The Laws Of Love
Chapter 2
"It seems our hearts beat twice as fast as any other of our being. I just have to let you open yours to me, in your own time, at your own leisure."
"Where do you keep disappearing to on these Friday mornings, Takumi?" Yu asked his son after breakfast as Takumi stood to excuse himself from the table.
"No where of importance to you, father," Takumi sighed, watching the doorway. His mother still hadn't come down from her chambers and he was starting to get extremely worried. "If you'll excuse me-,"
"Master Takumi, Master Yu, Lady Patricia has, my dear lord-!" A brown-haired maid bustled hurriedly through the dining room doors and leaned over herself to catch her breath.
"Did you run all the way from the west wing, Anra? What's happened to mother?" Takumi asked, trying to keep his composure. He'd noticed that something was up with his mother. What, with her little dizzy spells and her small coughs, how could he not have? Anra inhaled deeply and straightened up.
"Lady Patricia has collapsed-," But Takumi was already out of the door, sprinting all the way across the castle until he came across the staircase to the second climbed them two at a time and took a sharp left. He made his way down the hall and then turned right as the hallway branched off. He made it to the end of the hall and paused in front of his mother's bed chambers, gripping the door handle at the sight of his mother propped up against the pillows like a doll, a soft smile upon her face.
"I should've figured you'd be here first, my boy," Patricia sighed, smoothing out the bed sheets around her. "Come here, come here." She patted the space beside her and, quietly, Takumi sat.
"Are you-?" Patricia let out a weak laugh.
"I'm not going to lie to you, Takumi... it doesn't look good for your old mother... look at me, dear," She fitted two fingers under his chin and raised his head so that he had nowhere else to look. "I'll be fine for a few more months at least but I'm bedridden." Just to have something to do, Takumi looked down at his watch. "Do you have somewhere to be?"
"It can wait."
"Can it really? I know that look in your eyes, Takumi... you're in love..." His eyes widened and his throat constricted.
"I- I don't think you're right, mother." He sighed. "Love doesn't happen this fast. That's impossible-," Patricia laughed.
"Look what she's doing to you already! My strong, confident boy reduced to believing that things are impossible!" She stroked his hair down lovingly. "Listen to me, won't you? You're young, Takumi, just nineteen... soon you'll be the king of Seika... but that's not what you want, is it? Hush, don't answer that," She said lightly. "What is it that you are so hesitant to tell me about her?" Takumi looked into his mother's eyes and knew in that moment that he could tell her.
"Promise you won't tell father?" Patricia raised her eyebrows but nodded nonetheless.
"Of course, dear."
"Promise you won't tell me what, Takumi?" Yu asked, coming into the bedroom.
"Nothing at all," Takumi scowled, rolling his eyes at his mother without facing Yu. Patricia sighed and kissed the crown of Takumi's head.
"Go, darling. We'll talk later." He kissed Patricia's cheek.
"Get some rest, mother." And with that he ducked from the room.
~o~
Part of her wondered whether she had been too harsh on Takumi the previous week. It was half past one and he was no where to be seen. Shaking it from her mind, Misaki served for the next one and a half hours and only when she had put the closed sign on the bakery door did she let her mind flood with the possibilities of why he hadn't showed. What was this feeling? And towards the prince no less!
"You really do pick 'em well, Misaki." She mumbled under her breath as she set her apron on a hook and let her hair down. The door to the bakery opened and Misaki poked her head around the doorway at the back of the shop, a pair of bobby pins hanging from her lips as her hands worked to tie her hair into a high ponytail. "Welcome home, Suzu." For the past two years, Misaki and her younger sister Suzuna had lived by themselves in the apartment above the Ayuzawa bakery. Ever since their mother had died and their father had run off, they'd been left to fend for themselves.
"Hey. I got ingredients from the capital today."
"How'd you manage that? Suzu, they're so expensive-!" Suzuna swung a bag from her arm and raised her eyebrows as she made her way behind the counter.
"No one ever said I brought them, sis."
"Did you steal them, then?" Suzuna laughed.
"No- I baked a few cakes for the people I knew were likely to give me ingredients in return and, voila! Fresh strawberries, mint, hazelnuts, cream, flour, eggs, sugar, milk and butter. Don't look like that- not everyone in the capital is bad, y'know? You've just got to find the right ones." Her mind went fleetingly to Takumi but she closed it down.
"That's great, Suzu, really. I'm going to go and wash the laundry in the stream. I'll be home later."
