みこちゃんのお願い事

***

     “Who’s there?” Daiki held up his oar toward a girl coming towards them.  She was dressed in a long black dress that went down to her ankles and it had grey detailing with short sleeves.  She even wore long grey stockings it seemed with boots in addition to a heavy looking apron tied around her waist.  It looked horrid to wear in this heat.  In fact, as if to prove his thought correct, the girl was sweating and panting.

     The girl gave them an odd look, but didn’t say anything.  Keito grabbed the bags quickly and swung them over his back.  Both parties stood on guard for several minutes before Keito leaned in to Daiki.  “Surely she would've attacked by now or something... We should try to talk to her,” he whispered, “We don’t know where we’re going.”

      “We can’t trust just anyone,” he whispered back, “We can’t have any of the authorities figuring out we’re here.”

      “We also can’t go wondering around in the woods until someone else spots us and arrests us either,” he hissed back. 

      The girl standing in front of them seemed to finally catch her breath and took a good look at them.  “Who are you two?” she asked immediately.

      Neither of them spoke and instead three of them had a stare down for about another five minutes before the girl sighed once more.  “This is going to get us nowhere,” she said, “You don’t appear to be from Hikoku.”

     “She doesn’t seem to be making any attempts to call anyone,” Keito whispered again, “For now, let’s just see if we can figure anything out.”

      Daiki didn’t respond, but the girl spoke again, “There’s no point in whispering.  I can already tell by your clothes that you aren’t from Hikoku.  I am not stupid.  If I am correct with how my parents taught me…You are from Yukiguni, no?”

      “Er...” Daiki let out on accident.

      “I’ll take that as a yes,” she nodded, “Wow, there sure are a lot of folk from Yukiguni in our country these days.”

      Keito jumped on the topic, “What do you mean?” he walked towards her and she took a defensive stance.  He put his hands up, “I don’t mean anything bad; I just want to know what you mean by that.  About Yukiguni.”

       She raised her eyebrow questionably.  “It’s just,” she played her words carefully, “With the prince being here and all.”

      “Ryosuke?” Daiki looked at Keito.

      “So that’s why you’ve come into Yukiguni,” she nodded, “Are you from the army?  If you are, you best not make too much a fuss.  I won’t turn you in, but you don’t stand a chance trying to get into the palace.  Especially not this week.”

      Daiki and Keito looked at one another.  “So Ryosuke is in the palace then?”

      She looked them over before answering yes.  “Are you headed to the capital now?” Keito asked her.

      “I’m not,” she said, narrowing her eyes, “I know you aren’t from here, but I still have to take precautions you know.”

      “What are you talking about?” Daiki asked her, holding up the oar again for defense.

      She let out a stout giggle, “Please, I’m not going to hurt you.  It’s best you follow me back to my village.  You tell me why exactly you’re here and what you plan on doing, and I’ll give you a little information.”

       “How do we know we can trust you?” Daiki called out, “How do we know you’re not going to turn us in when we get back to this so called village?”

      “I guess you don’t know,” she said, “But I’m the best bet you have.  You can come with me or you can stay out here in the woods and risk someone else finding you.”

      It was quiet for a while longer more before Keito nodded.  “I say we go with her,” he said.  Daiki wanted to protest, but he had no better ideas. 

      So off they went again, the girl leading them farther off from the woods for about ten minutes until they reached a small village surrounded by the water on three sides.  “This is where you live?” Daiki asked, “It’s really quite small.”

      “Not many people know of my village,” she told them, “And it’s going to stay that way.”

      Her voice sounded threatening and for a moment the two wondered if they had made the right decision to follow her here.  Looking around, there were only about twenty buildings all made of mud and clay looking material.  In the center was the largest building, which seemed to be where the girl was taking them.  “This is my home,” she told them as she pushed open the small door. 

      “Onee-san~” a little voice sounded and before the three of them was a small girl, no older than three. 

      “Miyu-chan,” the girl picked up her sister and hugged her tightly, “Were you good while I was away?”

      The little girl nodded her head and she placed her back down on the floor.  “Mirai?” another voice came from behind and suddenly a woman come out into the open.  Daiki and Keito observed her.  They had no clue what they had just walked into but it looked like a normal family.  The mother was preparing a meal, the small child running back to play with small toys in the corner of the house.  “Who are these people…?” she observed them in their entirety, “They are…?”

      “They claimed they came from Yukiguni.”

