Chapter 1: The Butterfly
Who is she?
What is she?
A girl with long glossy pale blonde hair sat in the corner of the room. The adults in her surroundings were shouting; they were saying things she did not understand. But even then they looked at her with those eyes, eyes that bore such hate, such pain. Why are they looking at her like that?
They looked at her with intense eyes, filled with hate; the girl wrapped her arms around her slender frame as she felt her body shiver because of the cold. Now that she thought about it, this room had no windows - and yet, the air was chilly. The floor was cold, and there was a terrible smell in the air. It smelt like something was rotting, and her hands - there was something there. Because of the darkness, she could not see exactly what it was. The girl touched one hand with the other; it felt like a liquid of some kind.
The adult's conversation confused her. She did not know why they were yelling, these voices, she knew them and yet at the same time she did not. The young girl knew she knew these people; one of them is the man she called father but the woman with him? Who is that? It was not her 'mother,' not the woman who gave birth to her.
The woman stared at her angrily, "It's one thing for you to have cheated on me for ten whole years-ten! But you just had to get yourself a bastard child in the process. Wasn't our Lucy enough?"
"Sarah I--"
"I don't want to hear it, and what's more the child just did something we can't reverse. What if people followed us here? How do we explain this?"
Did something she can't reverse? Is that related to the cold feeling in her body and the strange liquid in her hands? The girl wanted to move towards the light, but her feet remained frozen. It's like something heavy was shackling her down.
"We send her away abroad."
"We can't do that. If she's by herself, what do you think will happen? What if she does it again?" the woman named Sarah, rubbed her hands on her forehead, "We can't keep her with us, I will not allow a child like this to live with our dear daughter. We could send her to an orphanage."
"That would harm both our reputations."
Sarah gritted her teeth, "You would deserve it," it was clear that the woman was very angry with her father.
Her father remained quiet, and the woman exhaled deeply, "All right, I get it. We won't bring her there; you bought some new properties recently didn't you? Keep her in one of those and send some servants to watch her."
"Sarah, she is still a child... Isolating her may.."
"The kid is messed up, and you know it, look what happened here."
Ah, they are repeating it. Did she do something? The young girl questioned in her head. The current events puzzled her, and she knew no matter how much she asked. Nobody would give her an answer.
It was cold; her stomach hurt, when was the last time she ate? She needed to eat; her throat felt parched too, 'Water,' perhaps she could find someone. But that would require moving. Her thoughts broke off when she felt the coldness leave her body, "If you do not wish to care for her, then I can."
Despite the darkness, she could make out the person who held her. A pair of mysterious sapphire colored eyes, fair skin, and black hair. 'What a mysterious combination, who is he?' despite this question, the young girl realized how she was no longer cold and leaned into his embrace. It's warmer like this.
"You? You're only a kid yourself--"
"Ah, dear Uncle. You underestimate this child."
"That girl, she is a murderer," her father's voice was hardly calm.
It's then the young girl grasped the situation she is in. A murderer, a cold-blooded killer. Somebody who is unwanted. Ah, that's why. That's why her body is so cold, why her heart feels so hollow - just now with her own hands, she killed somebody. Fully aware of this, she squirmed from the other kid's arms, when his laughter broke her struggle.
"What are you doing? Do you hate me holding you?"
What is this guy saying? Did she not just kill somebody? Why is he smiling, why does he look at her with such warmth in his eyes.
"Setsura," he said kindly, and for the first time since her mind registered what was happening did she realize, this was the first somebody called her name, "I'll take you to my home."
It was similar to a symphony of colors - that person color was always so dazzling and vibrant in her eyes. But she knew if she tried to touch it, all the colors would fade away. While she walked away with the mysterious child, Setsura looked back and there she saw it. Hovering over the spot she once stood in, several odd-looking pure black butterflies amongst a single white one.
...
Eight years later Tokyo 2019
"No, no, no! You have to save him, please save him," a young woman frantically cried, as men and women in uniforms held her back.
"It's dangerous young Miss, step back."
"We've secured the Young Miss. Let's head back."
The woman looked at them angrily; she can't believe these people.
...
Hospital
Eighteen-year-old Kaname Setsura, the young heiress to the Kaname household is well versed in the cultural arts. Whether it's music, dancing, singing, sewing, or painting - Setsura could do them all flawlessly. At least on the surface that is, there is no human out there who is just naturally talented. Even those people who are referred to as geniuses have to put in a bit of effort. She was never a genius, contrary to what it looked like to other people. She supposed nobody ever considered how much effort she put in to achieve these skills. How many long hours did she use to build up a solid foundation for her skills, and the amount of research and effort she put in. 'Hard work?' Hah, those people who say they have worked hard would have to reach her level first.
Her brother, 'Shun,' always said she had her own guardian angel with her. But as lovely as that sounded, her so-called brother did not mean it as a compliment — Kaname Shun, a few years older than her - roughly a five-year age gap. Due to the death of her legitimate brother. Father adopted that man thinking his company would be saved. That was eight years ago. For the last eight years, this man has tried to control her life.
After that incidence, she lived with that person for a while, and it felt like her cold, emotionless shell would break. She felt human when she was with him. However, the moment Father adopted Shun; he suddenly dragged her back home too. Setsura shook her head; she couldn't care less about her so-called family members now.
Besides, why would she care about two siblings who are practically strangers to her? Only one of them share her blood, and that one spends half the time scheming against her, while the other tries to dictate her life.
She didn't want to leave his side even during the operation. Due to her 'status,' the doctors made an exception - though it was clear they were reluctant. It is unheard of for a random person to enter the operating room when somebody is undergoing surgery. But, they made the exception.
"Don't cry," her eyes go wide when she hears his words, "Don't cry," he clutched her hands tightly, "I won't die."
How can he say that in his condition? She wants to remain hopeful too. But he lost so much blood.
"Did you know?
"Stop saying such stupid things, save your breath. They will start operating on you soon," she struggled to hold back her remaining tears. She doesn't want to make this even more difficult for him.
"Can you help me sit up?"
The doctors nearby who were preparing looked alarmed. Of course, they would, this man just lost so much blood, and his wounds are severe. If he even so much moves, it will endanger his life, and yet he did it, anyway. He still moved.
"Ha-"
He placed his hand on her lips, "S-," he whispered.
This is the man she loves the most, the one person who helped her escaped that pitch dark world. The one who held her hand, the one who embraced her even in the darkest period of her life. While she became the young miss of the Kaname family, it did not erase the incidence from back then. To those who knew of the incidence, she will always be a murderer. No matter how talented she became, or successful, they would never love her.
But that was fine; she did not need them. Setsura turned to the man laying down on the hospital bed, in just a few minutes the operation would start, "When you finish up here, you have to finish showing me your surprise."
This man is her fiance, and her savior Shinji. Since he saved her back then, her whole life has revolved around him. As long as she accepted her, she did not care about the others.
Shinji laughed, "You still want to go back?"
"I don't believe in ghosts," Setsura stated flatly.
"That's true," he wrapped his arms around her.
"Wait, you shouldn't...."
"Setsura," he whispered, "I love you, so be happy, okay? No matter what happens, I want you to be happy."