Akito and I ran to the opposite of where Arata went to, we ran to the place the party was being held.
I pulled my hand away, I couldn't trust Akito though he had saved me back then, it could have been an act to win my trust.
"What are you doing?" I asked him.
Akito looked honestly surprised and for a moment I hesitated about not trusting him. "We're going back to the party, of course." He answered, his answer confused me.
Why would he bring me back to the party?
"Back to the party?" I repeated.
Is he going to execute me in front of his guests?
"Yes, if there are witnesses, my mother's men won't chase you"
"Your mother's men?!" I repeated him again. "Those people were not under your command?!"
Akito's eyes grew big and filled with realization before they turned sad. "Haruhi, you thought that I was the one who sent those men?"
Confused I nodded. "You… aren't going to kill me then?"
He showed a sad smile. "I'm sorry, Haruhi, of course you'd suspect me too of wanting to kill you…" He let out a sigh. "My mother is the only one that wants you dead, she doesn't even tell me her plans. I know she wants me to be king but actually I rather wish to see you on the throne." He sounded absolutely honest. He had changed so much after the last time we had met…
He looked so sad, it must have been hard to live with a mother like my aunt. And now I wanted to talk with her even more. Arata wouldn't let me meet my aunt but maybe Akito would understand that I wanted to speak with Aunt.
"Akito, I want to meet your mother, can you help me?"
Akito gasped in horror and grabbed her shoulders. "No! Haruhi! You can't! It's like moving into the lion's den! She'll kill you too just like – " he said in panic.
"Just like who?" I repeated. "What do you mean?"
Akito realised he had said too much and sighed, his brown hair fell over his eyes. "Mother… She, she…" Akito took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Uncle… Your father got... he got poisoned by mother." When I didn't react he started to talk further.
"By the time I noticed that something was wrong, it was already too late… the poison had already started to take effect… I'm so sorry, Haruhi." The last part came out very softly.
Uneasy I tried to give myself an attitude, I didn't know if I should cry or not. If I would cry I'd feel like I betrayed Oto-san but if I wouldn't cry, it would feel like betraying my biological father. "You… are sure it was your mother?" I asked him to clear my head from those depressing thoughts.
"Yes, it couldn't have been someone else."
"I see…"
Both of us stayed silent for a while before I spoke again. "I'm sorry Akito but I can't return to the party with you."
Akito looked up from staring at the ground, on his face a worried expression. "Haruhi, I –"
"It's not that I'm blaming you for what happened, I just left someone behind that I need to find."
"Did you come to the party with someone? " Akito frowned as he tried to remember if he had seen someone.
"My bodyguard." I explained. "I need to find my bodyguard."
"Aren't the roles supposed to be reversed?" Akito asked, teasing to lighten the conversation.
"And about visiting Aunt… Can you make an appointment?" I asked, his comment ignoring.
Akito wanted to answer but I interrupted him. "I just want to confirm why she would go as far as killing her own brother."
Akito smiled slightly and nodded. "I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you."
"And I'll help you with searching for your bodyguard. It's safer when I'm with you." He added. Before I could protest he had already started to walk. "He went to the garden." I said, Akito guiding me wasn't a bad idea since he was familiar with the mansion.
.
With Akito as guide we found the garden much faster than I would have if I had searched alone. I probably would have got lost a couple of times too.
From behind the windows I could see a magnificent garden full of colourful flowers and big trees but my attention didn't go to the beautiful flowers but to the men inside the garden. A big group of guards had surrounded Arata.
My bodyguard was severally injured and his clothes for the party were red with blood, I was sure it wasn't only his blood. One of his cheeks started to get purple, someone must have punched him in the face.
"Is that your bodyguard?" Akito asked surprised while he studied Arata.
"Yes, that's him."
Akito nodded approvingly. "He's quite good, that he is still able to stand on his feet after fighting my mother's guards."
One of the men surrounding him made his move and Arata was too slow with his reaction so he got punched in his stomach. I gasped. Another man grabbed Arata from behind and forced him on his knees while the other one hit him with his fist in Arata's face.
"Arata!" I yelled and wanted to enter the garden but got stopped by Akito. "Let me handle it, Haruhi." He said and stepped into the garden while I hid behind one of the walls.
"What's going on here?!" Akito's voice sounded angry.
"Akito-sama, we caught an intruder." One of the guards answered.
"An intruder? How can someone, personally invited by me, be an intruder?" Akito lied.
"Akito-sama… invited this man?" the man asked confused.
"Yes, he's a friend of mine." He sighed deep. "I'm really ashamed that one of my guests got treated in such a horrible manner. Who gave you the command to suspect my guests?!"
"My humble excuses, your majesty but I cannot answer that question." The man sounded like he started to panic.
"So it was my mother…" Akito concluded.
"N-no! Your majesty, Aneko-sama would never ask such a thing!"
When the man said that I realized Akito hadn't lied about the fact that his mother never told him anything about her scheming. "If it wasn't my mother, then let go of my friend!" he commanded.
I could hear the men shuffle uneasy in the grass. Since they lied about his mother not being the one who commanded this, they couldn't disobey the prince but they feared his mother's rage if they let Arata escape.
"Well?" Akito asked impatiently.
There was the sound of footsteps hesitatingly retreating and when I peeked from behind the wall I saw the guards distance themselves from Arata. The man who had grabbed him had also retreated and now Arata sat on his knees, looking at Akito with an expression I couldn't name.
"In the meanwhile our mansion is unguarded against real problems because of your faults." Akito said. "Be grateful that I didn't fire you! Go back to your posts!" he commanded and they couldn't do anything but obey.
When the last man had left the garden, Akito spoke to Arata. "You have quite the stamina, bodyguard-san." Akito complimented him.
"You!" I was surprised to hear so much hatred in Arata's voice.
I wanted to enter the garden when I heard Akito chuckled softly. "You're a brave man, son of Miyamoto Kazuya." He said and I froze in the opening of the entrance to the garden. How does he knows Arata's father?
" I never had expected that you too would serve the royal family, let be serving the daughter of the woman responsible for your father's dead."
I just love cliffhangers ^_^ eheh, next chapter will contain a Takashi x Haruhi moment so look forward to it 'kay :) I'm planning on giving each host some time with haruhi, the second host probably will be kyoya. I hope you enjoyed this chapter ^_^