An Unusual Family
An Akagami no Shirayukihime (Snow White with the Red Hair) Fanfic
Master Ryuu encouraged questions. He didn’t give many instructions, but he made it clear that Hoshi could ask about anything she needed, so she did. She asked about every medicine they worked on, she asked about any herbs she didn’t recognize in his stores, and she asked about his own projects.
But she didn’t ask about the girl in his office.
Hoshi had been working under Master Ryuu for a month, and still hadn’t worked up the courage to ask who she was. He seemed to prefer to keep work separate from personal matters, but with the girl right there every day, it was hard not to wonder.
Similar bright eyes and dark auburn hair led her to believe he was some sort of relation. A sister, perhaps (though much younger), or a cousin. She supposed it could be his daughter, but he seemed young to have a daughter that age. She had hoped he would bring it up himself, but with every day that passed, it seemed less and less likely.
The girl liked to hide under his desk while he worked at the counter, and she would spend hours drawing herbs from his jars on scraps of paper. When she finished one, she would carefully creep out from under the desk with both paper and jar in hand, and take them to Master Ryuu. He would pause his instructions to Hoshi, admire the picture, then exchange the jar for a new one. (He was very careful with which jars he gave her.)
Hoshi had considered asking the girl for her name before, but so far, she hadn’t heard her say a word. She considered asking one of the other pharmacists, but that felt wrong somehow, like gossiping behind her master’s back. Instead she smiled at the girl when she arrived every morning, and otherwise resolved to put it out of her mind.
“Hey, Ryuu, where’s your sister?” Hoshi flinched as Kirito darted into the room, very glad she had set down her knife a moment before.
Wait . . . sister?
“If you keep calling her that, people are going to get confused,” Master Ryuu said without looking up from his book.
Oh.
Hoshi turned around to answer Kirito’s question, but the little girl peeked out from under the desk, answering on her own. “Kirito!” she squealed, and Hoshi fell off her stool in surprise.
Kirito dashed forward and caught her, keeping his hand on her shoulder long enough to make sure she regained her balance. “Careful there.” He grinned, and if her heart beat a little faster than usual, well, no one needed to know.
“Thank you,” she squeaked.
“Kirito,” the little girl said again, tugging on his sleeve and dragging him over to the desk.
He laughed. “I’m coming, Misaki.” He knelt beside the desk and took the scrap of paper she handed him. “Wow, this is amazing! You’re so good at drawing.” He ruffled her hair, then looked up at Ryuu and Hoshi. Hoshi jumped and whirled around, picking up her spoon and stirring the medicine she was working on.
“You know,” Kirito began, “I just assumed she got her artistic talent from Mom–” Master Ryuu gave a huff that almost sounded like a laugh, “–but I watched her try to draw Suzu yesterday, and it was horrible.”
Master Ryuu glanced at Hoshi’s medicine, then collected a spoonful of the roots he had ground earlier, sprinkling it in slowly as she stirred. “When she first came to work at Wirant, Garret told her to ask me if she needed to include any drawings on her records.” Kirito laughed.
Hoshi felt even more confused now. Was Misaki Kirito’s sister, then? But–
“Oh, I forgot to tell you, Yuzuri said when you two finish that medicine, you should bring it down to Dad.”
Master Ryuu’s hand faltered so slightly she almost didn’t notice. “Why?”
“He’s beating the new recruits into shape. Sounds like it isn’t going well. You know, I think the king likes to send him the most difficult soldiers for the fun of it.” Hoshi shook her head. Kirito liked to tease, but he should be careful saying things like that about the king–
“I agree.”
Hoshi gaped at Master Ryuu. She never heard him joke, so he must be serious.
He tapped the bowl, reminding her to keep stirring. She hurried to obey. “How much more powdered root does it need?” he asked.
“Um.” She bit her lip and stirred slowly, testing the consistency. “Half a spoonful.” She glanced up at his blank face. “I, uh, I think?”
“You think?”
“I–” Breathe, she told herself, you know this stuff. “No, I know. Half a spoonful.” His expression didn’t change, and she bit her tongue to keep the uncertainties inside. He nodded and added the last half spoonful, then handed her a lid. She stirred a few more times, then put the lid on and stood up.
“Where do we need to take it?” she asked.
“Training yard.”
“We’re coming too.” Kirito stood and stretched, then scooped Misaki up and deposited her, giggling, on his shoulders. “She’s got something special to show Dad, isn’t that right?” Beaming, Misaki nodded and clutched her paper in one tight fist.
Master Ryuu led them out to the training yard, and Hoshi trailed behind, enjoying listening to Kirito’s dramatic narration of their journey down the stairs and halls and Misaki’s laughter, so different from the quiet child she was used to, but that changed as soon as they got to the training yard.
