Sakamaki Sister
Kanato's grip on Aria's hand tightens as his other hand starts to pulls her closer to him. He asks once more.
"Who was he?" his voice darkening with every word.
In fear, the seemingly tired sister tries to free herself. But alas, like before, her efforts are futile. Knowing this a little too late, she surrenders.
"My friend, nothing more" she says.
At her answer, her brother's hold weakens and Aria uses this as a chance to escape; but is still around the area of which Kanato is located at.
His form slumps down a little as his eyes give out a dull shine. Red eyes look at him with worry, her hand delicately atop the stair's railing. This position stays for a few minutes; Kanato still sitting on the staircase while Aria just looks at him with uncertainty.
"Don't lie" his voice cracks a bit.
"What are you- I'm not lying, I would never. He's just a friend, none more and none less"
Suddenly, he stands up and looks at her; his eyes filled with anger, jealousy, betrayal, and doubt. On her side, Aria feels guilty about her behavior, so she starts to speak. However, is quickly cut off by her brother's yell.
"You liar! I know that you're starting to like him!" he almost pushed Aria.
"I thought I can trust you; I thought you're my sister!" he proceeds.
His words almost set her to tears, but not now, not with him like this. She stands her guard, ready to face anything that might come to her. While in front of her, stands a slowly breaking Kanato.
"Ka-Kanato, he's just a friend. I said it, nothing more and nothing less" Aria tries to defend herself.
The enraged Kanato suddenly grabs both of Aria's shoulders and starts to shake her with slight force; back and forth, back and forth. She just closes her eyes out of fear that he might slam her to the floor or the stairs.
"Don't lie!" he keeps on shrieking.
"I'm not lying, can't you just believe me?" she says; her voice's pitch higher than usual.
Her fingers start to claw on one of his hands, but still, this does not change the situation. This makes a question pop up in her head: can't the others hear him shout? The answer to that question only ends up as either that this is normal or they're all so deeply asleep that even this doesn't awake them.
"Kanato… Please stop…" she begs, her tears already threatening to fall.
"Hehe, I wonder what your face will look like when I give you a punishment?" he says in a rather delighted tone.
But all that soon changes when he continues to assault her with his previous question: "Who was he?"
Aria can only beg to be released; his grip is starting to add yet another injury on her body. In front of her Kanato keeps on threatening her that he'll kill Aidou if she keeps on lying. So with no other choice, she does the only thing that she can do at this moment…
Slap
She slaps him, leaving a very visible red mark on his cheek.
Engulfed in guilt, Aria sits on the floor and bows with her arms up front and her head on the floor; her tears are already dripping like waterfalls onto the carpeted pathway. She expects him to be more enraged, but instead.
"You… Slapped me…" he mutters, crumbling down, too.
Aria decides to take a small peak at her brother. Her expression becomes totally paralyzed when she sees that he is also crying, his hand rubbing the spot where she slapped him. And the only sound that he's making is nothing but his pained voice.
"Brother? I… I'm sorry. I just- I didn't know" she struggles to let her word out, but is cut off by Kanato's wailing.
"You hate me" he mutters, his eyes showing ultimate sadness.
Aria, at this point, is totally lost and doesn't know what to do to calm her brother. While she processes the situation and her next action, Kanato just sits there while crying and complaining that his sister hates him.
"Kanato, don't cry" she tries to calm him down.
But still, he keeps on crying. Aria makes her way closer to him and puts her hand on his head; feeling his soft hair. She strokes his hair gently while whispering calming words. Still, this does not calm the weeping vampire one bit.
Without any other choice, she pulls him into a hug. His body doesn't react to this, as if he knows her next action.
"I'm sorry, Brother. But he is just a friend, I don't lie to the people I care about. So stop crying, alright?" she whispers to his ear; desperately trying to calm him down.
Kanato stops crying, which makes Aria happy. But his next action definitely caught her off guard; he suddenly pulls her to him and starts to glide his lips over her neck and ear, making her tremble.
He stops, pulls back, and gives a knowing look. His fingers brush off her misplaced locks of hair, he then kisses her forehead.
"I'm just kidding, sorry about that. I know he's just a friend, but I wanted to test if you are worthy of being in my presence" he says happily.
Aria lets out the breath that she was holding; her expression falls. She shakes her head in disappointment, but strangely, she puts on a smile.
"A very creative way to trick me, Brother" she says, pressing in a laugh.
They both look up at the moon through the window.
"Aren't you sleepy yet? You're welcomed to sleep with me"
"That won't be necessary, I'm not that exhausted" she says, her face tinting pink.
Kanato laughs and leaves her, but not before bidding her goodnight.
The moon's very beautiful tonight, isn't it?
A voice rings in her head; oddly familiar to the girl.
They key holds everything.
Odd indeed.