His Servant[Book 1]

Hope

A/N: This might be the only time I am updating so frequently since last chapter was so short and I promised.Enjoy.

Kira was taken over by guilt ever since she returned from the court. She felt responsible for the condition Gouenji was in. She knew she broke his heart and now she was the one who had to do something to mend it back. She continuously thought about different ways to get them out of this downward spiral but she couldn't figure anything out.

The following few days she tried to talk to him each chance she got, which was usually after everyone else was gone but she got the same reply every time. Gouenji would always be reluctant. He wouldn't even look at her let alone have a conversation. He did not yell at her or talk rudely to her, no, he never did any of that, but it was the same melancholic response asking her to go and leave him alone every time she began to say something.

It happened so many times Kira felt like they were stuck in a time loop and it always ended in her failing. She couldn't think how to make things change. If she had known her actions would lead to such consequences she would never have walked away from him. How badly she wished she could rewind time! If she could she would stay with him and tell him she remembered every little moment they spent together and cherished them more than any treasure in the world. She didn't understand how long would Gouenji continue to punish her in this way. She wondered if this would ever end at all.

"Just let it go Riye." He said for the nth time and turned to walk away one day when Kira felt she couldn't bear it anymore and suddenly exclaimed, "No! I won't!".

Gouenji stopped dead in his tracks. He didn't expect Kira to snap like this but the truth was even she didn't realize what she was doing. It was an act of desperation, completely unforeseen.

"How long are you going to be this way? Don't you see what you are doing to me? I know I hurt you by walking away from you and I am so so sorry for that but don't you realize you have done the same to me a thousand times now?" Kira said without a pause. Gouenji' s eyes widened at her sudden outburst. She wasn't one to express how she was feeling so bluntly and this was the last thing expected of her.

He turned around and took a step closer, "And don't you realise what you have done to me all these years? You pretend as if you have never known me as more than an Emperor. You act like we were never friends. Did our friendship mean nothing to you?"

Kira froze in her spot as soon as she heard those words. She did not know what to say anymore. She remained that way for a minute during which Gouenji stared at her with intense seriousness anticipating her answer. Her face turned grim as she looked down and slowly broke her silence,

"Why do you care?" She began, "Why do you care so much what I think?Why are you so hell bent on making me remember our time together? I am just a common girl and you are the Emperor of this kingdom. Don't you see the differences between us? Why don't you just forget about me?" She looked up at him,on the verge of tears.

"Is this what you really think?" Gouenji exclaimed,genuinely surprised. "Is this why you have been acting strangely all this time? If this is the case then let me clear this once and for all; the things you call differences,they mean nothing to me; and they shouldn't matter to you as well." He then came even closer so that their faces were mere inches from each other.He took her hand in his and whispered, "You don't know how special you are to me."

Kira was taken aback by this sudden declaration of his and she stared at him blinking in surprise.They stayed like that for a while,with Gouenji holding her hand, until Kira suddenly came back to her senses. She now realized that Gouenji was still holding her hand and it made her blush intensely. She quickly got her hand out of his hold and walked away saying she was getting late. Gouenji didn't say anything but smirked as he watched her go. He thought she looked cute whenever she blushed.

That night Kira was sleepless. She couldn't help but think about their little moment. What could he mean by that? She couldn't tell but every time her mind rewound that memory, a smile crept up on her face. She couldn't help but think about his eyes, how they seemed to have the entire universe contained in them, she thought about his smile, how it was so rare and anyone who earned it from him should consider themselves the luckiest of all, she thought about the moment he held her hand, his warmth radiating onto her cold palm making her have a feeling she didn't understand but she certainly wanted to feel it more. Her mind then went further back to the day of the Royal Ball when they danced together. She hadn't accepted it to herself until then that a little part of her didn't want the music to end, she wanted to dance with him for eternity, she wanted to be with him for eternity.

"What am I thinking?!" she thought to herself as she suddenly broke out of her trance. She wondered what made her think all this. Why she felt so differently after all this time? She had never had these thoughts before about Gouenji or anyone else, then what changed? She tried to search deeper into her mind to find an answer but without success. "Could it be what people called 'love'?" She wondered.