V3 Tales

The Beauty and the Beast, part 3 (end)

After refusing Kaito's proposal, Kirumi went to sesearch for her father and found the Beast's castle. In order to free her him, she took Shinguji's place as the master's captive.

" - W-what do you m-mean ?
- Your sister is held prisoner by a beast.
- That's totally irrational ! No one will believe this !!
- I know. However, we must help her out of this predicament.
- Do you think the people in town could help us ?
- It is a possibility. Please, go to the mayor and tell him about this. Maybe he will be able to do something."

Tsumugi rushed out of the house. It had already been a week since her sister had gone missing and time was of the essence. She met with the mayor, Munakata. He listened to her story but scoffed and completely disregarded her demand. The blue-haired teenager had to come home empty handed.
Suddenly, someone called her out and she stopped.
" - Hi, Tsumugi, how are you doing ? Say, I haven't seen Kirumi in quite a while, did something happen ?
- Well...
- C'mon, you can tell me ! She's in trouble, right ?
- She's held prisoner by someone...
- Say no more, I'm gonna help ! Just tell me where and I'll go rescue her.
- Wha- really ?! You would do that ? Oh, thank you so much !!! I-I-just wait, I'm going back home to tell my father about this !"
And off she was, running toward her house, not noticing Kaito's satisfied smirk. "Well, this is a perfect opportunity... Shinguji-san won't be able to refuse my proposal after I saved his dear daughter. Maybe I can even convince her with this..."

Away from the village, in the woods, Kirumi was growing frustrated. In a whole week, the beast had kept eluding her despite her best efforts. She didn't even know their name ! She was once again searching through the castle for her jailer but they were nowhere to be found. She eventually found herself in front of an aisle she didn't know. She walked along the corridor and found a room that looked abandoned.
She entered and there, in the middle of the mess of the room, stood a scarlet rose. It was absolutely stunning. Looking around, she noticed portraits and... a bed ? She suddenly realised this might be the master's room and was about to leave when she ran into something. Or rather someone.

" - Oh my, I am very sorry, I did not mean to trespass your private quarters.
- I see. Why did you not touch the rose ?
- I... felt this would be something you would not want me to do.
- ... Does this mean I scare you ?
- ... Yes. I do not know you and this place is very new to me. So I indeed am scared of angering you.
- This is most strange... Why would you want to know me ? As you can see, I am a monster. If anything, you shouldn't trust me.
- Because of your appearance ? What a ridiculous argument to drive someone away ! I want to know you because I felt like you are not a bad person, regardless of your looks.
- ... I see..."
They remained silent for a long time. Eventually, they walked out of the room together. The beast went through another aisle and Kirumi followed him, intrigued.

They ended up in an immense library. Walls were covered in various books, ranging from tales to essays. Kirumi stood there, amazed by the view but quickly averted her gaze from it to look at the beast. They had picked a book but seemed hesitant. The young woman came closer to her host.

" - What book is it ?
The beast was surprised but quickly mumbled :
- The tale of Kaguya-hime.
- Oh, that was such a beautiful story !
- Would you... Would you like to read it again ?
- I would love it. Where can we settle ?"
They spent the rest of the day reading and commenting the tale. When the time for dinner came, the beast agreed to come and both he (he told her so) and his guest had a great time, paying no mind to Tenko who was trying to choke Kokichi (which isn't very easy when you're a napkin against a clock) who was snickering.

Back to the village, Tsumugi had told her father about both Munakata's refusal and Kaito's proposition. Korekiyo winced as he heard the news. He knew very well that Kaito would use this to force Kirumi into marrying him but wasn't it better than letting her die at the beast's hands ? Reluctantly, he agreed with Kaito's idea to storm the castle with a group of villagers.
Unfortunately for them, December was now here and so was snow. A great snowstorm prevented them from departing right away and held them back for five days. Kirumi had now been gone for almost three weeks and her family was worried sick. Miu was all quiet and withdrawn, never smiling. Tsumugi had lost her energy and kept doing chores as if to keep her mind occupied. As for Korekiyo, he looked twenty years older than he really was, like a ghost from his past self.