Perpendicular
Chapter One: h1 ≠ h2
I could not help but absorb the sound of the clock ticking back and forth, clanging against the metal within the frame. I began to feel my palms grow clammy as the black dress I wore clung to my skin. I barely noticed myself fidgeting in seat, playing with the length of my sleeves and the hem of my dress. The white lace traveled between my fingers, slowly calming me down as I anticipated who was to come to the room next. All I could see were waiters and servants traveling between rooms and the maids consistently tidying around me looking for utter perfection within the room.
My platinum blonde curls fell onto my shoulders from the loose bun it was tied into. I meant to cut it, but my maids Nui and Tomiju, refused that I commit such a crime. I had done it once before, and of course it resulted badly. However, if had grown so long now that my fringe kept poking me in the eyes, despite some of it being pinned back. I was afraid to touch and push it away however, fearing that someone would yell at me if I so happened to move an inch.
I had never been to this part of the house. I barely made it out of my room on most occasions actually. It felt almost, too beautiful for my eyes, or at least Nui would tell me so herself. I remember all those years of trying to sneak out and see my parents and siblings. All those hours spent wondering what everything looked like, just because I had been...imprisoned for so long. It is quite strange to me how I have found myself living here all my life and yet never knowing anything about these people. Not even the home I live in. Now I'm granted to see four diamond encrusted chandeliers and a long marble tables with a gold lining on the edge adorned with heaps of warm food. Perhaps they have come to their senses. I am almost eighteen and how could I possibly live my life encased in the west wing of the estate.
There has to be a catch to this, I thought to myself silently.
"Don't fret dear, and stop messing with your dress!" Nui's plump hand slapped mine away startling me. She then applied a third layer of blush to my face once more.
"Kami-sama, you face is so pale child!" How insulting. You're one to talk buta onna (pig woman), I mused along with my inner thoughts.
Blinking my eyes rapidly, I tried to turn away from her, finding her presence already gone. Her disappearance brought the sound of a sultry, womanly voice that came closer to the dinning room. The woman let out a loud laugh that seemed to feign some kind of humor as she approached the room. I quickly bolted up right in my seat before a tress of hair was singed in the candle's fire. I waited almost impatiently for them to enter.
This odd, thin looking woman with thick cheeks came in. Her hair looked like an ebony bee hive and her face looked strained and tight from the years. She gave me an almost disapproving stare. I felt a bit confused at this. Then again, I was told she didn't like me as much as I liked her. Behind her was a tall, lanky and intelligent looking man with square glasses. The way the light hit him from the ceiling high windows shields his eyes from my sight. His blonde hair seemed to stand out against the dark walls of the room.
"Here is our lovely dinning room. It was designed by Sato Aimee herself and it's one of the most well respected parts of our home. We try and give our kids a loving and open foundation, so we eat here every night and such. It's a personal favorite." She seemed to ignore me and fill the people who entered the room with crazy lies.
Maybe they were right after all. I feel so foolish suddenly for wanting to meet them so badly.
"Here is our lovely dinning room and our daughter, Kaneru. Kaneru, please say welcome our guests." Father, if I was allowed to call him such smiled at me evenly. His dark green eyes sparkled when he held his hand out to me to rise towards him. Not so foolish any longer.
I stood up and gave them a bow of acknowledgement.
"It is good to meet you, Haninozuka-sama. Morinozuka-sama." I greeted both couples as they entered the room fully. They did indeed greet me back. It felt weird for I am so use to interacting with only the maids and servants. It's very odd to see other people. It's almost as if they weren't real.
I spent the night memorizing their names and reading little cards that Tomiju gave me that would tell me a little about them. She told me I couldn't screw up this dinner with my parents. I thought it should have been a family dinner, but I had guessed incorrectly. However, I did not discourage this.
The nicest of them all appeared to be a brunette woman who appeared overly joyous and enticed by the estate as much as I am. Her eyes wandered aimlessly amongst the room as mother kept speaking. Her voice cross from my presence now existent. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing at her, but she was persistent and her eyes gleamed as she continued to speak the the group.
