"What?!" Misaki exclaimed. "You can't be serious. It was a rose for God's sake, not some prized possession!" she argued. There was currently a blonde haired man and pink haired girl standing at the Ayuzawa household's door.
"That rose was our master's most prized possession." the blonde scoffed. He held out his hand. "So, which girl am I taking?" he inquired. The pink haired girl clung onto his other arm, her eyes watery.
"Kuuga, we shouldn't do this! It's wrong!" she whispered to him—quite loudly, loud enough for Misaki to hear.
"I know, but we have to! Takumi will kill us if we don't, Sakura." he whispered back, his voice considerably softer than the girl's.
"Oh, nee-chan, do we have visitors?"
A girl with raven black pigtails that hung over her shoulders came into view. She stared at Sakura and Kuuga, and nobody was quite sure what she was feeling at that moment since she always kept a stoic expression on her face.
"Visitors my ass," Misaki grumbled under her breath. Suzuna, with her sharp ears, heard exactly what her sister said.
"Oh? Are you guys here to hurt my nee-chan?" she questioned, her eyes narrowing at the duo in front of them. Sakura and Kuuga both shivered beneath her hardening glare, though the blonde masked it better than the girl.
"U-Um, no!" Sakura squeaked. "I just—"
But the girl didn't even have time to finish her sentence before the door was slammed in her face. She stood there, wide-eyed, obviously astonished at what had just occurred.
With a sigh, the blonde spoke. "Guess we'll have to report this back to Takumi…" he murmured. Sakura nodded meekly.
-o-
"So, they refuse to come, huh?" he chuckled darkly.
"Takumi, calm down. Nobody would gladly comply to being held hostage at a castle," a blonde haired lady reasoned, bringing a glass of red wine to her lips and taking a sip. Said man didn't calm down one bit and instead let out an angry huff.
"Why do you say that as if I'm planning to kidnap someone?" he asked, leaning his head atop his hand. The woman rolled her eyes.
"Technically, you are kidnapping someone."
"No, I'm not."
"Taking them by force and trapping them in your home? Sounds like kidnapping to me," she said, swirling the deep red liquid around in her glass. "So, what's the plan now, genius?" she inquired sarcastically.
"Hold back your sarcastic remarks before you regret them," he warned. "And of course I'm planning to go over there myself." he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"When?" she asked. Takumi raised a brow.
"What do you mean when? I'm going tomorrow," he replied. The blonde shook her head.
"No, I mean like…what time?" she rephrased. He scoffed in disbelief.
"Of course I'm going sometime in the afternoon," he responded. "Did you really think I would scare a couple of teenage girls into coming with me? Even I'm not that fucked up in the head."
Pressing her red lips against the rim of the cup, she laughed. "I wouldn't count on that. You do have quite the temper," she remarked.
"Don't push it, Maria."
-o-
One day later
Knock knock!
Misaki looked up from her book and at the door. She sighed, shoving a slip of torn paper inside the book to mark the page before closing it. I really hope it isn't those two weirdos…Kuuga and Sakura, if I remember right.
She stood up and made her way to the door, closing one of her eyes and peering out the peephole. It appeared to be a blonde haired man—but not the same one as last time. This person had—as far as she could tell from a peephole—emerald green eyes, while the one she saw yesterday had reddish brown eyes. Not to mention the pretty significant height difference.
Misaki cautiously pushed open the door, causing it to emit a creaking sound. The man took notice of this and gave her a polite smile.
"Um, hi," Misaki greeted. "Can I help you?"
The blonde held out his hand for her to shake, while she just stared at it awkwardly as if she'd never seen someone offer her a handshake before.
Seeing that she wasn't planning to make a move anytime soon, he dropped his hand back down to his side and decided to get to the point.
"We have your father with us," he said, making sure to sound as threatening as possible. In truth, her father was with them, but he was probably just sitting on a couch somewhere sipping tea.
Misaki's eyes narrowed.
"What do you want from me?" she asked, taking a step back. "What do you want from my family?"
"I need you. Well, either you or your sister. It really doesn't matter to me," he replied truthfully. Misaki clenched her jaw.
