Burning Bridges

Chapter 2

The party was a success. While half the people were against the law, the other half cheered for the implementation of the law. Sakura Aizawa was one of the villagers that didn't like it, she felt like it was restricting what people could feel, she was telling her dad as much, who didn't care.

"You can't choose who you fall in love with!", she insisted.

"Your mom would thank me for it.", Baron Aizawa said. Sakura wanted to protest, but her opinion didn't really matter, since her only purpose was to marry rich. She just stomped of into her room and got ready to go to bed, just as her brother stood n her doorway.

"Come on, tell me how wrong I am for thinking vampires deserve to be treated better, Shota. They are, after all, just mindless monster that kill you when they smell the faintest scent of blood.", Sakura stated having undone the braid she wore and brushing her hair.

"I'm not saying you are wrong, but I'm also not understanding why you would defend those creatures.", he simply stated. Sakura hesitated a bit before going back to brushing her hair.

"They are just like us. They have feelings and all that. It wouldn't be fair to treat them worse then we treat other humans", she explained, putting down the hairbrush and tying her hair into a ponytail. Shota just shrugged and left. She didn't like it when she and her brother argued, since they have been very close since she was born. Sakura sighed and walked out of her room, kinda overhearing her father talk about her with another man.

"She will be a great bride for my son, my friend. However, she should keep her nose out of books.", the other man said. His voice sounded like an older version of the Kan Sekijiro, so it must be his father. Her own father just laughed about this before stating that he couldn't promise that but he could promise that they would wed their kids.

"But, what if I don't wanna marry him?", she asked, standing in the doorway to her father's office. Yamato just smiled at her before he said: "I will not force you to, but you are smart enough to know what's best for you, this village and it's villagers, dear."

He was right, Sakura knew what would be the best for everyone.

"Why do I have to marry when Shota is the older one of us? I don't want to be bound to someone I don't love, father. It's not that I don't think Vlad is a catch, quite the contrary. He is a very handsome guy, but he isn't the man I want to marry.", she explained, turning to the young man's father when saying she found him attractive. "I'm not saying I will never marry, just not Vlad."

The two men grew a bit angry at her. Sakura made a mistake, she knew that much, but the weight of what she said only really settled in when Mr. Sekijiro slapped her across the face.

"You ungrateful, spoiled brat! You should be grateful that I consider marrying my son off to you!", he exclaimed through gritted teeth. "No one would want a woman like you!"

With that, he excused himself and left, leaving Sakura and her father in the office. While Yamato was a bit less angry with her, Sakura felt like she disappointed him greatly. But her father's friend was right, no one would want a woman like her, a woman that spoke her mind, a woman that would rather read than practice her dancing or her instrument. She wasn't bad at either by any means, she just preferred to do those things on her own rather than being told to do them.

"Sakura, I understand that you would rather want to marry someone you love, but we can't have that. The Aizawa bloodline would die otherwise.", Yamato tried to comfort his daughter. "You know that Shota won't marry and have kids"

"I know….you tell me that everytime...", she answered and left the office. The Baron looked at a portrait of his late wife and sighed: "What am I going to do with her, Hikari, my love?"

Sakura would go to the library they had in their mansion to distract herself. Usually there she would run into Emi, who had the ability to make everyone laugh, well, everyone except Shota, and that is somehow worthy to swoon over. It was weird how she could make anyone laugh, as if she was a vampire. Sakura had found out that vampires have different abilities, like superpowers. The myth that they could turn into bats was that, just a myth. There certainly were vampires that could do that, but usually the ability is decided when the personality starts to show. A Musically talented Vampire would have an ability that was music and voice related, while a temperamental one would have an ability that may be fiery or something.

"Sakura, another argument with the Baron?", Emi asked as Sakura entered the library through the double door. She didn't even have to say anything before Emi just realized that, yes, she had an argument with her father again.

"I'll go get some cookies and some milk and then we can talk.", she said and walked out of the library. Emi was a maid in the mansion, her parents had urged her to find a job and Baron Aizawa was just looking for a maid, so it was practically the best option. The Aizawa Family was rich, and so were other Families in the village, but only the Aizawa Family had royalty status. Sakura was the most sought after bachelorette but she didn't want to be.

After a few minutes, Emi returned with a tray of cookies and milk, she knew just how to cheer Sakura up.

"Now, tell me what is on your mind.", Emi asked as she poured some milk in a glass and handed it to Sakura.

"I don't wanna get married to Kan. It's not that I don't think he is handsome, it's just that I don't think I'd be happy with a vampire-hunter as my husband.", Sakura replied, sipping some of the milk.

"Don't tell me, you fell for the Vampire leader.", Emi stated, being the hopeless romantic she was, like Mina, the daughter of Sakura's dance teacher. Sakura shook her head, why would she fall for that man, he seems older then time itself. She must admit that his blue eyes and blond hair are quite unusual for a vampire, but that made it easier for him to blend in with humans.

"Why would I fall for him? He is a vampire. I must admit that I like to know more about them, but falling for one is the last thing I'd wanna do.", Sakura replied to Emi, who just started laughing.

"You can't help who you fall for, sis. You're bound to fall for the vampire. So romantic.", she sighed, still kinda laughing.

"It's not romantic. It's weird. I mean, I get that people want t be with a vampire, but I'd rather have a human husband. You know, so he doesn't have to suffer my short lifespan compared to his.", she explained, grabbing a cookie and eating it.

"You forgot that a vampire dies when their loved one dies. I believe it's because of a broken heart, but no one knows for sure.", Emi said, eating a cookie herself. The two kept talking for a bit before Baron Aizawa came to the library to remind them that it's bedtime, the longer they are awake the weaker they are to defend themselves against vampires. Sakura just rolled her eyes and went to her room. Baron Aizawa tried convincing her that it was for her own good, but to no awail, she didn't wanna hear the story she had heard time after time: Her mother having been killed by the vampire who loved her. It was always the same and felt like a lie.

At breakfast the next morning, Sakura had to know why her father hated vampires so much. So of course she would simply ask: "What really happened to mother?"

Shocked about this question, Baron Aizawa just told her the story again, the story he always told her.

"That isn't the truth about her, isn't it?", Sakura asked, putting down the fork.

"That is what happened, well, not directly. She left me for a vampire", Baron Aizawa said, earning an annoyed grunt from his son.

"I'll find out what happened to her, since clearly you don't wanna tell me.", Sakura replied and stood up, leaving a plate of half eaten breakfast behind. The oldest people in the village, Sorahiko Torino and Chiyo Shuzenji, would have the answers she was seeking. So she prepared to go into town, not knowing what will expect her there.