雪国の真実

***

*December 6*

     Ryosuke heard her coming up the ladder and he smiled.  Finally.  He’d been awake since like seven ,so he was getting really bored up here.  When she opened the flap and asked him if he needed anything, he agreed.  “Actually I was wondering,” he started, “I want something in particular.”  Would Hikoku have strawberries?  Or would they be mutant strawberries?  There fish was really different so he didn’t want to eat any blue odd tasting strawberries or anything. 

     She raised her eyebrow, eyeing him up.  “What would that be?” Somehow she seemed nervous. 

     “It's something I've been wanting for a really long time; I just didn't know if I should ask for it or not,” he explained.  

      What did he want, she wondered before her head suddenly thought back to her conversation with Eri the night before and she jolted backwards.  He looked at her suddenly, “What's wrong?”

      “Are you all this unrefined in Yukiguni?” she held up her hands in protest.

      “What?” he blinked, “I was going to ask if you had any strawberries and cream.  Ah, and normal strawberries and cream—they aren’t blue here, right?”

      “W-What?” she almost fell over. 

      “What in the world did you think I was going to ask for?” he questioned her.  She couldn't say anything and instead was relieved and both embarrassed at once.  Before she could calm down, he smirked, “You’re a ert.”

      “W-What!?” she repeated her cry and blushed.  In honesty, Eri had told her last night that men in Yukiguni were vile--that the prince would likely be looking for the same thing all vile men look for...  She spoke about how the prince from Yukiguni must surely be a brute—he would use her and then kill her.  “I-I was only…!”

      He looked at her only for a moment longer before shrugging.  “So do you guys have strawberries here?”

      “We do,” she said, “I’ll bring you some.”

      “No that’s okay.  I’ll go with,” he said, moving toward the ladder.

      “What?  Why?  You won’t be allowed in the kitchens,” she quickly ran to him, “You can’t go there.”

      “Why not?” he looked at her innocently, “Didn’t Nishikido order you to do whatever I say?  I’m saying I want to go get my own strawberries.”

      “Why!?” she sounded frustrated now and snapped, “I don’t get you.  You have maids to do this thing for you now.”

      “Well I’m not helpless you know,” he fought back, “I can do things myself.  I don’t need others constantly doing things for me like I’m a baby.”

      “It’s my job!” she fought back.

      “And?  I’m making your job easier!” he continued it, “Anyway, shouldn’t it be your job to let me do as I please as well?”

      “Why are you arguing over strawberries?”

      “Why are you arguing over strawberries?”

      She suddenly stopped and blushed before retreating a bit, noticing how close she’d gotten to him.  “You really are a bit weird,” he laughed.

      She bit her tongue.  Her weird!?  He was the weird one.  Since when did brutes go crazy over strawberries?  He remembered his face in her mind though… “There wasn’t much hair at all,” she mused.

      “What about hair?” he asked.

      She blushed once more--she had to stop loosing her guard around him.  Why was he still there!?  “N-Nothing,” she said quickly, “Please hurry down.”

      Quickly she climbed down the ladder to catch up with him trying to be careful not to step on the bottom of her dress as she went down.  “You don’t even know where the kitchens are,” she told him once she caught up with him on the stairs.

      “You’re right,” he said, “I don’t know most of this place yet.  You do though, right?” he turned to her and she almost tripped down the rest of the stairs.  This guy was really throwing her off!

      “Of course,” she fixed herself, stepping back, “I’ve served here for over three years now.”

     “What floor is it on?” he asked.

     “The fourth,” she simply said and he continued down until she had to tell him they’d reached the fourth floor before he continued down the rest of the stairs.  They both suddenly heard a gasp. 

     Ryosuke looked over to see another girl—who looked older than the maid who served him—dressed in the same black and grey uniform the other maid was.  She had a short bob of dark black hair that framed her grey eyes and red lips.  “Miko-chan!” she called out, coming beside the other maid.

     He’d never asked about her name before—so it was Miko.  Comparing the two girls before him, he realized it was the first time he got a good look at his own maid in addition to the other.  Miko was about a head shorter and looked quite a bit younger.  Her hair was a dark shade of brown that fell to her midback versus the dark brown and her eyes were also chocolate compared to the stormy grey of the elder girl.  His comparisons ended when Miko spoke.  “Eri-chan, what are you doing here?” she asked her friend.

     “Be careful, Tanaka-sama is in a rage,” she said warningly, “I’m trying to stay out of the way so he doesn’t beat me as well as the others.”

