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"Oh, there you are! Wait up!"When it seemed that Haruji and Ichirou were to return to the road towards the Sohma estate, they so happened to meet up with Hiiro, who she, herself, was making her way towards the estate, just as planned.
”Hey Hiiro!” Haruji began, giving a warm smile in Hiiro’s direction, however it felt as though the Snake Zodiac member was a bit occupied with herself. Although she looked quite beautiful in her sanguine kimono, with her hair and make-up nicely done, she seemed… well, very stressed out. Well, that was a given; after all, they were heading over to the Family Head, where Hiiro was planning to tell Aiko Sohma of her lone pregnancy. However her earlier, optimistic behaviour threw Haruji slightly off reality, and it was only when he saw Hiiro in her anxious state. Nonetheless, Hiiro continued on, still looking quite occupied with her own introspective-self.
"Do you know where Yuuto went? Is he heading over to the Sohma Estate, too? My gosh, why are you so far away?! It's hard for me to--"At the mention of Yuuto, Haruji recalled what had happened earlier, also hoping that his goatish cousin had returned home safely. Yuuto, also, seemed quite occupied at the time; a family meeting was turning out to be quite a hectic and panicked affair. This was proven more evident, as Hiiro, once again, spaced out, almost as though she had forgotten she left a cooker on at home there and then.
”Hiiro?” Haruji inquired, taking a step towards his red-haired cousin, however it seemed as though she could not hear him, caught up within an intense thought of hers. It didn’t take Hiiro long, however, to snap out of it, looking a bit worse-for-wear from whatever she was thinking of. She was quickly to regain some composure, however, at the sight of Ichirou; she must’ve been wondering why Haruji was bouncing down the street only seconds before by himself! Nonetheless, Hiiro hastily brushed aside her odd behaviour as [color=#]”hormones”[/color], and was hastier to leave their company in search of Yuuto.
”Hiiro, hold on!” Haruji began, taking a step or two forward after her, however, once Haruji realised that it was futile to follow her, the young man let out a pensive sigh, rubbing the back of his head. Indeed, family meetings were chaotic indeed.
“Well, I guess Aiko is getting a ton of visitors today … I hope Hiiro is okay by the time she gets there… Did I do something?”
Haruji turned around to see Ichirou scratch the back of his neck, looking as mystified as Haruji; well, Haruji, at least, some part of the story, however he was starting to get the feeling that he knew quite little about Hiiro, despite how close he thought they were. Or, again, the family meeting was getting to everyone…
Oh, you did nothing!” Haruji exclaimed, facing Ichirou with a nervous smile ”It’s… just a rough day, I suppose, hahah…”
Haruji’s laughter trailed on awkwardly, however he was capable of still maintaining a smile.
”Anyway, we better head for the house! Otherwise the meeting will begin without us!”
Without another word, Haruji continued down the path the same as earlier, with a joyful step, however, unlike earlier, his doubts were eating more and more at him; will it be alright? Haruji couldn’t care less what the Family Head did to him, no; he had enough physical and mental lashing to gain a tolerance for it over the years. It unnerved him, however, to think of others in that situation… and yet there was no solution to the problem without conflict. It felt as though they were running into a rabbit trap, yet there was no where else to go, other than the Sohma Estates.
”Come on Ichirou, get a move on!” Haruji added cheerful, trying to boost his courage up as much as possible...
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And so the journey through the Family Head’s house began and, despite everything, Miuru would be lying to herself if she did not ever fester a curiosity for what lay inside the mysterious house. Such stigma and rumor had hovered its property over the years, a house Miuru had yet to step into until that very day, however it did not live up to the suspicious expectations that were thrust upon it. Whether or not it was the environment itself or simply Aiko’s calm and efficient way of guiding, Miuru could not tell, yet her eyes seemed more active than they usually do in a normal day. Who knew when she would be able to return to the house, to satiate her curiosity, and thus the girl planned to make the most of her visit, even if she did not seem to be enjoying the guide externally.
Her interest contrasted the dark atmosphere that garnered the house like a heavy piece of cloth, as not only the hallways contained an almost eternal darkness, but also the people within were more shadow like than human. They did there job with efficiently, yet there was no liveliness in the work.
