Groove Adventure Rave Fan Fiction ❯ Living A Normal Life ❯ Chapter 10: A Day at the Rareglove Mansion ( Chapter 10 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

RAVE

Disclaimer: I don't own Rave. Just borrowing its characters for a while.


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Chapter 10: A Day at the Rareglove Mansion


Jaws dropped in awe at the sight of the Rareglove mansion's majestic structure.

The ceiling was so high and various lights and chandeliers brightened the enormous hall. Paintings of the Symphonian war and knights hung on the walls. Large pillars of marble stood on corners, giving an impression of a palace. The white marbled floor stayed sturdy carrying the structure's weight, and was kept clean and shiny that it was mirror-like. Adjacent to the entrance door was a grand staircase with its sides made of gold and silver materials. A seemingly endless red carpet from the main door connected the ways and paths of the household and stretched up to the stairs and the second floor. The place was just so breath-taking, you just couldn't imagine how rich the Raregloves are!

"Please feel free to tell me anything I can do for you. I'm Master Gale's official butler in this house," the man with a flat and white hair said to them.
Everything was cut short when the butler announced that the Master was about to come. Gale couldn't wait to see his old friend again after so many a year. And finally, another man in a black blouse and gray pants walked down the stairway and stopped upon reaching the ground.

"Glory?"

"King!"

*slow motion*

The two teary-eyed men ran towards each other with arms wide opened...

and squeezed themselves in a tight hug.

*end of slow motion*

"Do they really have to do that in public?" Elie whispered.
" Beats me ...," Haru hid his embarrassed face behind his long bangs.

"I missed you so much! I didn't know you already owned a big number of estates here in Symphonia!" Gale spoke after their legendary hug.
King giggled shortly. "Well, it's because of hard work and luck! Demon Card was really successful!"
"Demon Card?"
"Why? Have you forgotten about that?"
"Of course not! How can I forget our very own card game! I didn't know you had it patented!"
"Card games are pretty popular these days, so I thought that it would be a hit for players. And well, Demon Card did a trademark in the industry!"

"Oh yes, I came here with my son," Gale remembered and told Haru to come nearer. "This is Haru, and that's his friend, Elie."
"Yoroshiku!" The teens both acquainted the Master.
"Nice meeting you. I'd like you to see my son as well--"
"Lucia Rareglove? He's our schoolmate! We know him very well already!" Haru barged.
"Oh," King glanced at his bestfriend's son, but changed his mind and said, "But a formal introduction is better. Besides, I want Glory to meet him too. Butler, please tell Lucia to come down and see our visitors."

"Shimatta...," Haru softly uttered as his eyes followed the butler walk upstairs. Honestly he didn't wanna see Lucia that time. Well, both of them had just finished a 'fight' the other night, and now that Elie's here, that blondie might think of something else. But Elie...what was she thinking about this?

"Excuse me, may I go to the washroom for a while?" Elie asked.
"Sure. Just go straight ahead that hall and enter the first door you see along the way," Mr. Rareglove answered. Elie thanked the man and strolled her way according to what he instructed.

"Why don't we have some drink in my bar at the second floor, Glory?" King invited.
"A bar, you say? In your house? You're really so rich now, King!" his friend praised.
The mohawk-haired man blushed a little at his compliment. "That's nothing! Anyway, let's go now and talk about a lot of things! Haru, you wanna come with us?"
"Ah--sure! I'll just wait for Elie," the teen replied feeling a little shy.
"Let's go now, King. We don't wanna disturb them, don't we?" Gale joshed as they began to walk their way.
Haru pouted as his cheeks began to redden.

= = = = =

Finally, Elie reached the door Mr. Rerglove talked about. It was pretty strange though, it had no doorknob. But beside it was a calculator-like keypad which seemed to be the way to open the door. She experimented on it with a few pushes of the buttons, until the door finally slid to the right and revealed the room behind it.

The room was only lit by a dim light, but it seems to be a room technical tasks because of the large LCD screen on one side of the wall with panels showing different parts of the house. Beneath this were sets of controls and buttons. Hmm...pretty much sophisticated for an ordinary washroom...

She then saw a drawing of a girl usually found in bathrooms. She felt relieved seeing a sign now, but again, there was no doorknob.

"Jeez! It's better to open a door manually!" Elie scratched her head in disappointment as she started figuring out how to open the darn door.

She kept on pressing...and pressing...and pressing...and pressing...

...heck, nothing seemed to work!

"Mou!!" Elie, out of irritation, pressed the keypad with her whole hand! But instead of the door to open...

