The Girl With no Heart and the Boy With no Smile
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First Rivised Chapter:
Into the Wolf's Den
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Kagura stared at the large estate with extreme distaste; giving her father a pointed, pleading look; her bright pink eyes going as large as she could make them without having them go rolling across the lush grass. "Please,chichi-ue,don't make me stay here; of all places!" The estate belonged to the richestreal estateowner in this part of Japan,Ookami Kouga. Kagura had been asked to stay here with him after her father lost his job and was forced to move in search of a new one.
This whole mess had started during the brief period her father was rich, his wealth nearly equal to that of Ookami. They had a large home on the other side of theworld in Americaand Kagura had the love of her life in her grasp. Then her father lost nearly all of their savings when the company he'd invested so much in went bankrupt.Kagura's lover had left her behind with a few nasty remarks. It tore Kagura to pieces knowing that he was just a lie; that all the moments they'd shared, all the happiness she'd felt, that itwas all a ploy; a plan to get to her father, or more precisely: his money. It was a trap and she'd fallen for it.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought about it, and were disguised as slowly saying goodbye to her father and thenwalking up the long elaborate stairs that lead to the main building. Her heart was bruised, ripped out of her and stomped upon by the only man she'd ever really loved. Kagura didn't know if the wounds would ever fully close, this was a case only time and her encouragable will could heal fully.
At the front entrance two guards stood at attention, bowing slightly to her as she passed. Kagura gave them the slightest of glances, more concerned with slowly opening the door, peering inside and calling out, "Hello? Is anybody around?" She wrinkled her nose. Such a nice place and not one person to welcome her.
A grunt to her left startled her, making her stomach leap, "If you're looking for Ookami-sama, then please, continue forward." The voice came from a vulture-looking man with bleak grey eyes.His thin hand moved to indicate a large pair of engraved doors, made out of wood, much like the one's she'd just entered. The doors behind her shut with a soft thud, and Kagura moved ahead with a nod of appreciation.
Kagura seriously regretted opening those doors. No, she'd found Ookami behind them, as promised, and he'd happily greeted her, volunteeringtoshow her around talking nonstop as he guided her, not having waited for a response. Immediately Kagura grew self conscious as his bright blue eyes continued to meet hers in an odd manner. Shegave him annoyed stares in return, hoping he'd justgo away.She was broken out of her thoughts as an arm made it's way over her shoulders, the hand attached absentmindedly playing with her dark ebony tresses. Kagura stiffened.
"You're very pretty you know..." he said, his voice low and seductive.
Kagura squirmed out of his reach, startled. What was with this guy? She'd met him a mere minutes ago (it seemed)and already he was touching her! Taking a few deep breaths she said calmly to him, leveling a calm gaze, "Excuse me, but I think I'm going to go to my room now..." She pointed, "This way, right?" Without looking at him to clarify her guess she hurried back down the hall where they'd come from, not really knowing if it was the correct way back to the chambers Kouga had showed her, just so long as it was far awayfrom him.
She slowed her pace, confusion slowly dawning upon her. Nothing looked familiar here…She took a few more glances around, not even guards by the doors, as was such with other rooms. Her brows knitted together, where was she?
In habit she reached up and fiddled with one of her long beaded earrings, something she did often whilst in worry or doubt. A few more minutes of walking, and she felt her earlobe was going to rip from the force with which she tugged on the ring. Deciding that she couldn't just wander around and wait for someone to find her dead on the floor a few years later, she began to slide open some of the doors, looking inside quickly before snapping it shut again.
More then once she'd stumbled upon a closet, having had a few unorganized piles of cleaning utensils spill over the polished wood floor with loud crashes.
Reaching a point in the hallway where it came to a right angle, another hallway off to the right, she decided this would be the last door before she climbed through the window and simply walked back around to the entrance.
As the door slowly clicked open, Kagura was met with a wave of heat and steam, instantly frizzing her hair. 'Dammit, this had better be worth it.' She thought to herself grudgingly as she stepped forward, deciding that if this was a hot spring (which she assumed it was) there was another way out.
