Nudging him with my shoulder, I pushed him aside. Two straw hats were stacked over each other and I pulled one out. “This might work,” I said. “It will sit above my eyebrows and if we go at dusk, I can still wear my sunglasses.”
“I don’t like it,” Dai said.
“Oh,” I answered, studying the hat in my hands. It wasn’t the most fashionable hat, but in a pinch, it would do. “I could ask my sisters if they have any.”
“No.” Dai knelt next to me. “I don’t like you hiding. It doesn’t feel right.”
My heart swelled with something as he glared at the hat, but I could be mistaking his anger. “Why?”
“Because I like you, Kumiko, and whoever did this to you should be the one who suffers. Not you.”
He liked me.
The words floated in the air like they were surrounded by soap bubbles. His voice echoed in my ears, and like Reiji’s touch, I wanted to keep this feeling forever.
“I’m used to it,” I said when I was sure my voice wouldn’t squeak. “And I’m too happy to let it ruin going to the amusement park with you.”
“Here.” Goro took the hat from me and placed it on my head, over my scarf. Nervous about losing my shield, I held the material in place over my face. “You need a thinner scarf. This one will be too warm.” His fingers trailed over my hair, sinking into the strands. Warm skin touched mine and I shivered.
“The drawer beneath the wardrobe.” I pointed. “I have scarves in there.”
Goro pulled out the drawer and with Reiji’s help, he withdrew items. “Are you sure they’re in here?” Goro’s voice sounded funny. Oh no. They’d opened my underwear drawer. I stood quickly, knelt next to them and shoved the drawer shut.
“Wrong one,” I squeaked. Holding my scarf, I fumbled with the lower drawer. Next to me, Goro grabbed a latch and helped me pull. It was this drawer that had tights, stockings, and scarves. One of the ways I made up for having an ugly face was by wearing pretty things. I made sure even my underclothes were nice. Fuyumi said I was trying to draw attention away from my face, and she was probably right, but I hardly ever came face to face with anyone except them. My clothes were how I controlled my looks. There was nothing I could do about my face, but I could wear a bra with a bow.
Reiji picked up a pair of thin stockings. They were silk and I’d ordered them from a store online that made authentic reproduction styles. The only way I could wear those stockings was with a garter belt and from the color on Reiji’s cheeks, I got the sense he knew that.
“You have very pretty things,” he said after clearing his throat. I studied him, taking in the tight set of his shoulders and the way his lips had thinned. Poor guy was flustered.
“You can borrow anything you like,” I said. Behind me, Wataru and Dai chuckled. Dai’s laugh sounded like a goose honking and I laughed in response.
Reiji’s posture relaxed and he smiled at me. “Thanks,” he said and held up a black scarf decorated with skulls and bottles labeled, poison. “I like this one.”
“I went through a period where I wore a lot of black,” I explained when Goro side-eyed me. Reiji wrapped it around his neck, and I had to admit, he looked pretty cool—like a rock star. “You should keep it,” I said.
Reiji stood and examined his reflection, making a few adjustments to the placement of the loop. “Are you sure?”
I nodded. “Definitely.”
Reiji glanced at Dai, who was studying him, but shrugged when he caught Reiji’s stare. “It works.”
“Thank you,” Reiji said to me. He returned to his place next to me and leaned his shoulder against mine before he went back to digging. “This one.” He held up a scarf. It was a lightweight silk scarf in blue with tiny gold and silver arrows stamped all over it. “It’s opaque so even in spotlights no one can see through it, but it won’t smother you.”
The hat on my head had a gray ribbon wrapped around it. “It goes with my hat,” I said, lifting the scarf to my face.
“We should leave mid-afternoon,” Wataru interrupted. “Now that Reiji and you have your outfits picked out.” A rolled up pair of stockings hit Wataru in the head, but he merely set them next to him. “In the meantime,” he went on, ignoring Reiji, “I think you should tell us more about your curse. There’s more to it than what you’ve told us, isn’t there?”
Had they learned about the deadline I was under?
