Evelyn and Michael once again furrowed their brows in confusion but dared not turn around for they could hear the soft patter of feet across the wooden floor between the lull of noise within the eatery. Evelyn, especially, felt her shoulders stiffen so much it had caused a prick of sharp pain to shoot down her spine and as gently as she could, she tried not to react too harshly as she felt Mizuki lay a comforting hand upon her knee under the table. Her frosty blue eyes flickered back to the darkest depths of the mask, the wide smile on its face no more comforting than the sudden halt and quiet of steps behind them. She sucked in a sharp breath when a deceptively delicate long fingered hand glided feather light upon her arm and up to her shoulder. She felt Michael jolt as well next to her and could only imagine something similar had occurred with him as well.
"Well now… this is certainly not a common commodity to see so far from home..." Mizuki's hand clenched harder upon her knee. The owner of the voice had slipped into the large space between the siblings and had taken a rather keen interest in Michael and the broadness of his face. The sound had travelled like silk through their ears, but it carried a sharp edge to it that screamed danger. "Are you two little..." his eyes flicked to rest on his new target, Evelyn, and the short release of breath from his mouth felt like ice had crawled upon her skin. "...lambs, lost?" He peered around to gaze obnoxiously close to her face, intent on stirring a reaction from either one of the two foreign siblings. Yet the comfort that Ryō and Mizuki's presence brought kept her resolve firm and focused, specifically the focus she had on the way the latter's nails had now started to tip painfully against her, and she refrained from fetching a look from their intruder until he had vacated the space around her form and instead pulled himself back to stand upright again. Against her better judgement she decided to lean back to get a better look, but felt a stone lodge itself quite firmly in the back of her throat as her iced over hues took in the now familiar face of their fox masked companion. The smirk that filtered over his lips, though, was anything but like their new friend.
"Oh! How fair. And what unusual eyes you have..." There was a slap and a deafening silence as the hand that had been reaching for his sister's face had been smacked away by a very irate looking Michael, but just like his sister he had gone almost speechless at the sight of the new male in front of him. A quiet chuckle followed the tense atmosphere. "Such fire!" Evelyn flinched just as the newcomer switched focus, and sharply gripped at the hand clenching unceremoniously on her knee.
The white fox gave nothing away, instead she felt the hand gently grip hers apologetically and she turned to flash him a very small smile just as a question directed at her stony-faced brother split through the air. "So, what brings the two of you to Nippon, so so far away from home?" Michael clenched his jaw, reached for a cup of what he presumed to be water from the table, and took a very slow but very large gulp to calm his rattled nerves before he answered in a rather chipper tone…
"We crossed paths with our friend over there, " at that point he had motioned at the ever silent Mizuki and watched the mismatched hues of gold and green slide in boredom to said figure. "in chuugoku overseas on our travels of the world, and he offered to employ us as meshitsukai so we could explore your beautiful country." He trailed off and took another hefty gulp of water. The man, who looked identical to Mizuki, hummed slowly in response and had yet to take his eyes away from the grinning fox in the corner. There was a pause and then the silkiness of his voice turned slick and sly, slithering over all members of their party in a disgusting wave of shivers. Evelyn was just amazed that Ryō had yet to even be acknowledged and Michael had lied so flippantly, where in any normal circumstance he couldn't lie to save the world. She still wasn't sure if the man had fallen for it yet since his tone, now, seemed a tad bit disbelieving.
"And what of your...friend? He is impressively quiet..." he leaned over the table and Evelyn felt the hand that was held in hers twitch unconsciously. "with a rather fascinating mask, I see." She could see her brother stutter, her mind racing a mile a minute before she even realised she'd responded to his question and she felt the shift of his attention immediately. It felt heavy and sinister. She had just blurted out their first meeting.
