Quiz: GAME START! (Chapter 1)

Intro:

I stood in Papa's room, staring at him. He sat on his leather chair behind that desk piled with stacks of paper and asked again, “Is that a deal?”

“I can ask for any help, right?”

“Of course.”

“You know that I would have to move out for this to happen, right?”

“I will prepare you a condo, will that be okay?”

“Of course. It's a deal then, Papa.” I shock his hand and walked out of his study room. It would be a long time until I could see him again as my father.

GAME START!

 

I sat on the back seat of my car as I was taken to the academy. Papa had made me enter Yuzosawa Academy as part of our game. I thought of our conversation two years ago.

 

Papa had called me into his room when my 14^th birthday party ended. He first gave me a present and then we had the talk.

“Himeko, you know that I have responsiblities, right?” he asked.

“Of course,” I asnwered, not knowing what was going to happen. It was very unusual for Papa to speak seriously to me.

“And part of that responsibility is for you to have a bright future ahead. Shunji will inherit the company, and you will be married to someone's family.”

“Papa, what's wrong?”

Papa took a deep breath and finally said, “Himeko, after you graduate high school, you will become the wife of Kazuki's son.”

“Papa! I don't want to marry someone I don't know!”

“Himeko! You have to. It is the duty of the daughters of the Hijoro family.”

“Papa!”

“If you don't, then we will play a game.”

“A game?” I was on the verge of tears until I heard of another way for me to avoid it.

“Yes. Your mother has created this game, for she knew this was going to happen.”

“Mama? What did Mama create for me?”

“You have to be a boy throughout your high school years.”

“A boy?”

“Yes. If you do, it will mean you can do anything or be anyone in your life.”

“I can do anything?”

“Anything.”

“I don't have to marry Kazuki-oji's son?

“Is that a deal?”

“I can ask for help, right?”

“Of course.”

“You know I would have to move out for this to happen right?”

“I will prepare you a condo, will that be okay?”

“Of course. It's a deal then Papa.”

 

“Ojo-sama, we're here.” said Bureto Keichi, my bodyguard. He was the same age as me and he had dark black hair. He was as tall as me, a bit taller.

“Oh.” I looked out of the tinted window and saw some of the students staring at the car. I opened the car door and stepped out. My long brown hair fell to waist and my green pearl eyes showed me the world. I had dyed my hair brown so that people wouldn't notice me, but I never eally cut my hair since it was too precious.

Keichi walked next to me as we walked into the school and towards class. I held my bag over my shoulder and walked swiftly. A bunch of girls giggled as I passed them, some guys cursing under their breaths. I knew that Keichi must have glared at them because they quickly quieted down and went their own way.

“Don't scared them, Keichi.”

“Himeko-sama,” Keichi said under his breath.

“Don't say that name when we're in school.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“Stop speaking formally, Keichi.” I turned to him and smiled, “We're the same age, so speak normally.”

“But you are the master and I am your servant.” I made my face puffy to show him I was mad and turned around again.

“Ohayou gozaimasu, Yuki-chan!” Casami Reiko said to me when she saw me. She came over and walked beside me.

“Ohayou, Reiko-chan.” I smiled at Reiko and kept walking. Reiko was shorter than me and she was really cute. Most of the student body males were in love with her. She has light brown hair and brown eyes. She was one of the few people who knew about the deal I made with Papa.

“Is everything alright with that?” she asked.

I blushed and then sighed. “Not really.” Reiko was also the person who helps me with my personal problems. “She's still stalking me even though I rejected her.” I glaced over my shoulders to see a shadow hiding behind the pillar.

“Should I go stop her?” Reiko asked.

“No. It's okay.” We stopped at our classroom and went in. All the students stared at us as if we were celebrities or something. I sat at my seat beside Reiko and in front of Keichi.

Two girls gathered around me when I settled down and then the black headed one to the right asked, “Um, Renjuro-san, would you please help us with this problem? We really didn't understand it.”

The girl to the left handed me her math homework sheet and I looked at it. I explained it to them and when it was finished, they said, “Arigatou gozaimasu, Renjuro-san!”

“Dou itashi mashite, Sawa-san, Kouri-san.” I smiled brightly and they hurried went back to their desk and screamed. “I can't believe he knew out names!” one squealed.

“Ow. Did Yukito do something again?” Mashiro said as he sat down in front of me. He rubbed his ears and sighed.

“Yes, Yuki-chan helped them with their math problem,” Reiko answered.