"Don't be too late, I need your help with the cakes." Misaki disappeared and returned with the laundry basket that was filled to the brim with clothing.
"Don't worry. I'll be home after I've washed these clothes." She edged her way around the counter, holding the laundry basket high above her so that it wouldn't hit the glass cabinet beside her. She closed the bakery door with her hip and set off for the hill. The river beside the hill was as close as any normal person got to the capital on a daily basis. When she reached the top of the hill, however, she froze, laundry basket digging into her thigh. A blonde boy was leaning up against the body of the lone oak tree that stood upon the hill, his eyes closed and his eyebrows furrowed. The river, admittedly, was on a side path at the bottom on the hill, but Misaki liked to see the capital whenever she came to wash the laundry. This time, however, she wasn't sure of what to do. Something within her began to turn and her body moved on instinct. She plopped down beside Takumi and sighed openly. "So this is where you've been, huh?" His eyes snapped open at her voice and he blinked.
"Misaki? What are you doing here?"
"Don't flatter yourself, I wasn't looking for you," She gestured towards the laundry basket. "I came to wash our clothes."
"Where?" Misaki laughed, mostly to herself. She had forgotten for a moment that Takumi was a prince, he had no need to wash his clothes, and they certainly weren't washed in the river. She pointed down the hillside to the gleaming river.
"In there," She stood and, without thinking, pulled him by the hand to his feet and led him down the hill. "Want to try being a commoner for a bit?" She asked. He looked down at their joined hands and grinned until she realized and retracted her hand as quickly as she could. "Yes or no?" She asked hurriedly.
"Sure. I never even knew you could wash clothes in a river."
"Of course you can. It's water, isn't it? Come on then," She handed him a white blouse and took one for herself, dipping it into the water. "Follow my lead." She smiled across at him and showed him how to correctly wash each article of clothing. "Now turn away, for the dignity of all women, I'll wash these myself." Politely hiding his grin, Takumi covered his eyes and turned away whilst Misaki washed her and Suzuna's underwear. "So, why were you on the hill?" She asked. Asking him whilst she was turned away was a hundred times easier. Takumi sighed.
"Are you genuinely interested? Because if you are, I might be able to tell you." Misaki turned her head.
"What kind of question is that? Of course I'm interested, otherwise why would I worry- I mean, why would I ask!?" Takumi smiled to himself as she turned back and busied herself.
"So you were worried about me?" She didn't answer. He laughed. "You don't have to answer, but I'm taking your silence as a yes, I'll have you know."
"Are you going to tell me, or not?" She snapped.
"Perhaps if I do, you'll understand that this is how comfortable I feel around you." Misaki sighed, put the last item of clothing back in the basket, and turned on her knees to face him. She swept her skirts underneath her and sat down beside him.
"What are you on about?"
"My mother fell ill this morning. She probably only has a few months at the most to live..." He fell short and stared at his hands where they lay in his lap. Fighting every sign that screamed no inside of her head, Misaki reached out and laid one of her smaller, white hands upon his, gently rubbing her thumb in circular motions on the top of his hand.
"I'm sorry... I know how that feels..."
"Do you really?" He asked, sounding terribly tired and drained.
"Yeah... My mother died two years ago and my father left my sister and I to look after ourselves...I really do get what you're going through." He looked up at her and watched her amber eyes as they blazed strong and confidently.
"How are you so calm about all of that?" He asked and she smiled softly.
"Because I had no choice in the matter." She answered simply. "Look... I'm sorry I snapped at you last week, it's just... getting close to anyone after my father left has been really hard. And not to mention that you're the prince... Don't you find it weird that I'm a commoner?"
"I had no say in the separation between the capital and your people... I shouldn't even have to classify them as 'your people', because they're just the same as those in the capital. We're all human. It's the people on my side that have messed everything up between us all." Misaki laughed, thinking of the people on her side of the hill.
"We're pretty stubborn. Ask anyone in the village and everyone but my sister would tell you that they're going to die before the people in the capital learn to stop being selfish."
"And what about you, Misaki? What do you think about the capital? About me?" She chuckled lightly and looked down at their joined hands.
"You're not all that bad, I'll give you that." She murmured, squeezing his hand gently.
"I'd like to get to know you, Misaki. As myself, not as the prince. Would you be willing to let me?" He looked up at her with a smile and she paused, watching him back. Misaki let out a breath and smiled back.
"Let's give it a go."