*standard disclaimers apply. :3

Happily Ever After? Hardly.

By Tesuka- chan

Prologue

In Medias Res

Happily Ever After? Hardly.

That was what I thought in the beginning. I was in utter bliss… Aoshi- sama was here, had declared (well… in his own way) his love to me at last, and we got married. I thought that was it. That it was everything I hoped for.

Well, I thought wrong.

I should've seen it from the beginning, but I was so blinded by the fantasy of a perfect marriage – which was mainly me cooking for him and him taking care of me – that the lie continued on for sometime. I didn't realize that everything was so twisted, that there was a much deeper matter in this marriage.

It was a total sham.

Once I found out, I left him. I still love him though… that was actually the reason why I left him. Because I love him. But that love only brought pain. I didn't want to suffer anymore, just as I suffered for his love before we got married. I'm 20 now anyway, more mature than my younger, rash 17- year old counterpart. I was gullible then. I'm critical now. I'm still genki, full of life, but I know when things get serious. All right, all right… I CAN get a bit cynical. Only a bit though.

Why did I leave him? I could've slapped him silly to get his motives right. Then all will be well again.

Oh, but then all was not well even in the beginning. His motives were already right – for him. So there was no reason to get things straight again. Because there was no "again". Things were already twisted from the start. Everything was already wrong.

Even his lovemaking… and I thought that he did enjoy it. I thought that he meant it. He was just a good actor I guess. If he joined a Noh theater, he would probably be hailed as the best actor in this time. I would bet on it.

He's just a damned bastard.

And I love him so much.

But then, let's go back to the beginning, shall we?

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