If it was possible to do a full face to the floor bow while lying in a hospital bed, Kyoko would have done it. As it was, only half of her body could plaster itself to the sheets. Quite the feat considering her foot was bound and raised onto the bed so she was literally bending her body in half.
"I'm so sorry Sir Takarada." said Kyoko, not looking at the man sitting in the chair beside her. "I got caught up in the moment and caused problems. I am completely ashamed of my behavior and await whatever punishment you deem fit."
She had only been awake for a few minutes before the Duke had arrived, his grand robes swishing behind him as he strode into her hospital room. She was sure he was here to reprimand her for being so disruptive. She was supposed to get along with the Duchess, not start fights and try to take her place in the show. Kyoko's hands gripped the sheets. Lory was probably going to yell at her and then tell her to never come back to the clinic again.
"Kyoko." said Lory calmly, but Kyoko twitched as if he had yelled at her. "I didn't come here to reprimand you. I came to thank you."
"Eh?"
Kyoko couldn't help it. She sat up in the bed, staring at Lory. He didn't seem mad, just calm.
"Why would you thank me? " said Kyoko, confused.
"Well for starters, you saved the life of one of your fellow concubines." said Lory. "I heard the whole report and know what happened. We avoided many problems thanks to you."
"That's- it's not a big deal. Anyone would have done it." said Kyoko,
"No, they wouldn't have." said Lory. "Your quick reaction probably prevented loss of a life. Ruriko should be kissing your feet for saving her neck. She would have been in a lot more trouble if Midori had been hurt."
Kyoko didn't know what to say. Honestly, she was embarrassed at the praise. She'd expected scolding after all. She felt a huge ball of stress inside her stomach coming untied. Did that mean she wasn't going to be kicked out?
"You need to take better care of yourself Kyoko." said Lory, his face now showing signs of displeasure. "First you jump in front of a speeding carriage. Next a falling boulder. You need to be more careful. Magic does not make you invulnerable. You could have been seriously hurt."
"Yes sir." sad Kyoko. Even though she was being scolded, she felt happy about it. He must have seen it because he scowled further.
"Are you even taking my caution seriously?"
"Of course!"
"Good. The other thing I wanted to talk to you about is the opening performance." said Lory, "Were you serious when you said you would be willing to do it?"
"I'm not sure that matters." said Kyoko. "I fainted during the performance. Doesn't that mean I failed to beat her?"
"Me and Seiji are going to have a discussion about that." said Lory." Which is part of the reason why I'm here. We still need Ruriko to be part of the opening performance, even though she did blow up my stadium." Kyoko couldn't help frowning at his use of 'my stadium'. "To make the long story short, if we kick her out, she'll complain to her dad. Which will make problems for us in the future. He spoils her too much."
"Obviously." muttered Kyoko. That girl had to have gotten her rotten nature from somewhere. She doubted that her father had the capacity to say no to his daughter. Which was too bad, Kyoko had really liked Ruriko's dad. He'd probably hate her after Ruriko told him about their standoff.
"Ruriko is not talented enough to do the ceremony alone." said Lory. "She's so out of practice that she's worse than a novice at this point. So Kyoko, I want to ask you. Would you be willing to put up with Ruriko and costar in the opening ceremony?"
"Costar?" said Kyoko. surprised. "As in, actually be part of it?"
"More like be the bulk of it." said Takarada. "You'd both work together, but you would be the leading magician for the show."
"Are you serious?" said Kyoko completely baffled. Her, be part of a magic demonstration? It was too good to be true. "If it would help. But Duke Takarada. Are you sure you want me to perform? Aren't there other magicians more talented than me that could do a better job?"
"Perhaps." said Takarada. "But they may not be able to tolerate or stand up to Ruriko like you have, and we can get away with it since you do represent her county."
When Kyoko had stood up to Ruriko, she really hadn't been interested in taking her place. She just wanted make Ruriko realize her own incompetence and quit by her own volition. But now that the offer was actually there...