Reiji took my hand and brought it to his lap, threading our fingers together. His hand was warm and dry in mine, and I knew I was about to start sweating. Wataru’s question forgotten, I stared at our fingers and the color of our skin. His fingers tightened on mine, drawing my gaze to his face. “Kumiko,” he said and then bit his lip before starting again. “You can tell us.”
“When we saw you—” Dai’s deep voice had me ripping my hand from Reiji’s to cover my ears. I didn’t want to hear what they thought when they saw me. Everything was so easy right now. I could almost forget about the curse and my face. Dai sat in front of me and when he moved to take my hands from my ears, I didn’t resist. “Kumiko.” He smiled at me. “Can you listen?”
I shut my eyes behind my sunglasses and nodded. “I don’t have much of a choice, do I? But I already know how horrible it is.”
“It isn’t,” Wataru interjected and I stared at him. It was the first lie he’d told me and I was inordinately disappointed. He chuckled and shook his head. “Just listen. Damn. You’re so ready to believe the worst, aren’t you?” He sighed and went on, “None of us recall your features. All we remember are feelings.”
I didn’t understand. “I don’t understand. Everyone who has seen me says how horrified they are.”
“Maybe—” Wataru began but Dai interrupted. I smiled when I realized the man who didn’t like to speak was comfortable enough with me to say whatever he was thinking.
“Maybe people don’t see anything,” Dai said. “Maybe they only feel things. Maybe there’s no reason to hide.”
“You mean, they don’t see a cyclops or a zombie, but they feel like they’ve seen a cyclops or zombie?” I asked.
“Sort of,” Dai said and seemed at a loss. “I’m not good at explaining.”
“No!” I didn’t want him to think my confusion was because of him. “No. I’ve just never considered this before. It could be why I see my face when I look in the mirror and no one else does.”
“Where is the witch who did this to you?” Reiji asked. “Why hasn’t she been captured and made to break the curse?”
“She disappeared.” After she’d cursed me, she was never seen again. “The last thing she did was promise to return on my twenty-first birthday.”
“Why?” Wataru asked.
“Be—” The door opened and Fuyumi hurried in, breathless.
“You’re all set. The guards are going to take me to the fisherman’s wharf in a few hours. You’ll have to sneak out because I’m not telling Mama you’re leaving.”
My stomach churned. “Sneak out?”
“Do you want to tell her you’re going to an amusement park in broad daylight?” Fuyumi asked. “Because I don’t. I want to live to see thirty.”
“We have to tell your parents,” Wataru said. “It would be dishonorable to—”
“Fine.” Fuyumi crossed her arms. “Tell her, but you’ll never get Kumiko out of here. And her time is running out.”
“What do you mean?” Wataru approached her. His body mirrored hers, arms crossed and face set in stubborn lines.
Fuyumi’s face heated but she didn’t back down. “She won’t get out of this house if you tell my mother. The farthest she’ll allow you to go is the back yard.”
“Please,” I asked Wataru. “I’ll tell her after we return safely.”
Wataru stared at the ground and shook his head. Someone touched my shoulder and I turned to see Reiji. He squeezed me once. It seemed all of us waited for Wataru’s decision. Finally, he sighed and lifted his head. “I don’t like it,” he announced. “But we’ll
do it. Fuyumi, please ask some guards to meet us at the amusement park. When I tell your parents what I’ve done, I’ll at least be able to say I took every precaution for your sister’s safety.”
Fuyumi smiled. “Awesome. I will.” She leapt forward and smacked Wataru on the side of his arm. “You’re a good guy, Wataru,” she said before bouncing out of the room.
“Thank you,” I said. Wataru gazed around the room before leaning against the door and sliding to the floor.
“You’re welcome,” he said. “But I can’t help feeling I’m making a mistake.”
“You aren’t,” I assured him. Fuyumi was right. If it was up to my mother, I’d stay right where I was.
“We’ll see,” was all Wataru said in return.