"Your house is very lovely, and your daughter so well mannered, Azami-san, Ken-san." Someone who isn't a evil. Thank god, she's my favorite for the night.
"Well Oharu-san, Kaneru decided that she wanted to be home schooled many years ago and she is very brilliant, aren't you Kaneru?" His blonde hair glittered from the overhead lights when he smiled softly at her, and mother did not take too lightly to the compliment. She openly glared at him before she spoke again.
"Yes, however, Tsururi is doing exceptionally well. She plans on attending Ebisawa's School of Musical Arts for piano and ballet."
They preceded to seat themselves in the middle of the long table. Mother plopped herself beside me and I noticed Tomiju shoot me a look from the other side of the room as she set a couple of dishes down. It felt like she was breathing down my neck and Tomiju was trying to tell me to run while I still could. I was finding the heat of the candle quite stifling suddenly and I fought the urge to sink down in my seat.
"I have only heard wonderful things of that school. She is quite fortunate. I look forward to hear of your choices for school Kaneru-san." Morinozuka Akira's voice was so deep and quite, I almost strained to hear him. His wife noticed him speak and shot him a warm smile in agreement of such before sipping some water. I barely managed a smile back when I heard his cousin talk.
"Apparently she is also very tardy along with our sons." His voice was more abrasive and bold. His blond hair fell to his eyes when his brows furrowed and Oharu gently moved it away. Everything about him roared seriousness.
"Oh my gosh, did you guys have to wait long? I'm so sorry about this!" Tsururi in all her glory handed her bag and sunglasses to one of the nearby servants before grabbing a seat close to Oharu. Not far behind her was a small blonde haired guy, a brunette and a raven haired boy.
The blonde, who I didn't have to guess for long was Haninozuka Mitsukuni in all his glory. If it had not been for his blonde hair, he would be the splitting image of his mother.
"I hope me haven't missed dessert!" He pulled out Tsururi's seat for her, of which she sent him a gracious smile.
"Please Hunny, we all know you so well by now."
He looked no older than ten and he was exactly like his mother. He gave Tsururi a quick kiss on the cheek before he sat himself down and I found it strange that Tsururi would pick such a man. Then again, I know nothing of her. She's pretty oblivious though since she had not realized that she almost tripped the servant who the tall mysterious boy had caught carefully. It's as if she's my complete opposite, and she also looked nothing like me. It was almost hard to believe we once shared a womb when she felt like nothing but a stranger.
She looked like a princess in her white cocktail dress that hugged her curvy body. She was only slightly taller than Mitsukuni, perhaps by four inches, but she was wearing heels. Her skin was golden and her chestnut colored, chppy hair was barely touching her shoulders, but glowed under the light of the chandeliers. She didn't even have to wear any make up to bring out the beauty that was obviously evident; her cheeks had a natural pink hue to them and her eyes were a stunning bright green. She reminded me of a sunflower.
Everything about her made me feel self conscious. I began to feel scrawny next to her, even though she sent a surprised smile when she actually noticed me. All my clothing felt so childish and her dress made her appear as if she was a woman. I was so thin and pale from almost never seeing sunlight. I felt as if I were Hunny- older than I really looked, and the white polka dots on my dark dress weren't doing me any good. I wasn't nearly as busty as Tsururi. The feeling of my personal embarrassment crept up to my face, itching from all the make up I had on, because Tomiju wanted to "bring out my eyes."
I even had to admit that Kohaku, my older brother, was also very good looking. He had messy chocolate colored hair that hung in front of his dark eyes. Something he had in common with father. Yet they held a more mischievous than humble look.
"I doubt that should be something to worry about Hunny-kun." Kohaku smirked and Hunny's taller dark haired cousin nodded bringing me back to reality.
Kohaku didn't even notice me at all. I couldn't tell if he was ignore me or he was more oblivious than Tsururi. But one person who was not ignoring me was the dark haired guy. I couldn't quite remember his name. It didn't stand out as much as I thought it would, perhaps because it was so common. What was it again...Tadashi, Takumi, Takeshi...
