1 She Was A Little Peculiar

***NOTE: This is set in no particular century or place (this is a fictional land and time) and has NO connection or relevance to any history with Japan. Names and clothing are chosen because I like them-no other particular reasoning. Mannerisms and laws reflect similarly with nobility but its based loosely on it. SO THIS IS NOT A HISTORICALLY ACCURATE PORTRAYAL. ***

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From the very beginning of meeting her, I was awestruck. This girl...she was a little peculiar.

"Haru, how many times do I have to remind you to stand up straight", my mother chastised me as she finished tying up my bow tie around my neck. I shrugged and sighed in boredom.

She looked at me with concern.

"Now I know you'll do your best already but please please please make sure to be on your best behavior. That befitting of an Ikeda." She warned as she looked me over. I stared at the floor unfazed.

"And their daughter is exactly your age. I expect that you and Kaname will treat her with the utmost respect and kindness.", she said as she raised her eyebrow at me. I smiled smugly.

"Of course mother" I muttered. She didn't believe me.

"If I hear one peep of misconduct you can bet that you'll be punished." She warned

I thought about the possible consequences she could pull on me. She tipped my chin up to look at her.

"She's an only child. So she'll be very lonely and scared here at the manor. Imagine if Kaname weren't with you ?", she asked.

Kaname. My older brother. The perfect angel and child in the eyes of all. And it was mostly true. Kaname did all that was expected and more. Sometimes I wondered if he even had a soul in him. He was a good brother nonetheless (albeit our little fights and arguments that mother never finds out about) and someone I did look up to. But sometimes I wished he would just breath and relax.

I nodded quickly. She smiled.

"Otherwise, your new home will be with the horses" she chuckled as she walked back to her vanity mirror.

"Aw mother you can't be serious?" I whined. She moved her pointer finger to stop me.

"I am Hatsuharu Ikeda. You will play and share and treat this girl as your own family. Do you understand?" Ah. The full name. I nodded and shut my mouth. She meant business.

She looked herself over in the mirror. My mother was a stunning lady, really. A long thin face with eyes that gazed lovingly. She was a rather tall and thin woman as her health wasn't the greatest these past years. Her long and silky midnight blue hair was rolled neatly into a bun that was accessorized with an ornament of a solid blue grey rose- our family crest. Thanks to her, I too received the same hair color.

"Now your father and brother should be here soon, I hope he's not running late" she said just as there was a knock on the door.

"Ah, speak of the devil" she chuckled as she nodded for the maid to open the door.

��Are you ready Yura?", my father asked as he strode in. Confident. Loud. And a stubby mustache. All the key focal points of my father, Hiroshi Ikeda.

"Yes dear, we were just wondering about you two", my mother said as she walked over to him with a kiss and hug. With my mothers dark blue hair touching against his celestial blue hair, it was like looking at the bright midnight sky.

Although it had been a long while, my father had done his time in the army- just a few years before he transferred into business. You could still see his wide shoulders that walked with pride. And muscles on arms that still knew how to throw punches. He was taller than my mother by a head but he had a stockier build and a growing belly. His hair was fluffier like mine, rather than the smooth straightness of my mothers.

"It's the hair that gets him his deals, really" I recall mother saying one time. She blushed in amusement.

Although we were deemed "nobles" in society we were actually really low on the hierarchy...probably dead last. However low we were, we were still able to afford this rather large manor and the maids and servants thanks to my fathers investments in business. I would also have to say that father and mother were rather more humble in living this life as well.

Because we were low on the nobility level, my parents weren't invited to many things such as balls and other nobles houses therefore they didn't need to buy new dresses or pay for more upkeep than needed in the manor. Rather, they humbly saved their money and spent it more on our workers. My father always offered jobs to people from town, even if they had bad reputations preceding them.

"Everyone deserves another chance...you get many times to mess up so how can you not get many tries to get back up again?" He told me one time during our lessons.

Suddenly my father looked at his watch and ushered us out of the room.

"Tch. Can't wait to get rid of this stupid bow" I muttered as we stepped down the stairs behind them. Kaname chuckled.

