Hello, Wandering Tree here. Just want to say Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers and wish a good day to those who don't celebrate. For now, Enjoy this follow-up.
Chapter 2
Rays of sunshine illuminated a spacious room, nearly every corner was shadow free. This was bothersome for the room's sole patient who wanted nothing more than to stay in bed. No matter how much he struggled to keep his eyelids closed, the sun kept beaming. Annoyed to no end, the patient buried himself inside the blanket. This proved no different for the patient felt baked to a crisp, forcing him to sit up once and for all. The patient was none other than Yuki Subachi.
Yuki rubbed his eyes and was taken aback to what he saw before him. Windows with long frames towered above him, in which he accepted as to why his room was so bright. He noticed several beds, arranged by two rows of four. The lanky child took a moment to get a better look at his reflection. His dark hair was looking messy and his dark brown eyes had small dark rings underneath them. When Yuki looked in front of him, that was when he noticed two of these beds linked together, made sense to him because most beds weren't made for a tall boy like him. After observing white sheets and walls, he came to the conclusion he was in a hospital. Not that he had first hand experience because his family had their own private nurse.
'How did I get here?' The lanky child pondered. He remembered snippets of last night's events. He couldn't remember everything clearly, aside from screams. At that moment, he remembered his servants.
"Are you and others okay, Haruno-san?" Yuki muttered as he covered his face with his hands.
"Are you okay, Mister? A feminine voice quipped.
"Huh?! Who said that?!" The lanky child responded out of shook, lowering his hands from his face.
"Our patient is finally awake!" A second voice said enthusiastically
"What a relief!" A third voice replied.
"You hold the record of sleeping in the longest, mister!" All three voices squealed while clapping.
Yuki found himself looking down at three little girls, all dressed in white outfits. He figured they were nurses but what confused him were their looks. At a first glance, the nurses were nearly identical in both height and facial features. They even shared the same eyes, which consisted of small black dots. He could feel his head burning from overthinking, the lanky child wanted to set the record straight.
"Are you three…related?" He asked.
"Nope, we just look similar and work at the same job. Nothing more." The three girls said in unison
'That's too damn confusing!' Yuki stared at them looked up at the ceiling as he thought to himself. Meanwhile, the girls became worried for their patient.
"Kiyo, Naho, I think Take-kun is about to pass out again." The girl with crescent shaped bang said.
Sumi, please check his pulse to see if he's still with us. Naho, help us lay him back in bed." The child with see through bangs said.
"Okay" The girl with pigtails complied as they each grabbed Yuki by his arms and gently placed him back to bed. As relieved their patient hadn't died on them, the girls couldn't help but giggle over Yuki's squeal as he found himself falling backwards.
"Ow, this is definitely not a dream." He sighed and then looked up at the ceiling.
"Yay! Take-kun is okay!" The three girls said in unison once more.
"Wait, who's Tāke-kun? The dull-eyed teen wondered.
"You are" Kiyo said.
"It fits you since you're tall" Sumi replied.
"We give nicknames to our patients when we can" Naho stated.
"Wait…" The lanky child looked at the ceiling while squinting his eyes in order to focus. In doing so, he began to recollect keywords thrown at him.
"Tā…ke. What does that mean again?" It took him several minutes to finally remember the significance of this word. He shot up and stared down at the triplets.
"I'm not a bamboo! Do I look lean, green, and mean?! Yuki yelled angrily yet with a whiny voice.
"Yes!" The three girls said simultaneously.
"You're really skinny". Sumi said
"You are wearing light green pajamas." Kiyo said
"You're yelling at us, so you are being mean right now." Naho trembled as if ready to cry.
As annoyed Yuki was with these three girls, he didn't like when anyone around him cried. Although he didn't see any tears yet, he picked up on her sadness from her trembling and how tightly closed her eyes were. He dreaded over the idea of the other two following suit and he didn't want to imagine how loud they could be. His solution: he huffed and pouted to keep himself from saying anything.
