Yuki and the Beast

Chapter 8: Kira's Past

"What happened to you, Kira!?" Neon said, holding onto Kira's shirt as she continuously glanced from him to his shirt.

"I fought wolves again and got hurt." Kira said. Neon circled around Kira, facepalming once she stood in front of him again.

"Don't think I haven't noticed that you've gotten hurt, Kira! I can see the tear in your shirt! Look at how bloody you are!" Neon said.

"At least I managed to save someone this time!" Kira shot back.

"Unlike last time, you weren't hurt like this! You have to quit being so reckless all the time, Kira!" Neon scolded, shaking her head.

"Aren't you glad I saved that human!?"

"Yes, but you could get yourself seriously hurt! You might never come back into the castle one day!"

"THEN IF YOU'RE WORRIED SO MUCH, I SHOULDA LEFT HIM FOR DEAD!"

"You know I'm right here, right?" I asked. That didn't catch their attention one bit. They continued arguing, not looking at us once.

"Don't take any of this personally, Yuki." Kori said from behind me. I turned around.

"Do they do this often?" I asked.

"Yeah. When Kira gets hurt like right now, Kira often gets scolded by Neon. You learn to get used to it."

Hamilton, who was next to Kori, quacked in response with a nod. He started to flap his arms, grabbing Kori's attention as he looked at him.

"Are you trying to get wings?" Kori asked. Hamilton nodded.

"Those duck wings won't come yet." Kori said. Hamilton hung his head down. Turning away from us, he walked over to a corner in the room and sat down.

"Anyway....." Kori said, looking back to me and at Neon, who was still arguing with Kira.

"I also find Neon to be cute when she's like this."

"Are you and Neon-" I started, but Kori cut me off.

"A couple? No, we aren't. I haven't been able to tell Neon how I feel, especially these days."

"Why?" I asked, scratching my head.

"Well, I'm not supposed to tell you this, but for the past few years we've been under a curse. We're human, or we were. The curse turned us into creatures like how we are now. As you can see, Kira got afflicted the worst out of all of us. That's what Neon and I meant when we visited your room earlier." Kori explained.

"Ah...I see. So what's up with the rose?" I asked.

"Saw that, did you? It's like the time bomb of the curse. The curse can be released, but when the last petal of the rose falls, we remain stuck like this forever and lose the only human part of us."

"When is the last petal supposed to fall?"

"When Kira turns 30."

"I see. You know what, Kori? I'm gonna stick around here. It's not like I needed to be anywhere special." I said.

Now I know I tried to leave not long ago, but in my defense, Kira's scary.

"Yeah, I think that would be good for Kira." Kori said. Neon walked over to us and grabbed Kori's wrist. She dragged him away while Kira also walked away. He was probably going to the west wing or his room.
Kori's POV
After the conversation I had with Yuki, I was with Neon. It was good that he decided to stay, but he has no idea what he's gotten himself into.

"Do you think he's the one?" Neon asked, stopping my thoughts.

"I don't know for sure, but I definitely think he has some potential." I replied.