A Cinderella Story: RK Fairytale

Chapter 8: The Stolen Time

REVISED: 05 February 2019

8. The Stolen Time

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5:30 AM

There was a light mist that's still clinging to the ground as the sun began to peak above the trees. The early morning had a feeling of peace and tranquillity; all the citizens of Kyoto are still falling asleep. Misao gazed out the window, feeling determined. She will spend the day with him, a promise she would not keep. Everything she did must come to an end! Sukunami Akari is dead starting today and she will just be Makimachi Misao and make sure she will stay that way. She will never ever attend royal parties anymore!

She slept a lot last night, having arrived home early before Shishio and the whores did. The kimono she wore was left safely at Megumi's clinic. Sanosuke and Yahiko told her that if she wanted to see Aoshi again, they would make a plan for her. But Misao shook her head no. Enough was enough. Twice she had come to the ball and twice, she had lied to him.

Shishio, Yumi and Kamatari are still asleep. Even though her stepfamily would not be bothering her, she still had a long list of chores to do and the first one is to gather vegetables and make a breakfast for the household.

She went to the garden with some gardening tools in her hands. Suddenly, the sound of running feet approached through the mist, she was surprised to see Yahiko came into view.

"Ya... YAHIKO!" Misao exclaimed.

"Sssshhh." The boy hushed and breathed for a second, his face looked in panic.

"What's wrong?" she asked, worried.

"Sanosuke cannot pretend anymore that he doesn't know you! The Imperial family is good at revealing secrets! He already told Aoshi-sama your whereabouts!"

"What?" Misao said in a low voice so Shishio and the others would not hear her.

"He never told them that you are a servant, he only told them that you were staying with your 'cousins' in this house! And you and Sanosuke had been acquaintances since a month ago!" Yahiko explained clearly. "Misao, this is already messed up!"

"Aaargh! He is going to kill me and he is going to kill you!" Panic rose on her, as she lacks the idea for her next move. "I am going to kill Sanosuke! What the hell I'm supposed to do?"

"Just calm down!" Yahiko answered, calming a panic Misao. "Just put a light make up on your face and put your hair up and wore something descent from Kamatari's wardrobe. When you get him alone, just told him any believable reason that you don't want to see him ever again."

"But I... I can't do that." She cried. Deep inside, she really wanted to see him.

"Then just told him the truth, it's the only other choice you have. I'm really sorry." Yahiko said, sadly.

"Fine, how long do I have?"

"Maybe, 30 minutes. My apologies Misao-chan but I need to see Sanosuke now! And hey, he might not accompany Aoshi-sama... He said that he wanted to spend this day alone with you." He added then quickly run as he disappeared through the mist.

She sighed and she was glad that she was not very dirty this morning. She dropped the small shovel she was holding and ran inside the house. A quick peek into the darkened rooms of her stepfamily told her they were still sleeping.

She only has five minutes to stand in front of the dusted mirror, looking to see if she looked presentable. Her hair was pulled a half way, but was combed. She did not dare to enter Kamatari's room for a make-up. As a final thought, she wrote a note to Shishio that she will fetch some woods and will be back by the noon.