Post by Admin on Feb 25, 2008 22:55:12 GMT -4
This was the single most important event in Mizuki's life. She had been polished to a shine and put in a wonderful traditional yukata that was white with a wonderful yellow obi.
She made a face at the made who had dressed her. "The obi is too tight!" she said with a smile.
The maid, whose name was Onoko, smiled, her own yukata falling off of her shoulders. "If you don't tie it tightly, then you'll look like me and disgrace your family. We can't have that. I have to tighten my own before I go out there."
I looked at her and made another face, this time not a joke--her lack of appearance was disgusting. While Mizuki joked about the tightening of her obi, she didn't mean it seriously. And as a maid, Onoko should have made herself presentable to her charge.
As Mizuki's face returned to a stern expression, Onoko's smile faded as well, as it should have.
Mizuki would speak to her father to make sure that Onoko's pay was docked for her carelessness.
Even as a child, Mizuki was considered a prodigy. She had been personally trained by the Sora-ou Tsubasa every morning and early afternoon. In magic, of course, was where she held considerable strength. Tsubasa was never sure when the rebels would attempt to take this layer of Heaven, and Mizuki, though still a child, had to be ready to hold her own with ranks of adults.
Her training was a very important thing for her family. Her parents, Todou Utau and Todou Hitomi stood by the entrance to the dining room, waiting for Mizuki to finally be ready.
The Sora-ou had to officially announce the honor that Mizuki was receiving to her parents; they had already discussed it between the two of them.
After Onoko hurried to finish rectifying the situation with her own yukata, they both proceeded to her parents at the door to the dining room where Mizuki knew by procedure the Sora-ou was seated.
Her parents were in full army wear to honor the occasion of having the leader of the main forces at their home, which was the only right way to go about doing it. Mizuki was raised by the rule that everything had its own place to belong, and everything had its own way of being done.
"May I present the Young Mistress Todou Mizuki," Onoko said.
Mizuki proceeded to approach the dining room doors without her; Onoko, as hired help, would enter last. She strode down the Hall in the regal manner that she had always been taught, her dainty steps making her look as though she were floating rather than walking. She said nary a word to her parents even as she passed them, and they said nothing to her.
Entering the chambers by herself first, she saw her familiar teacher, the Sora-ou, sitting at the far end of the table. There were two people with her, that Mizuki did not recognize, but she bowed three times, to each person in the room in turn, and she sat at the opposite end of the small table than Tsubasa, smiling as she waited to be addressed verbally.
Tsubasa herself wore a very nice red dress that reached all the way down to her shoes.
She was very pretty, but Mizuki didn't say anything. It wasn't her place to say anything until she was spoken to.
Luckily, her parents entered, taking the two remaining seats next to Tsubasa's guest so that they were sitting across from each other, and Onoko entered afterward, closing the doors and standing before them.
"Hello, Todou Utau, Hitomi, Mizuki. I must say that Mizuki looks gorgeous tonight."
"Thank you," Mizuki said, and she dipped her head in a sort of bow before replying, "But I do not look nearly as beautiful as you."
"Thank you," Tsubasa said. "I assume that you have not yet told your parents the reason for my visit, just as I instructed you."
Mizuki nodded. "Yes."
Her parents glanced at her, because they did not appreciate not being informed. However, it was something that could not be helped. Their eyes just as quickly flipped back to Tsubasa. She was the one that was speaking and deserved the attention.
"I have been scourging this layer for something important, something that I think that Mizuki needs," Tsubasa said. She paused, indicating that her parents could speak. The guests at Tsubasa's side said nothing, seeming to gaze at Mizuki the entire time no matter whom was speaking. Mizuki regarded them carefully, and then continued to behave in her normal manner. They could search all they wanted, but they would find nothing wrong with her. She had been raised by Tsubasa, and she was not a gentle teacher. She was perfect. There were no blemishes, no faults, and she would not even allow their gazes to jar her self-perception.
