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There were two things the Minamoto family was particularly notorious for. Top exorcist clan in the area, a track record of powerful blood coursing through their veins- this was common knowledge. The second reason was less well-known: a masquerade ball held in late October.
It was for an invitation to said ball that Nene practically threw herself at Kou's feet for. They'd been friends for longer than she could remember, and yet she'd only heard about the party second-hand. About the extravagant lengths he'd went to decorate the house from head to toe, about high-class clothing worn by even higher class patrons, about a night where all you knew about your dancing partner was that their choice of mask complemented their outfit.
So, with autumn fast approaching, she decided for herself that this year she'd have her very own invitation, with Yashiro Nene on the addressee line and done up in swirling calligraphy.
"Just imagine," she sighed to Kou, lost in daydreams as per usual. "What if someone asked me to dance? I don't know what I'd do!"
"Really, senpai..." He watched her twirl, cheeks flushed with anticipatory excitement. "I doubt it's as exciting as you're making it out to be. You know, less of a party and more of a chance for the adults to network."
"I suppose..." she frowned just slightly, and Kou grinned.
"Well then, if you're going to give up so easily, I guess I won't be needing these."
From a hidden pocket inside his coat, he revealed identical cream-colored envelopes, prompting Nene's mouth to nearly dropped open in astonishment. When she lunged for his hand, he swooped them just out of her reach.
"Kou-kun!"
"Alright, alright, you win!" Tapping her name on the piece of delicate paper, (which was, sure enough, in an elegant script) he handed them over. "Just make sure to lie low. Lots of families with ties to the supernatural world that you wouldn't want to mess with."
His admonitions went unattended as she scanned the invites with barely-restrained excitement.
"Oh, I'll have to ask Aoi to come! And decide what color dress to wear!"
"Senpai, are you listening to me?"
"Supernaturals. Party. Dancing. I've got it," she dismissed with a faraway look.
Kou shook his head, despite her enthusiasm bringing a slight grin to his face. "I guess that's close enough."
~~~
In the days leading up to the party, Nene's imagination provided her with potential scenarios aplenty, a solid eighty percent of which usually included her in a dazzling gown (and significantly slimmer ankles) making vivacious conversation with handsome men.
And she was thrilled to find the ball lived up to the rumors- for precisely the first twenty minutes after her arrival.
Each chandelier was shined to perfection, foliage-colored garlands and ornamentations covered every square inch of the room. Even the outrageously expensive dishware, that she was too afraid to even look at lest it shatter, was on full display. Best of all, she could sort-of-maybe-almost get a passing grade on walking in the heels Aoi insisted on.
Then she dared to mingle with the crowd, and learned that Kou had been absolutely correct to warn her.
"Yashiro? I don't believe I've heard that surname before."
"What district does your father work in?"
"Have we met before? I apologize, I can't seem to recall..."
Meanwhile, Aoi navigated the social scene like she'd been born with an extra dose of natural charisma, juggling dance invitations and polite exchanges. All of this, while pacifying Akane enough to prevent him from interrogating any potential suitors. (Although Nene thought that when she'd passed the refreshments table, she'd caught sight of him with a bat in his hands.)
She felt out of place, the evening's shine dulled in one fell swoop, but it wasn't anything new. She'd been used to disappointment for so long that it felt as though she should have seen it coming.
So, Nene barely lasted an hour in the ballroom, and this was how she landed herself in the cobblestoned courtyard instead, under a swath of dark-blue sky. This was how she spent who-knows-how-long in the gardens, wandering, with only wilted morning glory vines and the immaculately sculpted hedges to keep her company.
It was true, she felt a bit pathetic. After all, flowers didn't make for very interesting conversation partners.
To distract herself, Nene took a slow inhale of the autumn air. A metallic scent lingered on the breeze, accompanied by a slight floral fragrance, and this was the first thing that struck her as odd- most of the garden's specimens wouldn't be blooming until spring. The second was that, when she turned, there was a boy behind her.
