Introductions

Madame Atori sat herself across from Yani’s mother, while Blain ended up across from her. She was sure that was on purpose, but right now, her brain was running purely on autopilot, leaving her unable to register it as anything more than an unfortunate coincidence.

She could hear Madame Atori and her mother speaking, but it felt like she couldn’t parse any of what they were saying. When she noticed the women looking at her expectantly, she gave a thin, watery smile. It didn’t reach her eyes, and her mother sighed.

“I’m sure you’ve been waiting for your opportunity to introduce yourself to Blain.” She nearly hissed through her teeth.

“Oh, yes. I have been.” Yani spoke robotically. She turned to Blain. “I’ve been so looking forward to meeting you. I believe we’ll make a beautiful match, and maybe even beautiful children.”

Yani tilted her head, trying to keep her smile from wavering. Blain had something in his eyes that was impossible to read. Not quite disgust, but not confusion either.

“Yeah, I’ve heard some things about you. Seems we both know Tsuruga.”

Yani’s eyes widened momentarily, but before she could respond, Blain laughed. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking. His face fell into a perfect smile. “But you know, I think we’d make some cute babies too.”

Even though he was just repeating her words, Yani had to keep herself from retching in her mouth. She tried to grin back, but she couldn’t match his expression. It seemed practiced, in a way that hers simply wasn’t. The longer she held his gaze, the more sure she became that he wasn’t smiling with his eyes. Despite her best judgement, she started to get curious. She had assumed he was happy to be put into this, but maybe he wasn’t. Maybe he was freaked out by what she made Tsuruga say. Maybe she had a chance.

Before she knew it, her parents and Madame Atori had finished discussing whatever it was Yani hadn’t been paying attention to. She stood up, ready to bolt, but Blain snagged her hand, holding it with her knuckles upturned like he was about to kiss them. He dipped his head, eyes peering up at her through his lashes. “Would you do me the honor of a walk through the gardens? Your sister is welcome to accompany us, if you’re worried about propriety.”

Yani didn’t want to go alone, but she wanted Naira there even less. And she was curious about the perfect smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Oh, no worries. I’m ready to spend some quality time alone together. If our parents are alright with that.”

“Don’t scare him off.” Her father spoke. Her mother laughed like it was a joke, but they all knew it was serious.

“I won’t.” Yani smiled, and promised, and lied through her teeth.

*

Yani let Blain guide their foray into the dense florals of the gardens. The path he chose took the two of them away from the section with the monkeys, thankfully. Instead, they ventured into an arboreal forest, until they emerged at what seemed like a bubbling hot spring. She was sure it was artificial, but it was pretty nonetheless.

They hadn’t really talked yet, although she tried to make fake conversation on their way here. When she did, he looked at her like he knew, and he eventually stopped replying entirely. It freaked her out, but she didn’t know what else to do. When they arrived at the hot spring, though, he laughed and stripped off his shoes and socks before rolling his fancy dress pants up.

“Come on.” He turned back to her, smiling. “Our parents won’t follow us here. This is the rich man’s makeout creek, which they’ll have to assume we came to for the proper reasons. My mom certainly doesn’t want to see that, and I’d hope your parents don’t either.”

“...They don’t.” Yani spoke, still cautious. She stepped up to the bank of the pool, but didn’t follow Blain’s lead and stick her feet in. Instead, she sat, curling her legs to the side.

Blain kicked lazily in the pool, splashing warm little droplets of water up into the sparkling sun. Small silver fish kept swimming closer to him when he grew still, then darting away as soon as he moved his foot. They were sparkly too, reflecting like quicksilver melting through the water.

“That was a good move, sending Tsuruga to freak me out.” He turned to her, eyes crinkled up in what looked like his first genuine smile. Yani’s heart dropped.

“What do you mean?” She stammered out. “I didn’t even know he messaged you! I just talked to him about how excited I was, and I guess he told you?”

“No, come on. It’s just us here. You’re all right.” He leaned in toward her, maybe trying to be comforting? The closeness frightened her. “If I had really wanted to marry you, that definitely would have helped scare me off. But it did something even better. It let me know, Yani, that you and I are allies.”

“...Allies?” Yani asked.

“I don’t actually like women, but my mother is obsessed with me marrying a wealthy heiress so we can take their money and have lots of babies to continue her name. I'm her only child, and she always gets what she wants. I knew she wouldn’t give up, and she controls my life, so the most I could hope for was to be married to a girl who understood. And I know you do. Just admit it, you didn’t ask your parents to find you a husband, did you?”

Yani almost felt like she could breathe again. He understood. He wasn’t some creep from a creepy family. He was trapped in the same situation as she was, with the same goals.

“That’s just like me.” Yani leaned in, finally relenting to his joy. “This is great! I thought you’d be really awful.”

He laughed from his chest, tossing his head back freely. “I’m glad you can be honest now! I knew you had to be a spitfire. The Tsuruga thing was smart, sure, but it also made me pretty sure you hated me already.”

“I do. Or… I did.” Yani said.

“Glad I could earn a past tense already.” Blain gestured to the pool. “Now will you try it? It’s really nice, I swear.”

Yani slipped off her smart Mary Janes, and the woven wool socks that kept those Mary Janes from rubbing horrible blisters into the backs of her ankles. It felt nice to relax around someone, honestly. She felt like she had been on high alert, unable to speak freely around someone since the last time she talked to Imon. It had only been yesterday morning, but it felt like a lifetime ago.

Her fear was something more than that though, really. How many people did she have that she could really, deeply trust? Up until a few days ago, she had counted Naira among that number, but apparently she had been wrong to do so. She had June, who she loved, but she knew June didn’t understand what it was like. June had parents who loved her, and a happy future to look forward to after she graduated from being a Godsinger. Yani felt that if not for her role as a Godsinger, she had no future. And she had Imon. The one who loved all of her, and who she loved above all. Imon was her future. And now, perhaps she had found an ally in Blain, who understood her. Who had experienced the same terrifying path. Who would help her make both of their futures their own again.

Blain spoke, laying back against the soft grass now and staring up at the sky. “So, how do you think we’ll convince our parents we fell in love for real back here?”