A few days past, and as expected, they had a visit from Kaname. He did not look pleased; it appeared his parents really had put their foot down.
"What did you say to Haruka?!" Kaname shouted at Rido as he greeted him at the door. Aina had yet to come down to see what was going on but she could certainly hear him. She wondered why he called his father by his first name. She decided to stay at the top of stairs, out of sight.
"I didn't say anything." Rido answered calmly. "Aina stood up for herself and told them what she thought, how she felt. I had no hand in this."
"I don't believe you." Kaname snapped. "Where is she?" He then demanded.
"I'm sure she can hear you from where ever she is, if she hasn't come by now, I doubt she wants to see you." Rido told him.
"I want to see her." He growled at Rido, trying to intimate him.
"What do you want Lord Kuran?" Aina spoke up. Rido went to her side, showing his support for her.
"Aina." Kaname smiled, his voice softening.
"Lady Hirano." She reminded him. Kaname sighed.
"Lady Hirano, I just wanted to see you, I hadn't seen you in some time." He told her with a smile.
"Well, you've seen me, now you can go." She said, turning her back.
"What do I have to do?" He asked her suddenly. She turned to him looking confused.
"What on earth do you mean?"
"What do I have to do to gain your favour? What has he done to earn it?" Kaname was incredibly puzzled by their relationship, how it came to be. He knew that Aina's parents wanted to realign but Rido's reputation should have sacred her away, even then, how he was then they were children should have done it. But somehow, they were together. Kaname had always suspected her butler would keep most suitors away. He couldn't say for sure if Aina was sleeping with him but he could certainly tell that the butler was in love with her. It was clear the moment he met him; the glare was enough to make most men run.
"You know, even with Yuki being your bride, there was one point when you could have won me." Aina told him, taking both men by surprise. "However, you overstepped the boundaries. You interfered with my business within an invitation."
"What did I do?" He asked confused by what she meant. He had only worked to protect her.
"You sent Yuki to my home! Do you have any idea what that insufferable brat did?!" Aina snapped at him. Kaname looked at her surprised, Rido's vocabulary was rubbing off on her, as well as his temper. "And when she couldn't get her own way, she went to you and you came to threatened Rido and tried to act like my knight in shining armour. Since then, you have badgered me none stop using your parents. That's what you did!"
"I'm only trying to protect you."
"From what?!" She had completely lost her temper now. Rido gently rested his hand on her shoulder, reminding her he was there for her.
"From Rido, the bastard is the reason I'm here in first place!" Kaname snapped back and Aina looked at him confused.
"The first place?" She asked, what he said made no sense to her.
"I think it's time I tell you our past." Rido spoke up.
"I will tell her." Kaname snapped, trying to get his side of the story to be the only version she knew.
"No, I want to hear it from Rido, not you. You twist things." Aina said and took Rido's hand, giving him a reassuring smile before leading him away from Kaname.
She sat with Rido in the drawing room, Kaname hovering in the doorway. She turned to look at Kaname. "You can go."
"I'll wait here, your butler isn't here to scare me off yet." Kaname huffed.
"We had to let him go. He wasn't very good at working in a team." She stated plainly. "Please leave."
"Such a shame, I quite liked him. But I won't be leaving, I need to make sure you hear the truth." Aina huffed annoyed.
"Fine! Just keep quiet." She snapped at him, taking him by surprise again. She turned back to Rido. "What do I need to know?" She asked. She had told him about her past but she had lied a little too. She had swapped Ichiru with Zero in order to keep Zero by her side. Not that it worked out. She couldn't get too upset by whatever Rido was hiding. But she also wondered what possible past the two could have. She had grown up with Kaname, so whatever it was, it must have happened in the past century, right?
"Kaname is my ancestor." Rido told her and Aina looked at him as if he grown another head. "After Juri rejected me, I lost my mind a little." He started to explain.
"Understatement." Kaname muttered, earning a glare from Aina.
