Finally it's done! Some girl-talk in this one, and of course some OK fluff ^.~
My beloved reviewers: FaiaDemon, peep (aww, thank you! Let's both try our best ^.^), Alice P e a c h e s, Ayjah, yiseunggi, Koatan, Shinichi's Lover, Lingering Embrace and Oxenstierna D. Yuki-Rin! I'm so glad to see some new names this time, too, along with the faithful ones ^.^
Nothing much to say about this, just another rewrite. The next story arc will be a hassle, though...I just thought of a way to add more fluff into one vital point of the story, but that means I have to make up a new chapter and drastically change another! Being on my senior year with finals approaching doesn't help either, so I beg you readers to be patient with me. I will get it all done, even if I have to lose some sleep to do it!
Completely irrelevant: I just finished reading Ouran High School Host Club the manga, and I loved it. Those who have not yet read/watched it and happen to like high school love comedies with a small touch of drama, I highly recommend ^.^
Sometimes blurting out things ends up being better than thinking too much about your words
Weeks passed in the castle and nothing seemed to change. Sougo and Kagura were still fighting over everything and anything and Mitsuba looked on with her irritated husband as every day brought a new fight. The castle personnel still hadn't gotten used to destroyed furniture and broken pieces of art, but they eventually would. The one time Kamui came to visit was especially hectic. After going at it for at least two hours the sibling-fight eventually ended when Kamui escaped through the window (not bothering to open it), laughing all the way.
But even though nothing seemingly changed, something did. And that something happened between the prince and his fiancée.
"Kagura-chan?" Mitsuba called from the doorway. "Can I talk to you for a second?"
Kagura nodded and set her umbrella, which she had been checking for damage, aside. Mitsuba smiled gratefully and sat on the armchair next to Kagura's.
"What did you want to talk about, Mitsuba-san?" Kagura asked curiously. Mitsuba didn't look like she came for the lighthearted chat they sometimes had.
"I know it's a little late to ask this now," Mitsuba started with a slight frown, "but after your brother visited, I've been thinking about something." She turned her gaze away from Kagura guiltily. "Do you hate being told what to do?"
Kagura nodded briskly. "Yeah, doesn't everyone?"
Mitsuba smiled sadly. "Then, do you hate your brother and I for arranging this engagement without asking for your opinion on the matter?"
Kagura's eyes widened. "No! I mean, sure, it was a real shock and it made me angry and all, but I could never hate you! I really like you, Mitsuba-san! I've never really had any real feminine influence in my life, so I'm really happy I got to meet you!" Kagura blabbered hastily. "And think nothing about Kamui and I, we've never been on good terms with each other..."
Mitsuba nodded and smiled a little more brightly. "Then, what about him?"
"Huh?"
"You know, Sou-chan. I know you're always telling me how infuriating he is, what with tricking you and saying offensive stuff all the time, but what do you really think about him? As in really him, not who he appears to be."
Kagura looked at her with an unreadable expression and for a minute it was completely silent. Mitsuba smiled uncomfortably. "I wasn't making any sense, was I?" she asked with a strained voice.
Kagura shook her head and turned to gaze outside through the window on her other side, turning away from Mitsuba. "I think I know what you mean, but...I don't know, I can't tell what's on his mind at all," she admitted softly, almost sadly.
"Kagura-ch-"
"I mean," Kagura cut her off, suddenly sounding annoyed. "He can be a royal pain in the ass and he annoys the hell out of me with his actions and I hate the way he looks so passive all the time, but..." Here she sighed tiredly. "He has his moments, and I can't really hate him...he's so frustrating," she muttered, and Mitsuba could see her ears were bright red. "You can never tell him I said that, though! Got it?"
Mitsuba giggled and patted her head. "I promise. It's a secret between sisters, right?"
Kagura turned to her with a cute shade of pink on her cheeks and nodded with a small smile. Glancing at the clock on the wall, she started gathering her tools and umbrella. "It's getting late, I should go to bed."
