Vampires are creatures of night, lurkers of the darkness who feast upon the blood of the living. They've existed for hundreds of thousands of years, adapting to the changes of time. Once a vampire became immune to what could kill them, they had children to pass on the ability. Crosses, moving water, and even garlic were things that once affected them but no longer could. The ways of breeding full breed vampires over the years had become difficult as their kind had become scarce with the growing existence of Vampire Hunters, and so the main households developed new ways of keeping the family strong: breeding between kin.
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"Big sister," Anju called stirring her older sister awake with a frown. It seemed that Karin had forgotten to set her alarm the previous night, and Anju had made it her job to wake her up before their mother found out.
"Five more minutes." Karin groaned, rolling over to her side as drool trickled down her chin. Her purple hair was sticking up on all sides and her shirt was rolled up to where her bra could be seen.
"Big sister, you're going to be late for school." That did it. Karin's eyes snapped open wide in horror before she jumped out of bed and rushed to get ready. Boogie shook his head at the elder sister and figuratively bit his tongue to keep from upsetting Anju again. Sure, he used to be an infamous serial killer who could care less about other's feelings, but Anju found ways to strike fear in his non-existent heart.
"I'm off! I'll see you later, Anju!" Karin shouted as she burst out her bedroom door, down the stairs, and out of the house. Giggling, Elda stepped into Karin's room and smiled innocently at grandchild.
"Shall we train?" She offered, extending her hand toward the youngest of the Maaka household. Setting Boogie aside, Anju followed her grandmother into the basement for some daylight training that they usually kept secret from their parents. Anju had been coming into her powers quickly, and she was advancing with each session.
Elda wished she could have the same response from training Karin, but that was not possible. Karin was a strange case, an outsider to both humans and vampire. Unlike the others, Karin's vampire blood cells replicated at an abnormal speed, which caused her to lose blood rather than thirst for it.
Sneezing, Karin rubbed at her nose and tried to focus her attention on the lecture. She blushed as she felt Kenta's gaze shift onto her for a moment before it was gone. She thought it was nice that he worried about her. It only got weird when Winner darted across the room to her with a tissue in hand.
"Winner, get back to your seat!" The teacher shouted as the girls in class glared in Karin's direction. Why did these things only happen to her?
As lunch drew closer, Karin reached into her bag to pull out the neatly wrapped lunch box she had brought for Kenta. It was apart of their deal. She would make him his lunch, and he would keep her secret - sort of. He never said that she had to do it or anything; it was something Karin had offered from the kindness of her heart.
"Class dismissed!" The teacher announced, booking it out of the classroom to get her own lunch. As always, Karin and Kenta escaped to the rooftop to enjoy their meals, and Karin did her best to ignore the strong pulsating that ran through her body from their proximity. The two made idle chit-chat, mostly talking about school and work. Karin did her best to ask about his mother, but Kenta was determined to not bring the mood down, not knowing that she could practically taste his misery.
The mood between them stayed the same most of the day, until the two caught sight of Winner and a few other men who were dressed in the same unusual garments as Winner. Realization struck the pair almost immediately. They were Vampire Hunters, most likely called in by the overly-friendly and overly-clingy Winner.
"What should we do?" Kenta whispered, and Karin turned red as she realized how close he was to her. Her body thumped at the sensation of his unhappiness, a reaction that she wasn't all too fond of.
"I should get home and report it to the others. Would you mind covering for me at work?" Karin asked, glancing back at him and blushing as their lips were only inches apart.
"Yea, I can do that." He said, his cheeks heating up. Before any strange thoughts could cross his mind, she was gone, bolting in the direction of her house at full speed. Karin had no time to waste. It would be different had Winner not known that vampires lived there because then they wouldn't be searching as hard.
Bursting through the door, Karin ran smack into her older brother, both falling onto the ground with her on top. Whining, Karin sat up and stiffened when she realized who she was straddling.
"H-hi, Ren." She greeted, her cheeks burning hot in embarrassment. Ren merely glared and waited for her to get off of him, which took longer than he expected since she kept stuttering out apologies.
It was sometime after Karin turned fourteen that the two stopped directly calling each other, "big brother" or "little sister". They couldn't find the strength to say it after they realized how sexually appealing the other was becoming, which was why Karin was set on turning her attention onto Kenta. She couldn't imagine confessing that she found her brother to be attractive or that he would feel the same after the many beauties he'd ensnared.
"Are mama and papa awake?" Karin asked, chewing her lower lip as she rubbed at her arm in an awkward fashion.
