A/N: Woot! I am on a roll with updating. Anyway, I was reading a few of my older chapters and I noticed I sometimes use first person narrative (I, me) on Haruna. That really is an accident! I used to write first person a lot so it sometimes slips without me knowing. I try not to, so forgive me if you catch me doing that ^^' - Hope you enjoy this new chapter :)
"False Happiness"
Haruna concluded Isley to be the ultimate nightmare. To be afraid even in her own home was absurd! "Who are you hiding from?" Her sisters crawled beneath the covers with her. Haruna took shelter in her bed, covering herself with the blankets and pillows. Hushing her sisters, she kept a lookout for anything suspicious and... Isley-like.
"A certain monster," she answered, to which her sisters gave a chilly 'oooh.' "You two promise to never let anyone take me away, right?" She looked to her left to see a nodding Sakura, then looked to her right to see a questionable Cara. "Fine. I'll do your homework for a week." She shook her head. "When did you get so good at making deals? A month, done-"
"Girls! Dinner is ready!" Their mother called from downstairs. In a dash, the two left her to defend herself and her 'fort.' She definitely needed to discipline them into being loyal knights later on.
"How did I get involved with vampires like this?" She closed her eyes, hoping to block out all thoughts. Earlier she had retrieved all her forgotten memories of that man. After that ordeal, however, she absolutely did not want to see him anymore. "How embarrassing!" Isley was out to kidnap her, she was positive.
"What's embarrassing?" She shook in horror, realizing that her number one fan just broke into her home. "You really should lock your windows," he closed the door, making sure no one would hear their conversation... Or what he would do to her. In an instant, he was kneeling over her on the bed, caging in on her. "You're so cruel to try and run; don't you care about me anymore?"
"Maybe I would treat you decently if you stop breaking into my house and spying on me!" She shoved a pillow in his face. He tried hard to hold onto the little patience he had left, though he still managed to shred the pillow apart with a killer grin. "You used to be a cute little boy and now you're just an old creeper-"
"I'm 16 and a man!" Haruna couldn't believe she was three years older than him; he looked like a 23 year old. "Before I left overseas, you said you'd marry me when I grew up." He grabbed her left hand tightly, already claiming dibs on her ring finger.
11 years ago, when Haruna was just 8 years old, she met a 5 year old boy crying in front of her old home. She called him a 'crybaby' and found out that his mother and father were divorcing, so he ran away from home. He eventually returned home, but they spent a whole week together before he left to Europe. It was on the last day that he asked her to marry him; she said yes.
"I didn't think you were serious! What does a five year old know about love anyway?" Had she known he would come back to Japan and follow her everywhere like this... She regretted not leaving him to cry alone. "Besides, I'm no pedophile."
Isley frowned, "I was dead serious," his eyes furrowed, "I've waited all this time for you; I never looked at any other women."
Ah, there goes the guilt building up in her head. "I've already tried being married to a vampire and it didn't work in the end. His father hated my guts and there was the fact that one day I'd be old while he remained the same..." Isley glared more and more into the wall as she mentioned Aido. "Tell me, is that the kind of love story you want?"
Haruna wanted to give up when he nodded without even giving it a second thought. "My parents got tired of me denying every girl they introduced me to; they'd be happy to hear that I finally settled down." She would never understand what went on inside his head. To even go as far as making your parents hopeless was really something.
"That doesn't solve the fact that you're a vampire and I'm human. What, are you going to miraculously become mortal like me?" She snickered, finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel - victory! With this, he had to leave her alone. A vampire loving a human is so amusing-
"Darling, one nip at your neck and problem solved - you're one of us."
Haruna laughed in his face, recalling Aido saying that only purebloods had the capability to turn a human into a vampire. "Unfortunately for you," she snickered throughout, "you probably won't be able to find a pureblood within miles who'd be willing to turn me into one of you." She crossed her arms proudly.
He gave a sarcastic gasp, "Oh you're right! Guess I'll have to bite you myself," he shook his head while laughing with her.
