The rose garden. They bore such lovely blooms each season, with their distinctive fragrant scent and delicate, curling petals. Such fleeting beauty, just as the beauty of the life she once knew soon faded away once her brothers opened her eyes. The air was sharp and crisp. Rain was coming. Akira touched her fingertip to one of the thorns on the stalk she plucked. The sharp tip sliced her skin with ease, drawing beads of blood as red as the flower.
She had made a promise to herself, too. If her brothers wanted to use her for pleasure and her blood, they were welcome to. They would be used, in return.
Akira straightened as Kanato's voice sounded from behind her. "Akira, you're here." Her hand closed around the bud and crushed it. The pigment and natural oil of the flower stained her hand. Another one of the triplets.
"Yes?" She asked coolly. Kanato studied her. She seemed different. He smiled, an attempt at nicety. "Take some of those and come with me."
"Have you been here before?"
Akira kept a distance from Kanato as they walked side by side. Gravel crunched under her feet. The stopped at a dreary plot of land located behind the empty servants' quarters of the mansion. "This is the graveyard, isn't it?"
Kanato nodded in affirmation, guiding her into the plot, weaving through the labyrinth of moss covered headstones. They stopped in front of a row of four headstones, bigger and grander than the rest in the graveyard. "You may place one rose on each of these graves," he instructed. "But leave the rest for this one." Kanato pointed to the one in the middle. Cordelia's.
Akira obeyed, reverently laying the flowers on the graves respectively. She recognised the names engraved in the marble.
Beatrix.
Cordelia.
Christa.
Kiko.
"I love this place, you know? Graveyards are so peaceful, and the residents are oblivious to terror." Kanato watched her as he spoke. "My mother, and yours, are in such a lovely place now." Akira disagreed. Kiko would have wanted to be buried somewhere, perhaps in a meadow, where there was nowhere the sunshine didn't reach and the flowers and plants flourished all year round. Akira never came here, beacuse she hated the damp, cold soil and the heavy silence of the dead. Instead, Akira nodded. "Mmhm." Her fingers carefully brushed some dirt off of her mother's grave. "I've paid my respects," she said quietly. "I'll take my leave, now."
Akira stood.
"You're selfish, you know." Kanato spat. "I specifically brought you here to spend time with you, and you walk off the moment something displeases you."
Akira looked away. It sounded like he was talking about himself. "I'm sorry."
"Don't say sorry like that! Do you get a kick out of deceiving others?" Kanato grew angry at her demure reply. She shoved her with one hand, making her trip fall to the ground hard. Her hands stung, but Akira bit her lip. The grazes would slowly regenerate. "I love it when you make that face!" Kanato howled deliriously. "Roll around in the dirt some more, and I'll forgive you!"The packed earth was damp under her hands. Kanato pounced on her, pushing her down by the shoulders. Akira flinched. They were all so violent. Kanato gazed at her for a moment, then patted her cheek. "You're obedient today. Sorry I forgot. Women are supposed to be given a kiss before they're pleasured."
"What?"
He pressed his wanting mouth to hers. Kanato's kiss was different from Laito's. Both forced, but Kanato's brought more pain. He pulled away and smiled. "Now don't be angry, okay?" Kanato scratched two horizontal cuts on her neck with his teeth, then tenderly kissed the area.