On their part, Sumi, Kiyo, and Naho wondered what was going on in their patient's head. That was until they noticed Yuki face began to turn bright red and they began to giggle.
"Now his face looks like a tomato. He's funny" The triplets said in unison.
Yuki conceded with a sigh. Still, he couldn't help but giggle for the first time since the incident of his family's inn. At home, he was instructed to always be professional and not to laugh loudly or often. Here, he was allowed to express his true feelings and be himself.
"I don't know how I ended up here, but thank you all for checking up on me and cheering me up. By any chance, do any of you know what has happened to my home, or my servants for that matter?" Yuki said while bowing his head politely.
"Sure we do. Why didn't you just ask?" Sumi, Kiyo, Naho said at the same time. Yuki was in such good spirits he restrained himself from banging his head on a wall. The boy covered his face with a pillow instead. He looked at them and let out a small smile.
"Fair enough" Yuki nodded, and then kneeled onto the floor so he could be at a closer eye level with the triplets. Just then, everyone was startled when someone opened the door.
"Geez, haven't you girls teased him enough? It's bad enough that the other patients we have here are awake thanks to…whatever this is. I'll take over from here. You girls still got chores to take care of." The older girl expressed with annoyance.
"Aww, break time is over, Tāke-kun." Sumi said with disappointment
"Get well, Tāke-kun!" Kiyo followed
"Bye, Tāke-kun" Naho quipped.
"I never agreed to that name!" Yuki said in exasperation.
The three girls giggled and then left the room. It was just him and some other girl. This one wore a white coat with black sleeves. Upon closer inspection, the sleeves were lightly tinted in blue. Speaking of blue, Yuki noticed the girl in front of him also had blue eyes but black hair. What set her apart from the triplets was she had yet to smile, her face appeared to always have a scowl on it.
"How do you feel?" The blue haired girl asked.
"I'm okay. And you are…?" Yuki tilted his head.
Kanzaki Aoi. I'm the head nurse here at the Buttefly mansion." The raven-haired girl stated.
"N-nice to meet you, Miss Kanzaki. My…name is Yuki Subachi. I have no idea what is going on here" the lanky child said searched his pockets to read his cards.
"Just call me Aoi. It sounds weird being called miss Kanazaki." Aoi winced as she placed her hands on her hips.
"Yes ma'am." Yuki nodded. This prompted a loud sigh from the head nurse.
"Geez, no need to be so formal. You're not that much older than the average patient we get here." Aoi explained.
"Sorry." Yuki whispered then lowered his head. Aoi had no idea how to respond to her patient's insecurity.
"You don't need to try so hard to please everyone. You'll just end up disappointing everyone" Aoi folded her arms. Her patient simply stared at her.
"Have I disappointed you?" Yuki looked up and wondered.
"It's not that, you don't look like you live around here. Just thought I'd give you some advice" Aoi resisted the urge to sigh.
"I see. Thank you for your advice, Aoi-chan." Yuki lets up a small smile.
"Of course, it's my job to look after everyone here." Aoi huffed and held her head high.
"touché," Yuki looked at the head nurse who seemed puzzled by his remark. "It just a way to agree with someone. My parents say it all the time during their meetings." He shrugged.
"Caw! Caw! It seems the boy is awake. You are to go to our headquarters now!" The crow took off the moment it delivered its message. Yuki stared outside in utter shock.
"Th-the bird… just spoke. Full on sentences." Yuki trembled visibly.
"What are you waiting for? You have a meeting with our leader. Not just anyone gets this opportunity." Aoi expressed cheerfully as she pulled on Yuki's sleeve to get him to follow her.
"…by all accounts, both the science and stories agree that crows shouldn't be able to say anything." Yuki defended his views as he finished his rant, looking down at Aoi.
"We're here." Aoi announced for all to hear. She clearly wanted to move past this conversation. It was then they spotted a couple of people waiting for them at the entrance.
