"Date!" Both Rin and Akari echoed at once, their voices overlapping in disbelief, like two clashing bells ringing in the same tower. Rin's eyes went wide at the word, her breath catching in her throat. She stared at Shion as if she had just spoken a forbidden spell, the kind that could unravel the fragile balance holding everything together.
"Cousin Shion, I don't think I can go on a date with you. I have a lot of things to do today…" Rin's voice trembled slightly, though she tried to sound firm. Her hands fidgeted at the hem of her sleeve, betraying her unease. Her heart thumped like a bird trapped inside a cage.
"But I insist." Shion's tone was calm but firm, almost regal, her eyes glinting with determination. She stepped a little closer, her shadow brushing over Rin's feet as if it were reaching for her. "I've prepared a lot of things to do with you today, and I don't like to be rejected." Her words were soft, yet the weight behind them made Rin's chest tighten.
"You asked yesterday if I had plans, but you didn't wait for me to talk before you concluded," Rin said quickly, her words spilling over each other like pebbles tumbling down a hill. "But I do have plans today." She glanced aside at Ice, hoping for an escape, but his unreadable expression gave her nothing — no comfort, no hint of what to do.
"Okay then, Rin." Shion tilted her head slightly, strands of her dark hair sliding across her cheek like ink spilling across paper. "When do you have plans to go out with me?"
"I don't know…" Rin whispered, her voice shrinking smaller, almost as though the air itself was trying to swallow her words. "And I don't think going on a date with you is right because I'm engaged, and I don't want to make someone… mad…" Her fingers rose slowly, as if weighed down, and she lifted her hand. The engagement ring caught the light like a warning flare as she flashed it at Shion.
"I know she's forcing you to do a lot of things against your will," Shion said softly, her eyes darkening, her voice low enough that only the three of them could hear. The warmth in her voice faltered, replaced with a quiet storm. "But I'm working on it. The wedding will not take place."
All three froze, staring at her. The silence around them thickened, like the hush before a storm. Even Ice shifted his weight, his gaze flicking between them with a hint of tension.
"What do you mean you are working on it? Are you planning on sabotaging the wedding or what?" Akari snapped, stepping forward between them, her hair brushing her shoulders. Her hands curled into fists at her sides.
"This is none of your business. Whatever I do doesn't concern you!" Shion's voice sharpened, slicing through the stillness like a blade.
"Whatever you do doesn't concern me, but this wedding does concern me because I am the one in charge!" Akari's eyes narrowed, her voice steady as steel though her pulse hammered at her throat.
Shion grabbed her arm, fingers tightening just enough to pull her aside into a corner, away from Rin and Ice. The movement was sudden, like a gust of wind slamming a door shut.
"You said I don't fight for love," Shion whispered, her tone low and trembling now, a flicker of vulnerability hiding beneath the edge. "And now that I am, you're coming in between."
"You had your chance for years and you did nothing," Akari hissed back, her lips barely moving but her words heavy. Her eyes glittered like shards of glass. "And now when someone claimed her, you want to claim what doesn't belong to you."
"Well, she already chose me when she kissed me, so I won't let anyone take her from me, you hear me? So stay out of my way." Shion's voice rose, eyes glinting like sparks about to ignite a flame. "And even if she didn't kiss me that day at the market, I still would not let Rin marry someone like Selene."
Akari's lips curved into a sharp smile, though her hands trembled slightly at her sides. "Oh, so a kiss was what set you up, huh? Well, I'm on the winning team. And guess who? Queen Selene. She already has my support, and the wedding will go on no matter what!"
"The only reason you're supporting her is because you don't want to be the one who marries the Ice Queen!" Shion shot back, her fists trembling harder now. "You'll do anything so you can end up with that fire brat!"
"Well, that fire brat is my one true love and you don't get to insult the person I love!" Akari's eyes flashed, a flicker of heat in their depths. Her voice trembled only slightly, but it carried a quiet power, the kind that could burn without flame.
"Oh, are you mad that I called your lover a fire brat?" Shion mocked, tilting her head with a smirk. The smirk didn't quite reach her eyes. Akari's jaw tightened, her fingers flexing like claws ready to strike.
"Oh, what are you going to do, little sister?" Shion sneered, leaning closer. Her voice dripped like venom. "You gonna create a phase-one water dummy? Haha… you don't even know how to form a water base properly because you're weak!"
Akari drew in a deep breath, her shoulders rising and falling slowly as if she were forcing herself not to break. Then she smiled, her voice calm but cutting, each word a soft knife. "I don't use my powers on meaningless things. You always use the word weak every time you're losing a fight. But I won't let your words get to me today. Rin is going to marry Queen Selene and there is nothing you can do about it. So don't try to win a game you already lost."
Shion's face went red, her fists clenching so tightly her nails bit into her palms. She could feel her pulse hammering through her fingertips. "Rin has the right to choose whomever she wants to spend her life with — and it's with me!"
"Okay then," Akari said smoothly, her eyes glinting. "She has the right. Well, let's ask Cousin Rin who she wants."
Both sisters turned toward the spot where they had left Rin — but she was no longer there.
"Where did she go?!" Both sisters exclaimed at once, their voices overlapping like a crack of thunder.