Elie's eyes went round in shock then,

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!! !"

out came a horrific scream.

= = = =

Senses became sharp. Danger was around. The adrenaline rush triggered by the scream caused his heart to pump faster.

"Elie!"

Haru raced back downstairs towards the hallway where Elie passed. Alarmed, the two Gales also followed the gushing boy to the trouble they were now expecting.

Trouble?

= = = =

"ELIE!!!" Haru yelled at the moment he stepped inside the room. But...

"Haru! Elie-san!" Gale faltered at the sight his eyes caught. King also arrived at the scene with huffs in his breath.

"What's wrong?" Haru wondered seeing that Elie was alright...but was covering her face as if she saw something outrageous.

He looked at the big LCD monitor. Suddenly he wanted to laugh his guts out!

= =

" Bouken no hate! Owarinai hibi e...."

The newly-bathed Lucia was singing at the top of his lungs at his personal shower room. With the radio's volume fired up, the Rareglove heir was swaying his towel-covered hips to the beat of the song. And to complete his mini concert, a comb accompanied him acting as a microphone.

Everything seemed well with the young master, only if he knew that his concert was being monitored by the spycams of the Rareglove mansion.

= =

Haru tried hard not to burst in laughter, since he knew it would be disrespectful especially infront of Mr. Rareglove. But, Lucia singing in the bathroom?!

Gale covered his mouth to hide his grin. "Who's that kid?"
Veins were popping up from King's forehead. But still, he replied, as calmly and cheerfully as possible, "Probably just another kid from a pirated vcd..."
"M-masaka! King--" Gale's face suddenly turned cautious. "...You watch x-rated movies?!"
"NO WAY!!!" King then marched toward the controls and turned the damn thing off. Now he can breathe better.

"It's okay now," Haru whispered to her as Elie brought down her hands. She groped around and thought that the atmosphere was a bit laxed now. Feeling ashamed, she stepped forward and apologized.

"I'm sorry I caused a meaningless commotion. I'm really sorry..."

"Oh well, everything was just an accident. Don't worry about it, Elie-san. It's alright," King said with an assuring voice.

"Oh well, everything was just an accident. Don't worry about it, Elie-san," King said with an assuring voice that it's alright. "Besides, it was my fault. With a house this big, I wasn't able to memorize all the rooms here since I'm busy with my work everyday. It's only now that I realize this is the technical room for cameras hidden in all parts of this house. Butler!"

With a blink of an eye, the old servant appeared behind the door and complied to his master's call.

"Yes, master?"
"Will you kindly lead her to the bathroom? I kind of misled her..."
"It's okay, Mr. Butler," Elie barged in. "Just tell me where and I'll just go by myself. Guess I'm old enough to know the directions." She slightly smiled.

So the butler did tell her the right way; King and Gale went on upstairs to the mansion's own bar; and Haru?

The ash-haired boy went to the guest's room and threw himself on the sofa. He sure was feeling a bit uneasy in this house, even though all the facilities and luxuries were all around the place and free for anyone to use. He sighed a deep breath and looked up the golden painted ceiling. Then, he recalled what Lucia said back in their Bluff card game in the party--that whoever loses will stop bothering Elie. So would that mean Lucia will quit? Then, what should he, Haru, do? Would that be part of his business if Lucia will stop courting her?

Haru suddenly withdrew his back from his comfy position and patted his head several times.
"It's for her sake anyway! Why am I getting bothered thinking about that game's consequences?!"

"Haru, are you okay?"

His face showed shock when he saw Elie staring at him behind his chair!

"E-Elie! You're--You're here!" he blurted out just to say something.

Elie walked towards another sofa and sat. She giggled a little upon looking at Haru's tensed face.

"'Know what? You're funny!"
Haru looked away as he blushed at her comment. "I-am-not..."

Elie smiled and looked up as if trying to recall something. "Also when you tried to make me buy you a new uniform!"

"It was because you threw trashes on me!"

"But I slipped!"

"You're really clumsy!"

"What do you care?!"

"Yeah right!"

Then came a short pause, and to finish their seemingly conclusion-less debate, they just ended it with a bubbly laugh.

= = = = = = = = = = = =

The bar's atmosphere was pretty soothing. Jazz music created the relaxing ambience for the dimly lit place. In the middle of the room stood the bartender rack where the two bestfriends stayed. Slices of cakes and champagne were served for them as King and Gale enjoyed their time used to tell stories of their lives during the past ten years they were apart.

