A/N: Sorry for the VERY late update – I had finals. Also, this chapter took some researching, and that took especially long. But now I'm done the chapter! Updatings will be quicker from now on (I hope) AND this chapter is a tinnie bit longer =D
Again, thank you so much for your support/patience :)
Quite a bit of fluff in this chapter, but what's a romance story without fluff? The angst part comes later xD
The bracketed numbers show some notes that I thought that should be put in at the end of the chapter. I know it's annoying to keep scrolling down to see them, but they kind of ruin the mood of the story
Chapter 3 – The Princess and the Cowherd
"Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him" – Aldous Leonard Huxley
Isshin and Masaki explored the town. It was a rather hot day, though not stuffy as it rained recently. Isshin explained some of the basic human interactions as Masaki had never stepped foot in the human world before. The Royal family secluded themselves from the shinigami world, even more so from the human world, but nevertheless assigned some members of Squad Zero to carry out top-secret missions from century to century. Not that Isshin had one yet since he had only been with the Royal Family for a relatively short time. As the youngest daughter of the Royal Family, Masaki was most curious about the human world. She was not allowed, however, to learn anything about the human world until she is deemed worthy. Unsatisfied, Masaki often secretly asked Isshin snippets of the human world. But there is only so much one can ask – to experience it, in Masaki's point of view, was much, much better.
Isshin, meanwhile, was sweating a bit. He had not been to the human world for quite a while, and the world changed quite a bit (since when was there…what did they call it…the machine of vendors?)[1] He was hoping that he would not disappoint Masaki, so he tried to be as knowledgeable as possible and pretended to be calm. Of course, he must always keep a look-out for danger, especially after that sneaky store manager warned him about the gigai. Yet, throughout their trip, Masaki could tell Isshin was always on high-alert even though he was light-hearted with Masaki. She knew he took his duties seriously, but for once Masaki would like to see Isshin actually enjoy himself.
Isshin and Masaki bought some clothes that suited the current fashion. For some reason, Isshin asked Masaki to buy a yukata[2] as well. As for why, Masaki could only guess. Isshin looked around in the store for his yukata while Masaki was putting on the yukata with the store assistant.
"So how do I look?" Masaki asked. Isshin stopped entirely to stare at Masaki. The yukata was black with thin silver stripes aligned with the cutting of the fabric. Pink and blue flowers splattered all across the yukata. A light pink and yellow obi, tied around Masaki's waist with a black string, completed the outfit. The yukata she chose perfectly complemented her skin tone. Isshin realized he was goggling and recovered himself, "Um…you look…very nice."
"You don't sound very convincing. Should I try another one then?" said Masaki, playing with Isshin.
"I mean it! This one's very nice already," Isshin said hurriedly.
Masaki chuckled, "Okay, let's get this one then."
After they left the shop, Masaki asked, "Are you going to tell me why we bought the yukata now? From what I'm seeing, the people here don't usually wear them."
Isshin said mischievously, "You'll see tomorrow."
Night befell Karakura Town. The clouds were slowly drifting away in the sky, but still abundant enough to cover the stars. Masaki and Isshin were sitting by a tree on top of the hill, looking down on Karakura Town, dotted with numerous artificial lights. Though the sight was not as breathtaking as Mount Fuji, an urban landscape had its own mystique and attractiveness. Other than the songs the birds were singing nearby, the place was quite deserted and quiet.
"Would you excuse me for a moment?" Isshin lighted a smoke, "It's something I do every time I come here, and even though it's bad for my health…it's a reminder of my very first mission. And I haven't been here for a quite a while." The trail of smoke swirled around for a few times before disappearing in the air. Though Masaki did not know the story, she knew that that mission went very deep into Isshin's heart, so she did not probe in any further. Instead, she was looking at Isshin. The cheerful and light-hearted Isshin was gone, replaced by the sad look that came across his face while he smoked.
"You hand looks cool when you smoke," Masaki remarked sincerely.
Isshin was rather shocked, as Masaki, though nice to him in general, had never so much as complimented him even once. Isshin blushed ever so slightly, silently thankful that it was rather dark, and blurted, "Well, men have to be cool sometimes."
The next day in the afternoon, Isshin and Masaki wore their new yukatas and headed outside. The sun shone on many different origami and paper artwork that decorated the town. Many people walked across the streets wearing different color yukatas.
"So, what's the occasion?" asked Masaki, curious.
"It's the Tanabata festival, the evening of the seventh," Isshin explained, "It's a traditional star festival derived from a Chinese folklore."
"Oh? Do tell me the story."