      “Let me get your father,” she ran off.

      “What’s going on here?” Daiki asked seriously.  But the girl didn’t answer him.  Instead she took off her shoes and told them to do the same before she sat down on the ground with her younger sister until her mother came back with a man, whom they presumed was her father.

       The man immediately gazed upon the two in fascination, “They do look like they are from Yukiguni.”

      “Would you like some tea?” the woman asked them.

      “Wait, wait, wait,” Daiki suddenly said, startling the woman a bit, “I’m so confused.  What in the world is going on?  Where are we?  Where is the palace!?  Where is my brother!?” he cried out in equal confusion and frustration. 

      “Your brother?” Mirai stood up and walked back over, “I thought you were looking for the prince.”

      “Of course I’m looking for the prince,” he growled out in exhaustion as he hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours, “That is my brother!  So can you please explain where this is so I can hurry up and find him?  My father will have my neck already for disobeying him; I’d rather get Ryosuke and get back as quickly as I can.”

      “Y-You’re the King’s sons?” the woman questioned, “What are your names?”

     “Onii-san,” Keito grabbed Daiki’s arm, “This could be a trap…”

     “No, no,” the woman said suddenly putting down the kettle, “Please, I don’t think you understand.”

     “Understand what?” Daiki asked her.

     “I am Keiko Sakurai,” she suddenly said before her husband could stop here. 

      Keito was the first to react, pulling Daiki back.  “I told you this was a trap,” he said. 

      Daiki wanted to argue and say that Keito was the one who said to follow the girl, but he didn’t.  Keito grabbed his brother’s wrist and dragged him outside barefoot before the woman and her husband followed after them.  There was a hardly a place to run to.  They would be surrounded whereever they ran off to.  

     “To the water Keito!” Daiki ran in front of him. 

     In desperation, Daiki froze the water in front of him, running out a few feet as Keito followed in his brother’s example.  They managed to melt the ice closer to the land so the others couldn’t get them easily.  They were trapped again though.  They were both extremely tired and using their magic this much was only over exhausting them.  They couldn’t freeze all the water back to Yukiguni and freezing a path back to land would only be counterproductive.  “Please,” the woman cried out, almost as desperate as they were, “Please come back and explain everything!”

      The man stepped forward as well, “We really mean no harm.  I know you’re probably quite confused but give us the chance to understand.”

      “How can we trust you!?  You claim to be the King and Queen, yet the King and Queen are the one who have my brother locked up right now!  What’s the advantage of lying to us!?” Daiki yelled. 

      “You’ve got it wrong,” the woman begged, “Please come over here and we’ll explain it.”

     “Explain it now then,” Daiki yelled back over.  He was about to tell Keito that they should find a way to escape before his brother suddenly fell over, falling into the water.  “Keito!”

      Before he could even react the man jumped into the water before he could.  It was over in the matter of seconds and the man already had Keito back up on the now melting piece of ice.  “What happened?” he helped Keito up.

      “I don’t feel so good,” he suddenly said.

      “Do you trust us yet?” the man asked him, supporting his younger brother still, “If I wanted to hurt you, I would’ve drown him just now.  Come back and let us explain properly.  You both look like you could use proper rest anyway.  If you’re Jun’s kids I should treat you properly.”

      Daiki felt the drain on his energy as well and what the man said certainly was true…But how could it be that the man before him was really the King of Hikoku?  Just who was in the palace with Ryosuke?  What was going on?  But before any more questions raced through his head, Daiki allowed the last of his energy to refreeze the water to get him back to land before collapsing down on the hot ground.

***

      Ryosuke didn’t know what else to do.  It was the first time here that he actually felt how boring life could be.  Sure he’d had the two hours in the morning to wait this morning, but this was just literally sitting on his bed, staring at the ceiling.  Plus, despite the fact that Miko had lit all the candles around his room this morning, his room was still really dark.  He had never come to consider the fact that he took his windows at home for granted.  He placed his hand on his chest and concentrated…nope.  Still nothing. 

      Suddenly the flap opened once again and up stepped the small maid.  “Ah, Miko,” he sat up and she looked at him. 

      He was using her name?  She smiled a bit at the thought, before frowning, thinking of what she’d come here to do.  “What’s wrong?” he asked, worried at her long face.  He never knew when he did something to upset her.  He never knew what he did to upset anyone, but he hated being the cause of someone's displeasure.  