"I'd love to!" said Kyoko.
"Good." said Lory, nodding in approval. He stood up to leave. "Once you're well enough to be moving you two are going to start practicing. We expect you at the training room in no less than two days. Ruriko is going to take remedial classes till then, so make sure to rest."
"Yes sir." said Kyoko, "I will do my best to not disappoint you."
Lory left and Kyoko couldn't stop the smile on her face. She was going to have lessons on magic! Real lessons on controlling magic. She was excited about performing, but more than anything, she was excited to work with Seiji and learn how to properly make images with pulse magic. She had been refusing Lory's suggestions to learn because she didn't want to be a bother. But if it was being handed to her like this...
Kyoko flumped back down on her sheets, grinning like an idiot. Things just couldn't get any better.
The next day Kyoko was allowed to leave the clinic. She felt much better after a full night's sleep. Her foot was still bound, but she was allowed to walk on it, provided she didn't decide to start sprinting any time soon. As she left the room, she spotted Hikaru waiting for her in the large hallway. He quickly walked over, then gave a low bow.
"Lady Kyoko." he said, head still down. "Please let me express my deepest apologies for my ineptitude at keeping you safe."
"Please raise your head." said Kyoko, alarmed. "I don't understand what you're apologizing for." She didn't care about the curious looks they were receiving from a few people in the hallway. She was more concerned at Hikaru's behavior. What would cause him to act like this?
"Please let me apologize." said Hikaru, ignoring her insistence that he raise his head. "I didn't notice you had hurt your foot, or come to your aid quickly enough during the incident. I failed as your body guard and must humbly request that you allow me to step down as your aid and return to training once more."
"NO!" said Kyoko so sharply that he jumped. "I am not going to let you do that. You're my friend, and you've been a huge support to me at the castle. I can't imagine having anyone beside you as my main guard and am insulted that you think I would let you leave over such a small thing."
"But..." said Hikaru confused and finally straightening. "I didn't fulfill my job. I left to help others and didn't notice your pain."
"The prince didn't dismiss you as my aid did he?" said Kyoko.
Hikaru shook his head.
"Then there's no problem. It's partially my fault for not being aware of my own limits." she thought about what Lory had told her about being more careful. She decided to take it to heart. As strange as it was, there was at least one person that would be troubled if she got hurt.
"I'll have no more of this talk of stepping down as my guard." Kyoko continued. "Let's put it behind us and pretend that it didn't happen."
Hikaru just stared at her, mouth open. She had never been this commanding before. Except of course when she yelled at Ruriko. He finally recovered, a large smile on his face.
"Thank you very much Lady Kyoko" he said giving another bow, but not as low as the previous one. "I promise you, it won't happen again."
Whether he was talking about mentioning the incident again, or not letting her get hurt, Kyoko wasn't sure. But she decided to let it go, glad he wasn't trying to excuse himself again.
They walked down the hallway, talking and laughing like usual. Eventually he asked her about the opening ceremony. Apparently it had gotten around that she was going to perform with Ruriko.
"Are you really going to do it?" asked Hikaru.
"They asked me to, so I guess I will." said Kyoko.
Hikaru whistled. "That's incredible. They usually only let level three magicians or higher perform for that. Though I can understand. Your magic was beautiful."
"Thanks." said Kyoko, feeling shy.
They arrived at the entrance to the harem quarters, and Kyoko hesitated before crossing the threshold. She had mostly forgotten about the other concubines after all the excitement from the explosion and show. But now the memory of Aya and Yumi's fight came back to her. She remembered all the bad rumors that were circulating about her, and the anger on Yumi's face as she threatened Kyoko.
"What's wrong?" asked Hikaru.
Kyoko took a deep breath, then smiled at him, hoping to reassure him.
"It's nothing." said Kyoko "Just remembered something that's all."