"He saved us from a rabid wolf attack and ended up injured in response..." her voice had been soft, but the lookalike inclined his head ever so softly in her direction and a gentle smile crossed his lips, replacing the smirk that had settled before. "they tore into his throat and face, and..and.." she felt the onset of tears "he lost the ability to speak, while at the same t-time became disfigured for his help..." she could feel the tears were flowing slowly down her face now as she remembered the real truth of their meeting, and had to forcefully push them back once she felt a single delicate finger pluck a stray drop from her flushed cheeks. She stumbled on to continue with wide eyes locked on deep gold and moss green, throat closing at his proximity and the way her heart thudded within her chest. "It is why we wish to serve him…to repay him."
"I see...then you must forgive me for my ignorance." There was a twinkle within those hues of his, a slight invisible smirk and an unmistakable deep inhale into lungs right next to Evelyn's neck. Mizuki had to contain a territorial growl, but before it could slip the newcomers hands fell to rest on both Evelyn's and Michael's shoulders and with a sullen look towards the former, he peeled himself away but not before his nails raked sharply across their clothes. "Well I hope you enjoy our fine and beautiful country," he bowed his head "and hope that I see more of your stunning beauty grace my lands again." there was a sharp look of distrust and suspicion aimed at Mizuki as he complimented the only female in their group and slowly sauntered off with a swish of deep purple and gold fabric trailing behind him. The air felt heavy, and tense and the entire room had almost frozen in time to listen to the stranger and the foreigners converse in the corner. It was not until he had left, bodyguards in tow, that a breath could be released from each and every person in the room and normal chatter commenced once again. Evelyn felt relief immediately and all muscles relaxed, including the grip she had on Mizuki's hand. Michael also felt his own body sag and bumped his feet against Ryō's in thanks for the supportive grip his own hand had taken on his arm from the moment he had slapped the inching hand away from his sister's face. The man in question gave a small bow of his head and peered at the still silent statue in the corner. Though unreadable, Ryō knew his brother well and could feel the empowered aura roll from his skin like water. He stayed that way even with everything returning to normal, and the focus of the mask had yet to leave the doorway of the establishment, almost as if he expected a return of their unwanted stranger. Several quiet moments passed in the loud atmosphere surrounding them before Mizuki reached to his face and delicately removed his mask. None could see this little spot, bar those that waited the tables and the danger had passed with relatively little incident, so he found himself leaning comfortably back into the wall. Their food arrived soon after and conversation picked back up again.
"Ye'll have te' forgiv' 'im," Ryō started in a muffled voice, pointing at Mizuki with a chopstick, and finally slipped the cloth covering his mouth over his chin to rest against his neck. The face that greeted them was aged and youthful at the same time with no ounce of facial hair gracing his skin and only one long and wide scar that trailed across his lower face at a slight angle. It cut across from the right side, just to the middle of his ear and stretched harshly down to the left side of his chin. The small smile that adorned his lips was amused and Michael and Evelyn, both caught themselves dopily staring at their companion, cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "That man is a dangerous sort..." his fingers curled around the chopsticks in his hands, and he began to tear, quite ravenously, into the delicious white fish and rice in front of him. "Gaining hif cufioufify if baf..." they watched in awe as he hungrily devoured half his plate while talking, and it wasn't until Mizuki's voice sounded that they remembered he was still there.
"Ryō is correct, though impolite," he threw an unamused look at the man, who in turn swallowed his mouthful of food with a loud gulp. "there is darkness lurking in his shadow, though he may yet not know it..." his lone eye gazed solemnly at his own food.
"Why does he look like you Mizuki?" The question came out sharply and bit into the ears of the white-haired man like a cold wind. Michael had yet to touch his food, and the ever-stony look on his face told him he no longer felt like he could trust them. "What are you [not] telling us? Huh? Why did I have to lie?" Ryō shifted uncomfortably, which unfortunately drew the ire from Mizuki unto him. Silence, and then…
"My brother," Evelyn choked, and Michael's face morphed from disapproval and mistrust to shock.
"Wh-what..." Mizuki stared hard at the two of them for a moment, then finally repeated himself.
"That man is my brother," his golden orb looked like it had been swallowed by sadness, "my twin, to be precise."
[Chuugoku – China]
[Meshitsukai – servants]