Jellyfish en Vogue - A Kuragehime or Princess Jellyfish Fanfic

Chapter 7 - Spam Mail

Tsukimi was astounded by the sheer amount of emails she was getting regarding the e-flier they had sent out. It was becoming a chore that took a couple hours just to get through them all each day. There were some that had nothing to do with the flier at all. Some prattled on about nothing and made Tsukimi very annoyed she had wasted her time. Some made her hurt and angry because they disliked her perspective on style, and felt the need to verbally abuse it, which of course felt like a personal attack toward herself. Then there were the worse ones. The ones from both male students and female students alike that suggested lewd and vulgar activities.

Kuranosuke was with her while she went through every email. Whenever she would get upset in some way he would read over her shoulder and take the mouse from her to dispose of the offending email. He had to reassure her about the verbal abuse ones because fashion was a cutthroat business and people were out for blood. He hated when she blushed while reading some. His protective instincts would kick in and he would angrily throw those away. Granted the people sending those emails did not know how truly innocent Tsukimi was. But still, the propositions she was getting were ridiculous. He almost wanted to forward the emails to himself. Then hunt down the author and kick their ass.

Tsukimi noticed Kuranosuke's odd behavior. Generally as rule he was extremely nice to her. Heck, if Tsukimi would say it outwardly she would tell him that he was now her best friend. But every time she nearly said it his mood would suddenly change. Usually the moods would fluctuate after some of the emails he would read over her shoulder. He would get angry and his words would come out harshly. Once he glanced at her though, he would quickly soften his voice and expression. Tsukimi was not a fan of this easily agitated side of him, in fact she disliked it a lot.

Kuranosuke knew every minute he would disappoint her. He would feel her frown up at him before he saw it. He nearly left every time he would upset her. But then he wouldn't be able to protect her from some of these awful emails. It was such a conundrum. He would groan at himself for unintentionally hurting her. Then he would apologize. If he had a yen for every time he apologized to her recently, he would never finish this thought because he was rich and the saying just didn't make sense in correlation with himself. After he apologized he would situate himself on her bed. This would keep him from putting his arms around her which he was growing more desperate to do.

Tsukimi would then watch him as he calmed himself down. He was so different from his brother, Shu. Shu seemed so level headed in comparison. Granted they didn't have the same mother but that couldn't be the only reason for the drastic difference between the two brothers. Tsukimi did this more often then she admitted to herself. She compared the two brothers then would wonder over what might have been if Shu hadn't chased after that career woman, Shoko.

It had taken Tsukimi awhile to come to terms with it. She had realized over time that she had never really loved Shu. She was attracted to him sure. He was handsome and wore a suit well. He also gave her attention when no other boy ever had really. Unfortunately, he also was obsessed with the fantasy version of herself. That fact took awhile for her to realize. But finally she worked out that he never realized it was her when he returned her things and she looked like a Chinese hopping vampire. If he couldn't fall for the real her then why should she dwell on something that wasn't there.

Tsukimi did dream of marrying one day of course. Her original dreams always showcased someone like Shu. Someone sharp looking and sophisticated but also someone that would look at her and couldn't keep the love shining from his eyes. Gradually over time her dreams of marrying changed. She would not picture her husband as clearly as before. He became more of a hazy silhouette. She tried not to dwell too much on the fact that she couldn't see the face beyond the haziness. It just didn't seem that important to her. One thing in her that did make an impact was her dream dress. Over time it would become clearer and clearer. She realized it was because she knew now that she would design her own dress. She figured the reason she could see the dress more then the groom was because fashion was at the forefront on her mind. Everything else would fall into place after she got that dream set in motion.

Wedding dreams weren't the only ones that haunted Tsukimi's nights. She also dreamed of what she hoped was the same male as her future groom. The dreams were always set in a more casual setting. She couldn't see his face any more in these dreams then she could the wedding ones. But she knew this was the man she would fall in love and share her life with. He would speak of their hopes and dreams. He would become excited and talk animatedly about the future. His excitement would become infections and she would grow excited herself. Then even though she didn't see it she felt how he would smile down at her. He would then grasp her hands and kiss the backs of them. The mood would change and the energy felt charged around her. He would lean forward and take her lips with his. This part of the dream troubled her. Not because he kissed her but because this is where she would wake up and still feel the heat from the phantom kiss on her own lips.

Tsukimi thought it was cruel that a dream could feel that real. It made her wish for someone to kiss her for real. Just to acknowledge that was what it was supposed to feel like. She had only really been pecked on the cheek before and that was family. She touched her lips apprehensively.

"Tsukimi?" She shook herself out of her reverie and looked at Kuranosuke. "You were a million miles away just now."

Tsukimi felt herself blush when she realized what she had been thinking about. Kuranosuke's eyebrows shot up and he looked to the email that was currently on her screen. He groaned and did the same thing as he had with all the previous ones. He would never know that the words that had been on the screen were not what she had been thinking about.

If the man I fall in love with is going to be enthusiastic about my future then I have to pay more attention to the men around me. If I learn of someone as excited about it as I am I should consider pursuing a romantic relationship with them right? But...I don't know if I could do that if he were prettier then I was. Tsukimi looked over at Kuranosuke. Yeah, he definitely can't be prettier then me otherwise wouldn't I have developed those feelings for Kuranosuke a long time ago?