's milky light bathing the world in beauty. I felt a strange longing well up in my heart, a longing for the moon. But why? Why would I feel longing for the moon? I didn't understand it then, though I do now.
I also dreamt of a man, one bathed in that same milky light. My father would be ashamed if he heard that I was dreaming of strange men, but at the time, it didn't matter to me.
He was a handsome man, that's for sure.
Tall, at least two heads taller than myself, with silver hair the length of my own. And he had breath-taking golden eyes. He was clothed in all white, from his shirt right down to his shoes. And the oddest thing about him was his ears and tail. Both were slightly darker silver than his hair, and looked silky soft to the touch.
He was standing there, watching me with an unreadable expression. As if he were expecting me to do something worth watching.
I saw my hand reach out for him, and he reached out his own as well, and then-
Someone was shaking my shoulder, rousing me from my dream of the handsome man. The servant lowered her eyes in respect.
"Forgive me, Hime-sama, but your father requests your presence." She said in a lightly shaking voice.
I sighed and sat up, dismissing her. My father wanted to see me, eh?
I knew he was going to tell me whether or not the man from the night before would be my husband or not.
So, I quickly ran a brush through my hair and changed into a nice kimono, a bright red one with golden sakura blossoms floating gently across the bottom. I walked out of my room, rubbing the sleep from my eyes and yawning. I walked quickly and deliberately towards my father's quarters, where I had taken the fat old man to the night before.
However, the only thoughts on my mind at the moment were of the red-haired boy from the previous night.
I knocked lightly on the door, and my father's warm voice answered back.
"Amaya, come in."
I did as I was told, and gently slid the door closed behind me. I bowed to my father, who was sitting on the floor, a paper before him. I folded my kimono underneath me as I kneeled as well.
"You called for me, Father?"
He nodded. "Hai. It's about that man. His name is Akira, and he has shown a great interest in you. He has asked for your hand in marriage, and I'm seriously considering his offer."
I tensed, but forced a smile to match his own. "Is that so, Father?"
He nodded and picked up the paper, his eyes scanning over it before looking at me again. "Amaya, he has offered many great things for you hand. A fortune. This family would be wealthy!"
It was starting to look like I was going to be marrying that fat old man after all.
"You are dismissed, Amaya."
I stood and bowed once more in respect before leaving the room. As soon as I had closed the door behind me, I was fuming. I hated being treated like a piece of property! 'This family will be wealthy' he says. How insensitive!
As I stormed down the hall, I forced myself to calm down. I could worry about that later. The decision wasn't permanent yet.
But, I was still curious about the red-haired captive in the dungeon.
I reached my room, stopping briefly to change out of my nice kimono and into a brown yukata - I remember the conditions of that dungeon, and I wasn't about to ruin a perfectly good kimono just to visit a prisoner. I had only seen the dungeon once, as a child. I had been playing with a rubber ball when it had bounced down the dark dank steps and into the abyss below. I had been scared, seeing as how I was at the tender age of three, but I had swallowed my fears and made the trek into the place anyways.
I still have nightmares about what I saw down there that day.
Men, thin - nothing but skin and bone, moaning in the darkness. Reaching out with their pasty hands, begging for any food that I could spare. The newer ones were rowdy and loud, yelling rude things to me as I scooped up my ball.
Needless to say, I never made a return trip.
Before I realized what had happened, I was standing before those dark, dank stairs once more. I could hear the loud moans from where I stood, as could I smell the stench of those who hadn't bathed in months.
Holding my yukata sleeve to my nose, I walked down the stairs, taking care not to slip and fall. The stairs seemed to go on forever before they ended.
One guard stood there, lazily chewing on a blade of grass. He looked lazily over at me, and then seemed to realize who I was.
"Hime-sama!" He said, standing straight up and then bowing deeply. He did not rise. "What brings my Princess down to these lowly parts?"
I was at a loss for words for a second. What would I tell him? That I had seen a handsome boy that I wanted to meet?
