Roses (Ichijixreader)

Blue Indicates Mystery

She looks out the window as the tables gets cleaned off, her father getting up from the table and shaking his head, "(Y/n), please just forget about it. He's obviously not going to show up for breakfast."
"I don't know about that," she lets out a deep breath. She can still feel his lips all over her body. She can still smell him. It's like he's still here, whispering in her ear. She feels chills run down her spine. "Something must be wrong. He told me he'd be here last night before he left..."
She looks over as she heard the door shut, her father got sick of trying to talk some sense into her. Her head just swivels back to the window before she finally gives up and walks to her room. She closes the door and walks over to her desk.
Nothing's turning out the way she planned she gets absorbed in her work, but occasionally she'd glance over to the balcony. She skips lunch, so before she even knows it, it's dinner time. She looks to the window once again before she gets up and goes to the dinning room.
"There's the women of the hour!" her father calls out as she walks through the doors. "I was beginning to wonder when you'd actually come down. I'd like to introduce you to the man I chose for you before the ball."
"Father," she walks over to her chair next to the king before she takes her seat. "I refuse-"
"Now, before you start up about how you've already found the one you want to marry," her father smiles at her. "I just want you to have options. Plus, he came all the way here just to meet you, the least you could do is introduce yourself."
"Alright father," she looks over to the other occupied chair and her eyes meet with a black-haired man who sends her a big smile. She forces a small smile onto her face as she gives him a nod. "Good evening. Forgive me for being so frank, but I'm already in love with someone else."
  "That's quite alright," he stretches his arms and pops a few of his joints. "I'm actually only here for the food. Oh, by the way, my name's Ace. Portgas D. Ace."
  "I'm (Y/n), but you actually know that, don't you?" she looks at the table as she thinks about Ichiji and why he isn't there. "And you don't have to call me princess, I'm sick of it."
  "Oh, do you want to be queen that badly?" Ace leans back against the chair as the server places his dish in front of him.
  "No, I don't want to be royal anymore," she lets a sigh out before she looks at her father. He looks shocked at her words but he doesn't say anything.
  The rest of the dinner doesn't really stand out much, except for the fact that Ace randomly fell asleep about three times within the whole meal. It made her smile a few times, but it doesn't make her feel the way Ichiji did.
  Meanwhile, at the Vinsmoke mansion, Reiju, Niji and Yonji, all sit at the dinner table without exchanging any words. Their utensils clashing against their plates and the low hum of the air are the only things making sound. The sister finally lets out a sigh, "Is anyone going to bring up the disturbance from this morning?"
  "Why would we?" Niji puts down his fork and locks his eyes with Reiju's. "It's none of our concern. Father said so."
  "You really are cold-blooded jackasses, aren't you?" she stands up, pushing the chair across the floor in the process. "He's our brother, and you guys couldn't care less about what happened to him?"
  "Nope, he's probably dead," Niji laughs as he scrapes his food across his plate. "Maybe I'll be the favorite now."
  "Oh my goodness," she sighs out before her father walks in and she takes her seat again. "Hello father, how was your day?"
  "It was as good as any day. Nothing that could change my mood happened," he takes his seat and picks up his utensils to start eating. "What about yours, Reiju?"
  "It's too early to tell," she sighs out as she dabs the corner of her lips with a napkin. "May I be excused, Father? I've decided to go on a mission today to gather some more money."
  "Sure, wreak some havoc," he watches her as she exits the room. She knows something isn't right, and god damit she was going to figure out what it was if she had to die.
  Days turn into weeks, and weeks turned into months. (Y/n) grew even more worried as the month came to a close. Ichiji promised her that he'd give her an answer by the end of the month, and yet... she hast heard one word from him.
  Her father had already lost all of his patience, and her wedding to Ace is next week. Sure, he's a really nice guy, but her heart is already set on the red-haired man who she shared her first time with. Maybe if she waits long enough, she'll start to move on and fall in love with Ace, but she's not wishing on it.
  And Reiju has been looking into everything, but no one is giving her the answers she needs. She returns home with nothing but utter disappointment, and resentment. Yonji greets her when she goes through the front door.
  "Reiju, I'm glad you made it home okay," he trails behind her as she walks through the house. "Listen, I've been thinking about what you said... and I think he's in the dungeon."
  "Who?" she turns to face him as he hands her a letter. "And what's this?"
  "This is the invitation to the royal wedding next week. We got it a week ago," he steps closer to her as she grabs it and starts to read it. "And I'm talking about Ichiji. I was late to dinner one night, and I saw a servant taking a trey of food into the basement. I think father is holding Ichiji there until after the wedding."
  "Why the wedding?" she lets out a deep breath before she looks at him and he gives her a shrug.
  "He hasn't told us everything, but I'm sure he's planning an assassination," he steps away from her as they hear footsteps approaching them. "You didn't hear any of this from me."
  She smiles at him and blinks a few times, "Hear what from you?"
  He scoffs at her before they go in opposite directions. She takes the steps down to the lowest floor, but she doesn't hear any movement, "Ichiji? Are you down here?"
  "Reiju? Is that actually you?" she stops outside the bars to see her red-haired brother chained to the wall with his hands behind his back. "What are you doing down here? What's going on with (Y/n)? Is she okay?"
  "She's fine, Ichiji," she sighs out before she unlocks the door to his cell and walks over to him. She grabs the keys to his cuffs and releases him from those. "But something tells me not for much longer... what happened to you?"
  "Forget about me, why do you say that she won't be okay for much longer?" he rubs his wrists and looks at her with worry in his eyes. She hands him the wedding invitation and he feels his heart sink. "Well this sucks."
  "You fell in love with her didn't you?" Reiju watches him as he stares at the piece of paper. "I think I can get you out, but you'll have to listen to everything I say."
  (Y/n) opens the curtains as it starts to rain and she gets ready for bed. How fitting, she feels like crying, but she can't, so it rains. She crawls onto the bed, she wonders if Ace feels the same way... that this is stupid, or if he's happy he's marrying someone like her in a week.
  She pulls her knees up to her chest and let out a small sigh. She looks over to the floor in front of her bed and remembers the last time she saw him. He was smiling and happy, maybe it was all a facade. Maybe all he was after was some money and he got that from her father so he left.
  But her father hadn't said anything about lending the Vinsmoke any money, so maybe its all in her head. Her lungs almost freeze as she hears a light knocking on the glass doors. She places her bare feet on the floor and she rushes over to them.
  She opens them quickly and swallows hard before her throat allows her voice to project, "Ichiji?"
  "I'm sorry to disappoint you princess... and I really would appreciate it if people would stop confusing me for my brothers," a cloaked figure steps forward, and pulls back the hood to reveal bright green hair. "My name is Yonji, and I'm here to deliver you a message from Ichiji."

~Over time, blue roses have developed the meaning of mystery. An appreciation for the inexplicable and enigmatic.~