What I knew for sure was that he was beautifully strange. Something about him was distant though. He caught me looking at him and I quickly looked down at my food attempted to avoid eye contact once again.
"We've gotten our chefs to prepare extras just for you Mitsukuni-san." Father said, "But let's eat for now."
"Alright, so I have some really good news! And I've been dying to say it for the longest." Tsururi spoke cheerfully as the plates were being exchanged for desserts.
The servant danced around us, carefully trying to remove anything without hitting us. Something I found frightening, I tried to move away from someone's arm and they almost dropped their tray.
"Be careful, Kane-chan." I turned to see dark eyes playfully staring back at me and I quickly turned away feeling my stomach churn. I felt myself ready to hyperventilate, but I attempted to control my trembling by messing with my chocolate cake slice. I attempted to look interested in the conversation when father's voice caught my attention.
"What is it hime?" The chatter quieted down at the table.
A blush began to rise on her cheeks and she blurted out, "Hunny proposed. We're getting married!"
I wanted to roll my eyes at this. It wasn't as if it wasn't expected. This was all too organized for her to say something like this. One of the servants Rin, happened to roll her eyes without being noticed by mother at all. And I mentally smiled that she agreed.
"That's lovely darling!" Her mother spoke, and she could see the excitement crawling over Oharu's face as she clapped her hands. She hugged Mitsukuni tightly telling him how happy she was for him.
"This calls for a celebration!" Yorihisa spoke, standing up with his drink in hand.
"Before we call on any celebrations, Yukina-san and I have a surprise of our own." Father raised his hands to calm everyone once more.
Everyone settled down for the moment, and I kept playing with my cake. I could feel Mitsukuni frowning at this. But I wasn't that hungry for it as I thought I would have been. It was weird seeing him gobble down six pieces of cake already when most of us were still stuck on one.
Yukina cleared her throat,"Well, we had anticipated that Mitsukuni and Tsururi would be engaged at some point. Everyone also had great concern for Takashi when they began courting, we feel that it would be best that..."
So Takashi was his name! I don't understand how I could have missed such a simple name. I turned to look at him, interested in what this had to do with anything. I was relieved to know that he was no longer nameless and I looked up at him.
"A marriage was arranged." Akira finished, placing a hand on Yukina's shoulder. Her lips were quivering slightly.
Mori glanced at his parents. Hunny could tell that he was shocked and had not been prepared for such a set up. He could tell that Tsururi felt saddened by this and he softly squeezed her hand. He knew that his proposal to her was right, and the cousins would soon part.
"What?"
His brown eyes looked distraught. Pools of rusting steel had met my foggy grey ones. I wondered what he saw in them, but I found myself lost in his. They were very beautiful for such a simple shade of brown. I turned away breaking the contact to sip some of my hot tea.
"We decided that for the next month or so, you should try and get to know Kaneru-san." Akira said, "She is your fiancée."
I choked on the boiling liquid and began spluttering all over the table gasping for air spilling the cup over. I felt the heat crawl down my legs and I jumped up from the table banging my knee wildly against it in shock.
My eyes pricked with tears and before I knew it, Mori had torn off my stockings. He grabbed a cloth of cool water dabbing it on my leg to ease the burning. While my confusion began to mask my pain, everyone began moving away and looking for a way to help me. I sat helplessly in the presence of the dark haired man in front of me. However, the presence of another, I could not ignore.
Kaneru-chan: Another slow chapter T.T
Sour-chama: No one asked you Kaneru! I'll make it more exciting for you next time ;D!
Kaneru-chan: I feel that I should be concerned...
Well- the website decided to be evil and I couldn't save my "awesome" version the first time sadly. Good thing it was only the latter half. I'm not as satisfied though ):
I was suppose to make a cardboard model of a building for my portfolio, but somehow it doesn't seem that great anymore and writing and reading became more interesting. It's also almost four am and stuff but whatever D: I dont need no sleep! I should probably be drawing but, too tired.
Anyhow review review :D it doesn't hurt ;D