"I believe someone was brought here last night." I said slowly.
He looked up at me from his bowed position. "Hime-sama? What about the prisoner brought here last night?"
"I'd…like to see him."
"But, Hime-sama, he's a dangerous demon! A brutal, murdering monster of a demon! It's dangerous to be near him!"
I wasn't about to be shot down that easily. "Listen, you will bring me to him whether you like it or not. Otherwise, my father will hear about how you refused my wishes."
This seemed to make the man see from my point of view.
He straightened. "Very well, Hime-sama."
He started walking down the dark and narrow hallway, grabbing a torch from off of the wall. I followed him as he led me down the twisting, snaking corridor, my geta sticking lightly to the floor when I walked. People were reaching out to me, and I felt guilty. Here I was, trotting around in my clean yukata, while they were starving and dirty in the basement, without a drop of sunlight to lighten the burdens on their souls.
The man in front of me stopped, and I almost ran into him. He turned to me with a pleading look in his eyes. "Hime-sama, please reconsider what you're about to do."
I gave him a firm glare. "I'm sure."
He heaved a sigh and turned to a large wooden door, sticking a key into one of the seven locks in the old wood.
"Very well. If it is my Lady's wish to see this scoundrel, then it shall be so. However, should he try anything, please, call for me. I shall be right outside the door along with three other guards, and we shall immediately come and help my Lady."
I nodded and he finished with the rest of the locks. He opened the door for me, and after I had entered the pitch-black room, he placed the torch in the holder and left me. The wooden door closed with a soft thud.
I blinked while my eyes got used to the dimness of the room.
The boy was sitting there, on the floor, eyeing me warily. He had quite a bit more bruises than the night before, letting me know that someone had beaten him since I had last saw him.
Again, a shiver ran down my spine when his green orbs met my blue-green ones.
"Can I help you, milady?" He asked in a kind voice, ringing with politeness.
Suddenly, I felt foolish. I had come all the way down here, determined to see this boy, only to come face to face with him and have nothing to say.
I decided to start with introductions, and see where it went from there.
"My name is Amaya, sir. And yours?"
Again, he eyed me carefully before replying. "You may call me Kurama. How would you like me to address you?"
I must have been gaping at him like a fish! Nobody had ever asked me how I wanted to be addressed-they had always referred to me with the utmost respect automatically.
He raised an eyebrow, and I found myself blushing. That's right! He didn't know that I was the daughter of the Lord here! He must have thought that I was a servant, with the way that I was dressed the night before.
"Please, Amaya will do just fine."
"Alright, Amaya-san." He said.
I loved the way my name sounded when it came from his mouth.
"I saw you yesterday." He said. "You were the pretty woman in the white yukata."
I nodded, blushing again. I was thankful for the dim light-hopefully he wouldn't see me acting like such a lovesick child. But I wasn't lovesick, I was just…I wasn't sure. Flattered, maybe?
He smiled kindly and moved to sit up straight, only to fall back again with a cry of pain.
"Daijobu ka?" I asked, concerned for the boy's health.
"I'm fine. I'm sorry you have to see me in such a state." He said, smiling again. "Normally, I don't lay around moaning."
I giggled. "Kurama-san, why are you in here, anyways?"
"Apparently, they have mistaken me for someone else." He said.
I nodded slowly. My eyes drifted to his fresh wounds. "Did the guards…hurt you?"
He seemed surprised by my question. "Hai, milady. For refusing arrest. Or so they said."
"Well that's hardly fair." I said, putting a hand on my hip. "They have fed you, right?"
He shook his head, and I it was my turn to be surprised. "Not even a little bit?"
Again, he shook his head. "Iie, they haven't fed me or gave me water."
How could the guards neglect to feed the prisoners? They may have been criminals - some of them anyways - but they were still human beings.
Speaking of humans, hadn't the guard said that this boy was a brutal demon? He sure didn't look like one.
Now, I was full of motivation again. I was going to make sure that this boy was fed! And properly, might I add.
