Magic Knight Rayearth Fan Fiction ❯ Sefiro High ❯ Sefiro High - Chapter 29 ( Chapter 29 )

AUTHOR'S NOTE: BUWAHAHAHAHAHA! Nothing…a few more chappies and it's done…Oh by the way, getter warn you with the mild swearing.

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

Alcyone and Emeraude had decided to have lunch at the cafeteria. Emeraude was taking a bite on her sandwich when Alcyone saw the glimmering diamond ring on her finger. Noticing that Alcyone was looking at her ring, she said, "It's beautiful ne?"

"Uh? Oh, yes…So he finally proposed huh?" Emeraude had confided her that she was dating Zagato a week ago. The news made Alcyone angry, she dared not to show her anger though…she knew it would mess up her plans.

"Yes…" Emeraude said, smiling. "Last Sunday…"

"Wow! Congratulations!" Alcyone said, pretending to be very happy. "Don't you think it's quite early? I mean…You just met him what…a few months ago?"

"Actually, we've known each other for years."

"Like when? High school?"

"Like college…We were…quite intimate…"

'Yes Emeraude…talk to me…' Alcyone said in her mind. "You were lovers…"

Emeraude blushed and then replied, "Yes."

"So what happened? I mean, if you were that close, you should have been married by now."

"Well, his parents had died and left the school to him. We had to wait…"

"And you got tired of waiting?"

"Oh no! I was the one who told him we should wait. I love him so much…"

"Was he too busy…that he had neglected you?"

"No…nothing of that sort. He made sure that he spent enough time with me…"

"So why just now?" At that moment, Alcyone saw something clouded the happiness in Emeraude's eyes. 'This might be the moment I've been waiting for…'

"Well…"

"You can trust me Emeraude, we're friends right?"

Emeraude nodded, took a deep breath and then said, "I left him. I got pregnant. I was scared and so I left. If I told him, I knew he was going to marry me… You see we had talked about the school. He said that he would make it the best in the whole country. His eyes would sparkle with happiness whenever he tells me these things. I didn't want to be the one who would take that dream away from him. I love him so much…"

'A child! The bitch had a child with him!' At that moment Alcyone wanted to choke her to death, but then… 'He doesn't know about it…Good…I didn't know I was that lucky.' Alcyone can't help but smile. Good thing that Emeraude didn't see it.

"…I left him and went to Chiba. I told myself that it was better that way. I will raise my child alone. I knew I could never marry anybody else. But I gave birth to a dead child…"

'A dead child! How fitting! I'm really so lucky…I can't wait to see Zagato's face when he hears about this! Emeraude's dark secret…'

"Alcyone, please promise me, don't tell anybody about this…"

"I promise…" Alcyone said, trying to make it sound as sincere as possible. '…This is enough to make Zagato mine…and leave Emeraude…broken. I'll just twist the truth a little bit…'

* * *

Zagato sat comfortably at his seat, smiling as he remembered Emeraude's answer when he asked him to marry her. Now both of them can be truly happy. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard someone knock on his door. "Come in!" He saw Alcyone enter his office. "What brings you here, Alcyone? Any problems with the current auditing?"

"I'm just came to congratulate you…When is the wedding going to be?"

"Oh that…How did you know?"

"Emeraude and I…had became quite close friends…"

"Yes…I remember her telling me that…" and he didn't like it. He had not been very comfortable with her befriending his fiancée.

"So she was the reason, wasn't she?"

His eyes narrowed. He didn't like the way this conversation was heading---not one bit. "I have no obligation to explain anything to you Alcyone, but I am going to answer your question. Yes, she's the reason why I couldn't return your feelings."

"…You'd rather have her back? After she left you? She betrayed you!"

"She never betrayed me!"

"And what do you call her abandonment? She was carrying your child when she left! And I bet she never told you that!"

"How…how did you know all this?"

"I told you…Emeraude and I became quite close friends…I made sure of that…" she answered with a smirk.

"You are mad!"

"Ah…but there are a lot of things you need to know. Poor child, he should have been what…six…no five years old if he would have been alive? You made her wait too long, so she got tired. She was about to leave you when she found out that she was pregnant. It didn't stop her though…She left and killed your son!"

"She did not kill my son!"

Their argument was disrupted with another person knocking on his door. "Who is it?!" Zagato answered in an irritated tone.

"It's me…" He heard Emeraude say from outside his office. Alcyone smirked as she opened the door. It was too late before he would even stop her. "Oh hi Alcyone…" she greeted her friend with a smile on her face.

