Rei found himself walking along a gravelled path through a garden of sorts, seeing an unfamiliar boy sat down. His legs were crossed and his eyes were a piercing teal color that scanned over the book he was reading, his red hair falling slightly in front of his face. Despite not knowing who the male was, he felt a sense of courage as he made his way over to the boy. After all, who had a higher status than a Vethelan prince? Virtually nobody. Epecially not some Athainian kid.

"Well, hi, there," the blonde chuckled, holding his hands behind his back and leaning forward teasingly, "My name is - "

"I know your name," the boy huffed callously, viciously, and yet, oddly, almost without emotion in his words, "Rei Hoshino. Or is it Rei Hirasi today?"

The small blonde stood shocked. Not many people took up that tone with him. Most liked to put on pretty smiles and bat their eyes for him to like him. Akari was the best at it. That was why he was his playmate. Still, Rei sifted through who the boy could be to talk to him like that. His first guess was that it must have been an Akahito, but the Akahito heir had brown hair, not red. So, who was this kid, pretending like he could talk down to him?

"You must know me very well," Rei smiled, rocking back and forth on his heels.

For the first time, the unfamiliar boy's eyes snapped up to the blonde and sneered, observing the older male with his distant teal pupils. He lost interest quickly, returning to his book without a second thought as though it were more important than the prospective crown prince of one of the most powerful nations in the world.

"You're infamous," the red-head growled, "Your name gets mentioned more than mine in my own house. How could I not know?"

"Have I upset you?" Rei asked, looking into the surface of the fountain, seeing his reflection stare back angrily at him.

There was a slam from the book that the boy was reading as it closed harshly by command of the antagonistic youth. He let out a belittling scoff before walking away from the blonde, leaving him on his own in an unfamiliar garden. Even when his mother had him properly introduced later on, he still recieved a cold reaction.

It wasn't outright unfriendly, but the boy put on a mask to hide his true intentions. Being used to wearing his own, Rei saw right through it as an attempt to look amiable for his parents who wished him to get along. Afterward, he was even more ruthless than before and snapped at the male more than once.

"I don't understand," Rei glowered, "Why do you hate me?"

"Because you're perfect!" Shota shouted, throwing the book on the ground.

As it hit, the cover ripped right down the middle, sending papers of the book fluttering up and cascading to the ground. All the while, the redhead refused to look away from him, only making himself more and more angry. When all the pages of the book landed on the ground, he looked at them softly, his expression changing as if that book were the most precious thing he owned.

It crossed his mind to pick it up, but he refused to crawl on his hands and knees to do such a thing. The humiliation kept him from doing so. He stomped away instead before Rei grabbed his wrist, pulling him back to face himself. He had enough of the appalling treatment toward him.

"You don't get to end it with just that, you disrespectful brat!" Rei demanded, putting his foot down, "How do you have the audacity to treat me like dirt?!"

"You're perfect!" Shota growled, almost mockingly, "You're perfect. That's it! How can't you be satisfied with that?! I would love for my mother to say that to me! But all that comes out of her mouth is you, you, you!"

"But - "

"No, shut up! I hate you! I try so hard to be perfect for her, but you show up and take everything away! She goes on and on about how brilliant you are and how I should be more like you! You don't even try and you're perfect at everything! I would kill to be able to have that! Get out! Get out of my house! Away from me! Go!"

The boy began to clench his fists, tearing up at the sight of the blonde. He'd never felt so useless than when Rei was mentioned. Even thinking about him made him run away from the male, his tears flowing out of pure spite for him.

. . .

Rei glanced over at Shota, who was still fuming after just a bit of bullying. The redhead never had quite learned to show him respect, probably because of his strong connection with Haru, an Akahito. He figured he could get away with treating him like an equal because of that. It was a ridiculous notion, even more so now that he was actively trying to compete with him for (Y/n)'s affection. It was ironic, too. Shota hated Rei because he was "perfect", but, (Y/n) was, too, so why wasn't Shota treating her the same?

"Haru!" Rei snapped, finding himself more and more irritated the more he thought about it, "Make the rice already! It's sitting there right in front of you, so pick your lazy hands up and do it!"

"...what do I cook it in?"

"The rice cooker, you idiot!"

The brunette picked up the rice the (h/c) haired girl had given him earlier and wandered over to the aforementioned machine. As he flipped the lid up, he looked closely inside before glancing over to the rice. Without warning, he started pouring the entire bag inside, giving a gasp of surprise when (Y/n) stopped him. Confused, he tried pointing to the rice cooker to show he was trying to help.

