"Armageddon"
.:The Day Before the Big Day:.
"I'm panicking! What if there's an earthquake tomorrow? Or what if the sun never rises at dawn?"
Haruna always thought she would be the one to say this before the wedding day, but instead, she was watching the painful scene while eating watermelon. "Aido. Everything will be fine," she promised her fiance. He had been pacing back and forth all day with nothing but thoughts related to an armageddon. "You'll really jinx it if you keep rambling-"
"You're hoping something will happen, aren't you?" He accused, wondering why she was so passive and nonchalant at such a time. She calmly denied it.
She watched the whole entire church being reconstructed - there were lavender flowers in beautiful vases and the decorations laced every corner of the room - it was all surreal. She only realized it when she woke up this morning that she was really going to be married to... She looked at Aido, seeing him inhale and exhale into a paper bag. Yes, she was going to be married to this 'elegant' man.
Aido collapsed beside her on the bench. "Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked, still keeping her eyes on the scene. He stared with a glint in his eye.
"How many children do you want?"
"A whole soccer team of them." She grinned, seeing the fright in his face. "Kidding. I want three."
He nodded, liking the number. "What kind of house do you want?"
"A small house with lots of windows and a small garden."
Aido stared up at the ceiling with a strange look, almost as though he were looking into the future already. "I can see it already-"
"Do you think we'll ever divorce-"
Her mouth was instantly shut with his hand, "Don't say that!" He gasped, quite serious. Wasn't he the one who was just rambling on about earthquakes and a sun that would never rise? "If worse comes to worst, we'll have to die together like Romeo and Juliet!"
"Yeah, no. That's not happening." Dying with the person you love was quite a cliche and she never would have the guts to do such a daring move. "But really... what would happen if we ever came to that choice?"
She looked at her hand to see him entwining his fingers with hers, "The only way that would happen is if you ever stop loving me," she could feel his fear when he said those words. He would never let her go.
"The only reason why I would stop loving you is if you hurt me."
He brushed her hair aside, "You won't ever have to worry about that."
Later
"Are you excited?" He asked, noticing how she kept staring at the white dress. She only sighed, shrugging.
"A dress like this is only fit for a princess." She feared that she would taint the lovely thing. Aido sat beside her, she could already tell he was going to give a long and lovey dovey lecture. "You don't have to say something nice to me, I get it, in your eyes I am a princess."
He laughed, "I wasnt going to say that. I was going to say that you need to shut up and just accept the fact that you'll be wearing that dress."
"Oh," she felt dumb.
"Say, what was your first impression of me?" He asked. He was sure she thought he was a knight in shining armor, or perhaps a prince. Maybe a-
"I thought you were a blind jerk." His jaw fell to the floor. Now he felt dumb. "No offense or anything." That made him more offended. Oh, how she made his self esteem so low~ "You were saying how I was some sort of 'treasure' when I was clearly a mess. It's only natural for me to think that!"
He brooded, "But don't worry, my view of you has changed drastically." He listened attentively, "However, I'm not going to tell you."
"You're really such a tease." He pouted, "I thought you were beautiful. I still do."
She smacked him on the back, "Yep. You're blind. You really need to get a check-up on those eyes-"
He pushed her towards him, forcing her to look at his diamond irises. He gave a look that could even make a female beast fall in love, "With the way I'm looking at you, are you still doubting that I think you're beautiful?" Before she could answer, he dropped her, letting her fall onto her back like a rag doll. "Sorry."
Later
Aido was extremely joyful to be presenting his two most beloved people on earth to each other. "Kaname-sama, this is Haruna. Haruna, this is Kaname-sama," his eyes twinkled with pure innocence as he tried to restrain from jumping out the window from being ecstatic.
Haruna gave a polite handshake to the man who was equally as polite. She had assumed that purebloods were ultimate 'bad-asses,' but... He seemed very calm and almost like a pacifist. "It's good to meet you. Aido talks a lot about you," she laughed, a little ashamed that he spoke of Kaname like some God.
"I could say the same. I am honored to be invited to your wedding." He kissed the back of her hand before entering the Aido household along with Aido's cousins and friends. Typically, they were all vampires. She felt so out of place.
Aido nudged her, "Isn't he great?" He grinned from ear to ear. She swung her arm with sarcastic enthusiasm, mouthing, 'he's great!' Like an idiot, he thought she was being serious.
"It's good to see you Kaname-sama." Haruna's stomach churned at the voice of her father-in-law. The kind tone to it really made her uncomfortable; she much preferred his menacing one. When she had accidentally locked eyes with him, she could see the look on his face telling her to not put the Aido name in shame in front of the pureblood.
His shoulder pushed past her, though she pretended to not mind it. Aido tugged at her wrist, giving her a soothing smile, though it seemed quite pained. "You have met the new family member, yes?" Haruna couldn't help but notice how fake his act was.
Kaname nodded, "I have. She is quite beautiful." A man of his caliber saying such simple compliments would be able to make any woman swoon. The wrinkle on her father-in-law's forehead indicated very clearly to her that the grin he was putting on was also a lie. She could tell he wanted to puke.
"Where are you going Haruna?" Aido excused himself from the group, following her up the staircase. "Dinner is just about to-"
"I'm sorry. I can't just stand there and act so cool while it's obvious that father wants to put a bullet in my head."