Her giggles died down, "Ha, but that'd mean that you're... a pureblood." He nodded while her lungs failed to take in oxygen. His fangs sharpened instantly; his grip on her immobilized her. "You can't do this! I'm an unwilling participant!"
"Everyone dreams about immortality. Don't struggle or else it'll hurt more," he planted a kiss on her neck before penetrating her skin.
"I'll hate you forever if you turn me." He froze at the words that tugged at his heartstrings in every possible painful way. "I have no reason to live so long."
"I can be your reason," he selfishly responded, ignoring her feelings.
Haruna could only laugh, pushing him off her. "We spent a week with each other as kids. What you felt back then wasn't love and what you're feeling now is not it either." How laughable it was that she was teaching a vampire what love was. Seeing him so desperate like this reminded her of how Aido was back then. Couldn't she learn to love him like she did to Aido? "There's only one person I'll ever have romantic feelings for and it's not you."
The situation was intense and she couldn't tell when he was going to lash at her like he usually did. Would he do something stupid? "When I wake up, I wonder how you're doing. When I eat, I wonder if you're healthy. When I see men, I wonder who has touched you." He approached closer, "When I sleep, I send wishes to keep you safe." His hands found their way to hers, "There's only one person I'll ever have romantic feelings for and it's you."
She refused to believe him, or rather, she didn't want to. "Stop saying all this," pleading didn't make him leave, "you're lying-"
"Why are you so scared? Afraid to try a shot at love again?"
"That's not-"
"Isolation is seriously unhealthy." He clenched entire fist around her ring finger, "I recall giving you a ring last time. Did you lose it over the years already?" Haruna pondered, panicking when he shook his head with a sigh. "Guess I'll have to break this finger of yours, won't I? That way, you'll never forget your promise to marry me."
"You're insane!" Pulling away only intensified his hold on her. "Idiot-" She felt it. Chills went through every nerve in her body when his lips collided with hers. In that agonizing moment, she could feel herself forgetting the touch of Aido's lips already; her eyes swelled with tears. "Stupid!" She slapped him, "This is exactly why I say you're clueless about love because you're selfish!"
Isley ran a thumb across his lips, quite satisfied. "Be grateful I didn't tear off that pretty finger of yours." He didn't feel bad, not one bit. "And if anyone's selfish, that'd be you. How could you send pursuing men away without even giving them a chance? Your cold heart is so focused on that married blonde, you're hurting everyone around you and even yourself."
"Blunt jerk..."
He laughed even though what she said was clearly meant as an insult, "I'll let you stay human for a while longer." Haruna counted the seconds it would take until he proposed a deal, "However," she knew it, "on one condition." Learning from past experiences, she didn't like the idea of making another deal with another devil, but if it would give her more time, she had no choice. "You see," he threw an arm over her shoulder, whispering in her ear to make sure didn't miss a single word, "I've always experienced blind dates but never had a real date with a girl I liked. Won't you come have dinner at my place?"
Just the two of them? Alone? "Sounds more like you're inviting me to be your dinner."
"Tomorrow at eight; I'll send someone to come get you. Don't worry about clothes because I'll be providing them," he picked up a ragged shirt off the ground, "seeing as you don't have much taste in fashion." She ignored his bullying methods, "As expected of my ice princess. You're so cold to not walk me to the exit," He pretended to be hurt. She tugged at his hand, "You're bold as to..." She lead him towards the window, "Show me the exit downstairs where your family is..."
Haruna laughed at his assumption that she would send him off through the door in the main room, "You exit the way you entered. Don't come back~"
8:30 p.m. - Next Day
Haruna dazed at the sudden bright lights in front of her. "An interrogation...?" Moments ago, Haruna recalled being brought to a monstrously huge mansion, a place even bigger than the Aido household. After that, she could only remember blacking out. Eventually, the light died down and she could see women surrounding her. "The dentist?" She panicked; she never liked them.