Mitsuba's eyes flickered mischeviously. "Oh, I just remembered!" she said with an all too sweet smile. "What is this I hear about you two taking secret naps under the Tree?"
Kagura blinked confusedly. "The Tree...?" As it all clicked in her head, she blushed again. "I-it's all his fault! He just randomly comes to find me and drags me there to be his pillow!" She left out the part of not really resisting him anymore. She would never admit that she had come to like those afternoon naps.
Mitsuba looked surprised for a second before giggling. "Oh, that Sou-chan. I never would've guessed he'd do something like this."
Kagura was confused. "What do you mean? Is there something I should know about?"
"Oh, I couldn't tell you," Mitsuba laughed brightly. "You'll find out eventually. I also heard that you sometimes accompany him to his lessons in the library, is this true?"
Kagura nodded. "Yeah, Papi said I sould try to learn some stuff about politics and whatnot, so I decided to tag along on some lessons. I always fall asleep in the middle, though..." she admitted quietly.
"Oh, so you don't know what happens there, do you?" Mitsuba asked sweetly.
Kagura became very worried and anxious right about then. "W-what happens?" she asked, her voice quivering, half of her wanting and the other not wanting to know the answer.
Mitsuba just smiled. "Oh, that's right!" she suddenly exclaimed and stood up. "Come with me for a second, Kagura-chan."
Kagura took her bag, which contained her tools, and strapped her umbrella to her hip before following Mitsuba out of the room. Mitsuba lead her through several hallways and down some stairs until a delicious scent reached their noses.
Mitsuba led her into the kitchens, and after greeting the staff she asked for a tea tray. When the tray with a full teapot, two cups and some snacks arrived, Mitsuba held it out for Kagura to take. "Could you take this to the study on the second floor west wing, Kagura-chan? After you're done, you're free to go to sleep, no more surprises," she promised.
Kagura blinked at the odd request but accepted the task nonetheless. Turning to go, she called over her shoulder: "Goodnight Mitsuba-san, everyone."
Mitsuba smiled evilly as the kitchen staff bid the future queen goodnight. "Goodnight, Kagura-chan. Sleep well."
'What's with this odd request?' Kagura thought as she neared the study. 'Mitsuba-san...she couldn't be plotting something, could she?'
Kagura knocked on the door, but received no answer. She opened the door a little and almost dropped the tray as she jumped back into the hallway and hid behind the door. 'What is HE doing there?'
Still hearing nothing, Kagura gathered her courage and peeked into the room. Her eyes hadn't betrayed her, it really was Sougo slumped over a huge, wooden desk filled with papers, his arms folded underneath his head to act as a pillow. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Kagura carefully stepped inside and closed the door with a soft click. She tiptoed over to the sleeping man and set the tray on the wooden surface. She then pulled out a chair and sat down to look at him.
He was frowning, almost to the point of scowling. He was also gritting his teeth rather forcefully, slightly grinding them against each other from time to time. It was strange, watching the usually nonchalant and irritantingly sarcastic man make such an expression, even in his sleep. It stirred some strange feeling inside Kagura, and since Kagura didn't know any better, she deduced that seeing the super sadistic bastard aka her fiancé having human traits annoyed her. She wouldn't admit to being worried about him, anyway...
'I wonder if he makes that face every night...' Kagura thought as she took a cookie from the tray. She nearly dropped the treat at her sudden realization.
She did indeed sleep next to a man every night, had been doing so for three months now, and being legally engaged, he had every right to do anything to her. Excluding kissing her face, of course, since that was strictly forbidden before legal marriage (in their country, the face was believed to be the most sacred part of a human). Kagura had never really thought about it before, but now that she did, she felt like she would never dare to climb into that bed again.
'But then again, he would never even think about doing anything like that with me,' she thought, and felt oddly disappointed and sad. Not wanting to read too much into it, she shook her head and took some tea.
Kagura glanced at the still sleeping Sougo. "Hey, wake up, your tea's getting cold."
