OreWaTensai: I'd like to thank my wonderful readers! Thank you, thank you,
thank you! Especially to Pyra Jaganishi! If it weren't for you I might
never have continued this fic. (
Displacement
Chapter Six- A Selfless Act
Mukuro woke up and found herself in a strange room. She was not wearing her gown anymore. She was wearing white silken pajamas. And the strangest thing was that she did not remember anything about changing rooms.
"Where..." Mukuro's train of thought stopped there. She suddenly remembered that her original room exploded and that she had fainted the night before.
Mukuro ran a hand through her hair and sighed. Fainting was so embarrassing. Especially because of the fact that some servant must have had to change her into her pajamas. Mukuro lay back down on the bed. She was feeling unusually tired and drained of energy. She surveyed the whole, overly spacious sleeping quarters. The bed she was lying on was draped with dark blue silk and the pillows were comfortable enough. Not too soft, not too hard. Just like the bed. The windows to her left were covered with light blue blinds, totally blocking out the sun. There were two doors to her right, one was what Mukuro believed to be the entrance and the other was probably the door to the bathroom. Next to the bathroom door were large cabinets... probably for wardrobe. In front of the bed was a large desk, filled with books, papers, and envelopes and such. But everything was so neatly arranged. Mukuro began to wonder to whom these things belonged to. Maybe this was a servant's room that was made vacant for her. Mukuro shifted her gaze back to the entrance door, debating whether she should dress and go out.
Unexpectedly, the door opened. In entered the servant girl named Ayeka.
"Oh! Oh dear, I'm so so sorry. I forgot! Stupid me!!!" exclaimed Ayeka.
Ayeka's alarm was evident in her face. She underwent several evolutions of expressions that were very strange. Also, her pointed ears began to twitch. Mukuro looked amused.
"No, it's alright. Come here." Said Mukuro kindly.
"Then you're not mad at me?" asked Ayeka.
Mukuro smiled. "No. Do I have any reason to be mad at you?"
"I guess not..." Ayeka slowly approached Mukuro.
"So tell me, Ayeka, what room is this?"
Ayeka opened her mouth but suddenly closed it again with her hand. "Sorry. I can't tell you."
"Why not?" Mukuro, who extremely disliked secrets as said, said before.
"He told me not to."
"Who did? Yomi?"
"How did you—"
"Never mind that. So why not?"
Ayeka fidgeted and played with her braids. "Well... I guess it won't hurt if I tell you."
"Umm-hmm." Agreed Mukuro.
"Well... it's like this. Your ladyship's room exploded, right? Well obviously you can't stay there. Or else you might develop asthma or some cardiopulmonary disease. Which is very dangerous 'cause you might die or something. And if you die then we're going to be in trouble everybody will say that Lord Yomi tried to murder you or something then we're going to be in even more trouble—"
Mukuro cut her off. "Alright, let's just skip that part. So, let's go on to the reason why I'm here in this strange room?"
"Well, please promise first that you won't tell."
"Yes, I promise." Said Mukuro with a smile.
"Ummm, you see when you fainted yesterday oh I mean yester night... or something like that, Lord Yomi himself carried you to our hospital. Then the doctor there said that you were okay. So, Lord Yomi decided to return you to your room. No, I mean your new room. But you see, the room was burnt to ashes because a bomb exploded in it. But the problem was that room that you stayed in was the biggest room in this fortress. No other sleeping quarters is bigger. Yours was second only to Lord Yomi's room... He didn't want the guest of honor to sleep in a measly room so he decided to..."
Ayeka trailed off, looking ashamed. Mukuro's eyes widened in surprise.
"So you mean... this room I'm staying in is..." said Mukuro haltingly, "... It's his room?!?"
"Well. In not so many words..."
"I can't believe it... This is YOMI'S room?!"
"Lord Yomi, if you please." Said Ayeka timidly.
"This?" Mukuro looked around in shock, "Is his room?!"
Ayeka looked flustered. "Yeah, but don't worry we changed the sheets and everything!"
"No, that wasn't what I meant." Said Mukuro, calming down.
"What did you mean, Lady Mukuro?"
