𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙁𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝 -𝘼 𝙃𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞 𝙁𝙖𝙣𝙛𝙞𝙘-

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟕

My arms are packed with papers and files as I trudge through the Main House, taking it to someone named Kureno Sohma. Hatori was going to do it himself, but he got called to make a house-visit, so I insisted on taking them.

"One more hall, then a right, and.... gosh, I've forgotten where I'm supposed to go!" I whine after failing to recount the instructions a maid gave me.

Slam!

While I fret about forgetting directions, I slam into someone, and now all the paperwork has fallen! Hatori is going to think I'm incompetent! He'll never assign me any task again!

"Oh dear, look at this mess." The person I slammed into says to me. "Here, let me help you."

"There's no need for that, sir! I'll clean it up, don't worry about it!" I quickly drop to the floor and start gathering up the paper.

"No, I should have been more careful. Here I'll help you." The man is much taller than I am, I'd say about the same size as Hanako, in both build and height. He's got gray hair, but he doesn't look like an elder. "Say... aren't you Hatori's assistant? Yuihiso?"

"I am Dr. Hatori's assistant. And you are?" I ask as he hands me a stack of brown-paper files.

"Shigure Sohma, a friend of Hatori's. I have wanted to come and meet you, but I'm a busy man." He tells me.

"Better late than never, I guess." I lightly chuckle, trying to lighten the mood. He peers at me with those odd eyes of his. I can't figure out if they're gray or green.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Ms. Yuihiso." He hands me the last papers, then swiftly turns away from me and leaves.

"What a strange man." I scoff, continuing down the hall. "With those stupid, creepy eyes of his."

I look up from the floor and notice that I am completely lost. "Maybe I should have just let Hatori do it when he got back."

The sounds of a sliding door opening reach my ears, making me turn around. "Hello???"

Is this some horror movie situation? Am I going to meet a ghost or whatnot? "My, my, I never get visitors in this area."

"Well, I'm just lost, so I didn't mean to come here." I gulp, looking at a woman who has very long, black hair and shifty, dark eyes. She is most definitely horror movie material.

"There you are, Ms. Yuihiso." Someone grabs my hand and drags me away from the woman. Her cold gaze following after me.

"In the future, you should listen carefully to the servants. Or allow them to escort you around the Main House until you get used to the layout. There are places off-limits to outside members of the family." I finally look to see who it is dragging me along. For a second, I had thought it was Shigure, but it isn't.

"Are you Kureno?" I quickly ask as both frustration and embarrassment fill me up.

"Yes, I am." He lets go of my hand and pushes a door open. "I'll take those papers. And to get back to the entrance, keep going down this hall until you reach a vacant kitchen, then turn right, and you'll end up right back at the entrance."

"Who was that, or what was that? Am I allowed to ask that...?" I ask him as he takes everything out of my arm.

"It doesn't concern you. And please, don't speak to anyone about what you saw today, Ms. Yuihiso." A friend of mine once told me that you could tell a lot about a person through their eyes. However, the three people I have met today have confused me. Their eyes are dark and distant, almost like a secret is being held over the whole Main Family, something I am not permitted to learn.

"I understand. It was, uh, nice to meet you." I say out of instinct.

"The same to you." But I know he does not mean it.

As I leave the Main House, headed back to Hatori's, I try to wrap my head around what happened. I've always known there was something creepy about the Main Family, but I didn't realize it was this bone-chilling.