An Arranged Marriage

Bonding and Training

After leaving the dining room you found yourself in a garden, you had sat down with your face still horribly red from embarrassment. You grumbled under your breath and couldn't decide if you were embarrassed by your outburst or their insults. You gripped the grass under your hand tightly and from the corner of your eye, you noticed the white magic circle forming under it. 

You gasped and quickly removed your hand, 'I can't let myself get out of control again...' You thought to yourself as tears filled your eyes, 'I...' 

"Y/N-nee!"

Hearing the voice you wiped your eyes and stood up from the garden. You looked in surprise to see Kouha running around looking for you, "Kouha?" You called out, walking out towards him. 

He smiled when he found you and walked towards you, "Y/N-nee, I'm really sorry about Judar. He's always like that," he explained, keeping it short as if not wanting to talk about it anymore. 

You shook your head, "don't worry about it. I wanted to get some fresh air anyway," you said sweetly, taking a seat down on a stone bench near you. 

Kouha nodded and took a seat next to you. From the corner of your eye, you noticed him eyeing your hair as if itching to run his hands through it. You stifled a giggle and took the hair stick from your hair letting the rest of it trail down your shoulders, "do you want to play with my hair?" You asked. 

To your delight, his eyes lit up and he immediately began to run his fingers through your hair and braid it. You hummed at the feelings of him playing with your hair, you had to admit it felt nice. It almost made you forget the problems you were having from before... Almost.

"Kouha... Where is... Kouen?" You asked timidly while you twiddled your fingers.

He perked up at your question, "he actually left the room too, just after you did. You must've been walking pretty fast cause I'm sure he's still looking for you," he said while starting on random braids in your hair.

Your face began to warm up again, it wasn't embarrassment this time. "Oh..." You said softly, "okay..."

Kouha chuckled under his breath and continued doing your hair. He wasn't going to lie, at first, he hadn't liked the idea of you, but maybe now he might warm up to you just a bit. After a while of braiding different parts of your hair, Kouha looked glanced at the hair stick in your hands. 

Curiosity got the best of him, so he asked about it. "Hey, Y/N-nee, where'd you get the hair stick from?" He asked, assuming it may have been from a past relationship or maybe from a relative. 

You shook your head to release yourself from the trance of Kouha's fingers running through your hair. "Oh, I got this as a gift from Kouen. I know it seems like nothing and it's tradition to give your betrothed gift, but this is the one I loved the most," you explained with a fond smile. 

Kouha nodded and furrowed his brows as the hair stick seemed familiar to him, kind of like a warm feeling erupting in his chest. He shook off the feeling as quickly as it came and stopped playing your hair. You glanced back at him, "are you done already?" You asked.

He nodded. Kouha had braided your hair similar to a half ponytail except there were braids meeting at the middle tied with a ribbon he had with him. You reached to the back of your head to feel it and smiled, you were sure it was beautiful. "Thank you, Kouha," you said while giving him a smile.

Kouha tried hiding the blush on his cheeks and grumbled a small, "no problem." 

You giggled at his antics and soon heard footsteps coming towards you two. "That's probably, En-nii," Kouha deduced before getting off the bench, "I'll see you again soon Y/N-nee."