Today's been a good day. Even as I type this, I'm smiling a bit. School was surprisingly alright, and a new manga volume came in today. I can not wait to read it. I also wrote quite a bit, which is always relaxing, and finished a drawing of Mari. The drawing didn't turn out exactly as I imagined it in my head, but they rarely do. It was pretty, nonetheless. I kind of feel bad, writing ahead. I'm getting to know Mari faster than you guys do, and that somehow feels wrong. Perhaps I'll stop writing for a bit and let my updates on this site catch up. Then we can all get acquainted with her at the same pace. At the same time, though, I might also fall behind on my updating schedule. I don't like making you guys wait too long.
Please enjoy the Forest of the Enchanted.
Turning over in bed, I cover my head with my pillow. Then I realize the brightness means the curtains have been drawn and throw my pillow off. No one does that unless there's something serious enough to wake everyone up about.
Mother sits at the foot of my bed, arms crossed and expression impatient. "I waited for you to be rested. Now, explain to me those young men who had to share the single open bed we had and the men who vanished from our front lawn overnight!" Around her, I can see the curious faces of all the little ones. They're ready for a story.
"I, uh…" I sit up, hands fisted around the blanket.
"I could explain for you," one of the twins appears beside me.
"You're...Kaoru?" He nods. "Where's your brother?" I don't think I've ever seen them apart, but Hikaru is nowhere in the room.
"He went back to the forest to pick up a few things." I guess that makes sense, considering they lived there. Perhaps they have a few possessions they've accumulated over the years. Wait a second.
"Wait, does that mean you're staying here?" I glance over at Mother, whose cross expression has not morphed in the presence of our guest. "Why-"
"We have to stay with you, Mari," he says as if it were obvious. "You made us your familiars, remember? We can't leave your side if we're to protect you." Huh, it's kind of strange listening to him explain the whole thing. Usually he'd stop and his brother would pick up halfway through.
Mother clears her throat and I wince. "Familiars?"
"I guess...I should start by saying the twins aren't human," I cower. "They're...magical creatures that can take on human form. I met them in the forest and they helped me after I tripped. They insisted on taking me home, and to get rid of those guys last night, I made them my official familiars. It's the real reason I went into the forest, to find a familiar to help drive that guy away. Although, there does seem to be a variety of plants that have healing capabilities, and even plants that glow in the dark! I think they'd be much safer to use than fire after sundown."
"Okay," she soaks it in. "And what about those men who came threatening to tear down the orphanage and sell my children into slavery?"
I fiddle my thumbs around, biting my lip. "Those...those were….Mr. Eto has been bothering me for a while, now. His carriage wheel broke on his way out of town one day and I helped weld a bit of it back together with magic, since I was passing by. He hasn't left me alone since. I can't count how many times he's proposed to me."
"And so you were just going to hide this from me until he kidnapped you away and forced you into marriage?"
"That was not the plan," I mumble, hunching over. "I was hoping I could get him to go away once I got ahold of the unicorn. I figured he'd back off after that, but...I couldn't find it," I lie. How am I supposed to say I met two unicorns, a grown and a colt, and they refused to become my familiars? Not only that, but I don't even know why they refused. It was lucky Hikaru and Kaoru took me back home, or who knows what would've happened last night. And now, instead of the gentle, lovely unicorn, I've made the legendary, nightmarish, two-headed dragon my familiar. I don't think I'll ever be able to tell her I've taken the Bloody Beast under my wing.
A sudden weight on my shoulder snaps me from my thoughts. I look over to Kaoru, who's rested his arm on me and is grinning widely.
"Don't look so irritated," he chides, friendly. "It's not a good look on that beautiful face of yours. Besides, you have my brother and me now! We'll drive off those goons whenever they come within twenty yards of you."
"And I appreciate that." I duck away from his arm. "But please refrain from making comments like that."
He blinks. "What? You don't want us advertising as your bodyguards?"
"She means not to call her beautiful." Haruhi stands closest to where I sit in bed, meeting Kaoru's eyes head on. I wave for her to climb on and she does, sitting in my lap. Running my fingers through her long brown hair always calms me. She knows it, too.
"What's wrong with calling things as they are?" he pushes, his eyes filled with a curiosity that has begun to grow familiar. I sigh.
"First of all, you boys all exaggerate. Second, if you say things like that I'll begin to think you're like Mr. Eto. He says that to me all the time."
"A while back, I told her that I thought the red in her hair was pretty and she told me never to say that again," Haruhi explains to Kaoru. One of my hands leaves her head and tugs at my hair. It's always been odd like this, streaks of cherry red appearing only on the underside. I've seen people with red hair before, but not like this. Mother says my hair already looked this way when I was abandoned at the orphanage.
At the mention of red, Kaoru perks up in interest. "Are there red stripes in your hair?"
I grab one side of my hair in my fist and lift it, revealing the red to him. Then I catch what he said. "Yeah, but I never said they were stripes. How'd you know?" I let my hair fall, puffing away a few strands that fall into my eyes.
"I've seen it before," he says, leaning closer and inspecting me. I inch back uneasily. These twins seem not to have a concept of personal space. It's proper human etiquette, but I guess it makes sense that they wouldn't be aware of that. He sits back abruptly. "That witch Chiyoka had them, too. You two are definitely related."
I shrug. "We could be, but I wouldn't know. I've never met anyone actually related to me."
"I'd say the two of you are certainly related," Mother sneaks in. In our little conversation, I'd practically forgotten her presence. "In all my years, you're the only person I've met with hair like yours. It's not a trait that's common, or even uncommon. With as many people as I've met over the years, I've never met a single other one with red stripes like that."