"Are you really that emotionally unstable?" she questioned.
"What?"
"Are you really going to get so butthurt and overreact because someone picked your dumb little rose? Big deal!" she scoffed, her voice a mocking tone. The blonde glared at her. Never had someone raised their voice at him like that.
"I suppose I've been too nice, haven't I?" he chuckled. "Let me put this bluntly," he started. "Your father will die if you do not follow me." he stated.
Misaki was surprised by his threat, but nonetheless didn't comply with his wishes.
"I'm not following you," she stubbornly said.
"Then I'm taking your sister," he shrugged.
"You are not taking Suzuna!" she exclaimed, stomping her right foot for added effect. Her fists clenched and her arms crossed in front of her chest.
The man let out a yawn—whether it was fake or not she couldn't tell, though that certainly wasn't her concern at the moment.
He slowly turned around lifting his hand to wave at her. "Then your father shall be dead by tonight. Good day—"
"Wait!" she interrupted, reaching out and subconsciously grabbing his arm to prevent him from walking further. Quickly, she released his arm and dropped her hand back to her side.
The man grinned like the Cheshire cat. "Well then, I'd say we have an agreement?" he raised an eyebrow. She stared him dead in the eye, before feeling her throat go dry.
Finally finding the ability to speak again, she replied, "Yes."
-o-
"Nee-chan, what are you doing?!" Suzuna exclaimed, which was quite rare and surprising since the girl never did show emotion through her voice and not often through her facial expression. But now was an exception.
"I'm going to that castle," she replied, zipping up one of her suitcases. "They have Dad."
Suzuna ran over to her and grabbed one of the suitcases, before pulling it up and out of Misaki's reach.
"Stop it," she said. "I'll go. I'll take his spot," Suzuna pleaded desperately. Misaki gave her a gentle smile and shook her head.
"Suzuna," she said. "What kind of big sister would I be if I allowed my little sister to keep herself hostage at a castle?"
"I don't care about appearances right now," Suzuna countered. "Just be selfish for once, please."
Misaki stood and pried the suitcase out of her sister's hands. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I wrote a note for you and Dad. Read it together when he gets home, 'kay?" she gave Suzuna the biggest smile she could muster up.
"Nee-chan…"
"This is goodbye, Suzu!" she waved, using her nickname in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Love you, take care of yourselves!"
Before either of them knew it, Misaki had left, closing the door behind her with a slam that confirmed the fact that this was reality. She gripped her suitcases tightly in both hands, as she held her head high and made her way to a nearby car.
As expected, the window of the back seat rolled down. She felt her heart drop to her stomach as she saw her father's face—realization was now dawning on her. She wouldn't see her father or Suzuna again for God knows how long.
The door opened, and her father stumbled out of the car. He gave Misaki a sad smile, while she returned it. When he leaned in to give her what might've seemed like a kiss on the cheek, he actually whispered into her ear, "I'll save you, don't worry."
Misaki glanced back at him gratefully—sure she didn't know what he was planning, but she trusted him with her life. With a nod, she climbed into the back seat of the car and slammed the door shut, not being able to bear looking at Sakuya any longer.
The car set off into motion, and that's when Misaki finally wondered who was driving the car.
Curiosity getting the best of her, she asked, "Hello. I'm Misaki Ayuzawa, who are you?"
"I'm Satsuki Hyoudou, and I'm your driver for today!" she exclaimed, turning the front mirror to reveal her face. She seemed like a happy and friendly person. "Hehe, I've always wanted to say that phrase~" she hummed to herself.
Misaki laughed. "It's nice to have a girl my age working at the castle."
Satsuki blinked. "Oh? I thought you were seventeen, dear?" she asked in confusion.
Misaki raised an eyebrow. "Err—I am," she confirmed. Satsuki let out a hearty laugh.
"I'm thirty," she confessed. "You're such a cutie! I like you already!" she giggled. Misaki's eyes widened in surprise. Thirty? Damn, she looks young!
"How much longer 'till we arrive at the castle?" Misaki asked, already feeling comfortable with the driver.
"Hmm? Ah, it's about a half hour drive, so get comfortable!" she grinned sheepishly.