     “What happened now?” Miko asked her.  The last time Tanaka-sama had been in a rage it was for something as simple as the head cook burning the fish. 

     “Apparently there is a new girl, but she only works part-time.  She must have done something to anger Tanaka-sama.”

     “Part-time?” Miko questioned, “I’ve never heard of anyone working part-time.  She wasn’t sold?”

     “It doesn’t appear so.  Maybe she comes from a family with money?” Eri spoke softly as Ryosuke listened to the girls’ conversation.  “Anyway,” Eri suddenly looked at him, “This is him?”

     “Hai,” Miko said. 

     Ryosuke merely stood there as the older girl observed him from head to toe and back again.  “Are you really a prince from Yukiguni?  You look more like you’re from Kazekoku.”

     “Huh?” he said dumbfounded.  He didn’t know if he should be offended about the whole Kazekoku comment or not—just what did she mean?

     “He’s not hairy, Miko-chan,” she observed, “He doesn’t look anything like I imagined him to…Can I ask you a question?”

     “I suppose so,” he replied nervously.  What the heck was with this girl?  And what was wrong with his amount of hair?

     “Why did your oldest brother kill his girlfriend?” she suddenly blurted out.

     “Asking him a personal question like that is rude,” Miko scolded her.

     “Okay, you know, I’m not quite sure what’s going on here, but I do know one thing…Everyone here is quite odd.  Where in the world did you get the stupid idea that Yuya killed his girlfriend?” Then he laughed at the thought and the two girls stared at him.

      “He’s laughing,” Eri said in shock, “This is odd behavior for someone from Yukiguni…”

      “W-What,” he tried to say between laughs, “Do you know about Yukiguni?  Oh goodness, even saying that Yuya could kill someone…Yuya couldn’t even kill a rabbit when Otou-san took us hunting!”

     “Wait,” the girl looked at him seriously as he calmed his laughter, “So that means he didn’t kill off the wild wolves?”

     “What wild wolves?”

     “The ones that roam Yukiguni; the ones that destroy and kill people all over your country.”

     “I honestly don’t know which Yukiguni you’re reading about, but in my Yukiguni, I’ve never even seen a wolf, let alone these killer wolves you speak of.”

     “He’s got to be lying,” Eri told Miko. 

     “Why would I be lying?” he was starting to get annoyed again.  What was he doing that made everyone here not like him?  It was school all over again.  “I’m honestly not sure what you’re trying to tell me, but what I told you is the truth.  I don’t have a reason to lie.”

     He kept walking on, finding the door to the kitchen easily.  “Ah, you shouldn’t go in there!” Eri said.

     But he walked in only to find a man fuming in rage, throwing things about the kitchen.  Eri ran up behind him and Miko followed.  The man looked over at them and his face changed to a surprised face, to confusion, back to anger all in a few seconds. 

     “Miko,” his voice shook in anger, “Why is Ryosuke-sama down in the kitchens?”

     She stepped forward quickly in front of the other two, “He wished to come down here himself.  He wanted some strawberries.”

     “It’s your job to bring him what he wants,” he yelled in rage, “You’re always useless like this!  Can’t you do anything right?” He grabbed her long hair and yanked it back as she let out a soft yelp.

     Ryosuke was shocked that the man would do that in front of him.  “Miko-chan!” Eri stepped forward to help her, wanting to lash out at the old, boney man, but Tanaka yelled at her.  “You interfere and you’ll find yourself in the same position.  Have you finished cleaning the dining hall yet?”

     She stepped back angrily and he yanked the girl by her hair towards the back of the kitchen.  Ryosuke didn’t know what he was going to do, but it was his decision to come down here.  “Oi,” he called after the man, running towards them, “You should let her go.”

     “Please,” he bowed as best as he could without letting her go, “I’m sorry she troubled you.”

     “No,” he grabbed the man’s hand that was holding onto the girl’s hair.  “You’re the one causing trouble.  I told her I wanted to come down.  So let go.”

     Surprise was on his face once more before his grip loosened and Ryosuke shoved his hand off.  His shock didn’t last that long before he yelled at others to start working again before he disappeared.  “Miko-chan,” Eri ran over, “Daijoubu?”

     “I’m fine,” she nodded.  “Thank you…” she mumbled up to Ryosuke.

     “It’s no big deal; he was blaming you unfairly.  I was the one who wanted to come down here.”  He would have felt extremely guilty if he had done nothing.  