He was convinced and they said their goodbyes before she walked into the hallways. It was quiet and Kyoko was glad she didn't see anyone in the hall at first. But then she turned the corner that lead to the main room and saw Aya standing outside. The girl's face broke into a smile and she hurried down the hall to Kyoko.
"Kyoko." she said, giving her a hug. "I'm glad to see you. How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine." said Kyoko. "A good night's sleep was very helpful."
"Good." said Aya, a sparkle in her eye. The look somehow made Kyoko apprehensive. "Then come with me."
Before Kyoko could ask any questions, Aya had grabbed her hand and started dragging her down the hall, then pushed her inside the main room.
"And here she is." said Aya dramatically. "Our one and only concubine brave enough to stand up to Ruriko."
Kyoko froze.
The room was full of concubines. They were spaced out around the room, in their usual clicks as they turned to see the cause of their disturbance. Kyoko was waiting for someone to tell her to get out or yell at her for being there. But nothing happened. Most looked curious, but some of them even smiled at her! What was going on?
"Umm."
Kyoko spun to see Midori and a couple other women approach her. The concubine was hesitant, wringing her hands and not looking at Kyoko.
"How are you doing?" Midori asked, voice timid.
"Fine." said Kyoko taken aback. "What about you? You had quite the scare."
Midori shuffled her feet, still not looking at Kyoko. "Ah, yeah I'm fine. The physicians said everything was good."
"That's great." said Kyoko, letting out a breath. "You looked so apprehensive, I was scared you were going to tell me I accidentally hurt you somehow when I pushed us out of the way."
"No. I'm fine." she said. "I- I wanted to thank you. For, you know... saving me."
"It's no big deal." said Kyoko quickly. She really wasn't used to being thanked like this. Doing her job in the clinic was one thing. But things like this still felt foreign to her. "I only got us out of the way. It was your friend that helped you afterward you should thank." Kyoko gestured to one of the girls beside Midori. "She was really worried about you."
"I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life." agreed Midori's friend. "Ruriko really has it out to kill us doesn't she?"
Some of the others muttered in agreement.
"Is it true that you're going to be doing the opening ceremony alongside the Duchess?" asked one of the women with red hair. When Kyoko nodded she squealed. "Ha! That will show her. I wish I could have seen her face when they told her."
Conversations broke out, several focusing on degrading the Duchess.
"I bet she's not a real magician and faked her results."
"Are you serious?"
"It would make sense. She has the connections to do it after all. Probably threatened someone to get it.
"Her father would do anything to make her happy."
"She's a danger to the general populace"
"I'm scared for when she takes over her dad's job."
Several of the other concubines had joined the conversation, walking over to be involved in the thorough bashing of the Duchess.
"Huh." said Kyoko, watching the group gossip with interest. "It's no wonder there are bad rumors about me."
"What do you mean?" asked Aya, the only one that had heard her.
"Well." said Kyoko, gesturing to the group. "In the short span of five minutes, I've heard Ruriko accused of blackmail, cheating and murder. All stemming from a single statement."
"What can we say? We enjoy gossiping."
Kyoko turned to see a different concubine. She was tall with brown hair gathered to one side of her head. Several light freckles doted her face, making her look younger then she actually was. It took Kyoko a moment to realize that it was the women that was always hanging with Yumi. What was her name again?
She must have noticed Kyoko's hesitation, because she smiled at Kyoko.
"My names Risa by the way." she said, extending a hand that Kyoko shook. "Sorry for all the pranks and such. But no harm no foul right? Think of it as a rite of passage. I think all of us had to go through some form of bullying when we first entered. It's been so long since the last one I guess we got carried away."
Kyoko was surprised at Risa's attitude towards her. The last interaction she had with the concubine included Risa standing next to Yumi, yelling at Kyoko to get out of the main room. But all the animosity from before was gone, instead replaced with a bright smile and open demeanor.
