7 Chapter 6 - Hood

Fujimura Miyu brushed off some dirt on her clothes and hung her apron on the wall. Arata trailed after her as she headed towards her room. Once there, she looked into her closet and took out her favorite hood and her training gear from under the floor board. She look a dark blue cloth from one of her shelves and tied it around the bottom of her face to cover most of her features. She put on her gear and tied on the hood made from green velvet that clung to her and covered the rest of her face except for her dark chocolate eyes.

Arata cocked his head in confusion, "What are you doing, master?"

Miyu tilted to Arata and grinned under her cloth, "You'll see."

Arata pawed his way towards Miyu and up onto her shoulder before vanishing from sight. He's disguised himself with the surroundings so he can be with Miyu but no one would see him.

Miyu sneaked out of the manor and to town, where she walked the dirt streets with stands lining them. The owners are yelling at the top of their lungs to the large amount of people walking down the path. The roofs of each stand is made of fabric and are all the colors of the rainbow. There are also some buildings lined across the street, and Miyu enters one that says, "The Little Lotus Bar."

Miyu whispers to Arata, "Now you'll know what I do with all my free time."

The bar was large with a big open space in the middle lined with fences. The actual bar is against the wall to the left with filled up barstools and a bartender with a large grey mustache. There are small tables scattered around the room and the whole bar was filled with laughter and enjoyment. Miyu walked up to the bartender and had to shove her way through two men to do it. Up against the bar, she asks the man,

"When's the next fight?"

The bartender raises an eyebrow before saying, "Few minutes, but there is only one contender."

Miyu dropped a few coins in front of the man and says, "I want in."

The bartender asks, "Do you want to know who'll you'll fight?"

Miyu shakes her head, "I'll see when I enter the ring."

Bartender shakes his head and walks off to attend another customer's needs. Miyu walks off as well to lean against a wall in a dark corner. No one notices her and carry on with their chatter. A few minutes later, the bartender walks into the ring by unlatching one of the fences and says, "Those who paid to participate, please join me!"

Miyu walks towards the entrance of the ring while a large man nears the ring as well. Miyu sizes up her opponent and grins. No one sees but they feel an arrogant aura. The bar quieted down by the time both fighters entered the ring and the bartender opened the box in his hand.

"Left is for our long time champion, Chang! And right is for our newcomer...."

The bartender gestures his hand for Miyu to say something and she says,

"Hood."

The bar laughs, taking Miyu in as a joke. They think, 'How can someone as puny as her defeat someone twice her size?'

Miyu doesn't laugh along as everyone makes their bets. When everyone has, Miyu sees that the left side of the box is overflowing in money with the right side was left dry. 'Perfect, ' she thinks.

The bartender stands next to the ring and announces lamely, "One, two, three, start!"

Chang opens his palms and water comes from everyone's cups and into his hands. He takes his time, but Miyu is impatient. She lifts a single finger and pushes so much wing at Chang that he flies back and into the bar's wall and made a huge dent from his bulky body. Everyone turned silent and gazed at the mysterious hood, you could've heard a pin drop. Miyu steps over one of the fences and heads towards the bartender. She takes the whole job and announces,

"This is mine."

Everyone, still speechless, watch the woman walk out the door and bow,

"Thank you."

*****

Empress Kouki is as astonished as everyone in the bar. Kouki enjoys skipping out on being an Empress so she likes to watch the games in "The Little Lotus Bar," but she'd never expect someone as strong as this! And a woman too!

Kouki rushes out the door to follow Miyu, determined. 'This young woman would be a great wife for Ryota!'

Even though Kouki isn't Ryota's or Shin's real mother, they love her like one and she loves them like her sons. Kouki cares about their lives and want them to have great women to support them, and this woman is one.

"Child, child wait! I must speak with you!"

Kouki stumbled on a rock in the ground and fell in a big heap on the ground. Kouki coughed from the dust and someone lifts her up. It's the hooded woman.

"What may you need, your highness?" Hood asks politely with a small nod.

Kouki drops her jaw, "How did you know it was me?"

"It was difficult to see, but your aura when you came close was recognizable. You also have a rare scent. of the capital, so I knew you were someone of high value. Also, your hood is kind of tipping backwards."

Kouki quickly fumbled with her hood until it's covered her face before speaking again, "Dearie, may I speak with you?"

Hood glanced around before dragging her into an alleyway between a large building and stand.

"Hello, as you may know, I and Empress Kouki, " Kouki bows, "And I want to ask you to marry my eldest son, Ryota."

Kouki could see the hood tremble before saying, "Sorry, your highness, but I must decline."

Kouki pouts, "Why not?"

The hood tilts her head a bit, "I'm not that fond of politics."

Kouki nods, understanding, "May I at least see you again? I love your power, it's so strong! You could be able to support us women around the empire and show how strong we can be!"

The hood once again tilts her head like she's thinking and says, "Next week, morning, I'll be back at "The Little Lotus," if I'm available. We may meet again."

It was Sunday, so the date was perfect. Kouki grabbed the Hood's hands before jumping up and down, which seemed to scare the woman, "Thank you!!!!"