Todou Utau said, his deep voice carrying across the table, "I realize that you would know Mizuki better than anyone else, but I must ask out of curiosity: what else could she possibly need? She is intelligent, possesses magical prowess and a good child. Much better than the riffraff that they allow to become adult angels in Heaven today. What more could sher require? I ask only because I do not see anything she could desire. Perhaps your wisdom can clear my blurred vision of ignorance." The flattery wasn't procedure--it was extra.
Mizuki blinked, still looking directly at the visitors next to Tsubasa who were staring her down as though she was going to break. She was not a china doll. She was by no means delicate in spirit.
Tsubasa grinned wickedly, the same expression that Mizuki had seen from her when Tsubasa knew that she was going to win their sparring matches. It was a look that Mizuki had had to endure every day for the eight and a half years that they had been training together.
"She needs a companion, someone who can learn with her someone who will pledge to always be by her side. I will be going off to battle if the rebels attack. Mizuki will be uncomfortable by herself. I am going to see to it that we avoid this."
Todou Hitomi seemed to be struggling to keep her voice in the tone required for speaking to the King. "Are you saying that we may not be good enough companions for our own daughter? That she will be lonely even with us by her side?"
Mikage Tsubasa showed no change in expression as she replied, "That is exactly what I am saying. You do not know your daughter. Do not pretend that you do. I am saying that she will need someone that she can grow close to, someone who will know her and learn to cherish her for the gem that she is. You have both done your best her, and bringing her to me was the right move, with how you had confined her for the first critical years of her life."
There was another pause, but Mizuki's parents knew better than to speak.
"I am proposing an arranged marriage," Tsubasa said. "I have already spoken with Mizuki about it and she has already agreed. After all, who would not, when you know who the suitor is?"
Todou Hitomi looked as though she was going to chew her tongue out. Mizuki paid no attention to her. Tsubasa was speaking.
"The suitor," Tsubasa said, "is none other than one of the potential souke of the Yamazaki House--" Mizuki's father gasp, a violation of the rules. However, Tsubasa kept speaking instead of punishing or reprimanding him. "--Yamazaki Ren. I believe that he meets all of the pathetic requirements that you could possibly make up to stop this union."
This was what Mizuki liked about Tsubasa the most--float like a butterfly, she had once said, sting like the sword of a Malakite.
"These two gentlemen with me are scouts for the Yamazaki family. They have been observing Mizuki during this entire affair and will discuss with Yamazaki Hatori as to whether your daughter is good enough, which I am sure that she will be once she is rid of the two of you."
Todou Utau's fist shook on the table, creating a rattling sound. "Mizuki will not be leaving us, will she?" he asked in an unstable tone.
"Not as of now," Tsubasa said. "If her proposal is accepted, she will still live with you, but she will be attending the school that Yamazaki Ren attends. They will constantly be together. Your daughter is all that the young man will know. And I will train them to fight together, so that they will be a true team, a couple that will help Heaven to the best of their abilities. I daresay I may leave my throne to them if things go correctly; the Yamazaki is a promising young man. I have already taken Mizuki to see him."
"You will send our daughter to an ordinary school? With corrupt children?" Hitomi was calm now, like she didn't think this was such a bad idea.
"No. you will send her where I tell you to. If the Yamazaki Hatori deems the school worthy of his son, then it is good enough for Mizuki. Isn't that right?"
Mizuki now looked away from the inspectors, and directly at Tsubasa, inclining her head. "Yes, my Lady. I would humble myself to the floor to impress the very worthy Yamazaki Ren. I will live for him."
Tsubasa clapped her hands. "Good. I believe that this meeting is adjourned."
Mizuki rose, her parents rising two times as quickly to attempt to speak to Tsubasa.
Mizuki was excited about how things were happening. She had seen Ren while he was in school, and she couldn't wait to meet him and be courted officially. Tsubasa was just looking out for her best interest, and she didn't really care about her parents' judgment. She hoped that soon she would hear wedding bells ringing. She knew that he was going to be the nicest, most generous person in the entire layer!
