A/N: Hello there! Another story being pulled out of my ol' noggin. :b Anywhooo, this story is actually based on a book I read, and bought the rest of the series of, which is called Skulduggery Pleasant. It's gonna start out with a very stiff storyline, but after a few chappies, it'll get looser. So please, do enjoy, and review as well. When you're done finishing it. Yeah.

Disclaimer: Bluecrackers does NOT, I repeat, DOES NOT own Mai HiME or Skulduggery Pleasant. If I did, I wouldn't be broke. Well, maybe I'm not broke, but I am pr-

Viola Pleasant

It was a shock to everyone when Sakomizu died. A famous author he was, and he died doing what he did best: Writing.

Relatives and acquaintances attended his funeral, but not many friends. Sakomizu was not a well-liked fellow; although he provided many best-sellers in the publishing industry, he had an uncanny knack of insulting people without realizing it and laughing at their shock. It was at Sakomizu's funeral, however, where Natsuki Kuga first saw the woman in the royal purple coat.

The woman was standing under the shade of a tree, very much far from the small crowd that was circled around the priest and the coffin where Sakomizu's body lies. She wore a coat with black buttons lining the middle, a royal purple fedora hat with a black ribbon tied around it, and sunglasses. She wore the fedora hat low over her sunglasses, and a purple scarf was wrapped around her neck and lower face, so you couldn't see any features, her face was fully obscured. Natsuki watched the woman, intrigued by her appearan—Er, unappearance. As if sensing that she was being watched, the lady spun on her heel and promptly walked away from the funeral, through the headstones and into the forest.

After the service, Natsuki and her parents drove to her dead uncle's old house; over a bridge, onto rocky terrain and on a narrow road through a thick forest. Heavy iron gates stood tall and open, welcoming them to Sakomizu's estate. The grounds were vast, and Sakomizu's house was the size of a mansion!

… A big, old mansion, that is.

Natsuki and her parents got out of the car, walking to the front door and her father fished out the keys from his back pocket, searching through the key ring for the correct key. Sticking it in the key-hole, he opened the door with a loud creak and they shuffled inside to get ready.

There was an extra door in the living room, one that was disguised as a bookcase, and Natsuki liked to think of it as a secret place when she was younger. All of the stories she'd read and all of the movies she'd seen made Natsuki think that behind that very, very secret door was a treasure, or a new discovery, or even a monster that would gobble her up whole. But now that door with fond memories was left ajar, with guests standing inside the small room, crowded, holding cups and food.

Tea was served and drinks were handed out, and people were crowding the whole ground floor level of the mansion house. In the crowd, Natsuki spotted her father's older brother, Bunce. Bunce was a horrible little man, who had a horrible little wife named Doris, and two horrible little twin daughters, Crystal and Marlene. Bunce was currently talking to some other guests sombrely (fake, if Natsuki didn't know any better), head down pitifully, and pocketing the silverware when he thought nobody was looking.

He was a short man, incredibly short, in his mid forties and already balding, if you couldn't tell from the large, round, shiny patch of skin in the middle of his scalp, and only having a few patches of hair, colour varying a large range of whites and greys. His nose was long and pointy; his eyes a dull brown, and was clad in a grey tuxedo-suit, if you could even call it that. All it was was a white dress shirt covered by an old, musty-smelling grey jacket, and grey slacks. His eyes darted left and right, checking if anyone was watching, before deftly slipping one of the used spoons smothered in cake into his jacket pocket.

As for his wife and twin daughters, they were standing near Bunce; Doris doing the same as her husband (if not a bit less secretive and a lot more obvious), and Crystal and Marlene glaring at Natsuki.

Ah, Crystal and Marlene.

Both had messy reddish-brownish hair, all messy and frizzy and both had it put up in a messy, horrible looking bun (no doubt that trait came from their mother, Doris). They both had brownish hazel eyes, freckles, were short and chubby, and they were wearing frilly blue dresses with big white spots scattered around it. You can imagine how good they look, and how fitting the dresses were, and how appropriate the colours are for a funeral.

Unlike those two, Natsuki had straight, silky, midnight blue hair that was left down in all its soft and shiny glory. Her eyes were a stunning bright emerald, and she was tall and lean. She was strong, too, with toned abdominals and arms and legs. Instead of wearing a dress (Natsuki despised dresses), she wore formal, black attire, which basically was a tuxedo. Her parents didn't approve much of this, but it was the best she'll do that'll come even close to formal attire. Ever.

Natsuki is glad that she and her cousins look nothing alike; that would mean no one would suspect them to be related. Natsuki was very glad for that. She didn't know if she'd be able to take the question 'Are you related to Crystal and Marlene?'.

So, now Natsuki was having a glaring contest with her twin relatives, occasionally sneaking in a blink or two every time a guess blocked their line of vision. She wasn't sure if Crystal and Marlene did the same. 'Probably not; those two are like gnomes. Gnomes.' Eventually, Natsuki gave up after one of them snarled and looked silly, and evil and ugly. So she decided to go upstairs, away from the terribly crowded place and into her room. She started to make her way, feeling her two cousins' glare following her as she gently pushed guests out of the way, finally making it to the base of the stairs, and heading up. The last think she saw before she headed into her room was her uncle Bunce slipping a silver fork into his back pocket.

Natsuki sighed, getting her ipod and jumping onto her bed, lying on her back with her head resting on the headboard of her bed, but not before changing into something more comfortable. Tuxedos did not make for good sleeping attire. She pressed play on the small device, before closing her eyes and listening to the most peaceful music she could ever imagine listening to—Heavy metal.

