Amaya Tenjin heard the low murmur of voices outside, but ignored them, her eyes on Saruhiko as he slept.
After her left wrist had been put in a cast, she had been questioned by Lieutenant Awashima and Captain Munakata in the cafeteria about the incident earlier, and it was pretty obvious that both Saruhiko's superiors were aware of her relationship to him. She had answered honestly, while avoiding some of the others, aware of the Blue King's eyes on her. Amaya had also made it a point to ignore the snack that the Blue King's second in command had prepared for her – something tasty made inedible after the woman had drowned it in red bean paste; in Amaya's opinion, it looked like goat dung heaped on a plate, and judging by the way Captain Munakata turned his face away, he was as sickened as she was.
When both the Captain and Lieutenant approached her in the hallway, she had been pretty hungry, but the sight of the ridiculous concoction had made her lose her appetite, and she doubted that even a ravenous rat would want to eat it.
Now, as she sat beside her childhood friend, she felt the pangs of hunger coming back, although she decided to ignore the rumbling in her stomach in order to stay by his side.
Saruhiko muttered something incoherent, turning his head towards her, his breathing laboured. It was only when she reached out, and stroked his hair before holding his hand while murmuring solace to him that he seemed to calm down.
Saruhiko Fushimi was always a restless sleeper. Thanks to the way Niki had terrorized him when he was still alive, and after he passed away, he never seemed to have a moment's peace, even in his sleep; it didn't help that he never slept well in unfamiliar surroundings.
Before her father's death, and Saruhiko's falling out with Misaki, she had temporarily stayed at their rundown apartment, sleeping on the couch until she was allowed to rent an apartment where she could stay alone. Sometimes, she would wake up to find Saruhiko making his way to her, and she would move to make room for him to curl up under the blanket with her. It was kind of funny how Misaki's near heart attack shrieking at the sight of them bundled together the next morning woke them up, even if it was clear that they hadn't gone beyond sleeping in each other's arms; when he had come into their lives, until their parting of ways, all he knew was that Amaya was the girl who had grown up next door to Saruhiko, and they had never bothered telling him about their arranged marriage – partly because they were too young, they weren't exactly comfortable talking about it, and they were also aware that anything could happen in the near or distant future that would cause them to call it off.
When she transferred to Ashinaka High School after her father died, and Saruhiko cut ties with Misaki, he still seemed to have that habit of coming to her apartment, and sleeping next to her; it was very rare to see him sleeping on the couch. In fact, thanks to his constant appearances, her landlady had assumed that they were living together, and were in a romantic relationship. None of them had bothered correcting her since it was too much of a hassle to do so, and it had always amused them to see the look on her face each time she saw them together.
" Miss? "
Feeling every inch of the exhaustion that had been kept at bay while she was awake, Amaya slowly opened her eyes, and saw Ryuho Kamo, one of Saruhiko's subordinates, bending over her. Sitting up slowly, Amaya rubbed her eyes, and realized that she had fallen asleep with her head on her arms while holding Saruhiko's hand.
Thankfully, Kamo had shown himself to be serious and mature, which made her trust him almost instantly, unlike the carrot haired Domyouji, and meddling Hidaka; both guys had been so noisy that she had almost hurled her chair at them earlier.
" Yes? " she asked softly, glancing at Saruhiko. His breathing was even, and thankfully, he was resting.
Kamo sighed inwardly, hating to have to tell her the news that prompted him to wake her up when she was obviously worried about her fiancée, and exhausted, but he knew that he had no choice. " Fushimi-san's mother, and cousin are here. "
Amaya shot up from her chair almost instantly, but managed to catch herself on time. " What?! " she hissed. " I didn't call them, and they're not even supposed to be here! "
Kamo flinched at the ferocity of her tone, even if she kept her voice low, but ever since her relationship with Fushimi had been revealed, along with both their backgrounds, he could understand why she was so protective of him. " Hidaka called them, " he revealed, remembering how the said clansman had insisted that Fushimi-san's situation was reason enough for his family to be called so that the hatchet could be buried. " We told him not to, but he insisted… "
Amaya was already on her way to the door, her eyes blazing with rage, and Kamo considered it a miracle that she opened and closed it softly instead of kicking the door off his hinges – which she obviously wanted to do.
Stay away from him.
Amaya could feel the stares of the other Blue Clansmen, including the Captain and Lieutenant as she strode towards the two figures the nosy Hidaka had called. Giving the said clansman a glare that conveyed the consequences of his bungle up that could have struck him dead on the spot, she stopped barely ten feet away from Kisa Fushimi and Aya Oogai. The former was obviously annoyed that she had been called away from one of her oh-it's-so-important cocktail parties – she was dressed in another one of her damn party dresses. For the billionth time in her sixteen years, Amaya wondered how a stone cold, heartless bitch could be her fiancess's mother since she never loved him, or even tried to. Saruhiko may have gotten his features, and some part of his attitude from that bastard Niki, but his black hair, pale skin, and blue eyes came from Kisa; his intelligence seemed to be something that he had inherited from both his parents.
