“How do you do? I am Azusa Saito. I am deeply honored by you coming to join us at this party. I am still but an inexperienced child and would be greatly blessed if you could guide and encourage me in the years to come,” Azusa mechanically repeated the same greeting she said for the nth time that day. She had rote memorized the cue cards Subaru prepared for her.
The plump man snorted. “Lass, that marks the second time I heard you say that. Try to at least remember the faces of the people who greeted you.”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
The man somehow looked elated by her flustered apology. “Well, it’s inevitable. Can’t do much about it. You haven’t done anything wrong, lassie. You had the great misfortune of being forced here against your will.”
“U-Uh, okay,” Azusa vaguely nodded along with him. He smacked her shoulder hard enough to rattle her bones. The man laughed hard. Spittle flew out of his mouth as he took another heavy gulp of his whiskey.
“It’s no different from your life having been sacrificed for appearances sake, huh! After all, it’s abnormal for a vampire not to have a contractor at his age. No one in these parts would dare attempt to contract with the red-eyed lad. And if there was someone, they’d have to have balls of steal or be out of their mind. Our great Patriarch sure got some brains to kidnap someone from elsewhere because he couldn’t dig up anybody locally!”
Everyone close enough to hear started muttering to each other.
All the adults who came to greet Azusa recognized her as, “the contractor Master Akashi forcefully brought from the human world for his son.” What else would they think? Not a single thing about Azusa’s blood or the battles surrounding her was made known. But this man was the first to voice it. Many of the guests whispered about it among themselves, but seeing as it could be taken as slighting the Patriarch, no one put what they thought into words.
The man paid no heed to the gathering eyes as he rattled on, “Have you met the red-eyed lad yet, lass? You were scared to death, weren’t you? Did you faint?”
“No, I was fine, thank you,” was all Azusa could say. Frightened by his intensity, she took a step back and her heel hit the wall. Staying in the corner to be a flower on the wall backfired on her now—she had nowhere to run.
“I see! What a gutsy lass you are!”
“Not at all.”
He smacked her painfully on the shoulder again. She was certain he wasn’t a bad man, but her complete lack of experience with drunks made him tough for her to deal with.
“Wasn’t he despicable? Odious, sarcastic, reprehensible! He’s got a scary mug, and his eyes could burn holes through you!”
“……”
Azusa didn’t have the energy to skillfully parry his comments in her exhausted state. She couldn’t stop from huffily grimacing. The man grinned like he understood where her expression came from.
“I’m right, aren’t I? How could I be wrong? You obviously think so too, don’t you?”
His grin snapped the last fiber holding Azusa’s temper in check.
“Kouya is kind, you know? I believe his scarlet eyes are beautiful like rubies. I can’t say much for the way he looks at you, but it’s not bad once you get used to it. If you find him sarcastic and reprehensible, isn’t that only because you have made him that way toward you?”
“Ooh?” the man hummed, impressed, and sidled up to Azusa. Azusa only realized her slip of tongue once she was stuck between the man and wall. Her hands shot up to cover her mouth, but there is no way to take back words once they are said. “You seem considerably attached to the red-eyed lad, lassie.”
“Nah, no…I mean, I’m sorry.”
“Nay, lassie. I’m the one who’s sorry! Looks like I misunderstood you!” he broadly grinned. The man’s voice suddenly took on a bright tone and he turned toward the guests throwing his arms out and loudly declared for all to hear, “Lass, you weren’t kidnapped, but actually pursued the red-eyed lad here because you love him, right? I’m sure that’s it!”
“What?!”
“What an extraordinarily commendable lassie you are! Our great Patriarch must have thrown this grand party because such a lass came for his son! I see! I see!” His booming voice, which seemed partially like an act, caused uproar among the guests. Azusa’s shock rendered her speechless.
“Looks like everyone else had the same misunderstanding as me! Come now, lassie, declare it to the lot of them! Shout it from the rooftops that, ‘I chased the red-eyed lad here!’”
“Excuse me?!”
The man pushed Azusa from behind as her face froze with an indescribable expression involving her gaping mouth. The guests chuckled at the banter between them.
“I guess the Patriarch wouldn’t kidnap someone.”
“But it’s hard to believe she’s in love with the Akaoni.”
Curious whispers came from the crowd. Apparently, their common understanding about Azusa changed from, “the contractor Master Akashi forcefully brought from the human world for his son” to “the strange girl who came to contract with the Akaoni.” On the whole, it had changed to a more favorable impression, but Azusa found it hard to swallow.
“Can you leave your teasing at that, Uncle?”
Azusa’s eyes widened at the person who pushed his way through the crowd.
“Kouya?!”
“Hiya, red-eyed lad. I was just having a fun little chat with your contractor.”
“……”
The guests were abuzz for a different reason this time. The center of their attention was stiff-faced and held his left hand to his head. He was clearly beyond annoyed. He briskly cut through the crowd to where the man and Azusa were and snatched Azusa’s hand.
“I have business with her. I will greet you properly later.”
“Wow, someone can’t keep his hands to himself! You’re a passionate one, lad!”
It probably wasn’t Azusa’s imagination that she heard Kouya click his tongue.
“Kouy—”
“Let’s go.”
Azusa later told Ichi she had never seen a scarier face on Kouya than when he spoke to his Uncle that night.