"Why hello Emeraude, you're just in time! Your fiancée and I having this interesting conversation about your dead son!" At that moment, Emeraude's smile vanished and her face went extremely pale.

"Alcyone…"

"Oh sorry sweetie…I did promise not to tell didn't I? Too bad…he already knows…" Alcyone said with her voice oozing with sarcasm.

"I thought you were my friend…"

"Don't make me laugh!" she answered. "Ask her Zagato! Ask her about your dead baby boy! Tell me how you'd rather choose to be with that woman after her betrayal!"

To Emeraude, that was the last straw. She ran out of the office before Zagato could even open his mouth. She didn't even look at him.

"See Zagato? I was telling the truth…She betrayed you…My beloved Zagato…" Alcyone said, moving towards the man in front of her and putting her arms around him.

"Take your dirty hands off me…" That was his chilly reply and pushed her away. His reaction startled her. When she looked at him, she saw his eyes flash with rage. "You have done enough."

"But my love…I was just protecting you…"

"You lie. You have planned all of this right from the start. Did you think that I was that irresponsible that I didn't do know about my son?"

'He knew…' her face paled…

"Zagato, my love…"

"Get yourself out of my sight! I will never forgive you for staining the memory of my son!"

"Zagato…"

"I said get out! You're fired. Leave before I loose any remaining control I have for myself and drag you out of this school! I have never been violent with any woman in my life but I'm beginning to think of making you as an exception."

His voice was stern and angry. She knew by then that he was serious. With tears on her eyes she left.

* * *

He said "Thank you" to the young man who told informed him where Emeraude went. Zagato found her crying. He didn't know what to say at first. He just approached her and wrapped his arms around her.

Emeraude was startled by the sudden warmth she felt when he embraced her. "She told me you killed our child…"

She faced him, and yet he still didn't let go of her. Instead, he held her tighter. "That's a lie!"

"Shh…I know…I know everything…it was too late when I found out…but I know. I talked to your mother…she told me that I should give you space. I agreed because I was guilty. I thought that I have hurt you for making her wait too long. She never told me where you were. I worked hard instead, thinking that when the right time comes, I will win both of you back, you and my son. 'The future will be secure for the both of them,' I thought…When the school was finally secure, I hired people to find out how you were…that was the time when I found out, about you giving birth to a dead child…about your struggle from depression…You see…I know. I'm sorry for not being there for you when you needed me."

"Iie…it's not your fault…I chose that path. I chose to be alone. I went away because I wanted you to fulfill your dreams for the school. I didn't want to be a burden…" she replied.

He smiled at her. "You were silly to have thought that you were going to be a burden to me."

"But…"

"Shh…that was the past. Now we must look ahead. You'll still marry me won't you?"

"Oh Zagato…I thought…Yes, I'll still marry you."

* * *

Ferio found his apartment door open. He frowned, he was sure he had locked it before he went to school. He carefully walked inside.

"Nice to see you again, my son," said the man who was sitting on the sofa. He was tall and tanned, about 50 years old. His hair was blond, like Ferio's sister. "What? You wouldn't give your papa a hug?"

He hugged his father. "What are you doing here?"

"Why? Don't I have a right to visit my son? Besides, shouldn't I be asking you that? I just left the country to supervise our business expansion and what did I find when I came home? That my son had ran away to Japan!"

"I'm sorry Father…"

"It doesn't matter…It must be your rebellious streak in your blood, as I have in mine. But my God! How can you live in such a small place?"

"I'm alone Papa, I don't need to get a big apartment…"

"…No cook? No house help?"

"I can manage Papa."

"Ha! You could have fooled me…Your refrigerator has nothing else but water, your cupboard has nothing but instant ramen…your pitiful excuse for a house is a mess…and you have a pile of dirty laundry…"

"I do my laundry every Friday Papa."

"MY son does his own laundry! You have enough money at your disposal. I made sure that your monthly allowance is sent to you and with that hefty amount you should not be living in this shack! Don't tell me you don't have a car?…I knew it. How do you get to school then?"

"I walk of course. It's not practical to ride a car to school. There isn't any good parking space…And well, it's hard to get a license."

"Then get a driver! At least when I ran away to America I didn't live this way…Why don't you live with your sister?"

"I like it this way Papa…Wait a minute…How did you know I've met my sister already?"

"Why, I hired someone to find out where you are and how you're doing of course!"

