Keeping Secrets *Mitsuhide x OC*(COMPLETE)

Chess and Boring Old Men

I watch curiously as Reila sits across from Zen, both of them intensely concentrating on the chess board settled between them. They'd been playing all day and so far, she's won six games and Zen has won once. She's offered for them to stop, but his competitive side has surfaced and he's intent on beating her. This has been their last week and a half together. When he isn't working, they spend time in the office talking and playing games. It looks good on the interview side of things but I think they've actually started to become friends. It would be nice for Zen to have another friend outside of the castle. It may even allow for Reila to visit from time to time.

"Check mate." Reila's voice cuts through the silence and I smirk at Zen's expression.

"Good job Miss Reila." I look over to find Obi resting in the window across the room.

Despite my consistent reminders of why I can't tell Reila about how I feel, he's still been lingering around annoying me about it all whenever he can. Obi has been working with Reila every other morning with her fighting skills at her request so I've been watching over that to make sure she doesn't get hurt and that he keeps his mouth shut. She asked me to work with her with the swords on the days that Obi isn't helping her and we still spend the evenings in the library together so we are still around each other. It still hurts when I think about her leaving and my feelings for her definitely haven't faded. If anything, they've gotten stronger. I wish I could simply tell her how I feel and it would magically change things but I know that's not possible. This isn't some fairy tale book where everything magically works out in the end. This is real life and this life prevents me from being with Reila. I hate it.

I look up as Reila and Zen stand and she grins and holds out her hand. He reluctantly shakes it and I figure it's probably him admitting defeat, at least for now. I scan the room for Obi but don't notice him lurking anywhere. I'd lost myself in thought for a while so I guess he took off at some point. That or he fell out of the window. Reila approaches me and asks if I want to go to the library with her. I'm not sure why she asks since I would never tell her no. Zen stops her before she leaves and what he says surprises me. I hadn't heard about any of it. Apparently Prince Izana is hosting a ball next week and since she will still be here, she will have to be his date.

"I guess we will have to work hard on looking like we like each other, won't we?" She chuckles.

"I think we can handle it."

I follow her out of the office and through the halls in silence. As soon as the doors closed, she seemed to deflate from the happy persona she'd held before. Her smiles never seemed to reach her eyes while we were there. Before I can ask if she's alright, she looks up at me and asks if I will be attending the event. I will, though I'll be working rather than there for fun. She seems happy at my response though so I guess it's what she wanted to hear. We reach the library and she disappears in the shelves to find a book while I take my usual seat. She comes back a few minutes later with wide eyes.

"What is it, Miss Reila?"

"I-It's horrible."

"What happened?" I ask, sitting up as my hand reaches for my sword I'd propped against the chair nearby.

"I... I ran out of books to read."

My hand falls away from the sword as I stifle a laugh. I worried about it before but I didn't actually think she would.

"You've read them all?"

"Everything that interested me. All that's left is history books, law books, and some really old guy's book about himself. What do I do with my life now?"

She sighs and sits down beside me in defeat.

"Miss Shirayuki may have something you can read. You could ask her later when she's done with her work for the day."

"You're a genius. What would I do without you?" She hums. "But what are we supposed to do now, when I don't have anything to read?"

"That's up to you Miss." I grin as Reila shoots me a look for calling her Miss.

Despite her wanting me to refer to her by just her name when in private, I can't get myself to do it. Besides, it's rather cute watching her get annoyed by it.

Reila ended up trying to read the 'really old guy''s book and she complained how boring it was before falling asleep ten minutes later. As she moves to get more comfortable, I carefully pull the book from her hands and place it on the table. I glance at the name of the author and realize that it's Zen's great, great, grandfather. That's hilarious. I prop my head up on my hand and close my eyes, hoping to relax for a little while even if I don't sleep. It's getting hard to not think about her leaving soon and it's making it harder to not look like I'm anything besides happy with her. It's not that I'm unhappy when she's around, it's the exact opposite. I wish I could just ask her to stay...

I wake up as I hear her voice but I don't hear a reply, so I open my eyes. We're still alone in the library and she's still asleep beside me. Did I just imagine her voice or was I dreaming? She jerks slightly and her mouth moves as if she's trying to speak but nothing comes out. I frown and gently take her hand in my own.

"Mitsuhide..." She whispers in her sleep and my eyes widen. "Don't leave me..."