“What? You never helped me!”

“Figure it out yourself.” We all laughed. Faneli Mashiro is the last person who knows of my secret. He is my childhood friend and he's really good at sports. He was the one who helped me with my martial arts.

“So, are we gonna go another round today?” Mashiro said. “You had me yesterday, but it was only because I had my guard down.”

“Sure,” I said sarcastically.

“I really did!” he said.

“Then let's find out afterschool.”

 

I took Mashiro down several times in the academy's karate dojo. A bunch of students came to see us fight, mostly just to see the male me.

“Yuki-chan, Yuki-chan. GO!” Reiko kept saying. I knocked Mashiro down a couple of more times until he finally gave up.

“Okay, okay. You win,” he finally said, going to sit down where Reiko and Keichi stood waiting.

“Here.” Reiko handed Mashiro a towel and a water bottle as Keichi did the same for me.

“Arigatou,” we both said and wiped our sweats away. I drank from my water bottle as I stared at the courtyard, looking at the mini garden.

“Just one year, huh?” I mumbled to myself.

“Huh? Did you say something, Yuki-chan?” Reiko asked and looked at me curiously.

“Nothing. Just thinking.” I drank some more water and wiped the rest of the sweat away. I stood up and said, “I'm going to go home now. Bye, Reiko-chan, Mashiro.”

“Bye-bye, Yuki-chan,”said Reiko.

“Later. We'll be there by 6:30! We have to get you ready for that party!”yelled Mashiro

“'kay,” I replied back. Keichi and I passed the students and walked towards the black car waiting for us. I got in on the back seat and Keichi in the front.

“Straight home, Gen-san,” I said to my driver.

“Yes, Ojo-sama.” Bureto Gen started the car and we headed to the condo I was staying for the past 2 years. Gen was Keichi's grandfather and he was also my caretaker. “How was school, Ojo-sama?”

“It was fine. I won against Mashiro again today.”

“That's terrific.”

I stared out of the window, looking at the huge and tall, massive buildins and the cars passing by. “Gen-san?”

“Yes, Ojo-sama?”

“Can you tell me about my mother?”

“Ojo-sama? Is there something the matter? You have never asked of such things before.”

I was quiet for a moment and then replied, “I was just wondering why she had ever created this type of game....” It was a very quiet ride for the rest of the way. The minute I had stepped into my place, I quickly headed to my room and towards the bathroom.

I yelled to Keichi as I gathered my formal wear, “Keichi, get ready!” After not hearing a reply, but the noise of Keichi opening and closing some doors, I knew he was following my orders.

I took my time in the tub, washing the dye off of my hair and soaking all the sweat off my body and finally fitting into the evening gown I was to wear for the party. I exited out of my bedroom, wearing a pale blue dress that matched my eyes, dangling sapphire earrings, and a locket around my neck that carried the only picture I had of my mother. My blond hair rested over my shoulder after I had completely dried it.

“Keichi, are you ready?” I asked him outside his door, waiting for a reply.

“Yes, Ojo-sama,” he answered as he stepped out of his room in a black suit with a messed up tie.

“You did this wrong, Keichi,” I said as I tried to fix it.

“Ojo-sama, it's nothing. I can do it,” he tried to reject my help. I continued to do it until it became a perfect tie.

Ding-Dong! The bell rang. I ran to get it and saw Reiko and Mashiro standing next to each other in formal wear too. Reiko wore a pink dress that reached to the floor like mine's, pink diamond earrings, and a pink heart necklace. She heeld a light dark pink handbag and what seemed to be an inch heel. Mashiro wore about the same thing as Keichi, but his suit was gray and his tie was neat and white.

“You look amazing, Hime-chan!” Reiko said as she walked into the room. She set her handbag on the small table near the door and hugged me.

“You too, Reiko-chan!” I said as I hugged her back. I hugged Mashiro too of course so that he wouldn't be left out. “You look rather handsome for someone who doesn't spend time taking care of themselves.”

He grumpled, “That's an insult, Himeko.”

“It is not! It was a compliment.” I smiled and then giggled with Reiko. “Reiko-chan, can you fix my hair? I want it to be in a braid.”

“Of course.” I sat down on the nearest seat available and let Reiko braid my hair.

“So have you guys gotten the birthday boy his present yet?” I asked.

Reiko concentrated in the braiding, but stopped midway. “I got him some clothes. I really wonder if he'll like them.”