"Has it been that long since a concubine has been added?" asked Kyoko.
"I was the last one to enter." said Aya. "And that was almost two years ago."
"I think Kuon decided he had enough to deal with." said Risa, her attitude now turning cold as she addressed Aya. Obviously she shared Yumi's dislike of the women.
Their conversation was interrupted a second later. Chieko and her other two friends had entered the room. They stopped at seeing Kyoko,
"Chieko!" said Aya, running up to her friend. She grabbed Chieko's arm and dragged her towards Kyoko.
"Let go Aya." said Chieko, shrugging off the girl. But Aya clung on to her sleeve.
"Come on Chieko." said Aya, eyes hopeful as she pleaded with Chieko. "Please?"
Chieko looked at Aya, before glancing at Kyoko, who was thoroughly confused at this point. Chieko clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"I'm sorry for the mean things I said before." said Chieko reluctantly. Aya yanked on her sleeve again and Chieko gave her a glare before rolling her eyes and adding, "And I'm sorry for throwing your book out the window."
"We're sorry too." said Chieko's other friends, actually looking sorry.
"It alright." said Kyoko, unable to stop the grin on her face by now. The concubines were taking to her and apologizing for bullying her. It seemed too good to be true. "The book wasn't hurt. And besides, you were just defending Aya when you thought I had made her sad."
"I guess." mumbled Chieko. Aya was positively beaming at this point.
"You were amazing by the way." said Aya to Kyoko. "With your magic. It was so awesome. I didn't know you were a magician."
"Oh. No, I'm not." said Kyoko quickly. She didn't want to create any more misunderstandings. "I'm not an official magician or anything. I just learned some stuff on my own."
"Are you serious?" said Aya "That's amazing. I can't believe you learned that by yourself."
"Yeah. It does seem unbelievable." said Chieko. Kyoko frowned. Why was Chieko still being so rude? Apparently she wasn't the only person thinking that, because Aya elbowed Chieko in the ribs.
"Be nice Chieko." said Aya "Why are you being so unpleasant?"
"I just don't believe what you told me." said Chieko, defensively. "That you, Kyoko, are not in love with the prince."
Kyoko twitched at the word love. Her demons stirred, awakened by the taboo word.
"Chieko." said Kyoko, a deadly smile on her face. The woman involuntarily took a step back. "Let me assure you. I have no intention of having anything to do with that word. I would like it if you refrained from associated me with that filthy emotion."
Chieko gave her a weird look, as if she didn't believe what she was seeing. Then she broke out into laughter, thumping Kyoko on the back. The gesture shocked Kyoko so much that she snapped out of her anger.
"Alright. I believe you." said Chieko, holding up a finger "But only because of Aya."
"Ha!"
Kyoko recognized that laugh. She turned to see Yumi standing at the entrance of the room. She was smirking at Chieko who was glaring back.
"And what's your problem?" said Chieko.
"I just find you amusing." said Yumi tilting her head as she surveyed the group, who were all listening to their conversation by now. Yumi had a presence that captured everyone's attention. "So quick to change sides and start sucking up to the winning team."
Chieko ground her teeth, stepping forward to talk back. But Aya stopped her with a hand. She shook her head, then stepped forward herself.
"Is there anything wrong with admitting your mistakes?" said Aya calmly. "With changing your first impression on someone? You said it yourself. That you made up all those bad things about Kyoko."
Kyoko's eyes widened. Yumi had been the one making up all the bad rumors about her? Why would she do that? She searched for the answer in Yumi's face, but the concubine was busy looking coolly at Aya.
"I admit to making up some of the rumors." said Yumi, not at all apologetic of the fact. "But not all of them. And I most certainly wasn't the only person that tormented her." she stared pointedly at the women in the room. Some, including Chieko, glared back while others looked down in shame.
"I don't like you." said Yumi, addressing Kyoko. "And I'm not going to pretend to like you just because you're on Kuon's good side."