"It's just... why would he give up his room?"
"Well, this is the largest room in Gandara..."
Mukuro slipped off the bed and paced the room.
"Where is he sleeping then?" said Mukuro.
"Ermm... I wasn't allowed to say anything about that either..."
"Well, you said everything else, why not say everything?" snapped Mukuro.
"He's sleeping in the guestroom! Only I don't think—"
Mukuro interrupted her, "Were my spare clothes brought here already?"
"Yes, they're in the cabinet."
"And do you know where Lord Yomi could be?"
"Probably in the conference room."
"Alright, thank you Ayeka you can leave now."
"H-hai!" said Ayeka, bowing then exiting the room.
Mukuro opened the cabinet and began to undress. She resolved to find Yomi immediately.
-=-=-
Mukuro opened the door to the conference room. Yomi looked up from his work.
"Lady Mukuro, are you feeling well already?" said Yomi, setting aside his laptop.
"Yes, I'm fine." said Mukuro quickly.
Yomi looked perplexed for a second. "You seem tense today."
"Lord Yomi, I would like to know why you gave me your room yesterday night."
"What of it?"
"You could have just given me any guest room!" said Mukuro, getting annoyed at Yomi's indifference.
"Yes, I could have. But I decided not to, what is wrong with that?"
"What's wrong is it's just not proper!"
Yomi raised an eyebrow. "Proper? It isn't proper to entertain guests graciously?"
Mukuro suddenly became quiet. That word rang a bell. She remembered the day Enki proposed the state visits. She had said things that were offending to Yomi.
"Lady Mukuro?" said Yomi.
"I... I take back what I said earlier."
Yomi was silent.
"I was wrong." Said Mukuro thoughtfully, "You are not evil..."
"Evil? ... Oh I remember now." Said Yomi looking amused, "That conference..."
"I apologize for everything." Said Mukuro.
"No, I should apologize as well. You almost got killed yesterday night."
"Yes, I should probably thank you for saving my life as well."
"No, it is nothing. I was the one who did not detect the bomb."
"But still you protected me from certain death."
Yomi gave the faintest smile. Suddenly, Mukuro could not bring herself to look at him.
A few seconds ticked by in awkward silence. It was only broken by the sound o the door being pushed open.
"Lord Yomi!" said a familiar high-pitched voice.
"Lady Yanagisawa—" started Yomi.
Quite shockingly, Yanagisawa threw her arms around Yomi. Yomi looked taken aback. Mukuro looked disgusted and her face darkened.
"Oh I was so worried about you! I came as soon as I heard the dreadful news!" said Yanagisawa.
"Then you must be really deaf..." said Mukuro in an undertone.
Apparently, Yomi heard this and was thoroughly amused. He was now smiling. Meanwhile Yanagisawa was tightening her embrace.
"Oh, Lord Yomi I am so glad you're alright!"
"Yes, yes I am quite fine..." said Yomi, pulling away from her.
"But you look tired!" said Yanagisawa, puckering her lips.
"I haven't slept at all."
"Why not?"
"I have been up all night investigating about the bomb incident." Said Yomi.
Mukuro's gaze immediately shifted onto Yomi again. He was up all night?!
"Well come on then, I'll escort you to your room!" said Yanagisawa hopefully.
"Let me report to Lady Mukuro my findings first." Said Yomi. "It seems that the bomb was a homemade one. Fortunately the parts the culprit used were very easy to detect. The culprit is now behind bars and awaiting his death sentence."
"Indeed..." said Mukuro, mentally kicking herself for owing Yomi so much.
"And so where did Lady Mukuro spend the night?" said Yanagisawa, hoping that Mukuro had had to sleep in a meager room.
"I let her sleep in my room." Said Yomi.
"What?! You two... together!?" shouted Yanagisawa.
"No you've misunderstood. Lord Yomi kindly lent me his room." Replied an annoyed Mukuro.
Yomi laughed. "I admire your sense of humor, Lady Yanagisawa."
"Well, now that everything's said and done," Yanagisawa clapped her hands, "Lord Yomi, will you kindly show me your room?"