       “I…I wanted to apologize.”

      "…Why?”

      “What do you mean why?” she questioned, “I misjudged you horribly.  I assumed you would hurt me or even kill me.  You were supposed to be really hairy and you aren’t.  You were supposed to be mean and enjoy other’s pain, but you don’t.  Instead you helped me back in the kitchens even though you weren’t obligated to do so.  So…I’m really sorry for misjudging you.”

      To Ryosuke, this was the first time anyone had ever apologized to him for misjudging him, not seeing him for who he really was.  He was taken back at her sudden apology.  He smiled.  “I’m not angry at you.  I’m sure Hikoku taught you things like that—it’s not really your fault.”

      She smiled again now, “If you don’t mind…I’d like to ask a favor of you.”

      “What is it?” he asked.

      “Regarding how I thought you’d be a brute…” she suddenly closed the flap and it became a little bit darker, “I’d like you to tell me about the people of Yukiguni.  You said your oldest brother didn’t really kill his ex-girlfriend.  Why would the school lie to us about that?  There must be a reason.  I want to know it.”

       Ryosuke regarded what she was saying.  Of course she would want to know.  If he were in her place, he’d probably be thinking the same thing.  But he didn’t know if telling her was the right thing to do.  If he told her, she’d most likely be in danger.  The schools did lie for a reason—this was all a part of Nishikido’s plans.  If Miko discovered the truth of the other countries, she’d certainly be a threat to Nishikido as well.  Almost as if reading his mind, she interrupted his thoughts, “I’ll make sure no one figures out you’re telling me this.  I won’t even tell Eri-chan.  I don’t want to be left in the dark anymore.”

      Still he said nothing.  She says she wouldn’t tell…But if she were to get involved, Ryosuke would be the cause of it.  “It’s a bit more complicated than I think you realize,” he said, “Giving away this information, getting you involved, it really isn’t a good idea.”

       “Why not?” she pressed, “Would something happen to me if I knew?”

       Why does she ask so many questions, he groaned on the inside.  “You see me don’t you,” he said.

       “What about you?”

      “I’m sitting here in a room thousands of miles away from my home—kidnapped.  You think I came here on my own?  This should be a forewarning of danger from knowing too much.  Sometimes…” he hesitated saying the next part, “Sometimes it’s best if one just lives in ignorance.”

        That was the wrong word choice and he knew it once he let it slip.  She had an angry look on her face now.  He wanted to apologize, but if that’s what it took to get her off the topic he should just leave it. 

       “If you think that’ll make me drop the topic, you’re wrong,” she suddenly said in protest and he was honestly a bit freaked out at how she did that, almost like reading his mind.

       “The answer is still no.”

      “Please,” she gave him a begging look and it really killed him.  Not only did it make his heart flutter in an odd way, but it reminded him of how Yuri would beg for something.  He wouldn’t stop until Ryosuke gave him whatever it was he wanted either.  His heart was telling him to let her in, but his brain was telling him not to.  When he continued to keep his silence, she spoke up again.  “Don’t you think it’s kind of lonely sitting up here all day not being able to talk to anyone?  You could talk to me about this.  If you tell me, I can help you as well.  I can give you information on Hikoku.  Surely you’d like to leave.”

       She didn’t understand.  He knew she didn’t so he tried not to become frustrated with her.  When he once again ignored her requests, she began talking on her own accord.  “Fine.  I’ll start with some of my information first.

     “When I was ten, my mom suddenly became very ill.  I didn’t know what was happening to her and there was absolutely nothing I could do.  My father tried everything—he brought her to doctors until she was told she only had about seven years to live from her disease.  That year was the first year I experienced being poor.  I mean, I’d been poor before, but not like that.  All the money went to my mother’s medical funds.  But my father got more and more stressed, I suppose.  Soon he stopped coming home more often.  The money from work stopped coming home.  It was my eleventh birthday when he was gone.  I’ve never seen him since.

      “The next month—around February 4th I guess—they came for me.  I didn’t understand it at the time and I screamed my mother’s name in vain as they tried to pry me out of the house.  Now I regret that screaming—I’m sure it only caused pain for my mother for she could do nothing.  She couldn’t pay the taxes so she must have felt guilty.  The day was unusually cold as well.  My first year I was sold to a wealthy family in the upper part of the capital.  That was where I met Eri-chan.  At the time she was fifteen.  I’ve always seen her as my older sister and I would do anything she asked of me. 

