Kai
Retired Staff
Ketsurui Rikou was the newest princess in the Ketsurui family. By newest, that meant she was a Youngling. At a week old, Ketsurui Rikou, fifth daughter of Yui, was about eight inches tall. This wouldn't have been much of a problem for the tiny Neko, if they hadn't decided to give her a normal sized room right off. For now, Rikou's mother was off 'playing' with some friends, and so she was left in her room, finding something to do. Being eight inches tall, and a week old, the room- even empty of playthings- was an enormous adventure to her. Like all neko, she had been born with a fully functioning, logical mind, with a fairly decent database on a number of things that were important to a Neko, but, also like all Neko, she had been born without the experience to back up all that predetermined knowledge. In short- She was naive and inquisitive.
The room in and of itself was a cage of some sort, she reasoned. Obviously, it was bad for such an important person as her to be out in the world- that would cause problems. Within that cage, her tiny mind also reasoned, was a puzzle. if she could solve the puzzle, she could escape the cage, and find out just what was outside of the room that was so afraid of her. The room also, however, contained a number of shiny things.
The puzzle could wait. Rikou first began walking aorund on the bed. From here, she could survey her tiny domain (What was a princess without a domain, after all?) and figure out where all the shiny objects in the room were. She was trying to find the largest, shiniest object around. As she traversed the edge of the bed, she stopped at a corner, her eyes spotting something. A large gathering of shiny objects, along with one very large one on the wall. Her Neko mind immediately identified that object as a mirror, and the other shiny objects and beauty and hygiene implements. In an instant, Rikou bounced on the edge of the bed, launching herself into the air with the aid of her gravity control, and began to fly accross the room. She flew somewhat slowly, of course. Not because she did not know how to fly, but because she enjoyed it, and, even as small as she was, flying fast took too little time to be properly enjoyed.
Masami paused as she walked through the doorway, arching an eyebrow at the airborn young princess she'd been assigned to guard. She wasn't quite sure what had prompted an impromptu test of the young princess's flying abilities, but she was decently certain that the reason probably wasn't very valuable. She hoped.
She stepped forward, clearing her throat as she closed the door behind her, resting her hands at her sides. "Hime-sama? May I ask what you're doing?"
Rikou turned her head as she soared through the gap between the bed and the small desk holding the shiny things, and looked over Masami, before greeting the Samurai enthusiastically. "Masami-onee-chan!" she cried happily, waving, as her forward movement continued. "There's shiny things over he-" as the tiny princess spoke, she turned her head forwards once again just in time to notice she was about to hit the desk, and tried to stop, closing her eyes and recoiling in preparation for the pain of an impact, despite the fact that she hadn't ever actually felt pain before.
Masami ducked her head, well aware that there was no way she was going to make it far enough to catch her small charge before impact. Not that an impact at that speed should actually hurt her too much, and naturally she'd comfort Rikou afterwards regardless. a resigned look on her face, she started towards what she suspected would momentarily be a surprised and scratched up princess in need of some help. She was having to fight to keep a small smile off of her face though, because the youngling was obviously having fun, odd choice of methods aside.
Before long, the princess bounced against the leg of the desk, squeaking a bit, and recoiling off of the piece of furniture before making a quick spiral to the ground, where she landed in a heap with another small squeak. An arm disentangled itself from the crash site, and raised a hand , accompanied by Rikou's small voice responding somewhat weakly "I'm okay, Onee-chan..."
Masami made her way over to the fallen princess, standing over her for just a moment before crouching down and offering her hand to the miniature girl. "Hime-sama, you should be more careful then that. You're too important to risk yourself over something as passing as a shiny object." She had a small, fond smile on her face now.
Rikou's other hand made its way up, and together with the first extremeity, the princess grabbed one of the fingers of the Samurai's outstretched hand. "I thought they put me in here because I was important?" she queried, pulling herself back up to her feet, dusting off the tiny dress she was wearing at the moment.
"If there's shiny things in here, then they are here for me, right?"
Masami put her hand on her lap, the other one framing her face as she looked down at Rikou. "Of course, you're important. And you're in here because it's safer for you to be in here then outside with the rest of us, at least until you're a bit bigger." She paused, wondering what brought up the possessions question though. "And of course, everything in this room is meant for you, Hime-sama. But none of it is going to be removed without your permission, so there's no need to hurry to check everything now, you can take it slowly."
Rikou floated up into the air to be level with Masami's face, and began pouting. "But I Was taking it slowly! I can fly a lot faster than that, you know!" she defended herself, eyeing the desk again and its promise of shiny implements, as well as the top of the mirror peeking over the edge.
"Besides, there's lots of stuff in this room. why can't I go here first?"
"Well, if you were going slowly enough, then you wouldn't have run into anything, Hime-sama. And you can go there first if you like, all I'm saying is that you don't need to rush. You have plenty of time to explore your room." She paused, looking up. "Why the mirror though? Did you want to look at yourself?"
Rikou thought for a moment. Did she want to look at herself? That certainly was not on her mind when she first saw it, she just knew that it was shiny. Though, now that she thought about it, was the draw of shiny things the eye-catching glint, or was it the chance to see one's own reflection? Rikou's face was cast in an expression of deep thought for a moment, before she suddenly responded. "Nuh-uh! It's just a big shiney thing!" Obviously, as far as Rikou was concerned, the draw of shiny things was the eye-catching glint.
Masami chuckled, then paused, glancing at the mirror herself. "It most definitely is shiney, I'll give you that. You should get used to walking to things though. It's not polite to fly around everywhere, you know. Not everyone can." She stood up, looking back at Rikou. "Did you have anything in mind that can't be interrupted though? I was thinking we could find something to do, if not."