Yuki hid behind Aoi, which didn't do him much well because of their height difference. He only calmed down when he saw the head nurse greeted them. The lanky child followed suit and bowed to the kakushi.
"Hi" Yuki said sheepishly. He then inspected their uniform for it reminded him of someone who wore the same outfit when he rode the train. The main difference between was the people in front of him and wore a headgear that nearly covered their faces.
"This is the boy we're asked to bring to the master? Can't say he looks all that impressive." The male kakushi said aloud. Yuki was taken aback because this was the first time someone didn't find him impressive. He wanted to ask the male kakushi about his comment, until he heard a smack on the head.
"Be nice, will you? He doesn't know any better." The female kakushi said glaring at her comrade, then looked up at Yuki, patting his arm with assurance.
"Are you ready to meet the master?" She asked kindly.
"Yeah, but uh, how will we get there? It doesn't look like you guys brought a cart or anything." The lanky child pondered.
"Leave that to us." The male kakushi said as both members took a few steps back. They patted their back, adding more confusion to the former young master. The male kakushi pointed at him and then their backs and shoulders. In response, Yuki patted his own back, then scratch the back of his neck.
"Sweet mother of Buddha! Will you just let us carry you?!" The male kakushi voice seething with annoyance.
"Oooh, Yeah I'm not doing that." Yuki huffed and turned his head.
"We need to get going now" the female kakushi pleaded.
"I'd rather die than be seen in such a humiliating state." Yuki glared down at them. He may not be familiar with the local's customs, but he still had his pride as a noble. The two kakushi stared in disbelief, they had no idea how to respond to the lanky child, who was becoming stubborn.
"Subachi-kun, quit looking scary and do as they say. It's just how we do things here." Aoi looked up and scolded.
"But I don't want to. It's embarrassing." Yuki complained.
"How about if you go with them, I'll give you something sweet in return." Aoi stated as she folded her arms.
"You got chocolate chip cookies?" Yuki gave her a hopeful look.
"No, but I can make some mochi." Aoi suggested.
"Just as long as it's sweet" Yuki conceded and then turned to the kakushi. "I'll…go along with you guys. After I change into better clothing."
Aoi looked at the kakushi and nodded. Now that everyone had come to an agreement, they wasted no time measuring Yuki's height and distance themselves to accommodate their guest. On his part, the lanky child put on a blue kimono then asked if there was a way to preserve his pride as heir to his family's name and fortune. The most he was offered was a blindfold in which the dull-eyed teen happily accepted and wrapped it around his head.
"Let's get this over with." Yuki said as he felt himself being carried away by two strangers. Feeling no different than a piece of bread being carried away by ants.
"Um, hello there. My name is Yuki Subachi and I am the main character in this story. Uh, I'll be honest, I didn't think we'd have a segment this early...but...I...am actually half Japanese. My grandfather came here on an American ship and was taught Japanese by the best Japanese-English interpreter at the time. Eventually he settled down and had a son who'd be my father. Then, my dad married into a rich family by impressing my mom and then they gave birth to me. Wow, look at the time. Next time on chapter 2: I'm going to an important meeting, I hope there aren't too many people there. I'll try to bring some guests in here next time. See you next time on Taisho Era Secrets, bye!" Yuki said aloud while reading his cards frantically and then hides his face.
To be honest, this chapter and the next one were supposed to be one, but the reason I didn't do that was because had I stuck with the originla plan, my OC would've met 15 characters at once. This may happen in real life, but i rather not overwhelm you all and spaced it out a bit. With that said, I also heard there were some problems going on in this website, I hope anyone can receive this update. Aside from that, I already the next chapter finished more or less and just needs to go through edits.
I'll see you all soon and as always, feel free to like, follow, or comment.
Edit: I can't believe I forgot to include the Taisho era bit. I had an idea just before publishing this chapter.
Last edited: 2/5/2024, 11/08/24