"I'm afraid," said Mukuro loudly, "I owe Lord Yomi too much. I believe I shoud escort him to his room."
"Well, thank you Lady Mukuro." Said Yomi politely.
Yomi proceeded to the door and opened it for Mukuro. Then when they were outside with Yanagisawa still watching them, Mukuro took Yomi's arm... which made Yanagisawa fume with jealousy.
Mukuro smiled inwardly. 'Yanagisawa deserved that!'
Mukuro then looked up at Yomi's face. Now she was sure that she deserved all the attention Yomi has to offer.
The two arrived at a guest room about half the size of Yomi's real room. Mukuro felt guilty.
"Listen, why don't you just take back your room?" said Mukuro.
"No, I'm fine here." Said Yomi, entering the room.
The room was barely furnished. It was just simple and was suited only for the basic needs. So very unlike the luxurious room Mukuro was staying in.
"You can leave now, Lady Mukuro." Said Yomi.
"Oh... yes that's right." Replied Mukuro.
Mukuro turned around to make her exit. But Yomi spoke up again.
"Lady Mukuro."
"Yes?"
"Don't worry about what you said at that conference. It's already forgiven." Said Yomi.
Mukuro did not reply. Instead she just continued out the door. Maybe she was wrong about Yomi all along. He wasn't that bad. Definitely not evil. Maybe he was just misunderstood. After all every being has a heart. Maybe Yomi did too.
Mukuro stopped at an open window and stared out at Gandara. Only now did she realize it was a very beautiful city. Very organized and advanced.
'It must have been made by a beautiful mind as well.' Thought Mukuro, continuing on.
She unexpectedly bumped into Hiei.
"Mukuro!" said Hiei. "How are you? Are you well?"
"Yes, thank you I'm fine."
"Are you sure? I bet that assassination attempt had been planned by that devil Yomi!"
"Lord Yomi if you please." Said Mukuro, walking away.
"Lord Yomi? What in the world has gotten into her..." wondered Hiei.
Kurama appeared from one of the corridors. "Oh, Hiei how's Mukuro?"
"She's alright... but I think the explosion damaged her mind." said Hiei resolutely.
Displacement
Chapter Six- A Selfless Act
Mukuro woke up and found herself in a strange room. She was not wearing her gown anymore. She was wearing white silken pajamas. And the strangest thing was that she did not remember anything about changing rooms.
"Where..." Mukuro's train of thought stopped there. She suddenly remembered that her original room exploded and that she had fainted the night before.
Mukuro ran a hand through her hair and sighed. Fainting was so embarrassing. Especially because of the fact that some servant must have had to change her into her pajamas. Mukuro lay back down on the bed. She was feeling unusually tired and drained of energy. She surveyed the whole, overly spacious sleeping quarters. The bed she was lying on was draped with dark blue silk and the pillows were comfortable enough. Not too soft, not too hard. Just like the bed. The windows to her left were covered with light blue blinds, totally blocking out the sun. There were two doors to her right, one was what Mukuro believed to be the entrance and the other was probably the door to the bathroom. Next to the bathroom door were large cabinets... probably for wardrobe. In front of the bed was a large desk, filled with books, papers, and envelopes and such. But everything was so neatly arranged. Mukuro began to wonder to whom these things belonged to. Maybe this was a servant's room that was made vacant for her. Mukuro shifted her gaze back to the entrance door, debating whether she should dress and go out.
Unexpectedly, the door opened. In entered the servant girl named Ayeka.
"Oh! Oh dear, I'm so so sorry. I forgot! Stupid me!!!" exclaimed Ayeka.
Ayeka's alarm was evident in her face. She underwent several evolutions of expressions that were very strange. Also, her pointed ears began to twitch. Mukuro looked amused.
"No, it's alright. Come here." Said Mukuro kindly.
"Then you're not mad at me?" asked Ayeka.
Mukuro smiled. "No. Do I have any reason to be mad at you?"
"I guess not..." Ayeka slowly approached Mukuro.
"So tell me, Ayeka, what room is this?"
Ayeka opened her mouth but suddenly closed it again with her hand. "Sorry. I can't tell you."