"If a bow can make you scowl like that then I fear what a tie will do for you" he laughed.

Kaname was the spitting image of our father. Dark eyes and lashes framing our mothers identical light blue irises. His hair was more tamed and thinner than mine and lighter than my midnight blue.

Taller than me by a couple of inches and only three years older than myself, Kaname already carried himself as confident as my father. His strides and his unchanging face prepared him well for nobility if he were to ever climb up the ladder. Calculative. Deliberate. An observant face and smile. All facets of training and expectations that honed into the final product of what was Kaname.

I honestly thought he was pretty cool, especially as the next head of our family. But there were lots of days where I didn't envy him. Day in and day out Kaname was always in lessons. I could barely stay awake for my own, and I had half the amount he did. He never complained and he was always too nice. I always thought it would get the best of him some day.

And while Kaname excelled in reading and analytics of business and class, I found myself excelling in swordsmanship and adventure. Rather than finding me waking up early to read documents my father always found me hitting the barracks. It was my niche in this world of focusing on the highly educated.

It was decided at first that Kaname would be taught the reins to the family affairs. My parents never wanted a blood bath for the rights so they enrolled me in the same classes once I was able to attend. But it just never stuck with me.

I found joy in growing my strength, but my mother highly disapproved. She would rather have two academically gifted children rather than just one. Thankfully, my father showed no preference on how he wanted his sons to grow- he was just happy he had a son to fill in each role and I was grateful that he had dabbled in the army in his earlier years and was able to help train me.

"He was a rude and obnoxious man who went around showing off his arms" my mother would always say whenever father talked about his army days. But the man did something right because he certainly caught my mother's eyes.

I felt the warmth of the summer sun upon my face as we entered the front entrance. Mother had us lined up beside them awaiting their arrival at the bottom of the footsteps. All of the servants were patiently waiting behind us.

"Apparently they'll be staying with us for a month," Kaname whispered. I sighed. A whole month with a girl. I could imagine it already: me being forced to play with stupid dolls and dress up.

As a business man, my father had to do many business trades and partnerships. The family coming to stay with us was one such endeavor. The two businessmen had met while overseas and became fast friends. This summer my father had invited him and his family to join us for a month. Apparently, their manor was only about three days worth of traveling from ours.

Kaname looked at me amusingly.

"I heard the girl is your age", he added

"If she's smart, she'll keep to herself this summer." I muttered.

"Aw cmon Haru. Don't you wanna get your dollies out to play with her?" He teased. I glared at him.

"I only have one doll and don't forget you used to carry your blankie with you ALL THE TIME.", I threatened back to his laughs. Mother coughed at us to get our focus back on.

I pouted. How dare he, the dude gave me the stupid dog doll to me himself. And it was only because I was once afraid of sleeping in the dark by myself. I sighed again.

"Ah, here they come!" My mother shouted.

Near the entrance of our main gate, a carriage approached. Once in front of us, the footmen opened the doors. I expected a girl to come tumbling out but only saw the adults. Maybe I was lucky. They didn't want to bring her?! I wondered excitingly to myself.

The adults greeted each other excitedly. Just a man and his wife.

"My dear lady Yura! A beautiful manor I can already tell!!" The lady who got off said after her greetings.

"Ah thank you so much Lady Karin. Really, it's not much. ", Mother said.

"Oh, and who are these two young gentlemen?" The lady asked as she peeked behind my mother.

Lady Karin looked at us with delight. She bent down a little bit. She was a women of average features- if I were to be honest. She was shorter than my mother but wore a gown way more fancier. She carried herself with a sense of dignity but it wasn't really elegant in my eyes. Unlike my mothers long raven blue hair, she had dark pink hair. Her face seemed gentle but also stoic, as if she was pressing on a mask.

"My eldest, Kaname and my youngest Hatsuharu" my mother introduced. Lady Karin gave us big smiles and shook our hands.

"Really Yura, your good genes have shown through both of your children", She chuckled.

"Haha I really have Hiroshi to thank for that as well.", my mother laughed along.

"Now, where's you're daughter?? I thought she was coming?", my mother asked. My ears perked up at their conversation.