       “To say living there was bad would be a lie.  In fact, it was much nicer than my life before.  I got to bathe regularly and I got my own clean futon to sleep in every night beside the other servants of the house.  I was fed regularly, and I could send all the money I made, that didn’t go to the taxes, back to my mother.  My life in that house only lasted about a year though before I was resold along with Eri-chan and six other girls in the area to the palace when I was twelve. Ever since then I’ve worked here."

      She took a brief pause to look up at him before she continued.

       “I know I’m throwing a lot at you and I don’t want your pity.  I just want you to understand where I stand.  I’ve grown up knowing that the world isn’t a nice place.  Working here in the palace, there are secrets I too am obligated to keep or it means my death.  Sometimes my ears overhear things I shouldn't; my eyes watch things I shouldn’t.  But if you’re willing to help me with what you know, I can help you with what I know.  You don’t have to put up with Nishikido-sama.”

       “And you do?” he questioned her statement, “You just said yourself telling somebody secrets like these could get you killed.  How do you trust me already so much?

       “Yes,” she answered his first question, “I have to put up with Nishikido-sama because it is how I make money for my mother and I am from Hikoku.  I have not been kidnapped—I was born into this… But as for my trust, I’ve decided to trust in you.  Just looking at you know, after everything that has happened, I can’t help but think you are a good person.  You’re someone I can trust.”

       He didn’t know how to answer her declaration of trust as he’d never heard one before.  He was extremely happy, but that was wrong of him to feel at this moment so he switched back to what they were talking about.  “If I told you, what would you do with the information?  Why do you want it?”

      “I want to know if the rest of the world is really as horrible as Hikoku has taught me.  After meeting you and seeing the deep pain you’ve gone through by just being here, I believe it isn’t.  In addition, you say everything I know about Yukiguni is a lie.  I want to find hope.  I want to know that the whole world isn’t like Hikoku.  Some—no many—still live thinking we are the lucky ones.  I want you to tell me we aren’t.  I want you to give me hope that I can aspire to.  That is what I want.”

      And he couldn’t say anything.  Suddenly Ryosuke felt immature compared to the girl before him.  He felt unworthy of her presence.  And most of all, he felt the sudden desire to give her whatever hope she wanted.  Silence passed between them but this time she didn’t fill it with her voice.  Would it be right of him to take the trust of this girl, give her his trust?  It seemed to him that she would not drop the topic, so could he accept the offer without feeling guilty later on? 

      ...

       “I was born in the capital of Yukiguni in May of the 276^th year,” he saw her shift happily, getting more comfortable on the floor in front of him, smiling in relief that he’d finally given in.  “I was the fourth child of my father, King Matsumoto.”

       “King…Jun Matsumoto, correct?” she asked, “I’ve heard his name before.”

       “Yes, that is his name.  My father is a man of great power and just having him before you is one of the highest honors.  My father’s magical abilities are top notch and no one in the kingdom can match him,” he explained, “If you were ever to find yourself in battle with my father, you should beg to be spared!  My father looks cold on the outside…But inside, I know he must surely be very caring.  The way he cares for my mother, the way he raised us.  I have many wonderful memories with him.”

       “He sounds like a very cool king,” the girl commented innocently, as if this were a fairytale. 

       To her, it was though.  This was a fascinating story to her—something she could listen to and imagine seeing, but she could never actually touch this world he described.  

       “He is,” he assured her with a smile, “There is no cooler king in this world.  My mother is also the kindest.  And her healing powers match those at the best hospitals around the nation.  As for my siblings, my eldest is named Yuya.  Despite what many here believe Yuya couldn’t hurt a fly.  He’s probably the most gentle and kind of us all despite his looks and the cool attitude he wants to give off as the future king.  The next is Daiki.  I am very close to Daiki; when I was younger, I clung to him in desperation.  I would beg to sleep with Daiki as a tiny child.  He would always put up with me even if I annoyed him.  Keito is the middle child, but he is quite smart and he has really good points to him.  He is always the reasonable one and is very down to earth.  My last brother is Yuri, who is younger than I.  When I was young my mother told me that I often was annoyed with him, but I’ve come to love him just as much as my other brothers.  Yuri and I have shared a room for as long as I remember, so I think I honestly feel lonely in this big room all by myself.  He is spoiled—he uses those eyes on me, just like you did, and makes me give him whatever he wants.  You doing that reminded me of him.”

