Chapter Five
(Van's POV)
At lunch, We sat outside. Fresh air was what Hitomi claimed she needed. But this Tokyo air was not fresh at all. It made me kind of homesick. She set me out on her 'bento' box lid, where I ate a noodle. It was either that or rice. Rice, rice, rice! It was a staple food!
"And there's my fine friend this morning!" Yukari said as she approached. A young man was next to her, softly smiling. "Did Van come today?"
"Hello!" I shouted.
"Ah, Why it's the King of all things small and feisty!"
"M'lady." I deadpanned. "And you must be Armando." I turned to the other guest.
"It's Amano." He corrected.
"Tomayto, Tomato; Toledo, Toronto." Hitomi mumbled.
"Hello Van, it's nice to meet you. Um…Formally. I've heard a great deal about you from Hitomi."
"It's LORD Van to you." Hitomi used to have a crush on him. I don't like him.
"Yes, Lord Van. Pardon me." Yukari was close to tears holding back her laughter.
"Hey Hitomi, for having your boyfriend with you all day, you sure don't look very happy." She said.
"Eh, you know how it is. People are stupid. If I start acting all giddy, they'll pick up on it. It's better just to stay under the radar."
"Wait, Hitomi…" I interrupted. They all looked at me. "Am I your boyfriend?"
It was supposed to be an innocent question but she turned a very dark red and smiled like a lunatic. "Well…yeah. I guess so. That would be the right term for it."
"Another question…What IS a boyfriend?"
Yukari smacked herself in the forehead.
"Well, back on Gaea…you court someone that you like, in attempt to find your spouse."
"Right."
"Here, we date someone, and they get the label boyfriend or girlfriend. Although, it's a lot less formal here then on Gaea."
"Oh…I get it." I smiled. "You like me."
She blushed and turned away. But before I could tease her anymore, Yukari snatched me and hid me under her hands.
"Where's the temple? I found the missing Goddess!" A familiar voice rang. That was my pick up line! Jerk.
"Real clever, but next time try staying away from something so close to home."
"Yes, sorry…Winged Goddess." I was beginning to suspect that this guy really didn't like Hitomi, he just got a kick out of making her mad. Yukari and Amano stayed silent.
"Did you need something? Or are you just the barer of Awkward silence?"
"Oh I just came to check up on you. You know, to make sure you were okay after what I said this morning."
"You're not sorry."
"For telling the truth? No. For hurting your feelings? Yes."
"You know what would make it all better? Go AWAY." She growled.
"Ooo feisty are we? I like that. Soon enough, little Hitomi, soon enough." He SO wasn't getting away with that.
As he turned away, I poked out of Yukari's hands. "Hey Ugly! Why don't you go find a woman that speaks the same gobbledygook that you do!" He turned around. "That's right! I'm talking to you fatso! Stay away from my girlfriend or I'll get my Guymelef, step on you, and scrape you off on a rock like yerkle crap!"
The man was baffled. He looked up in the tree. "Is that an Angry Squirrel?"
"Angry squirrel my tiny hinny!" Whatever a squirrel was. "I've killed hundreds of men and I don't mind adding one more to the list! I'll-! I'll-!" Yukari took my sudden relapse as a perfect opportunity and clumped her hands back down on top of me. Rats.
They waved off my tirade and Kurone left, and so I was released. Hitomi had her head in her hands.
"Hitomi…what's wrong?"
"You weren't supposed to do that." Her shoulders were shaking.
"I'm sorry…You don't have to say it. I let my temper get a hold of me."
She looked up with twinkling eyes and a wonderful smile. She had been laughing! "That was awesome!"
"Really?"
Yukari and Amano nodded. "That was a wonderful show, if only he could have heard you."
(Hitomi's Pov)
After school, we started home. Still, Yukari was with Amano, so that left Van and I alone. Not that I minded or anything. I walked out the front door, but heard someone calling after me.
"Hitomi! Hey wait!" I stopped, surprised to see Mitsuki waiting to talk to me. She looked pleasant for once.
"What do you want?" I asked suspicious.
"Look, I know I'm mean ninety-eight percent of the time. But…" She held out a slip of paper. "My friends and I are having a class party. We're inviting everyone, because we're not heartless."
"Wow…really? Thanks." I took the paper.
"The directions to the place are there. It's to-morrow night at 7 o'clock. Hope you show up."
"Ok…thanks. I think I will."
"Oh and there's a rumor that your friend is visiting from out of town?"
"Yes?"
"Bring him too." She smiled as she walked away. "See you then."
I headed home.
"Well that sure was nice of her." Van said from my pocket. "I guess things are starting to look up."
"You must be my lucky charm…no, Guardian Angel would be more like it."
"At this size?"
"Yep, keep this up and I won't let you go home."
"Hey now, I still have 28 days."
"28 days free of complaints, counselors, Merle, feuds, and those suitors you were talking about."
