Fateless
Chapter 4 - The Empty Seat

Hana had not received any sleep by the time morning lit up her sleeping quarters. She patiently waited until she could hear movement in the halls before she begrudgingly rose out of her safety net blanket.

She peeked out the balcony doors to see groundskeepers sweeping the light dusting of snow off the pathways. It was cold, but the sun was out and, at least for now, the skies were mostly clear. Relievingly, there were also no ghostly floating flames or giant fluffy mythical creatures.

Deciding what attire to change into the next day was proving difficult for Hana.

Was she supposed to wear something formal again? Or perhaps something more casual? To make the decision even more complicated Hana wasn’t even sure what clothes she actually had to choose from without pulling them all out.

The first couple of items inside her bag were as she had packed them. But it seemed beyond that everything else had been repacked by her mother. Hana did not even recognise some of the pieces tucked away in there, they seemed too dainty and delicate compared to what she normally wore.

She pulled out an unfamiliar fluffy vest and crinkled her face at it, silently praying it was faux fur.

Hana groaned frustratedly and dumped the wad of clothing onto the floor. She grabbed her toothbrush, acne cream, and hairbrush as she headed out the door and stomped down the corridor to the communal bathroom.

Her thoughts kept tracking back to what had happened during the night, and her suspicions of this strange week-long matchmaking event grew even more. What exactly was this Hirano family hiding? What was the entity she had encountered during the night? Was she actually safe here?

Hana ignored the whispers about her dishevelled appearance from some of the other matchmaking participants as she passed them along the way. They were the two girls who had worn gowns in the lineup, but currently, they wearing expensive brand jackets, skirts, and high-cut boots. At least Hana had a clothing style to go off of now.

Feeling on edge, Hana accidentally flung the bathroom door open at an alarming speed, which surprised another girl who was in front of the mirror also preparing for the day.

“Sorry,” Hana dipped with a small bow and tried to hide her unsettledness before making her way over to a vacant sink.

‘Cherry-blossom-clips-girl’ still had said clips in her hair and a smile crossed her lips as Hana roughly washed her face.

“H-hello”, the girl’s voice stuttered. “I’m Megumi. What is your name?”

Hana blinked back at the almost robotic voice that came from the girl. Her face was as red as a beet and she shyly turned her head back to the mirror to finish covering her freckles with makeup.

“I’m Hana,” Hana replied to the girl.

Megumi smiled happily at Hana having responded.

“It’s nice to meet you, Hana-sama. I hope we can be friends.”

“There’s no need to be so formal,” Hana replied as she unscrewed her acne cream and began to smear it against the worst spots on her skin.

“Hana-san?” Megumi tried again.

“Megumi-san, did you hear or see anything strange last night?” Hana asked the girl carefully.

She thought it a long stretch, but with the strange encounter still fresh in her mind, she was desperate to query someone about it. Even if she had to be discreet about it.

“Oh, did you not sleep well?” Was Megumi’s innocent reply.

The first thing Hana noticed as she was at the table to eat her breakfast was that seven settings had been placed, yet one seat remained empty.

Tomi clapped her hands together as she greeted the girls a good morning, and the staff around her served up the seated guests their breakfast.

“I trust that everyone slept well last night.”

Hana’s arm hairs prickled at Tomi’s words. It had not really been a question, as more of a statement. And her eyes scanned over the girls as she said it. Hana kept silent and avoided catching her gaze.

“Now that everyone has settled in, I thought we could go introduce ourselves over breakfast.” Tomi continued and her fake smile once again returned.

The young woman who had sneered at Hana back at the dinner boldly spoke up. She was the only girl dressed traditionally, wearing a yukata, and her hands moved confidently with expressive gestures. “You may all call me Akira-sama.”

Tomi nodded at her pleasantly. “It is always an honour to have you in attendance, Akira-sama,” was her courteous reply.

As Akira settled back down, clearly pleased by Tomi’s words, two other voices spoke up from across the other side of the table.

“I’m Ume.”

“And I’m Yui.”

“We’re sisters,” Ume informed proudly. “I’m taller. But she’s the older one.”

Yui’s eyebrows furrowed slightly as her sibling pointed out the fact. “Yes. She agreed. But I’m the smarter one-.”

“-I am Hana.” Hana quickly cut in as the two sisters smiled passive-aggressively at each other. They were clearly younger than their appearance perceived them to be.

“My name is Honoka,” said the tall young lady with the glasses.

Megumi squirmed shyly in her seat next to Hana and tugged at the sleeves of her sweater. Her face blazed red face as she was last to meekly introduced herself. But Hana’s attention was on the empty seat.

Tomi continued as she explained the day’s schedule. Neither she nor the other ladies there for the matchmaking event said anything about the absent girl who had initially been accompanied by her proud grandmother.

Sleep came very quickly for Hana that night. She had even retired to her room early. It had been a long day of being pampered and being served fancy meals. Hana was not used to being treated with such high-maintenance regard. There had been a tea party, a visit to the villas’ onsen, and Hana even had experienced her first manicure. All the while Hana had regarded the staff and household suspiciously.

Megumi remained outwardly shy and barely talked, but had stuck close to Hana for most of the day. The sisters, of course, kept together. And Akira and Honoka seemed happy to keep to themselves. Once again, the lord- who they were supposedly there to match up with, was nowhere to be seen.

It was still dark and the residence quiet when suddenly Hana’s eyes opened. She froze in fear as an amber light reflected through the outside window and across the walls of her room. Only when the brightness of the light withered away again, was she brave enough to sit up and hesitantly peer out her balcony doors.

It was there again. That floating shimmery glowing flame. And it was dancing across the garden hypnotically as a figure followed it.

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