When she was dismissed, she practically ran off to her room, thinking about all of the possibilities of her new arranged marriage...
She made a face at the made who had dressed her. "The obi is too tight!" she said with a smile.
The maid, whose name was Onoko, smiled, her own yukata falling off of her shoulders. "If you don't tie it tightly, then you'll look like me and disgrace your family. We can't have that. I have to tighten my own before I go out there."
I looked at her and made another face, this time not a joke--her lack of appearance was disgusting. While Mizuki joked about the tightening of her obi, she didn't mean it seriously. And as a maid, Onoko should have made herself presentable to her charge.
As Mizuki's face returned to a stern expression, Onoko's smile faded as well, as it should have.
Mizuki would speak to her father to make sure that Onoko's pay was docked for her carelessness.
Even as a child, Mizuki was considered a prodigy. She had been personally trained by the Sora-ou Tsubasa every morning and early afternoon. In magic, of course, was where she held considerable strength. Tsubasa was never sure when the rebels would attempt to take this layer of Heaven, and Mizuki, though still a child, had to be ready to hold her own with ranks of adults.
Her training was a very important thing for her family. Her parents, Todou Utau and Todou Hitomi stood by the entrance to the dining room, waiting for Mizuki to finally be ready.
The Sora-ou had to officially announce the honor that Mizuki was receiving to her parents; they had already discussed it between the two of them.
After Onoko hurried to finish rectifying the situation with her own yukata, they both proceeded to her parents at the door to the dining room where Mizuki knew by procedure the Sora-ou was seated.
Her parents were in full army wear to honor the occasion of having the leader of the main forces at their home, which was the only right way to go about doing it. Mizuki was raised by the rule that everything had its own place to belong, and everything had its own way of being done.
"May I present the Young Mistress Todou Mizuki," Onoko said.
Mizuki proceeded to approach the dining room doors without her; Onoko, as hired help, would enter last. She strode down the Hall in the regal manner that she had always been taught, her dainty steps making her look as though she were floating rather than walking. She said nary a word to her parents even as she passed them, and they said nothing to her.
Entering the chambers by herself first, she saw her familiar teacher, the Sora-ou, sitting at the far end of the table. There were two people with her, that Mizuki did not recognize, but she bowed three times, to each person in the room in turn, and she sat at the opposite end of the small table than Tsubasa, smiling as she waited to be addressed verbally.
Tsubasa herself wore a very nice red dress that reached all the way down to her shoes.
She was very pretty, but Mizuki didn't say anything. It wasn't her place to say anything until she was spoken to.
Luckily, her parents entered, taking the two remaining seats next to Tsubasa's guest so that they were sitting across from each other, and Onoko entered afterward, closing the doors and standing before them.
"Hello, Todou Utau, Hitomi, Mizuki. I must say that Mizuki looks gorgeous tonight."
"Thank you," Mizuki said, and she dipped her head in a sort of bow before replying, "But I do not look nearly as beautiful as you."
"Thank you," Tsubasa said. "I assume that you have not yet told your parents the reason for my visit, just as I instructed you."
Mizuki nodded. "Yes."
Her parents glanced at her, because they did not appreciate not being informed. However, it was something that could not be helped. Their eyes just as quickly flipped back to Tsubasa. She was the one that was speaking and deserved the attention.
"I have been scourging this layer for something important, something that I think that Mizuki needs," Tsubasa said. She paused, indicating that her parents could speak. The guests at Tsubasa's side said nothing, seeming to gaze at Mizuki the entire time no matter whom was speaking. Mizuki regarded them carefully, and then continued to behave in her normal manner. They could search all they wanted, but they would find nothing wrong with her. She had been raised by Tsubasa, and she was not a gentle teacher. She was perfect. There were no blemishes, no faults, and she would not even allow their gazes to jar her self-perception.