"Momma told me it's okay to fly around 'till i'm big enough... But I didn't have any plans, I just wanted to look around." Rikou answered the Samurai, floating over and settling on her shoulder. "Do you have any ideas? I dunno what to do, other than explore."
"Well, do you know if you're allowed to leave the room at all? I wasn't told you weren't, and I wouldn't mind exploring with you." She turned her head to keep an eye on the youngling, arching an eyebrow again.
"Well, Momma said she was playing, and she said if somebody came in I could play with 'em."Rikou explained, feeling proud that she had remembered. Not that it was difficult to remember, her brain was a computer, after all. "She didn't say I had to stay in the room if I was playing with someone, so I guess that means I can come with you. That's your job, anyway, right?"
"I'm supposed to take care of you, yes. So I suppose it will be fine for us to go exploring, so long as I am careful to make sure you stay safe. Are you okay with staying where you are unless I tell you it's okay to get down?" Masami turned towards the door, though she waited for Rikou's response before she went ahead.
Rikou Smiled and nodded answering "Mhmm!"
Masami walked over to the door, closing it behind them once they were outside before looking in both directions. "Well? Where do you want to go? Just pick a direction."
"Can I choose up?" Rikou asked, looking at the ceiling outside her door. Perhaps there was another floor above it, or maybe a sky. Either way, she wanted to get outside. She'd been outside once before with her mother, but that hadn't lasted very long, even if she had enjoyed it a lot. "Or at least outside?"
Masami hesitated, unsure. "Why do not we stay inside and on this floor, at least for now? There is plenty to see just around here, and I wouldn't want your mother to worry if she came back and you were gone." She hesitated again, thinking. "If your mother says it is okay, we will be sure to go outside next time, though."
"I Guess so." Rikou answered, shortly. "What stuff is there to do around here, then? I haven't been anywhere by momma's room, the hallways, or that room." she explained, as if Masami did not already know those facts.
"Well, to be honest, I'm not too sure myself. My room isn't near here, so I've never really looked around here either. I would guess there might be rooms for some of your family around here though. We can always look around and see if we find someone who knows where there might be interesting things though." Masami was sorry that the princess was disappointed, but she wasn't willing to risk getting in trouble over something that small. Especially not when it was such an easy problem to fix.
"Momma told me most people were gone, so the rooms are all empty, I think. My sisters are all busy, and my aunts and stuff are all gone, so I think it sounds like this place is kinda lonely." Rikou explained, remembering that the Samurai's quarters were at another part of the Ketsurui palace.
"So... Can we go outside then?" she asked, hoping that the Samurai would be convinced.
Masami's mouth twitched, trying to avoid smiling at the youngling's persistence. "Well, we can at least look around first, right? I promise, if we cannot find anything interesting or anyone to ask, we will think about it."
"Fine then. Let's go.... Left!" Rikou shouted, pointing to the duo's right.
"Well, you should make up your mind if you want me to take you somewhere, silly. Your body says right, your mouth says left... which is it?" Masami was obviously making fun of her, and just as obviously in a losing fight with a smile.
Rikou just giggled. "That's a Secret. you get to choose and figure out which way is right!" she then announced, apparently challenging the Samurai to a game. what kind of game it was, nobody knew. Probably not even Rikou.
"Well, it is obvious which direction is right, Hime, I am just not sure which one of the two options is correct." Masami didn't object at all to playing games, but wasn't going to just play along tamely either.
"Hehehe..." Rikou giggled mischievously "You have to guess!" was all that she gave to her Samurai guardian in response. "I told you it's a secret, so you have to figure it out, Masami-Onee-Chan."
"But if it is a secret, how could my young little Hime-sama possibly have learned about it? You're too young to be keeping secrets from me already." Masami winked at her charge, contemplating which direction the youngling would have picked.
Rikou sat on Masami's shoulder, attempting to be patient as her chaperone took her sweet time trying to figure out the answer. The Samurai could feel her begin to tremble with impatience, but, through concentrated effort, Rikou managed to keep it under control for the moment.
"Well, since I'm not quite sure which direction you'd prefer... and I'm not hearing any forthcoming hints from you... I think I'll go with the first one you mentioned. Up!" As she said the last part, she activated her own gravity control, launching up towards the ceiling with no warning, stopping them both just shy of hitting the ceiling in the hallway, just to see the reaction.
Rikou's first reaction was "Yahooo!" followed shortly by a squeak of surprise as Masami stopped short of the ceiling. Rikou's ascent, however, continued due to momentum. She found herself floating without gravity control for a moment, before hurriedly grabbing onto the shoulder of Masami's outfit, pulling herself down back onto her shoulder.
"That's not what I meant by Up!" the princess complained, looking slightly upset.
"See, this is why you should really be more specific with your directions." Masami settled them back to the floor, grinning at the reaction. "If you're more specific, it's a fair bit easier to do what you want, Hime-sama."
"But you said we couldn't do what I wanted, and I dunno what else to do!" the princess complained, huffing lightly. "You're not fun, Masami-Onee-chan."
"Well, obviously I'm going to say no to going up. I mean, look how soon we had to stop. That wasn't going to be much fun for long. And you give up much too easily if you were expecting me to just forget what you said, Hime-sama." Masami turned to her right and started walking down the hallway. "After all, you're my boss, not your mother."
"But I thought momma was in charge of everybody?" Rikou asked, suddenly sidetracked.
Masami shook her head. "So long as I am in your service, I only answer to you and my Daimyo, and her only if it does not interfere with my duties for you. I am here for your good and the good of the family, not necessarily your mother's."
"Well, I guess that's okay. Does this mean I can make you take me outside, Masami-Onee-chan?" Rikou responded, looking somewhat hopeful. Her tiny body seemed to be trembling with excitement, and she stood up on Masami's shoulders, looking on expectantly.