     She stared at him.  Why was he being so kind?  Why was he nothing like a person from Yukiguni should be?  Why did he help her?  “You’re really different than a Yukiguni person…” she said.

     He looked back at her and sighed, “Listen, I don’t know what kind of stuff they throw around this country about my people, but I can’t assure you it isn’t true.”

     She was silent.  “Come on,” Eri tried to help Miko up, but she sat on the ground for a couple moments longer before getting up herself and immediately bowing to him.

     “I thought we agreed to stop the bowing,” he tried to have her stand up straight.

     “Gomen nasai,” she said before running off. 

     Eri stood awkwardly beside him.  She no longer thought he was a brute—especially after what just happened.  He had her trust for now; however, it was still a bit awkward as she hardly knew the boy.  After a while he sighed disappointedly and then asked, “Do you know where you guys keep the strawberries?”

     “Eh?”

***

     “I agreed to only one day of work in the palace a week and that is how it will stay,” the girl told Tanaka as he raged on.

     “Well Nishikido-sama ordered that the doors are all locked until he gets back,” he pressed on. 

     “Nishikido-sama agreed to this arrangement.  Get them to open the doors or you'll feel the wrath of my father,” she fought back, "I'm sure you've heard of the Yokoyama Family."

     “I don't care who your family is, you ought to watch your tongue around here,” the man went to grab her, but she dodged his boney hands. 

     “Don’t touch me you filth,” she said as she pushed him aside.

     He bumped into the pots in the kitchen, knocking a few over, before he got back up to his feet.  Just who was this maid!?  “F-Fine,” he muttered, “I’ll speak with the guards.”

     “Just tell them Mirai wishes to leave.  They will understand,” she said before striding away.  “I’m going to retrieve my belongings—the doors better be unlocked before I’m finished.”

     The man said nothing, but set out for the front of the palace.  

     Mirai went back into the servants’ quarters.  Starting last week, every Friday night she would travel to the palace and then leave the next day after finishing her duties.  She packed lightly, only bringing her change of clothes.  When she got back, she discovered there was only one girl still inside the girls’ room.  She sat on the floor where the girl presumed her futon would go later that night.  The servants’ room was small and the area you had for yourself was only where you placed your futon every night.  Mirai had studied into it.  The palace had forty-one servants serving currently and twenty-seven of them were women, all sharing this cluttered room. 

     Mirai hadn’t paid attention to the people around her when she slept last night, but the girl was awfully close to where she slept.  The girl seemed to notice her presence as she grabbed her bag.  The girl had a sad looking expression.  “Are you alright?” she sat down beside the girl.  Mirai couldn’t possibly leave a girl sitting around looking upset—she was quite young looking as well, compared to Mirai who was already eighteen.

      “Ah, I’m fine,” she seemed to be collecting herself, “I’m sorry to bother you…”

      She looked at Mirai.  “Are you the new part-timer they were speaking of…?”

      “I am,” she smiled at her, “My name is Mirai.  You are?”

      “Miko,” she replied softly. 

     “How long have you worked here?” she asked gently.

     “I’ll be going on four years soon,” she replied.

     “Four?  Wow, you are very much my senpai.  How old are you to have worked her so long?”

     “I’m only fifteen.  I was sold here when I was twelve.”

     Mirai frowned, but quickly tried to keep her smiling face.  She shouldn’t show much emotion—she couldn’t make anyone suspicious of her here.  “I’m eighteen already, but I have hardly worked as hard as you have.  I should seriously work hard to catch up with you!”

     The girl laughed a bit.  “I’ll be here every Friday evening into Saturday,” Mirai continued on, “I look forward to working with you Miko.  If you have any troubles, don’t keep them to yourself down here.”

     Mirai went to leave but the girl suddenly spoke.  “H-Have you ever misjudged someone?”

     “Hm?” she looked back down at the girl.

     “I think I misjudged someone…And now I feel really bad for thinking they were a really bad person after they helped me.”

     Mirai smiled at her simple thoughts, “I’ve misjudged someone before I’m sure.  You should just apologize.  I’m sure that person will forgive you.”

     “Well, we aren’t really that close…”

     “You could become friends then, right?  In this palace,” her mood became somewhat dark, “You need all the friends you can get, right?”

     Miko looked up at the girl.  She had a scary expression on her face for a moment before it returned back to normal.  “I don’t think they are the kind of person someone like me can become friends with.”

     “Don’t doubt yourself.  You never know who you might come to be acquainted with,” Mirai told her, “I must leave now, but I think you should just try to work it out.  I will return next week.  Until then.”