Each female held a tool: a makeup brush, lipstick, comb, etc. "Honey! It's okay," they pushed her back down on the chair, "we're only dolling you up for Master Isley." They attacked her from all sides; it was worse than how the women in the Aido household treated her. These girls were vicious. "You've got to stop moving otherwise- whoops! See," one of the girls held up the comb, "lots of your hair got pulled out of your scalp!"
Haruna gasped, managing to break away from their eager hands. She realized that anyone associated with that man was bad news. "Really... I come here to have a simple dinner with that devil and here I am being molested," she tugged at her white gown. "Isn't this overdoing it?" The dress was suspicious; it was much too fancy for just any ol' dinner. It was when she reached the end of the hall did she see a bright light at the end, including that idiot pureblood. "You-"
"Ah," he held out his hand for her, "it's the lady we've all been waiting for! We were all just discussing about you," Isley smiled, his charm radiating in all 360 degrees.
"We? Who's we-"
They stood at the top of the staircase, while below them at ground level stood hundreds of vampire guests. Haruna turned wide-eyed and so did they for who would have guessed that a pureblood would be involved with a lowly human being. "You tricked me-"
He ignored her, "Everyone, I'd like you all to meet my-... Well, I wouldn't say fiancee. However, I hope that we can someday come close to that point. Until then, she is my newfound love and so much more than that. This is Haruna." He pulled her close to him, pretending to not hear her curse at him beneath her breath.
Awkwardly, they began to clap although they were still shocked.
Later
After threatening to turn her into a vampire on the spot if she slapped him or made him look like a fool, Haruna could only squirm in humiliation as vampires greeted her. "It's an honor to meet the partner of Isley-sama," a gentleman greeted, bowing in the process.
"Step a little closer to her and I won't hesitate to behead you," Isley warned at the sight of the man's eyes flashing red. He understood immediately, apologizing before leaving the party.
Haruna had a wall up around her the entire time. She didn't bother to thank him since she was too angry. "What's with this attitude of yours? I thought you'd only protect me if I called for you." Words couldn't describe the turmoil she was experiencing; it'd been a while since she felt this angry.
"Yes, but I'm obliged to protect you now, aren't I?" He spoke through his smile. "Though if you keep up that crappy behavior of yours, I might change my mind."
"Go ahead, I hope you do. After this farce of yours is over, I'm leaving and I never want to see your face again-"
"Isley-sama..." Each strand of hair on Haruna's body stood up in chills. Isley smiled when she hid behind him, almost smothering her face in his back, "A human as a partner? That's... Different." Haruna couldn't believe her ex-father-in-law had returned - but... if he were there, would that mean that Hanabusa Aido was there as well?
She knew Mr. Aido knew it was her; would he attempt to have small-talk with her? It was almost laughable that he would pretend to not know her. In this situation, he couldn't badmouth her. If he did, it would surely look bad on his part; it was unthinkable to insult the possible future-wife of a pureblood. Isley nodded, "She's a beauty inside out. I'm sorry; earlier you asked me to take into consideration your daughter as a possible mate. I can't."
Haruna almost died on the spot - was Isley mocking Mr. Aido for her? She felt bad for him, but she'd be lying if she said he didn't deserve it. Isley held out his hand from behind his back, signaling for a low-five. He looked over his shoulder, winking at her. 'You're so mean,' she mouthed silently before returning the low-five.
Biting back his tongue, Mr. Aido could only walk away. "Did ya see that? He looked like he was about to explode!" Isley cackled, wiping away a sweat. "That oughta teach him not to bully my Haruna-... Ah, another Aido to greet." Before Haruna could attempt to run, Isley grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to confront Hanabusa. It was obvious to see that he was lacking sleep. Seeing her with another man didn't help ease him at all. "Do you two know each other?" Isley pretended to not know of the situation. The more she knew him, the more he became a manipulative devil.