The princes left me a little while later. They explained they had to talk to their families and do the work they had to make up for taking a break from their studies. Guilt made my stomach hurt. They’d dropped everything to come here. I made the decision then and there that even if my curse wasn’t broken, I wouldn’t allow them to have come here for nothing.
So while they did their work, I did my own. I was over eighteen and in control of my money, so all I needed to do was call our family lawyer and have him draw up papers that gave my dowry to the princes.
Mr. Belle was the only person besides my sisters and parents who knew about the second part of my curse. He tried to talk me out of my decision, but eventually, he gave in. “Kumiko, what if you meet someone? Fall in love?” he asked.
“I have two weeks, Mr. Belle, that’s it.” I reached for the blue scarf I would wear later, and ran it across my lips. “I want to do the right thing.”
“And your sisters? You don’t want to leave anything to them?” he asked.
“I want my sisters’ dowry returned to them, but I want my own, and the money I’ll inherit from my parents, to go to the princes. Please.”
“Your Highness,” the man said quietly. “That money was meant to go to your care after their death.”
The scarf slipped through my fingers as I processed what he’d said. Like me, my parents had never truly believed the curse would be broken.
“I’ll be completely unaware,” I said to Mr. Belle. “I can be cared for in a public nursing home as well as here. Will you please make the arrangements?”
He was silent so long, I was sure he would refuse this and I’d have to begin my arguments all over again. Finally, he spoke, “All right, Your Highness. I’ll have the papers drawn up.”
“Please have them ready by tomorrow morning,” I said. “I don’t want to leave things to the last minute.”
“I’ll do my best,” he said, and after saying goodbye, hung up.
I shut my phone off and placed it on my bed before I went to my piano. My fingers drifted across the keys lightly as I thought about what I’d done.
I’d bypassed my sisters and left all my worldly goods to four strangers. You can’t tell them. My sisters would try to talk me out of giving away my inheritance and dowry, not because they wanted it, but because they would think I’d been fooled.
Again.
But I was different now. I wasn’t a sixteen-year-old girl with stars in her eyes who believed every word a person said.
From the way the princes spoke to the way they argued with me, proved they were honest and trustworthy.
When I pricked my finger and fell asleep, I’d have no use for my money. My sisters would inherit from my parents as well, and they’d be fine. While I may not have millions of dollars, I would have enough to help the princes, just a little. Perhaps my money would be enough to fix their marinas, because I was sure they would use it for Iriogaki.
I was finishing out my time here the way I wanted to. Something inside me settled, like I’d made the right decision.
I began to play the notes on the sheet music in front of me. As I played, I became more certain of what I’d done and I let the music fill my senses. Soon, I’d forgotten everything except the notes on the page and the way my fingers moved over the keys.
12
Reiji
I fixed the scarf around my neck for the fifth time while Wataru paced. He leaned down to check out the window again. “We’re doing the right thing,” he said.
“We are,” Dai answered. “And she’ll be fine.”
Nerves had me sweating and fidgeting as well. I drew my shirt away from my skin, flapping it so the cool air touched me. However much I wanted to take Kumiko out of her home, I was still taking a princess into the public.
And not any princess, but one the public had been trying to see since she was born.
“We have the guards on-call, a plan, and she’s in disguise. I talked Aoi into having her carry another scarf and set of sunglasses just in case she needs to look different,” Wataru said. He wasn’t really talking to us. His repetition of the plan was meant to alleviate his anxiety, not reassure us. “I’ll wear a hat and hide my hair. They won’t recognize us either.”
“What if we can’t protect her?” I asked finally. It was the real reason I was nervous. On-call guards and disguises aside, if she got rushed, would I be able to stop someone from getting to her?
I knew I’d try, but what if I wasn’t strong enough or fast enough?
“We don’t leave her alone,” Wataru said.
“We’re all hiding our faces as much as we can,” Dai said. He had borrowed Wataru’s clothes. It was the first time I’d seen him wear anything other than a button-down shirt and jacket and it was a bit jarring.