"You must never have cooked rice before," she chuckled nervously, pouring the rice back in the bag and pulling out a measuring cup, "I'll teach you, okay?"

Haru suddenly became a lot more interested in cooking when she started giving him attention. She told him to pour a certain amount into the see-through cup, so he did, receiving a pat on the head for doing a good job. And, when he washed the rice thoroughly, she gave him another pat on the head and some praise. Then, he dumped it in the rice cooker and added the required amount of water, earning some more praise. But she forgot the pat on the head, so he lowered it and waited for her to remedy her mistake. He was very satisfied when she complied, the brunette even receiving a high-five, too.

"I did good," he affirmed, sitting down in front of the rice cooker and watching steam pour out of it, "I'll watch it for you, too."

"Yeah. I...appreciate it."

"I know."

Dinner was soon finished, some servants setting up the dinner table for them downstairs. They draped over a violet tablecloth and put a bouquet of freshly cut flowers in the center of the table before putting plates and cutlery next to everyone's seat. The servants then bowed to their master and excused themselves, leaving Rei and (Y/n) to bring everything to the table. Haru insisted on bringing the rice himself, even placing it right in front of his seat.

Yamato came back just in time, his hair still slightly damp. He sat down in a random chair, letting out a sigh as he leaned his head back, finally relieved to be clean. Akari followed, too, taking a seat next to Rei and giving an apologetic look for being unable to help with the rest of dinner. The older male had no response, only staring at his hair briefly before turning to the (h/c) haired girl with a smile and patting the chair next to him. As soon as she sat down, Haru moved himself and the rice cooker to plop down next to her, pushing Takuya out of the spot.

"This lovely dinner was done by yours truly and (Y/n)," Rei announced proudly, pausing as he noticed a brunette glaring at him, "And Haru did something, too, I guess."

"Really?" Yamato mumbled, watching the younger male open the rice cooker, "Wow, you did that by yourself?"

"Ah, with (Y/n)," Haru clarified, "I did a good job, so..."

Yamato clapped for the male, watching him swell up with pride. In fact, Haru was so happy to have made the rice that he started serving it to everyone. He paused as he was serving (Y/n), taking a moment to assess her before he started cramming in as much rice as he possibly could into her bowl. It was his way of showing favor, but she gave an awkward chuckle, knowing she'd have to eat it all. Though she was a bit happy to have that problem rather than the opposite.

"These are delicious," Takuya murmured quietly, still dazed from his conversation with the younger girl earlier, "Rei really knows how to cook."

"Mhm!" Akari enthusiastically grinned, "I'd eat anything you gave me!"

"I already know that though," the blonde chuckled, turning to the younger girl, "So, have I impressed you yet?"

"Yeah. These are great."

"Then, as payment for you staying here, you'll have to cook with me every night."

"You've got a deal!"

Everyone began to dig in, enjoying the food thoroughly. At the same time, there was a sudden boom of conversation that mostly demanded the younger girl's attention. It was nice to have so much conversation at dinner. Usually (Y/n) just sat by herself after finding something to eat. It was a different experience to share a dinner with others. She relished the fact she had already gotten attached to it.

She smiled innocently at the thought, making the boys' hearts pound. Haru couldn't resist hugging her tightly and rambling about how adorable she was. The others were jealous but didn't show it, trying to keep their minds off of it. They often felt this way as of late. If any of them touched or made the girl smile, they began to get unjustly envious. Some were more possessive than others, but all of them were beginning to open their eyes to how valuable she was.

"Great, then, (Y/n) and I are going to watch some movies until we get tired," Rei smiled patronizingly, "So, the rest of you can go ahead and leave, okay? And, Akari, you can head back up to your room."

"T-That seems highly unfair," Shota argued, offended at the very thought of the blonde and younger girl being alone together, "And inappropriate!"

"Yeah," Yamato nodded, crossing his arms over his chest, "The reason she's here is to protect her from a vicious serial killer, not to let you hit on her. And, for her safety, it's better to have more people around."

"What a stupid excuse," the blonde scoffed, "I assure you, she'll be fine with or without you guys."

"Actually," (Y/n) perked up, glancing away shyly, "I would appreciate having a few more people around. Just...you never know, right?"

"Great!" Shota exclaimed, "Then we'll stay. For your comfort, of course! You don't have a problem with that, do you, Rei? I mean, she said it herself."

