Bind Facts With A Shoe Lace
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dear soulmate,
i think i can finally unravel the truth behind my mother. screw studying. i'm finding the key to the treasure.
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In the dining area.
"Shuu?"
In the kitchen.
"Shuu?"
In the living room.
"Shuu?"
In the game room.
"Shuu?"
In his room.
"Shuu?"
Under his bed.
"Shuu?"
Inside his closet.
"Shuu?"
Behind the curtain.
"Shuu?"
Her right foot.
"Shoe?"
"Where the hell is that vampire?" the girl complained, scratching her scalp in frustration. "And why does this mansion have a lot of rooms?"
She paused and assessed her surrounding. In her hand was the diary that she had found in the mansion's library. Once she saw the picture on the diary, a memory flashed quickly in her mind.
Shuu called her 'Kiyoko' once. She was not able to pay too much attention to it because her attention diverted back to her main concern that time; sacrificial brides.
Upon remembering that moment, she knew that she had to find Shuu Sakamaki and ask about this Kiyoko, her mother. As soon as possible.
"Where can someone like Shuu lie around?" she asked, hand resting on her waist. "Everywhere is the answer. But probably... the music room?"
She didn't waste another moment and raced fast to the said room.
The music room of the mansion contained many instruments. One that caught her attention was the piano. She knew how to play the instrument and above all, she watched him play it.
The girl could clearly remember the way he would close his eyes like he was in a trance, long fingers pressing against the ivory keys of the piano. He had always looked so alluring while playing. He—
"Okay. Brain, stop. No more reminiscing." she scolded herself as she continued running.
But her brain didn't listen. She still can hear the sound of the piano playing in her mind. It was melancholic in nature, making one feel a certain type of sadness that can bring them to tears.
"I said, stop—" she stopped midway.
It was not her brain imagining the sound. Someone was really playing the piano.
'It it Shuu?'
She slowed down her steps, stopping once she was in front of the door. The mahogany door was slightly open, allowing her to take a peek to who was playing the instrument.
His back was facing the door as his fingers continued to move on the piano keys. Auburn hair that shone as moonlight that passed by the glass terrace door hit his frame.
It's not Shuu but she couldn't help but stare at his back. It looked so lonely and isolated. Even the melody that he plays emitted the same emotion.
"I first attracted you and although I did,
What made the space between us narrow was certainly you.
Today, I am yours, I'm holding on to you,
Even against him, I won't let go." he softly sang.
"Your tenderness and despair,
I'll pretend not to see everything.
Can't you see the relationship between us two?
I won't let go even if it pains me..." he stopped playing.
"The two of us, we're one," he whispered.
...
Her feet slowly moved forward as her eyes remained looking at his back. She wanted to console him. She has to.
...
'Wait. Why do I have to?'
She shook her head, turning away from the heart-wrenching scene in front of her. With heavy steps, she walked away from the room.
"... Who's song is that for?" a familiar delicate voice asked.
'Oh. So he was with Yui.'
She ignored the dull pain in her chest and focused on her task at hand. She continued running forward as she was eager to find Shuu. No need to put more drama into her current problems.
"Shuu Sakamaki! Shuu Sakamaki! Shuu Sakamaki! Shuu, my man. My boy, my pal. Where are you!?" she shouted. "Shuu, I found your laces! Do you want it back?"
"... Shuu!" feeling miserable and stupid, the girl stomped on her right foot.
"Shut up, will you?" a tired deep voice groaned in annoyance.
...
"Shuu?" she turned around to find the source of the voice.
Near the window was the eldest Sakamaki. He was lying down, as usual, both ears covered with earphones. Earphones that the girl gave to him as a gift.
She quickly jogged to Shuu, sitting on his stomach with a loud plop. "Shuuuuuuu."
The male grunted, feeling the heavy pressure on his midsection. His blue eyes flew open, delivering a glare at the girl on top of him. And no, the position wasn't even promiscuous. It's just an overweight human girl sitting on him like he was a park bench. It had always been her habit to do that to him when they meet.
"Get off me," he ordered.
"I got questions." the girl replied, holding up the diary that was in her hands. Her expression was dead serious, no hint of fooling around evident on her face. Even though she was literally sitting on him.
Sapphire orbs widened in surprise as he saw the familiar cover of a journal he had not seen for more than two decades. For the first time in ages, he was wide awake. "Where did you get that?
"So you're familiar with what this is," she said, waving the object around. "And I know that you're also familiar with the owner. I need you to answer my questions."
"... Let's not talk here," he said, standing up only to lie back down again. He couldn't lift his upper body with the girl sitting on top of his stomach.
"Why not?"
"I want to talk to you privately."
"But your stomach is comfy!" she whined.
"..."
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"Once there was a secret chord that David plays and it pleased the lord but you don't really care about music, do you?" the girl lazily sang, lying down on the sofa bed located in Shuu's room. She was flipping through the journal as she did so, reading the first sentence of each entry.
Shuu, on the other hand, was sitting up straight on a chair, a solemn expression present on his face.
"You know that I'm Kiyoko's daughter, do you?" the girl calmly asked, shutting the journal forcefully. She sat up on the sofa, her eyes focused on Shuu's as a glimmer of seriousness was present on her irises.
"Yes."
"When did you know?"
"I had my suspicions. But I had my confirmation when you were talking in the church in that one particular day. I was sleeping and woke up because of the noise."
She had an audience during the time she was mourning?
"Then why didn't you tell me about her?"
"Why should I?" Shuu countered. "This was this and that is that."
"She's my mother. I have the right to know her past."
"Don't you think that she didn't tell you her past because she didn't want you to know?"
"..."
Both stare at each other in silence. The girl bit her lower lip in frustration as the vampire remained poker-faced.
