For the most part, this fanfiction is based around the ideas that came to mind while listening to Trois, Lost Alice and Lycoris no Mori (The Forest of Lycoris). Also this is a little like an Alice in Wonderland AU but with a twist here and there. I hope you enjoy, regardless!
Otoya Ittoki Saotome was the heir to his father's highly successful series of business. The Shining Series. Mitsuo Saotome was one of the richest men in the world, and had many fans around the globe either for his business or from back to his days an a highly successful idol to which he first found his fame. Otoya's mother, Kotomi, had disappeared suddenly and mysteriously when he was very young and thus now he barely remembered her aside from the portrait his father kept in the Family Portrait Hall.
All he'd been told was that Kotomi had a sweet personality to which it seemed he had inherited, a passionate love for music the same as his father, and her kindness was above any other. He'd also been told that she would often sit out in the sunflower field during warm sunsets with him and sing him her favourite tunes - mostly the ones she'd used to write for his father.
He often wrote songs himself when he had free time on rainy days. When the weather was well enough, Otoya would spend his time walking about the grounds of his estate. When by himself he would sing his parents' songs quietly under his breath. If someone found him then he would instantly quieten down and stop. He was - most often than not - loud and brash around others, especially in crowds. Crowds and close friends like his betrothed, Haruka Nanami.
Haruka and he weren't in love though. They were engaged to be married through important family matters concerning the future but Haruka had her eyes on another nobleman heir named Cecil Aijima. Otoya got only fairly well with him in the times they had met, but he had never met the boy's parents. Only hear of them. Otoya had asked Haruka about them once or twice but she had sworn to secrecy with Cecil that she wouldn't say anything about them. Even Otoya's own father had refused to answer his questions.
Concerning Otoya's love life; he had none. He had once thought he'd fallen for a noblewoman named Tomochika Shibuya. She had been a friend of theirs before and she'd been close to Haruka in particular before her family had decided to move away. She had been nearly as excitable as he could be, and they had been mistaken for twin siblings more than enough times by strangers when seen together. Only when Otoya had grown older and a bit wiser did he realise that he had not been in love with her at all. A forest had separated her housing estate from Otoya's own.
The Forest of Lycoris.
There had been many happenings and the forest had always ended up involved somehow - one way or another. People going missing. Ghosts calling out to anyone who got too close. Creatures of the unknown roaming around and causing mischief. Songs had been written about the place. Many articles of myths, legends and conspiracy theories had circled the internet for decades.
Otoya had read them all. For some reason the forest captured his attention to the fullest. He'd scoured the Library on all the books they had kept about the forest. Lycoris. He had read up that the name meant "twilight" in an ancient language. It made sense with most of the disappearances having taken place around that time. It only fuelled his curiosity. Curious to enter the forest and see what it really was for himself.
But he needed a valid reason, and had yet to be presented with one.
"Are you trying to get scolded again?" Came a feminine voice from behind.
Otoya sighed. He'd been caught walking too near the forest again. And by his betrothed no less.
"Hello Haruka," his voice was a mixture of "pleased to see you" and "let me live a good life" as he turned to face her, pausing in his walk. "Did my father send you to find me?"
"No, I just know what you're like" She walked closer until they stood side by side and then continued their walk. "That place is dangerous and you know it. Better than anyone to be precise..."
"But there must be some reason as to why people suddenly go missing though! This forest got famous somehow, I just want to check it out".
"But Otoya, people have gone in there and disappeared! What if that happens to you too? Then what do I do?"
"It won't happen, but if it did then you'd be completely free to marry Cecil, wouldn't you? Just like you want?" He raised an eyebrow at her and the pinkette blushed, avoiding his gaze. "Haruka, I just want to take a look. Five minutes? Ten at most" He tried to plead with her but Haruka shook her head.
"Your father would have my head if I let you and he found out".
"Then make sure he doesn't?" It was a statement rather than a question.