Lady Karin shook her hand. Could it be?? Was she sent off to some summer school??!

"That silly girl was so enamored with the flower gardens leading up to here that she just had to see it.", she explained. I dropped my excited fists in disappointment.

"Our flower beds along the road?"

Lady Karin nodded with a sigh.

"My daughters been obsessed with flowers lately. Growing them, reading about them, anything really. " she sighed again as she brushed off something from her dress. I pouted. So the girl was here AND she loved flowers. Must be a real girly girl then.

Mother chuckled.

"Such a bright child I'd have to say!", my mother commented. She was probably imagining a girly girl as well, frolicking through gardens. It wasn't hard to tell that she had always wanted a daughter or another female figure to be with.

"Mama had an older sister who passed away after getting sick. I miss her a lot. So you and Kaname need to love and look out for each other, okay?", she had told us when I was barely starting to use addition and subtraction. It was also her way of making us feel bad when we would always fight. As a topic that was never fully opened, we left it at that: mama had a sister who died young.

So I could imagine how this girl would pique interests in Mama's heart.

"All the child ever wants to do is explore and learn only things she wants to learn", Lady Karin explained. Kaname gave me an accusatory eye at me. I scoffed.

"Oh I can relate" my mother sighed as she looked at me. I smiled smugly.

"Well, we can send the boys to go and escort her back", my mother offered with a look at me and Kaname. I nodded.

Lady Karin nodded in joyful agreement.

"Well, I'll send Haru first. Kaname why don't you introduce yourself to your fathers friend," she said as she led Lady Karin into the mansion.

Kaname nodded and made his way to father. They'd all probably talk business...boring. I made my way towards the gate taking slow and deliberate steps. The summer heat was really making me want to rip my bow tie off.

Why couldn't this girl just stay put in the carriage and come quietly, I wondered in my head. Now I've gotta be nice to her AND retrieve her. What a great way to introduce ourselves I thought with a sigh.

Once finally hitting the flower beds, I stood confused as I looked around. There was no one let alone a girl in sight. I quickly looked down on over the flower beds to a little pond. Surely she couldn't have drowned! She'd have to be ridiculously unaware to trip and fall in...besides it wasn't even that deep.

"Dumb girl", I sighed aloud. Maybe I should check the pond just in case. As I was about to head down the hill an acorn hit my head and bounced off. Strange.

"Ow" I muttered. It definitely felt thrown.

Then I felt another one and immediately looked up with a grimace. I was met by a giggling face high up in the trees.

"I'm not dumb" she chided as she continued sitting on the tree branch.

I rubbed my head and sighed again.

"I didn't mean it..." I barely mustered up to say. Would she tell my mother on me? At this rate, possibly.

She swung her legs freely and looked at me.

"It's beautiful here" she randomly said.

I crossed my arms across my chest. The heat. The weird girl up in the tree. The stupid acorn. I was feeling myself boiling.

"Ok are you gonna come down or what?" I asked her. She just stared at me with a slight smile.

"No" she replied. I raised my eyes in surprise.

"Whaddoya mean "no"? You need to come down" I demanded. Why did she have to be so irritating already.

She smiled again.

"I don't want to" she simply said and looked beyond the land.

"Listen, you need to get down so we can go back to the mansion. Your parents are already there", I tried to say nicely.

She had the same unchanging gaze and started humming.

I nearly pulled my hair out. Why? Why me? Why did I have to deal with this immature girl?

"Ah hello!! Are you listening?" I yelled out

She giggled.

"You're angry" she said.

"Uh yeah. Will you hurry up and get down?" I called out again.

"Haru?" I heard from behind me. I turned to see Kaname with a confused face.

"Kaname. Ugh am I glad you're here" I sighed in relief.

"Who're you talking to?" He asked amused.

I pointed up to the tree

"The stubborn girl", I said with a glare to the trees. She smiled down and looked at the new addition.

Kaname approached and was able to her now. He made an 'o' shape with his mouth.

"Please help me out Kaname." I begged him worried about my mothers fury if I were to fail this first task.

He lightly laughed and looked up again.

"Milady, whats your name?", He asked politely.