Masami nodded, and glanced around, looking to see if there was anything to distract her nearby. "Technically, yes, Hime-sama. However, that does not mean that you should handle it like that. Think about it for a moment. Why wouldn't you be allowed outside, unless there's a good reason?"
"Wellllllllll......." Rikou began, thinking. "Maybe somebody wants ta steal me? but nobody knows who I am, so they wouldn't. And nobody ever told me I wasn't allowed outside, aside from you," she responded. She seemed to have calmed down slightly, but there was an emphasis on the 'down' part.
Masami smiled, glancing back over to Rikou for a moment before continuing on. "Have you actually asked anyone other then myself? They might not have said anything because it did not come up."
She'd been found out. Rikou couldn't lie- it was unbecoming. "No... I didn't." She pouted, defeated. Perhaps she could still win Masami-onee-chan over with her charms, since she was obviously not clever enough. "Pleeeeeeaaasssseeee?" she pleaded, trying to make kitten-eyes at the Samurai.
Masami shook her head. "Unless you actually command me to, I will not take you outside, Hime-sama. Perhaps not even then, if I judge that to be the safer option. It is for your own safety, not to annoy you."
"Well, I really wanna go outside, but I don't wanna boss you around, either. How about..." The youngling looked about, trying to find something, before noticing two structures located on the front of her samurai guardian. She pointed. "What if I hide in there?"
Masami's eyebrow arched, and she had a slightly confused look on her face for just a moment before it smoothed down again. "Indeed, Hime-sama. What if you hide in there?"
"Wouldn't it be safe then, Masami-Onee-chan?" Rikou answered the question the samurai had used to answer her own query. "Then it'd look like it's just you walking around, and nobody would suspect anything!"
Masami's eyebrow was still up there, though she was managing to keep from laughing thus far, hard though it was. "Would you really be satisfied with the limited view from, ah... 'there'? Could you behave and stay there?"
"Well, I think it'd be loads better than being locked in a room all day," Rikou answered. "I promise I'll stay good and behave, okay?" she looked on again, with those eyes. She ignored the eyebrow- cuteness seemed to be working. The natural charms of the Ketsurui were obviously far superior to those of a Samurai, even if her wit may not quite be up to par, yet.
Masami pursed her mouth, thinking. "What if you don't have to stay in your room? We can wander around, just not outside at all. That way we do not have to test the rules, and you do not have to be bored in your room, either?"
"Because outside is better!" Rikou responded, starting to get pouty. She stood still, pouting for a moment, before taking matters into her own hands, so to speak, and climbing down, placing herself front and center in the folds of Masami's robes. "Pleeeeaaassseee?" she pleaded, "I'm already here!"
Masami shook her head at Rikou. "Hime-sama," and she pulled out the inescapable logic all Samurai were trained in, "if you have never been outside, how do you know it is so much better out there? I like it more in here, anyway.
"Didn't I tell you Momma took me outside once?" Rikou responded, swiftly. "Outside is bigger! It's better! And there's that glowy thing in the sky. The.. uhh. Sun!" Rikou gestured quite vigorously from within her perch on Masami's chest, wriggling around in excitement at her own (admittedly limited) description of the outside world.
Masami blinked, having some issues trying to keep her mind on distracting Rikou from the outside world. "It is indeed bigger, but better is a perspective, not necessarily the truth. And the sun can be annoying too, you know. Inside, we can control everything. If we look hard enough, there might even be a hologram room that could simulate the outside without any of the problems."
Rikou frowned at that answer. "But then that's just a phony. A copy. It may look the same, but it isn't! I want the real thing. That's what Momma said. She prefers playing with real people instead of toys!" The tiny princess folded her arms across her own chest, frowning, and pouting once more. "I want the real thing."
Masami actually coughed a little at that one, the motion most likely jostling the small princess on her chest. "Ah... Hime-sama, I am almost certain the two of you are referring to almost completely different things, in this case." As she recovered her composure, she changed directions at the next hallway without conferring with her charge for directions. "In any case, your mother is also allowed to go outside, while you are not."
The cough somewhat distracted Rikou, and she did not immediately notice that they had begun moving once more. "Well, like I said. You are allowed to go outside, so why don't you just go outside, and I'll stay here. Nobody has to know. and then I'll be happy. You want me to be happy, right, Masami-Onee-chan?"
Masami hastened to assure Rikou of that much. "Of course, Hime-sama! But I don't want you to sacrifice your safety for the sake of temporary happiness. There will be plenty of opportunities to go outside once you're a bit older, so why not be patient?"
That was a good question. Probably. Rikou was a princess though, and from many of the sources she looked up, that meant she was supposed to get what she wanted. But it also apparently meant that she had to be stuck up. She didn't want to be stuck up, but she wanted to get what she wanted. Rikou wriggled around a bit more, turning herself to face Masami, and looking up at her Samurai Guardian.
"Well, I guess 'cause I'm only a week old. Won't there be time to be patient later?" she asked, looking just slightly sad, and maybe a little disappointed. Her eyes screamed 'Please!' but she was trying to keep herself more composed.
"Of course there will be time to be patient later, but there will be plenty of time to mess around too. You have plenty of time until you really have to start behaving all of the time, so why not play around inside until you are actually allowed outside, and not chance making your mother mad?" Masami wasn't sure if that would work with someone as young as the princess, but it was worth a shot.
"Didn't you just chastise me for playing in my room?" Rikou responded, turning Masami's words against her. "Please? Just for a few minutes, I wanna go outside!"
"I said to be careful, not to stop playing entirely. So long as you are not flying everywhere at high speeds, I don't mind you playing inside." Masami glanced ahead, a quick smile on her face, though it was just as quickly erased.
Rikou was confused by Masami's quick smile. "Is something funny?" she asked, sidetracked from what the Samurai had just said. "Did you think of a joke, or a new game?" she continued, a look of some wonder on her face. she looked up, and tugged on the fold of Masami's robe's collar, insisting on an answer.