"Why not?" Mukuro, who extremely disliked secrets as said, said before.
"He told me not to."
"Who did? Yomi?"
"How did you—"
"Never mind that. So why not?"
Ayeka fidgeted and played with her braids. "Well... I guess it won't hurt if I tell you."
"Umm-hmm." Agreed Mukuro.
"Well... it's like this. Your ladyship's room exploded, right? Well obviously you can't stay there. Or else you might develop asthma or some cardiopulmonary disease. Which is very dangerous 'cause you might die or something. And if you die then we're going to be in trouble everybody will say that Lord Yomi tried to murder you or something then we're going to be in even more trouble—"
Mukuro cut her off. "Alright, let's just skip that part. So, let's go on to the reason why I'm here in this strange room?"
"Well, please promise first that you won't tell."
"Yes, I promise." Said Mukuro with a smile.
"Ummm, you see when you fainted yesterday oh I mean yester night... or something like that, Lord Yomi himself carried you to our hospital. Then the doctor there said that you were okay. So, Lord Yomi decided to return you to your room. No, I mean your new room. But you see, the room was burnt to ashes because a bomb exploded in it. But the problem was that room that you stayed in was the biggest room in this fortress. No other sleeping quarters is bigger. Yours was second only to Lord Yomi's room... He didn't want the guest of honor to sleep in a measly room so he decided to..."
Ayeka trailed off, looking ashamed. Mukuro's eyes widened in surprise.
"So you mean... this room I'm staying in is..." said Mukuro haltingly, "... It's his room?!?"
"Well. In not so many words..."
"I can't believe it... This is YOMI'S room?!"
"Lord Yomi, if you please." Said Ayeka timidly.
"This?" Mukuro looked around in shock, "Is his room?!"
Ayeka looked flustered. "Yeah, but don't worry we changed the sheets and everything!"
"No, that wasn't what I meant." Said Mukuro, calming down.
"What did you mean, Lady Mukuro?"
"It's just... why would he give up his room?"
"Well, this is the largest room in Gandara..."
Mukuro slipped off the bed and paced the room.
"Where is he sleeping then?" said Mukuro.
"Ermm... I wasn't allowed to say anything about that either..."
"Well, you said everything else, why not say everything?" snapped Mukuro.
"He's sleeping in the guestroom! Only I don't think—"
Mukuro interrupted her, "Were my spare clothes brought here already?"
"Yes, they're in the cabinet."
"And do you know where Lord Yomi could be?"
"Probably in the conference room."
"Alright, thank you Ayeka you can leave now."
"H-hai!" said Ayeka, bowing then exiting the room.
Mukuro opened the cabinet and began to undress. She resolved to find Yomi immediately.
-=-=-
Mukuro opened the door to the conference room. Yomi looked up from his work.
"Lady Mukuro, are you feeling well already?" said Yomi, setting aside his laptop.
"Yes, I'm fine." said Mukuro quickly.
Yomi looked perplexed for a second. "You seem tense today."
"Lord Yomi, I would like to know why you gave me your room yesterday night."
"What of it?"
"You could have just given me any guest room!" said Mukuro, getting annoyed at Yomi's indifference.
"Yes, I could have. But I decided not to, what is wrong with that?"
"What's wrong is it's just not proper!"
Yomi raised an eyebrow. "Proper? It isn't proper to entertain guests graciously?"
Mukuro suddenly became quiet. That word rang a bell. She remembered the day Enki proposed the state visits. She had said things that were offending to Yomi.
"Lady Mukuro?" said Yomi.
"I... I take back what I said earlier."
Yomi was silent.
"I was wrong." Said Mukuro thoughtfully, "You are not evil..."
"Evil? ... Oh I remember now." Said Yomi looking amused, "That conference..."
"I apologize for everything." Said Mukuro.
"No, I should apologize as well. You almost got killed yesterday night."
"Yes, I should probably thank you for saving my life as well."
"No, it is nothing. I was the one who did not detect the bomb."
"But still you protected me from certain death."
Yomi gave the faintest smile. Suddenly, Mukuro could not bring herself to look at him.
