Escort- First Kiss.

First Kiss.


All week. All week, the sticky summer air had slowly but noticeably gotten cooler, the green leaves faded to yellow and red. All week, creatures collected food for the coming cold weather, and scattered clouds dotted the horizon, promising rain and eventually snow.

All week, Asuri hadn't shut her mouth for a second in order to constantly remind Hiro and Chansu that her birthday was coming up. Her birthday that was now today.

Asuri was to be 20 years old, and this was the first birthday in all her life that she spent outside the walls of her castle, and with people she hadn't known since birth. She had already done many new things upon her 20th birthday, but there were still many things she wanted to experience that many others her age already have.

For the entire previous week, Asuri had taken every opportunity to remind her companions of her birthday. And every opportunity she found, her companions wanted to shut her up about it somehow. Somehow violent. But they endured it; if they killed her, they wouldn't receive payment for escorting her.

Asuri had reminded Hiro and Chansu of her birthday- today- for an entire week, but kept quiet about it today. What puzzled the Princess, though, was so did her escorts.

She hadn't gotten so much as a "Happy birthday, Asuri!", no presents- nothing. Asuri thought of reminding them once more as they traveled through the yellowing forest, but decided against it. How could they have forgotten after she had been so persistent?

Asuri thought for a moment that maybe they had some sort of surprise planned for her. Running past that idea again, she almost laughed at how ridiculous it was. Chansu couldn't hide a surprise if his life depended on it, and Hiro... he just didn't do surprises.

She then came to the conclusion that they just didn't care about her, and they really were in it just for the money. Besides, how could they see her as a friend when she was nothing but a discriminant against Users? Not that she really thought badly of them anymore for their genetic difference, but she certainly didn't show it well...

As the three companions traveled through the forest, the day rolled on, and still only a few words were exchanged; none involving Asuri's birthday. As the sky began to darken, so did Asuri's hopes.

Finally, dusk was upon them, and the trio decided to stop for the night. A fire was made, bed rolls layed out, and dinner caught (fish, as usual). Asuri ate her meal in silence as Chansu and Hiro chatted a bit. Completely depressed by the time she finished, she decided to go to bed early; it was fully dark now anyway. After a few minutes of watching the fire and tuning out the men's conversation, Asuri drifted to sleep.

~*~*~

"Asuri, wake up."

Asuri awoke to the sound of her name, and being lightly shaken. She opened her eyes and noticed it was still very dark, save the glowing coals of the fire, and Chansu kneeling over her. Hiro was nowhere in sight; typical of nighttime.

"What do you want, Chansu?" she asked groggily, grumpily, as she rubbed her eyes and sat up.

"C'mon, there's something I want to show you," he explained. Asuri looked him in the eye and studied him for a moment. She could tell by the weary look on his face that he had been asleep, too.

With a heavy sigh, Asuri pushed herself out of her bed roll and reached for her boots. 'This had better be worth my time,' she thought. She reached for her bag to retrieve a sweater, when she was stopped by Chansu.

"Don't even bother, it's not far, and we don't have much time left." With another grumpy glare, Asuri left her sweater and joined Chansu at the edge of camp.

"Where exactly are we going?" she asked with a slight tone.

"It's a surprise," he informed her. "Here, put this over your eyes." Asuri looked skeptically at the pirate's hand, as it contained his bandana.

"How am I supposed to see?" she insisted.

"Don't worry, I'll lead you. Just take it." Shooting him one last grumpy glare, Asuri took the bandana from his hand and tied it around her eyes. A moment later, she felt a hand gently grab her by the wrist and begin leading her into the unknown. She quietly let herself be guided.

Blindness was a foreign feeling to the Princess, and after a few minutes it began to frighten her. She stumbled a few times, and started to feel anxious.

"How much farther, Chansu?" she asked with slight worry in her voice. She felt his grip on her wrist tighten a little, silently assuring her that she could trust him.

"Not much farther now."

Asuri let out a sigh and continued to blindly follow the pirate. Suddenly, the rough ground under her boots turned to soft grass, and they stopped. She felt Chansu release her wrist, and move behind her, where he slowly began to untie her makeshift blindfold.

Several ideas flooded her mind, as she didn't know what to expect when she was able to see again. As the bandana fell from her eyes, she was surprised to find that they were standing at the edge of a meadow, covered in beautiful wildflowers that were bathed in moonlight. What took her breath away, however, were the large, green-tinted, glowing butterflies fluttering around the flowers. She continued to gape in awe, as she felt Chansu move close to her ear.

"Happy birthday, Asuri," he whispered in her ear. His soft breath and close presence sent chills across her body, and she turned to face him. Her eyes shone with a mystified look, as well as gratefulness.

"Thank you, Chansu," she breathed, a smile touching her lips. Chansu immediately recognized her appreciation, and grinned at his own kindness.

"You really thought we forgot your birthday, didn't you?" he asked, lowering himself to the grass. Asuri followed suit.

"I really did," she agreed. "I also thought.... that you and Hiro didn't care about me..." she confessed, averting her eyes to the grass.

"You are so naive, Princess." Asuri wasn't sure what he meant by this, but another question jumped to mind before she could ask about it.

"How did you manage to keep this secret? I know how you are, Chansu. If you were keeping this from me, you would have been bragging about it all week." He grinned wider at his answer.

"Honestly, it was a last minute thing," he admitted. "Hiro left the duty of thinking of a gift to me, and when I didn't have anything by this afternoon, he told me about this place."

