TWO

First Impressions

Yumi heard a knock on her door and said drowsily, "Oh, uh…come in."

The door opened to reveal a tall, slim girl with neon blue hair tied in long braided pigtails, and large, shiny light brown eyes. The girl wore a black shirt over a pink button-up blouse and rainbow Converse were half-hidden beneath overly-baggy baige jeans.

"Pleased ta meet you, Miss Yumi." The girl said brightly, holding out her hand, "I'm Nyo, you're personal maid."

Yumi almost laughed at the girl's hair, but forced the laughter down, "Uh…hi, Nyo. Please don't call me "miss," or "princess," okay?"

Her eyes lit up, "Really? I don't have to? That's fantastic! I hate bein' all formal and junk. It doesn't suit me. Not one bit." Nyo walked over to Yumi, "So, are ya excited to meet le prince?"

Yumi shook her head, "Nope." She sighed, "I was forced to come here and marry him."

"Oh no!" Nyo exclaimed, hugging Yumi, "You por, poor girl, ripped from your home to live with someone you don't know!" Nyo let go of Yumi and glared at seemingly, nothing, "This is an outrage!"

"I'm not sure it's an outrage, but it sure is something, alright." Yumi shrugged, "Oh well, I just have to live with it, I guess."

"Have you even seen him?" Nyo sat down , resting her chin in her hands.

"No. Why, have you?"

"Nuh-uh." She giggled, "I've lived here my whole life, and I've never seen Hakkai. Go figure."

Yumi began to panic, "Th-then what does he look l-like? Is he fat?"

"With twelve chins?" Nyo added with a smirk.

"AH! What if he just sits there alllll day, eating those little chocolate hearts!"

"Oh, oh, and has a purple face." Nyo giggled.

"What if he-he's…dumb!" Yumi gasped as she got an image of a fat man with a purple face and twelve chins eating chocolate, drool dripping from his large lips.

Nyo raised her hand, "I have the best one. What if he's a pervert, and wants to take you to bed…tonight?"

Yumi screamed and fell on her bed, "Nooooo! Anything but that! He-he can't be a-a pervert! I won't marry him!"

"Wait! What if…what if he's like ten or something?" Nyo's face contorted into a look of disgust, "You definitely cannot marry someone younger than you."

"You know, you're not helping, Nyo." Yumi glared at her blue-haired maid.

Nyo pouted and used puppy-dog eyes on Yumi, "Sowwy."

Yumi laughed, "It's okay. Now, when does Hakkai-"

The door flew open and Kosuke came in, panting, "What's wrong, I heard you scream!"

Yumi went over to Kosuke, "Nothing's wrong, Nyo and I were just talking about…girl stuff, Ko. You can-wait!" Yumi put her hands on her hips, "Where'd you go after you got "rust poisoning?""

"Oh, ha ha, that. I went to go see if there were any hot maids and it seems there's at least one." He slid over to Nyo and clasped her hands in his, "Oh fair maiden, please joineth me in the pub and I promise thou the most joyous occasion."

She pulled her hands away, "Uh…no thanks, I'm busy."

"Did I ever tell you your hair was the colour of the bluest sky and you skin of the fairest silks?" Kosuke smiled charmingly.

"Thank you, Yumi's brother, but I'm not going out with you. And besides, I'm too young to go to the pub." Nyo walked away from the teary-eyed Kosuke.

"I-I guess…" He sniffed, "I'm n-not busy…tonight." Kosuke hung his head and left the room, "Bye, Yumi and empty space."

"Empty space? Excuse me?" Nyo gritted her teeth and glared at the spot he was just in, "That idiot."

Yumi laughed, "I know he can be a little…idiotic at times, but that's just the way is. You'll have to excuse him."

"Alright! He's excused!" Nyo grinned, "Time to get you ready for tonight!"

"Can I take a bath first?" Yumi asked.

"Sure." Nyo pointed to a door on the other side of Yumi's room, "The bathroom's there. I'll get you some clothes, 'kay?"

"Thanks, but nothing too fancy, alright?"

"'kay. Have a nice bath." Nyo skipped out of the room, humming.

Yumi smiled and went into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind her. Finally, a nice, hot bath. Yay! She thought happily as she turned the taps and watched the steaming water come out. Yumi stepped into the bath, the warm water sloshing around. She sighed as the water eased her tired muscles.

Yumi studied her reflection in the body-length mirror. Her shiny black hair hung loosely over her shoulders and Nyo had put a thin layer of black eyeliner around Yumi's sparkling blue eyes. Yumi wore a strawberry red tank top and a black pleated skirt that stopped just above her knees, showing her curvy legs. Nyo insisted that Yumi wear black stilettos to complete the outfit, and Yumi agreed reluctantly, considering she had never worn them before.