"No, do not worry. It was nothing. Just a thought that made me smile, Hime-sama. Now, about the flying..." Masami just kept walking, trying to keep Rikou on subject.
"I wasn't flying too fast!" Rikou defended, crossing her arms and leaning forward against Masami's breastbone. She spoke directly to the Samurai's front. "I was going just fine. You just distracted me!" She was apparently being distracted once again by Masami, but the Samurai was being successful, again.
"If you are going fast enough that me coming in can distract you, then you were going too fast in the first place." Masami glanced ahead, but kept going. "After all, what would someone who was not me think if they saw that happen?"
"I dunno. I haven't met too many people. They're all different, right? So I couldn't tell you until I'd met a bunch more" Rikou answered, still leaned forward, using Masami's sternum as a sort of reverse lounge chair. "It's easier to meet people outside. We should go and ask some," she added, not relenting on her current desire.
Masami blinked at the automatic return to purpose Rikou was showing, almost surprised by how much focus she was managing. "Well, with logic like that, how can I deny you?" She winked down at Rikou, and nodded towards the doors in front of them. "What do you think? These doors look good to you?"
Rikou suddenly turned around, and her face brightened. She made a sharp intake of breath, gasping in happiness, before turning back to Masami. "Yes! These look good! Thank you, Masami-Onee-chan!" Rikou clapped her tiny hands, but they barely made any sound, as small as they were. She was, indeed, happy.
"Now remember. While we are outside, you have to stay in there, so no one sees you, and stay quiet for the same reason. We will both get in trouble if anyone notices that I brought you outside, so behave."
Masami waited for Rikou to agree before going outside though.
"Of course!" Rikou responded cheerfully, sinking down deeper into the depth of Masami's robe, so that only her head could be seen in the meeting of the folds. "Is this good enough, Masami-Onee-chan?" she asked, making herself comfortable.
"That will do for now. Are you ready?" With that, Masami stepped forward, opening the door and stepping through it into a decently sized garden, with cherry trees decorating the paths. There were people around, but not so many as to make it a problem yet, so Masami went ahead and stepped out onto the path after closing the door behind her.
Rikou could only gawk in wonder. She had seen this garden before, but from a different angle, and at a different time of day. It was like it was another place entirely. "I like this place," Rikou whispered looking about as Masami walked. Rikou didn't really recognize most of the people around- they were probably people who worked for the clan, or very distant relatives that were more closely related to some other branches of the family than to her. Still. It was glorious.
"I am glad to hear that," Masami murmured under her breath. She was keeping an eye out for anyone high enough in the family to recognize her on site, or (as she feared) spot Rikou, but thus far she hadn't seen anyone she recognized at all either. As she walked down one of the paths, she took care to try and pick directions that were as unpopulated as she could, though the garden was close enough to bustling with people at this time of day that there was little chance of straight out avoiding everyone. "Anything in particular you want to see?"
"Can we find a balcony or something and look at the city?" Rikou suggested, wanting to see more. The garden was big, sure, but it wasn't BIG big. The city was an unimagineable vastness to the tiny neko, despite the fact that she knew it was only a small area on the surface of a larger planet, which in itself was less than a pinprick in the vastness of space. But for now, the city would do.
Masami bit her lip for a moment, thinking. "I am honestly unsure. I know there is most likely a balcony somewhere nearby, but I do not know where, or even if we would be allowed onto it. If you spot one..." She kept walking, doing her best to not give any indication that there might possibly be a small, royal person down the front of her uniform.
"Well, then... Can you pick me some flowers?" Rikou requested next, pointing toward a bed of the petaled plants, wanting to smell their various perfumes. She made absolutely no thought that it might seem odd for a Samurai to pick flowers then stuff them down her front. In fact, that idea never occured to her.
Masami paused, trying to think of either a good explanation for why she couldn't, for Rikou, or why she was picking flowers, for someone else, and one just happened to come to mind quickly. After all, it wasn't unbelieveable that she would be gathering a few to take with her to visit Rikou, and it wouldn't even be a lie to say she was picking them to give to Rikou. That problem solved, she knelt down alongside the path for a moment, quickly picking a set of three irises, and covertly handing them to Rikou, who now had a face framed by blooming flowers.
Rikou tugged on the Irises, pulling them to a position where she could better take in their perfume. "Waaaa~ they smell so pretty!" she exclaimed softly, beginning to make a soft sound that might be mistaken as cooing or purring. "Masami-Onee-chan! Do you know anything fun to do outside?" she asked, suddenly.
"I..." Masami paused, thinking. "I do not know of anything suitable for you to do at the moment. Not until you are either older and larger, or are allowed to go outside despite your age." She hesitated. "It may sound like I am stuck on the one line, but for the time being, most of what you can do is inside, not out."
"Well then, can we still wander around the garden? What else is in here beside the trees and flowers?" the young princess inquired, looking about from her limited perch, the view now even more obstructed by the flowers, though Rikou wouldn't complain, since they smelled very good.
"Not very much, I am sorry to say. Most of what we can do without chancing you being discovered is a bit pedestrian. This is a garden for courtiers, not people who want to have fun." Masami stood back up, glancing around to make sure no one had noticed her 'talking to herself'."
"Well, I think it will be fun to just wander around and look at everything," the tiny youngling argued, nudging Masami a bit. "So let's just keep going. I'm sure we can spend a long time in here." Rikou seemed adamant to remain outside, even if what they were doing there didn't seem exactly 'fun' in the traditional sense.
"We can do that, if you want. Walking around in gardens is something I enjoy, and you are very right when you say that we can spend time in here. Quite a bit of time, if you like." Masami got back to walking, wandering around in a fairly aimless manner in the garden.