I'm what?!
Kyoko opened her mouth to deny it, but Yumi kept talking.
"And let me warn you." she said "don't get too full of yourself. They may be nice now, but when things get tough, you'll find out who are your friends and who are snakes."
There were a lot of angry mutterings at the statement, but Yumi ignored them. She turned and stalked out the door.
Risa sighed, before patting Kyoko on the shoulder.
"Sorry about her." said Risa, giving Kyoko an apologetic smile. "Give her some time. She'll get over it."
"Get over what?" said Kyoko. But Risa just smiled mysteriously. She ruffled Kyoko's hair before following Yumi out of the room.
"What a grump." said Chieko. "She didn't even say sorry to you."
Kyoko made a noncommittal noise. She felt like there was a lot about the harem that she didn't understand. Sure Yumi was mean, but most of the girls appeared to look up to her. Almost as much as Setsuko. And why had she admitted to making up rumors about Kyoko? Why had she made them up in the first place? Did it all stem from jealousy?
They were questions for another time. For now, Kyoko enjoyed the new friendliness of the concubines. Glad, that for the first time in her life, she wasn't shunned or misunderstood by a group of women.
Things changed so drastically within the harem that Kyoko hardly recognized the place. Before, Kyoko would skirt around the quarters, careful to step far enough out of range to prevent herself from being tripped by passersby. But now, the women were all smiles, stopping her in the halls to talk to her and congratulating her on her performance. She could hardly believe the change in their behavior within the 24 hours.
Part of what contributed to this change in behavior was their mutual dislike of the duchess. Several of them expressed their gratitude for standing up to her, admitting they had been wanting to say something for ages.
"It was just hard; you know?" said one. "We didn't want to cause problems for Kuon or our families. There was too much at stake, and it was easier just to avoid her."
The other thing that contributed to their new friendliness was the information that she wasn't in love with the prince. After that got around, all the concubines, except for Yumi and Setsuko, changed their attitude towards her completely.
"But he carried you all the way back to the clinic." said a woman. "That seems suspicious."
"The prince is just kind like that." said Aya. "If it had been you or I that had fainted, he would have done the same thing."
As if that wasn't good enough, most of the women came and apologized directly to her. Some for believing all the bad rumors and avoiding her. Others for their pranks and bullying.
"How did you do that anyway?" said another concubine. "Push Midori out of the way?"
"Pulse magic. Through my feet." said Kyoko
"Hang on." said concubine with a long braid down her back. "Is that how you got out of the locked room? I remember one of my guards telling his friend that they had seen a concubine jumping in between balconies."
Kyoko nodded.
One of the concubines burst into laughter.
"That's brilliant." she said. "No wonder you kept getting out."
By the time Kyoko left the next morning, she was beaming with happiness. So much so that she almost forgot who she had to deal with for the rest of the day. Almost.
Ruriko stood at the entrance of the practice room, arms crossed and head held high. She was wearing a simple red dress that hung loosely on her body. Her arms were bare of jewelry, a new look compared to the usual gems that decorated her arms.
"So you came." she said, wrinkling her nose in displeasure. "I thought you would be smart enough to stay away.
"Of course I came." said Kyoko, an expression similar to Kuon's gentlemanly smile on her face. "I don't like disappointing people when I commit myself to something."
They stood there for a moment, neither willing to back down, the dark aura around then preventing anyone from interfering. At least until the director showed up.
"Alright, enough standing around." said Seiji, "Let's get started or else we won't have this thing done before the festival starts."
Ruriko shot Kyoko one more glare before turning on her heel and walking into the room. Resigned for a fight, Kyoko entered after her.
"How's everyone getting along?" asked Kuon to Seiji. He had decided to come by the practice room to see how the Ruriko and Kyoko combination were doing. The two women were currently standing at the center of the room, the duchess wielding a rod and his concubine an enchanted bracelet. Kuon was glad to see the rod Ruriko was using wasn't enchanted as powerfully as the last one. They didn't need to do new renovations on the palace as well.