Haruka sighed all the same and their walked continued in a gentle silence. Otoya watched the tall, looming trees beyond the estate's fencing, his expression twisted in thought. His betrothed kept her gaze mostly to the ground, her hands clasped neatly in front of her pink sundress, only looking up now and then to make sure she didn't walk into anything even though she knew Otoya would guide her way if she needed it. But when he was deep in thought like he was now, she didn't one hundred percent trust him to do so.
The sounds of the birds chirping accompanied them on their stroll and soon they had come to the end of the trail, being forced to turn away from the forest and continue following the path laid out. Otoya sighed to himself as he drew himself away from the mysterious place that had captured his mind. How he wished he could go and explore in there. Just a look around! A quick look was all he asked for! He didn't think that was too much to want. It wasn't, was it?
Haruka suddenly slipped her arm through his and clasped their hands together, their fingers entwining. Otoya didn't flinch or pull away, as much as he wanted, knowing she had only done it because the estate was closing in and people would get suspicious if the "happy couple" weren't acting how they were expected to. Otoya had once gotten so annoyed about their betrothal that he suggested dying his hair and getting contacts to make himself look like Cecil. Haruka had instantly refused and slapped him on the shoulder in a light scolding.
"Ah, Master Otoya!" Called one of the servants - a footman - as the two approached the estate building. "I see Lady Haruka found you out in the gardens, thankfully. Your father has requested he see you immediately. He claims it's important family business".
Otoya nodded his head and plastered on a side of him that made him feel uncomfortable in his own skin. "Thank you, I'll head right there now. Would you mind seeing my fiancée is well taken care of in my absence?"
"Of course, this way Lady Haruka" The footman bowed with a hand over his heart before leading Haruka away as Otoya had requested.
As soon as they were out of sight, Otoya lost the smile and happy attitude and went inside to go and see what his father wanted with him.
"Father? You requested to see me?" Otoya asked in polite formal greeting as he opened the door to his father's office. This was where he could usually be found.
"Otoya," Mitsuo's voice was near enough close to a purr as he called his son's name. "Come. Sit. I've been meaning to speak to you about this for a while now".
Otoya closed the door behind him and sat down. There was a large portrait of he and his father on the wall behind Mitsuo's desk, with two smaller picture frames on the desk itself, one of Otoya as a young child and one of his mother for memory's sake. He knew there was also a crumpled note in the top right drawer from his mother to his father - having found it by accident when he and Haruka were a little younger and playing hide and seek. It seemed to be Kotomi's final note before she had disappeared. Or from the wording, it at least sounded like it.
"Please fulfil your dreams and be a pro. I'm really sorry. Please be happy - Kotomi"
Otoya thought about that note more often than not. Part of him believed his mother's disappearance and the Forest of Lycoris had to be connected, and yet the majority of him believed that his mother had simply had a random change of heart and ran away. Perhaps one day he would find the answers to his many questions and concerns, but his priority was the estate and being his father's heir.
"What is it you wish to talk with me about?" Otoya asked after a brief pause.
Mitsuo rested his elbows on the desk, his hands clasped together and his chin resting on them yet he didn't meet Otoya's gaze. That was how he immediately knew it was going to be a talk he was not fond of. He took a breath before he sighed heavily. Definitely not good news.
"I need to talk to you about your and Lady Haruka's wedding. You've been together through betrothal for many years now, ever since you were both children, but now you are of age to officially take her hand in marriage and make an honest woman of her. Sooner rather than later, son".
"But Father, I don't think I'm ready. I'm not even sure I like Haruka that way! We're close, yes, but we're friends more than anything" He did his best to plead.
"Then you will simply have to learn to love her the way that is expected of you. For the good of both families and the companies they hold. I want no arguments about it, Otoya".
"But she's in love with Cecil Aijima! And I'm not feeling that way about anyone right now! Wh-What if I met some other girl, and fell for her? Wouldn't that suffice? Cecil's family is just as wealthy as ours and-"
"Enough." Mitsuo's voice was firm and commanding, the tone immediately causing Otoya to shut his useless rambling. "You are expected to marry Haruka into this family and that is what you shall do. Do you understand me, son?"