“I got him a basketball. I heard he plays it very well,” replied Mashiro.

“What did you get him?” Reiko asked as she continued braiding.

“I got him marbles. I heard from Papa that he started collecting them when I had left. I wonder what it was for.”

“Hmm...? Marbles?” Reiko mumbled to herself. “Clip.” I handed her my clip and she twisted the braided hair to look like a donut hole and then clipped it in the middle. “Perfect.”

“ Thanks Reiko-chan.” I looked at my cell phone and then said, “Let's go. We'll miss the beginning of Shun's 15^th birthday if we don't go right now.”

 

“There you are, Shun,” I said as I walked out into the terrace. I looked at my little brother in his white formal suit with white shoes and tie.

“Onee-chan!” he said as he turned around to find me. His eyes were wide as though he wasn't expecting me to come. “Why are you here?”

“To celebrate your birthday day of course!” I laughed and walked towards him. I gave him a hug and then kissed his right cheek. Shun was my height now and he grew to be very handsome.

“I'm so glad you're here. Have you talked to Dad yet?”

“Nope. I wanted to give this to you first.” I took out the 4 by 5 in. green box and handed it to him. “Open it.”

“For me?” Shun took it and opened it to find three round colorful marbles. “They're amazing!” He hugged me and smiled brightly.

“I thought you would like them.” I smiled and we headed back into the reception hall that was reserved for Shun's brithday. I wrapped my arms around Shun's left arm and we walked to his table. He pulled out a chair for me and I sat down. A waiter came to give us some drinks and we both took the orange juice glasses.

I took a sip from my glass and asked Shun, “So how's school?”

“It's fine,” he answered.

“Your girlfriend?” When I had asked Sun that question, he was drinking from his glass, so he almost spite it out from embarassment.

“Onee-chan! I don't have a girlfriend.”

“Please don't joke with me, Shun. You have good-looks, you're smart, and you're wealthy. Who wouldn't want to date you?” Shun blushed and I giggled a bit. “Nevermind. You don't have to tell this Onee-chan something that personal.”

Shun was quiet for a moment and then finally said, “She's the daughter of the Hijirigawa Group.”

“What?” I exclaimed, almost too loud that some of the guests stared at us. I said in a lower voice, “Shun, that's Papa's rival's daughter.”

“I know that, but I really like Kyoko-san....” He blushed a little bit and gulp down the orange juice as if it was beer.

“Oh my god, you really do...” Before I could say anymore, I heard a familiar voice behind me.

“Himeko!” Papa cried as he hurriedly came rushing towards me. Before he could hug me, I quickly round away from my chair.

“Papa!” I cried as he crashed into the table. It was good that Shun had quickly gotten away from the table like I had.

“You're so mean, Himeko!” Papa said, tears cominf from his eyes. “Shun, Himeko's being mean to me!” Papa gripped to Shun's jacket, still crying.

“Dad, stop over reacting,” Shun said as he tried to get away from Papa.

“Papa, stop causing a ruckus, or I will never come near you ever again,” I said to him as quietly as I could as all the guest stared at us.

Papa looked at me and sniffed. “Don't leave me, Himeko!” He came towards me again, but as always, I dodged it by cartwheeling to another place.

“Papa!” I looked at the guests and bowed. “I apologize for my father's behavior. Please enjoy the party everyone.” Everyone turned back to talk to their friends as I resumed to talk with Papa. I walked up to him and he looked at me with puppy-dog eyes. “I will let you hug me once, but once only today.” I held out open arms for Papa. He came to me without hesitation and snuggled into my arms like a real puppy meeting its beloved owner. I heard a clap from somewhere and saw that it was Kazuki-oji, Papa's friend.

“Funny as always, Hibuki-kun,” Kazuki-oji said and walked towards us with a man behind him. Kazuki-oji was very tall and muscular like Papa and he was Papa's business partner. The man behind him was merely about my age, maybe a bit older. He was tall like his father, but he looked far more handsomer than his father, even though they had the same colored hair. Except, his was far more lighter and it shined more instead of being blood red.

“I love my daughter, Kazuki-kun,” Papa said proudly.

“Konbanwa, Kazuki-oji-san,” I said to Kazuki-oji and howed to him respectfully. I stood with my heads held high, making sure that he understood that I was very independent.

“Oh, haven't seem you in a while, Himeko-chan. Konbanwa.” He bowed slightly to me and then smiled. “I believe that you've never met my son before. This is Shouta.” He waved his hand to indicate the man behind him was his son.

