Corpse Bride || Haitani Brothers/OC

12 - jealousy

"come again," Hikari says with a tight smile on her face.

Ran's hands pause from filing through the papers as he looks up at her.

"don't freak out."

"it was a bad joke."

"I wasn't joking."

she chose to remain watching him until he finally found what he was looking for in a thin, clear folder. he glances at the paper before he hands it to her. Hikari wasn't quite sure what to think of what she saw.

her name was there, so was Ran's. now what shocked her most was that she was Haitani Hikari.

"what is this crap?"

"it's real."

"why the fuck is it real?!" she asks, her voice not angry but more so surprised and disbelieving.

Ran pursed his lips, and she could tell he was thinking on how to best approach their much needed conversation. then the man motioned for her to sit down on the couch where there was a table in the middle. she does as he says, too dumbfounded to speak.

he settles on the sofa adjacent where she sat as he laid out a few papers on the table before her. she could only gawk at each one of them. one was their marriage certificate, one was a pile of divorce papers, and some she doesn't even bother reading because it seemed all the more nonsensical.

"the date says five months ago. five months ago...isn't that the time wherein we weren't doing so well? not that we ever did well of course."

Ran nods, leaning his elbows on his knees as he looks at Hikari. he wasn't being his usual self, Hikari could tell he seemed more authoritative. now she can't help but imagine what he's like as he does business with other men. she wanted to keep the sternness of his eyes and the seriousness of his voice all to herself.

"pay attention," he mutters softly with a subtle smile.

"I am."

"your eyes say otherwise."

before the girl could retaliate, which Ran knew she really would, he taps his finger on the paper.

"now as you can see here, we were married five months ago."

"absolute bullshit, but go on," she scowls, narrowing her eyes at him.

"you should know Hikari, that from the start, I knew you had relations with Red Flower."

"I know," she dejectedly says, "Koko told me."

she wasn't all that happy to find out that Ran knew so much and acted like he knew nothing at all. he made a fool out of her, and she briefly recalled what he'd said back then. she was his entertainment. maybe he wanted to see what a desperate woman pressured by a rival group would do.

"well, I didn't really have this certificate done five months ago. that night at the hotel," he says, then pauses, as if remembering something.

she looks at him, seeing a distracted look on his face. maybe he thought of their passionate night, or he thought of it being their last time together. most likely he thought of what the day brought in—when he stripped her in front of others and they fought at the top of their lungs.

Ran clears his throat.

"Sanzu came to visit, I always knew he was obsessed with you."

"how'd you know?"

"takes one to know one," he mutters with a humorous smile.

"what?" she didn't hear him at all.

"I just knew. he dropped by at dawn, and it's when he told me Mikey knew of you. I didn't like it so much, the fact that Mikey took interest in you—I knew there was bound to be trouble, because well, as I've said, I knew you had relations with Red Flower. I made sure we were married by the next day."