Fantasy, Meet Reality

Chapter VII: Kismet

(This chapter is dedicated to my Wattpad sisters, @Pardesi_chick and @Unce2014 for their votes and comments on this story. Knowing you support this gives me the encouragement to become better as a writer.

You girls rock! Hopefully, you and the others enjoy reading this. Mwah!)

Natsumi's POV:

"Where had the hours gone by?" Natsumi couldn't but ask herself. It seemed only moments ago when she had begun her day by working as usual. Being busy really makes a person forget the time...

Every muscle and joint in her body screamed in protest as she dragged herself towards her home. It's a wonder she hadn't passed out yet, considering how physically demanding her work was.

Home never seemed so inviting to her as it did now. She had never liked going to the city proper to do business there.

Still, it was a profitable venture, so she had no choice but to do so.

"I wonder how Haku and Sayu are doing." She knew they were more than capable of looking after themselves. But there was a part of her which worried about them constantly.

"Got to go faster then." So she did, until she was only a few streets away from home. And then...

"Huh? What's that?" Or rather, who's that? She couldn't tell for sure from where she stood. Her instincts told her to stay away, but her curiosity won out.

So she inched closer to where the object of her interest was...

And saw a man totally unfamiliar to her. Natsumi was sure he wasn't from their neighborhood. He was lost, or so it seemed to her.

A part of her told Natsumi that whatever happened to the stranger was of no concern to her. Another insisted it was her duty to try and help whenever she can. Guess which she chose to listen to?

Gathering up her courage, she placed herself within the stranger's line of sight. And spoke at once...

"Pardon me, sir. Are you lost?" she asked, albeit with caution. It was,for her, hitting two birds with a stone. She could help him, if needed, and sate her curiosity at the same time.

"Well, yes and no," the stranger replied. Talk about being ambiguous. "What do you mean,sir?"

"I was kind of exploring your place." Oh... Not many would think of visiting her neighborhood on a whim. But some were still attracted by its scenery.

"Please go on sir," she said. Natsumi's natural inquisitiveness made it hard for her not to finish listening to the stranger's tale.

"To continue what I was saying, I then found out I had lost my satchel." Ok... "Not sure where, but probably on the carriage I rode to get here. Well, that sucks.

"Are you from the city proper?"she asked. His accent sounded like he was. Plus, he looked too refined to be a country folk, based from her observations.

"Yes, but it appears I'm stuck here for the time being." And that was Natsumi's cue to leave. Her conscience wouldn't allow her though.

"Would you like to spend the night at my home?" Inviting a practical stranger under your roof? This was sounding less of a good idea to her by each passing second.

But Natsumi was determined to uphold her belief of helping whenever she can and to whoever is in need of it.

"Are you sure, miss?" the man said. "For all you know, I could be a nurderer, a thief, a maniac, or a combination of these." Crap, why hadn't that crossed her mind?

"You don't look like any of them sir," she countered. In fact, he possessed good looks and polite manners, a captivating combination for any normal and red-blooded female.