Chapter 3: Hello, Stranger

Dear Diary,

The wedding preparations have begun. It has been about a week since my father and I got back from Kukuroo Mountain, and the packages from Kikyo have been wheeled in almost every day by the butlers. I didn't really expect my future mother-in-law to be so involved with the wedding planning, but I appreciate the gesture…if only the wedding dresses she sent me weren't so damn ugly.

She has probably sent me ten dresses by now, and they all look the same to me – big, poofy, gaudy. Maybe I liked her dresses as a child, but you know, things change…our tastes change.

She also hired a wedding planner. Apparently, we are to have our wedding at the Zoldyck estate. A small wedding of just family members because I doubt any of my friends can actually make it alive in the estate and live to tell the tale. We have 90 days until then.

All these preparations and I still haven't actually talked to Illumi. I'm afraid our first words to each other would be the "I do". That's just tragic. But it's not like I didn't expect it.

I took the opportunity to get to know my fiancé on my last visit. He's quiet, reserved, and picky. Despite the wide array of sandwiches, sweets, and pastries, he set his eyes on just a particular type of biscuits during tea. He was compliant to all his parents' requests, simply nodding or saying, "Yes, mother" or "Yes, father" (at least we have that in common). Although the talks of the Zoldyck family business were discussed in general by Silva, his words seemed to weigh heavily on Illumi. I could tell that there was a different kind of pressure on him, way beyond compared to the ones put on his fat brother and the younger one who likes to wear kimonos.

Despite knowing the real reason why we are to be wed, I just couldn't stop myself, I just had to ask, "So, does that mean I get to be an assassin too?"

Everyone turned to me in surprise. Papa was furious. Oh well, it was worth a shot.

90 days until I leave Yorknew. I'm nervous…but I can't deny that I've been looking forward to it as well, for my own reasons.

Love,

Tora

xxx

Tora sighed and stared at what she had written for one last time. Her body filled with warmth as her aura surrounded her with a faint glow. That's enough reflecting for tonight, she thought, as she shut the journal and placed it aside. The second she stood up, she felt a chill in her spine.

She turned and looked around. Her heartbeat quickened as she felt the immense energy drawing closer and closer, breathing down her neck.

As she clenched her fists, feeling on edge, she spoke, "Can't you use the door...Illumi?"

Author's Note: I promise this is going to be the last of the short chapters :)) Thanks for reading, guys!