HitsuMatsu - "Rangiku"

Once upon a time, there was a couple who lived next door to a fox demon. He had a lovely garden, filled with chrysanthemums in bloom all year round, and the wife always admired them from afar.

But her and her husband longed for a child, and once she got pregnant she had to lie in bed all day long, with nothing but the view of those lovely flowers to gaze upon day and night. Her admiration turned to obsession, and it became so bad that she couldn't live without holding one of those lovely flowers close to her chest and she inhaled its scent.

Her husband, desperate to keep both his wife and baby healthy, snuck into the fox demon's garden one night to snatch a flower, for he dared not take more. Her wife was so happy, and everything seemed alright, until the next day when the wife found the flower wilted despite the wealthy amount of water she had provided with care.

At his wife's wails, cries and declarations of wanting to end her life, the husband returned to the demon's garden. This time, he took a whole bunch of the beautiful flowers, but before he could make his escape, the fox demon himself appeared before him.

"What're you doin', raidin' my garden and destroyin' my priceless flowers?" he said, an eerie grin on his human-like features. The husband fell to his knees, begging for his life; horrified by the flash of red eyes as the demon glanced down on him.

"Very well," he said, tired of the pathetic man's pleads and feeble excuses of his wife. "I'll allow you to live, and provide you with one new flower each day for the rest of your life - if you agree to give your first born to me."

The husband, by now desperate, agreed without second thought.

"Good," the fox demon continued. "You will name her Rangiku, after my beautiful Chrysanthemums, and after the distortion of this event. Now, get out!"

Not needing to be told twice, the man hurried away, absently wondering why the demon seemed to sure his child would be a girl.

A few days later, most of the encounter seemed more like a dream to the man, even as he held his baby girl for the first time. Why would a demon want a child? And a baby at that?

Months passed, and soon a full year had gone. The man had yet to tell his wife about the deal he made, but there was no need, since the demon had yet to arrive he must not want it after all. But, he did.

One night, when the child was two years old, the fox demon arrived at the couple's doorstep. They could do nothing as he took the girl away, and it would be the last time they ever saw her again.

-

Years passed, and the rumour of a beautiful young woman locked high up in an unreachable tower spread across the land. It was said the infamous fox demon held her prisoner, hiding her beauty from the world and killing any man who tried to free her. Yet, they still continued to try, for she was said to be the closest to a goddess a human could come. Some even suggested she might be a nymph, or even a demon herself.

But it was far from the truth.

She was human, very human indeed. At times, she would stand by the lone window of her tower and wonder how long time would pass before she hit the ground if she jumped, and if her fox would be angry to find the bed of chrysanthemums underneath crushed by her body. She never did try this out, for she held a surprisingly positive attitude towards life which allowed her to hope that one day, she would be free.

Today, however, was not the day.

"Let down your hair, luv, so I can climb that golden stair," a familiar voice called from the ground. Sighing, Rangiku did as told; flinging her long, long braid out of the window and bracing herself as it fell down. The fox, who frequently reminded her to call him Gin, started to climb. Without the magic embedded in her hair, he wouldn't have been able to get up, and she would, surely, cut it a lot shorter for comfort. But as it was, the hair was stronger than any rope.

Gin's visit this time was short, he merely left her a meal and a few new books. Even when she asked him to stay just a little bit longer, to converse and keep her from going out of her mind, he still left. She tried to grab a hold of his long coat, but he slipped out of her grasp and ceased smiling, for once.

"Sorry, Rangiku, you should've held on a bit tigther."

She guessed she should've, but she was sure he would've escaped anyway.

The hours passed, and the evening turned to night, and the night to morning. Gin didn't come for breakfast. She waited, leaning out of the window and gazing at the horizon with her braid already falling along the stone wall; ready for the fox's return. The growling of her stomach prevented her from noticing the rustling and crunching of the flowers surrounding her tower, but when she felt something tugging at her braid, she finally looked down.

"Gi--" she began, but was cut off short by the sight greeting her. A young man, perhaps a few years younger than she, stood looking up with a curious expression on his pale face. She noticed that his hair had the same unnatural colour as her fox demon, only this stranger's shade was pearly white rather than a light grey. His unnaturally clear, teal eyes were visible even from distance and she wondered if he was, perhaps, another demon. Her suspicions were confirmed when the boy suddenly sprouted wings of cold, blue ice and flew up the tall tower in a matter of seconds.

"What are you doing here?" was the first thing he said, and she wondered if perhaps he was a bit dense as well. Once of the stupid demons, maybe?

"Oh, nothing. Just playing the part of a hostage. How about you?" she replied, voice mockingly light as she tried not to laugh at his frown.

"I was told I would find Gin, the fox demon, here. Are you, by chance, his hostage?" the white-haired boy said, sounding slightly irritated. She nodded, curious what business he had with the fox but too thrilled by talking to someone other than Gin that she didn't really care.

"Yes, I am. He comes here to deliver my meals and keep me company for a few hours a day. He hasn't been around much lately though, and didn't bring any breakfast so I'm really starving. Oh, but never mind, where are you from? What's your name? What kind of demon are you? Is that real ice? Say, you wouldn't have any sweets on you, no? I could really use something to eat, but---"

"---Look, lady, just tell me in which direction he went and I'll promise to free you, get you some food, and bring you home, alright? Do we have a deal?" he interrupted before she could continue her ramblings. She didn't usually talk this much nonsense, but to her excuse, she had to say that it was her first time having an actual conversation with an outsider. Usually, Gin killed them before they could even greet her properly.

"Deal," she said after a few moments, coming to a conclusion that she would be terribly stupid if she turned down this offer, even if he probably didn't intended on keeping his part of the deal. "He went east."

"Thank you," he said before leaving in a swish of icy wings. She watched him disappear into the forest with a sigh, only now realizing that there was a chance he was after Gin to kill him, and if he did, no one would come and give her food or company. She would be dead within a few days.

"Damnit."

-

Because the white-haired boy with the wings is a person of moral and with a kind heart beneath all that cold ice, and because the Happily Ever After was decided before this story was written, Rangiku, named after the Chrysanthemum she resembled, didn't die.

Before dawn, the boy whose name she learned was Toshiro returned and helped her down to the ground. She managed to persuade him to fly just a little bit more before putting her down, because it was the most exciting experience she had ever had, and he did so with a few half-hearted protests.

However, he was very agitated to find that she had nowhere to go and no home to return to, which neatly landed her in his hands. That she was prone to walking straight into danger and force him to come to her rescue only added to his irritation, but in the end, he didn't really mind. He grew used to her company, and eventually to the attraction he had harboured since he first saw her gaze out of that lone tower, with long, golden hair shining in the sun.

But what about Gin, the fox demon? Well, that epic battle is for another story.

----THE END----

Yeah, grew lazy at the end, could you tell? XD

ANYWAY!!!

Another HitsuMatsu Fairytale pic with drabble. Rapunzel this time.

So, I've done Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Rapunzel. I have Little Mermaid left.

Thinking of doing an Aladdin as well. lol.

Well, that is for another time.

Gosh, so tired...got home from Stockholm a few hours ago...lol...finsihed this and fiiinally posting (THAT IS A LOT OF HAIR MY FRIENDS *points at pic*)

And I totally went wild with the white sparkles on his wings. lol. EPIC FAIL AT DRAWING IIICCCEEEE


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