"Yuichirou!" exclaimed Lady Amane. "You horrid child come here!"

Yuu whined and huffed at his mother's harsh tone and trudged over to her.

"Mother, I'm not a child! I'm 16 now."

"If you are not a child, then explain to me just why you were sneaking about the Shindo estate!" Lady Amane interrogated.

"Mother-"

"Do not 'Mother' me young man!" His mother grabbed him by the ear and dragged him up the stairs. "You know why we do not associate with that horrible family; they're barely even human!"

Yuu struggled in his mother's grasp, grumbling in pain.

"That's why I was there! Ow…! I was trying to see if what they say about them is true!"

Lady Amane threw her son into his chambers and watched over him as he stood and rubbed his ear in pain.

"I do not want to see you hurt because of those… monsters! They should not even be allowed into civil society…" Lady Amane sighed, turning on her heel, leaving her only son standing there. She made her way back to the dining room to join her husband. As she took her seat across from him, he saw Lord Amane look up from his newspaper.

"What did he do now?" Amane asked as if this wasn't his son's first offense.

"The servant who was attending to the groceries for this week saw him sneak into the Shindo estate…" She saw her husband stiffen at the mention of that name.

"Foolish boy, he's going to get himself killed someday…" Lord Amane shook his head with a sigh. "He needs to settle down already. Perhaps his reckless behavior will cease if he finds a suitable wife."

"Perhaps…" Lady Amane agreed.

Yuu scoffed quietly as he sat on the other side of the wall.

'Marriage?' He thought as he rolled his eyes. Yuu had no plans whatsoever to settle down. All he wanted to do was escape the stuffy uptight home he grew up in and leave the stuffy uptight town he grew up in. Yuu had plans to see the world, and he was not going to let his parents stop him.

Yuu grabbed his satchel, which had been discarded haphazardly onto the floor in the conflict prior and snuck out the servants' door. He would never come back, and why should he? His parents just wanted to marry him off to some girl who wanted his money.

The wannabe runaway pulled out his map and headed to the nearest port. However, as he crossed through the city square, he got caught in the traffic of a crowd, and was pushed to the side. Next to him was a man clearly of lower standing. He almost looked dead, sporting a dull shade of slate grey. Yuu noticed a massive array of scars and scabbed wounds around his neck and wrists that made his stomach churn. The man's lifeless, dark, beady eyes darted about to focus on the teen. He nervously peered down at the stack of parchment he was holding and then to Yuichirou.

"U-um…. Are you on the list, sir?" The man asked Yuu, presenting him the list. Yuu carefully took the parchment in his gloved hands, reading the neatly printed section at the top to himself.

"Guestlist for his Lord Shindo's masquerade tonight," Yuu muttered to himself, raising an eyebrow. His curiosity controlled his body as he read over the list of guests. "Why yes, I'm right here." Yuu quickly pointed to a random name.

"Oh, Here you go sir, see you there." The man said, handing Yuu a small printed invitation.

Yuu grinned to himself, placing the card into his pocket. "Thank you, sir."

Yuu returned to his parent's estate with the thought of running away pushed to the far back of his mind. He scaled the thick vine branches up to his room's balcony and flopped onto his bed, excited to decipher the Shindo family secret once and for all.

Mikaela Shindo nervously paced about his chambers, anxious about his father's annual masquerade. This year was the year that the female family friends would try to court him. He was not excited to say the least.

"Mikaela," his mother, Lady Shindo, called as she climbed the grand staircase to her son's bedroom.

"Yes mother?" Mika asked as he stood up.

Lady Shindo was already dressed to the nines for her husband's masquerade. She was hauntingly beautiful and carried an air of mystery and authority wherever she went. She sat down on Mika's fainting chair, her dress fanning out around her like an ocean wave.

"Mikaela, do you know how important this party is for us?" Lady Shindo asked her son, ashing her cigarette into the ashtray on the side table. Mika was never one for smoking, so it usually was empty.

Mika frowned, rubbing his arm. He knew exactly where this conversation was going.

"Yes mother… I understand that this is important," Mika hesitated.

"You must let the girls court you, son. Please do this for your father and I." Lady Shindo brought her cigarette to her rouge lips as Mika stiffened.

"But…"

"You're not a child, Mikaela." Mika winced as his mother stood. "You can handle getting courted, can't you?"

"Yes mother…" Mika stared at his hands, avoiding eye contact with his mother.

"Good boy," His mother said as she ruffled his fluffy blonde hair and left him to his lonesome until the festivities began.

After he was sure she left, Mika draped himself over his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He knew he was not ready to find any sort of suitor. He knew that he had never been interested in girls, but if he had told his mother that, she would have burnt him at the stake.

That thought sent a chill down Mika's spine. He knew he had obligations to his family, but every time he thought about marriage, his heart ached. Mika placed his hand on his chest, unsure. He felt like throwing up, or crying, or screaming, or hiding, or running away, but all he could find himself able to do was stare quietly at his bedroom ceiling, emotionless.