Rikku: Hey everyone, I'm back with another chapter- hope you guys aren't sick of me yet... :P
Firstly, thank you to:
saber-kon: deep breath Lol, there's a lot to say... Firstly, thanks for the review! Awww, knowing that you were in tears makes me proud now that I've actually gotten to someone. Lol, Yoh IS sweet, isn't he? That's why I made him Miho's best friend. :) Oh yes, and about Tamao, thanks for suggesting the idea in the last chapter, because now that I realised it, I made plans for her with 'someone' who will remain unnamed, so you just have to wait until I write that part to find out. ;) Don't worry, I'll give you credit for mentioning it.
mappie: Lol, I don't know what to say, but... Thanks!
Lori-the-doomed: I'll be glad to start writing as soon as you stop shaking me! O.o XD Thanks for reviewing!
Hannah Kyouyama: Thanks again for another review! Lol, it seems like all the reviews I'm getting include character-bashing (of either Horo or Aoyama)! But nonetheless, I enjoy every review I receive- as long as it's not a flame. ;) Anywho, thanks YET again- especially for the "best writer" compliment! :)
syaoranz gurl: Arigatou! :)
Rikku: Before I start off, there's one thing I'd like to point out. I'm sorry for having confused anyone, because after re-reading my recent chapters myself, I realised that it WAS rather confusing.
Ahem
Seiji Aoyama is the manager of his own company, Aoyama Inc. His son is KAMUI Aoyama, the guy that's supposed to marry Miho, NOT Seiji- 'cause that would just be awkward... O.o Once again, sorry for the confusion, and now that you know who's who, it's time to start the chapter! Happy reading....
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Winter of Love
Chapter 13: Betrothed
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I took a deep breath and shut the door behind me as I walked over to him. It was only when I was barely a step away from his desk when his face was revealed to me. His eyes were still cold and his frown no different from how it was long ago. His hair had grew longer- he had it tied in a low ponytail, and his moustache a bit more harry. "Father..."
He propped his elbows on his desk and grinned from ear to ear at me. "You look a lot like your mother, you know."
I nodded. "I guess so..." my eyes slowly slipped to the floor. "But I can barely remember how she actually looks."
"Her death only made you stronger, am I right?" he commented, looking at me confirmingly. "I understand her murder was the reason why you trained yourself? To learn how to defend yourself, I presume?"
"How do I know if she was actually murdered?" I retorted. I wanted to ask him- for so long. "Why hadn't it been on the news? Why wasn't there an investigation? How do I know if she wasn't murdered and that was your lame excuse because you'd thought I'd run to your side in fear?"
"My, my, my..." my father remained calm, which I'd expected to be the last thing that he'd do. "So many questions..." he turned around in his office chair to face the wide windows. "Miho... I DIDN'T lie to you, and I didn't expect anything from you that you accuse me of. I'd think that you would have accepted the past and realised there was nothing you could do and that running away was just about the most stupid thing you could've chosen to do."
"I ran away..." I darted a glare at him when he swivelled back around to look at me. "...because I wanted to get away from you. Yeah, I also feared my mother's murderers, but that wasn't just the reason. I hated you for trying to take control of me. Leaving you was the best decision I had ever made."
"No need to get mad." he smirked.
"Who murdered her then?" I asked bitterly. I awaited the answer eagerly, already knowing that my father wouldn't give in.
"People of no importance." answered my father nonchalantly. "Anywho, enough rambling. I'll have someone bring you over to the mansion and we'll arrange the meeting with Kamui."
"Is that supposed to sound glamourous?" I spat.
"I think you can find your way out." said my father, completely ignoring my statement. "Or I can always call security..."
"I'm leaving." I rolled my eyes and began trailing my luggage out of the room without another backward glance. I quickly found my way back to the main floor, and as I passed the receptionist, I could hear her scrambling to stand up. I stopped in my tracks once I caught sight of her.
"Have a nice day, ma'am." she stammered, with a phoney smile and a small bow.
I sighed in utter confusion as I turned back to the exit.
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Sure enough, I found my escort waiting for me in front of the building. I shook my head disapprovingly, and climbed into the limo.
A man in a black suit walked over, carried my luggage into the trunk and slammed the door shut. My eyes fell on different buttons lining the door and before you could count to three, I found the button for the small window separating my compartment from the chauffeur's and hammered it quickly so that the glass closed almost immediately, leaving my area completely soundproof- I was NOT in the mood for talking.
I glanced out the window and eyed the busy streets of Osaka without much interest. "...And today I start the beginning of the end of my life."
