“WERE you thinking about something?” Satsuki giggled as she turned to Shindo after lowering her violin bow.
“What do you mean?”
“The G string sounds a bit different from usual. It might not be noticeable to anyone listening, but you pick up on it when you’re the one playing,” Satsuki explained.
True to her deduction, Shindo was indeed lost in thought when tuning her violin.
Planning to kill time until lunch by playing the violin, he retrieved her violin from the instrument room and went to tune it in the spacious music room with its grand piano and wood floor. Just as he finished tuning the violin, Satsuki waltzed in. Satsuki said that she would play Brahms just for him. Readying her bow, she began to play right then and there.
It was Brahm’s “Violin Concerto”. But Satsuki cut her solo of the 1st Movement short. Apparently she found the ever so slightly off-tune G string too distracting.
“I’m sorry. I’ll tune it right away...” Shindo tried to take the violin, but she skirted around his outstretched hands.
“What were you thinking about?” she asked. The violin’s body was cradled in her right arm, the bow held in her right hand. With her left hand, Satsuki reached out and touched Shindo’s hand. His right hand was left floundering when Satsuki refused to let him take the violin, but now his fingers twined with hers.
“Was it about Takemi Kaido?” she prompted.
Shindo was naturally concerned about Kaido, but at the moment, it was none other than Satsuki who confused his heart. Mizuno’s warning only made him more aware of her. The more he tried not to think about Satsuki, the more thoughts of her filled his mind.
Shindo could always hit the reset button in his heart to contend with those emotions in the past. He was supposed to put emotions derailing from his position as a retainer back on track by resetting his heart with an ironclad will...
But it was beginning to dawn on Shindo that he was losing the ability to hit reset. Thinking back, it began the day he followed his heart and kissed Satsuki. Ever since that day, he was losing the ability to restrain his heart. He felt the danger in his wayward emotions all too keenly.
“It’s...my fault, isn’t it?” Satsuki asked, folding her fingers threaded between Shindo’s and squeezing his hand. “I shouldn’t have concerned you with that...”
She was referring to how Takemi Kaido apparently knew she had powers. Someone aside from Shindo and Satsuki’s parents knew about her powers. Although it was hard to believe, that was reality.
With that in mind, Satsuki was filled with regret as she wondered, Why didn’t I read Kaido’s mind back then? Kaido’s words and very presence were so unnerving, she couldn’t.
Seeing Satsuki lower her gaze in unease, a pang of pain spread in Shindo’s chest.
“Miss,” he started, squeezing her hand, “please allow me to conduct a background check on Takemi Kaido.”
“A background check?”
“I’m sure to learn something if I dig deep enough. We can’t simply ignore him if he does know about your powers, Miss.”
The genuine concern he expressed for her brought a rosy blush to Satsuki’s cheeks. She knew it was expected of him to worry. Yet Satsuki still couldn’t stop her heart from pounding wildly to the beat of feelings that extended well beyond what was “only natural.”
“Miss?” Shindo called, finding it strange that Satsuki didn’t respond.
Snapping back to reality, Satsuki sputtered in a fluster on the verge of hysterics, “H-He said he’d be seeing me around... He might appear before me again sometime. And if he does...” The words tumbled out of her mouth on top of each other until she felt Shindo’s judging eyes on her. Under his intense gaze, she found it increasingly difficult to find the words she was looking for. “...the next time...I see him...I think it might be wise...to ‘check him out,’ so to speak...” she finished awkwardly.
Satsuki met Shindo’s gaze, looking intently back into his eyes. Unable to find any other words, she fell silent, leaving the two gazing at one another with fingers intertwined and bodies a hair apart.
Shindo stroked Satsuki’s hair with his free left hand. He threaded her hair through his fingers until reaching the back of her head. If he pulled her toward him, she would fit into his arms perfectly. He could feel her body...and her pulse. But...
“I believe lunch should be ready by now. Let’s go to the dining room,” he said instead. Resisting his inner desire, he didn’t pull her into the embrace. Upon taking the violin from Satsuki’s arm and the bow from her hand, he turned his back to her.
“Would you like to play this afternoon? If you would, I will retune it,” Shindo offered as he placed the violin and bow on top of the piano. When he turned back around, what he beheld was so shocking, he was afraid his whole body jumped. Satsuki was looking at him with such a sorrowful expression, he feared she might break out into tears at any second.
“I think I will. Please tune it, if you would... I still haven’t fulfilled your request, after all. And isn’t Manabu coming tonight? It’d be nice to play for him as well...” Satsuki struggled to say while feigning calm, her melancholic face turned away from Shindo.
“Understood,” Shindo replied, also in an artificially calm voice. He was fighting to restrain his heart, which yearned for the girl before him with terrifying passion.
“Do you suppose Manabu will come alone? I sure hope Miharu comes with him.” Finding it difficult to resume her usual mask, Satsuki spun away from Shindo. It tore at her to have him see her on the verge of tears.
The moment Satsuki thought he was going to accept her feelings, Shindo thrust her back into reality. It felt as if he spurned her personally. Her heart was filled with such sadness, it could break.
“Would you like me to call and ask?” Shindo offered.
“No, I’d prefer if it was a surprise,” she answered.
Unfortunately, this was the unavoidable reality. They could not break the taboo... Their fingers must never intertwine. Their gazes must never interlock. Their hearts must never...connect at a deeper level than that of mistress and servant.
✦ ✦ ✦
“GOOD evening. Thank you for coming,” Satsuki personally greeted the guests at the front door. She only did that for special guests.
“I’m so glad to see Miharu is with you,” Satsuki said as Miharu appeared from behind Manabu, who entered the mansion one step ahead of her. The sight of her brought a genuinely happy smile to Satsuki’s face.
Claiming he had business with Tsukasa that night, Manabu arrived at around 8:00 with Miharu in tow. Eagerly awaiting their arrival, Satsuki stood before the line of staff waiting to welcome them. When they arrived, she stepped forward to greet them with a great big smile. But only Manabu returned her smile in kind.
“Good evening. What a treat to have you greet us at the door.”
“Oh, you’re too kind. By any chance, did my father make you two give up plans for a date to come here instead?” Satsuki tactfully guessed.
“What makes you ask?”
“Your princess appears to be in a mood most foul,” Satsuki explained.
It must have occurred to Miharu that she was treating the lady who welcomed her with a disgruntled smile. Although somewhat forced, she returned the smile and apologized, “I’m sorry... It’s nothing like that.”
Her answer came out somewhat awkward. Manabu tried to wrap his arm over Miharu’s shoulders to urge her on. Miharu angrily dodged around him and marched on ahead. It would appear Manabu’s princess really was in a foul mood. Manabu smiled wryly before following his fiancée.
“I wonder if they got into a fight... That is pretty rare for those two,” Satsuki observed, watching them walk away. When she looked up at Shindo hovering at her side, a mischievous grin crept across his lips.
“If that is how she’s acting over a little ‘disagreement’ now, Miss Miharu is going to turn Master Manabu into a whipped dog after they tie the knot.”
“You’re right! Still, I almost never see those two angry with each other,” Satsuki giggled and started off. “Let’s go, Shindo.”
“Yes, Miss,” Shindo replied, following after her.
Little did either know the announcement to set their destinies awaited them...