And so they continued, for the entire afternoon, and partway into the evening. Masami managed to keep Rikou's presence secret, and Rikou managed to keep herself hidden. Rikou learned a lot about the flowers in the gardens from the Samurai, and had her fill of the 'big outside' for at least a little while. Soon, the youngling would grow to a more normal size, and occasions like these would never happen again. But for now, Rikou enjoyed what she could, how she could.
The room in and of itself was a cage of some sort, she reasoned. Obviously, it was bad for such an important person as her to be out in the world- that would cause problems. Within that cage, her tiny mind also reasoned, was a puzzle. if she could solve the puzzle, she could escape the cage, and find out just what was outside of the room that was so afraid of her. The room also, however, contained a number of shiny things.
The puzzle could wait. Rikou first began walking aorund on the bed. From here, she could survey her tiny domain (What was a princess without a domain, after all?) and figure out where all the shiny objects in the room were. She was trying to find the largest, shiniest object around. As she traversed the edge of the bed, she stopped at a corner, her eyes spotting something. A large gathering of shiny objects, along with one very large one on the wall. Her Neko mind immediately identified that object as a mirror, and the other shiny objects and beauty and hygiene implements. In an instant, Rikou bounced on the edge of the bed, launching herself into the air with the aid of her gravity control, and began to fly accross the room. She flew somewhat slowly, of course. Not because she did not know how to fly, but because she enjoyed it, and, even as small as she was, flying fast took too little time to be properly enjoyed.
Masami paused as she walked through the doorway, arching an eyebrow at the airborn young princess she'd been assigned to guard. She wasn't quite sure what had prompted an impromptu test of the young princess's flying abilities, but she was decently certain that the reason probably wasn't very valuable. She hoped.
She stepped forward, clearing her throat as she closed the door behind her, resting her hands at her sides. "Hime-sama? May I ask what you're doing?"
Rikou turned her head as she soared through the gap between the bed and the small desk holding the shiny things, and looked over Masami, before greeting the Samurai enthusiastically. "Masami-onee-chan!" she cried happily, waving, as her forward movement continued. "There's shiny things over he-" as the tiny princess spoke, she turned her head forwards once again just in time to notice she was about to hit the desk, and tried to stop, closing her eyes and recoiling in preparation for the pain of an impact, despite the fact that she hadn't ever actually felt pain before.
Masami ducked her head, well aware that there was no way she was going to make it far enough to catch her small charge before impact. Not that an impact at that speed should actually hurt her too much, and naturally she'd comfort Rikou afterwards regardless. a resigned look on her face, she started towards what she suspected would momentarily be a surprised and scratched up princess in need of some help. She was having to fight to keep a small smile off of her face though, because the youngling was obviously having fun, odd choice of methods aside.
Before long, the princess bounced against the leg of the desk, squeaking a bit, and recoiling off of the piece of furniture before making a quick spiral to the ground, where she landed in a heap with another small squeak. An arm disentangled itself from the crash site, and raised a hand , accompanied by Rikou's small voice responding somewhat weakly "I'm okay, Onee-chan..."
Masami made her way over to the fallen princess, standing over her for just a moment before crouching down and offering her hand to the miniature girl. "Hime-sama, you should be more careful then that. You're too important to risk yourself over something as passing as a shiny object." She had a small, fond smile on her face now.
Rikou's other hand made its way up, and together with the first extremeity, the princess grabbed one of the fingers of the Samurai's outstretched hand. "I thought they put me in here because I was important?" she queried, pulling herself back up to her feet, dusting off the tiny dress she was wearing at the moment.
"If there's shiny things in here, then they are here for me, right?"
Masami put her hand on her lap, the other one framing her face as she looked down at Rikou. "Of course, you're important. And you're in here because it's safer for you to be in here then outside with the rest of us, at least until you're a bit bigger." She paused, wondering what brought up the possessions question though. "And of course, everything in this room is meant for you, Hime-sama. But none of it is going to be removed without your permission, so there's no need to hurry to check everything now, you can take it slowly."
Rikou floated up into the air to be level with Masami's face, and began pouting. "But I Was taking it slowly! I can fly a lot faster than that, you know!" she defended herself, eyeing the desk again and its promise of shiny implements, as well as the top of the mirror peeking over the edge.
"Besides, there's lots of stuff in this room. why can't I go here first?"
"Well, if you were going slowly enough, then you wouldn't have run into anything, Hime-sama. And you can go there first if you like, all I'm saying is that you don't need to rush. You have plenty of time to explore your room." She paused, looking up. "Why the mirror though? Did you want to look at yourself?"
Rikou thought for a moment. Did she want to look at herself? That certainly was not on her mind when she first saw it, she just knew that it was shiny. Though, now that she thought about it, was the draw of shiny things the eye-catching glint, or was it the chance to see one's own reflection? Rikou's face was cast in an expression of deep thought for a moment, before she suddenly responded. "Nuh-uh! It's just a big shiney thing!" Obviously, as far as Rikou was concerned, the draw of shiny things was the eye-catching glint.
Masami chuckled, then paused, glancing at the mirror herself. "It most definitely is shiney, I'll give you that. You should get used to walking to things though. It's not polite to fly around everywhere, you know. Not everyone can." She stood up, looking back at Rikou. "Did you have anything in mind that can't be interrupted though? I was thinking we could find something to do, if not."
"Momma told me it's okay to fly around 'till i'm big enough... But I didn't have any plans, I just wanted to look around." Rikou answered the Samurai, floating over and settling on her shoulder. "Do you have any ideas? I dunno what to do, other than explore."
"Well, do you know if you're allowed to leave the room at all? I wasn't told you weren't, and I wouldn't mind exploring with you." She turned her head to keep an eye on the youngling, arching an eyebrow again.
