The Power within Innocence

Chapter 11 - Importance

Hirui pov:

Ah, what a beautiful day it is today. The sun was warm, not too bright. The breeze was gentle and I was in high spirits.

I was on my way to see Yuki. After a day of work and studies, tou san had suggested that I went to visit Yuki and see how she was doing. I had heard that Yuki's brothers would have finished their so called play in their school today and it had ended well with all the parents of the children who went there. So Yuki too would be in a good mood and I could probably take up expressing my feelings for her by another step.

"G-good evening, H-Hirui sama." One of the girls who passed by greeted me. I just scoffed, making her flinch as I walked away ignoring her.

She was one of the girls I had a mild interest in a few months ago. Since it was customary to marry within the age of 23 in our family custom, I had courted her for about a week to see if things would work out for our family. But she was such a dull person. It resulted in me losing interest quickly.

She was always afraid of me; well, not that she shouldn't be. But it was so annoying to always have her flinching at the smallest touch. She wouldn't even look at me or smile at me or speak! If she wouldn't even look at me, there was no way I would be interested in her just because she was a little pretty. How do you expect anyone to like a girl who has no charm?

But Yuki was different. She knew that I was the son of this town's lord and minister. And yet she always smiled around me, she met my eyes when we spoke and she didn't flinch away from my gestures. I had hugged her and kissed her forehead and she still treated me as cheerfully as before. It obviously meant that she loved me. She had accepted my slow, gentle advances.

Of course, going to the extent of marriage right now was a bit too fast. I still had 14 months before I turned 23 so I didn't want to accelerate things between us too quickly that it made Yuki uncomfortable. I still had time and slowly increasing the intimacy of my gestures would work out well. I was seriously considering her becoming my wife after all. And she had to be comfortable.

And just like that, I would express myself again today and get her to my side even more.

I smiled to myself, feeling excitement bubble within my chest as I stopped outside her door. Running a hand thought my hair styling it a little messily, I knocked on the door. My smile widened as I heard hurried footsteps towards the door.

However, I was a little taken aback as the door was slammed open. It was unusual for Yuki to be so rough.

But my eyes went wide when she came into view. Instead of seeing Yuki smiling and welcoming me like all the other times, she looked so scared. She looked terrified. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, her breathing ragged.

"Yuki! What's wrong? What happened?" I asked startled, letting myself in and taking a firm grip on her shoulders.

She shook her head, more tears rolling down her cheeks as she hiccupped violently. What was going on?! I had never seen her like this before!

"H-Hiru! M-my brothers! I can't find them! Hiru, I can't find my brothers!" She whimpered taking a grip on my clothes in her hands.

Her eyes were wide, tears falling down her cheeks endlessly. Her breathing quickened even more than before and so did her trembling. She was beginning to hyperventilate, choking on the air she was trying to breathe in. Her eyes were unfocused and she looked ready to just break down completely.

It was the first time I had seen her this way. It was the first time I had seen her show such anxiety and it frightened me. She was just losing control over herself. I was worried that she would hurt herself getting so excited.