"I certainly don't lack any guest rooms."

"Wonderful. Then, I'd like to stay in the room to the right of her, if that's alright."

"Oh, but I know you love your peace and quiet. If I had the servants spruce it up, there's a lovely detached room just past the garden you could stay in. No one would annoy you there."

"I-I would prefer to stay where - "

"Well, if it's comfort you're looking for, you can just go back to your own house. This is not a hotel. It's a privilege to stay here."

Shota and Rei continued arguing. That seemed to be the recent trend despite the fact they'd been keeping relatively civil before. Nonetheless, Haru could not have cared less about whatever they were bickering about, pestering the younger girl about wanting to play games together. Akari was also curious, leading to the brunette and the younger girl enthusing about their favorites.

"We should have a sleepover," Haru beamed, clapping his hands together excitedly, "We can stay up and play games until we pass out."

"We can do it in my room. Can we make a fort, too?!" Akari squealed.

"Yeah. With blankets and pillows."

"I've got tons of those!"

"This sounds super fun!" (Y/n) chuckled, "Can we have snacks, too?"

"Yeah! Whatever you want!"

Though they were lost in their own little world, Takuya and Yamato also came over to see what they were planning. And though they weren't as interested in the games, they did want to spend some more time with the (h/c) haired girl. The plan was to meet in Akari's room, but, when Rei heard, he suddenly objected. After a long argument between him and Haru, they decided to all have a sleepover in Rei's room since it was the biggest. Akari still made his pillow fort and Haru still set up the games. There were just a few more guests than originally planned.

In fact, when they were all starting to get bored of watching Haru play, they tried to decide on a movie. Trying to be clever, Rei suggested horror, making sure (Y/n) was seated right next to him in case she got scared and tried to find comfort in someone's arms. Yet, she stared blankly at the television, not once scared of anything that happened. Yamato, too, just watched casually, but Shota was on the verge of passing out.

"You think ghosts are really that mean?" Haru mumbled, "Echali ghosts are all nice."

"What's the point of being nice when you're dead?" Akari sighed, kicking his legs playfully as he sat on his stomach, "If I were a ghost, I'd go around scaring everybody just to see what would happen."

"I'd just sleep," Yamato shrugged.

"Can ghosts sleep?" Takuya asked, tilting his head, "They don't have to since they're dead, but...if they wanted to, could they?"

"I'd find a way."

"What's the point of arguing about them if they're not real?" Shota huffed, finally glancing up now that the movie was over.

"Ghosts are real. They have to be."

"Yeah," Akari sighed, "Too many crazy things happen for no reason. It has to be something like ghosts."

"Haru," Shota called, watching the brunette perk up at the sound of his name, "You're a science kind of guy. You can't believe in ghosts."

"Mm. Guess not."

"What do you think, (Y/n)?" Rei chuckled, nudging her to finally get some emotion out of her, "Do you think ghosts are real?"

The younger girl glanced over at everyone finally, almost snapping back to her senses. There was still a bit of a faraway look in her eyes, but she was thinking, a sudden sad expression appearing on her features. She didn't look very happy to consider one or the other, leading her to slump and fall back on the bed to glance up at the ceiling. And when Rei asked her again and she was forced to reply, her tone was a bit off.

"I don't know," she replied truthfully, "It depends how you define a ghost."

"You know, as someone that died tragically and can't move on because they were wronged or have lingering attachments or something. Like vengeful spirits."

"That - ," the girl paused, biting down on her lip, "If they do exist, then...they haven't come to see me, but, if they don't exist...that means they're gone. Forever. Which of those is....better?"

No one had an answer for her. Everyone but Akari looked away, pondering what she meant by that. Still, the blonde stared, eyes drooping sadly. He dropped his feet back on the ground, squeezing the pillow in front of him as though he were hugging her. And even when she tried to brush off her comment and change the topic, Akari still stared. Even to him, what she meant was a mystery.

Yamato ended up putting on a comedy to help and lighten the mood, the brunette glancing back every once and a while to see if she was doing alright. Since she started smiling again, he figured that was the case. And, like it never happened at all, everyone forgot about her little question. They just started joking around until they ended up getting sleepy, Takuya stepping out for a moment to take a phone call.

"No, mother. I'm with (Y/n). I won't be home tonight," he mumbled softly into the phone, "I'm sorry...I know...Please forgive me. I-I will."