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When the limo finally pulled over on a jet black driveway, I heard a clicking noise and the door on my right flung open. I stepped out with a (fake) apprechiative smile and nodded to the man that opened the car's door for me. He pulled my luggage out from the back and gestured for me to follow as he, himself, trailed my luggage into the mansion.
The sky had darkened, since it was well past nine by then, but the mansion still looked remarkably beautiful. Although it was my bastard-of-a-father who owned all this, I couldn't help but notice the overwhelming garden, countless windows, and a small peak of the outdoor pool in the backyard. All signs of a perfect paradise.
Or, it WOULD be, if it didn't already belong to such a heartless man.
"What sort of breakthrough could have made my father strike so rich?" I wondered aloud.
"He discovered some sort of new material." the man in the black suit responded unexpectedly. "Sugiyama Inc. manages hand-made computers, am I right?"
I nodded, although I didn't have much of a clue. "I suppose..."
"And now Seiji Aoyama and your father are agreeing to combine their work," he continued. "but neither of them can trust each other, unless-"
"Unless I marry Seiji's son..." I finished. "I know already."
The man ahead nodded and continued inside without another word. He then passed my luggage to an office-dressed woman and whispered to her silently. The woman scribbled some words down on her clipboard and handed it to the man. He took it confirmingly and made his way over to one of the many rooms in the corridor and entered it. The woman, however, stayed. She smiled at me before she began walking. "I'll show you to your room, miss."
I followed her up a flight of stairs, glancing at everything that caught my eye. "Why are there so many staff members here? Isn't this my, um... father's home?"
"Well, the majority of us is expected to stay until later on in the night, but all the maids live here. The rest of us are from the company and just hand him important messages and papers when he's working here at home. He usually does so in Winters, holidays, etc. Your father's a very busy man, you know."
"I can tell..." I muttered, almost coldly.
"You must be a very lucky girl." the woman said, reaching the last step and continuing down another corridor. "Having a rich father and such... you know, I never knew Akira Sugiyama had a daughter until now."
"He doesn't speak of me much, then?" I questioned, raising a brow.
The woman didn't answer my question. Shortly after, she stopped in front of a door and fished a hand into her pocket before pulling out a key. "This is your room." she smiled, handing me the key.
"Thanks." I mumbled, unlocking the door and entering the room. I shut the door behind me and, leaning against it, slid down to the floor as I eyed the overly-large bedroom. Strangely, this mansion was the last thing I'd call a 'paradise'.
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An hour later, I heard a knock on the door and hopped off the bed to answer it. My father stood in the corridor, still in his suit, with an unpleasant smirk on his face. "My guests are arriving soon, get dressed."
"I am." I muttered.
"Find something a bit more elegant." he argued, eyeing me in disgust.
I groaned and shut the door tightly, walking over to my luggage and scrambling through it.
Of course, my father and I had completely opposite taste. So, my choice in 'elegant' wouldn't exactly fit into his book. I partly did this to annoy him, as I pulled out a pair of beige bagey pants, much like the ones Horo usually wore, and a black t-shirt.
Minutes later, I climbed down the stairs and over to the woman I met earlier. She stood just at the end of the stairs, awaiting me. She eyed my clothes disapprovingly, and scribbled something down on the clipboard she had before. "This way please." she said, walking down another corridor.
The woman stopped before two large doors and turned to me. "Ready?"
I crossed my arms over my chest. "I could never be."
The woman frowned slightly. "You don't want to go through this, do you?"
"Of course not." I said flatly. This woman was the only one I could tell my feelings to ever since I entered Osaka. "I have a boyfriend back home and friends I'll never see again. Of course I don't want to get married to some stranger."
"Well, if I could stop Akira- your father, I would." she sighed, and placed a hand on one of the door's handle. "But that's not my spot to decide."
"Thanks anyway." I smiled to her.
She nodded, and pulled the door open, allowing me to step into the large and amazing room. My father, who was drinking from a cup of tea, choked immediately at the sight of me as Seiji frowned.
Seiji Aoyama looked a bit older than my father, mostly because of the grey hairs and crooked back. He looked nonetheless professional though, and not to mention, filfthy rich.
I tried surpressing a laugh as I watched my father's reaction and graced a smirk on my lips instead. As I took a few steps forward, I could see a boy a bit older than me, sitting farther in the left corner. Kamui Aoyama. His blonde bangs reached his eyes, which were blue with a creepy glint. He was a bit taller than Horo, and any normal girl would melt at the sight of him- but, then again, I'm not exactly normal so blushing or actually 'melting' was the last thing I'd actually do at the sight of him. (Rikku: I had trouble trying to picture Kamui, but I decided that he should look like Matt from Digimon season 2- so if you wanna picture Kamui, picture Matt.)
