~A Spiritual Meeting~

~1~

Chapter 1:

We focus in on a small book shop.

(Y/N)'s POV

"Thank you, come again!" I tell my last customer before shutting the glass door.

I ran a small book shop, selling many varieties of books.

Fiction, Non-Fiction, Spell books, and of course nature books.

Mountains, Rivers, all sorts of mother nature's gifts.

Turning over the Open/Closed sign, I glanced over at my desk space.

"Oh dear...so many books to sort through, such is the life of a librarian haha" I laughed to myself.

Walking over to a nearby cart, I pushed it over towards the wall lined with books.

"Let's see...non-fiction, spells, spells, ficti-oh! A nature book! might as well stop there first..." I spoke to myself.

Heading over towards the nature section of the book lined shelves, I reached up to slide it back in it's rightful place when I took notice of the cover.

A beautiful lake sat upon the cover, it's title, "World's Wonders".

'Hmm...perhaps I'll give this one a read...' I thought to myself, forgetting about the cart of books that have yet to be sorted.

Not bothering to return upstairs to my apartment, I sat on a nearby chair beginning to read through the book.

I'd been only 15 minutes into the book, coming across a river named, "The Kohaku River" when I heard the bell of the door jingle, signaling that someone had entered.

Looking up, I stood being greeted by the face of a man in uniform.

"I'm sorry, but the shops closed, you'll have to stop by another time tomorrow..." I spoke gently to the man.

"Oh come on, sweetheart. I just wanted to ask a favor of you, there's a lot of talk in the town of how enchanting you are..." The man spoke, taking a few strides towards me.

"I-I'm sorry?" I stuttered out, taking a few steps backwards.

It wasn't long before I felt the hard book shelf behind me.

"You heard me, those beautiful eyes of yours tell all of what you are thinking" The man spoke, trapping me between him and the book shelf.

"G-Get away from me!" I yelled at the man, struggling to push at his chest in order to get him away.

Distracted from the man, I once again heard the jingle of the bells.

Someone else had entered.

"Pardon me Miss, I know the shops closed b-Oh? am I interrupting?" Spoke a charming deep voice, as smooth as velvet itself.

"Yes, y-" spoke the man in uniform before I interrupted him.

"No! Not at all! Please do come in!" I nearly shouted, breaking the man's hold on me.

"Oh, that's good! There's no one else in town who's open this late..." Spoke the velvet voiced man.

Moving away from the man in uniform, I was able to get a glance at the man whom saved my life.

Bright golden hair, and child-like blue eyes, he was dressed in a simple pair of black pants with a white shirt. Though the pink, and blue diamond checkered cape threw off his appearance, he somehow managed to pull it off.

The man in uniform, his plans now foiled, left the shop in a hurry.

"I'm sorry, are you alright?" The charming man spoke.

"I'm fine, thank you! You've done me a real favor, and I must repay you!" I spoke to the man with a wide smile.

"Oh, by all means it was my pleasure to rescue such a damsel as yourself. Where are my manners? Howl Pendragon, at your service" the man, Howl, introduced himself, bowing with a quick flourish of his cape.

"I'm (Y/N), (Y/N) (L/N). Pleasure to meet you" I introduced myself, giving a quick curtsy.

"(Y/N)...what a cute name" Howl stated then smiled towards me.

'If he stays in here one more minute I swear I'll faint!' I thought to myself while blushing.

"T-Thank you...did you actually need a b-book?" I asked him glancing at the floor to hide my blush.

"I wasn't planning on stopping by today, but I suppose while I'm here I should grab a few things" He stated, glancing around at the many shelves of books.

"Oh! Well please pick out anything you'd like, free of charge as a thanks for saving my life!" I told him smiling bashfully.

"That's rather kind, thank you!" He thanked me with a dashing smile, walking away to look through the books.

While he looked for the books he wanted, I sat behind my desk, once again grabbing the book I had been reading.

It seemed to draw me in, as if telling me to open it, and indulge in the knowledge that it held inside.

Opening the book to the page I had last read, I quickly took in the information that was on the page.

It was telling of "The Kohaku River", famous for it's beautiful scenery, and the legends that surrounded it.

Legend tells of the spirit that once lived there, flourishing the river with Lots of fish, and rapid waters. Unfortunately the river had been demolished, paved, and built upon.

All that was left now, was a shrine that was built in remembrance of the spirit, by the elders whom claimed to have seen it.

"What a shame, I'm sure it'd have been a lovely sight" Spoke Howl, frightening me.

"H-Howl! I didn't notice you standing there...did you find your books alright?" I asked slowly calming down from the little spook.

"Hahaha! Yes, I've found the exact books I was searching for, thank you, Miss (Y/N)" Howl laughed, before bowing in thanks.

"Oh, It really was no problem..." I told him gently.

Howl looked at me with a bright look in his eyes.

"In thanks for the books free of charge, I shall invite you to my Castle!" He spoke smiling widely.

"W-What!? Castle? B-But I evened the score! You helped me, then I thanked you generously...doesn't that mean we're even?" I asked somewhat confused with his intentions.

"Haha, oh dear Miss (Y/N), as much as you'd like that to be true...I play to win" Howl stated with a mischievous smile.

"I'll be back for you in the morning!" He told me, before walking out of the door at a fast pace.

I stood from my chair, running to the door.

"Howl! Wait!" I shouted, running outside the door, only to be greeted by silence.

Glancing around for Howl, with no success, I noticed the sun setting in the distance.

Deciding to go back inside of the shop, I looked around once more, then closed, and locked the door.

"Oh, (Y/N). What have you gotten yourself into?..." I asked myself, glancing down at the lonesome book on my desk.

Finally, as if it was being held back, I suddenly felt an extreme amount of fatigue hit me.

"Ugh...what a long day" I murmured softly, grabbing the book, and walking up the stairs into the apartment.

Once I reached my bedroom I placed the book on my nightstand, then changed into my night gown.

'Hopefully tomorrow won't be so bad, after all he is quite dashing...' I thought to myself, while laying down.

And with those thoughts, I slowly drifted off to sleep.