Todou Utau said, his deep voice carrying across the table, "I realize that you would know Mizuki better than anyone else, but I must ask out of curiosity: what else could she possibly need? She is intelligent, possesses magical prowess and a good child. Much better than the riffraff that they allow to become adult angels in Heaven today. What more could sher require? I ask only because I do not see anything she could desire. Perhaps your wisdom can clear my blurred vision of ignorance." The flattery wasn't procedure--it was extra.
Mizuki blinked, still looking directly at the visitors next to Tsubasa who were staring her down as though she was going to break. She was not a china doll. She was by no means delicate in spirit.
Tsubasa grinned wickedly, the same expression that Mizuki had seen from her when Tsubasa knew that she was going to win their sparring matches. It was a look that Mizuki had had to endure every day for the eight and a half years that they had been training together.
"She needs a companion, someone who can learn with her someone who will pledge to always be by her side. I will be going off to battle if the rebels attack. Mizuki will be uncomfortable by herself. I am going to see to it that we avoid this."
Todou Hitomi seemed to be struggling to keep her voice in the tone required for speaking to the King. "Are you saying that we may not be good enough companions for our own daughter? That she will be lonely even with us by her side?"
Mikage Tsubasa showed no change in expression as she replied, "That is exactly what I am saying. You do not know your daughter. Do not pretend that you do. I am saying that she will need someone that she can grow close to, someone who will know her and learn to cherish her for the gem that she is. You have both done your best her, and bringing her to me was the right move, with how you had confined her for the first critical years of her life."
There was another pause, but Mizuki's parents knew better than to speak.
"I am proposing an arranged marriage," Tsubasa said. "I have already spoken with Mizuki about it and she has already agreed. After all, who would not, when you know who the suitor is?"
Todou Hitomi looked as though she was going to chew her tongue out. Mizuki paid no attention to her. Tsubasa was speaking.
"The suitor," Tsubasa said, "is none other than one of the potential souke of the Yamazaki House--" Mizuki's father gasp, a violation of the rules. However, Tsubasa kept speaking instead of punishing or reprimanding him. "--Yamazaki Ren. I believe that he meets all of the pathetic requirements that you could possibly make up to stop this union."
This was what Mizuki liked about Tsubasa the most--float like a butterfly, she had once said, sting like the sword of a Malakite.
"These two gentlemen with me are scouts for the Yamazaki family. They have been observing Mizuki during this entire affair and will discuss with Yamazaki Hatori as to whether your daughter is good enough, which I am sure that she will be once she is rid of the two of you."
Todou Utau's fist shook on the table, creating a rattling sound. "Mizuki will not be leaving us, will she?" he asked in an unstable tone.
"Not as of now," Tsubasa said. "If her proposal is accepted, she will still live with you, but she will be attending the school that Yamazaki Ren attends. They will constantly be together. Your daughter is all that the young man will know. And I will train them to fight together, so that they will be a true team, a couple that will help Heaven to the best of their abilities. I daresay I may leave my throne to them if things go correctly; the Yamazaki is a promising young man. I have already taken Mizuki to see him."
"You will send our daughter to an ordinary school? With corrupt children?" Hitomi was calm now, like she didn't think this was such a bad idea.
"No. you will send her where I tell you to. If the Yamazaki Hatori deems the school worthy of his son, then it is good enough for Mizuki. Isn't that right?"
Mizuki now looked away from the inspectors, and directly at Tsubasa, inclining her head. "Yes, my Lady. I would humble myself to the floor to impress the very worthy Yamazaki Ren. I will live for him."
Tsubasa clapped her hands. "Good. I believe that this meeting is adjourned."
Mizuki rose, her parents rising two times as quickly to attempt to speak to Tsubasa.
Mizuki was excited about how things were happening. She had seen Ren while he was in school, and she couldn't wait to meet him and be courted officially. Tsubasa was just looking out for her best interest, and she didn't really care about her parents' judgment. She hoped that soon she would hear wedding bells ringing. She knew that he was going to be the nicest, most generous person in the entire layer!
When she was dismissed, she practically ran off to her room, thinking about all of the possibilities of her new arranged marriage...