The Goddess who Defied Fate

Chapter 9

“Oh, Lady Shiro! You look so cute today!” Vega greeted her when she arrived at the mansion. Shiro stood in the entryway, more dressed up than usual.

“Thank you, Vega.” She smiled.

“You’re awfully early,” Hue said by way of greeting. Shiro turned to him. “You look so…” He stared at her as she looked away and rubbed her arm. “What happened to the tomboy I know? You look like a lady today.” Shiro raised an eyebrow at him instead of responding. “I guess it’s true what they say. Anybody can look good with the right clothes.”

Shiro looked away. “Why do I feel like I’m being made fun of?” she muttered. But of course. Hue wouldn’t be Hue if he didn’t make a snarky comment.

“Hm? Shiro’s here. And she looks so cute!” Teorus complimented her as soon as he saw her.

“See? You should be more like Teo, Hue,” she teased.

“Why in the world would I want to lower my I.Q. on purpose?” Hue’s response urged her to laugh.

“You just said something really mean like it was nothing,” Teorus complained.

“It was a joke. I have nothing but the deepest respect for you and your extroverted, flirtatious, womanising ways.”

“Now that is definitely a lie!” Teorus exclaimed. Hue really let him have it this time. Shiro clutched her stomach as she laughed.

“You two are going on a date, aren’t you? I’m so jealous,” Vega said.

Shiro crouched down to her level. “You know, the next time you both have a day off, you should invite Altair out to one of the markets in the heavens,” she whispered.

“Lady Shiro!” Vega’s cheeks turned a deep shade of crimson. Shiro giggled and stood back up straight.

“Wow, Hue on a date… With his gloomy personality, it’ll probably start raining,” Teorus said.

“Don’t jinx it,” Shiro said.

“Sorry, sorry. Later, Hue! Try to have a good date!”

“Let’s go, Shiro,” Hue said. She nodded.

“Have fun!” Vega smiled brightly as she saw them off.

The first place Shiro took Hue was Chinatown. “Honestly I wish I could show you more of the world, not just Japan. But I thought we could go to some spots near the mansion.” They walked through the colourful gates and looked at the lively streets in front of them.

“There are lots of humans walking and eating,” Hue mentioned.

“It’s street food,” Shiro said.

“It seems inefficient. It’s not bad for indigestion?” His question made her laugh.

“I’ve done it many times and I’ve never had a problem. Come on. Let’s grab a snack and soak up the atmosphere. See those?” She pointed to one of the food stalls. “Those pork buns are pretty famous around here.” Shiro walked over to the stall and bought a piping hot pork bun, bringing it to where Hue was waiting. She split the bun with him, giving him half. He took a bite and chewed it slowly before licking his lips in satisfaction.

“The food here isn’t so bad,” he said.

“It’s good, right? I know you don’t need food, but there are a lot of delicious things here.” Shiro smiled nostalgically. “I used to sneak down here all the time.”

“I know. You always got in trouble for it.” Shiro chuckled. “Oh, I want to try those round things next.”

Shiro followed Hue’s line of sight. “Those are sesame dumplings. They’re a warm, sweet dessert,” she told him. Utterly fascinated by the dumplings, Hue went to buy some. Watching him from behind, Shiro couldn’t help but laugh. Back when they went to the pancake place, she ate alone. “It’s much more fun to eat together when you’re with someone,” she muttered to herself.

“Open your mouth,” Hue said when he came back.

“I can feed myself, you know.”

“Be a good girl and open your mouth, or I’ll make you open it.”

“And how would you do that?”

There was a long pause before he answered. “That part is a surprise.” A chill went down Shiro’s spine at the innuendo. She begrudgingly opened her mouth. He smiled at her and fed her the dumpling. “When you do this, I feel like…”

“Like what?” she asked once she swallowed.

“I feel like a mother bird. You were more like a baby bird than a goldfish just now, Shiro.”

