Note: Honestly, this story wasn't supposed to be published. I had planned to take a sabbatical after publishing the last chapter of my previous story. But it wouldn't get out of my head, so I decided to make an exception for it. And to conclude with a rather traditional question. I still consider myself an aspiring writer, so I'm wondering, from a reader's perspective, if you look at all my stories, can you see any growth, in writing?
It was the quietest and most densely populated street, if you walked along it, you would come to the main road, and it led to a large house. Many neighbors could tell that wealthy people lived here, someone was constantly coming at them, their appearance did not inspire anything good, and some of them wore tattoos in the form of a sleeve. For this reason, many neighbors were wary of passing by the house, although their lives were safe, thanks to the occupants of the house.
The yard was clean, the lawn was manicured, and the house was as tidy as it could be. The owners decided not to use paint, but to leave the natural beauty of the wood. There is even a small pond with red fish. We walk a little further and see the garden, it has many flowers that the late mother of the owner of this place loved, and this further created a sense of peace and harmony.
Such places, and the atmosphere itself, hold many secrets, and if we, being something invisible, could get inside, into the main part of it, we could find out that some of the fears of the locals were true.
"I think we're done with this matter," came a voice from the room
Pulling back the door, through the crack we saw the meeting in progress. In the center sat a man whose age was approaching what might be called middle-aged. On either side of him, people sat in rows, afraid to make an unnecessary movement .
"Who's going to be in charge of this?" - Asked the third from the left, who was a little bolder
"My right hand man, Ichimaru," he looked at the one who sat on either side of him
"I will try to live up to your expectations," Ichimaru bowed
"We could have done better," the other, their master's left hand
"You could, but Ichimaru is doing a great job," the head looked at him and the words no longer came off his lips, he just clenched his fists in defeat .
It was possible to keep eavesdropping in case they missed the movement from above.
But one young woman in this house knew no threat to her life or anything else from the people here. She walked down the stairs, careful not to make a sound, each step accompanied by a pause, listening and looking around, continuing her actions. Her shoulder length brown hair covered her face but did not obscure her view.
"A spy kit would definitely speed things up," she mentally regretted that her family didn't specialize in disguises, "what's the point of a disguise, if the witness sees something he shouldn't, he'll obviously be in a place where no one can hear him," the girl sighed, remembering the rule of the residents of this house, though it was more of a reproachful statement, but that wasn't the main thing.
She was already at the door, entered the garden and headed for the part of the fence she had no problem with, but then she realized that his eyes were studying her and she froze for a moment. But already, without turning around, she rushed forward and jumped over the fence.
"Mr. Hoshio, the young lady has escaped again!" - shouted the man who caught her running away, who was one of her father's subordinates, and went out to get some air.
"Don't catch her, just find him and make sure no gnats get near her, do you understand me?" - ordered Hashio to his subordinate
"Yes, I will," replied the same subordinate. His physical fitness was no worse than the girl's and he jumped over the fence with about the same ease.
First, he tried to quickly gather his thoughts to see where she might have run off to. After clearing his head of extraneous thoughts, he closed his eyes and asked himself the question, "Where did she want to be? And where she couldn't be replaced so easily?" - "At the temple," for some reason flashed through his mind and he ran in that direction, a smile appearing on his face. "I think with that I can claim to be her permanent guard," he liked the lord's daughter and he wanted to protect her from all adversity and somehow get her to pay attention to him, but first he needed to move her to a permanent guard that could easily handle her antics.
"Perhaps things will change soon," these thoughts cheered him up and he quickened his step.
His insight was correct, and the girl herself was not going to make a world secret out of it - just a little time without supervision.
The girl made her way through other people's yards and was already where she wanted to be, she knew she would be found soon. It was common for her to come to her father's house to pay him a simple visit. He felt she needed to be guarded when she was on his property and in his neighborhood. He couldn't be blamed, knowing the path he had chosen for himself, and she had been kidnapped as a child before she had learned all forms of martial arts, but officially she only knew Judo.
She had a few minutes to be alone, it was so necessary at this time of year, especially when it was the end of the year and her mind was a mess.
She took off her black jacket and turned it inside out, fiddling with the lock on the collar, pulling the hood up and straightening it out, turning it into a different colored jacket. Once she had it on, she threw the hood over herself and walked into the crowd, albeit a small one, but enough to be incognito.
She even purposely walked past her father's subordinate, testing her disguise in action, he paid no attention to her, he was looking for a girl in a black hoodless jacket with brown hair, it made her smile.
At the same time and place, only at the prayer box. A young man stood there, and his appearance stood out not only because he didn't look Asian, but also because he was incredibly handsome. Red hair, eyes as green as summer grass, and prominent cheekbones made his appearance look like that of a model. Standing next to him was a man with dark hair and eyes, slightly taller, also not Asian, and also model-like in appearance.
"Baron, do you really want to go back to England?" - The dark haired man addressed him
"I've done all I can, and nothing else keeps me here," the Baron answered him, rubbing his hands together to warm himself
They planned to wander around the city some more, the places they discovered were surprisingly beautiful, which couldn't be said for the mood .
