I lied in bed thinking all night about the words Orochi said to the geisha last night, replaying the scene over and over again. Letting it burn into my memory how I found out how he truly sees me.
She is just a pitiful girl.
Just human.
While laying there during the night, I hear the other demons' outside partying and drinking the hours away; without knowing there is a sullen girl behind the doors. Tomoko never came to comforted me, Orochi never showed and I never ate.
"Ugh! I want food... Tomoko where are you when I need food?" I slam my face into my pillow. The beast in my stomach growls in agreement. Why must this be my weakness?
I sigh getting up and head towards the door to go find Tomoko, hoping she could tame the beast that wanted to eat. The halls seemed to not have as many people walking around as usual. More than likely, everyone was resting from the night before.
The door of the dining hall was opening when I crept around the corner to see Orochi sitting down. My heart stopped when I saw his face. He had dark circles under his eyes, his hair looked unkempt, this was not the appearance he usually had. Those golden eyes saw my figure from the side and looked over to me.
"Hello."
"Hey."
I go to sit down in front of him trying not to make it awkward between us. Silence drops over the room like a veil. Is he going to say anything regarding last night? Or maybe that was his actual thoughts about me.
I wanted to tell myself I didn't care for his opinion but I couldn't help but wonder.
He breaks the silence first, "I'm sorry. About what you heard last night."
I see from beneath my lashes that he is staring at me and look down at my fabric on my kimono.
"Do you think I am just a pathetic and useless human girl?" He seems to get bothered that I ask this question suddenly.
"I believe you are a girl who needs protection from the demon since your only a mere human. That is why I said that. Other than that, I was very heavily drunk and was only agreeing with the girls because of my lack of sense at the moment."
I falter for any type of words to say at that moment. I am indeed just a human girl but I can protect myself.
"I'll accept your apology but those words cannot be taken back. I'm not so delicate and I know what I can do skill-wise. Just let me prove it to you." I look up to him with a solid determination.
Food was brought onto the table in front of me and internally scream at the sight of the delicious-looking meal. He looks down at this rice and seems to be having an internal conflict with himself.
"No."
"Why? You said I don't know how to protect myself and I want to teach you otherwise. What is wrong with that?" Stuffing my face after with hot rice and miso soup as I angrily chew my food at him.
He finishes his breakfast first and sits drinking the tea. "You're a woman with a high rank in the demon world. You don't need to protect yourself when I'm around."
Frowning, I continue to eat my food and think of another way around the situation. He says I'm valuable to her but I don't feel like it especially in this place.
For, as far as I know, I'm just a human that was given the easy here. Qing Qing has already targeted me just because I am a human. There has to be something I can do to change people's view of me.
"Why? I don't want to look upon like a flower."
He laughs at my sentence, "But you are a flower. You are a Lotus. I know what that clan is and what its family members can do. Let's just leave it be. Nothing good comes from talking about family."
I silently agree in defeat to that last statement before I finish. He gets up as I do and we both walk out of the garden together. The empty garden is just a skeleton of the events that happened.
"I'm truly sorry about last night. I didn't mean those few words about you-" I hush him with my hand and shake my head.
"As much as I want to blame you for hurting my feelings, I realize there is nothing I can do about a drunk man's words. You just owe me then."
He nods while we both sit down at the table in the garden. Out of the corner of my eye, I see small little brown ears. There is only one person who has ear's like that.
"Tomoko!" Yelling across the little garden, she turns and her face lights up with unenviable happiness.
"Miss," she runs over to me and hugs me. "Where have you been? Are you okay? Is there anything I can do?"
I hug her back tightly, "This is fine. This makes everything better."
We stay like that for a while until Orochi clears his throat and we break apart. Tomoko gives him a piercing gaze. If looks could kill.
"Did something happen last night?" Questioning them both.
They nod their heads no but, something is going on.
"Humph." I look at them suspiciously at their faces. Tomoko leaves us to be with ourselves and I am left alone again with Orochi.
"I am assuming you guys disagreed with each other?" Turning towards him with a questioning look.
He exhales with a rather ashamed expression and ignores my question, "I get the feeling you two are closer to each other." Curiosity gets to him.
I smile, "Yeah, yeah we are. She has been the only one who I have talked to."
"We don't know each other very well, Ren."
I burst out laughing at his sudden declaration, "No we don't. You haven't been the most sociable. Why would I want to get to know a demon like you?"
"Because I'm your future husband." He says casually.
I scoff, "How about no?"
Orochi raises his eyebrow, "It doesn't matter your decision. Either yes or no. I'm not taking no for an answer anyway. So, let's then?"
"Ugh! What do mean by getting to know? You mean like, asking favorite stuff and knowing one's family?"
"Yes."
I glare at him in confusion, "Okay?"
He smiles and seems suddenly happier by my agreement. I get the feeling like he truly didn't mean those words last night. I could have just been hurt at the moment but those geisha had done the damage.
Yet again, he is just a cunning demon and I don't know his true intentions.