What. What was he doing?!! I gawked at him.

She smiled and answered him cheerfully

"I'm Haruka. Haruka Hasegawa. What's your name?", she said politely back. I couldn't believe he got a direct answer.

"My name is Kaname Ikeda. This is Haru, my little brother.", he said while pointing to me. She nodded slightly.

"Won't you come down? We should head on over to the mansion now, it's getting late out here.", he gently pushed. Maybe she'd be hard-headed with Kaname too. A part of me smiled in wanting to see Kaname try to handle that situation and then the other part of me just wanted this to end quickly and safely.

She contemplated for a quick second but then she quickly nodded and jumped off of the branch and ran up to Kaname who had his arms extended still. I stared after her in surprise. A girl jumping so casually from a branch that high was....

Kaname coughed and retracted his arms in the same surprised look that was on my own face. She quickly curtsied and I was able to catch a good load of the girl. She was normal looking to me- I mean how special can a girl look? She had long flowing red purple hair. A small round face and deep purple eyes. She wore a dress but I could see mud and dirt stains on her boots. I laughed to myself. Besides the flowers, she was definitely not a girly-girl.

"I see you wont be needing any help", Kaname chuckled. I stood in awe at the quick moment of what just occurred. She was definitely no ordinary girl. Heck, girls wouldn't even climb up trees, would they?

"Thank you though," she exclaimed as she held onto Kanames hand and led him up the path.

"Shall we?" she asked innocently with a smug look on her face at me.

I sighed and rubbed my temples. Kaname chuckled and followed her lead.

I had wished things would have gotten easier once we arrived back at the manor...but it didn't. Dinner became a night of glares and disgust- mainly by me. The girl kept on acting as if she was the sweetest thing ever...especially after introducing herself to my parents- who were more than delighted about her, especially mother.

She would occasionally look my way and give me a half smirk half smile and I knew...I knew she was a tactful little cretin. Kaname seemed to enjoy her company and doted on her even though it was only the first day. He served her her food and talked with her about her life...I couldn't believe everything unfolding. Did he not see her devious smile as I asked her to get down from the tree? Did he not see her jump down from said tree with ease??? DID NO ONE SEE HOW MANIPULATIVE SHE WAS BEING WITH HER SMILES AND GIGGLES???

I sighed as I picked around my food. She chuckled from across from me and I knew it wasn't because Kaname told her a joke or anything.

"Her hair Lady Karin! It's so beautiful!", my mother lightly commented. Harukas mother laughed.

"Im not sure where she gets the slight waves from nor the color but it is a good mix between mine and Junichi's if I think about it.", Lady Karin replied.

"Hiroshi, how old are your kids again?" Haruka's father asked.

"Kaname is 14 and Haru is 11", my father replied.

"11? Just like our Haruka. They should get along just fine", he boomed while eating a drumstick. Her father seemed so easy-going...so why wasn't she??

"Haruka, do you have any friends your age back at home?" my mother asked her. The little cretin smiled the sweetest smile but I couldn't be fooled.

"No milady, I grew up playing by myself or some maids. Everyone is always older than I" she replied. Mother looked at her with tears in her eyes-so dramatic.

"Well, Im glad you'll have Haru and Kaname here to be your friend," mother sweetly concluded. Haruka nodded her head and looked at Kaname and I sweetly. Yuck.

"Im not really sure how to play with kids around my age, so please forgive me and take care of me", she said to us. Kaname nodded and I followed suit only cause mother was looking. But my fists held onto the fork under the table very tightly.

After dinner, we were dismissed. Haruka left to unpack and get refreshed after her so called long journey. I realized I was breathing so freely now when I was back in my room. This girl...she wasn't normal...no, she was so peculiar. She had basically everyone in the mansion already wrapped around her fingers. I shook my head and sighed. Gotta stay strong. Gotta stay strong.

Oh goodness I thought to myself as I plopped onto my bed. What would tomorrow bring? What would this whole month with her be like? I saw the image of my mother yelling at me. I saw myself stuck in the barns with the horses and Kaname laughing. Ugh. This girl...she was a formidable opponent.