As she sat on her bed, she thought of her life, as she did most when she started to relax. Her life was fairly stable. Her mother, Saeko, was a doctor and her father, Sean, was a lawyer. Natsuki herself was still only in high school, but her parents expect her to follow the footsteps of one of them, be in a profession, and do well in school.

Of course, Natsuki does well in school, but her teachers and other classmates find her a tad frustrating, if not, a lot. Her grades are very good, but her participation marks were at E's and F's. Her parents normally grill her, but always ending up on the losing side. After all, Natsuki was getting A's and A-'s. It's not that Natsuki didn't want to co-operate, but it's just that she didn't think that teachers should be given the respect that they haven't earned.

So, basically, yes her life was stable. But 'stable' doesn't exactly mean 'exciting'... Or 'fun'... 'I wish I had a more exciting life.'

Sighing to herself lightly, she cranked up the volume on her ipod before drifting into a peaceful sleep.

Natsuki blinked. She stood on nothing, in the middle of nowhere, and all she could see was nothing; total darkness. That was, until she caught a glimpse of royal purple. She knew she couldn't call out, because that was just plain stupid, calling out 'hello' in the darkness, not knowing what was there. But, against all her instincts, she couldn't stop herself. "Hello?" She called out, not loud but not silent either. Her voice echoed through the nothingness, disappearing soon after.

Natsuki waited a small while: a minute or two, or three or four, maybe even five or six. She couldn't tell; her time receptors in her brain weren't exactly working. She had half a mind (literally) to call out again, but before she was about to, she heard a reply.

"Ara ara..." A voice echoed back. The voice sounded honey coated, and it was a very smooth voice to listen to. Natsuki just barely caught it, for it was only just a faint whisper. It was definitely a woman.

"What the hell does 'ara ara' mean?" Natsuki called, concentrating to see if she could catch another glimpse of that royal purple or another whisper of that enticing voice. A low, hypnotising chuckle was heard. Natsuki frowned. "What are you laughing at?" She asked, a bit irritated.

"Ara ara, Natsuki should know better than to speak to me like that." The voice giggled, but there was a hint of venom behind the statement. The voice was very close to Natsuki's ear, as if the person that it belonged to was standing right behind her. She instantly spun around, only to find that, yes, the owner of the voice was right behind her.

The woman stood tall, around about half a head taller than Natsuki. She was wearing a royal purple coat, a fedora hat and a scarf of the same colour. Natsuki's eyes widened in realization. "Y-You...!" She stuttered, taking a step back, only for the woman to take a step closer. Natsuki winced as she heard herself stutter, so clearing her throat, she tried again. "You.. You're the woman that was standing under the tree at Uncle Sakomizu's funeral..." She paused for a moment, seeing the woman stiffen. "... How do you know my name?" She asked firmly.

The woman instantly took a few more steps forward, grabbing Natsuki's wrists tightly and pulling her in roughly... For a kiss? Even though the woman pulled her harshly, it was only a soft peck, and Natsuki barely felt it, although her lips felt tingly afterwards. The woman didn't let go of Natsuki's wrists, but took a step back to watch Natsuki in her stunned state.

Then Natsuki saw them.

The woman had bright, shining crimson eyes that seemed to pierce into Natsuki's very soul. Why didn't Natsuki notice them before? She hadn't been wearing those sunglasses then. Even though the strange woman's lower face was still covered by the scarf wrapped around it, she could tell that the woman was smirking.

"Ara, Natsuki should learn that if she doesn't keep her mouth closed, I shall do so for her..." The woman chuckled, before shoving Natsuki away. "Kannin na, Natsuki. You're falling deeper and deeper into this world..."

Natsuki fell. She just fell. She felt like she was falling forever, but she couldn't really tell. She could sense that the ground was near. The last thing she saw was that strange woman smiling at her from high above, before a fireball engulfed her as she hit the ground...

Thump!

Natsuki groaned as she rolled onto her back on her back, lying on the floor tangled in her blankets. Sitting up, she rubbed the back of her head, letting out a loud yawn as she untangled herself from the blankets and stood up, chucking the heaped fabric back onto her bed. She swayed on her feet for a few seconds, shaking the drowsiness away from her head, and lazily stumbled back onto her bed, sitting down on it as she blinked the rest of her drowsiness away from her mind. The drowsiness disappeared, only to be replaced by worry. What kind of dream was that?

Natsuki tried to recall her dream, but the only thing she could remember was those stunningly beautiful crimson eyes that stared straight through her. Who did those belong to again? 'Oh... That weird purple woman...' Natsuki thought, frowning.

"... Fuuuck." She drawled out as she continued rubbing the bump that was growing on the back of her head. She decided to work on the matter later, if it was even a matter at all.

"Language, Natsuki." A voice stated, clearing their throat. Natsuki's head snapped up, only to see her mother standing at the doorway, her arms crossed and a frown marring her features. Mumbling out a small apology, Natsuki watched her mother walk into the room, sitting next to her on the bed. "Sweetie, you should get dressed." Saeko cooed, stroking Natsuki's head, and, unbeknownst to her, on Natsuki's bump.

Wincing and holding back a growl, Natsuki looked at Saeko. "Why?" She asked bluntly.

"We're going to the reading of Sakomizu's will."

... So. How was it? Pretty bad, right? :b Well then. Hmm. YEAAHH. This is kinda awkward. So.. Just review, or something? Mm. This was hard to get out, you know? It took me like... 2 weeks of planning... And another 2 weeks to write this chapter... So... Review for my hard work and stuff! Yeah. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Review already!