Engaged to Morinozuka (an Ouran High School Host Club fanfiction)

Serious Threats- Part 10

Mariska stared at her reflection in the mirror and couldn't believe her eyes.  Thanks to the servants, she no longer looked 16, but she looked like she was 25.  Her dark hair was pulled back into a bun with curls, they had perfected her face with makeup, and she wore a big, white gown that looked like something out of a fairy tale storybook.  If it hadn't been for her current circumstances, she would have been giddy with joy to appear so grown up, but the firm expression on her face made her want to run away and disappear forever.

I wish Father was here...  He'd stop this.  He would ask me if this is what I wanted and if it would make me happy.  He'd call it off when I said no, and he would have been proud of me for thinking for myself for once...  He would hug me and tell me everything was going to be alright...  He would...  Her train of thought was interrupted by a knock on the door.  Hitarus entered when one of the servants let him in, and he stared at Mariska.

"You look truly remarkable in that dress..."  When Mariska didn't respond, he continued.  "The wedding starts in half an hour, Mariska.  Remember what I told you last night...?"  She swallowed hard and nodded with a look as stony as a mountain on her face.

"It's for the good of the company..."  Her tone was blanker than her own thoughts, betraying no emotion whatsoever.  Hitarus nodded.

"And for your own good."  He straightened his tie in the mirror.  "Your father's lawyer will give you away, since I can't."  She said nothing.  "And you better not mess this up for Kitosha...  This is all he's dreamed of for years."  With that, he left the room, and Mariska was left to her thoughts again.

All he's dreamed of, huh?  I highly doubt that.  More like this is all his father had forced onto his son for years...  She looked down at her phone, which hadn't gone off since before she was taken.  Please hurry, Kyoya.  I'm almost out of time...  She looked then to her pillow, where she had hidden the butter knife from her breakfast tray.  To live a life married to the son of that creep wasn't even living, especially since she knew the truth about her father.  It would dishonor her family to be married to one of his murderers.

There was another knock on the door.  This time, it was Takoto, her father's lawyer.  He wore the same suit as Hitarus wore, and he looked uncomfortable in it to boot.

"Are you ready, Mariska?"  Mariska simply stood, neither nodding or shaking her head, and approached the door.  He frowned at her cold expression.  "I would think that a bride would be smiling on her wedding day, no matter her age."  Mariska said nothing and opened the door.

If only he knew, or cared for that matter...  She dutifully took his arm and walked down the stairs with him.

Each step she took, she saw a flashback of when she was a little girl.  When she was playing outside while her father read the paper...  When she rode her first horse before she learned to ride side saddle...  Her first day of school...  When she found out that her nanny wasn't really her mother...  The day her nanny died...  And the day her father announced her engagement to Takashi Morinozuka...  Never did she ever imagine her life turning out like this.  Surely, deep down, her father was really alive, just trapped in a deep sleep like Sleeping Beauty, and maybe he would wake up and come to stop all of this...  Maybe Takashi was out there, planning some grand escape just like he had accomplished at the Sendo syndicate...

Or, maybe, her father really was gone, and Takashi was leaving her to this horrible fate, scared and alone more than she had ever felt before...

She never heard the wedding march.  She never noticed the people attending stand and watch her pass them, wondering how a child so young could look so serious.  She only saw the smile on Hitarus's face as she was seemingly dragged to her inevitable doom waiting for her at the alter.  As soon as she stepped up, the ceremony began.

"Dearly beloved," the bishop boomed, causing Mariska to cower slightly.  "We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of this man and this woman...  Before we begin, anyone who has reason to contest the union of these two, speak now or forever hold your peace..."  Not even a second after he said this, a familiar voice brought Mariska out from the fepths of her mind.

"I object!"  Her eyes widened as she looked towards the crowd while another voice carried over the clamour of confusion.

"I second that objection!"  A smile brightened her face as she saw both Kyoya and Takashi running for the alter.  The rest of the Host Club followed behind.  When Takashi reached her, he called out in a voice so loud it shocked anyone who knew him.  "This woman was not engaged to this man...  She's betrothed to me."  Hitarus colored in anger as Morinozuka, who was attending as well, stood and called out to his son.

"What on earth are you doing, boy?"  Takashi stared in defiance at his father.

"Righting a terrible wrong."  He produced a stack of papers from his suit jacket.  "I have here the latest will and testament of Ratisho Onikan, stating that his daughter, Mariska Onikan, isn't to marry the son of his business partner, Misruto Hitarus, but the heir of the Morinozuka fortune, which is myself, Takashi Morinozuka."  Takoto grabbed at the stack of papers in Takashi's hand as he and Morinozuka gathered around, staring at him in shock.

"Let me see that..."  He quickly glanced over it, paling as he read over it.  When he looked up, Mariska noticed he was sweating a little.  "This has to be a fake...  It had to have been forged."  Kyoya adjusted his glasses as he took the papers back.

"How much was Hitarus offering you to get rid of the new will and testament before he tried murderering his business partner?"  The sound of people gasping made him even more nervous.

"I don't have the slightest clue what you mean."  Kyoya smiled politely.

"I'm sorry, let me try again.  Why would Onikan hide his own will from his lawyer when he knew there was another will still in effect?"  Takoto attempted to stand taller.

"Onikan wouldn't, which is why I assume the will is forged..."  Kyoya chuckled and pulled out a small leather book from his suit as well.

"Not according to the personal journal of Ratisho Onikan, which states in an entry from 10 years ago...  I believe Takoto and Hitarus are conspiring against me.  When I mentioned wanting to draw up a new will, Takoto grew nervous and began to insist my old one was sufficient enough in making sure my darling Mariska was taken care of.  The more he argued, the more my suspicions were confirmed, so I went in secret to a smaller law firm in Tokyo to draw up a newer will that would better take care of my daughter with a lawyer named Kotoko Fujioka."  He looked up at the nervous little man, who seemed to be getting more and more intimidated by the presence of the much taller boy.

"The journal passage must have been forged as well..."  Everyone, incliding Mariska practically leaped out of their skin when a new voice boomed from the back of the gathering.

"It most certainly is not!"  Mariska's eyes all but popped out of her head when she looked over.

"Father?"  There, at the back of the gathering, squinting under the afternoon sun at the front was Ratisho Onikan in a wheelchair, being pushed forward by Otori himself.  Behind the two was the entire Otori family's private police force.