Aya Oogai was Saruhiko's paternal second cousin, but even though she was only a few months younger than Amaya, both girls didn't like each other for their own reasons: Aya resented Amaya for being close to her cousin, as well as engaged to him, while Amaya disliked Aya for having a spoiled, inconsiderate attitude and an almost incestuous, stalker like crush on Saruhiko. But the trigger for the bomb had been set off when Amaya had been staying with Saruhiko and Misaki, and Aya had the audacity to badmouth both her late parents – right after her father's cremation. Amaya had flown into a rage, giving Aya both a black eye and broken jaw; she had even taking one of Saruhiko's knives that she always carried with her, and hacked Aya's hair off dangerously close to her scalp so that barely a few clumps had remained. It had taken Saruhiko putting his arms around her waist, and lifting her off, while keeping an iron grip on her to keep her from killing his cousin. When confronted by her adversary's mother, she had told her what Aya had done, and the woman had understood her reasons for doing what she did. In order to make up for her daughter's insult, Aya's mother had been the one to pay for two months' worth of her rent – despite Amaya's protests. Amaya and Aya hadn't seen each other after that.
Until now.
The temperature in the corridor had dropped below zero as Scepter 4's third in command's fiancée faced off with his estranged mother and second cousin.
Aya took a step back at Amaya's approach, the memory of how humiliated she had been after her near scalping still fresh in her mind. As Amaya glared at both her and Kisa in apparent disgust, Aya was once again struck by how beautiful her cousin's fiancée was ( which had been one of the reasons why Aya had disliked her ).
Amaya Tenjin was petite and slender, with small, yet round and firm high breasts, and waist length, dark hair that could make even a model jealous. The slightly wavy mane was a dark brown, almost shading onto black with natural red and gold highlights that seemed to dance along the strands, framing the oval shaped, baby faced medallion that was her face. Her eyes were a strange color, and yet, it added to her earthly, yet fierce beauty: light brown, almost golden around the pupil in a starburst pattern, with a light blue-green outer color.
Eyes like the Aurora Borealis and gold starburst.
Those were the words that Saruhiko had used to describe Amaya's eyes.
Amaya glared at the two intruders, not bothering to greet them any more than they had her. The silence was so thick, just breathing sounded loud.
" So what has that boy gotten himself into this time? " Kisa's annoyance was apparent in her tone. The woman was checking her nails, making Amaya even more angry than she already was.
" Nothing that concerns you, Kisa, " she snapped. " You and your minion over here, " she nodded at Aya. " Can leave. Your presence isn't welcome here, especially since you're only his mother biologically; that's as far as you go. "
Kisa sneered. " He's hardly worth the trouble he causes. "
Now Amaya was mad. " Look who's talking when you'd make the walking dead look like Saint Peter! "
Before anyone could move, Amaya had closed the distance between them, and punched Kisa so hard that it sent Saruhiko's biological mother flying halfway across the corridor. She landed in a heap, missing the shoe on her left foot, blood trickling from her mouth, a clear indication of a broken jaw. Her dress pooled around her in a burgundy puddle, a tear going down one side, courtesy of the hem snagging after Amaya sent her flying. Aya cried out, and rushed to Kisa, helping her up.
" Both of you better leave. " Amaya's voice was as cold as a stone grave, her expression ominous enough to scare the devil himself back to sainthood. " And don't come back; if you do, I'll kill you. "
Aya didn't speak; she had seen that look before, and knew better than to cross Amaya.
Because if Amaya didn't kill her, Saruhiko would.
She waited until the sound of Kisa's heels faded before whirling around, and advancing on Hidaka who backed up.
" Just what the hell did you think you were doing calling them here even though you know you shouldn't have, YOU IDIOT?! " Amaya was beyond furious. It didn't matter that he was one of Saruhiko's co-workers; he had just caused a lot of trouble with his misguided sense of concern.
" I-I... "
" There's a reason why he never talked about his personal life! " Amaya tried not to shout, but she was livid. " I never suggested calling them even if I'm close to him, so why the hell should you when you're just one of his co-workers – and one of those who gives him a migraine to boot?! "
It took several deep breaths, but eventually, she was able to speak again. " Our personal lives are none of your damn business, so don't think that your calling them here will make them concerned about him, " her anger was still obvious. " It's too late for that! Mind your own damn business! "
Without waiting for Hidaka's reply, Amaya turned on her heel, and made her way back to Saruhiko's room. Everyone saw her take a deep breath before she opened the door, but only Munakata saw the pained expression on her face.
