Although the morning light was still soft, she was already dressed in the same meticulous tranquility as always. The faint scent of freshly used soap hung in the air, mingling with the elegant silence of the room. Hazuki adjusted the collar of her blouse in front of the mirror, making sure every fold was perfectly aligned before placing the silver clasp on her collar. Everything flawless, everything in place.
As she opened the door, her footsteps were silent on the soft carpet of the hallway. It was not unusual to meet Claire at this hour: punctual to the extreme, she seemed to emerge from the gloom like a noiseless shadow.
-Oh, good morning, miss," greeted Claire with a slight bow, her voice polite and courteous, but with a little sarcastic curve at the corners of her lips. You seem to have slept well... though for a moment there I thought you wouldn't be going out today.
Hazuki raised a barely perceptible eyebrow.
-I just took my time. If anyone can afford to do it here, it's me.
Claire didn't answer, but her eyes reflected something like a smile. The atmosphere between them wasn't tense... it was more like the kind of cold war that only two women who knew each other too well to bother pretending otherwise could sustain.
-Yesterday you said you heard footsteps," Hazuki commented as they started walking together towards the dining room in their sector. What kind of footsteps were they?
-Light," Claire replied casually, as if it were a banal observation. Nothing particularly suspicious... although I didn't bother to open the door. Why ruin my night for a simple sound?
Hazuki nodded her head, not stopping. She didn't look particularly worried, just curious, as if she was gathering information to store just in case.
-And my brother... Is he still sleeping?
Claire paused for a moment, pulling her mobile phone out of her pocket elegantly and quickly.
-Wait a moment," she said, not bothering to explain any further. Within seconds, the screen showed her Takashi's location. He's in the dining room. Eating breakfast alone, it seems.
-Hmph... How impatient. -Hazuki put a hand to his hair, tucking a strand of it behind his ear with a calmness that contrasted with the apparent disdain in his words. Of course, if anyone should have known where I was, it was you. That's why you're my servant, isn't it?
Claire put the phone away without changing her expression.
-Of course, Miss. Although I wonder if you ever use your own phone for anything useful... beyond fiddling with notifications.
-Mm? -Hazuki glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, without losing his poise. Are you implying that I'm useless?
-I would never think such a thing," Claire replied, shrugging her shoulders with mock innocence. She just delegates with enviable skill.
The exchange went no further than that. Explosions and threats were not necessary to understand each other. Soft, poisoned words were enough. They walked on, one with the grace of a noblewoman who never hurries, the other with the exact silence of one who knows she will always be watched, even when no eyes are on her.
And the dining room, at the end of the corridor, awaited them.
When they arrived, the doors opened without resistance, as if the house itself recognised their presence. The scene inside was familiar: Takashi was already seated, his face slightly twisted into a grimace of displeasure as a maid served him tea. Hazuki could see how, far from being offended, the maids seemed to find him charming in his grumpy attitude, like a grumpy child complaining about the world.
As he entered, he allowed himself a small sigh.
-Well, you're awake already. I thought we'd have to come looking for you," she said in her usual dry tone, but with a discreet warmth in the background.
He didn't even look up.
-So, how did you sleep? Wasn't the mattress too uncomfortable? You know how these old mansions are, you never know if you'll find a feather or a brick under your pillow.
A grimace was her only answer.
Hazuki settled down next to her without further comment, while Claire went through her routine of pouring the tea and arranging the utensils with the same precision as always. Everything felt the same as any other morning. Except for one detail. One that broke the monotony.
-Claire said she heard footsteps last night. Weren't you frightened? Or do ghosts no longer deign to appear before you? How rude.
He didn't answer. But Hazuki felt the slight tug in the atmosphere. As if those words, thrown at random, had brushed against something that preferred to stay asleep.
Claire didn't intervene. Her expression was still that perfect mask of professionalism. But Hazuki noticed, as she always did, the slightest change in the direction of her gaze when she got too close to her brother. A restrained glint. An unspoken intention.
The young woman mentally sighed. Everything went on as usual.
And then, as if the scene had been choreographed by some capricious force, the door opened again. The sound of confident footsteps interrupted the soft murmur of china and tea.
Hazuki didn't raise his head immediately. But he heard the voice that followed:
-Good morning.
It wasn't the tone that caught his attention. It was Takashi's reply. No sarcasm. No venom.
He raised his eyes. The dark-haired boy with the calm demeanour who had just arrived was already seated at the table, as if he belonged there. His brother had greeted him. Voluntarily. And without hostility.
A temporary infatuation, he thought. Nothing more.
But something inside him stirred. Not out of jealousy. Not out of suspicion. It was a deeper feeling.
As he observed the newcomer in greater detail, an unusual unease settled in his chest. It wasn't attraction, or personal interest. It was... familiarity.
One as uncomfortable as it was inexplicable. She watched him for a few more seconds, as if trying to find an answer within herself.
"Why do I feel like I know him...? No. It's worse than that."
It was the same feeling she had felt seeing her mother, her father, her own brother. A connection that made no sense. As if the young man in front of her was... a lost brother.
She tried to push the thought away. It was absurd.
And it was then, just as she was trying to untangle that mental knot, that the door opened once more. A new figure entered. A mysterious beauty, with long, wide, flowing hair that fell like silk down her back to just past her waist. Her straight fringes framed an imperturbable face, and her eyes - deep violet to crimson - caught everyone's attention without words.
Hazuki watched her in silence. For the first time in a long time, he felt that the board of that old game had just received a new piece. A dangerous one.