"Garage Island has been very nice to me and my family. Though it would've been better if Sakura were still with us...," his face turned a bit melancholic.
King then placed his hand on his friend's shoulder and encouraged him. "At least we still have our children with us, right?"
"Yeah... I just hope that Haru's schooling here in Symphonia will really benefit him in the future. That's right, didn't Haru say that your son also studies in the same school as his?"

"Hey, dad!"

The blond Rareglove heir dressed in a casual attire suddenly entered the bar and went to them.

"Speaking of the devil, is he your son?" Gale muttered.
"How dare you call my son a devil!" King exclaimed.
"It's just an expression!"

Lucia cleared his throat. "Who is this man, dad?"

"This is my son, Lucia. Lucia, meet my old bestfriend Gale Glory."
Gale greeted him with a warm smile.
"Glory?! Don't tell me you're Haru's relative!" The blond boy suddenly cried out.
"Well, yes! In fact, I'm his father!" The older one proudly said.
"You two must be really good friends!" King continued. "Haru's downstairs together with his friend, Elie. If you want, you can tour them around this mansion."
Lucia's face brightened at the moment he knew Elie was here. He abruptly excused himself and headed to the first floor to look for her.

= = = = = = = =

"At that time, I thought you were gonna get mad at me," Elie confessed.
"Who wouldn't? After getting dirtied by foul garbage, anyone can get pissed off!" Haru defended himself. "You should take note on what you're stepping on, you know.
"You can't really blame me...I was nervous at that time!"
Haru grinned at her reply. "You're just gonna throw the garbage!"
"But you were there--"

Elie promptly intermitted. A slight blush was forming on her soft cheeks.

"S-sorry...just don't mind what I've said, okay?" She said forcing a smile on her lips.

Haru was quiet. He looked down and grasp for anything to say to change the topic. But he failed, and so the silence went on...

"Erhem!"

The tranquil scene broke at the sound of someone clearing his throat. Both of them looked up and found out it was their schoolmate, Lucia!par
par
"Er...hi there, Lucia! You have such a...nice house!" Haru spoke to notice his presence. Elie couldn't look straight at him. She remembered what she saw in the technical room...

Lucia subtly showed his agitation upon Haru. But instead of just standing up there, he went near to Elie and asked her for anything she wants.

"So, Elie, would you like some cappuccino or perhaps some hot chocolate?"
"It's okay. Just don't mind me, Lucia...," Elie replied.
"You're our guest. Of course it's my responsibility to know what you want."
Haru promptly interrupted, "If she doesn't want any, then don't force her!"

Lucia then turned to his rival. Haru gazed back warily.

"Do you want some water , Glory? You can get some in the kitchen."
"No thanks," the cinder-haired boy sarcastically responded.

"Well then, I'll just give you a tour around this house for a while," the blond boy said as he walked to lead the way. Elie, feeling a bit bashful, then stood up and asked the pissed off Haru to come. Leaving with no other choice, he also got on his feet and followed them.

A few minutes later, their short strolling were halted with the arrival of Lucia's dad and his bestfriend.

"You're finished talking already, dad?" Haru asked them.
"We just had a brilliant idea just in time before your winter break!" King said in delight. "I'm gonna sponsor a field trip for your school, Lucia! Isn't that great?"
"It's okay. So where will it be?"
"I'm gonna talk to Mr. Shiba about it, and if he approves, then probably it's gonna be in the Tremolo Mountain."

= = = = = = = = = = = =

The sun now had begun to set. Everyone was outside and was ready to bid their farewells.

"Thanks for inviting us here, King! We really had a great time!" Gale showed his gratitude with a simple handshake with his friend. "If you have time, why don't you visit our home in Garage Island?"
"I'll try my best, Glory. Thanks to you and your son too for bothering to come here."

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay? If you want then I'm gonna make my driver take you to your place," Lucia offered. But before Elie could reply, Haru suddenly said, "No need to worry. I'm just gonna go with her and make sure she's alright, okay?"

The golden haired boy glared at the other and blurted out, "I'm not asking you, Glory so just shut up!"

Veins popped out from the insulted boy's forehead as he rebutted, "I'm just worrying about her! What do you care about what I want to do!"

"Will you stop that!" Elie furiously broke in between the two quarreling sides. "I'm gonna go home by myself!"
Both the boys then reacted, "But--"
"That's final!"

"Hey Haru! Elie! Let's go back now!" Gale notified. Both of them complied upon his call and went to him. And with one last wave of their hands, they left the Raregloves and their enormous mansion.






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