"I need to know." she finally said with a sigh.
She can still remember the face of agony her mother gave her as her body burned. The image would haunt her for eternity as long as she didn't put justice to how she died.
The male clicked his tongue, leaning on his chair. "... Kiyoko went to our mansion in the year 1983. She was the replacement for the sacrificial bride that committed suicide." his voice was factual, face devoid of any emotion.
"She was pretty smart, beautiful, and gullible. The normal standards for a bride," he said.
"Aside from the smart part." the girl mumbled under her breath.
'I mean if the others are smart, why are they stupid enough to succumb to assh*les'
Shuu eyed her for a while after her hearing her retort before chuckling. "This is probably why I didn't think that you're her or her daughter."
"Because I look like a potato, unlike her runway model beauty?" she challenged the male.
"Not really," he answered. "Unlike you, she was a timid and introverted person. She doesn't freely voice her opinion and lives in a facade that involves accepting everything that was thrown upon her."
"When she first came in the mansion, she was a quiet person." He closed his eyes, shifting his position. He crossed his legs, elbow on his knees and head supported by his hand. "I was the first one to approach her. I tried to scare her away."
"Assh*le."
"Mhm." he hummed, not really affected by the insult. Rather, he was too lazy to give a retort. "But she didn't really answer me. She just pointed at the sky and asked, 'Is that the moon?'."
The night was young as stars twinkled and the moon shone so brightly. Under the view was a young girl wearing a simple white dress, feet bare for her to feel the moist grass underneath her. A figure slowly approached her, snob and intimidating. She was looking up, eyes glimmering in delight.
"You. Do you plan to die here?" Shuu asked, a sarcastic grin on his lips.
She turned to him upon hearing his voice. She didn't answer his question and instead pointed at the glowing round mass on the sky. "Is that the moon?"
This made the blonde male frown, not appreciating the way he was ignored. He didn't respond to her question in return.
"It's beautiful." she shyly added, as she looked down on the ground, grinning widely.
"Then it just happened. We became... close acquaintances." Shuu continued. "She was a good company. She just rambles about the books she has read while I lie down. Her voice was like a lullaby to me. It gave me a peace of mind."
"I thought that she was content with her life in the mansion. But one day, I saw her crying," he recalled, opening his sapphire blue eyes. "I didn't know that she was in pain. She had always been smiling brightly whenever I see her."
"And then, I saw her journal." he gestured towards the book in his listener's hand. "It turned out that she didn't really want the life she was living. She said that she had turned into a greedy person. Once she had a taste of freedom, she wanted to grab the entirety of it."
He smiled at her who was intently staring, hands formed into fists. "And so, I helped her achieved what she wanted. I let her escape the mansion."
"W-where did you find that?" her eyes clearly showed how terrified she was to have her secrets exposed.
"Doesn't matter," Shuu answered as a hand held out the journal she owns. "I'm here to ask you a question,"
"Do you want to escape this place and live the life you want?"
"You did what!?" the girl exclaimed. "You can do that?"
"Not really. But I did," he answered with a shrug. "I got punished by him but it doesn't really matter. She was free and that's what I wanted to happen."
Her eyes softened at the thought of this heartless vampire helping her mother escape this hellhole. "You really loved her, didn't you?"
The blonde frowned at this statement, raising an eyebrow. "What?"
"Come on, now. Don't deny it." she raised the journal up. "You and she promised to get married."
"What?" he repeated. His expression then cleared as soon as he realized what she meant. "Ah. The person she was referring to those entries is not me."
"What?" this time, it was the girl's turn to be confused. "Then who is this 'closest friend and brother-like' figure thing? And that promise in the church?"
Shuu laughed boisterously, fangs showing. He found the situation to be too hilarious. Him, falling in love? That's impossible. "That's not me."
"Then who!?"
"You haven't read the entire diary, have you?"
"..."
"You should." He smiled. "You'll find out everything you need to know about her stay here."
"Especially the people you should loathe." he gave her a sadistic grin.
"Loathe?"
The oldest Sakamaki didn't answer her question and instead chose to divert the topic. "What happened to her?"
"Ah..." the girl paused, mind already trying to formulate a half-a*sed story. Even though Shuu didn't have a romantic interest in her mother, he was still her close friend. How can she tell him that she killed her?
"She lived in a small quiet village south of Japan." she slowly said. "She was baptized as Catherine there and got married to a man named Joseph. She gave birth to twins named Jonah and Leah."
"Leah?"
"... That's my Christian name." she awkwardly answered his inquiry. "But anyway... they all died and I was the only one left." she didn't meet his cerulean eyes and instead focused her gaze on the journal.
"You're not telling me everything, are you?"
"Nope." she dubiously answered, finally looking at him with a toothy grin.
Shuu sighed, leaning back on the chair once again and softly scratching his curly locks. "Well, it's none of my business anymore but it's going to be his business."
"Who's he?"
"You'll know once you read the journal. You went to the wrong person because you didn't finish reading. He actually knows more than I do." he swiftly answered, deciding to end the conversation.
He stared at her frame, seeing her sullen expression. She really does look like Kiyoko but it was obvious that the girl has a stronger will to live compared to her mother. "... You should also leave this place."
"Just like Kiyoko, you don't deserve to live a life in this cursed place."
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Bind Facts With A Shoe Lace
A pun of Shuu's name, the person who tied the facts for the girl to follow.
QED.
(BKM: Nice try to those who have guessed about Shuu. You were close but he's not the real person to focus on. If you want to have a feel to who it is, you can try rereading the story from the top. I left a lot of clues scattered around each chapter for you to know who the mystery person is.
Don't forget to vote and comment!)