Not that Miuru was complaining, no; she never did hold a sentiment for a lively environment, yet even she noted that it was all a bit strange, if not even abnormal. She simply nodded as Aiko moved on from the kitchen, as if she was only noting the layout, and nothing more. It was hard to navigate through the hallways, as the light was dim and weak in the house. It was also a strange thing to note, but with Aiko’s lead, it caused little hassle.
She wondered how her father could walk these halls; most likely due to experience, yet Miuru doubted the man’s eyesight quite a lot… yes, the same father who sent her on this odd errand. She had yet to fully figure it all out, as she kept silent and kept the time not wasted on words to think about [i]why she was there; to find a notebook. Why? Well, it was important. But then again, he could have went in her stead, what was so important about that day-
"You can see the portraits of my father, the family head and each family head preceding him.
My ancestors have all had their place found upon this wall."Miuru snapped back in concentration, naturally following Aiko around without even thinking. She was grateful that she did not fall over or even bump into the host in her deep thought; whatever was occurring within her household, she had to focus on the task on hand. The family portraits, indeed, hold Miuru’s interest, however whether or not it was the intense style of the portraits or not, it was uncertain. Nevertheless, Miuru took a closer look at the paintings or, at least, as close as she could without it being considered rude; they stared right back at her, each portrait containing the illusion that the figures within them watched passersby. There was only one portrait left empty, with no inscription to the nameplate.
“Who…” Miuru whispered, however it was barely audible, and Miuru did not elaborate on the question; if it was of importance, something would have been said.
"It is quite interesting. As I've heard you are but a year older than myself yet we have only now met. Not to say that there were not valid explanations on both our parts as to why a meeting such as this never came sooner but I have seen almost each of the older family members, your father included, at least once before."Aiko’s question did not catch her off guard, especially since it was the first time he approached their lack of acquaintance in their brief company. Aiko, indeed, echo a question Miuru also asked herself, however Miuru had an inkling why; the rumors surrounding the Family Head were suspicious at best, her father protective of his now sole child. Yet she could hardly answer him with such an answer, especially since Miuru was uncertain of it herself.
”I… I participate a lot… school activities…”It wasn’t
untrue; Miuru was, indeed, often caught up in sport events held by the school, however it was not the best answer to the question. The Dog Zodiac member felt there was none available to her at the time, thus kept her suspicions to herself. All she knew, herself, was there was a reason why her father did not quite allow her with the Family Head, albeit Miuru had yet to decide which reason it could be.
It seemed like the question was put aside, for the moment, as Aiko escorted her out in the garden, a glaring bright light of the afternoon that was welcomed from the dark corridors of Aiko’s abode. It was, indeed, a beautiful garden, in many regards; laid out well, yet still maintaining a natural imagery. The rock garden did impress her to some degree as Miuru, colour-blind to some degree, never understood the aspect of having a green garden.
The grey, stone garden space, although dull to some, was a welcomed changed, which was expressed by adjusting her glasses on her face. The ivory table situated in the garden drew her attention, like a bright centerpiece of the painting, the rib-cage fixture interesting her the most, especially the one bone that had gone awry… There was something familiar to the statue, which lead her to think back on what her father once told her… Did the current Family Head not have difficulties, in regards to his rib-cage? Alas, her father never indulged her with the details, believing that she had no use of said information…
This is the garden. It's a purely aesthetic segment of this house although it does serve a purpose quite close to me. You see, I tend to feed the crows which come here, hence the table. I do enjoy watching them come and dine." Aiko once go interrupted her train-of-thought, and although his face did not seem lively in surmising an activity he claimed he enjoyed watching, there was some sort of enthusiasm in his voice… Miuru thought anyway.