"I shouldn't have asked…"

"I haven't seen her yet though, so I decided to come over. Oh and I want to meet that girlfriend of yours too…I want to see if she is good enough for you…I would not want some disrespectful tramp in my family."

"For your information Papa, she is far from disrespectful…"

"Good! If what you say is right, then your taste in women is not as poor as I thought after all," he said grinning. Ferio sighed. 'He still haven't changed.' "Go shower and change into something more respectable…I bought you some clothes before I came here. I threw away all your old ones, except your school uniform of course. You look like a mess."

"We've been preparing for the bunkasai Papa. We just finished decorating our classroom."

"Yes…yes…I hear they make their students do the cleaning here. Oh well, I guess it's a good experience after all. Oh and yes speaking of school…I want to meet that bookworm that your sister is engaged to…I hope the son-of-a-bitch marries her this time."

"Mr. Sol is not a bookworm Papa, he's the headmaster…"

"Whatever…now hurry! You know I don't like waiting…I've arranged a nicer place for you to stay, I have called an agency to have a help to come over to do your cleaning and laundry. I've asked for a cook too."

"Yes Papa."

"Call that girlfriend of yours and invite her to dinner. Don't tell her that I'm there to meet her. She might just act nice just to impress me." His father grinned again.

"Papa!"

"Well just don't tell her…She might get nervous and tell you she cannot go."

* * *

The first thought that entered Fuu's mind when Ferio introduced her to his father was that, 'He looks intimidating.' Who would not think the same, if he was staring at them the way he was staring at her? She knew that he was sizing her up, seeing if she is worth being with his precious son. 'I bet his bark is worse than his bite,' Fuu said. She almost laughed when she realized that compared Ferio's father with a dog, but then of course she didn't. She has very strong self-control when it comes to these things. She gave him a smile instead and greeted him with a low bow. "Pleased to meet you Vendeli-sama. Forgive me, but I was really surprised. Ferio-san didn't mention that you are going with us."

"It was my request…" Hmm…she is beautiful…and very polite…

"More of like an order…" Ferio muttered under his breath.

Franco Vendeli heard his son but chose to ignore his remark. "Well then, let's eat?" They then sat and started ordering their food. "So tell me, how did you two meet?"

"We're classmates Vendeli-sama…"

"I see, I should have known…I gather my son haven't told you anything about his father?"

"Only that you are in Italy."

An honest answer. "Weren't you curious?"

"Honestly I was, but then I was thinking that there may be things that he wouldn't want to talk about…"

Considerate of my son's feelings…hmm…good. "I am very impressed that my son had easily adjusted studying in a Japanese institution, and a very good one at that…"

"Fuu helped me with my studies Papa. She's very smart. She topped the entrance exam for my school see…Anyway, she agreed to become my study partner."

Oh and intelligent too… "I see…"

"It's nothing really, I'm glad I can help."

"I'm surprised that my son's dirty apartment didn't turn you off…" Franco said, smirking.

"Well, we did our studying in my house, Vendeli-sama. It is not very appropriate for me to enter his apartment, knowing that he lives alone."

Ahh…a very respectable girl indeed! "Yes of course…I wasn't thinking."

Ferio looked at his father, 'He's smiling now…Yokatta!'

"…Anyway, it's a good thing you haven't seen his place! It was a wreck I tell you. He had a very comfortable life in Italy you see…And now here he has to do his own laundry!" Fuu notice the disgust in his father's voice…along with much concern for his son. "It's a good thing that there are many restaurants around here, or my son will never get to eat a decent meal."

"Yes I do understand," Fuu said. "I remember when our whole class had a camping trip. He said he was planning to eat chips for lunch."

Franco raised his eyebrow at Ferio. "What?!"

"I was too lazy to make a sandwich! I had to wake up so early! Besides, chips are food anyway!" Franco shook his head in disbelief. "…I ate well Papa, she made lunch for me."

"Thank God she did!"

"She usually makes lunch for me Papa."

Ahhh…perfect! Without much thought he shifted his language into Italian saying to his son, "I am very pleased with her…"

"Thanks Papa," Ferio replied.

"I expect you to marry her when you're old enough."

"But Papa!"

"I officially declare that you are now engaged with this pretty young woman!"

"Papa!"

"If I didn't have her as a daughter-in-law I will not give you your inheritance…"

"Don't you think it's still early for that?" Both men looked at the smiling Fuu with surprise. She just spoke in Italian.