"The reverse side of beauty
It died by beloved filth."
"Filth in the Beauty" The Gazette
"Such a pity she was born a girl."
"Hai, Takaya-sama is lucky to have a son. And such a handsome one at that."
A young Genji peered over his shoulder towards where his father sat next to an old woman dressed in a black mourning kimono. While they sat on the veranda sipping tea, he was standing before a small girl crouching down to draw in the dirt with her tiny finger. He had been instructed to play with the little girl while the grown-ups talked but Genji found the girl boring.
Long black hair hung in her face as she drew the symbol for smile over and over in the dirt. Genji frowned; it was obvious she had heard the conversation, after all they were only a few feet away. But why was she writing "smile" so much? Was she reminding herself to look happy on the day of her parent's funeral? Heaving a sigh, Genji thought of what to do to console the poor girl, but his lack of social skills drew a blank.
"Genji-sama," a meek voice mumbled as a hand tugged on his pantleg.
The young boy crouched down and met her misty grey eyes, something to striking and different on an Asian. A genetic fluke, his father had said among other rude statements directed to the Kuroyasha heiress.
"Do you think I'm worthless?" her tiny voice wondered. Crystal like tears dotted her eyelashes, but her chin refused to tremble and her lips refused to frown.
For a moment Genji just stared at the girl. How was he supposed to know if she was worth anything or not? Honestly, it was not his problem and he could care less, but he saw himself in her eyes, glassy with unshed tears. Her grandmother found her useless since she was a girl, and now that her parents were dead there was no chance in having a male heir. Genji found himself neglected by his father after the death of his mother, he would do anything to gain acceptance from his old man.
"No," Genji smiled, resting a hand on her head. "No one's worthless."
Then, just like she had written in the dirt, the girl smiled.
X
Once fall reared its ugly head, Genji noticed how tense Suzuran became. It was like a dark blanket fell over the demon school and everyone jabbed themselves with sedatives. No one fought or challenged him for the title of leader since the fight with Serizawa. Hell, the second the first autumn leaf fell, Chuta froze and stared at it, his hands shaking as he pulled his cigarette from his lips. Makise had visibly flinched when Genji thoughtlessly stepped on it on his way towards the roof. Izaki thought about explaining to Genji why everyone was on edge, but decided that the time would come soon enough.
And it did.
While sitting by the dirty pool playing cards, Genji suddenly felt a chill race up his spine. Makise was about to fold when he froze, breaking out into a noticeable sweat. Genji raised a brow, knowing that the gorilla only twisted his legs together when a girl was around.
Looking over his shoulder he did in fact find a girl standing behind him. She was alone, which would have been the wrong move for any girl entering Suzuran, but there wasn't a guy in a ten yard radius from her. In fact, most of the students watched from the dirty, broken windows.
Giving the girl his full attention, he let his eyes flick over her. The right half of her head was shaved and dyed blond, while the left half was long and the color of blood. Her black pleated skirt ended a good three inches above her knee, black socks leaving a sliver of skin between the hem of her skirt and socks. She wore a red and black leather jacket with a tattooed Geisha on the back. The girl narrowed her dark eyes, framed by her white mask and pin straight hair, and pulled a hand out of her pocket.
"Takaya Genji?" she asked, holding old a white envelope.
"H-Hai," he stood and took the letter, eyeing it warily.
"The Queen of Onmoraki sends her regards,"
Then the strange girl turned and left without another word.
Genji tore open the letter and quickly scanned through it. All it said was that the leader of Onmoraki would be there at noon tomorrow. Confused, he glanced up at his three friends before turning to Izaki for help. The blond pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily.
"Moraki is an all-girls school across the river." Izaki blew out a grey cloud of smoke, watching it twist into the ceiling.
The four of them sat at the near-empty bar, lounging in the sleek black leather chairs. Makise still looked visibly shaken by the appearance of the messenger and gulped down his beer like water. Genji inhaled the sweet poison from his cigarette, a little ticked off that he had never heard of this before.
"It's called Onmoraki because everyone sees it as Suzuran's sister school. Go figure." He leant forward and took a swig of his beer before continuing. "The thing is, once they get news of a new leader in Suzuran, they come over for a "visit"."
"Like fucking vultures!" whined Chuta, grinding the heels of his hands into his eyes.
"What's wrong with some girls showing up?" Genji asked, snubbing out his cigarette. "Shouldn't we be excited?"
Izaki chuckled at his friend's ignorance. "They're not normal girls, Genji. Hell, the four hench… women… that follow the Queen are named after demons."
"Hashihime, Oiwa, Ubume, and Teke Teke." Chuta counted off on his fingers.
"What do they want with us?" Genji mumbled, grabbing his beer and finishing it off.
"Our manhood!" cried Makise, burying his face into his hands.
"Mostly they come to terrify the underclassman, but their leader is always eager to meet a new leader." Izaki ground the end of his cigarette into the ashtray. "She likes to make him squirm."
Genji fiddled with his cigarette packet. It was almost empty, damn. "Did she show up for Serizawa?"
Chunta and Mikase exchanged looks.
"Whatever she said to him almost made him piss his pants." Izaki shook his head. "Murasaki Kuroyasha is a force to be reckoned with."
Genji spit out his drink on Chunta.
X
Genji watched at the threshold of his house as the little girl was led away by her grandmother. The girl paused to wave at him, but he didn't acknowledge it. She smiled anyway.
His father clapped a hand on his shoulder. "I've done her grandmother a favor and took over all the Kurayasha businesses. In return, one day you will marry Murasaki."