I posted two chapters within twenty-four hours (i wrote this on the 25th but uploaded it today oops) I know. Praise me. Love me. [jk but you can love me if you want. hmu ;)]

Okay, but in all seriousness, this week is pretty lax so I can probably get like two more chapters of this fic in (chapter 5 is already written lolol ik I'm a rebel skipping chappies like that) woooo~

You know I've been wondering like y'know how double eyelids are found more attractive or whatever? Like how about attached earlobes or unattached earlobes? Innies or outies? Does anyone even have a preference on these like c'mon your ears and belly button just needs a little bit of love

Just ignore that paragraph above omg im crying what did I write. Anyhow, enjoy the chapter!

-o-

"Satsuki informed me that the girl and her should be here soon," the blonde haired lady said, taking a seat on a chair across from Takumi.

"Good. I was getting impatient," he replied curtly. Maria pressed her lips together.

"Why do you need her, anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

Maria raised an eyebrow. "The girl. Misaki, if I recall correctly," she explained. Takumi made a sound of acknowledgement.

"If that old hag finds out that I lost her rose, who knows what she'll do next?" he sighed. "She'd probably make me a beast twenty-four-seven next time."

Maria laughed. "Be grateful that you're not a chandelier," she joked. Takumi shrugged.

"At least people aren't scared of you."

The blonde woman nodded. "True," she agreed, making no attempt to console him. "Anyway, how does having that girl fix the fact that you lost the rose?" she inquired.

"She's the replacement rose," he answered simply.

"So you're going to hand her over as like a peace offering to that woman?" she scoffed. Takumi shook his head.

"You know those chest pains I've been having?" he asked.

"Mhmm, what about them?"

"It's because the rose got destroyed—I know it is," he said. "Remember what the old lady said? If this were ever to happen, I have to take the offender's 'rose'." he explained.

"Ah, I vaguely remember you telling me this."

"Yeah. Well, I'll just have to keep her around until I figure out how to break this damned curse," he groaned. "Her last words to me were 'follow your heart and maybe one day the spell will be broken'. What kind of hint is that?!" he exclaimed.

"Shh," Maria rolled her eyes. "As your cousin, I'll help you to the best of my ability so just calm down," she soothed.

-o-

After half an hour, as Satsuki had said, they arrived at the castle. She opened Misaki's door for her and grabbed her wrist excitedly, practically dragging her to the castle.

"You're gonna love it here!" Satsuki exclaimed. Misaki wished she could believe that, but according to her father, there was a—she shivered at the thought—beast living here.

Staying silent and just deciding to settle for a polite smile, Misaki allowed Satsuki to pull her down halls and into a room.

Knocking on the door, Satsuki called, "Takumi, you in there?"

The sound of footsteps could be heard, before the door swung open gently. She gasped in surprise as her eyes met the emerald ones she'd seen a day ago. The guy that threatened me! she thought.

"What's with that face?" he scoffed. Only then did Misaki notice her face was scrunched up in distaste. Well, it wasn't her fault that she disliked him, was it?

"Aha, excuse me," she apologized, a fake smile plastered on her face. No need to make bad impressions on her first day here. "Just thinking about something."

"Okay then."

An awkward silence ensued between the two, before Maria walked over to the door to greet Misaki.

"Oh my, is this Misaki?" she asked.

"That'd be me," Misaki answered. Maria gasped.

"You're beautiful!" she squealed. Misaki laughed.

"No way. But you on the other hand are gorgeous," she said truthfully, taking in her slightly wavy blonde hair, her bright eyes that seemed to pop with the black eyeliner and long lashes she sported, along with a bold red lip that just accentuated her beauty.

"She's totally a keeper," Maria gushed. "We're going to get along so well!"

"You're never this happy," Takumi commented. She glared at him.

"I'm happy because there's a new cutie in the castle!" she defended. Turning back to Misaki, she added, "Anyway, let me show you to your room—"

"I'll be taking care of that," the tall blonde interrupted. Maria pouted.

"I wanted to show her around!"