"Yes," Hanabusa didn't bother to lie. "It's good to see that my wish for you to be happy was granted earlier than I expected. I was shocked to discover you had a relationship with a pureblood." The words Haruna wanted to say couldn't be conveyed; she wasn't happy at all. She gave up, nodding with little enthusiasm. She figured it was best to leave it at that. She had to show him she was happy to put his mind at peace, right? But why did he seem so much more miserable? "I hope it didn't hurt too much-"
"No, it didn't." At first, she thought he meant how he hurt her when she found out that he had gotten Misha pregnant. She realized he was referring to her cheek where Misha slapped her last time. "Isley... He's taking good care of me." She wanted to burn her tongue with acid. It was the complete opposite since he was threatening to break her fingers and turn her into a vampire against her will!
The pureblood smiled to himself, happy to finally be praised by Haruna although it was a lie. Deep down, Aido was aware that something was suspicious about the two since Haruna never had ties with the man before. However, he didn't have the rights to intrude in her own personal affairs anymore... As much as it bothered him, he couldn't do a thing. "Hanabusa... Your wife, where is she? She must be worried about your whereabouts. Oh, and I heard she was pregnant. Congratulations."
There was little, if any, sincerity in Isley's voice. Every word he spoke was practically drowned in sarcasm. "She's-"
Speak of the second devil. "Hanabusa! I told you to wait for me outside the restroom-... I don't believe it!" Misha snarled at Haruna. She laughed in disbelief, "You are stalking us, aren't you?" She flipped her golden locks and then pointed her finger directly in Haruna's face, "Who even dare to let you, a dirty rat, into this party?"
"That would be me," Isley snaked his arm around Haruna's waist; she slapped his hand away. Misha turned a thousand times paler at the sight of the pureblood, "She's my date for tonight. I'd appreciate it if you didn't insult her... I might have to do something terrifying to you-"
"Lay a hand on her and my child, but don't expect to come out alive," Aido sneered, eyes flashing red.
"Threatening a pureblood? That's quite impressive-..."
Haruna tugged at his arm, stopping him. She felt a stake to the heart to see Aido defend Misha. It made her jealous to see him protect someone when it wasn't her. Suffocation was all she could feel. "Send me home... please."
Isley hated to back down from a fight, "Seems like she isn't feeling good. Next time Hanabusa, next time." He managed to effortlessly replace his glare with a sinister grin, "You'd better compensate for making me lose my prey, Haruna-chan."
Hours Earlier
"I want her perfect, understand?" Isley's words (and blessed looks) shook the females as he handed Haruna over to them. When she arrived, he knew she wasn't going to comply to his rules, thus he put her to sleep to make things easier. "I know you don't understand why I do what I do, but it's all for your own good," he whispered into Haruna's ear. The girls squealed, imagining that he were speaking to them in that voice.
Leaving the room, he had to entertain the arriving guests. "Ah, is the Aido family here yet?" He asked the head butler. He made sure not to leave them out of the guest list.
"They just arrived."
Isley's habit of always keeping up a pretense had allowed him to develop quite an unbeatable poker face. With a bit of god and prince-like characteristics, no one knew his true nature except Haruna herself, unfortunately. "Good evening Mr. Aido. It's an honor to have the Aido family here. My name is Isley Rhys III." The family of blondes gave formal bows, greeting back with much enthusiasm.
Hanabusa didn't mind the fact that Misha was batting her lashes at the pureblood. He prayed that the guy would get her off his back. "It's so rare to see a pureblood nowadays. My name is Misha Aido, originally from the Koga family," she curtsied, never taking her green eyes off him. For a brief moment, Isley slipped a glare before smiling again. He realized that he wasn't the only one who was able to maintain two different faces.
Isley extended a hand out, "I hope we can become good friends, Hanabusa." It never occurred to Hanabusa that Haruna was being entangled in this man's fingers; he shook his hand without suspicion. "I hear a lot of interesting things about you Hanabusa."
"Oh? And what is that?" Mr. Aido was quick to jump into the conversation, worrying that these 'rumors' the pureblood had been hearing might hurt his image of their family.
"Though I'm aware rumors shouldn't be looked too heavily into, what I heard was quite... something."
Hanabusa didn't react too much to his words. He could care less about his reputation. "I heard that you used to be engaged to a human." The Aido's were silenced. The only people who knew about their scandal were close family members and close friends of Aido's. He placed a stern hand on Hanabusa's shoulder, "If that's true, then where did this..." He looked at Misha with disgrace, "come from?"