The magician sighed, looking tired. "As well as we can hope." said Seiji. "Ruriko is certainly determined, and It's nice that she's actually trying, but she let her skills atrophy and it will take months to get her to the strength and skill we need for her to do more. And yet she refuses to do anything less than half of the work." Seiji shook his head. "It would be a lot easier to just have Kyoko do the whole thing and forget it. I still can't believe that girl taught herself my choreography. The only reason I believe that she's not a licensed magician is because she doesn't know some elementary level spells."
"She's quite something." said Kuon observing the two girls. They were arguing, apparently stuck on a certain image that kept coming out wrong. Kyoko would start an image that, when mixed with Ruriko's image, would be instantly destroyed by the clumsy magic. The two did not get along at all. So much for Takarada's theory of Kyoko getting along with difficult people. It was a good try at least.
Seiji decided to step in and help the two girls, preventing the argument from getting worse. Kuon stayed back. Yukihito, who had accompanied him to the practice room, raised an eyebrow at him.
"What?" said Kuon, deciding to bite. He recognized that look from his friend.
"You seem to have an unusual concern for Kyoko your highness." said Yukihito. "I don't think I've ever seen you with this much interest in one of your concubines before. Even Setsuko."
"Is that so?" said Kuon.
"I mean, think about it." said Yukihito. "You carried her yourself back to the clinic, even though her personal body guard was there. And this is the second time you've gone out of your way to come see how she's doing. Plus, all your other strange behaviors around her. It's unusual."
"You're looking too deeply into it." said Kuon lightly. "I'm in charge of the sun tournament, and the opening ceremony is a huge part of the festival. And as there have been multiple problems with it getting done, of course I'm making it a priority. And as for Kyoko, she was assigned to this by Lory, not me."
Yukihito gave him a look that said he wasn't convince but decided to drop it. What was into his councilor anyway?
Ruriko noticed Kuon at the moment. She quickly ran to him, stepping on Kyoko's twisted foot in the process and sending her to the ground in pain.
"Kuon, you're here!"
She made to launch herself at Kuon, but he skillfully blocked the hug. She humphed in annoyance.
"Kuon, you're not mad at me for hurting the arena a little are you?" said Ruriko
"Of course not." said Kuon, walking over to Kyoko and offering her a hand up. "You alright?"
"'M fine." she mumbled, her aura dark. Kyoko was obviously done dealing with the duchess. He was too. Ruriko scowled at Kuon in annoyance.
"Then why are you helping that plain idiot and not paying attention to me?" she said. "I'm the star of this show. I can't believe you've all been bewitched by this imp. "
"Ruriko." said Kuon smiling at her. I will be a gentleman about this. He thought. "I'm not mad at you for breaking the stadium." She was about to say something, but his expression cut her off. "But I am furious for how little you seem to care about this event."
"What!" said Ruriko, angry. "Of course I care. I care a lot!"
"Then show me your commitment." said Kuon. "Show me you can actually do this show. Kyoko here pushed herself to the point of fainting, while you have to pause every time you break a sweat. If I don't see improvement by the end of the week, then I'm going to pull you from the program and let Kyoko takeover"
The room was shocked at his harsh words, but most people nodding in approval. Ruriko's face turned red, eyes filling with tears. She noticed that no one was going to step in. No one was going to defend her. Everyone was silently agreeing with Kuon's words.
"I-Idiot!" she yelled, glaring at Kyoko before running off, her cries audible as she ran down the hallway.
Seiji sighed what sounded like a million sighs.
"That's not quite what I meant your highness." said Seiji. "But I guess I can work with that as well."
Kuon nodded and left the practice room, his councilor tailing behind him. It was time to stop worrying about stepping on toes and get something done. He would have to deal with Duke Matsunai himself to reduce damage control. It would probably have been a good idea to talk to him before his daughter could. He started to make his way in the general direction of the Duke's quarters when he was stopped as someone called to him.
