“The Bridge is crossed, so stand and watch it burn”

The dark gray limousine navigated the roundabout and headed straight for the entrance. As it covered the grounds of the Tachibana Manor, an unsettled Yori aimlessly gazed at the lush greens through the vehicle’s window. When it finally came to a stop, a man clad in a set of well-pressed military uniform exited from the front passenger’s seat and opened the door for her. Yori took a deep breath and breathed out before she stepped out of the vehicle.

“This is my cage from now on.” She wanted to release this thought with the breath that she exhaled, but it remained.

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“Yori-sama has arrived,” a female attendant announced in front of a wooden double door. She had received Yori at the entrance and guided her into the interior.

“Enter please,” a deep male voice responded from the room behind the double door. The female attendant pushed the doors open and stepped back.

“Yori-sama, this way please,” she gestured her hands towards the room’s interior and bowed 90-degree.

Yori stepped into the carpeted room and strode towards the two figures in it. There was a large rectangular desk in which one of figures was sitting behind while the other stood by the side, leaning onto the seated figure’s high chair.

“Yori-san, welcome to the manor,” the seated figure greeted Yori. He was Tachibana Rou, the head of the clan as well as the father of Tachibana Keiichirou.

“It’s my honor to be here, Tachibana-sama,” she responded in a respectful tone.

“This is my lady, you can address her as Shiraki for now,” he was all smiles when he introduced his companion who was standing beside him.

“Shiraki-sama, it’s an honor to meet you,” Yori bowed 90-degree. It was only when she looked up when she realized that the figure beside Tachibana Rou belonged to a beautiful woman in her thirties.

“Yori-chan, it is nice to meet you too,” Shiraki had a deeper voice than what Yori expected. “I believe we will get along just fine,” she assured the young girl, who was looking in her eyes, with a gentle smile.

After the short meeting with Tachibana Rou and Lady Shiraki, Yori was brought out of the room by the female attendant that Tachibana Rou had summoned.

“Bring Yori-san to her room,” she remembered his instructions to the attendant.

“My room … ” the words faded into her thoughts as she was escorted to the room that she had never been into before.

Yori’s room was on the second level of the manor, along with other rooms with closed doors. It was nothing like her original bedroom from home. With a four-poster bed situated somewhere in the middle of the vast amount of space, the other furnitures that looked like they belonged to the same designer, this room had a girlish feel when compared to her Zen-style room.

“Yori-sama, I had taken the liberty to unpack your personal items and arranged them. Please make yourself comfortable and feel at home,” with that, the attendant bowed and left the room.

Walking towards the opened window at the other end of the room, Yori started thinking about many things; her father, brothers and essentially, she thought about the ominousness of living under the same roof as Tachibana Keiichirou.

Her room overlooked the gate of the manor – the steel bars that separated her from freedom.

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Yori was leaning onto the window frame when a drift of piano melody caught her attention. The tune was slow but it was euphonious to her ears and had a calming effect on her perturbed nerves. Before she could decide between approaching the source or not, she found herself exiting the room.

Tracing the melody with her ears, she walked down the stairs and reached the deserted first level. As the insecurity in her increased with the lack of human presence, she looked back up on the stairs that she had just descended from. It was then she registered a large framed portrait by the stair landing. Entranced by the beauty of the portrait, Yori was looking fixedly at it while remaining at where she was standing.

She could identify Tachibana Rou in the center amongst 3 other faces. From the left of the portrait, there stood a young boy with blond hair. He was very good-looking even by the standards of his tender age, spotting big sapphire-colored eyes and well put-together facial features. Between the beautiful young boy and Tachibana Rou, there was a taller figure. He had hazel-colored hair (which was the same as that of Tachibana Rou) and was in a pair of glasses. Although he did not wear the usual villainous expression on his face, Yori could recognize that it was Tachibana Keiichirou with a hypocritical sober look. Not wanting to place her sight on him any further, she shifted her attention to the figure to the right of Tachibana Rou.

“Hi, you must be Yori-san,” a young voice sounded off behind her. Before she could take a good look at the last figure in the portrait, she turned around and was facing a boy with blond hair in his school uniform.

“Sorry, I must have startled you. I am Tachibana Ran,” the boy named himself when he realized that Yori was not responding to his previous greeting. “I am the youngest son living in this manor.”

“Pardon my unresponsiveness, Ran-sama,” Yori became conscious of the fact that this boy was the one from the portrait. “I am Akitsuki Yori from the Fujiwara clan.”

“Just call me Ran will do,” he giggled at Yori’s formal introduction and speech manner.

“This I cannot obey, Ran-sama. The difference between a noble and a commoner is too significant for me to forgo my manners.”

The boy seemed like he was of the same age as Setsuna but his demeanor was unalike her younger brother. Tachibana Ran exuded a child-like air around him and was incredibly cheerful with regards to Yori’s presence.

“Yori-san will be adopted into our family right?” He took a few steps closer towards Yori. “And that’s why Yori-san can drop the honorifics. I’ll soon be Yori-san’s younger brother.” He placed both his hands behind him and tilted his head innocently.

“Please allow me to continue till I’ve officially been adopted,” Yori bowed 45-degree.

“Yori-san is so nice to me,” Tachibana Ran let out a surprising comment before he proceeded to prance up the stairs. “I’ll see Yori-san during dinner, there is so much homework to do.”

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When Yori became aware of her original motion to trace the piano melody, it was no longer audible. With disappointment building on her confusion and insecurity, she wandered into the depths of the first level.

In the heart of the manor, there was a garden. Numerous flowerbeds, potted plants and bamboo trees were all that made the scenery a splendorous sight. Yori paused to take in the view. As she looked across the well-arranged bamboo trees, she noticed another person standing by the walkway. He was wearing a polo-T-shirt and a pair of 3 quarters. Even though he did not wear any glasses, Yori could discern him to be Tachibana Keiichirou. Trimming off a portion of the bonsai in front of him, he was engrossed in the activity. Not wanting to run into Tachibana Keiichirou , Yori turned about and went ahead to return to the allocated room.

“How much longer can I continue avoiding him?”
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Published on: 29 Apr 2008
Rating: For everyone
Author: Orangeline (ICC)