“Hue…” There was warning in her voice, her eyebrow twitching. She sighed. “Hey, what’s wrong? You’re staring off into space.”

“Look at that.” Shiro turned to look at what he was pointing at. Her jaw dropped. A man stood in front of a restaurant wearing a panda suit. “I was wrong. You’re not a goldfish or a baby bird. With the slow, relaxed way you eat, you’re exactly like that animal.”

“How about just calling me what I actually am?” Shiro crossed her arms. He was grinning from ear to ear. He definitely didn’t feel bad about what he said. She felt as though he’d turned into more of a tease in the time they were apart.

“What a shame. When you pout like that, you ruin the resemblance. Let’s move on to the next place.”

Shiro sighed exasperatedly. “I give up.”



The next place Shiro took Hue was the celestial myth exhibition. There were pictures of the constellations and models depicting gods from different myths on display.

“I love places like this,” she mused.

“Even though you work at a planetarium every day?” Hue paused. “I guess you really do love the stars.”

“Ironic, isn’t it?” she muttered, smiling wryly. Hue didn’t answer. “Oh, look over there. They have an Aquarius exhibition.”

“Making up stories about star formations. Humans really do think of the most interesting things,” Hue said.

“That’s because humans love stories. And no one can create better stories than humans. This says the gods of myth drink at lavish celebrations every night. Pretty accurate.”

“Hmm… Celebrations? More like drunken bacchanals.”

“It also says the young cup-bearer who poured the drinks of the gods was a beautiful young man, pretty enough to rival any woman. Aquarius is depicted as that cup-bearer.” The beautiful god of Aquarius. It fit. Hue really was beautiful. Shiro looked at his profile.

“Do I have something stuck on my face?” he asked.

She smiled. “No, I just like looking at you. You really are handsome.”

“How in the world do humans see a beautiful water bearer when they look at this star cluster?” Shiro shook her head in exasperation. “The Aquarius constellation is an asterism consisting of stars named Sadalmelik, Sadalsuud, Sadalachbia, Skat…”

“I’m aware, Hue,” she cut him off.

“Ancient humans harbour far too many illusions about the stars. Stars are simply balls of gas, continuously exploding at their centres, giving off light.”

“There you go again. I’d love to see the world through your eyes, Hue.”

“Yes, I’d like to experience that as well. Seeing the world through your eyes. The world you see must be a bright, beautiful place.” Shiro felt her cheeks heat. He was logical to a fault, but every once in a while, he dropped a romantic bombshell she had no idea what to do with.

“Check out that guy. He’s super-hot.”

“You’re right! Oh, but he has a girlfriend… figures.”

Shiro heard the voices of some women talking and it was fairly obvious who they were talking about. When she caught a glimpse of their reflections in the glass, she couldn’t help but smile.

“You’re more narcissistic than I remember, Shiro,” Hue teased.

“What?” she asked.

“The sight of your own reflection makes you smile.”

“I sincerely doubt that I need to explain that to you.” Shiro checked her watch. “It’s almost time for the movie to start.”

“Alright then, let’s go,” Hue said. They weren’t holding hands, but their steps were perfectly in sync as they walked. It was nice, in its own way.



During the movie, Shiro found herself crying.

“Your tear ducts sure leak easily,” Hue said. Shiro shushed him with a finger to her lips. “Here.” He handed her a handkerchief.

“Thanks,” she mumbled as I took it. She was surprised to feel Hue reach over and touch her hand resting in her lap. She looked at him.

“If you don’t pay attention to the movie, you’ll miss the story.”

“Right…” Shiro didn’t know why he was holding her hand, but she was happy that he was. She squeezed his hand back and she caught the sight of his surprised expression from her peripheral. She smiled. “Didn’t expect that?”

“No, it’s just you’re always switching from one emotion to the next.” Shiro smiled at his words. He’d said those words to her before, a long time ago. His big, cool hand wrapped around hers made her feel warm; safe.