They walked across the street with many people wearing their yukatas. Children were laughing as they ran and jumped around. Isshin was thoughtful for a while before telling her the story
"The folklore is about the story of Orihime[3], the Weaving Princess, and Hikoboshi, the Cowherd. Orihime is the daughter of the Sky King, Tentei. She wove nice clothes next to the Milky Way, the star river, something that Tentei was very pleased with. Her hard work left her too busy to meet and fall in love with anyone, so Tentei invited Hikoboshi to meet with his daughter. The two fell in love with each other. Orihime gradually stopped making clothes for Tentei, and Hikoboshi's cows were roaming freely in heaven. Tentei got angry, separated the lovers across the river, and forbade them to meet. They were allowed to meet only once on the 7th day of the 7th month each year and only if Orihime would work hard weaving her clothes. They say that if it rains on Tanabata, the lovers must wait for another year before they could meet again."[4]
"That's such a sad story," commented Masaki, "It's unfortunate and must be so painful for them that they could only meet once per year. Not to mention it wasn't fair that Tentei separated the two lovers merely because of something so trivial." Masaki said with quiet anger, the story resounding with her own displeasure towards anarchy, no doubt, thought Isshin.
"It's unavoidable. To maintain the order of heaven, for the greater good, Tentei must do what he must."
Masaki only grimaced. "Such festivities for an unhappy story…I suppose for Orihime and Hikoboshi to meet even once every year is something worth celebrating for."
Isshin only shrugged. "They say that happiness is never sweet without bitterness."
They continued to walk down the street. Many food and game stands were set up inside the Main Street for the festival. The long chain of origami rippled as a gentle wind blew across. As Isshin and Masaki walked across the street, they saw that the games were really difficult to master and win. However, Masaki's eyes particularly glowed brighter as her eyes set on the gold fish stand. "Those fish are very pretty…"
Isshin wordlessly sat down and began the near impossible task of fishing the guppies with a paper net. Masaki inwardly laughed, but was very happy nonetheless. She wanted to tell Isshin that it wasn't necessary, but the look of determination in Isshin's eyes just stopped her doing so.
An hour later, Masaki held a plastic bag filled with water and two guppies. The first guppy was bright orange, even more so at the fins and tails. The second guppy had yellow scales but black-coloured fins and tail. "Thank you so very much for your effort, Isshin. I really appreciate it."
"It's not a problem, Masaki-sa…Masaki."
She would let him off the hook this time since he tried so hard, she thought. "Should we name the guppies? You choose the names."
Isshin mused, "Okay, uhh…Let's call the orange one Ichi for catching him first, and the yellow and black one, Nichi, the second one."[5]
Masaki nearly doubled over with laughter, while Isshin could only blush and scratch the back of his head. "I forgot you were notorious for your originality, Isshin."
The sun was slowly setting. They tasted several delicious local specialties, including their dumplings, ice-cream sticky rice ball, and mini hand rolls. Before long they headed to the stand where they sell specially made origami and bamboo sticks. Using a calligraphy brush they wrote their wishes down onto the paper. Isshin absolutely refused to let Masaki see what he wished for. Masaki was so very tempted to use her position just to see his wish, but thought better of it and respected Isshin's privacy. Instead, she wrote down a wish that she would never let Isshin see either.
They returned to the Karasu River where they first came, though it no longer rained and the land was dry. The crescent moon shone quietly, complimenting the soft glows of fireflies surrounding the area. Most local town people tie their wish on a special tree on top of the hill next to the town instead, however Isshin preferred the traditional way of celebrating this festival. They could both see the lights that surrounded the area where people were celebrating.
"I'm glad that Orihime and Hikoboshi get to meet each other this year. If it was raining like yesterday, then they would have to wait another year," said Masaki, remembering the story well. They walked towards the edge of the river.
"Before sending our wishes, I think we should set Ichi and Nichi free. Fishes are prettier when they're swimming freely in the river, don't you think? What happiness would they have if they were to live in a fish bowl for the rest of their lives?" Masaki reflected.
Isshin was a bit disappointed at first, but he understood Masaki's feelings. They opened the plastic bag and set Ichi and Nichi to the river. The guppies swirled around the riverbed happily before swimming away.
Masaki tied her wish around the bamboo stick, so did Isshin. Masaki took it and set it gently on the water. They both watched quietly as the bamboo glided away. A soft wind blew across the river as if to guide the bamboo stick towards its destination.
"I'm really glad that I've come to the real world," Masaki said quietly, "And, Isshin, I'm really glad that you were willing to come with me."
They were both silent for a while. Masaki started, "Isshin…"
A sudden burst of reiastu appeared right behind them, interrupting Masaki. A loud, echoing cry resounded, unmistakably a hollow cry. But Isshin could tell that the strange hollow cry and its reiastu were something he had never encountered before. A slight chill ran through his back as he turned around apprehensively, staring into a creature's face, its top half covered in a hollow mask, the other half uncannily resembling a human's…
A/N: dun dun DUN! A fighting scene in the brewing!
Story notes:
1. In case it's too obscure, he's refering to the vending machines
2. Yukata is like a kimono but less formal
3. Now you know where the name Orihime came from and what the name means xD
4. The story source is from Wikipedia. I rephrased and edited it a bit to suit the story better. If you're interested: .org/wiki/Tanabata
5. How did you think Isshin named his first-born son? xD
Thanks for reading, and please review!