Encounter!

Minoru Nobuyuki and Shinobu comes to her room. Nobuyuki notices the dress Kyoko is wearing. “What happened to your Jūnihitoe?” asks Nobuyuki. Kyoko’s night robe from the modern era looks like a Hitoe in the Edo Period. Jūnihitoe is a kind of kimono that has twelve layers of clothing and Hitoe is one among those layers. Noble women wear Jūnihitoe. Kyoko’s Hitoe has colors that has not yet been discovered in the Edo Period.

“I don’t know” says Kyoko, She thinks to herself, ‘I don’t even know what you’re talking about’.

(Shakes his head) Nobuyuki says, “Never mind, Kyoko, this is a crucial time and you’ve lost your memories in such a crucial time. We’ll tell you all you need to know to handle the current situation. We don’t have much time to tell you everything in detail. Can you handle them dear?”

“Yes, father” said Kyoko with hesitation.

“Good daughter, I know you can handle this. Here’s what you need to know. You’re the firstborn daughter of a Great General of the Kanto Region, directly under the service of The Emperor of the Kanto Region. You’re betrothed to the Second Prince of the Kanto Region, The Emperor’s Second Son. You need to be careful when you interact with anyone from the Royal Family. You should treat them with respect and protect our family’s pride. The Second Prince will be coming to see you tomorrow, you should respect him and treat him well. You should obey him”, says Nobuyuki.

Kyoko’s mind voice – ‘What the hell, where have I come? I’m a Great General’s firstborn?’, scoffs ‘And I’m betrothed to the Second Prince of the Emperor of Kanto Region? Damn, what era have I travelled back to?’

“Yes, father” says Kyoko after noticing Minoru Nobuyuki and Shinobu constantly staring at her, waiting for her reply.

“Here, let me help you get changed into some decent clothes” says Shinobu while Nobuyuki is relieved to see his daughter safe. He just hopes that all goes well and his daughter is married off to the Second Prince without any problem.

It’s evening time, and Shinobu is teaching Kyoko about things like how to present herself in front of the Royal Family, how to behave when in their presence and such . The real Kyoko is a 16-year-old girl while Kiyomi who is now pretending to be Kyoko is a 23-year-old adult, but somehow both look the same in height and appearances.

Kyoko listens to Shinobu carefully, so that she can avoid being suspected by anyone in this timeline, until she can travel back to the future i.e., a day before the assassination.

After hours of personal training imparted by Minoru Shinobu, Kyoko is allowed to sleep some time before midnight. Kyoko being a martial artist can sleep just a few hours and still be active for the whole day. Kyoko woke up early, and was meditating. Though she has travelled back to the past, she is still unsure of her safety, especially since she’s currently in a period where Emperor of Kanto Region exists, which could very well be the Warring States period. So, in order to prepare herself for any worst situation, she decides to conserve energy until she returns back to the timeline she’s from. As expected of Kyoko’s brilliancy, she has sorted most of the things out with just a few clues.

Minoru Shinobu knocks on Kyoko’s door to wake her up. The real Kyoko used to sleep like a log and Shinobu had to wake her up every single day. Little does she know that this Kyoko is already awake and is meditating.

Kyoko, after hearing the knock on the door, opens her eyes and immediately opens the door. Shinobu is shocked to see Kyoko answering to her knocks so soon, which apparently was a rare sight to Shinobu. Shinobu thought to herself that Kyoko is unexpectedly quite interested in this marriage that she even woke up so soon. Kyoko waved her hand in front of Shinobu and brought Shinobu back to reality. Shinobu informs, “Kyoko, the Second Prince is on his way, he might reach here anytime now, get ready soon”.

Kyoko patiently says, “Yes, mother”. Kyoko then goes inside the room, takes a quick bath and then wears the formal clothing that Shinobu gave her yesterday, asking her to wear it today for meeting the Second Prince. It took a while to wear that overly formal clothing and just as she came out of her room, the news came that the Second Prince has arrived.

Minoru Nobuyuki and Shinobu went to the entrance to welcome the Second Prince to the Minoru Residence. The servants of the Minoru Residence where chanting repeatedly “Long Live the Second Prince, Long Live the Kingdom”. They kneeled down and welcomed the Second Prince. The Second Prince signalled the Great General to stand up and the chants stopped. The Great General showed the way inside, and the Second Prince followed him. Kyoko has been witnessing this from the beginning. The maids in the hall kneeled down and greeted the Second Prince as soon as he entered the building. Kyoko immediately kneeled down and greeted the Second Prince. The Second Prince, Ryouichi looked around and found his to-be Princess kneeling. He approached her and told her to get up. He asked her “What’s your name?” All the maids were still kneeling and only Kyoko got up. They weren’t allowed to get up until the Second Prince allows them to.

“It’s Minoru Kyoko, Your Highness” said Kyoko with her head still bowing down.

The Second Prince Ryouichi held Kyoko’s chin and lifted her face to have a look. He is astonished & mesmerised to have seen such a beauty. He turns back and says to the Great General “I like your daughter, she will be my Princess. The wedding ceremony will happen in 3 days from now. Until then, take care of my Princess”.

“As you wish, Your Highness” said Minoru Nobuyuki.

The Second Prince Ryouichi leaves immediately after ordering the Great General to prepare for the wedding ceremony.

Kyoko was speechless, her mind voice – ‘What just happened?’, scoffs ‘That’s it? He just looked at my face and decided to marry me? What if I was ugly, would he have said that he doesn't like me? Ridiculous!’.

Kyoko looked at the Second Prince’s face carefully when he lifted her face. She had thought that he was handsome, but now, she questions his attitude for deciding to marry just with one look.

Kyoko goes back to her room and changes into normal clothes and comes out to have some water. Shinobu looks at Kyoko and says “Kyoko, you’re gonna get married in 3 days. Don’t go anywhere out of the residence”.

Kyoko says “Can I roam inside the residence?” while her inner voice wanted to add ‘Am I atleast allowed to do that?’. Shinobu agrees. Kyoko drinks some water and goes out to the garden in front of the building.

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