Keeping Secrets *Mitsuhide x OC*(COMPLETE)

Sword Fights and Poetry

My eyes follow Reila's movements as our wooden swords clash loudly. She'd been practicing for two weeks with me and Zen on working with a sword and she's been doing well. Today she convinced me to let her try to fight me. I'm not putting any real effort into it, of course, but she is doing fairly well for her first attempt at fighting. Now that Zen's intentions are out in the open, things are great around here... except for Obi. It seems every time he finds me alone, he tries to tell me that I somehow have feelings for Reila. And when I find Reila alone, Obi is usually quick to find her first and makes it a point to try to annoy me. I'm not sure what his game is. I feel the tip of her sword poke me in the chest, drawing me from my thoughts to find her grinning up at me.

"I did it! I beat the great Mitsuhide on my first fight!" She cheers as she drops the sword.

"Good job Miss Reila." I smile. She did technically beat me on her own, as I had let my guard down and attention wander.

"Miss Shirayuki! Guess what!" I turn to find the redhead coming over to us, Obi following along behind her.

"What is it?"

"I beat Mitsuhide in a sword fight! My first sword fight ever!"

Obi snickers and makes his way over to me as the girls begin to talk.

"See? You can't even fight properly because you like her too much." He smirks as he rests against the tree beside me.

"It was her first fight, Obi. I'm not exactly going to put full effort into it." I sigh.

"That's what I'd say too if I were hiding emotions."

"Have you told Miss Shirayuki or Zen about your feelings toward her? It's not right to hide feelings, remember?" I smirk as his face pales slightly.

"You win this round..." He hisses before following Shirayuki toward the greenhouses.

I follow Reila through the castle toward the library, as it's become our routine. After her breakfast and spending time with Zen, we go out to the grounds to practice her sword work, then she reads in the library until she either falls asleep or it's time for lunch, where she then spends her time with Zen again. After that, it's just whatever she feels like doing until I take her back to her room for the night. I settle on the couch as Reila skims the shelves for something to read. Every time we come in here or I come across her, she always has a new book in hand. I feel that she may run out of books before she leaves despite the extensive collection. She sits beside me with a smaller book than usual, bound in a dark red cover.

"What is your pick this time?" I ask as she opens it.

"Poetry. I've had this poem stuck in my head for several days now, so I'm hoping that reading it will help it go away." She hums softly as she flips through the pages. "Ah, here it is."

I peek over at the book but I can't read it well through the distance.

"Would you like to read it too, Mitsuhide?" She giggles. "I could always read it to you, if you'd like."

"Oh, no, no. I was just curious is all." I mumble and she casts me a knowing look.

There have been evenings where she would read aloud as I sat beside her, something she reasoned doing by saying she didn't want me to be left out. I did enjoy her reading though, as her voice was very soothing and often put me to sleep.

"It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know, By the name of Annabel Lee; And this maiden there lived whom you may know, By the name of Annabel Lee; And this maiden she lived with no other thought, Than to love and be loved by me. I was a child and she was a child, In this kingdom by the sea, But we loved with a love that was more than a love- I and my Annabel Lee-" She trails off and chuckles softly. "Annabel Lee was lucky to have someone that loved her, even though she died at the end. He still loved her anyway."

"You ruined the end of it." I tease. "Don't consider her too lucky though, Miss Reila. There's someone out there that will love you the way he loved her, just without the premature death I hope."

"Were you ever in love, Mitsuhide?" She asks, looking over at me.

I look over from the hearth and my breath catches slightly in my throat. The sun is starting to set, sending the light through the window onto her hair, making her seem to glow like an angel. She tilts her head slightly and I realize that she's waiting for my answer.

"N-No, I don't think so. Why?" I ask as I try and fail to look away from her.

"I hope you find it someday. If you do, never let her go. You get to marry for love so make sure that you love her more than anything."

I say goodnight to Miss Reila before heading to Prince Zen's office. Her words keep replaying in my head for some reason. I wish there was something I could do to help her, but there's nothing. With her family's position of power, she's stuck marrying the first man that has enough connections and is willing to marry her. With that being the deciding factor for her marriage she will likely end up with someone who does not care for her and she will be miserable. Zen looks up at me as I enter the room and my eyes fall on Kiki and Shirayuki.

"We're leaving in the morning. The soldiers up at the fort are falling ill again so I am going with Kiki and Shirayuki to check on them."

"What about Prince Izana and Miss Reila?"

"Lord Brother will have to deal with it. Those soldiers are my responsibility. You will stay behind and watch over Reila, Obi will be around as well. We will try to return as quickly as possible." 

A/N: I know Edgar Allan Poe didn't exist in that time frame or in this universe, but... get over it. :D