Otoya sighed quietly and hung his head before he nodded, keeping his eyes to the floor. "Yes sir..." He replied.
"Good. You'd best be on your way now as I don't wish to keep our future lady waiting for you any longer than she should".
The wording had two meanings, Otoya knew. He sighed to himself and stood at his dismissal, glancing up at the portrait before he left.
"He spoke to you about the wedding?" Haruka was trying to be calm but Otoya could tell she was screaming on the inside.
He nodded, cupping his chin in hands as they sat in armchairs facing one another in one of the estate building's lounges. He sighed heavily and buried his face in his hands, moving them up through his red hair and resting on the back of his neck as he stared at the floor.
"Stop that" Haruka scolded, lightly tapping her foot against his leg.
"Stop what?" He mumbled, not really caring.
"Sighing. You're practically wasting breath like that. I hate this idea as much as you do, and you know it, but what can we do now exactly?" She cut him off just as he opened his mouth to speak. "And don't you dare say that running into the forest is a good idea. It's a stupid one".
"It sounds like you're trying to side with my father without ticking me off".
"Well lucky for you, I'm not. Otoya, there's nothing we can do but get married and live with it until we die. As sad as that is, it's the truth".
"No it isn't. Haruka, do you love me? Like really love me? Enough to want to take my name and raise a family together?" He saw her hesitation and answered for her. "No, of course you don't. See what I mean?"
"Otoya, I don't understand what you're trying to say. Explain to me what's going through your head...even if it is about the forest..."
He sighed, earning a sharp look from Haruka, and closed his eyes for a moment before glancing up at the intricate design painted on the ceiling above. "If I was able to run into the forest, I could go and probably find what I've been looking for; answers. And then people would think I've disappeared like the other cases. Before you rant again, here me out; if that happened, then people would assume I was gone too, right? So then you'd be able to marry someone else and Cecil has no betrothed so it'd be the perfect opportunity for you to be with him! By the time I return, you'd be married to him. Do you see now? We both get what we want".
Haruka thought for a moment before she shook her head. "That's just a fantasy in your mind. We have no way of knowing that I'd be able to marry Cecil if you disappeared. And to be able to come back? Otoya, you know how many people have disappeared in that forest and all of them haven't come back, so how would you?" The pinkette shook her head again. "It's too much of a risk. I may not be in love with you but I do love you as one of my closest friends. Do you understand that?"
"I know," he replied in a low voice. "I just thought that...y'know... Forget it. You're right, it is just a fantasy in my head that I keep believing" He shrugged. "I didn't say a word".
"Why are you in a mood with me all of a sudden? Just because I didn't go along with that little scheme of yours?"
"You make it sound like a bad thing".
"It is a bad thing! Why? Because quite frankly I don't wish for my friend to end up dead too! Tomochika already moved away, and I don't see Cecil as often as I'd like, so that leaves you" She stood and smoothed down her dress. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be heading home now".
"Let me see you out," He also stood and then rested a hand gently on her shoulder. "I'm sorry Haruka..."
She paused before resting her hand on his own. "I know..."
Otoya and Haruka walked to the front doors of the estate building and bid one another a silent goodbye. Otoya never felt more horrid than when he and a friend would depart on somewhat bad terms, apology or no apology. He watched her pull a shawl around over her shoulders and the two shared a sympathetic look before she walked down the steps and across the pebbled courtyard and climbed into the carriage that had been waiting since her arrival earlier. Otoya watched as the carriage was pulled away by two elegant white horses and disappeared out of the gates of the estate and then finally out of sight.
He glanced at the sky. A glorious painting of blue and orange mixing together for the beginning of a sunset. He took a deep breath of air before he disappeared indoors and went upstairs to his bedroom. He had to think of something. There must be some way he could...escape.
But, as he knew, escaping reality was far harder than it sounded.