Nobody was present here, of which she was immensely relieved, for soon after entering, she found it difficult to see clearly, a disadvantage that could prove a hazard knowing that a pool of water must lay somewhere ahead. She stumbled forward, trying to wave away the steam with her hand, the herbal scents that heavily filled the thick air making her dizzy and sleepy.
It happened very quickly, starting with her reaching the slippery edge of the spring, automatically twisting around to avoid falling, thus alsoalso making her foot shoot out from under her, and finally sending the flailing woman into the hot water with a few minor tidal waves. It was surprisingly deep; when she found her balance on the smooth stone surface, the water licked at her shoulders.
"Shit!" She cursed, wiping the water out of her eyes with the back of her hand. 'My clothes wont be arriving for another hour!' she thought, a bit nervous at the prospect ofwalking through the Ookami residence dripping wet. The thoughts of what Ookami would do after seeing her in such a state were disconcerting, to say the least. She narrowed her glowing pink gaze at the second door's general direction. That was her last hope of dignity, if it led outside, she could at least become semi dry before returning to her room...wherever that was.
The weight of her cream colored dress was the least of her problems as she slowly dragged herself out of the springs, making her way sluggishlyover to the first door to click it shut, something she'd forgotten to do upon entering. Then she made her way over to the second door, able to see a bit more clearly now that most of the steam had leaked out of the room.
She gripped the handle and tried to slide it to the side, horrified as the door remained shut, a click telling her it was locked. "No no no!" She cried, shaking the handle viciously, making the door wiggle precariously. Just as the woman was about to ram the door with her shoulder in hopes of breaking the damn thing down, a small piece of metal fell from the molding above the door to land at her feet, a key. "Well, this helps." She stated, picking up the small silver object and looking it over with amused pink eyes.
The sight before her was one to behold. After sliding the door open with relative ease, she was met with the gentle, caressing breeze that came with early fall, slightly nippy, but still warm and wonderful to her heated skin. With a sigh she took in everything, her eyes holding only the slightest bits of tiredness she'd felt earlier. Kagura had stumbled upon a beautiful garden, the plant life seeming to reach from the native plants, to plants from her home in America.
Across from her there was a beautiful wooden bridge, suspended over a large Koi pond; the many fishes glittering just beneath the surface, taking in the oxygen rich air that came with the change of season. To her surprise there were also a few rare Japanese cranes pecking around the corners of the pond, nearly hidden by the pond-side foliage.
She let out a contented sigh, satisfied as the door behind her made a nice loud click, assuring her that it was closed and locked securely once more. Kagura quickly stashed the key under a few small rocks that lined the walls of the keep from the outside, standing quickly to look around suspiciously.
Nobody was around….that was a definite relief…
Kagura let out the breath she had been holding, and moved across the lush grass instead of taking the path, making a bee-line for the pond, wanting to relax a few moments, possibly dry off…
Nearing the gracefulness of a water buffalo, Kagura flopped down; closing her eyes, lying on her back, enjoying the feel of the sunshine as it warmed her, her wet kimono rather cold now, making the woman even more glad that Kouga wasn't around to see her. Her eyes popped open and a blush crept over her cheeks at the thought. Pursing her lips, she slowly moved into a sitting position, glancing around once more for security.
Still nothing but the birds…good.
Reaching up she unbound what hair was still tied up, the ebony tresses reaching past her shoulder blades in light curly waves of frizz. Taking the mass, she wringed what moisture she could out of it, over the grass instead of the pond, not wanting to be held responsible to the death of Kouga's fish by her hair products…
Something white flashed across the water's surface, catching Kagura's eye immediately, though as a large fish swam close by, she dismissed it, throwing a rock into the pond, a bit disgruntled that a fish had startled her. Pausing in the strangling of her hair, she watched as the glassy liquid re-formed her mirror image, and someone else's too…
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End First Chapter
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((There you have it! The first chapter of my revision! I hope you enjoyed it! I'll tackle the other chapters soon enough… …It's like combing tangled hair this is…I should have had a beta reader for this story…))