The moonlight shone through the thin panes of glass. The darkness that would otherwise envelope the room, was illuminated by several candles. The soft lavender aroma that came from said candles, lacked in dispensing me with any real fortitude.

No matter how hard I wished to rest up, I simply could not do it.

"Miss, why aren't you in bed already?"

"I'm having difficulty with sleeping. I thought the candles might soothe me." I quaintly responded to Haruto.

Haruto eyed the candles from left to right. After shaking his head, he proceeded to blow out each candle. He was quieter than a mouse tiptoeing around the room, not even the whimper of a whisper could be heard.

"H-Hey!" I retaliated.

It may not look like it, but it took a long time to light every single candle! The sooner I rest up, the better. I need to get as much sleep as possible, before meeting with Sanada-san.

Once the curtains were closed and darkness crept back inside the room, Haruto made his way towards my bed. He lifted the covers to usher me into the bed.

Sigh. Who am I to complain? I need to sleep anyway; procrastinating will do me no good. But I cannot deny that being put to bed like a small child is completely humiliating!

Gently slipping into bed, I fluffed up my pillows before shutting my eyes. Just as I was about to dissociate myself from the land of consciousness, I was taken aback when I felt the weight of sinking into my bed.

What on earth?

Opening a single eye curiously, I felt my heart rate start to accelerate. Why was Haruto joining me in bed?

"Um, why are you..."

"We used to do this when we were younger, don't you remember?"

Oh, that's right. When I couldn't fall asleep Haruto would stay by my side until I could rest easy.

Taking a hold of me, Haruto buried my head into his chest.

He's so warm. Feeling myself cuddle up to him, I snuggled my head further into his chest, until I felt completely snug.

The last thing I could smell was Haruto's musky scent before I trailed off into deep sleep.

The aggravating noise of a high-pitched beep meant only one thing. It is time.

Gently untangling my legs and arms from Haruto's, I gently lifted myself from the bed. Carefully tiptoeing towards the dresser, I kept looking back at Haruto.

I'm surprised that he's still here. I guess he must've fallen asleep too. Nevertheless, I suppose this will work out in my favour. This means I won't have to be on the lookout for Haruto tonight.

After quickly changing into a dark jacket and a shirt dress, I made my way towards the front entrance. It wasn't exactly the most discreet disguise I was going for, but I had to make do with what I had in my wardrobe.

As expected, Sanada-san was leaning up against the door waiting for me. He looked a little jittery at first, I dismissed him of having any ulterior motives. Instead, I presumed that he was on edge because he knew how dangerous it for me to venture outside with anyone but Haruto. .

"Miss Uchida, come let's go!"

"Where exactly are we going?"

Sanada-san eagerly grabbed me by the hand to drag me out the door. The gesture was unnecessary in my opinion, considering I came here out of my own free will, I had no intention of backing out. Why be so forceful with me?

"We're going to the same private gardens that you went with Mr Fujiwara to."

How did he know I went there? Did Father or Haruto tell him? This man knows a lot more about me than I expected.

The drive to the gardens was a little bit awkward, to say the least. Sanada-san didn't say a word to me, so I decided that I would do the same. In a matter of fact, besides the silence, I don't think I would have said anything anyway.

For the entire journey, Sanada-san had this unhinged look on his face. It was a cross between serious sleep deprivation and almost possession. I'm no exorcist so I can't say anything for certain, but I can assure you that the man beside me isn't the same as the one who was previously tutoring me.

When we arrived at the gardens Sanada-san continued with his lethargic attitude. He didn't say a word, instead, he started to walk ahead without me. Seeing as I felt completely unsafe, I discreetly used the beeper in my jacket pocket as a backup precaution.

I never used it before as there was never a need for it. Only when an emergency was to occur was, I allowed to use it to call for Haruto. I just hope that the noise had awoken him from his deep slumber.

Noticing that I was faltering behind, Sanada-san interlocked our fingers as to pull me along. I wasn't sure what to do, so I nervously looked to the ground, not wanting to make direct eye contact with him.

Think Aiko, think! If he tries to attack me then I'll need to protect myself. If it comes to it, I'll need to use my nails to scratch his eyes. If he lunges, then I may need to reevaluate my plan of action. Perhaps a kick will suffice?

