Betrothed

Marriage? As in Anastasia getting married to another man, in Russia? All of them were knocked speechless by her announcement. What was the meaning of this?

"Is this some type of twisted joke?" Himawari responded to this situation with anger. "Did Waa put you up to this?"

"Look, I had nothing to do with this." Waa defended herself. She couldn't believe that they'd think she'd push something like that onto the girl. Any of her tricks usually stayed with her.

"I am telling the truth." Anastasia made it clear to them that she wasn't joking with them. "My family has already arranged a marriage with… A boy I've known for a long time now."

"She is certainly right about that." Isako opened the door, overhearing their conversation from the outside. "I have already chatted with her about this. Not to mention her mother informed me of the details as well." The girl did originally want to keep it a secret from them, but the headmistress encouraged her to be honest with her friends.

"But, how is that possible?" Teru asked. "She's a little young, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I don't think you should be forced to marry someone." Himawari chimed in. Regardless of the prior conversation with Kouji just moments before. All of the girls were against the idea.

"It had already been agreed upon for a while now." She replied. "I already was aware of the fact before I even came here to Japan." He was surprised to hear her say that. If this was the case, then what was up with the way she had been acting around him for the past year? Had they all misunderstood her feelings? No… That couldn't be right because then Yuma would be a liar about being told such.

"Why would accept something like that?" He asked.

"It's hard to explain." She was hoping they wouldn't pry much more into her private life. Even though an announcement like this would surely cause plenty of curiosity. "But I want you all to know that it was my own choice. That no one is forcing me to do anything." Anastasia said that, but he had his own doubts. If it was anything like with Yuma's parents, then he sensed that it was possible that there was little choice for her.

***

"Sheesh, the nerve of that girl." Waa quipped after they had separated from her after school. They all had to come up with an excuse to not have to walk home with her. "You think she's really telling the truth about this whole marriage thing?"

"She's no liar." Himawari answered. "Partially because she's way too kind to deceive any of us. So nice that she probably can't reject a guy's proposal."

"What are we going to do?" Teru asked. "We can't just let her get married off to some random guy." There wasn't much time left for them to act before she made her return to Russia. There were just a couple exams left before the vacation and their change from first to second years.

"Maybe we shouldn't." He suggested, which immediately got all of them upset.

"What are you talking about? Did you hit your head or something?"

"Well, it's just that… What is there for us to do? It's not like any of us can just go against her parents, they aren't even citizens of this country." Not to mention that he had the linger thought of something more personal in his mind. That perhaps he took her actions to mean genuine feelings for him, when that was simply how she was.

"Stop thinking so stupidly!" Himawari scolded him by grabbing the boy by his ear. "I know you're the one most upset about it, but now's not the time to give up."

"She's… Right." Yuma agreed. "I know what she said... And I know for a fact... What she feels from the way she acts." Seeing as they felt the same way about the same boy, it was pretty easy to figure out based on their words and actions.

"Yeah, I bet if you confessed to her, then she'd break off the engagement." Said Waa. Of course, there was the concern among them that she really was being forced into this relationship. "Though I gotta say. I never would've expected her parents to be like that." She seemed so nice that they assumed her family was the same. However, to them, this must've been some type of power play to garner more power with the industry they were in. After all, greed could be a powerful thing.

"If that's the case, then we really ought to do something." Himawari was stood steadfast in her position. "She's our friend, and we can't let her make such a big mistake."

"You say that, yet you still won't eat lunch with us." Waa had a snide remark towards her sudden enthusiasm.

"Guess her reputation is still too important to let go." Teru joined in the ribbing.

"But you don't eat with us either." Kouji brought up the hypocrisy in her statement.

"Look, trees are nice to sleep in."

"Hehe…" Yuma giggled at their lighthearted arguing in this crucial time. It made her happy to see themselves not being down right now. Her father had always told her that people who can agree, argue, and go back to agreeing again without missing a step were true friends.

"…Look, I have other friends than just you guys. It was obvious I was the only one with friends before I met any of you." Himawari turned the conversation back onto herself. "Now, what are we going to do about her?"

"How about… We come visit her place?" Yuma suggested. School and home have different environments, and rules. So perhaps they could garner an advantage by coming over to her alone. Without having to worry about Isako or other students showing up to ruin things.

"Right, then we'll convince her this is a terrible idea." Teru put a fist into her palm as if preparing for a fight. Her past experience was bubbling up, but this wasn't the time for them to need her particular set of skills.

"How about you just sit back and let me do most of the talking." Himawari attempted to calm her down as they agreed upon their destination.

So they returned back to the neighborhood that she lived in. To Kouji, this was taking a trip back down memory lane. As he had lived here for a period of time before reuniting with his uncle. Actually, this was the same place where it truly all began for him. When his headmistress came with an offer he chose not to refuse.

"Hello, we'd like to see Anastasia." He spoke to the head attendant running the apartment building she lived in. "She's not expecting us, but I'm sure you know who I am."

"Kouji Arisawa, I remember you." The man replied.

"Actually, It's back to Kuzuhana. Long story." In response to his statement, he saw the man crossing something out then writing next to it.

"You know names aren't supposed to be something to be changed all willy-nilly." He scolded in a harsh tone.

"S-sorry."

"Anyway, can we come in to see her?" Waa asked. "We're all her friends, plus we all go to the academy."

"The young mistress did inform me that Ari… I mean, Kuzuhana is always welcomed to drop by." So they were allowed in and he sent them to their way on the elevator. "But I should warn you, that she already has some guests over at this time."

"I didn't know she had any other friends." Kouji said as they were in the elevator, waiting for it to reach their destination. "Who could it be?"

"Hopefully it's the headmistress talking some sense into her." Said Himawari. She would've figured the adult figure in their life would be putting a stop to something she obviously disagreed with. "Who else does that girl know anyway?"

"Who knows, but it looks like we're about to find out." Teru responded.

"I hope… They are nice." Yuma added in. The elevator reached the floor they were heading for and Kouji took the lead towards Anastasia's home. anxiety began to fill his body. He was feeling fine as they were walking here, but now that they were here. The boy didn't know how he was going to handle this, what he was going to say to her. His hands shook as he knocked on her door.

Slowly, the girl opened it to see who was outside her door. Upon seeing them, she had a little bit of a jolt from the shock.

"Wh-what are you all doing here?" She asked. Her tone was not what they were used to at all. Normally, they expected her to welcome them with open arms, but this time she seemed to want to be rid of them.

"We just wanted to-" Kouji was cut off when he heard the voice of someone else. He couldn't understand what they were saying, like it was a completely different language. His gaze went past her, trying to see what was the source of the sound. That was when his eyes laid upon… Another boy.