The Shadow Queen

Prologue

Yoshio Ootori watched out the window of his estate; his youngest son, Kyoya, lead the young Rei Iseki through their gardens. The little blonde girl walked alongside his son, as he seemed to be explaining every single thing in the garden. Iseki appeared at his side, and watched the two children. "It seems after knowing her for several years, young Kyoya never seems to run out of things to teach my daughter," he said simply.

"Yes. And it appears that young Rei never seems to lose interest in what my son has to say," Yoshio commented.

"She's a very curious girl," the businessman said, watching his daughter point to an odd looking plant for Kyoya to tell her everything he knew about it. "Something she inherited from me I'm afraid. And at the moment my curiosity is getting the better of me," he said glancing at his business partner.

"You're thinking that my Kyoya and your Rei would make a good match," Yoshio guessed, and the nod coming from his associate told him he guessed right. "Well my friend, I'm beginning to think the same thing."

-

"We have those as well, but I didn't know nearly as much about them as I do now," the nine year old Rei said with a small smile. But suddenly the blonde girl's eye became wide as she noticed a certain flower. "Those are Juliet Roses!" She exclaimed with excitement.

The young Kyoya simply smirked at her reaction, "Yes . We have some of Japan's widest supply. They're one of the world's most expensive flowers, we pride ourselves on our collection." He said as he slid his glasses up with his finger.

"Yes, they go for 5670250000 yen, don't they?" Rei asked as she knelt down to examine the beautiful pink flower.

"Somewhere around there," he confirmed. "It all depends who you're buying them from."

"Of course," Rei nodded as Kyoya knelt down beside her. Her bright blue eyes watched him for a moment, curious as of what he was doing. He cautiously avoided the thorns upon one of the roses stem, and picked the flower. Then he gingerly plucked the thorns off with his fingernail, and handed it to her.  Rei's cheeks turned the same color as the pastel rose, and she took it in her hand. "Thank you Kyoya," she smiled gently. "It's beautiful."

"You're most welcome," he said simply, and rose to his feet, and offered her his hand. With a small smile, the blonde girl gently took it, and he helped her to his feet.