"It's a good thing everything was revealed now and not before the altar," the Baron concluded after being informed a couple hours ago that the engagement was broken off because the family's affairs were not as stable as the bride's parents would have liked.
His fate was decided in middle school twice: first, he would live with his father in Japan, not his mother, and study there. Their business immediately attracted attention, and to gain a foothold and capitalize on the deal, both companies decided that their children would marry.
Everything went smoothly, he and Louise found common ground and could discuss absolutely everything. Their feelings managed to blossom into beautiful buds, but what happened was that they went down a couple of notches in their careers. Not just to prevent them from blossoming, but to chop down at the root everything that had been built before.
He shuddered, remembering Louise's tears before her family had taken her away from the Baron without letting the lovers say a word.
He kicked the melting snow globe, hating himself for doing nothing but standing there like a statue and watching someone he cared about being taken away, and perhaps her parents already making arrangements for a new engagement. The snow crunched under his foot as if he'd crushed Louise's father, who didn't care about her feelings or what she wanted out of life.
His servant and faithful friend, seeing the mood of his ward, opened his mouth to say something to cheer him up, but then closed it, not knowing how to express it. There was nothing left for him to do but stay close by, watching and hoping that the Baron would come to his senses after such a shock.
They approached the large boulders - legend had it that they held back the dangerous ekai of the past. But the Baron didn't care about that, he just leaned against this rock, hoping that it would rid him of all the accumulated negativity.
"Young master, I'll go get some tea," Toto said when he saw the wagon at the foot of the hill.
"Very well," replied the baron melancholically.
Toto decided to leave the Baron alone for a while: he needed him, even if he didn't talk about it. The Baron smiled weakly: he decided to look at the gray sky, which matched his inner world, rather than at the passing couples discussing what food they would order.
He immersed himself in his thoughts, not really caring what was going on around him.
The girl was spotted, but it took a little longer than usual. She was running at an easy jog and deciding what to do next. Haru could allow her to be escorted and guarded, but she couldn't stand anyone but Uncle Renny. Besides, that man had a look that sent shivers running down her spine, she even shuddered remembering that look.
She was walking around the same stones as the Baron, it was only worth turning her head and they could meet gazes.
"Lady Haru!" - shouted a henchman whose name Haru didn't even remember. There were many of them, and too often they changed, turning your gaze to one, a waste of time - "Enough of these games and come out, your father will scold me"
"I don't mind" Haru mentally answered him, for any sound meant exposure
"What to do?" - Haru thought atchanically, but nothing came to mind - "I'll have to figure out a course of action" - Haru decided
"Lady Haru!" - came the voice again, already moving away from the desired location.
The girl sighed - the air was very cold, it was clearly winter. She turned her head, jumping slightly, not expecting that there was someone else in the shelter, and he saw her too.
"Good afternoon, and Happy New Year," the Baron said, bowing like a true aristocrat and emphasizing it with his English, appropriately accented.
"And you!" - muttered Haru, taken aback by the young man's appearance, her English was poor but she could answer a little, "I apologize if I entered your territory without permission," she whispered, hoping he would hear and understand her correctly, and he did.
"It's alright," the Baron said kindly, not paying any attention to her
Haru couldn't help but notice his mood, of course it would be nice to keep the conversation going and express her concern, but they had only met a moment ago. So she decided to leave the shelter and find a new place.
"Lady Haru," came a voice nearby, and perhaps it would have gone further if the girl hadn't accidentally stepped on a branch.
"Shit," Haru mentally reprimanded
"Miss?" The footsteps were clearly approaching her, and they were fast
For the girl it was too late to run, she looked at the pure-blooded foreigner. She ran up to him, his look changed to surprise, shock and slight wariness.
"I very much apologize for my further actions," Haru told him, grabbed his cloak, pulled him to her, pressed her lips to his, and turned the baron around so that he was blocking her.
He naturally resisted such actions, but Haru left him no choice.
"Haru!" - Called the subordinate by name.
Coming to the sound, but seeing only a couple kissing, he let out a displeased exclamation and walked off in another direction.
After making sure he was gone, the girl pulled away from the baron.
"I beg your pardon!" - Haru bowed, blushing her face, even though she was the one who kissed him first, not the other way around. "I just didn't want to be found," she fidgeted in her seat, trying to tell him something else, but there were no more words and she ran away
"Let him forget and take it as a prank," Haru said all the way to her mother's house
But the Baron didn't think it was a prank, but something worth getting involved in . He didn't understand why, but when she was running away, she reminded him of Louise, even though the situations were completely different .
It even brought him to his senses and he came out of his hiding place, immediately bumping into Toto.
"Could you tell me what this girl did, now that you've decided to find her?" - Toto had already heard exactly what the Baron wanted from him, but he didn't show such concern for anyone unless it was Louise.
"Nothing much, really," the Baron lied, his ears reddening
With no answer from the Baron, Toto decided to find out for himself.