ONE fine Sunday afternoon, Azusa and Kouya stood side by side in front of a colossal wrought-iron gate. Through the iron gate Azusa saw a stately manor twice the size of the mansion she was staying at. The mansion she stayed at wasn’t small by any standards, but it looked like a cabin next to the manor looming past the gate.
Azusa clenched a cake box and the invitation to a tea party being held at the manor that she received the prior day. Youta Kisagari was the tea party’s host. He took the time to write by hand that he would love for Kouya and Azusa to both come. Kouya agreed since it was an invitation from his little brother, despite not being fond of the idea. Meanwhile, Azusa was excited to receive her first invitation to someone’s house since arriving at the Red Coven’s town.
She stiffened in front of the overwhelming grandiose gate—Kouya, of course, had his trademark lack of reaction. She carefully pressed the intercom button.
“Yes? Who, may I ask, is at the gate?” a young woman formally responded.
“Hello. I’m Azusa Saito. Youta invited me to a tea party here today.”
“We have been awaiting your arrival. I shall open the gate for you now. Please proceed straight from the gate until you come to a rose garden. Master Youta is awaiting your arrival there,” the woman answered through the intercom.
A loud click and several beeps came from the gate as it automatically opened for them. They proceeded down the path as they were told, until they spotted a young man standing in front of an archway covered in roses.
“We were waiting for you, Kouya, Azusa. The others are already here and having a blast.”
“The others?”
“You’ll see when you get there,” Youta said with his usual angelic smile. But a few minutes later Azusa learned her angel was actually a scheming little devil.
“Sorry for taking you out with a single blow before. I lost my cool when you took Azusa away from me.”
“Don’t think things will go your way this time! Ichi!”
“I have your back!”
“Okay, ok-ay! Enough. I forbid any fighting to take place here, so please be sure to stay cordial. Don’t look so grim, Ichi. I love that face of yours too, but I love it most when you smile.”
Azusa exited the rose covered archway to find Ichi, Subaru, and Tsukiharu facing each other, ready to fight. She was rendered speechless as Youta mediated the chaotic situation. Kouya silently grabbed her arm and hid her behind his back.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Come now, Kouya, Azusa, don’t just stand there. I have your seats all set for you. Take a seat. Here, Ichi, why don’t you sit too? You too, Tsukiharu! And since you’re here anyway, go ahead and sit too, Subaru,” Youta insisted, his attitude blatantly colder toward Subaru because of his feelings for Ichi.
The three of them grudgingly sat at the table. Azusa and Kouya followed suit. They sat around a gigantic, round mahogany table in the following order: Kouya, Azusa, Subaru, Ichi, Youta, and Tsukiharu. Tsukiharu was cushioned between Youta and Kouya, putting Azusa on the edge of her seat at the thought of a battle breaking out over the slightest thing. Azusa was the last one to sit down, so she tried to sit next to Tsukiharu instead, but was inevitably stopped by Kouya’s silent glare.
Azusa was the first person to break the suffocating, caustic silence, “What is going on here, Youta?”
“I secretly gathered you all here because I wanted to create an opportunity for you to get to know each other better. Of course, I got everyone together without telling Tsukiharu either, so this wasn’t his plan. Don’t get the wrong idea here. I tried asking Tsukiharu what happened between you guys many times, but he wouldn’t tell me much. I got the gist something happened between him and the rest of you though.
“Anyway, I thought something might change between you if you tried talking it over. Kouya, you told me countless times to be careful of Tsukiharu, but I just can’t see him as a bad guy. If you still can’t work things out after talking in this setting, I’m honestly okay with that. But I believe you are both in the wrong for fighting when you barely know anything about each other,” Youta explained, looking around the table with a smile that seemed to insinuate, “How about it?”
Youta confirmed no one had any objections before standing from his seat.
“You need to talk about things I can’t know about, right? I’ll keep an eye out for a suitable time to return, so please spend your time until then freely. You are welcome to do anything, aside from turning it into an all-out fight in my garden. And, Tsukiharu, don’t go saying things to egg them on, will you? I’ll cut all ties with you if you do.”
“…Whatever you say.”
Youta nodded with relief at Tsukiharu’s response and disappeared into the sprawling manor acting as the backdrop to their tea party.
With Youta gone, silence reigned over the round table.
After a good long pause, Subaru—having regained his cool—spoke up, “Well, since Youta created the opportunity for us, there are definitely some things we want to ask you about. Will you answer our questions, little Tsukiharu?”
“Four against one is like some sort of cross-examination interrogation. I don’t mind though. I’ll answer you out of consideration for Youta this time. What do you want to know?” Tsukiharu asked, resting his chin on his hand with disinterest.
Subaru looked away for a moment, not sure where to start his questioning, until he finally faced Tsukiharu and leaned toward him on the table. “I’ll get straight to the point then. What and who exactly are you? Is it true you possess the Ancient’s body?”
“That would be the first question you ask, wouldn’t it? I had a hunch it would be. That’s what I heard, and I think you got your proof when you witnessed my ability to fight evenly with the Akaoni even though I haven’t awakened yet.”
“Who did you hear about it from?”
“From the researchers who created me. I was kept in the Blue Coven’s underground laboratory until three and a half months ago. What I told you is all I ever heard since the day I was born, so I doubt it’s a lie, but that’s about all I know about myself. I couldn’t provide you with more evidence even if I wanted to.”
“Next question then. Why are you after Azusa? Also, why did you have someone else do the dirty work during your first attack? Had you come for Azusa yourself, our chances of getting her back would have been exceedingly slim.”
“I think you have serious issues going out of your way to ask questions you already know the answers to.”
“I want to hear it directly from your lips.”
“Whatever then. As I said earlier, I possess the Ancient’s body with human blood pumping through it. I’ll surely fall to F rank if I awaken as a vampire with this body. Trying to prevent that future is one reason I went after her. Also, as I told Azusa before, I have nothing to do with the first kidnappers who went after her. I had only just broken out of the lab and was busy trying to keep myself alive—I didn’t have the time to concern myself with other things yet. Besides, I only learned of her whereabouts because of what Shiro told me. I knew she existed before that, but I had no idea where she was.”
“Ah!” Azusa shouted after Tsukiharu finished explaining.
Oh yeah, I never told them about that part! I completely forgot about it because of everything else that happened after he told me!
“Azusa?!”
“Azusa!”
“I-I’m sorry,” she bowed her head to Ichi and Subaru. Kouya quietly glared at her from the seat beside her. She had nothing but regrets.
“…In other words, are you trying to say the Blues have nothing to do with the first kidnap attempt?”
“I don’t know about the Blues. I’m acting independently. My only ally is Shiro. You know, I thought I already told Azusa all of this…from the looks on your faces, I take it she never told you.”
“I! AM! SO! SORRY!” Azusa apologized, bowing her head with such vigor it slammed against the table. The daggers she could feel burrowing into her head kept her from looking up.