"And? I'm in charge of this castle, I'll be showing her around," he said in a no-nonsense tone. Maria's expression turned slightly more serious—not enough for most people to notice, but with Misaki's observant eye she definitely caught it.

"Alright then."

-o-

"Why are you ignoring me?"

Misaki walked down the hall beside the tall blonde, all while whistling a tune. As if proving his point, she completely ignored his question and kept her eyes forward.

His green eyes darkened. "I asked you a question."

She stopped walking for a moment. Takumi came to a halt as well, hoping that she would finally give him a proper response.

"I don't like you," she said curtly, not bothering to make eye contact with him.

Takumi scoffed. "Keep that kind of attitude up and I'm not showing you to your room," he threatened. She raised an eyebrow.

"So? You are aware that I'm a big girl and I can find my own room, right?" she said, her voice mocking and almost taunting.

"Have fun. Hope you know that half the rooms on this floor are full of snakes and spiders, and I'm pretty sure they're haunted as well," he shrugged nonchalantly, smirking as he saw her face pale at his last few words. "But since you're a big girl and all, you should be able to handle it, right?" Nobody beats me in my own game.

Misaki wanted to rub that annoying and arrogant smirk off his face—better yet, she wanted to punch it off. But remembering how her father got attacked by wolves around this castle, she didn't want to be kicked out and eaten by those creatures. Misaki shivered. Speaking of, where's that beast Dad was talking about?

Grumbling, Misaki sighed in defeat, "Show me to my room."

-o-

"Wow, this room is huge!" Misaki exclaimed, excitedly leaping onto the large bed and bouncing a few times. Her family has always been poor, meaning a house consisting of small rooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and if they were lucky maybe even a living room.

"Huge? It's pretty average…" Takumi said, but noticing the huge smile on her face decided not to say more. He didn't know why, but he liked seeing her happy. Maybe because you're human? he thought dryly to himself, only to laugh bitterly. Yeah, right.

"Thank you," she said gratefully, bowing slightly in gratitude. Takumi looked surprised. I basically kidnapped her, and she's thanking me?

"You're welcome," he replied. "Oh, and by the way, you have an…uh, roommate."

"Roommate? Where? Who is it?" she inquired curiously.

"Her name's Sakura," he answered. Misaki seemed to ponder upon this for a moment or two, before snapping her fingers in realization.

"Pink hair?" she asked.

"Yes, why?"

"Oh, she came to my house with that boy named Kuuga the first time," she explained. "Anyway, there's only one bed in this room. Do we share?" she asked, a puzzled look on her face.

"Um, she sleeps on the floor." Why won't you tell her the truth? he asked himself. Well, she wouldn't necessarily believe me if I told her that her roommate was a wardrobe…

"On a futon?" she continued her questioning.

"No…just the floor."

"Isn't that uncomfortable and cold?!" Misaki exclaimed, not even attempting to hide her shock. Takumi shrugged his shoulders.

"She likes it, so it doesn't really matter," he responded, not really recognizing how peculiar that sounded to normal people. Misaki raised an eyebrow, still looking skeptical, but decided to drop the topic for now.

"Okay…well, um, I'll start unpacking in here then?" she said questioningly as if asking for permission.

"Go right on ahead," Takumi said. "I'll be downstairs. Sakura and Satsuki will be up in a few," he said.

"Mhmm. Have a good night," she replied, sneaking a glance at a clock on the wall that read 8:30PM.

-o-

"Omigosh, I absolutely love your hair!" Sakura squealed, running her fingers through Misaki's raven locks "So soft."

"Ah, I'm so happy that we have you here! You're like a ray of sunshine in this dark castle of ours," Satsuki smiled. Misaki grinned back.

"I'm honored, but your personality seems far brighter than mine," Misaki replied.

Satsuki gasped. "You're so sweet! As Maria said, you're definitely a keeper," she giggled. Misaki laughed.

"Why am I here, anyway?"

"Oh," Sakura piped in. "You're his 'replacement rose'," she said, throwing Satsuki a glance. They both smirked.

Misaki jumped off the bed. "What's with the looks?"

"Nothing," they both replied simultaneously.