He held back a groan, "Please, can you be cooperative just this one night? Kaname-sama is here!" Haruna could see the pleading look in his eyes; she knew how much his superior meant to him. "I can't just tell father to stop behaving like a child..."
Later
"Kaname-sama, you should try this roasted pork. It's really one of a kind." Haruna sulked more and more whenever she heard her father kissing up to the pureblood. Heck, he complimented the food way more than he ever did to her!
At a time like this, she could really see the similarity in the Aido's as both men were bedazzled by this surreal man. "Enough talking about me. I'm interested in Hanabusa and his new mate," Kaname tried to edge his way out of the center of attention.
Of course, now everyone's eyes were on Haruna and Aido, and at a bad time too as she was still trying to tear the meat off the bone she was eating. Yes, her father-in-law would never accept her into the family. "W-well..." Aido started, trying to deter the attention away from Haruna, "first of all, I'd like to thank you all for coming to share this wonderful meal with us. It means a lot to us that you all will be at the wedding tomorrow to witness our marriage taking place."
Haruna could only nod, unsure of how to give an impressive speech. "Thank you for coming," she meekly spoke.
"Aido-san managed to hook someone finally... I feel sorry for you, Haruna." Shiki nibbled on his pocky while managing to dodge a flying knife coming his way.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Aido flared, though calmed when Haruna laughed just a little. "You're laughing? Ah... Then keep the rude comments coming Shiki!"
The rest of the dinner carried on happily and Haruna could just tell - better days would come.
The Wedding Day
"How do I look Haruna- no! Don't look! You might become blind from my sheer beauty-"
"Oh hush it," she wondered when he would get over his ego. She turned around to see him dressed from head to toe - of course, he was always dressing fashionably as though everyday were a fashion show, but today was different. Today was the day that they would be married forever.
Aido became sullen after her expression failed to change. "I get it. I just look plain-"
"You're handsome." It wasn't obvious, but if he looked just close enough, he could see the adoration in her eyes. "Just don't look so surprised," she reached up to touch his face, "ease those brows."
He caught her hands, "Let's get you dressed," he led her towards her room. His heart raced, beating only that fast for her. Aido was nervous - only she could make him feel this way. "When you're done dressing, I'll be waiting for you at the end of the room. Don't be scared, okay?"
Haruna felt her uneasiness building up, "Yeah... I won't run away-"
"Hanabusa," they both ran into the Devil himself. "Haruna," her father-in-law sneered.
"Father," Aido steadily held his ground. "If you don't mind, Haruna needs to get into her wedding dress-"
"Hanabusa!" A high pitched voice echoed. "It's been so long since I last saw you."
The two saw a younger woman stepping out of the dressing room. The most obvious traits about her were that she had long luxurious blonde hair, skin as white as cream, and green eyes as innocent as a child. However, the only thing that Haruna could process was, why the woman was laced in her dress?
She twirled around, admiring the gown on her, "It's a little tight on the chest, but surely it's fitting-"
"Father! Why is Misha wearing Haruna's dress?" Aido shouted, angry that this girl stole and was wearing his princess's dress. "You," he turned to the girl, "get out of it, now-"
"She can't do that," Aido's father was firm. "Forgive me Hanabusa, but for the sake of our family name and for your human's family, you will marry the daughter of the Koga family. Surely it shouldn't be too hard as she was your childhood friend, correct?"
Aido bit his tongue, afraid that if he spoke on his feelings, things would go wrong. It wasn't hard to tell that this 'Misha' woman was a vampire from a noble family. "Aido-sama, who is this woman?" The dainty girl eyed Haruna strangely.
Before he could bark back at her, Haruna was already dragging him outside by his collar. "Urg, let me go!" He pulled away, "Don't tell me you're siding with them Haruna."
Unfortunately... she was. "This was part of the deal, wasn't it? Didn't we both agree that you would marry this girl and our relationship would stay hidden?"
He tousled his hair in frustration, "But... it's unfair." Everything was so perfect up until the day where the pieces were supposed to fall into place, and now everything was a disaster. "We finally just started to really understand each other and I was happy - I got carried away and now I don't want to do this. You can't tell me you didn't look forward to this day!"
She wanted to cry, but held it in. The more he spoke, the more she hurted. "There won't be a difference. It'll be the same as before, just with a scandalous lie, that's all. Maybe we can have a private wedding instead, yeah?" Her words didn't comfort him at all.
Was there really no other way for them to be together happily? "Hanabusa. The guests are waiting," their father intruded.
She watched his crystal eyes shut off from the world; he gave her one last reassuring kiss. "I'm sorry I can't protect you this time." He left her standing there to watch him marry another woman.
Misha came up to Haruna with pity, "I'm sorry - I didn't know of this."
Her devil-like father came up to her, "You brought this upon yourself," he whispered.
She only heard a ringing in her ear, even though the song that Aido promised to be played at the wedding, Canon in D, was playing. The scene was beautiful; it's exactly as he described.
Kaname was sitting up front, the luminous light shone through like a halo, and there was the scent of lavender in the air. However, the girl walking down the aisle was not her. Aido was not smiling; her newly formed vampire friends were in confusion when they saw a different woman in the dress. It's a nightmare.
'I can't watch this...'
Her legs carried her far away, the blisters were already forming on her feet. For the first time ever, she cried tears for a man.