I gave him a slight bow - I had decided not to let him know that I was the Lord's daughter. I liked being treated like an equal, not like a princess. So, I was going to let him believe that I was a servant to the princess.
"Well, I really must be going now, Kurama-san. Would it bother you if I visited you again tomorrow?"
He smiled kindly again. "Not at all, Amaya-san. I would very much enjoy your company. It makes my situation seem much less dreary to have a beautiful woman such as yourself around to talk with."
I blushed, and averted my gaze. I knew that if I looked into those emerald green orbs, he might see my feelings showing themselves. Which was not what I wanted.
"Alright then. I'll come back tomorrow."
I turned and started to leave, and he called after me.
"Oi, Amaya-san!"
I turned back to him, curious as to what he had to say.
He smiled kindly again. "Oyasumi nasai, Amaya-san."
I returned the gesture. "Oyasumi nasai, Kurama-san."
I left then, and the guard locked the door behind me.
"Hime-sama, did he say anything to you? Anything that offended you?" He asked, trailing along behind me as I walked back down the corridor. I whirled on him, and he jumped, quickly lowering his eyes in respect.
"No, but he did mention that he hasn't been fed anything at all since he arrived here! I want you to have the cooks make a proper meal for everyone here tonight."
He opened his mouth to protest, and then seemed to decide against it. "Demo, Hime-sama, your father, Takahashi-sama, has a policy of not feeding his prisoners. H-He say that they d-don't deserve to be fed. I-I can't just go against his orders. Gomen nasai, Hime-sama."
I bristled. Well, it appears that if no one was going to feed him, I'd have to do it myself!
Deciding that he could survive the night, I retired to my room and changed into my sleeping yukata. I closed my door to make sure that everyone thought that I was going to sleep, and then sat by my other door, which led out to the gardens of my family's estate. I sat there, staring out into the yard, then my eyes drifted up to the waxing moon. Two days ago tonight, the moon had disappeared from the sky, and it was currently growing now.
I remembered my dream, and the silver-haired man from it. He had been a kitsune, now that I thought about it. He had had fox ears atop his head, and a tail. But why would I dream of someone like that? I'd never seen a kitsune in my life, so how could I dream of one? I had, of course, heard of them before. They were known tricksters, always playing pranks on mortals and the like.
Maybe it meant that someone was trying to trick me…
As I glanced back up at the celestial body in the sky, my heart started to ache.
There it was again, that strange longing.
But why? Why was I longing for the tsuki?
I shook my head to rid myself of the feeling, and looked back over at my futon. Would anyone notice if I just ran away? Not until morning. It would solve quite a few problems if I did. I wouldn't have to marry anyone that I didn't want to, and everyone, not just Kurama, would treat me as an equal. That would be wonderful.
But it was also cowardly.
Running away was not the solution.
My head started to throb lightly, telling me that I needed sleep.
I obeyed, and my body and mind were both grateful for the rest.
~*~
That night, I had the same dream. Of the mochidzuki, the full moon, and of the silver-haired man. Only this time, the scene changed to another time, and it was of Kurama. He smiled kindly at me as he had the night before, and said something to me. However, though his lips were moving, no sound came out.
What was he trying to say?
~*~
Author's Notes: Yeah, I know, I know. Boring chapter. Still, the real action comes in the next chapter, when we discover something slightly odd about Akira…
I'd like your opinion: Should I have Hiei in the story? It is an AU, and I can have him be one of Youko's thieving partners. Should I add him in? And Kuronue? Should I add him in as well?
Well, please review and tell me what you think. If you want your opinion to be heard, then you have to get the review in to me by February 29, 2004. That's this Sunday.
Also, I'll be trying to update regularly, about once a week on Thursdays. I figure that that will work for everyone.
Thanks go out to:
Alucard The No Life King: Thank you! You're my first reviewer, making YOU my new best friend! LOL
Kaija Katake: Thank you!!
passerby: Thanks!