Mr. Aido coughed to intrude again, "What you heard is clearly just a lie. We would never taint the Aido bloodline by inviting a human into the family-"
"So is that why you got rid of her?"
"We didn't kill anyone if that is what you are implying," Mr. Aido was stunned by his sudden accusations. The tension was lifted with a soft chuckle from Isley. Once again, his cold demeanor was replaced with a gentle expression.
Isley laughed to which Mr. Aido gave a disturbed chuckle too to make things seem non-suspicious, "I'm just joking to try and break the ice. Relax." Hanabusa darkened with the mention of Haruna. Of course, it was all true. He was engaged to her and in the end... They got rid of her. Just like that, the person who he promised to protect no matter what was abandoned by none other than he himself.
As the room was flooded with blood thirsty vampires, the main event dawned on them. "Say... What is the purpose of tonight's party?" Mr. Aido asked.
Isley didn't look at him while replying; he always paid little attention to things that didn't peak his interest, "An important announcement. I want to introduce you all to someone important."
"Speaking of introducing," Mr. Aido pulled out a picture. Hanabusa sighed, murmuring, 'not this again.' Isley looked to see a photo of one Hanabusa's older sisters, "She wasn't able to make it here tonight, but if you may... Please take her into consideration as a mate."
Isley couldn't wait to see the reaction on the guy's face when Haruna shows up. He felt excited just thinking about it. "I will," he lied. In the corner of his eyes, he could see Hanabusa tapping his feet, wishing for the party to end already. Misha on the other hand was laughing with other girls, boasting about being married to the famous Idol-sama. "Hanabusa," Isley approached him. "I heard you're quite the genius."
Hanabusa nodded, "You hear a lot of things about me, don't you?" He wondered why the pureblood would be so interested in someone who was just a noble.
"This I know isn't a rumor. I also know that you being engaged to a human wasn't a rumor either." Hanabusa couldn't explain it, but he felt... A dangerous aura about the man. It's like that moment when your instinct tells you that something bad is going to happen or something is going to get you. Isley's mask couldn't deceive him.
"What's it to you?"
"Hm, nevermind. Dawdling in the past isn't good, right?" He headed towards the staircase, "I've got an important announcement to make now. Make sure you listen closely." Hanabusa observed him, hoping it would at least give him a hint of what his motives were. He realized that Isley wanted to tell him something; he wasn't just having nonsense side conversations with him for no reason. "Everybody," he spoke through the microphone, "thank you all for coming tonight."
Misha tapped Hanabusa's shoulder, "Wait for me by the restroom! I'll be back soon!" He didn't pay attention to her at all.
Everyone was silenced by his superiority, "Now, I didn't invite you all just to have fun. In truth, I have someone very important to introduce- Ah," he held out his hand, "it's the lady we've all been waiting for! We were all just discussing about you." Hanabusa and everyone else wondered who he was speaking to until finally they saw... It was a human. It was Haruna.
"What is this?"
"A human?"
"What's a human got to do with a pureblood?"
Hanabusa couldn't deny the gut-wrenching feeling in his stomach to see her up there with another man - a pureblood at that. Questions raced in his mind: When did she come across a pureblood? Why would she be up there?
He knew she was not the type of just go to a party with someone she hardly knew. He figured that perhaps he was threatening her to-... His hands loosened. Why was he feeling jealous for? She was moving on.
"Everyone, I'd like you all to meet my-... Well, I wouldn't say fiancee. However, I hope that we can someday come close to that point. Until then, she is my newfound love and so much more than that. This is Haruna."
Hanabusa noticed that through the entire time that Isley spoke those words... He was looking directly into his blue eyes. This was the message he wanted to tell him all along: 'Haruna is mine.'
"Stupid," Hanabusa muttered. Did he think that would get him rattled up? Everyone began to clap and so did he. This declaration of war against Hanabusa... It was futile. "I gave up on her a long time ago. I should thank you actually."