     Once the girl walked out, Miko continued to sit in silence.  She’d never seen the girl before, but she was a bit odd.  She was really friendly immediately though.  Their conversation was very quick, and Miko knew that Mirai didn’t know it was the prince she was talking about.  Surely if she had known, she would have understood the situation was a little more difficult. 

     Miko felt extremely guilty, but she also felt betrayed.  It wasn’t Eri who would ever lie to her.  She’d known Eri ever since she was eleven years old—the time when she was first taken from her home and sold into servitude.  Eri was fifteen then and watched out for Miko.  Miko hadn’t been in school since she was nine since her family was very poor so she didn’t remember stories of the other countries like Eri did…Why would the school lie to her though?  There was no reason for a school to lie. 

     Miko had made up her mind.  “Arigatou Mirai,” she laughed a bit before getting up.  She was going to find the Prince. 

***

     The gates had been opened for her and Mirai strolled out, the image of an angry Tanaka fading behind her.  And as soon as she was out, the doors and gates were all immediately locked up once more.  “So it’s because of their new resident,” Mirai mused to herself, walking into the wealthier part of town.  She quickly went into a familiar mansion—it was her father’s mansion.  What in the world is Nishikido planning?

     Upon going inside, the maids welcomed her back and brought her a short meal as she pondered over her thoughts.  “Is Yokoyama-san here?” Mirai asked, looking around finally.

     “He is out at the current moment, Mirai-sama,” a maid told her, “If you’d like to rest in your room before making your way to the village; I will prepare a bath as well.”

     “Oh no that’s quite alright,” she said, “If Yokoyama-san isn’t here, I shall just move on quickly…Thank you as always, though.  Take a rest for a while.”

     “Of course,” the maid smiled to her, “We shall prepare for your journey then.”

     It would only take her an hour at most, but it still was a journey that needed to be prepared for.  No one could watch her every time she made it.  Yokoyama-san was the only one who knew of this village that lived in the capital, besides the sworn maids of his. 

     Another maid came to her, “Mirai-sama, in three weeks’ time there will be a big event held at the palace for Christmas; Yokoyama-sama and his daughter have been invited to it…Shall you attend?  I believe Yokoyama-sama finds it wise if you go with him.  Nishikido will be snooping around surely.”

     “Hm,” she thought, “You’re quite right.  I shall bring up the matter as soon as I get there.  It’s true what you say—I think I shall most likely be staying here then that week.”

     The other maid reentered the room and said that the path was clear to leave quickly.  “Of course,” Mirai rose and turned to the others, “When Yokoyama-san returns, tell him I’m thankful as always for his care.  Oh and when I return I’ll bring treats for you all.”

     A maid opened the door and Mirai descended into the darkness.  It was only about ten minutes of walking in the dark underneath the capital before she saw light shining through the bottom of the door ahead.  After she exited, she started off through the woods.  She began to run, dodging stray tree branches and watching her feet for stones and weeds.  It can’t be good if he’s got the Prince of Yukiguni with him, she began to let her mind wonder again as she continued to run.  Finally she saw the water of the vast ocean about half an hour later.  She was out of breath, but when she was in the woods she always felt on edge.  The only places she truly felt safe in this world were either in Yokoyama-san’s care or back in the village.  Despite how unsafe and on edge she felt in the woods, no one ever showed up there that didn’t belong. 

     Until now.

     “Who’s there?” she heard someone call out as soon as she stepped into the clearing on the beach.  

***

Yay!  Enter Mirai, haha.  I plan on making her a super cool character, so look forward to it!  Things with Miko (Eri as well) are going to pick up as well, as she's actually one of the story's main characters from here on out.  In fact, I've yet to introduce all of the characters still *haha*.  

Anyway, recently I've been reading up on Yama-chan's profile and magazine articles.  He's been talking about the Great Gatsby and Leonardo DiCaprio so much.  Even says he wants to "Leo-sama".  Haha, it makes me feel close-I'm currently studying the Great Gatsby, and I love Leonardo DiCaprio.  I even heard Yamada came to America with Dai-chan and Yuto-kun.  Wah, I feel so close.  Too bad still so far away...

Until next time! Please comment your feelings! ♥　次回までね！皆さんの気持ちをコメントして下さい。^-^

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Japanese Usage Dictionary:

Hai- Yes

Gomen nasai- I'm sorry

Arigatou- Thank You

(Posted 月・2014年03月10日)