So, Nene did the next logical thing, which was to shout as loud as her lung capacity allowed, then sent herself rocketing backward. She fumbled the procedure even more so when the heel of her shoe caught on a stone, and her body was sent on a collision course with the ground.
Hands clutching at empty space as if it could extend a rope, knees bucking and breath leaving her, she had all but accepted her unfortunate end when a pair of arms reached out and caught her by the wrist.
"Need some help there?"
The very same boy who'd been the cause of her trouble, and he was grinning at her.
"Ah...thank you," she answered, the statement rising in pitch so that it sounded like a question.
"So then," the boy prompted, stepping back to allow some breathing room, "I believe introductions are in order?"
She couldn't help but suppress a smile.
"I'm Nene. Yashiro Nene."
"A pleasure to meet you."
He took her palm gently and smoothed a kiss over her knuckles, blissfully unaware of the heat that blossomed across her face while he did so.
"A-and you are?"
"If I told you, wouldn't it ruin the fun?" A flick sent to the carmine and gold feathers on the edge of his mask, and a devilish grin. "Masks and all? Just think, I could create an entirely new identity right here and now..."
He spread his arms wider to indicate the possibilities, and they came to rest once his fingers intertwined with her own.
"And you'd be none the wiser."
"Hmm...maybe I was too hasty in giving out my own then," she mumbled. His laugh was short yet amused.
"Maybe so, Yashiro Nene."
During the whole "nearly falling" thing, she hadn't got a chance to examine his features, but now with both at their correct stature and in the residual light from the party, Nene managed to make out a mask embellished with rubies, concealing a pair of wide eyes. Hair as deep black as the sky above, it looked as though it'd been cut in the dark, too. He even seemed to be about her height, give or take a few inches.
"Then for tonight, who does your mask belong to?"
Nene couldn't explain why it came out as a whisper.
"Call me Hanako," he said.
"Hanako-san." She repeated it, feeling how the foreign word fit in her mouth. Like an unfamiliar object, like a secret spoken in low murmurs and flimsy promises.
A finger placed to her lips to halt her-
"Hanako -kun ," he corrected.
"Then...Hanako-kun, would you dance with me?"
"It would be my honor."
~~~
Keeping time to the strands of music leaking from the open windows, Nene counted under her breath:
"Four."
Her bare feet brushed the stone, heels discarded somewhere between the hydrangeas and lavender.
"One."
The hem of her dress spoke in soft tones where it dipped and traced the ground with each turn.
"Two."
There was one thing she couldn't get her mind off of, and it was that his hands were cold. They were cold like the laws of science and reason didn't apply, like they could sap all the warmth from her body and still remain icy to the touch.
"Three."
But how could she mind, when she was twirling, then caught in his arms again, and it was the happiest she'd been in weeks? How could she mind when she was already too lost in his mischievous grin, and his choppy raven hair, and his eyes: Amber. She'd never seen anything like them.
"Four," she finished. As the last tendrils of the song faded, their feet slowed to a stop.
"I've been wondering, do you ask every stranger who helps you up to dance?" Hanako teased gently.
"Of course not!" Her answer, combined with an indignant look, softened when she added, "You're not a stranger anymore. At least not to me."
"Hmm? Then who am I?"
She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but he had a certain familiarity. Not in the way she could recognize the couple that lived down the street, or the florist she bought bouquets from every other Sunday. No, Hanako was familiar like a passerby who stood out enough to capture her attention for all of five seconds. Like a background character blended with the scenery of a well-loved film, like someone she'd once met in an especially detailed dream. It was the feeling of a name on the tip of her tongue, an out-of-reach memory.
He was a stranger, sure, but a stranger who'd saved her face from an untimely fortune, who had a peculiar eye color and an inherent charm, who she'd spent the past hour waltzing with. He was Hanako, and even if it didn't make complete sense, that was the best response she could find.
"You're Hanako-kun. Isn't that enough?"
"Getting awfully comfortable now, aren't we," he replied, "That went quite fast, don't you think, Yashiro?"
She was suddenly grateful to have kept the rest of her feelings under lock and key.