Goro had swapped out his glasses for contact lenses and wore a baggy jacket over his frame. He’d used my gel to fix his hair. Usually, the shaggy strands fell into his face, but he’d swept them back. I’d considered wearing the hat I was so proud of, and the one my friends hated so much, but I was sure it was too recognizable and settled for a hoodie and sunglasses. I kept the skull and poison scarf.
“There they go,” Wataru said. Fuyumi and the guards had just left. “Are we ready?” He straightened and I nodded, clenching my sweaty hands into fists. There would be no handholding for me, unfortunately. I didn’t want to gross her out.
I led us out of the room, nearly running over Kumiko. Even with her face covered, she was adorable. She’d braided her hair and flipped it over one shoulder. Her hat fit snug on her head, right to her eyebrows.
Her normal, black eyebrows. Huh.
From what Kumiko had told us, any part of her face that was exposed should have put us off, but all I saw was a small patch of golden skin and two eyebrows. Sunglasses covered her eyes, and her scarf covered her nose.
“Hi,” she said breathlessly, hand going to her scarf. She’d done the same thing earlier. Over and over she checked to make sure her face was hidden. Dai’s sentiments had been right on. It wasn’t right or fair that she had to hide. “Are you ready?”
“I am,” I answered. I reached for her and then remembered the state of my skin, but she’d seen me reach and took my hand in hers. “The hoodie,” I said by way of an excuse. “It’s hot.”
She tugged me down the hall toward stairs I hadn’t seen before. They were narrower and darker, and we emerged at the side of the house, blinking in the bright sunlight. A car waited at the curb and she hurried toward it. Right before she got inside, she turned to me and whispered, “I’m nervous, too.”
Sweaty hands aside, generally I was really good at hiding how I felt about things. I slid into the seat next to her and she took my hand again.
“I’m really excited,” she continued, adjusting her scarf. “More excited than nervous, I think. The guards are really skilled at staying inconspicuous. We’ll be fine.”
“I’m not nervous.” I tried to assure her.
One of those eyebrows lifted, but she didn’t argue. “Oh.”
“Well, I’m nervous,” Goro stated from the front seat. “I must have gone to the bathroom three times before we left.”
“Goro!” Horrified, Dai leaned forward and pushed against h
is shoulder.
Next to me, Kumiko only giggled.
“Sorry,” Goro said. He must have been mortified. This was the way we talked to each other, but it certainly wasn’t something he’d meant to share with a princess.
“It’s fine.” Kumiko continued to laugh. “My sisters and I are the same way.” Suddenly she pulled her hand from mine and dropped her face into her hands. “Not about—I just mean—kill me now.”
“There are no secrets between you,” Wataru said from his place in the third row. “I think that’s what you mean.”
“Yes.” She groaned before lifting her head. “Yes, thank you.”
Traffic was light, considering we were approaching rush hour. Kumiko leaned over me to stare out the window. She held onto my arm to steady herself, her face directed toward the scene past me. “So many people.”
“It’s the end of the workday,” I said. The rays of sunlight caught the colors of her dark hair, highlighting shades of purple I hadn’t noticed. Her fingers curled around my arm. If I could have seen her eyes beneath her glasses, I’m sure they would have been wide.
“I haven’t been out at this time before,” she said quietly. “It’s going to be busy at the park, isn’t it?”
I swallowed, torn between honesty and the desire to put her fears to rest. Honesty won out. “Probably.”
“But we have a plan, and if anything happens, we’ll leave,” Wataru said. “There are guards a few cars behind us. The driver will stay with the car and be ready if we need to go, fast.”
Kumiko didn’t reply, but sat back, her hand still on my arm. I covered it with my free hand. It didn’t matter if I was nervous, because I would do whatever I needed to so she enjoyed herself.
13
Kumiko
The Ferris wheel towered above the city, growing larger and larger as we approached the shore and the amusement park built right up to the water. The driver was someone I hadn’t met before, but she had adopted the same disinterested, absent style other guards around my home had. It was like they were present, but couldn’t hear or see us until we needed them.
While Beauty Sleeps Page 8
