Yuki and the Beast

Chapter 9: Learning

Yuki's POV
The next morning, I woke up, still in Kira's room. Turning in bed, I saw she was gone.

"Guess she got something to eat." I thought, sitting up. Hearing footsteps coming closer to the door, I turned my head and saw Neon standing there.

"Oh! Good morning, Yu-what are you doing in Kira's bed? Did you two-"

"No. I fell asleep in here last night."

"Why?" Neon asked, tilting her head.

"I came in to check on her last night and we just talked for a while." I replied.

Neon's eyes widened as she walked closer to me.

"You're calling Kira a girl. Did she tell you her-"

"-Backstory? Yeah, she did. So what's up with you guys calling her a male?" I said, cutting Neon off.

"We just thought that if we called her a girl it would confuse you. After all, she has a pretty deep voice and a boyish personality. I also thought it would be better for you to find out on your own." Neon said while shrugging.

"Anything else?" I asked. Neon's mouth turned into a grin.

"As you already know, her dad raised her as a boy. I also wanted to mess with you a little bit."

"Neon, you grinned!"

"Did I?"

"Yeah! I saw it!"

Neon's grin turned into a smile as she scratched the back of her head.

"I haven't smiled in so long. I guess I don't notice when I finally smile."

"YOU DID IT AGAIN!"
**********
Neon and I walked into the dining room. No sign of Kira. Even though I wondered where she was, Neon and I ended up eating.

Afterwards, we walked through the castle talking to each other. It was nice to get to know her better.

"I haven't seen Hamilton around at all. Where is he?" I asked.

"Probably outside talking to ducks. If there are any around, of course." Neon replied.

"He's really embracing his part of the curse."

"That he is."

Reaching the library, we looked inside and saw Kori asleep on a couch near the right side of the room.

"At least he's asleep. Kori hasn't been able to sleep a lot lately." Neon said, walking into the room. Seeing a yellow blanket next to Kori, she held onto it and placed it over Kori.

"I'm glad he's taking a nap." She said with a smile. That was nice to see.

"This reminds me of a book I read once. The main character had red hair and her love interest had white hair. You two remind me of them!" I said.

"Oh, that book sounds familiar. If it's the book I read once that I'm thinking of, it's one of my favorite romance books!" Neon said with a huge smile on her face, clasping her hands together.

"Neon's been smiling a lot today."

"Well, we should leave him alone for now so he can rest." I said, lowering my voice as to not wake Kori up.

"Right! Let's let him sleep." She said, and we walked away as quietly as we could so Kori could stay asleep.
**********
Once we were away from Kori, I got reminded of what Kori said about Neon last night. You know, how he likes her.

"Hey Neon, do you like Kori?" I asked.

Neon immediately whipped her head towards me.

"Th-That's a strange question. I-I'll see you la-later." She said, her eyes darting around the room as she quickly walked away.

I chuckled as I watched her walk away. As I was on my way to my room, I saw Kira coming my way. She noticed me and waved.

"Hi, Yuki."

"Hello, miss Kira." I said, bowing to her.

"No need to bow." She said as she rubbed my head and walked past me.

I smiled as I watched her walk away, and then continued walking to my room.

"I guess.....Kira really is nice."
*********
With the day now night, I had already gotten changed for bed and was trying to sleep. When I finally did sleep, it was followed with a bad dream. It had to do with my Father.

"You're so weak." My Father said as he walked up to me. For some reason, I was down on one knee in this dream.

"Only physically." I said.

"Then bulk up and be a man." Dad responded, throwing a punch at me, which I caught.

"Actually, Father, I'm more of a man than you'll ever be." I said.

My Father raised a brow, but still held another balled fist behind him, ready to punch me at any moment.

"What makes you so sure about that?"

"Because I'll never beat my kids like you do. I never killed Mother. I kept trying to tell you, but you never listened. Now I have to live with this, but I can rest at ease knowing that I'll never be the kind of person you are." I started to stand up, studying the expression on his face which turned from anger to shock, and then back to anger. 

He started to throw his balled up fist at me, but I stopped him with a question.

"Oh, and Father? Being manly doesn't require a muscular body type." I said.

My Dad threw that balled up punch at me. Falling to the floor, my back hit it as I woke up immediately. Sitting up in bed and rubbing my back, I noticed that my throat was dry. Instead of going back to sleep, I got out of bed and made my way to the huge kitchen.

"I'm just here for a glass of water." I said as soon as I walked in.

I located the refrigerator in the dark room, opened it, and managed to find the water jug. After pouring it into a glass and putting the jug back where I found it, I drank from the glass, putting the cup in the sink once I was finished. As I was walking out, I saw Kira standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Kira?"

"Yuki, what are you doing up?" She asked.

"I had a bad dream and woke up with a dry mouth. What about you?" I asked.

"Same as you." She said.

"What was your dream about?" I asked as she stepped out of the doorway and we began walking down the hallway, and I really didn't notice that.

"I died." She said.

"Did I kill you?" I asked.

"No. It was like I was just walking and then I got literally backstabbed." She said.

"Oh. Mine was about my Dad. Basically, I was weak." I said.

Before I knew it, we had reached my room. Kira watched as I got in my bed while standing in the doorway, arms crossed as she leaned against it. I was soon sitting in my bed.

"Hey Yuki...."

"Hm?"

"Do you wanna get stronger?" Kira asked, uncrossing her arms and pushing herself off the doorway.

"Yeah, at least a little bit."

In the darkness, I could just barely see Kira smile.

"Let me help you out with that." Kira said, and then turned around and walked away. I laid down in my bed, looking up at the ceiling as I wondered what she meant. That sounded interesting.

But before I knew it, I had drifted off into a deep sleep, my interest fading as my subconscious took over.

Kira and Neon...they were different, especially Kira. They weren't like the girls back in my hometown.

And I liked that.

End chapter