S.

I need your help once again, like you offered her help when she was younger and in hiding (even though you wasn't overly amazing at it, jackass). Our Kingdom is in ruins and our only daughter, Emmie-Rose is stuck in the middle of it all, we need to find a safe house for her, the twins have already been taken and the Malice family are in tatters, they've hit at a vulnerable time for this household. Please let me know ASAP if this is something you can do for me.

X.

Ps. if you do this I won't call you a Jackass for a whole year

She stood before the magnificent, aged house; it looked almost identical to an old farmhouse that she used to play in when she was younger. The old thatched roof looked tattered and replaced over the years, yet the door looked brand new, like it had been recently replaced, or even very well mended. She trudged her suitcase across the jagged garden, passing a petite, encircling pool and making her way to the door. She paused, looked around. Something wasn't quite right with this place and she knew it. She reached out to knock on the door, trying to come across as polite as possible to her new 'guardians', she took a deep breath in as her left knuckle rapped on the door once, twice, three times.

The door gradually opened as a sinister eye peered out the small gap at her; it gave her chills for a moment as she started worrying she was in the wrong place "Is this the Sohma property?" she questioned, slightly shaking in her voice.

BANG

The door slammed open and a tall, dark haired gentleman stood before her, dressed in a pale kimono, his eyes deep and swimming with joy, he had one hand resting against the doorframe and the other resting of the belt of his kimono, a chilled look rested on his face as he greeted his guest. She felt the prickles of uneasiness shoot down her back. Seeing someone so care free and joyous put her on edge; the last two weeks had been hell with the fighting and murder throughout the kingdom, coming to such a remote place and being greeted with happiness seemed like an ancient myth.

The deep voice of the man stood before her broke through her thoughts "You must be Miss Malice, am I right?" he positioned a finger under her chin to lift her head "My, my, you look just like your mother, can't say I really see your father in you though" she smacked his hand away and stepped back

"Hey! That's rude"

The man standing before her looked shocked for a moment, but his face quickly split into a smile that started laughing gently at her "There he is" he stepped back from the door and invited her in with a gesture of his hand "I'm Shigure Sohma, and this is supposedly my house. Don't let the other three fool you, none of them pay to live here, but it's what you do for family."

She slowly walked past, her eyes never leaving him, back to the door frame so he was always in sight "Emmie-Rose" she muttered "pleasure" she rested her suitcase up against the wall and looked around the spacious front room. In the centre sat a beautiful kotatsu and six zaisu's resting on a tatami mat, along the walls sat photos of the Sohma family and bamboo twisted into inspirational words such as "inspire" and "peaceful". She took a seat, uneasily looking around at the strange décor on the nearby cabinet; things such as a lucky cat, bonsai tree, a red gem and a lot of reading material un neatly sat on the shelves, waiting for someone to come along and organise the mess.

"You mentioned my parents" she reminded Shigure a little nervously, still taking in all her surroundings as the natural light filtered through the door, casting shadows onto the back wall.

"Ah yes, Nicole and Sai, the love of my life and the thief who stole her away" he sighed and looked dreamily into the distance "Love of your life? Hold on there, what do you mean love of your life, my parents have been together since being nineteen and where courting since sixteen"

"Ignore him, Miss, I'm guessing you're talking about Miss Malice again" a tall guy, approximately 18 years stood at the door which was situated behind Shigure. He sported pure white hair but with a hint of black beneath it. His sleeveless red shirt revealed a tattoo of vines wrapped around his arm and two vibrant roses attached to these vines, one blue and one red.

"You're so mean, Haru, we had something and You know it"

Ignoring the dramatic man in the corner, now pouting like a little girl, Haru turned his attention to the confused looking brunette "You must be Emmie, you're mother has spoken a lot about you through letters over the years" he took her hand and placed his lips against it, maintaining eye contact the whole time, Shigure rolled his eyes "Now, now Haru, Nicole won't be happy if you start hitting on her daughter"

Emmie grinned "It's not my mother you need to be worried about, wait, you say over the years, yet you only look about my age, my mother is in her thirties now"

Haru flashed a smile and winked before leaving the room, leaving Emmie more confused and wanting answers than ever before.

She turned her attention back to Shigure "So, how did you meet my mother?"

"Your Grandfather sent your mother here to protect her at the time, hoping that being away from the kingdom would help her and keep her safe"

"Safe from what?"

A sneaky grin spread across Shigure's face "Your father" he closed his eyes as he remembered the directions he was given so many years ago.

...

"I need you to look after her, there's a murderer lingering around the kingdom and my youngest daughter is next on his list. I'm going to send her to come and stay with you until we capture and stop this blood thirsty creature, all you need to do is watch over her and make sure no one gets close to her"

...

"But, mother had already met father before she came here, hadn't she?" Emmie pushed her brunette hair behind her ears "So why did grandfather try to keep her safe from someone she had already met?"

"Well" her new guardian sighed "I think it's only his majesty, your grandfather, that can answer that one, even your mother didn't know, only that your father was after her as his next victim. Has your mother not told you this story?"

"Kinda, grandfather doesn't like her talking about it all so she kept a lot of what happened quiet"

"Ah, so Nequa still runs that place with an iron fist I see"

Emmie shuffled around uncomfortably "He died three years ago, mother and father haven't been the same since, they tried to keep things normal for me, but I knew it wasn't right"

"I'm sorry, Emmie-Rose" Shigure lowered his head in respect to her late grandfather.

Emmie shrugged "its life unfortunately, Uncle Al is looking after her now and father is trying to go forward and keep her going along with us kids"

"They're hoping this war fixes her then?"

"I'm hoping it will…can we talk about something else?"

"Of course" Shigure sat silently for a few seconds "If you ever need to talk about it, we're here, we all know what it's like t-"

"Can I get a drink, it's been a long travel" Emmie changed the subject quickly, wanting any reason to leave the uncomfortable situation that had been created.

Shigure nodded and pointed towards the kitchen "Oh, Emmie, be careful"

"I will" She headed towards the kitchen as Haru stepped down the last set of stairs

Shigure sat back, massaging his furrowed brow "You wondered why you hadn't heard anything for a while, Haru"

"I'll should go talk to her, Shigure, if the rest get back give them a heads up, having an emotional other being in the house might cause some friction" Haru headed towards the kitchen and Shigure's voice drifted through "She has her father's temperament, I'd watch your back, we both know how much you two clashed before" his warning was ignored but the young boy.