"And I get to spend them all with you. My best friend." He climbed his way up to my shoulder. I couldn't help but blush. "This is a well needed vacation. I haven't relaxed since…well, I can't remember the last time I relaxed." He laid back on my shoulder. "It's strange, I have plenty of free time, and I have no idea how to spend it."
"I'll keep you entertained."
"I'm sure you will."
That Friday, Van helped me get ready for the party. He may not be up on fashion, but at least he had an opinion what looked good on me. I set out three cocktail dresses, since, according to the invitation, it was a semi-formal event.
"What about the green one?" Van finally asked, looking among the choices.
"Let me try it on, and then you can tell me what you think." I set him on the desk. "Turn around." I commanded.
"Yes, ma'am."
I quickly pulled the dress on and adjusted it. It was a pale green halter top. A darker green waistband went around it and tied in the back. The bottom was pleaded. I had worn the dress once for my cousin's summer wedding, and therefore hadn't accumulated any bad memories from it.
"I really like it, Van." He started to turn around. "Wait! Wait here, I'm going to do my hair and makeup and then you can see me, okay?"
"Oh Hitomi, you're beautiful without makeup." He blurted out.
"Really?"
He tried to cover himself. "I mean you're pretty with make up too, but you don't need it or anything. You don't have any flaws to cover up. I mean…" He confessed again.
"Van?"
"Just go." He sighed.
I laughed and left.
After about a half an hour, I emerged from the bathroom. I curled my hair, and clipped it off to one side. I had just enough makeup to bring out my colour, since Van had said I didn't need any. I walked into the room.
"Well, what do you think?"
It was funny that Van was so small. His reaction made his head look like a cherry. He just stared at me.
"Van? Is something wrong?"
"No…everything is perfect…" he said with a slurred voice.
I only smiled as I took a seat at my desk in front of him. "And what about you? Aren't you going to get dressed?"
"Me? Why? I'll be hiding."
"Still, won't it be fun to dress up?"
"One, I'm a man, I don't enjoy playing dress-up. And two, I'm a king, do you know how often I have to 'dress up' for balls and meetings…and suitors…My life is a little girl's dream!"
"Oh come on now Van, you could at least look nice"
"No. I don't want to."
Regardless, I looked at the clothes Yukari had brought for him. I identified what was probably a blouse, but at the size, you couldn't tell. "Here, put this one on."
"No, I told you no."
I grabbed the hem of his shirt and yanked it over his tiny head.
"Wait! No stop!" He tried to run, but I stopped him with two fingers. "Agh, I hate being so small!"
"Arms up."
He did as I commanded, but before I put it on him, I noticed the scar that showed up on his chest. He noticed I was looking at it. "Don't worry about it Hitomi."
"But…how did it get there?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Please Van?"
He sighed. "It's actually a funny story. I was busy with some documents, when a messenger came in and announced the arrival of the princess of Egzardia. I told him to tell her that she had no business to be in Fanelia and to leave. He said someone already tried to talk to her, but she was adamant about seeing me. So, begrudgingly, I went downstairs. I must say, she was impressive."
I gulped.
"She was decked out in armor, with a full length sword over her shoulders. Not going to lie, I was a little scared. She greeted me with a really low voice, 'Hey Big Boy.'"
"What did you do?"
"I asked what her business was, and she replied, 'I heard you're single, your majesty.' 'Yes m'lady, by single you mean not married, then yes I'm single. But I'm not interested.' 'Come on Fanel, I'm a real woman that can satisfy." He paused as he laughed. "I'm sorry, I'm having a hard time impersonating her without losing it."
"She sounds charming."
"Long story short, she got angry and cried out 'If I can't have you, no one can!' and attacked me."
"So she sliced you?"
"Yeah, but amazingly, her blade hit the pendant and it set off an explosion and sent her flying across the room."
"Really?"
"Psh, no. But it would have been pretty cool though."
I poked him. "You joker. What really happened?"
"Well, she sliced me, and I thought quick enough to block with my arm. From there I was able to fight her off with my bare hands."
"Is that arrogance I hear?"
"In her defense, she was really bad with a sword."
"Well, that's good. You had me worried." I rested my finger on the scar.
"Why?"
"I thought that maybe another war had broken out…or someone tried to hurt you…"
"No, nothing of the sort. You'd be surprised Hitomi. Back on Gaea, we're famous."
"WE?"
"Yep, stories of the war have traveled around the whole world!" Then he blushed. "Quite a few elders believe that our relationship is sacred."
"Like how?"
"Like…if I were to marry someone else, the whole world would be thrown off balance."
"Then why is the council trying to marry you off?"
"They want an heir, security…and there's kind of a law…"
"…What?"
"Don't worry about it, okay? I'm the king, I can break any law I want."
I simply nodded quietly. He took my finger and placed a kiss on the tip of it. "Trust me."