A.N: Thank for all the reviews! They keep me happy; I love positive feedback ….but it's ok to send negative feedback too…just feed me, ok?
Summary: Ok…this is a really short kinda sweet chappie…where we can see Rikimaru less edgy than he normally is ….
Disclaimer: I own it all…not!
- Appearances -
Ayame was sitting on her luxurious bed in her beautiful, winter themed room in the Gohda Mansion and looked sour. She had woken up sometime ago, eaten the meal that had been left on her white, delicate night table. Used the opportunity to test her bathtub, taking a long hot bath, but now she was bored out of her mind.
She was in her wide awake, but she couldn't do anything. There weren't TV, radio or any other books except the schoolbooks…and she wasn't in the mood of studying…She hadn't had any visitors since Mimi last night and Oni-kitten had disappeared too…supposedly to deal his own cat business…
Her body was aching all over, but she needed to get out from her rooms, before she would loose her mind completely; the walls were starting to move closer already. With a steely determination Ayame climbed out of her warm bed and got clothed; sweat pants and an old t-shirt with some long ago forgotten band's logo printed on it. Bare footed she tip toed to living room and out to the hallway. She had taken the snowflake decorated key with her…just in case.
The narrow, wooden hallway was dark; no one had bothered to light the torches. So it had to be very early in the morning or late at night.
The red carpet felt nice and soft against her bare feet, as she ventured forward. Her walking was slow, because of the bruises, that hadn't fully heeled yet. Most of the injuries had long ago healed and disappeared, but there were some injuries in her legs and right wrist that were still painful..
She hoped that the scars would disappear before she'd return back to school. It would be embarrassing if the other student's would notice them. The thought of herself trying to explain people, how she had got all those injuries made her shiver, especially since Ayame couldn't remember how she got them in the first place.
Ayame was so deep in the thoughts that she didn't notice the figure that was quickly approaching her along the dark hallway before her. First she was walking forward and then she bumped to something, and suddenly she was sitting in the middle of the hallway on the soft, red carpet.
"I'm sorry I didn't see you." Rikimaru said in an apologising tone, his ears twitching lower highlighting his words. "Are you ok?" He asked looking down at her, offering a hand to help her up.
"I'm fine …I was just surprised that's all." Ayame assured him taking the hand he was offering, and smiling a little. "Where were you heading in such a hurry?" She asked before she could hold her tongue. Much to her surprise Rikimaru flashed a boyish smirk, which softened his features and answered her question.
"I'm fleeing Emi's wrath…She was having a private conversation … and I kinda over heard it and…ah, maybe listened a little too long. Long story short: Now she wants my head on a silver plate." Rikimaru said grinning nervously, like a true conspirator.
"He is like a kid, who knows a secret." Ayame realized and smiled back at him "He seems like a totally different person than before…so this is what Emi was talking about, when he called Rikimaru a sweet kid, when he is off-duty…wonder what she thinks about him now?" She thought amusedly. Ayame had gotten a feeling that Emi wasn't one of the most patient person's world had seen.
"So what are you doing here, in this time of night?" Rikimaru asked, getting more serious "I thought you were supposed to stay in bed a couple days more." The bodyguard voice was back, as was the frown that suggested he never enjoyed about anything.
"I was, actually…but I got bored, so I decided to wander around a bit." She said, smiling the same conspiracy smile as Rikimaru before.
Rikimaru opened his moth to say something, but stopped suddenly. Shaking his head, he looked back at her. The frown was vanished from his face and his golden eye glimmered warmly.
"How about I show you around a bit?" Rikimaru suggested, his voice friendly again. "Maybe Library and Kitchens for example …" He continued his ears twitching.
"Fine, by me." Ayame answered wondering if the guy before her suffered from multiple personality's disorder along with some rare ear-sickness. That would explain both the ear's and the drastic difference of his actions between on-and off-duty.
Some time and a bit of small talk later they arrived to a round, white pair doors with delicate green butterfly decorations.
"…So you have lived in this mansion all your life!" Ayame repeated Rikimaru's words in disbelief.
"Yes, I've called this mansion home as long as I remember." Rikimaru answered proudly and opened the doors.
"Why aren't they locked?" Ayame asked "Most of the other doors I've seen are locked at nights." She continues remembering all the doors she had tried to open before colliding to Rikimaru.
"Our librarian lives here and she doesn't really mind visitors, as long as you don't interrupt her reading." Rikimaru explained. "She is a bit weird, but don't let that scare you…she is pretty harmless. We won't probably even see her. The Library is vast and she likes to keep to herself."
Calling the Library vast was an underestimation, Ayame soon learned. The room was an impressive sight even in dark. It was three times higher than the rest of the rooms in the first room she'd seen in this mansion. And the room was a size of a small football stadium, with bookshelves rising up to the sailing, and covering most of the floor space too. There must have been hundreds of thousands of books in this room. Only space that hadn't books was the wall in the other end of the library, it was a huge window…with colourful glass decorations, which would leave the Notre Dame's cathedral's windows in shame.
"Wow…" Ayame said finding herself in the loss of words
"Impressive isn't it…" Rikimaru said "The best part of it is that you can loan books as you wish, as long as you write them down on that book there." Rikimaru said gesturing to the left. "It eases our Librarians job."
Ayame looked towards the direction Rikimaru was pointing to, to see a small wooden desk with an old open on top of it. The pages were made of old thick parchment and the covers were made of dark brown leather. Next to it was a bottle of ink and a black feather. Once again medieval, why was the whole mansion stuck to that time period? Ayame wondered flipping trough the pages of the loan book.
There were lots of names in the book and after them there was always a list of books loaned. The names were written in different handwritings, but all markings were written in black ink. One name in particular caught her attention. It was written to the inside of the front cover with big, bold letters: "Mitsuomi Gohda"
"Does Matsunoshin have a brother?" Ayame asked
"What?" Rikimaru asked with a weird tone in his voice.
"Master Gohda, does he have a brother? …Is everything ok, Rikimaru?" Ayame asked. Rikimaru's face had gotten totally expressionless, it was almost too blank. As if he had a glass mask over his face, even his golden eye had gotten dimmer. If the eyes were windows to one's soul, something in her words had just closed the curtains of the window to Rikimaru's.
"I'm fine…it's just that I'm not used of hearing his first name." Rikimaru said with a darker tone than he usually spoke. "No, he doesn't have a brother. Why do you ask?" He asked concentrating his golden gaze to her.
"There is a guy with same family name in this book, look." Ayame said pointing the name with her finger.
"Ah, Mitsuomi Gohda was the grand father of the master." Rikimaru answered. "He was a great man in his lifetime."
A hollow, metallic echo of bells could be heard from distance.
"It's late; you should get back to your rooms. I'll show you kitchens tomorrow." Rikimaru said and lead Ayame back to her rooms. He had turned back to the role of the serious, grumpy bodyguard.
"One day." Ayame promised to her self "…I'm going to break trough that shield of yours and find out what you are hiding."
-End of chapter five-
A.N: I know it was a shortie…but I'm in trouble…. I'm lost in my head and seriously thinking about turning this fic a tragedy…. Maybe I should write some kind of romance in this story too… pairing suggestions are welcome…I won't necessarily obey your suggestions, but …please give me ideas….everything is welcome!