"Well, Momma said she was playing, and she said if somebody came in I could play with 'em."Rikou explained, feeling proud that she had remembered. Not that it was difficult to remember, her brain was a computer, after all. "She didn't say I had to stay in the room if I was playing with someone, so I guess that means I can come with you. That's your job, anyway, right?"
"I'm supposed to take care of you, yes. So I suppose it will be fine for us to go exploring, so long as I am careful to make sure you stay safe. Are you okay with staying where you are unless I tell you it's okay to get down?" Masami turned towards the door, though she waited for Rikou's response before she went ahead.
Rikou Smiled and nodded answering "Mhmm!"
Masami walked over to the door, closing it behind them once they were outside before looking in both directions. "Well? Where do you want to go? Just pick a direction."
"Can I choose up?" Rikou asked, looking at the ceiling outside her door. Perhaps there was another floor above it, or maybe a sky. Either way, she wanted to get outside. She'd been outside once before with her mother, but that hadn't lasted very long, even if she had enjoyed it a lot. "Or at least outside?"
Masami hesitated, unsure. "Why do not we stay inside and on this floor, at least for now? There is plenty to see just around here, and I wouldn't want your mother to worry if she came back and you were gone." She hesitated again, thinking. "If your mother says it is okay, we will be sure to go outside next time, though."
"I Guess so." Rikou answered, shortly. "What stuff is there to do around here, then? I haven't been anywhere by momma's room, the hallways, or that room." she explained, as if Masami did not already know those facts.
"Well, to be honest, I'm not too sure myself. My room isn't near here, so I've never really looked around here either. I would guess there might be rooms for some of your family around here though. We can always look around and see if we find someone who knows where there might be interesting things though." Masami was sorry that the princess was disappointed, but she wasn't willing to risk getting in trouble over something that small. Especially not when it was such an easy problem to fix.
"Momma told me most people were gone, so the rooms are all empty, I think. My sisters are all busy, and my aunts and stuff are all gone, so I think it sounds like this place is kinda lonely." Rikou explained, remembering that the Samurai's quarters were at another part of the Ketsurui palace.
"So... Can we go outside then?" she asked, hoping that the Samurai would be convinced.
Masami's mouth twitched, trying to avoid smiling at the youngling's persistence. "Well, we can at least look around first, right? I promise, if we cannot find anything interesting or anyone to ask, we will think about it."
"Fine then. Let's go.... Left!" Rikou shouted, pointing to the duo's right.
"Well, you should make up your mind if you want me to take you somewhere, silly. Your body says right, your mouth says left... which is it?" Masami was obviously making fun of her, and just as obviously in a losing fight with a smile.
Rikou just giggled. "That's a Secret. you get to choose and figure out which way is right!" she then announced, apparently challenging the Samurai to a game. what kind of game it was, nobody knew. Probably not even Rikou.
"Well, it is obvious which direction is right, Hime, I am just not sure which one of the two options is correct." Masami didn't object at all to playing games, but wasn't going to just play along tamely either.
"Hehehe..." Rikou giggled mischievously "You have to guess!" was all that she gave to her Samurai guardian in response. "I told you it's a secret, so you have to figure it out, Masami-Onee-Chan."
"But if it is a secret, how could my young little Hime-sama possibly have learned about it? You're too young to be keeping secrets from me already." Masami winked at her charge, contemplating which direction the youngling would have picked.
Rikou sat on Masami's shoulder, attempting to be patient as her chaperone took her sweet time trying to figure out the answer. The Samurai could feel her begin to tremble with impatience, but, through concentrated effort, Rikou managed to keep it under control for the moment.
"Well, since I'm not quite sure which direction you'd prefer... and I'm not hearing any forthcoming hints from you... I think I'll go with the first one you mentioned. Up!" As she said the last part, she activated her own gravity control, launching up towards the ceiling with no warning, stopping them both just shy of hitting the ceiling in the hallway, just to see the reaction.
Rikou's first reaction was "Yahooo!" followed shortly by a squeak of surprise as Masami stopped short of the ceiling. Rikou's ascent, however, continued due to momentum. She found herself floating without gravity control for a moment, before hurriedly grabbing onto the shoulder of Masami's outfit, pulling herself down back onto her shoulder.
"That's not what I meant by Up!" the princess complained, looking slightly upset.
"See, this is why you should really be more specific with your directions." Masami settled them back to the floor, grinning at the reaction. "If you're more specific, it's a fair bit easier to do what you want, Hime-sama."
"But you said we couldn't do what I wanted, and I dunno what else to do!" the princess complained, huffing lightly. "You're not fun, Masami-Onee-chan."
"Well, obviously I'm going to say no to going up. I mean, look how soon we had to stop. That wasn't going to be much fun for long. And you give up much too easily if you were expecting me to just forget what you said, Hime-sama." Masami turned to her right and started walking down the hallway. "After all, you're my boss, not your mother."
"But I thought momma was in charge of everybody?" Rikou asked, suddenly sidetracked.
Masami shook her head. "So long as I am in your service, I only answer to you and my Daimyo, and her only if it does not interfere with my duties for you. I am here for your good and the good of the family, not necessarily your mother's."
"Well, I guess that's okay. Does this mean I can make you take me outside, Masami-Onee-chan?" Rikou responded, looking somewhat hopeful. Her tiny body seemed to be trembling with excitement, and she stood up on Masami's shoulders, looking on expectantly.
Masami nodded, and glanced around, looking to see if there was anything to distract her nearby. "Technically, yes, Hime-sama. However, that does not mean that you should handle it like that. Think about it for a moment. Why wouldn't you be allowed outside, unless there's a good reason?"
"Wellllllllll......." Rikou began, thinking. "Maybe somebody wants ta steal me? but nobody knows who I am, so they wouldn't. And nobody ever told me I wasn't allowed outside, aside from you," she responded. She seemed to have calmed down slightly, but there was an emphasis on the 'down' part.
