Page 16 of The Arrival
“Yes, but it’s a good thing I went back farther than usual, because after much digging through government records and corresponding with my colleagues in Fukuoka and Nagasaki, I discovered that the Arima and Hashimoto family lines have already crossed.”
“Ah.” Asao smirks. “Incest. The leading occupational hazard for you vampire Historians.”
“Precisely. If these two vampires form a bond, their family lines will have crossed twice. In my professional opinion, it is not a good arrangement.”
Rubbing his fingers through the top of his short, spiky salt-and-pepper hair, Asao casts his eyes up to the ceiling. “How close are they?”
“Cousins.”
“Sheesh. How could they not know this already?”
Haruka sighs, massaging his temples with his fingertips. “The records were altered and concealed because of a scandal. The vampires involved in the circumstance are all deceased—their indiscretions buried with them. I do not wish to unearth this.”
Most days, Haruka genuinely enjoys his work and research. Uncovering the mysteries of each clan’s ancestry across eons and cultures. Then, he presents his findings in a linear, neatly arranged document to be both publicly heralded within a festive gathering of society and privately cherished by those families involved.
In this instance, though, not particularly.
Asao shrugs. “This revelation doesn’t necessarily ruin the engagement. Some vamps care about that, but some old-schoolers don’t mind. It’s ultimately up to them. You have to tell them.”
“I know.” Haruka sighs. “I will… eventually.”
“Better to get it over with. What they do afterward is their choice. How far back did you cross-check your lineage with Nino’s?”
Haruka narrows his eyes in disbelief. “Are you joking?”
Asao laughs, lifting his palms in submission. “I’m just asking a question… especially since Nino’s mother was Japanese—”
“I cross-checked our family lines three times, going back five hundred years to start, then seven.” Haruka folds his arms in a huff. As if he wouldn’t have checked something so critically important.
His manservant leans against the table, eyebrow raised. “Did you do this before or after you bonded?”
Haruka blinks. “B-before!”
“That’s your story and you’re sticking to it, eh? I’m just saying, I never saw you doing in-depth research when we first got back, and this bond definitely wasn’t something the two of you planned in advance, so…”
“Enough.” He sighs, pouting. “How is it that the integrity of my relationship is suddenly being called into question? I resent the insinuation.” Regardless of when he checked, he had checked. Painstakingly, to be certain. The Bianchi and Hirano family lines have never crossed until now, and that is the only thing that matters.
At Asao’s silence, Haruka glances over at the older vampire to find him still smirking and watching him. “What?” Haruka spits.
Asao stretches his arms up, then lazily cradles his head with his palms. “We’re much better off, though, aren’t we?”
Exhaling, Haruka allows the tension to fall from his shoulders. “Yes, we are.”
“Those years… weeks,monthswere miserable. It was a hard road and I hated seeing you like that, Haruka. I hated every second of it. But look at you now.”
Haruka nods, contemplating their lives prior to Nino. That time…
It is an unspoken and heavy thing for Haruka. He existed then—moving, living and breathing. Walking, talking and carrying on with everyday matters as expected of him. He knows that he did. But all of it occurred within a dense fog. A dark and empty space where his mind and body were on autopilot, not unlike an artificially intelligent life-form void of organic emotion. Programmed for the most basic and polite functioning.
Asao’s gaze softens as he looks past Haruka’s shoulder and toward the bright light of the window behind him. “They’d love him. You know that.”
Haruka’s chest warms, his cheeks flush. “I like to think so.”
“And my God they’d be over the moon about this kid. I’m looking forward to having a little one around again. Your wish is finally coming true, after all these years. You’d given up hope, hadn’t you?”
“I had. I was not expecting this.”
Asao smiles. “Are you ready?”
