I thought she was a real princess. The name Hi-Ou was unusual, but I heard that it was just a nickname. Her real name was Hino. That can be considered as a girl's name. She might not be as graceful as a princess should be, but maybe that was just her adventurous personality shining through. She does have a little bit aura of gracefulness hanging around her, truly, since she was a member of the royal family. The youngest child of the king. The most beautiful of them all.
The flowing light chestnuts hair of hers never failed to make my heart thump. She was quite rough with her choice of words, but her soft voice usually toned down the roughness of her speeches. Whenever we played together, she never hesitated nor get embarrassed from holding my hands or get wet from jumping into the koi fish pond purposely. I just assumed that she was a tomboy, what with her hating to wear kimonos, laces and ribbons as her casual wear. Still, she wore them faithfully everyday.
"Father said it's the royal family's tradition. It seemed that all my brothers wore these kind of clothes too, when they were young." She explained one day, when I asked her why she still wore those kind of clothes if she hate it so much. She frowned a little bit, but then she smiled. "Well, I can't wait until I can throw these clothes right into the flame. It'd be damn embarrassing if I was reminded of it once I became an adult,"
I was quite confused by then. Why would a beautiful girl like her become embarrassed if people saw the younger version of her wearing kimonos? Most people would be proud. It would be different if she was ugly, though. And her beauty definitely cannot be associated with the term ugly. Even the word 'pretty' was a major understatement on her part. Now the question was; 'What would she wear when she's not a child anymore?'
Unfortunately my question was answered when the fateful day came. For the first time, I saw her wearing shirt and jeans instead of yukata. Her hair was cut short, shorter than mine. She looked just like boy. A really beautiful, good-looking boy. I couldn't recognize her at all, until she called my name. "Hey, Mitsuka! I'm here!" She waved at me, then pointed her thumb toward herself. She grinned as I gaped at her sudden transformation.
"What? That voice... Hi-Ousama...?" I unconsciously pointed at her, too shocked at her looks. "Your hair! Your clothes-!!" I exclaimed in horror. She just grinned at me mischievously. "I know. Looks good on me, right? I got these from my brothers in exchange for not slaughtering my old man," He said cheerfully. I wasn't smiling though. The horror showed clearly on my face as I realized that she just said she almost committed a treason against her father...
"Hi-Ousama... what exactly happened? What was it that make you so angry you even attempted to murder the king...? And cutting your hair short... wearing clothes like that... You look like a boy!" My face was already white with shock and horror. Though what came next was the last straw. She frowned, clearly looking displeased by my comments. "What's wrong a boy wearing a boy's clothing?" She, no, HE, shouted angrily.
I felt like fainting when I heard that. "What's wrong with a boy who cut his hair short? What is possibly wrong with a boy looking like a boy? I am a male, damn it!" Hi-Ou cursed. "And it was supposedly a suitable revenge on that old, perverted bastard for lying to me and even trying to raise me as a princess, when I. Am. Not! I'll tell you, Mitsuka. That lying king should be damned and tied to a stake for trying to change who I really am. Don't you think so too, Mitsuka? Mitsuka?!"
As I slowly fainted, I unconsciously thought; "You're right, Your Highness. That lying king should be cursed for eternity!" He just crushed my innocent, young heart. And harshly too. So that's why Hi-Ou wasn't graceful. Why Hi-Ou talked roughly and was adventurous. Why Hi-Ou hated girl's clothes... It were all because the Hi-Ou I've always known was not a she, but a HE!
"Really," I sighed painfully, "What a load of lies..."
***
...Thus, that was the end of my first love. When I woke up, Hi-Ou already left the royal palace, banished by the injured king. The crown prince, Hi-Ou's elder brother always laughed at me every time I met him at the palace. He must have known about me from Hi-Ou, what with me being the only friend he had while he was at the palace. It annoyed me a little, because the prince kept on teasing me even when I'm working, and I was trying really hard to forget about my shameful experience, too!
After that embarrassing experience, I contracted a severe allergy toward man (thankfully!) and can only be approached by real girls (excluding those who dare to pay the surgeon to change something on their body, but keep this a secret, okay?). It helped me a lot from falling in love with any pretty male, which I dreaded very much from experiencing it again, because I assure you, that I am completely and honestly straight.
** End **
An after story from this : Hino's Problems
<- Day 5
Day 7 ->
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