Masami smiled, glancing back over to Rikou for a moment before continuing on. "Have you actually asked anyone other then myself? They might not have said anything because it did not come up."
She'd been found out. Rikou couldn't lie- it was unbecoming. "No... I didn't." She pouted, defeated. Perhaps she could still win Masami-onee-chan over with her charms, since she was obviously not clever enough. "Pleeeeeeaaasssseeee?" she pleaded, trying to make kitten-eyes at the Samurai.
Masami shook her head. "Unless you actually command me to, I will not take you outside, Hime-sama. Perhaps not even then, if I judge that to be the safer option. It is for your own safety, not to annoy you."
"Well, I really wanna go outside, but I don't wanna boss you around, either. How about..." The youngling looked about, trying to find something, before noticing two structures located on the front of her samurai guardian. She pointed. "What if I hide in there?"
Masami's eyebrow arched, and she had a slightly confused look on her face for just a moment before it smoothed down again. "Indeed, Hime-sama. What if you hide in there?"
"Wouldn't it be safe then, Masami-Onee-chan?" Rikou answered the question the samurai had used to answer her own query. "Then it'd look like it's just you walking around, and nobody would suspect anything!"
Masami's eyebrow was still up there, though she was managing to keep from laughing thus far, hard though it was. "Would you really be satisfied with the limited view from, ah... 'there'? Could you behave and stay there?"
"Well, I think it'd be loads better than being locked in a room all day," Rikou answered. "I promise I'll stay good and behave, okay?" she looked on again, with those eyes. She ignored the eyebrow- cuteness seemed to be working. The natural charms of the Ketsurui were obviously far superior to those of a Samurai, even if her wit may not quite be up to par, yet.
Masami pursed her mouth, thinking. "What if you don't have to stay in your room? We can wander around, just not outside at all. That way we do not have to test the rules, and you do not have to be bored in your room, either?"
"Because outside is better!" Rikou responded, starting to get pouty. She stood still, pouting for a moment, before taking matters into her own hands, so to speak, and climbing down, placing herself front and center in the folds of Masami's robes. "Pleeeeaaassseee?" she pleaded, "I'm already here!"
Masami shook her head at Rikou. "Hime-sama," and she pulled out the inescapable logic all Samurai were trained in, "if you have never been outside, how do you know it is so much better out there? I like it more in here, anyway.
"Didn't I tell you Momma took me outside once?" Rikou responded, swiftly. "Outside is bigger! It's better! And there's that glowy thing in the sky. The.. uhh. Sun!" Rikou gestured quite vigorously from within her perch on Masami's chest, wriggling around in excitement at her own (admittedly limited) description of the outside world.
Masami blinked, having some issues trying to keep her mind on distracting Rikou from the outside world. "It is indeed bigger, but better is a perspective, not necessarily the truth. And the sun can be annoying too, you know. Inside, we can control everything. If we look hard enough, there might even be a hologram room that could simulate the outside without any of the problems."
Rikou frowned at that answer. "But then that's just a phony. A copy. It may look the same, but it isn't! I want the real thing. That's what Momma said. She prefers playing with real people instead of toys!" The tiny princess folded her arms across her own chest, frowning, and pouting once more. "I want the real thing."
Masami actually coughed a little at that one, the motion most likely jostling the small princess on her chest. "Ah... Hime-sama, I am almost certain the two of you are referring to almost completely different things, in this case." As she recovered her composure, she changed directions at the next hallway without conferring with her charge for directions. "In any case, your mother is also allowed to go outside, while you are not."
The cough somewhat distracted Rikou, and she did not immediately notice that they had begun moving once more. "Well, like I said. You are allowed to go outside, so why don't you just go outside, and I'll stay here. Nobody has to know. and then I'll be happy. You want me to be happy, right, Masami-Onee-chan?"
Masami hastened to assure Rikou of that much. "Of course, Hime-sama! But I don't want you to sacrifice your safety for the sake of temporary happiness. There will be plenty of opportunities to go outside once you're a bit older, so why not be patient?"
That was a good question. Probably. Rikou was a princess though, and from many of the sources she looked up, that meant she was supposed to get what she wanted. But it also apparently meant that she had to be stuck up. She didn't want to be stuck up, but she wanted to get what she wanted. Rikou wriggled around a bit more, turning herself to face Masami, and looking up at her Samurai Guardian.
"Well, I guess 'cause I'm only a week old. Won't there be time to be patient later?" she asked, looking just slightly sad, and maybe a little disappointed. Her eyes screamed 'Please!' but she was trying to keep herself more composed.
"Of course there will be time to be patient later, but there will be plenty of time to mess around too. You have plenty of time until you really have to start behaving all of the time, so why not play around inside until you are actually allowed outside, and not chance making your mother mad?" Masami wasn't sure if that would work with someone as young as the princess, but it was worth a shot.
"Didn't you just chastise me for playing in my room?" Rikou responded, turning Masami's words against her. "Please? Just for a few minutes, I wanna go outside!"
"I said to be careful, not to stop playing entirely. So long as you are not flying everywhere at high speeds, I don't mind you playing inside." Masami glanced ahead, a quick smile on her face, though it was just as quickly erased.
Rikou was confused by Masami's quick smile. "Is something funny?" she asked, sidetracked from what the Samurai had just said. "Did you think of a joke, or a new game?" she continued, a look of some wonder on her face. she looked up, and tugged on the fold of Masami's robe's collar, insisting on an answer.
"No, do not worry. It was nothing. Just a thought that made me smile, Hime-sama. Now, about the flying..." Masami just kept walking, trying to keep Rikou on subject.