"Does it really matter? We know my birth mother either didn't want me or couldn't keep me for some reason, and everybody here is my sibling. I have no plans on going on a giant goose chase to find a woman I have no need to meet."
A knock at the door downstairs interrupts us, and Mother stands to go answer it. Haruhi slides from my lap and I stretch, popping my back and arms before getting up myself. If that's Mr. Eto again, I'm going to throw a fit. Wouldn't that be interesting? Until last night, none of the kids had seen me lose my cool before. Actually, until Eto started bothering me, I can't recall a single time I let my anger get the best of me. I've been exploding quite a lot, as of late.
Narrowly missing one of the other children's bed, I edge around it to the staircase and descend. The dark wood creaks with every step as it always has, but when I glance behind me to see if Kaoru is following, I notice that his footsteps don't make a sound.
Are you telling me this dragon behind me is lighter than me? I shake my head. That is so unfair! Halfway down the stairs, I'm able to duck my head and see the first floor. Standing in the open doorway are three people, only one recognizable.
"Hikaru, who are they?" I ask, gazing at the little blonde and the tall, dark haired man in confusion. When I see the pink rabbit sitting in the blonde's arms, I remember the scene where I briefly met the smaller unicorn. At the time, it'd been hopping by its feet. Assuming that pink bunnies aren't common even in the enchanted forest, that would mean that this kid...he's that unicorn? But then, why's he here? He was the one who denied my request for a familiar. And who's the tall one?
To my surprise, "Mari!" The little boy runs to where I am at the bottom of the stairs, smile spanning from ear to ear. Kaoru and Hikaru reunite, standing so close together their arms touch, and watch us to see what happens.
"I….don't know your name yet," I realize.
"Most people call me Honey, and this is Usa-chan!" He holds up the pink rabbit to me. Really, the only thing that isn't pink of it are its cute little black eyes. "And that over there is Takashi, but people call him Mori a lot."
I don't ask about the name difference. Maybe it has something to do with his last name? "Okay, Honey. Why did you come here? You didn't act too fond of me, last time."
He opens his mouth to respond, but Mother butts in. "Are these people more creatures from the forest?" Her tone carries clear displeasure, which is understandable. For generations, no one has liked those woods. We've been taught to fear it since we've been born. Having all these people from the same haunted forest in her house can't be too pleasant.
"This one is," I confirm. I don't know about the other, though. It would make sense, but I didn't see him at all.
"Takashi's a tree nymph!" Honey presents, waving to him even though they're only two yards apart.
I look up, stupefied. "There are male nymphs?" I mean, I've read all about playful nymphs of nature with a burning curiosity for humans, but they were all female. Plus, this guy doesn't fit that description whatsoever. I guess he is a bit like a tree, though. He hasn't said a word, and his looming presence resembles that of a tree accurately.
"I'm afraid," Mother speaks up, "that we don't have anymore room to house them. If those twins are planning on staying, that's our last bed."
"Did you want to stay?" I ask, unsure of what else to say. I should ask him why he came, why he's so different from last time, and why he brought the tree nymph with him, but my lips will form none of those questions. I went into the enchanted forest originally looking for the unicorn, but now I've got two familiars powerful enough to guard the orphanage. I don't particularly need a unicorn anymore. If he came for that, although I don't know why he would, should I send him away?
"Well, I was hoping we could," he lowers his voice, smile fading away. "But I don't want to cause any trouble or anything."
"He could share a bed with me," Haruhi steps forward.
Mother rejects it, though. "Don't be ridiculous. You can't share a bed with a boy at your age."
"He could share with me," a boy named Sora volunteers, raising his frail hand in the air, "if he's a friend of Mari's."
"I'm sure we could make room for that big guy, too," a girl named Fumiko steps up.
Another girl I can't see says, "It's for Mari, after all."
"I hope there's room for me, as well." Back in the doorway, a guy in a black cloak has stepped in. When he pushes back the hood, the children gasp.
"Look at his ears!"
"An elf!"
"Is he going to kill us?"
"I don't wanna die yet!"
"Everyone quiet!" I shout, hushing them. "Kyoya, what are you doing here, too?"
"I'm afraid I got chased out of my own home," he explains, rustling under his cloak. "A particular persistent elfish girl won't leave me alone. Renge is...an eccentric girl. In turn for letting me stay, I brought you something." He brings out a tattered tan cloth, which I gladly take.
"What happened to you, Mari?" Mother cries. "You said you tripped, but that wouldn't destroy both your cloak and your dress like that!"
For once in my life, I ignore her. I really don't feel like explaining. "Thank you, Kyoya. I'd love it if you'd stay. While you're here, would you please teach me about the medicines that can be found in the forest? I'm sorry I didn't keep my promise and stay, but I really do want to learn!"
"Of course. If I were to say no, I imagine the twins would be quite upset with me." He eyes them cautiously. "No one wants them upset."
So I basically just moved the cast from the forest to the orphanage. Although, Tamaki's still not here. Perhaps I shall fix that in the future. What are your guys' thoughts on Mori being a tree nymph? Do you guys even read these little before and after notes? I mean, I've been doing them forever and I've gotten responses on my bigger stories that tell me they're read, but I'm not sure about these. This story isn't as popular as I thought it'd be, and you guys haven't been saying much. Am I all alone, here? Is it really only one in every two hundred people or so who read these comments? I really enjoy writing these, but if they're just a hindrance to you guys... I'll wait to hear what you guys say. Or don't say. If you're not reading this, there won't be responses, after all.
Till then, Kisses from SnowyNeko! :3 MEOW!