Asuri smiled; it was a warming feeling for her to know that she had genuine friends who cared about her. She watched the mysterious butterflies carefully, providing Chansu with another question to answer.

"What are they?" she whispered after a few moments of silence.

"Moon butterflies. Hiro says they only come out at night, and only under a full moon. That's what makes them glow."

"They're beautiful," she replied.

A while passed before either of them spoke again, as they were both entranced by the glowing butterflies. Chansu shifted his position to face Asuri, and decided to break the silence.

"Answer me this; what's it like to be stuffed in a castle your whole life?" he asked, his gaze remaining on the butterflies.

"Incredibly boring," she replied. "You don't get to experience half as much as any other person would. In these past two months alone I've experienced more than I ever have behind those walls."

"What's left on your list?" His eyes moved from the field to her.

"A lot of things," Asuri began. "For one, I would like to see the ocean. I want to learn a new trade, like carpentry, I want to stand on top of a mountain, I want to see another country, I want to make more friends, I want to be kissed-"

"Hold on," he interrupted, bringing her eyes to meet his. "You've never been kissed?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Who would I kiss, the butler? You forget I never really met new people, and certainly didn't fancy them enough to kiss them." Now Chansu raised an eyebrow, only in a more flirtatious manner.

"Do you fancy me enough?" he asked coyly, giving her his most seductive smirk. Asuri's brow furrowed, and she frowned.

"Hardly."

"I'm only teasing, love. Come on, I can show you how one goes. I do it quite well, or so I've been told," he offered, and she blushed. The thought of kissing him also reminded her of how many other women he had kissed.

"I doubt it's as great as you say," she replied, turning back to the butterflies. "After all, it's just two people pressing their faces together." Chansu laughed in disagreement.

"I highly disagree. Shall I prove it to you?" he dared, and she stuck her nose in the air as she often did when she felt her demeanor was slipping to his level.

"Why not? I've got nothing to lose," Asuri responded with an annoyed tone. Her cheeks turned pink when she realized what she had just agreed to. She glanced at him shyly, catching a wild look in his eye. As he scooted closer to her, Asuri reminded herself that she would not back down from his challenge. Her heart began to race, skipping several beats at a time, when she realized he was really going to go through with it.

When Chansu was close enough to her, all she could do was cling to her knees and stare up at him innocently from her semi-fetal position. He cleared his throat as if to say something, but only faced her full on, staring into her deep blue eyes for a moment. Then he frowned, and sighed.

"You can't kiss someone if you're not even facing them," he told her matter-of-factly. But before she could reply, he slipped his hand under her chin and tilted her face upwards, forcing her to face him properly. This only made her cheeks flush even more.

"That's better," he breathed, lingering in her eyes a bit. The seductiveness Chansu was exerting, as well as the anticipation, was enough to make Asuri's head spin. If at all possible, her heart beat quickened once more as he leaned in. Finally, Chansu kissed her.

Asuri nearly jumped and screamed at the seemingly sudden movement, but allowed herself to give in. Before she could entirely sink into his lips, however, Chansu quickly broke the kiss and promptly scooted away. It took a moment for Asuri to snap out of her daze and comprehend what just happened. After that moment, Asuri also turned away, and let out a huff.

"So that's a kiss?" she asked in an unimpressed tone.

"Yep, pretty much," Chansu replied simply.

Asuri hid another blush, as Chansu smirked openly to the meadow.

"...I don't think you showed me right, because I wasn't at all impressed," she said after a moment.

"Of course I didn't," he admitted, still facing the meadow. Asuri turned to him.

"Then show me the right way!" she demanded, and Chansu grinned wider. Locking eyes with her, he scooted close once again, causing Asuri to flinch.

"There's only one way I can do that," he cooed, lightly brushing a strand of hair from her wide eyes. She was fully falling into his seductive trap.

"W-what?" she said quietly, as Chansu moved to the side of her face. His own heart beat quickened as he breathed softly along her cheekbone, and let his other hand trail from her face to her shoulder.

"Sleep with me..." he whispered breathily, and Asuri's heart nearly stopped. She had almost fallen for his trick.

"Bastard!" she screamed as she pushed him away. "I am a betrothed woman! How dare you ask me to do such a thing, and with you!" The Princess stood quickly, glaring down at his smiling face. Oh, how she wanted to kick it.

"You don't know what you're missing~" he said playfully, standing up. Asuri let out an enraged cry and pushed him again, causing the pirate to fall to the grass.

"You are such a moment ruiner!" Asuri yelled at him. "How do you even have the nerve, you disgusting man-whore?!" Before he could spit out another teasing reply, she turned and began to walk back to the forest.

"Wait Asuri, you don't know the way back to camp!" he called after her, raising himself from the ground.

"Shut up! I will find my way!"

Asuri stormed off into the unknown, barely caring which way she was going. But as she had her back to Chansu, her rage melted away and a smile found its way to her face. Her heart leapt as she replayed the feeling of Chansu's lips against hers. She gently touched her fingertips to her lips in response to the memory, as if to seal the feeling there forever. She couldn't help but wonder, how could such gentleness and romance come from such a perverted and adulterous being?

'Hopefully, my Prince is that romantic,' she thought.

As the Princess silently walked through the dark forest, she secretly wished that Chansu were someone more worthy, as she couldn't imagine anyone else being able to melt her heart in the way he did tonight.


Fin.