MARRIED TO A KITSUNE

CHAPTER XIX

"Poor girl... You came to love and care for him now, am I right?"

Katsumi's words still echoes inside her mind. In every sense, there's no way that Yuuji will feel the same way for her too. She remembered how angry he was with her when they met. Their arrangement is formed out of herher ignorance with the Japanese mythology but she had been stupid enough to think that in the end, she can have her own fairy tale. But, its like there's no place for her here. Not in her world. Not in Yuuji's world. Katsumi was right, the day will come when Yuuji will ask her to go back to her world. He will have his happily ever after, like both her parents did, and she will be sent away. Again.

Honoree wished that the world would just stop spinning in her head. She wants to sleep and not feel anything about the hurting things for a day.

She found refuge in the silence of the mansion's court, where King Takano and his baseball team plays. No one will find her there. She sits on the bench and later rests her back against it, her left arm at the top of her forehead. The night sky filled with thousand stars and Honoree wonders how would it be if she can live forever. There will be a fireworks display after the party and she wants to witness the fireworks light up the sky. With every breath she takes, it seems like the swelling on her left hand pulsates with it.

----

"Where's that human girl?" Yuuji grabbed Kenta from the crowd when he saw him.

"Isn't Ojou-sama here already? Matsuko helped her get dressed earlier, Yuuji-sama. I'll go check her on your bedroom."

"No need. I'll go find her myself." Yuuji said. He turned to head back to the mansion but he met Katsumi before he can enter the lobby. He was in awe of how beautiful she looks like.

"Yuuji-sama!" she greeted. "Happy birthday!" and handed him a small box wrapped in a shining red Japanese paper.

"Katsumi-san, have you seen that human girl? She should be here by now."

Katsumi snap the topic off. "I didn't notice her. Come, I'll introduce you to my friends. You told me that you want to meet them before." She slid an arm on Yuuji's and lead him to a table where her friends are waiting. They stood up to greet Yuuji a happy birthday.

Yuuji turned his head from side to side. The garden was filled with visitors and it's hard to see Honoree when he remains sitting at the table. It was not Honoree's attitude to come late when it comes to parties and events. Queen Aki likes it that she was always punctual. He was thinking if she's searching for him too.

----

Yuuji spotted Matsuko an hour before the fireworks displays and asked her the same question. He didn't hesitate to excuse himself from Katsumi's group of friends to approached her. He was starting to get annoyed. He was waiting for her to come up to him and show him the cake she baked during that afternoon. She forbids Yuuji to go near the kitchen or the dining hall during the process and he remembered how she handed the bouquet of flowers to Minori on his birthday and he wants her to do the same thing to him. Kenta informed him that Honoree did bake him a cake and that she had a large burned on her left hand. He wants to see it. No one had ever done such effort for him his entire life.

"That's strange Yuuji-sama, she's all prepared to go downstairs when I left them." Matsuko answered.

"Them?"

"Yes. Katsumi-san came to fetched her, I guess."

Katsumi? But she said she didn't saw her. Yuuji went back to have a word with Katsumi. She was laughing softly about a topic she's discussing with her friends and it somehow irritates her to be disturb.

"Katsumi-san, can I speak with you for a moment?"

Katsumi smiled at Yuuji and followed him to a less crowded corner.

"Where is she Katsumi-san?"

The smile on her face fades when she heard Yuuji's deep voice. He was asking for an explanation from her. "I told you my prince, I don't---"

"Matsuko said you came on our room before she can go downstairs. Why did you lie to me?"

"Are you accusing me?"

"No. I'm just asking you, Katsumi-san because I know you. What did you tell her?"

Katsumi threw the glass of wine on her hand at the tree nearby. She took a deep breath and the circles around her eyes turned red. She holds Yuuji's gaze with such fierceness but she doesn't feel angry at him. She's hurt and when she's hurt she feels the urge to transform into a fox and eat Honoree. "You've changed." she said flatly. Katsumi can hurt Honoree but she wouldn't do that for the sake of her reputation in the kingdom. "I am here already Yuuji-sama. Why don't you just ignore that human girl?"

Yuuji sighed and starts to walk away. "Katsumi-san... you're important to me and... I don't know, maybe the problem is that I can't just ignore her. I don't want us to have a misunderstanding over this but, if I ever know that you hurt her, if anyone hurts her... I don't know what I can do." He heads back to the mansion and inside their bedroom. He saw the kimono Kenta gave to Honoree and run his mind for the possible places she can go to. He traced back the smell he'd been familiar with and after several minutes, he found himself standing at the mansion's court. But Honoree wasn't there anymore. He continues to walk and finally found her at the archery field across the court. The lights from the lanterns bright enough for him to see her face, and realize that Honoree had been crying all these time.

The archery field of the mansion was built not for mere entertainment but for competitions. The arrows were made from real feathers and if the archer isn't wearing a fingerguard, he can cut his hand during the shooting. The bows were made of polyethylene fibers which is stronger than steel and it can slash the archer's skin if he's not careful to wear the proper chestguard. And Honoree violated all the safety precautions.

She picked up an arrow at the nock behind her and loaded it to the bow using her left hand. Yuuji watched her lift the handgrip at shoulder level and stretch the bow string to aim for the target. The bandage on her hand soaked with blood but she seems oblivious to it. When the moment arrives, she released the bowstring and it hit the ring at the middle of the target about two meters away from her. Honoree dropped the bow to the ground so her right hand can fend her shaking left hand. She lifted her face and admires the forty eight arrows she manage to fire on three targets for two hours. Not bad.

"I never knew you're that good." Yuuji said, startling Honoree.

He marched toward her as she shows him a tender smile.