"Um... Seiji, this is my daughter." My father pointed out.
Seiji cleared his throat intentionally. "I see... well, you were right. She is quite beautiful." he turned over to his son. "Kamui?"
The said boy was grinning from ear to ear. He pulled himself off his chair and walked over to me. Kamui pushed my chin up using his finger so that our eyes locked. "She's cute."
I was at my breaking point now. THIS creep was the famous drop-dead gorgeous Kamui Aoyama? Oh, how I wished Horo was there to see this and beat this bastard into pulp so that I could of had a good laugh out of it. I glared daggers at him as I slaped his hand away from me.
"Miho..." warned my father.
Kamui chuckled. "Fiesty one." he began walking around me and I could already tell where his eyes were landing.
"Pervert..." I muttered under my breath.
"Kamui." Seiji called. "Make your decision. I have a tight schedule, and I need to get moving now."
My eyes widened in shock as I stared at the man who had just spoken. Is that what marriage meant to them?
"Sure, I'll marry her." Kamui answered nonchalantly. "But, the wedding's gotta be before I enter my next shaman battle."
My eyes immediately focused on Kamui. "Y-you're a shaman?"
"Well yeah, I mean, I wouldn't have actually agreed to marry you if you weren't an Itako. It doesn't work with my family's traditions."
Why didn't I see this coming? Of course my father would chose not only a rich husband for me, but also a shaman too...
"Well, since there aren't many shaman traditions for marriage, we'll have to do it the classic way, now won't we?" Kamui inquired.
"He means with a church." Seiji told my father, chuckling. "Well, now that we've sorted this out- I'll see you at work next week, Akira."
My father nodded and just when Seiji was getting up, I quickly interjected. "So I don't have a say in this? You're just gonna ask each other and Kamui and then it's settled? Don't I have the right to agree or disagree?"
Seiji stared at me for a moment. "Well, then... sure, Miho. Do you wish to get married?"
I had just opened my mouth to respond with a 'no', when I noticed my father's glare and remembered what he had said. If I disagreed, I would be putting Horo's life at risk. "Y-yes... I want to get married." I lied.
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After our 'guests' had left, I was sent to my room. But before I had the chance to fall asleep, I heard a hard knock on the door. Once again, it was my father.
"I'm quite disappointed by the way you were behaving." he grumbled. "I expect better from you next time."
"....."
"By the way, how are your Itako studies lately?"
It was then that it dawned on me that I had completely forgotten to study the books Anna gave me. "F-fine..."
My father gave me a suspicious look before leaving. I slammed the door shut and stalked over to my luggage. I took out the picture Yoh had given me of Horo and I and hugged it to my chest as quiet tears trickled down my cheeks.
"I told myself I'd find a way out to be with you..." I whispered to no one in particular. "But now, I have no idea what to do... you're waiting for me... and I'm off getting married. How did it fall apart so easily? I don't want to do this, but I have to in order to keep you safe. If there was any way I could speak to you again... I'd tell you to stop waiting. I'm not coming back Horo... I can't."
(Rikku: Everything that's in italic are the actually lyrics, everything bold is the translation. I DO NOT OWN THE SONG.)
Sayonara...aishita taisetsu na hito
Koboreta namida ga yuki ni kawaru
Sayonara...naiteta kinou made no boku
Shizuka ni me o tojite
Sayonara...my beloved, precious person
Spilled tears change into snow
Sayonara...myself who was crying until yesterday
Quietly close your eyes
Sarigenaku kata o yosete
Madobe ni motareta
Sokoshi tereta shigusa de
Boku wa waratteita
Karuku hoho ni kisu o shite
Aruiteyuku kimi o
Zutto miteta
You casually brushed me aside
And leaned against the window
Acting a bit shy
I was laughing
I lightly kissed your cheek
And always watched you
As you walked away
Sayonara...aishita taisetsu na hito
Kimi e no omoi dake wa kitto nokoru
Sayonara... naite ta kinou made no boku
Shizuka na yoru da ne
Sayonara...my beloved, precious person
Only my feelings for you will surely remain
Sayonara...myself who was crying until yesterday
It's a quiet night, isn't it?
(Rikku: Those were actually bits from the 'Gackt' song, 'Sayonara'. Therefore, I do not own it.)
"Goodbye... forever?"
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Rikku: Hey, that's all for now everyone. Stay tooned for the next chapter, and PLEASE REVIEW!! :)
Dewa Mata!
x-Rikku-x