"And do you tease every girl you find alone in the gardens, then?"
"I admit, you're the first," conceded Hanako with a laugh. "Though suspect the last, too."
"What do you-?"
This was when she realized that the string instruments providing their soundtrack had stopped, and never resumed again. This was when she realized there were footsteps down the garden path and the approaching shout of her name.
"Nene-chan! Nene-chan, is that you?"
Aoi. That's Aoi's voice. How could I have missed it?
"I've been worried sick, looking all over! Where've you been?"
There was something frightened and small in the shudder that ran through her shoulders, in the paleness of her complexion that reached a shade Nene had never seen before.
"Aoi? What's happened?"
"Guests are being sent home," she said in one shaky breath. "I don't know all the details, but..."
Aoi recounted the sounds of screaming from the third story hallway. A girl running down the stairs two at a time, the instrumental music soon to be replaced with worried chatter. Then Kou, who she'd been dancing with, started talking to Teru and Akane in hushed tones, and he told her to steer clear of the bathrooms on her way out.
Minutes afterward, there was an announcement for the remainder of the party to be rescheduled.
"I didn't see you anywhere, so I thought...there's been some awful rumors." Aoi finished her hurried explanation and paused for a moment, regarding her friend with more scrutiny. "Nene-chan, what have you been doing all alone?"
"But I haven't been alone?" Nene looked to her side, where Hanako's lips had formed a thin line.
"Oh? Then make sure to tell me all about it, okay? I've still got to find Akane-kun, so meet you by the front steps."
If she was keeping count, this would have marked the third oddity of the night: Aoi's eyes didn't once drift over to Hanako when she left.
"And here I was hoping you'd stay a while longer," he muttered.
"Hanako-kun, I'm sorry..."
He seemed as though he was about to bid her goodbye, when he swept a kiss over her temple that barely touched skin.
"Don't worry. I'm sure it won't be long until you see me again," he assured her.
Oh, if she wasn't tempted to stay there all night.
"Then I'll be looking forward to it."
When she dared to take one last glance back, he'd already vanished.
~~~
The third-floor girl's restroom. A peek couldn't hurt, right?
Nene found she was spectacularly terrible at controlling her curiosity the moment her feet swayed from the main path to the spiral staircase. Just to satiate her interest, just to find the source of the commotion and leave it at that.
Besides, I'll be back before Aoi even notices.
She reached the landing only to come face to face with Minamoto Teru, who was making his best attempt to shield the doorways from her sight.
"Yashiro-san, was it?" With an offhanded wave, he greeted her. "We're sorry for the inconvenience, but this floor's off-limits at the moment."
Any other time, Nene would have swooned on the spot for the mere knowledge that her name had passed his lips. If not for the unexplained flashes of panic that flickered across his countenance, and the fact that when he moved just a step to the left, her vision opened up to allow a full glimpse of the room.
Any words she was planning to respond with, any iteration of, "It's no problem!" died in her throat, replaced by a muffled sort of cry.
Nene had read about the feeling of shock many times. She'd heard it likened to a heartbeat halted due to the raw force of desperation and denial. The sensation of going warm then cold in a matter of milliseconds, hands shaking so fervently they may as well have started their own earthquake.
It wasn't the scarlet staining the floors that sent her over the edge. Though equally as horrifying, it wasn't the motionless body with its eyes closed as if in peaceful sleep. Nor the glint of a blade, a flash of silver she barely registered before her vision went spotty with black smudges.
What made her hit the floor was the mask of blood-red rubies and feathers, the very same that had shielded unfamiliar ochre eyes. It was the coat identical to the one she'd clung onto only minutes earlier, only this one had a puncture in the center and was soaked through with crimson.
It was the memory of cold hands, of a stranger who'd appeared from nowhere, of Aoi asking her where she'd been all by herself.
This time, when Nene went barrelling to the ground, there was no one catch her. The last thing she heard before her world went dark was the strangled end of her own scream.
The first thing she saw when she awoke was Hanako's matter-of-fact grin.
"I told you we'd see each other soon."