"Take Haru to her room now," Alois instructed his servants. "Make sure she's comfortable, okay?" He turned to Haru with a sly wink. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Haru bit back her disgust. He was treating her like nothing more than a wild dog, trapping her in a room like this. She only stayed with the Phantomhives because she wanted to. She sat against the wall in her room, staring into the endless darkness. Her room was small and grey with nothing more than a bed in it. She didn't often sleep at night anyway.
Lonely Wolf
She sat with her back against the wall and her legs sprawled out. She wanted sake.
It was already night time before a small, warm light entered the room. She looked up to see the three demons from before, Thompson, Timber, and Canterbury, (she had learned their names over dinner). They each set a candlestick in a corner of the room and began looking around as if they'd never seen the place before.
"Do you want something?" she asked. She was familiar with desire. They turned to her and nodded their heads slightly. They each approached her; Timber and Thompson knelt on either side of her and put their heads on either of her shoulders, whilst Canterbury sat on one side of her and put his head in her lap. Haru felt something she never had before; this wasn't loneliness… it was… what?
She was tense; she wasn't sure how to handle this new emotion. After a moment of hesitation, she reached forward and began stroking Canterbury's hair softly. He closed his eyes, clearly pleased with her kind gesture. It was only another moment before Haru began singing to them.
"Saa wasuremashou sono mirai ga
Mata chinurarete yuku nante
Namanurui kaze toguro o maitara
Sore ga tabun aizu
Nukedashitette nukedashitette
Kanashisugiru unmei kara
Anata wa naraku no hana ja nai
Sonna basho de
Sakanaide sakanaide
Karametorarete ikanaide
Oto mo naku tobikau toki no kakera
Dare ga kono te o nigitte iru no?
Dare ga kono kami o nadete iru no?
Ima naite ita moegi no naka de
Kanjiteru aizu
Tobikoetette tobikoetette
Unmei no haguruma kara
Anata wa naraku no hana ja nai
Sonna basho de
Chiranaide chiranaide
Soshite tane o nokosanaide
Me o daseba futatabi mawaru karuma
Nukedashitette nukedashitette
Kanashisugiru unmei kara
Anata wa naraku no hana ja nai
Sonna basho de
Sakanaide sakanaide
Karametorarete ikanaide
Oto mo naku tobikau toki no kakera"
Haru smiled at them. Their eyes were closed; they seemed to be sleeping. Now that she thought about it, sleeping wouldn't be so bad now that she wasn't so alone. Her eyes began slipping closed and her head nodding from side to side. The triplets looked up when they saw her falling asleep.
"She must be tired," Thompson noted, helping the others pick her up.
"The master is a tiresome handful," Timber agreed as they set her down on the bed.
"Do you think we can stay with her tonight?" Canterbury asked, tucking the thin, grey quilt around her.
"The master did say to make her comfortable," Thompson nodded.
"It can't hurt," Timber agreed.
The three of them knelt on one side of the bed and put their heads down on the mattress, faces turned to watch Haru. They didn't feel lonely around her; similar to when they were peacefully brushing Hannah's hair in the evening. They knew something was wrong with her, and in return for her undeniable kindness, they wanted to help her. It was replaying a debt, nothing more, right?
They woke up the next morning being dragged out of Haru's room by their necks. They didn't even bother struggling as Claude dragged them to the dining hall and threw them into the kitchen.
"Do your jobs!" Claude ordered. "Don't waste your time with that soulless wolf. Just stay away from her."
"Touchy," Thompson muttered.
"Do you think he's jealous?" Timber asked, putting soup on for breakfast for the bratty young master.
"He's just greedy with the souls, no matter how incomplete," Canterbury replied, taking some plates out to set the table.
When haru awoke hours later, she was dismayed to learn she was alone again. However, as she was stretching and getting out of bed, she noticed a small white box at the foot of her bed with three purple ribbons on it. One bow on either side and one in the center. She smirked and hastily unwrapped the gift; she'd never gotten a present before.
Inside was a cute little Funtom Co. Bitter Rabbit; she'd come to recognize it often. She smiled fondly and hugged it close. She loved it. She took it downstairs to breakfast with her and back up to her room afterwards. She never set it down. Claude scolded the triplets as soon as he could.
"Don't tell me you wasted what little money the master has given you on that," he spat. The three looked kind of sheepish for once.
"Oh so it was you who gave it to her," Alois snickered, descending the staircase to meet them. "How stupid. There's no way she could like you; you won't even talk to her."
The triplets were enraged to hear this, but they didn't say anything. They merely whispered amongst themselves as always.
Haru was up in her room, lying on the floor with a bored expression. Her ear twitched and she raised her head. Someone was coming.