She found he spoke a lot, and was hard to read thus, as if the more words he spewed, the more it concealed… Or perhaps Miuru had grown too accustomed to brief, broken conversations. Most likely the latter, regardless, whilst talking of the crows his tone did… seem to change. Or, rather, it was a different aspect to a stranger she knew through stories in the years before that moment. However, the further they trekked in this conversation, the more in-depth they were journeying…
"Your father has always been quite loyal, always serving my family to the best of his ability. He's been there for us in the best of times... And the worst of times."All through the tour, Miuru rarely looked up, beyond looking at the floors or walls, rarely even made note in her behaviour to indicate any interest or the like. However, at the mention of her father, Miuru looked up at Aiko straight on in the face; her expression, of course, did not change, however it was evident that he had her attention. Despite her ponderings of him, Miuru could care less what others thought of her father, however at the mention of “the worst of times”…
"I've spent many years speaking to people well older than myself. I've only ever had seniority over others in title and training alone. Though you are indeed a year older than myself I intend to speak with you as an equal, if not in position within the family hierarchy then at least in age. That way I hope to foster a lack of need for such reservation as you've shown so far. Such intent is not ill welcomed, no?"Miuru’s “reservation”; she gave an audible sigh, supposedly a substitute for a laugh, however, to strangers, it sounded more like a sigh of thought. She found Aiko quite suspicious in his comment, as she found suspicion in anyone who found her distant, to some extent; Miuru shifted her glasses on the bridge of her nose, in the process of thinking.
He did speak some truths; they were, indeed, around the same age, in comparison to other members of the Sohma clan, it was odd, in fact, that they had not bonded one way or another due to this alone.
Of course, probably due to his ailments, that would be impossible, however, was it so strange to request friendship from one almost equal in age? What was the protocol for these situations? Miuru continued to fiddle with her glasses, looking less likely to be thinking, moreso simply fidgeting for one reason or another.
”I… … An acquaintance would not be… ill welcomed…”Miuru almost repeated Aiko, however avoided the topic of being equals; this was the Family Head she was conversing with, she could not simply waltz about whilst paying no attention to her surroundings. It almost seemed that Aiko caught onto her lack of conversation, which was little to none; now faced the challenge of interacting.
"I've spoken much already. How about yourself? How has life treated you in these many years we haven't spoken?"Miuru mused the questions asked of her. How strange to ask how she were, was she not standing in front of him patiently?
Alas, it was a question… she was not asked of lately, or in the same manner posed. Her mother avoided her at all costs, becoming just another tenant in the house; her father inquired about her well being, but it was moreso to check if she did not go wild in front of others once more.
As such, she gave another little sigh, a replacement for a smile, and looked at Aiko’s face as she spoke; it was polite enough to do so.
”I… am well, Sohma-san… There isn’t… really much to life…”Miuru finally stopped messing around with her glasses, having calmed down a bit more. It was not as challenging as she thought it would be, conversing to the Family Head. If all she needed to do was to say she was fine to interact with him, Miuru found the job easy.
”Yourself… Sohma-san… is there… life here?”Miuru never comprehended how odd a question she posed, nonetheless she meant it, to some degree; despite the beautiful garden, a full-working staff and a large home… something felt amiss. Or, rather, just like the chefs before, it felt as though there were shadows, not humans, wandering the house… although that was a far too elaborate thought on the situation to actually express. Miuru had yet to realise that what she had just said was rather elaborate and, daresay, quite gloomy, regardless, since Miuru was having a little “streak” in dialogue, she continued.
”Father… is a stick in the mud… Mustn’t be much company…”The notebook had yet to escape her memory, of course; as much as the conversation was quite nice, she was still there on a job, an errand. Yet there was no need to rush it; there was another errand in hand, to see another dimension to her father… For she did find him quite to be a stick-in-the-mud, regardless of the smiles and cheer he acted upon.
Whether she found Aiko to be a stick-in-the-mud… she did not know. The atmosphere around him was quite heavy and distant, however they were never things Miuru would actively complain about, for she would be similar, in the regards of being somewhat aloof. Yet he talked quite a lot or, rather, quite a lot to Miuru’s standard. As she thought before, it felt that he was hiding something away from her, through his questions and narration. Almost as though this was one half of a stranger… Then again, as a stranger, in some aspects, she found Aiko hard to judge.
Speaking of Aiko, it seemed he was thinking, to some extent, to himself, as it took a while for Miuru to respond to his questions, even when they were brief and simple.
”... … …I… can hear the cogs in your brain… turning from here…”Miuru threw in that last remark, almost like a bad attempt to lighten the mood, however which would probably be blown into the wind, due to the fact that Miuru kept her monotone voice whilst saying it. Yet her remark remained the same; being quite brave, she wondered what he was thinking of. A brave thought, and an almost hypocritical one, as many could ponder the same about herself. Regardless, Miuru had little idea of whether she would ever be allowed to meet the Family Head again, and a notebook could always wait.
Let her curiosity be satiated before she returns to her “happy household” environment...