Snippet #2476084

Aiko had stood waiting for quite a few minutes. His legs were starting to feel the time he spent just waiting there for them. Today is different from the last time she visited. She is taking longer than usual. He had some time to himself to ponder as to what could be holding Keiko up.

Almost as if in response to his speculations she arrived, setting aside her bag and donning her indoor footwear. When she bowed he bowed as well, not as deep as her though. He was the head of the family, someone with no equal. As such he would bow lower than no one. "Hello, Aiko," Keiko stood up straight and smiled. "It's very nice to see you again." She greeted him with warmth and what possibly seemed like genuine happiness. None the less he was still skeptical of her. Defiance always begins with the smallest of deviations.


"Hello Keiko. Good of you to finally come." He spoke, his words devoid of any sign of emotion. Inside his head he believed he appeared and sounded friendly. In reality his voice was cold and foreboding while his face hid his true feelings towards this ordeal terribly, simply locked in a reluctant frown. When he talked it was as though each word he would say was a stone he was throwing at his intended audience. No matter how encouraging and friendly he tried to make his words they would always sound like they were designed to hurt and break the people they are given to.

"You took longer than usual. Something hold you up at school? Perhaps on the way here?" He asked, trying to better understand why she took a few more minutes to reach his manor than usual. Seeing how his current relationship with the family was basically one man trying to keep above neck level in a pool of snakes, each trying to come out on top while the bottom grew deeper and the undertow stronger with every passing moment, he needed to keep a laser keen focus on everything everyone says and does. No matter who's business it was, the moment it involved anyone within the Sohma family it was his business. He really didn't like other people making their problems his business.


And then he heard the doorbell ring. He turned from Keiko towards the door, wondering just who it could be. The list of people it could likely be far exceeded the list of people he wanted to see. He went over, his shoes gliding across the wood panel floor without a single noise, not even from the wood which he stood on. Standing in front of the door he peered through the peak hole to see the guest. It was a stranger, a tall girl dressed in rather plain clothes wearing glasses. He did not know who this girl even was. Who could possibly be visiting? And why? The possibilities flew through his head rapidly.
"You didn't tell me you were bringing guests." He spoke low to Keiko as to not alert the spectacled girl outside.

Without much further delay he opened the door slightly, peering through the thin aperture at this new arrival. He stood directly behind the door just in case this was a home invasion and this young unassuming girl was some psychotic killer out to murder them both and steal all his belongings. He figured if he could shut and lock the door fast enough he might stand a fighting chance of surviving the encounter. "Hello. What business do you come to these estates on?" He asked the stranger as politely as he could sound. There was a slight twinge of fear in his voice, his uncertainty just barely poking through his gravitas.
He desperately hoped the strange figure's business here was trivial, like she accidentally threw her flying disc out onto his property and was coming up to formally ask his permission so she would not step on his grounds uninvited.

Now that I think about it, I'd love it if the rest of my family would ask my permission before doing anything on my property. That would make things so much easier for me.