As we ventured further into the gardens, I became more anxious once I saw where we were headed. The deepest parts of the forest? Great. I'm going to get murdered here, aren't I?

Just as Sanada-san brushed a couple of branches out of the way, I decided to take a stance then and there. I stood my ground and shook his hold off me.

"You told me that you were going to talk to me about my mother. And yet, you haven't said a single word so far!" I spat angrily.

Sanada-san briefly paused. His once eerie behaviour had disappeared in a split second. It was as if the previous Sanada-san had just returned. His distinguished double-meaning smile was proof of this.

"You're right. That's not fair of me, now is it?"

Sanada-san let out a brief laugh before scratching the back of his neck.

"You remind me so much of your mother right now. She too hated others ordering her around and going back on their promises."

Just as I thought I was about to learn more about my mother, Sanada-san quickly dropped the playful attitude.

"Yet, she also went back on her . I guess that makes her a lowly hypocrite." Sanada-san sourly added.

Even though I did not know the woman who gave birth to me, I felt an impulse to defend her honour. How dare he speak poorly of my mother right before me!

Right as I was about to retaliate, Sanada-san quickly picked up some speed and made his way deeper into the forest. I scampered after him, but the velocity of his speed was enough to put any unfit person out of breath.

When I finally caught up to him after pushing myself through the many obstacles that were the logs, branches and even the cobwebs of the forest. I fell to my knees.

This body is seriously out of shape!

Looking up before Sanada-san he stared stoically at a marble statue. To my horror, the woman held an uncanny resemblance to myself.

It had my flowing hair, although it was shorter as it only passed the shoulders. Not to mention, the figure was far curvier in all the right places. I assume the muse was older than myself.

"Despite her rash behaviour, she was morally good. Maybe too good for her own well-being."

Trying to regain my breath, I pant between my words. "What... are you... talking about?"

"Your father shouldn't have been the first to marry your mother. She was already promised to someone else."

Is this the truth? I would've assumed he was allowed to marry my mother first, as he came from a strong social background.

Helping me up onto my feet, Sanada-san assisted me to stand up despite my unsteadiness. Grabbing my shoulders, he made me face the statue.

"Your mother was quite pretty, don't you agree? It's a shame she had to be so foolish. Fall in love young... die young... Perhaps she should've been named Juliet instead of Izumi!"

Not wanting to listen to another word that comes out of this man's mouth, I started to struggle to release myself from his grasp.

"But not you. I know you won't make the same mistakes as she did. You won't run away from your destiny, ?"

From the top of my lungs, I yelled out as loud as I could. The more I tried to escape from his filthy meat hooks, the more he pushed me towards my mother's statue.

I started kicking violently and, in my tussle, I ended up tripping over my own two feet, falling face-forward towards my Mother.

To my surprise, the statue remained intact. But my mind had gone askew.

After looking down at my fingers faintly, I saw a prick of blood. Before I knew it, my mind had then shut down completely.

During my unconscious state, there were only three things I could recall.

Thing number one. I was completely submerged in the shadows. I was oblivious to where I was.

Thing number two. A cloud of black smoke in the form of a figure coiled itself around me. Its touch was akin to tar. I felt it pollute my entire body.

Thing number three. The smoke had a voice. It called out to me. ""

In my delirium, I started to scream for help. The smoke's presence terrified me to my core. Its voice brought on unspeakable dread.

As I cradled myself in a ball trying to block out its voice, I felt its hold on me slip away. Instead, it was replaced with the caring touch of a human.

"Aiko, I'm here now. Don't cry I'm here."

Looking up to my protector, I was able to distinguish the figure right away, despite my watery eyes. It was Haruto. Upon recognition, I clung to him tighter.

"D... D-Did you g-get the beep?" I asked through my stutter.

Haruto shook his head and started to stroke my head to calm me down.

"The tracker." That was all he said.

I wasn't so sure what he meant by 'the tracker', but at that moment it didn't matter to me. Sanada-san was nowhere to be found. It was only myself and Haruto in the woodlands. Us and whatever that smoke was.

I closed my eyes once more and released a large exhale in relief. I should be safe now with Haruto.