"Except for the fact that you and Takumi would be a cute couple," Sakura added.

"Sakura!" Satsuki exclaimed, tackling the younger girl. "We're playing around. We do this to everyone," she explained when noticing Misaki scrunching her nose.

"Not true," Sakura said. "Ugh. I absolutely do not think that Umekoji and Takumi would be a cute couple."

"Who's Umekoji?" Misaki asked. Satsuki tried to answer, but Sakura interrupted her with a loud groan.

"Only the most stuck-up and rude woman ever!" she replied.

"Sakura, don't say that," Satsuki gently scolded. Turning back to Misaki, she added, "But yeah, what Sakura said was true."

"Is she really that bad?" Misaki inquired, sitting back down onto the bed and grabbing a fluffy white pillow, before hugging it tightly.

Sakura's expression turned sour. "No doubt about it. She's horrible."

Satsuki sighed. "Well, while I'm usually trying to be friendly to everyone, I shouldn't say this, but since you asked…she's really rude to everyone in this household."

"Except Takumi," Sakura added.

Satsuki nodded in agreement. "Yes, except Takumi. My god, that girl clings to him like a five-year-old hanging onto her mother while in a crowded mall," she frowned.

Misaki thought about this for a moment. "So, she's a clingy girlfriend?"

Satsuki and Sakura glanced at each other before bursting out into a fit of giggles.

"Omigosh, hardly!"

Misaki looked confused at Sakura's words.

"He doesn't pay her a second glance. She always cakes tons of makeup onto her face in an attempt to 'snag her prince's attention', though her efforts never really do pay off," Satsuki explained. Misaki laughed at that.

"I never was a fan of girls like that," she remarked. Sakura nodded eagerly.

"Same! Like, I get doing stuff to impress guys, but take it down a notch girl!" she grinned. Misaki shrugged her shoulders.

"I guess I'm kinda used to it. All the girls at my high school are like that," she said, already okay with telling them a bit about her. She didn't know why, but she felt safe and comfortable with these two. It almost feels like those talks Mom, Suzuna and I used to have in my bedroom at night. Lighthearted and fun. "I could only imagine if someone like Takumi went to Seika. Girls even from other high schools—and possibly even guys would be flocking him like birds around a pile of…bread crusts!"

Sakura and Satsuki laughed. "What a beautiful simile," Sakura joked.

"Misaki's going to write a bestseller one day," Satsuki followed up. Misaki stuck her tongue out at them childishly.

"Oh, be quiet."

-o-

"Where's Misaki?" Takumi asked. Sakura put a finger to her lips to shush him as Satsuki gently closed her bedroom door.

"Already on a first name basis? Cute!" Satsuki squealed.

"I don't even know her last name," Takumi pointed out.

"Hush. You're ruining our fun," Sakura pouted. "Anyway, Misaki's asleep, so don't wake her," she instructed. Satsuki nodded.

"This is my castle. If I want her to wake up, she will follow my orders and—"

"Can you give that ego of yours a rest?" Sakura requested. "Really, you're never going to get the girl if you continue on like this."

"Who said I wanted to 'get the girl'? She's just a replacement rose."

"Mhmm. Keep lying to yourself and see where that gets you," Satsuki teased.

"Hey you—" Takumi started, only to get cut off by Sakura's nonsensical blabbering.

"So, what are we having for brunch?" she changed the topic. Satsuki played along.

"Ah, we should probably tell her that we skip breakfast and eat brunch which is at noon," she said.

"She's a smart girl, she can figure it out on her own. Let her sleep," Sakura replied. Satsuki nodded, only to laugh nervously as she realized that she left out an important piece of their conversation.

"Funny story…I didn't tell her about our transformations quite yet…" she grinned sheepishly.

"Really? Me neither," Sakura said. "But Takumi should've taken care of that, right?" she asked, glancing at the blonde expectantly. To her dismay, he stood there, eyebrows furrowed as he stayed silent.

"..."

Sakura and Satsuki sighed simultaneously. The purple haired lady then decided to voice everyone's thoughts. "Oh boy. She's going to have the surprise of her life tomorrow."