“Hajimemashite, I am Nubato Shouta.” He bowed to me respectfully and I did the same.

“Hajimemashite, I am Hijiro Himeko.”

“What's with the formalities?” Kazuki-oji said after we had introduced ourselves. “Have fun! Hibuki, want to play a game? Who'll drink the most?”

“You bet!” Papa and Kazuki-oji headed to the bar on the other side of the hall and I saw them order something alcoholic.

“I apologize for my father's behavior this evening, Nubato-san,” I said and bowed apologetically.

“It's nothing at all. Some fathers are like that. And you don't have to call me Nubato-san. Shouta's fine.” I looked over his shoulders and saw Reiko waving at me.

“If you'll excuse me, I have to talk to me friend.” I bowed a goodbye and quickly ran over to Reiko. She was grinning, weirdly.

“Something wrong?” I asked her.

“Who's the red-headed cutie?” Reiko asked. She always worried about men being around me, except Keichi and Mashiro, afraid that my secret would be out and I would be taken away from her.

“He's Kazuki-oji-san's son, Nubato Shouta-san.”

“He's your........”

“Ex- fiance,” I finished for her.

“Stay away from him, okay? There could be problems,” she warned and after a few seconds, smiled.”I have someone I want to show you. Come.” She grabbed my wrist and we both quickly went to the terrace, a different one from when I gave Shun his present. No one was outside, except a couple looking at the stars.

When the both heard our footsteps, they both turned around and I realized who it was. The lady with a very big stomach said, “You've grown so much, Hime-chan.”

“Nee-chan?” I exclaimed, glad to see my older sister, Hijoro Saki. She looked like she was pregnant, so I asked her, “Are you pregnant?”

“No,” she quickly said and I was scared that she'll be mad sinceit would also mean that I thought she looked fat. She laughed after I though over and over on how to apologize. “I'm kidding, Hime-chan. Yes.” She looked at the man next to her lovingly.

“Good to see you again, Nii-san,” I said to my brother-in-law, Carl Roberts. He was an American man who met Nee-chan when she had went to America during a trip. They had fallen in love at first sight in New York and had been dating since. They were married when I had started high school, so their married was good. Carl was blond like me, but his hair was darker. He was taller than me and he was very handsome. Unlike me, Nee-chan had brown hair like Papa and she was shorter than me. She was still pretty since she had a beautiful face and body.

“Good to see you, Princess ,” he said in English. Carl wasn't very fluent in Japanese, but he could understand it. And because of that, he would call me Princess instead of Hime-chan or Himeko. We hugged and I kissed his cheeks.

“How are you?” I asked both of them.

“Perfect,” Nee-chan said after I did the same to her. “Our baby is due two months from now.”

“That's amazing. Can I feel it?” Reiko said and Nee-chan nodded. She felt it and said, “Wow. I felt it kick a little.”

We all laughed and I said, “It must be a boy then if it kicked.”

“I hope it's a girl ,” Carl said. “It should look like her mother.” They both kissed and I smiled.

I made an excuse so that they could be together. “Oh, gosh. Reiko-chan and I have to go fix our make-up. Enjoy the party you two love-birds.” I wicked at both of them, grabbed Reiko and we both came back inside the party.

I left Reiko with Mashiro so that they could talk about some school things nad wandered around the house. The party was at the Hijoro manor, so I knew it's designs inside-out. I walked up to my old room and opened it. Every thing was where it used to be; nothing was different about it. I noticed that the door that lend outside into the balcony was opened, so I walked towards it. I saw a man standing, looking at the night sky. His hair was the same color as it, really dark and mysterious.

When I knocked on the opened door's window, he turned around to see who it was. He was very handsome when I noticed it. He had deep, blue eyes that would just catch you at any moment and he was very tall when I walked closer to him and he straightened up.

“You're not suppose to be here. The party's only on the bottom floor,” I explained.

“You too, right?” he asked, not apologizing.

“This was my room.”

“Was?” He walked closer to me, his eyes trapping me in some more.

“I moved out when I started high school. Hi, I'm Himeko.” I held out my hand for him to shake. Instead, he kissed it like a knight would do to his lady.

“Yunoki. I'm Yunoki. Remember it, Hime-chan.” He walked backwards, close to the railing. He back-flipped over it, but before he disappeared, he said, “See you.” It completely left me speechless.