Yumi gave herself a thumbs-up, to show she was content with herself and Nyo hugged her, "You look so pretty, Yumi! He'll like you for sure."

"You think so?" Yumi brushed her hair once more and checked her make-up.

"Yeah." She hugged Yumi once again, "I can't believe how pretty you are! Oooo, I'm jealous."

Yumi blushed, "Well…uh…thanks, Nyo." Yumi checked he clock hanging above her closet, "We'd better get going now."

"Yeah, dinner starts in twenty minutes." Nyo grabbed Yumi's wrist and dragged her out of the room, "Come on, hustle. We don't want you to be late. Remember, first impressions are everything."

Yumi followed Nyo down a corridor as fast as she could in stilettos and bit her bottom lip. I'm so nervous! What if all the things Nyo and I said are true! What if he is a fat pervert or a little kid? Oh crap, I'm scaring myself!

Nyo stopped and Yumi almost crashed into her, "We're here." She announced brightly.

Yumi took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. You can do this, Yumi. Just relax, just relax. You can do this, you can do this… Yumi cheered herself on mentally as her stomach got queasier with every passing moment.

Nyo turned the knob and threw open the door. Jumping in, she announced, "Presenting Princess Yumi!"

Hakkai looked up.

Gojyo, his personal assistant, snickered, "Is that her?"

Hakkai raised an eyebrow, "She seems…nice."

Yumi gulped and walked in, looking down at the floor. Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. She thought nervously as she walked closer to Hakkai and Gojyo, not looking up.

"Whoa. She's hot, Hakkai." Gojyo whispered to his friend, "Lucky bastard."

Hakkai smiled, "At least we know she doesn't have twelve chins."

Gojyo smiled back and winked, "Yeah. That's a plus."

Yumi looked up and saw a handsome young man with dark brown hair and emerald green eyes filled with wisdom. He wore a black button-up shirt and baige jeans.

Standing beside him was an equally handsome man with crimson hair that reached his broad shoulders and the same coloured eyes. He was wearing a thin dark grey sweater and light blue jeans.

"Hello." Hakkai said brightly.

Yumi glared at him, "Hi." She said dully.

Hakkai stood up, walked over to her and held out his hand, smiling, "I'm Cho Hakkai and this is Gojyo."

Yumi glanced at his hand and ignored it, "Interesting." She said just as dully.

Hakkai pulled out her chair and gestured for her to sit down, "Here."

Yumi pushed her chair back in roughly, "Thanks, but I got it."

"Oh…sorry." Hakkai apologized and sat in his own seat.

Yumi glared icily at him and pointed at him, free hand on hip, "Don't apologize!" She bellowed.

He raised an eyebrow, "Okay? I'm not sorry?"

Gojyo forced down a chuckle and nudged Hakkai in the shoulder with his elbow.

Hakkai shrugged and faced Yumi, "Have you seen the gardens?" He asked, trying to make conversation.

"No." Yumi answered simply, glaring at her salad, "I wish I was a gardener…" She mumbled.

"Pardon me?" Hakkai asked, "Did you say you wished you were a gardener?"

Gojyo snickered and Yumi shot a death-glare at him, "N-"

Nyo pooped out from seemingly nowhere, smiling. Yumi and Gojyo yelped, and Hakkai almost fell out of his seat. Nyo giggled and shook her head, "Noooo, she said she wishes she could see the gardens."

Hakkai's eyes lit up, "Great, would you like me to take you to them after dinner?"

Yumi glared at Nyo and then went back to Hakkai, "Er-um-"

"She'd love to!" Nyo cut in, pulling Yumi out of her seat.

"Wait! What about dinner!" Yumi asked frantically, hoping to postpone their little "walk."

"That can wait." Gojyo caught onto Nyo's scheme, "Eat later." He pushed Hakkai towards Yumi.

Nyo smiled innocently, "Have fun."

Hakkai smiled down at Yumi, "Shall we go?"

Yumi gulped and looked down at the floor, "S-sure." She squeaked.

Authoress Notes: Boo yah! Long chapter! Hee hee, I like this chapter. It's funny. Oh, thanks kagami-ryu for some "ideas" for this chapter. -nudges kagami-ryu with elbow- Ha ha, you know what I mean. Oh, anyways, thanks for the reviews and I'll update next week.

P.S. Is it just me, or is Hakkai being nicer than usual? -wink-