“Today went by so quickly,” Shiro said, moving a strand of hair behind her ear as they gazed over the sea. Yokohama glowed orange, dyed by the light of the setting sun. Far away in the sky, she could see the deep blue of the approaching evening sky. Everything… was about to end. She kept telling herself not to get close to Hue, but it was no use. It never was. These days she’d spent with him were something that she treasured. She didn’t want them to end and she wished that she could tell him that, but he’d already given her more than she dreamed possible. More than she ever dared to hope for.

“Shiro, can I borrow a little more of your time? Since I’m down here, I wanted to try some of Earth’s alcohol,” Hue said.

She turned and smiled at him. “I know the perfect place.”

“Really? Thank you.”



Shiro took Hue to a cocktail bar she sometimes visited with Kuro.

Hue hummed when he tried some of the bar’s alcohol. “Earth drinks aren’t half bad. The way the bartender hand-cuts the ice for the drinks is particularly impressive.” Hue ordered a whiskey. A single large, clear ball of ice floated in the elegant, amber liquid.

“It’s not bad, but I don’t think any Earth drink could hold a candle to the spirits you make, Hue. I almost feel like I can’t drink anything else.” Shiro smiled wryly.

“You shouldn’t say that. Are you planning on never drinking again for the rest of your life?”

“Well, I wasn’t much of a drinker before in the first place.”

“The world is filled with lots of wonderful things you just don’t know about. Alcohol is the same. There are probably high-grade spirits out there that far outshine what I make.”

“You’re always so pragmatic, Hue.” Shiro shook her head. She took a sip from her cocktail, the cherry shifting in her glass. “The mark on your thigh is completely gone now, isn’t it?”

“What makes you so sure?” Hue asked.

“Because you’re acting like this is the last time we’ll ever see each other.” She took another sip, waiting for Hue to respond. He didn’t. “I’m going to take your silence as a ‘yes’.”

“You’ve gotten wittier.” Hue smirked.

“You must be rubbing off on me.” I don’t want you to go. I want you to stay. I want to hear your snaky jokes. I want to be with you. All these thoughts raced through Shiro’s mind, but she refused to utter a single one of them. Even as her dueling desires weighed so heavily on her heart.

“Your sadness will only be temporary. Think of it as a fleeting mirage. Once the gods are all back in the heavens… You’ll finally have a normal life.”

Shiro smiled self-deprecatingly. “Was yours? Was your sadness only temporary?” she asked.

Hue’s eyes widened. “I…” He obviously didn’t know how to answer.

“Then don’t tell me mine will be.”

Hue sighed. “Shiro… I hope you’ll be happy. I’ll never stop praying that you find the happiness you deserve.” She closed her eyes as her chest constricted. She could hear the evident goodbye in his voice, and the reality was almost too much to bear. “Let me do one last thing, to thank you for showing me around today,” Hue said after they left the bar. Wearing the faintest of smiles, he looked up at the night sky. “I’d like to show you around the sky, if that’s okay with you, Shiro. I won’t scare you by taking you up 3000 feet like we did once upon a time. It’ll be a journey through the sky that you’ll enjoy.”

“I’d like that, yeah.”

“Let’s go.”



The world below Shiro was like a sea of lights.

“It’s so beautiful…” she whispered. She could never forget this beauty.

“I’m glad you like it. If Leon were here, he’d probably make some comment about how uninteresting manmade lights are,” Hue said.

Shiro chuckled. “I know. For someone who looks down on humans as much as he does, I’m still struggling to understand what he’s doing being the minister of the department of wishes.” She looked down at the lights. “I like them, though. Under each of those million lights covering the Earth, there’s a person. Each of the lights on Earth feels like human life. That’s why they’re beautiful to me.”

“So I was right, after all,” Hue said. Shiro looked quizzically up at him. “About the world being a beautiful place when viewed through your eyes.” Hue, holding her from behind, hugged her a little more tightly. Shiro’s eyes widened and she felt herself at a loss for words.