Kagura sipped her tea and called a bit louder: "Hey, sadist!"
Kagura resisted the temptation to pour the tea over his head when he didn't react at all. She didn't want to bother the staff with tea on the floor and furniture at that hour. Finished with her cup of tea, Kagura hadn't come up with any interesting ways to wake him up, so she simply pulled the chair from underneath him.
Sougo let out a surprised yelp as he fell on the floor in an ungraceful heap. He blinked owlishly a couple of times before all too familiar, evil laughter brought his thoughts to order. He turned to glare at his ever so lovable fiancée, his vision still blurred by sleep. "What are you doing here?" he groaned and rubbed the back of his head that he had hit when he fell.
Kagura's laughter stopped, but she was still grinning. "Is that a way to thank me for bringing you tea? And what were you doing anyway, sleeping like that?"
Sougo ignored her questions, making her grin drop. He grabbed his chair back and sat down to drink his tea and nibble on some cookies. Kagura frowned at him disapprovingly before turning her gaze to the papers now scattered all over his desk. She curiously picked up one and inspected it. "What's this?" she asked, looking at Sougo for an answer.
"Work," Sougo answered briefly in between sips of tea.
"You've been doing this," Kagura started and waved the paper for emphasis, "all day?"
Sougo glanced at her. "Yeah, pretty much. What about it?"
Kagura looked dumbfounded. "That's so boring! How can you just sit still and read papers all day?" she exclaimed.
Sougo snatched the paper from her hand and set it back on the table. "Because it's my duty as the future king. If I can't handle the work, there's no way I could begin my reign." He said it as if he was talking about the weather, not about the future of him and his country.
Kagura watched him munch on the cookies and drink tea for a full minute before lowering her gaze to the floor and softly whispering: "That's kind of...amazing."
"You say something?"
Kagura jumped as she snapped her gaze back to him nervously. "No, nothing!"
Sougo raised his eyebrow. He clearly didn't believe her, but still let it slide. "Fine. Thanks for the tea, China. Now, get going so I can finish my work in peace."
Kagura nodded and headed for the door in silence. She opened it, but right before exiting she called out softly: "Goodnight, Sougo."
"Yeah, night, China," he called back absentmindedly as he scanned the papers. It wasn't until minutes after Kagura had actually left that her words finally registered in his mind. His eyes widened and he shot up from his chair, staring at the closed door.
"Did she just...?"
It was a miracle that the bedroom door didn't break as Kagura slammed it close behind her. She had practically raced all the way there and was now gasping for breath and trying to calm herself as she leaned against the door.
'WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST DO?' she screamed in panic in her mind. She pulled at her hair and kept mentally berating herself. 'WHY did I call him by his name? Now it's going to be so awkward I could die! Ahhh, I don't want to wake up tomorrow! No doubt he now thinks that I'm actually starting to like him, which is kinda tru- NO! It's not true! Gaaahhh, what's wrong with me?'
Kagura collapsed onto the bed and pulled the covers over her head. She even buried her head between the pillows, muttering "stupid" to herself over and over again, like a mantra, until she eventually fell asleep.
It wasn't much later after Kagura fell asleep that the door opened again, this time hesitantly. "China? You awake?"
Sougo didn't hear anything nor could he see any movement in the dark room, so he slowly stepped inside and walked to Kagura's side of the bed. He carefully lifted the pillow she had somehow managed to keep upon her head while tossing around in her sleep. She was sound asleep on her side, yet again drooling on the expensive sheets, clutching another pillow tightly in her arms. He looked at her and let his face soften before reaching down to gently brush her hair back into place. He placed the pillow on the other side of her head and started heading back to his study.
She didn't need to know how happy he was that she had called him by his name for the first time.
Soooo...how was it? I hope you liked it, please let me know ^.^
"The Tree" is something that will be explained much later in the story, probably in the last chapter or so. So no matter how much you beg or speculate, I'm not telling xD
See you next time!
~poakkis