A Magical Princess

Chapter 24

Hari sat on the floor and closed her eyes, going through the breathing exercises she'd been taught as an auror to help her keep her emotions under control. When she felt like she could face the world without crying or screaming, she made her way to the kitchen and started dinner, keeping her thoughts from wandering too close to the gorgeous kunoichi she'd met that day.

Shikamaru wandered in with the twins about half an hour later, and Hari made sure to smile at them when they came to greet her, and listen with interest while they talked about their day. She felt Shikamaru's gaze on her while she told Natsu about her kimono. Natsu had focused on the wedding with a single-minded ferocity that was a little concerning. Hari knew it was a distraction from the homesickness both children were feeling, made worse by the letters Naruto had helped them exchange yesterday with Hibiki via his toads.

Hari was just relieved she'd written her reply telling him how satisfied she was with the match yesterday, when it was still true. Hibiki had always been able to see straight through her, after all. After a while, Natsu dragged Eito into the family room to play a board game, and Shikamaru walked over to lean against the counter next to her.

"Ino came to talk to me after you left today," he said in a calm voice, and Hari's hands stilled before going back to cutting peppers.

"Oh?" she said, and kept her eyes down.

Shikamaru sighed and laid a hand over hers to stop the motion. "Hari, I know what this must look like..." he began, and she jerked away from him and moved to the fridge, opening it and grabbing a brick of tofu.

"Really?" she said steadily while she unwrapped the plastic covering with hands that were shaking. "Because it looks like you deliberately misled me so that I'd agree to marry into your clan. Quite a dowry you got out of it," she said, then took a deep breath to calm herself down. "You must have thought I was quite the little idiot, talking about starting a family, and finding somebody that might actually make me -" she squeezed her eyes shut when she heard him step closer to her, and forced her mind back into blankness.

She then turned and gave him a bland look. "Dinner will be done in about forty-five minutes, Shikamaru. I'll call you when it's ready," she said in a no-nonsense voice, ignoring his obvious concern.

Hari then turned away in a clear dismissal, and breathed out silently in relief when he left the kitchen. They were just sitting down when Shikaku got home, looking a little out of sorts. His hair wasn't exactly windblown, but it also wasn't perfectly put together, either, and he seemed out of breath. His gaze was intense and there was no sign of his customary slouch while stared at Hari, sitting blank faced at the table.

"Um...welcome home, Shikaku," Eito said timidly, and his eyes darted over to the boy, breaking him from his trance.

"Ah, thank you Eito." He cleared his throat awkwardly, and Shikamaru slouched down further into his seat.

"Hari, may I speak to you alone for a moment?" he asked.

"You should sit down and eat, Shikaku," she intoned, ignoring her urge to throw the butter dish at his stupid head. "Before dinner gets cold."

His jaw tensed, and Eito and Natsu's eyes were darting between the two of them, sensing that something was going on beneath the surface. Shikamaru was staring down miserably at his plate, obviously wishing he was anywhere else.

"It's important," he said after a moment.

"Oh?" Hari said a bit sharply. "Is anyone dying? Maimed? Does the Hokage need me? No? Then it can wait. Sit down and eat, Shikaku. We'll talk later."

Not having anything to say back to that, he walked over and took a seat at the table, stiffly reaching for food to fill his plate. Hesitantly, Natsu and Eito began filling Shikaku in on their day, as was now habit, and Shikaku, though distracted, did his best to nod along and ask questions. Hari's food felt heavy in her stomach, but she forced herself to continue to take calm bites and ignore the fury and hurt moving through her.