The King and I Chapter 16: A Fight

As you got closer to the end of the palace, you could see the other woman milling around doing various chores, and you got a flashback to what the usual routine was like for the women back in your homeland of Nekoma.

Washing was a big part of the women’s mornings and you would all gather by the riverside and chat and gossip while you washed the clothes.

A small nostalgic smile curled your lips and you removed your head covering as you neared them while Hinata stepped out of the way, bowed, then left the area as quickly as possible.

One of the bitchy girls looked up from her work, saw your small smile, interpreted it as a smirk, and scowled heavily.

“Oh, she finally comes down from on high to make fun of us,” she said loudly to draw the attention of the other girls around her.

You looked at her and blinked with surprise.

“I’m sorry?” you asked with confusion and concern, “I’m not making fun of you at all? I don’t know how you thought that. I came because you called for me?”

“See?” the same woman said as she stood up by her washing tub, “we have to call for her. She wouldn’t have come on her own accord.”

“Stop it.” A dear friend of your stood up to address the first woman who was hurling verbal attacks at you. 

“Siding with her isn’t going to get you any brownie points,” the bitchy one said to your friend tersely, “she’ll forget about you the minutes she’s gone.”

You looked from the bitchy one to your friend, utterly confused by this blatant attack.

“I don’t know what’s going on? I missed you but wasn’t sure if I was allowed to come down of my own accord. I’m to stay in my room unless called by the King,” you said honestly to your friend, your eyes begging for her to believe you, “I don’t have free roam.”

“That’s what she wants you to believe!” the bitchy one shouted at your friend who was now caught in the crossfire, “she’s the reason none of us have ever been picked by the King! She talks badly of us all the time and he despises us because of her wicked tongue.”

“No! That is not true!” you stated angrily.

“Then tell us why he hasn’t come back and picked more of us, Y/N? Shimizu said if he picks one then he usually picks more after a time because he gets bored of that one. Why hasn’t he tired of you then? Tell us!”

You took a step back, feeling very cornered in a wide open room.

“I… I don’t know. That is for him to say and not I,” you replied diplomatically- though you knew the answer.

“Traitor!” the bitchy one shouted at you, grabbing one of the sodden clothes from her washing tub and hurling at you. 

She was surprisingly strong! – from doing so much physical labour, and you had to jump out of the way to avoid getting hit with the sloppy wet garment.

“Get her!” the bitchy one shouted and all of a sudden all of her cohorts jumped over to grab you.

“Curse this perfect face,” one seethed as she reached a hand out to slap you across the cheek, her nails gouging at your soft skin.

You defended yourself and threw an arm out to grab her hand but there were 5 others who came at you at the same time and although she didn’t get to slap you well enough, someone else did.

There was a heavy scuffle, with hands grabbing and ripping at your lovely clothes and you went into panic mode and fought back, not wanting to be exposed in front of them and risk your secret getting out.

Unfortunately, their sheer numbers overpowered you and you were knocked to the ground.

It was then that you really let loose and started punching anything that came in front of you. 

“Let go of me!” you shouted loudly, “stop!”

“Stop!” your friend yelled, trying to pull the angered girls off you from behind the throng, “if they find that you attacked the woman that the King favors this isn’t going to fair well for you!”

But her warnings were lost on them and their blinkered rage.

………………………

Hinata left you there, not even thinking that you might have been in danger as he walked back your through the palace.

“Good morning, Captain Daichi,” he greeted the good looking captain as he went to pass him.

“Good morning, Hinata, where have you come from?” Daichi asked, looking past him down the hallway he had just walked.

“Oh! I just bought Y/N to see the other women she came to Karasuno with. It appears that they were all quite close and they missed her,” he said with a gentle smile.

Daichi cocked his head a little and thought.

“Should you not have stayed to ensure her safety?” he asked, stepping past Hinata in the direction of the maid’s chambers.

“I… I didn’t see why that was necessary?” Hinata asked, turning to follow captain Daichi as he picked up the pace a little.

“Statistically, there will be some who will be envious of her position and will want the chance to be in her place. Not all of those women will be pleased to see her… if she gets hurt the King will have your head,” he stated bluntly as his footsteps quickened to a run.

Hinata swallowed thickly and nodded gravely, slightly annoyed with himself for being so trusting of the women.

As the men got closer to the chambers they could hear the commotion within and Hinata’s heart sank.

Protectively, captain Daichi drew his sword and ran through the door, smacking it open with his flat palm and proclaiming his entrance.

“Step back!” he shouted when he saw you on the floor and the girls on top of you.

You kicked one woman off you and she went flying and fell backwards into a wash tub, while you yanked another down by the arm and laid your elbow into the side of her face.

“Y/N!” hinata shouted, running in and trying to grab you out from underneath the scuffling girls.

Daichi, too, jumped in and roughly forced the girls off you.

“You will all be tried by the King!” he called out threateningly, pushing two more women off you and brandishing his sword as Hinata helped you up.

You had two deep scratches across your cheek and you knew that you would develop bruises elsewhere where others had stomped on you when you were on the ground but apart from being shaken up, you knew nothing was broken.

<<< The King and I Chapter 15: Troublesome Maids

The King and I Chapter 17: Aftermath >>>