A few seconds ticked by in awkward silence. It was only broken by the sound o the door being pushed open.
"Lord Yomi!" said a familiar high-pitched voice.
"Lady Yanagisawa—" started Yomi.
Quite shockingly, Yanagisawa threw her arms around Yomi. Yomi looked taken aback. Mukuro looked disgusted and her face darkened.
"Oh I was so worried about you! I came as soon as I heard the dreadful news!" said Yanagisawa.
"Then you must be really deaf..." said Mukuro in an undertone.
Apparently, Yomi heard this and was thoroughly amused. He was now smiling. Meanwhile Yanagisawa was tightening her embrace.
"Oh, Lord Yomi I am so glad you're alright!"
"Yes, yes I am quite fine..." said Yomi, pulling away from her.
"But you look tired!" said Yanagisawa, puckering her lips.
"I haven't slept at all."
"Why not?"
"I have been up all night investigating about the bomb incident." Said Yomi.
Mukuro's gaze immediately shifted onto Yomi again. He was up all night?!
"Well come on then, I'll escort you to your room!" said Yanagisawa hopefully.
"Let me report to Lady Mukuro my findings first." Said Yomi. "It seems that the bomb was a homemade one. Fortunately the parts the culprit used were very easy to detect. The culprit is now behind bars and awaiting his death sentence."
"Indeed..." said Mukuro, mentally kicking herself for owing Yomi so much.
"And so where did Lady Mukuro spend the night?" said Yanagisawa, hoping that Mukuro had had to sleep in a meager room.
"I let her sleep in my room." Said Yomi.
"What?! You two... together!?" shouted Yanagisawa.
"No you've misunderstood. Lord Yomi kindly lent me his room." Replied an annoyed Mukuro.
Yomi laughed. "I admire your sense of humor, Lady Yanagisawa."
"Well, now that everything's said and done," Yanagisawa clapped her hands, "Lord Yomi, will you kindly show me your room?"
"I'm afraid," said Mukuro loudly, "I owe Lord Yomi too much. I believe I shoud escort him to his room."
"Well, thank you Lady Mukuro." Said Yomi politely.
Yomi proceeded to the door and opened it for Mukuro. Then when they were outside with Yanagisawa still watching them, Mukuro took Yomi's arm... which made Yanagisawa fume with jealousy.
Mukuro smiled inwardly. 'Yanagisawa deserved that!'
Mukuro then looked up at Yomi's face. Now she was sure that she deserved all the attention Yomi has to offer.
The two arrived at a guest room about half the size of Yomi's real room. Mukuro felt guilty.
"Listen, why don't you just take back your room?" said Mukuro.
"No, I'm fine here." Said Yomi, entering the room.
The room was barely furnished. It was just simple and was suited only for the basic needs. So very unlike the luxurious room Mukuro was staying in.
"You can leave now, Lady Mukuro." Said Yomi.
"Oh... yes that's right." Replied Mukuro.
Mukuro turned around to make her exit. But Yomi spoke up again.
"Lady Mukuro."
"Yes?"
"Don't worry about what you said at that conference. It's already forgiven." Said Yomi.
Mukuro did not reply. Instead she just continued out the door. Maybe she was wrong about Yomi all along. He wasn't that bad. Definitely not evil. Maybe he was just misunderstood. After all every being has a heart. Maybe Yomi did too.
Mukuro stopped at an open window and stared out at Gandara. Only now did she realize it was a very beautiful city. Very organized and advanced.
'It must have been made by a beautiful mind as well.' Thought Mukuro, continuing on.
She unexpectedly bumped into Hiei.
"Mukuro!" said Hiei. "How are you? Are you well?"
"Yes, thank you I'm fine."
"Are you sure? I bet that assassination attempt had been planned by that devil Yomi!"
"Lord Yomi if you please." Said Mukuro, walking away.
"Lord Yomi? What in the world has gotten into her..." wondered Hiei.
Kurama appeared from one of the corridors. "Oh, Hiei how's Mukuro?"
"She's alright... but I think the explosion damaged her mind." said Hiei resolutely.