"I started attack hibernating Purebloods to steal their power. I thought if I was more powerful, Juri would finally look my way. I stumbled across Kaname and attacked him."
"And look who's still here." Kaname chimed in with a smug smirk.
"You hardly won, Rido is still here too." Aina pointed out wiping the smug look off his face.
"Yes, well we both didn't get off lightly. It took me a few years to recover whereas Kaname was able to revert back to a baby. Juri and Haruka took him and raised him as their son." Rido continued to explain. Aina finally understood the animosity between the two of them and Rido towards his siblings. She turned to Kaname.
"What has this got to do with me?" She then asked. This was something that was to do with them.
"He's dangerous!" Kaname shouted as if Aina was clueless.
"No, I'll tell you how it appears to me. Rido lost it over Juri and thought power was the answer. You two fought and then Juri and Haruka betrayed their own sibling by taking you in. Do you expect Rido to be happy about that?" She stated. She really couldn't understand what Kaname thought it had to do with her. Rido had never hurt her or anyone she knew. It was clear this happened before she even born.
"He will turn, he has already done it once." Kaname started.
"That can't be the only reason Kaname!" She snapped at him, standing up. "If that was the only reason you could simple leave things alone and have someone in the inside ready to save me." She added. "There are different ways of keeping someone safe and badgering us isn't one of them!"
"You look like her!" He shouted in anger. Both Aina and Rido looked at him confused.
"Like who?" She asked with a confused frown.
"The only master I have ever had." Kaname admitted. "The hooded woman or the parent, you may know her as." He then added to clarified.
"Aina is nothing like her. That woman betrayed her own race!" Rido shouted angrily. "Now you're going to tell us that reincarnation is real?! Are you sure you aren't the one who's insane?!" Aina stayed quiet, maybe that was why she was drawn to Zero? She quickly shook the thought from her mind. Rido was right reincarnation wasn't real.
"I look at Aina and I see her. I can't help it." Kaname answered back.
"You were in love with her?" Aina asked and Kaname nodded. "Kaname, I am not her. Surely you should have realised that while we were growing up." She then added.
"As you became a young woman, I never noticed because I didn't have my memories then. I do now." He explained, avoiding her question.
"Were you in love with her?" She asked again and Kaname admitted it. "Kaname, I am not her. I never was or will be. Now I would appreciate it if you left me and Rido alone."
"What if I do something to win you?" He asked and Aina sighed.
"Kaname I am not her! Even killing Shizuka won't help you, and you know how much I hate the woman!" She snapped and Kaname nodded before leaving without a word.
Everything was going well for Rido after Kaname left. Things had been pleasantly quiet for a few weeks, Aina was happy with him. They would often make love and spend time together. Everything was going great. That was until they received news that Shizuka was dead, along with Ichiru.
Aina sat in horror as she heard the news. Did Zero make good on his promise to her? "Do you think...?" She whispered. Rido shook his head.
"As much as I think Zero is a capable fighter, I don't think he could have taken Shizuka on her own." Rido told her as he sat next to her.
"I suppose, but I can't help wondering." She explained as a letter was handed her by a butler. She thanked him and read it. She gasped and dripped it. Rido frowned and picked up the letter.
'Aina,
I wonder if you've heard the news yet?
I did this for you, for us.
I will come for you again.
Your Love.'
Rido growled and ripped up the letter before ordering for more security for Aina. He held her close to himself, he would not let her go now he had her. L
After that day, Rido noticed that Aina was not quite herself. He wasn't sure if it was the news, letter or both. He was starting to worry when she suddenly asked to see him in his study.
She sat down opposite him. "Rido, do want more from all this?" She asked nervously. Rido frowned and nodded.
"Yes, I just didn't want to push anything." He told her.
"That's all I needed to know." She said with a smile and stood up, walking around the desk to kiss him.