"I wasn't flying too fast!" Rikou defended, crossing her arms and leaning forward against Masami's breastbone. She spoke directly to the Samurai's front. "I was going just fine. You just distracted me!" She was apparently being distracted once again by Masami, but the Samurai was being successful, again.
"If you are going fast enough that me coming in can distract you, then you were going too fast in the first place." Masami glanced ahead, but kept going. "After all, what would someone who was not me think if they saw that happen?"
"I dunno. I haven't met too many people. They're all different, right? So I couldn't tell you until I'd met a bunch more" Rikou answered, still leaned forward, using Masami's sternum as a sort of reverse lounge chair. "It's easier to meet people outside. We should go and ask some," she added, not relenting on her current desire.
Masami blinked at the automatic return to purpose Rikou was showing, almost surprised by how much focus she was managing. "Well, with logic like that, how can I deny you?" She winked down at Rikou, and nodded towards the doors in front of them. "What do you think? These doors look good to you?"
Rikou suddenly turned around, and her face brightened. She made a sharp intake of breath, gasping in happiness, before turning back to Masami. "Yes! These look good! Thank you, Masami-Onee-chan!" Rikou clapped her tiny hands, but they barely made any sound, as small as they were. She was, indeed, happy.
"Now remember. While we are outside, you have to stay in there, so no one sees you, and stay quiet for the same reason. We will both get in trouble if anyone notices that I brought you outside, so behave."
Masami waited for Rikou to agree before going outside though.
"Of course!" Rikou responded cheerfully, sinking down deeper into the depth of Masami's robe, so that only her head could be seen in the meeting of the folds. "Is this good enough, Masami-Onee-chan?" she asked, making herself comfortable.
"That will do for now. Are you ready?" With that, Masami stepped forward, opening the door and stepping through it into a decently sized garden, with cherry trees decorating the paths. There were people around, but not so many as to make it a problem yet, so Masami went ahead and stepped out onto the path after closing the door behind her.
Rikou could only gawk in wonder. She had seen this garden before, but from a different angle, and at a different time of day. It was like it was another place entirely. "I like this place," Rikou whispered looking about as Masami walked. Rikou didn't really recognize most of the people around- they were probably people who worked for the clan, or very distant relatives that were more closely related to some other branches of the family than to her. Still. It was glorious.
"I am glad to hear that," Masami murmured under her breath. She was keeping an eye out for anyone high enough in the family to recognize her on site, or (as she feared) spot Rikou, but thus far she hadn't seen anyone she recognized at all either. As she walked down one of the paths, she took care to try and pick directions that were as unpopulated as she could, though the garden was close enough to bustling with people at this time of day that there was little chance of straight out avoiding everyone. "Anything in particular you want to see?"
"Can we find a balcony or something and look at the city?" Rikou suggested, wanting to see more. The garden was big, sure, but it wasn't BIG big. The city was an unimagineable vastness to the tiny neko, despite the fact that she knew it was only a small area on the surface of a larger planet, which in itself was less than a pinprick in the vastness of space. But for now, the city would do.
Masami bit her lip for a moment, thinking. "I am honestly unsure. I know there is most likely a balcony somewhere nearby, but I do not know where, or even if we would be allowed onto it. If you spot one..." She kept walking, doing her best to not give any indication that there might possibly be a small, royal person down the front of her uniform.
"Well, then... Can you pick me some flowers?" Rikou requested next, pointing toward a bed of the petaled plants, wanting to smell their various perfumes. She made absolutely no thought that it might seem odd for a Samurai to pick flowers then stuff them down her front. In fact, that idea never occured to her.
Masami paused, trying to think of either a good explanation for why she couldn't, for Rikou, or why she was picking flowers, for someone else, and one just happened to come to mind quickly. After all, it wasn't unbelieveable that she would be gathering a few to take with her to visit Rikou, and it wouldn't even be a lie to say she was picking them to give to Rikou. That problem solved, she knelt down alongside the path for a moment, quickly picking a set of three irises, and covertly handing them to Rikou, who now had a face framed by blooming flowers.
Rikou tugged on the Irises, pulling them to a position where she could better take in their perfume. "Waaaa~ they smell so pretty!" she exclaimed softly, beginning to make a soft sound that might be mistaken as cooing or purring. "Masami-Onee-chan! Do you know anything fun to do outside?" she asked, suddenly.
"I..." Masami paused, thinking. "I do not know of anything suitable for you to do at the moment. Not until you are either older and larger, or are allowed to go outside despite your age." She hesitated. "It may sound like I am stuck on the one line, but for the time being, most of what you can do is inside, not out."
"Well then, can we still wander around the garden? What else is in here beside the trees and flowers?" the young princess inquired, looking about from her limited perch, the view now even more obstructed by the flowers, though Rikou wouldn't complain, since they smelled very good.
"Not very much, I am sorry to say. Most of what we can do without chancing you being discovered is a bit pedestrian. This is a garden for courtiers, not people who want to have fun." Masami stood back up, glancing around to make sure no one had noticed her 'talking to herself'."
"Well, I think it will be fun to just wander around and look at everything," the tiny youngling argued, nudging Masami a bit. "So let's just keep going. I'm sure we can spend a long time in here." Rikou seemed adamant to remain outside, even if what they were doing there didn't seem exactly 'fun' in the traditional sense.
"We can do that, if you want. Walking around in gardens is something I enjoy, and you are very right when you say that we can spend time in here. Quite a bit of time, if you like." Masami got back to walking, wandering around in a fairly aimless manner in the garden.
And so they continued, for the entire afternoon, and partway into the evening. Masami managed to keep Rikou's presence secret, and Rikou managed to keep herself hidden. Rikou learned a lot about the flowers in the gardens from the Samurai, and had her fill of the 'big outside' for at least a little while. Soon, the youngling would grow to a more normal size, and occasions like these would never happen again. But for now, Rikou enjoyed what she could, how she could.