"Your highness."
Kuon turned to see Kyoko hobbling towards him and Yukihito. He frowned at the pressure she was putting on her bad foot.
"You shouldn't be walking so fast." said Kuon "You need to rest your foot."
"Don't worry about that." she said waving it away. "I wanted to ask. Were you serious? What you said back there?"
"You're going to have to specify what." said Kuon.
"About me doing the whole event if she can't." She looked like a mixture of hopeful and disbelieving.
"Of course." he said. "If she can't pull her weight for this event it's natural for her to get cut. She's already received too much special treatment in my opinion. It's very possible that you're going to end up doing the show, so be prepared to take over."
Kyoko swallowed. "I'll do my best." she promised.
Kuon nodded, intending to keep walking. But then a thought occurred.
"I never did get to come check on you." he said. "But how are you doing?"
"Oh!" she was surprised at his question. "I'm doing very well thank you. The physicians took good care of me. They even complimented your work sir Yukihito."
Yukihito gave her a grateful nod.
"I'm glad to have been helpful." said Yukihito.
"Also." said Kuon. "We haven't had a chance to have one of our meetings. I think it's overdue for that to happen."
"Yes!" said Kyoko.
"Yukihito." said Kuon. "When am I free tomorrow?"
His councilor took out his schedule, scanning through the next day's events. "You have a short break before lunch, but I think Hoshi will take much of your time talking your ear off. And around two you have two hours break thanks to your meeting being canceled. And your last break is half past 7 where you have an hour for dinner."
"How does that last one sound?" said Kuon to Kyoko. "We can have dinner while we talk."
"That works fine for me." said Kyoko. "I'll be sure to think up of lots of questions to ask you."
"I'll see you tomorrow then." said Kuon. "Take care of yourself until then."
She curtsied and they kept walking down the hall, his manager speaking as soon as they were out of earshot of Kyoko.
"See. You do have an unusual interest towards Kyoko." said Yukihito
Kuon resisted the urge to roll his eyes, not gracing the man with a response.
Thanks for reading!
Hmm, so a little different from the manga. Kyoko gets to co-star with Ruriko. Maybe even take over. How is that going to work out I wonder?
So this chapter was supposed to have two more scenes in it. But I ran out of time to write. Oh well. I'll just add it to the next chapter, even if I don't like how it fits. Maybe when I go back to edit this whole thing I'll add them to this chapter.
Gahh! I need to stop adding things. Or else this story is never going to end! Quick someone stop me. D:
I hope everyone is able to keep the concubines straight. That's a lot of OC's chatting in the same place.
Perfect Beauty: I'm sorry to hear about your car! Glad to know that my story could cheer you up a little.
Kreasihakpen: "do you make the full choreography? my imagination play it beautifully "
-I made up the show, but didn't bother making up the whole thing. instead I chose to focus on parts of performance that would stand out. I actually was very strategic with this section of the story. Because if I only concentrated on describing the whole performance, I would lose some of my audience. I've noticed that when writers start a long spiel describing something, I tend to zone out and skip ahead. So I tried really hard to change things once I knew my audience would be getting bored. Which is part of the reason I broke the description of the performance with Kuon watching Kyoko. Plus, I wanted the reader to see what she was doing, not just the magic. That being said, I'm actually very flattered by all the compliments I got for that scene. Especially as I wrote it on the fly. XD
And welcome to all the new people that have joined the adventure! I try to update once a week between Saturday and Monday. It mostly depends on my school load. Also, I encourage any suggestions, corrections, questions and predictions and I'm super flattered at all the encouragement/comments/suggestions/questions and everything else! (by the time I finish writing my next chapter I can probably quote most of the new reviews verbatim) XD
So thank you all again for reading my story! Have a good week.
-Blushweaver