"That's what you almost gave me a heart attack for?" He asked with his hand on his chest. Aina laughed an apologised to him. "What's brought this on anyway?" He asked confused, they had been together for a relatively short time and she had told him that she herself didn't want to rush things.
"I don't know, I'm happy and in love I guess." She told him as he pulled her into his lap.
"And you've been dreaming of a white dress?" He asked, making her blush. "Alright, maybe I'll surprise sometime soon." He told her and she kissed him.
Rido would need to commission a ring, he didn't want her to possibly have any thing like anyone else's. Not only that, he wanted to fuse his blood with it, an old spell he knew. Something that would help him protect her if anything happened. He would know where she was and see what she could see. He doubted he would have to use it but with what was going on at the moment, he couldn't be too careful.
A few weeks had pasted and no more letters came and nothing more had happened since Shizuka's death. In fact, things seemed better than ever.
Aina was sat out on the terrace, admiring the garden. She enjoyed just watching nature and letting time pass her by. Rido walked out the terrace and quietly set a small black velvet box. Aina looked up at him confused and he gestured for her to open it.
She gasped as she opened it and looked up at him.
"Are you...?" She couldn't finish her sentence as Rido got down on one knee in front of her. He took her hand and smiled.
"Aina Hirano, will do me the honour of becoming my wife?" He asked her and all she could do is nod. Rido chuckled and took out the gold ring out of the box. It had two main gemstones, each one shaped as each half of a heart. The first gemstone was a deep red granite and the other was a pastel blue sapphire. They were the colours of his eyes in gemstones. He remembered her favourite thing about his appearance was his eyes. He gently pushed the ring onto her ring finger. She hugged him tightly, smiling. Rido held onto her. She would never be out of his reach again.
The only pain about getting engaged, they now had to plan an announcement ball and then a wedding. But before the ball, Rido was sure invite Aina's parents to his study, he didn't want a repeat of what happened at the first ball. He wanted to save Aina the embarrassment again. He had already spoken to Ainaabout her parents and what extremes she would go to if they still chose to act inappropriately.
Aina's parents stood in front of Rido as he sat in his chair. He gestured for them to sit. He had never seen so many emotions dance over anyone's faces. They were excited, worried, pleased and scared. The two sat down, anxious about why they had been summoned.
"I have asked you here today to talk about your behaviour before, during at our first ball and the behaviour since." Rido told them.
"Our behaviour!" Aina's father spoke up surprised. "You didn't even ask me for her hand, what about your behaviour!" He shouted, offended by Rido.
"You wanted the marriage, you practically begged me to marry her. You even got upset that I would take my time to get to know Aina again. You almost blew a blood vessel when I even said I would let Aina decide how far our relationship would go." Rido stated, annoyed by her fathers attitude. "So, I don't think I really needed to ask for your permission!" He then shouted at them, making them shrink back in their seats.
"My husband and I were just surprised is all." Aina's mother then spoke with a small smile.
"Understandable." Rido sighed. "Now back to the matter I brought you here for. Aina has told me about your money troubles." He added and Aina's father looked furious, while her mother looked embarrassed. "You borrow a lot money and are in considerable debt, correct?" He asked and flash hope was in their eyes, he guessed they were hoping he would bring them out of the red.
"Well, it's only a temporary problem." Her father stated.
"I will not be paying off any debts and neither will Aina." He told him and they looked shocked.
"You can't stop our daughter from helping us!" Her father cried out in anger. While her mother looked as if she was about to cry.
"This was Aina's decision, not mine." Rido told them, his tone of voice was a warning. "If it was my decision, I would wipe you from this world. You are a disgrace to the vampire world. But even more of a disgrace to your own daughter!" He shouted at them. "Now if your disgusting behaviour at the ball is repeated, I will follow though on it!" He paused and took a deep breath. "Or don't come at all. I think that would be best for Aina, don't you agree?" He then suggested. Both her parents stayed silent but nodded in agreement. "Good, I don't want you back here, circling like vultures." He then warned, making them leave as quick as they could.