      She noticed his tone was sad and felt bad; bowing her head, she tried to apologize, but he placed his finger on her forehead.  She looked up to an annoyed expression.

      “W-What?”

      “Oi,” he said, “I’ve decided to share my story with you.  I’m going to help you like you’ve asked me.  But in return you have to listen to me.  It may not seem like it, as I’ve been kidnapped and all, but I’m not stupid or completely useless as a prince.  I studied enough growing up to understand this kind of situation.”

      “…What would you like?”

      “First of all, stop with all this bowing unless were in the presence of others.  I’ve obviously given you my trust so don’t break it either.  You can’t tell others of anything I speak of.  It could get us both into big trouble.”

       “Okay, okay,” she nodded, “I can do both of those.”  She stuck out her pinky and he grinned.  He’d only made pinky promises with his siblings before.  He held out his own pinky and they swore.  “If I lie, I shall die, you shall stick a thousand needles in my eye.”  She chanted before pressing her thumb to his.  “Now you can trust me wholeheartedly.”

      He laughed at her simplicity, “Before you were cold and annoyed at me—yet you have this simple, carefree personality?”

       She soured at that, “I was keeping my guard up, remember?  And same goes with you—I can’t figure out what you’re like yet.”

      “That’s fine,” he nodded.

      She didn’t say anything else except for telling him to continue on, “What did you do in Yukiguni?  You had snow right?  What does it look like?”

      “I did what all normal kids do.  I went to school and then I played around with my siblings.  You can play in the snow.  You can go to town and go to the park and such.  And snow is snow.  What is there to describe?”

      “Well I have never seen snow before in my life!  I want to see it...  Oh, you can do that right?  I remember they said people from Yukiguni can conjure snow, right?  Or was that a lie?" 

       “It’s not a lie—the people of Yukiguni are capable of using any magic related to snow, and anything we can manipulate the snow into helping us achieve.”

      “Could you make it snow now?” she asked eagerly as Christmas Eve had already arrived tonight, “Oh I’ve always wanted to see it!”

      Again, those eyes were begging and there were practically sparkles in them; her smile glowed and it was as if she was only but five discovering something great.  So he turned his head quickly, “I can’t do that.  Sorry.”

      “Why?” she asked, genuinely curious, “Can only some people do it?”

      He didn’t know why—maybe it was because he didn’t want to face the facts or his heart didn’t want to make him seem even weaker in front of Miko—but he didn’t want her finding out about his issue with magic.  “Yeah, it’s sort of like that,” he nodded. 

      It was quiet for a bit of time longer before she suddenly got up and sat on the bed beside him, “Alright, then I won’t hold back any longer!”

       “Hold back what?” he asked as she suddenly held her hand out, but he only stared at it in confusion.

       “I know some of your story, you know some of mine—we’re friends from this moment on, okay?" and she shook his hand in a friendly matter that was foreign to him.  "So I’m going to treat you like a friend when it’s just us.”

       He laughed, “Don’t get too comfortable!” But really he was saying that out of embarrassment.  He’d never had someone volunteer to be his friend before.  It felt really nice. 

       “Mou, come on.  You have to put up with me now."  

       "Can I lay on this?” she asked excitedly, “I wanna try a bed.  I’ve never had one before.”

      “Go ahead,” he told her as she helped herself to rolling around on the softness.  He cracked a smile, “You really fooled me with that reserved and strict attitude.  You’re completely different.”

      She sat up quickly, her hair a bit messy now, but her eyes held a mischievous glint, “Only my friends get to see this.  It’s not proper for me to have fun and be myself elsewhere—but with my friend, that’s alright isn’t it?” 

       He was about to answer after feeling a pang of sadness at her statement, but she interrupted him with a voice filled with laughter, “It doesn’t make a difference if you say no either!”

***

お待たせしました!! Sorry for another long wait for update.  Not only have I been busy but I had to write this chapter twice since my computer somehow crashed before I saved my work... -_- Little to say, I was not a happy person at that moment XD So I'm fairly pleased with the rewrite...

Anyway, I know that some are probably like "What the heck!?  The king and queen are dead!" but I promise, it will all be explained in time~ ^o^

とにかく～Please comment :) コメントして下さい。♥

p.s.皆さん、ハッピーホワイトデー!! Happy White Day everyone!  (And Pi Day! 3.14, woo!)

(Posted 金・2014年03月14日)