Several men practiced fighting in pairs. The clatter of the fake swords hurt Hoshi’s head, and she was grateful for Master Ryuu’s quiet office. She wished she was there now.
“Daddy!” Misaki shouted.
A man with dark hair and bronzed skin turned automatically. His partner whacked him across the shoulder, then froze. The two men spoke quietly for a minute as Misaki struggled to climb off Kirito with her drawing in hand, then the one who had turned walked over to them, a broad smile on his face.
Hoshi gulped. Her brother wouldn’t let her forget how short she was, but this new man seemed absolutely giant, and he was covered in muscle and scars. None of the other soldiers she could see were had that many scars, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know how he had gotten them.
Misaki did not share her fears. She had made it to the ground by then and ran over to him. He held out his arm like he planned to take her hand, but instead she grabbed his arm and scrambled up him until she landed on his shoulders and could wave her drawing in his face.
“Oh, wow, that’s great! Very nice, uh, leaves. I’ll have to ask Mommy what they are later. But remember, I’ve told you not to get too close while Daddy’s fighting.” She whispered something in his ear, and he reached up to ruffle her hair. “It’s okay. I just don’t want you to get hurt.” He looked up at Master Ryuu and Kirito and frowned. “Where’s Shoko?”
“Suzu’s watching him.” The man’s eyes widened, and Kirito rushed to continue. “And Yuzuri’s watching him.”
The man still didn’t look satisfied, but he relaxed a bit and shook his head. “I guess between the two of them, my son has some adult supervision at least.” His eyes settled on Hoshi then, and she realized how unusual they were–such a bright gold with slitted pupils like a cat’s. Panthers were cats, weren’t they? And lions? and– “I guess you’re Little Ryuu’s new apprentice?”
Hoshi stiffened. This man might make her nervous, but she didn’t like hearing him talk about her master disrespectfully. “I’m Master Ryuu’s apprentice, yes.” Kirito made a choking noise beside her, and the strange man’s eyebrows shot up.
“My apologies,” he said. “I didn’t mean to offend you.” He sounded perfectly serious, and yet she was somehow sure he was secretly laughing at her. He turned to Ryuu. “Either of you. I guess you’re too grown-up to be ‘little’ anymore, aren’t you?”
Master Ryuu shrugged and cast a curious look at Hoshi. “I don’t mind it from you. We do have work to do though.”
Hoshi twisted her lab coat in her hand. Had she made a mistake?
“Right.” The strange man spun around, making Misaki giggle, and gestured to a small group of people sitting together in the corner. Master Ryuu and Kirito walked over to them. Hoshi started to follow, and the stranger fell into step beside her. She cringed, wondering if Master Ryuu would let her go back up to his office.
“I’m Obi,” he said. “And you’re Hoshi, right? Ryuu’s been telling me a lot about you.”
Hoshi blinked up at him. Master Ryuu talked about her?
Obi laughed, and she realized she must have been too obvious in her surprise. “Well, he’s definitely not super talkative, but he seems to like you.” He leaned closer as if sharing a secret. “That’s a high compliment, by the way.”
“I’ve noticed.” Hoshi covered her mouth. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Kirito glanced back and grinned at her. She flushed.
Obi looked from her to Kirito. “Ah.” Her face grew even hotter. “Better make sure no one steals this apprentice away from you, Ryuu.” He winked at her.
Well. The ground could just swallow her now. She didn’t really need this apprenticeship anyway.
“Shirayuki finished her apprenticeship,” Master Ryuu said. “You didn’t steal her.”
“But that doesn’t sound nearly so romantic!”
“Oh, good! You’re all here!” Hoshi spun around and saw a woman running towards them, her red braid flying behind her. Obi reached out and caught the woman’s wrists.
“Careful,” he laughed. “You know if you get hurt I’m going to get my revenge for all those disgusting medicines you’ve made me take over the years.” The woman smiled up at him, then she spotted Hoshi.
“Oh!” She pulled away from Obi and snatched up Hoshi’s hands. “You’re Hoshi, aren’t you? Ryuu’s new apprentice? I’m Shirayuki.”
Hoshi shrank back, wishing she had never left Master Ryuu’s office. She really didn’t want to make a fool of herself in front of Shirayuki too.
Shirayuki’s smile faltered. “Are you alright?”
“Y–yes.”
“I’m afraid she’s suffered a few too many of our antics today,” Obi said, sounding not-quite apologetic.
Shirayuki shot him a glare, then turned back to Hoshi. “Sorry about my husband, and I’m sorry I wasn’t able to say hi before. I’ve been pretty busy lately.” She squeezed Hoshi’s hands and her smile broadened. “We’re a bit of a mess, but I wanted to say, welcome to the family. We’re so glad you’re here.”