"Not yet. What are you doing home so soon?" Ren questioned, trying hard to focus his eyes on hers instead of her body. The last thing he wanted was to be caught giving her a good look up and down. He did so frequently, and that was only when he knew no one was watching. He couldn't help it; he was a man and a vampire.
"O-okay." She sighed as he followed her into the living room. "I'm worried." She admitted with a frown, instinctively leaning against her older brother for comfort as they sat down together on the couch. Also instinctively, Ren wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gingerly ran his hand up and down her arm in a soothing motion.
"What's bothering you?" He asked, keeping his breathing even when she nuzzled herself closer against him, to the point where she was nearly on top of him.
"Hunters. There's more of them in town now, Ren, and I'm sure Winner called them in." She explained, and her older brother narrowed his eyes at the news, his pointed ears slightly twitching. "We don't know anything about these men or how skilled they are or how many were called in. What if we have to leave? What if we're getting ahead of ourselves with all of this? What if-?"
"Karin." He cut her off, and she snapped her mouth shut. "Whatever this is, we'll get through it so stop freaking out before you get on my nerves." He grumbled, trying to sound upset. It was a good thing she was so gullible considering how she winced when he spoke.
"Big sister?" Anju spoke as she and Elda entered the living room, both appearing worn out and worked to the bone.
"Anju, what happened? Are you okay?" Karin asking, escaping her brother's hold and rushing to her younger sister's aid. Anju nodded, trying her best not to worry Karin any more than necessary.
"I'm fine. Grandmother and I were playing." She said, and it wasn't technically a lie. The others may have thought of it as rough combat training, but Anju and Elda both considered it playing. They had fun fighting each other, sometime both even pretended that it was to the death. Those "games" were the most fun.
"What's bothering you, my little twin?" Elda asked just as Calera and Henry Maaka entered.
"I'll tell them." Ren offered with a sigh, and Karin flashed him a thankful smile. The two siblings sat side-by-side as Ren told the family what Karin had told him. All the while, Anju was watching them with such an intense gaze that she could analyze every single thing that they were feeling in that moment and everything they'd done that day.
"That's troublesome." Calera sneered in frustration, slowly swaying the blood in her glass as Elda glared at her.
"Obviously, idiot." Elda snapped, and the two bickered like the old women they were, making everyone else in the room sigh. Anju still noticed when Karin had reached over to grip onto their brother's hand, and she noticed when Ren had given said hand a light squeeze before releasing it.
Anju had known about the way the two had felt about each other, and she had wanted them together for a long time. It'd be nice to have both of her protective older siblings happy, but her dreams crashed and burned the day she had overheard the adults talking about leaving Karin to the world of day. After all, it was where she belonged - to them, at least.
Exiting the room, Karin escaped into her room and tried to curve her thoughts toward Kenta rather than Ren. That only seemed to make her blood jolt, not her heart. Her heart only reacted for a specific mint-green haired older brother with a lecherous mind. That didn't mean she was going to give up. Kenta made her feel something Ren never could: human.
Karin had decided to leave the Vampire Hunters to her family. Any input she gave would be dismissed anyway, so she no longer saw any point in trying. There was no point in trying in anything with them anymore if she had to be honest. Her mother scolded her for things she had no control over; her father did everything in his power to get between her and Kenta; Elda was always causing trouble; Anju was distancing herself from her more and more; however, Ren was the worst of all. With Ren, it was a one-sided love that cut deeper than any stake.
It was just after sunset when someone called, "Karin?" She slumped over to the door, freezing when she saw who it was. "Are you busy?" Ren asked, and she shook her head, regretting it almost immediately. She should have said she was; she should have lied and told him that she had tests to study for. "Come with me." He ordered; she obeyed.
Karin always did her best to listen to whatever he said. It was to the point where she was almost ashamed of herself for stepping between him and Usui's mother, which was the right thing to do. He had her wrapped her around his fingers so tightly that it was hard to tell right from wrong on some days.
"Where are we going?" She asked, always staying a step behind as the moonlight cast a warm glow over them, illuminating Ren's features in a way that made her heart flutter.
"To get you to release all that blood you've pent up." He deadpanned, and she stopped mid-step. She had been getting good at covering up when she was overwhelmed with excess amounts of blood, so she had no idea how her older brother could have found out. "I can read you like an open book, idiot." He stated, as if he read her mind as he grinded his knuckles into her temples.
"Ren!" She cried out, turning around in his grip and feeling all color drain from her face when she saw how close he was, his lips only inches from hers. This was different than with Kenta. This made her stomach flutter and her heart skip several beats as it raced with anxiety.
"What?" He asked, his cool breath brushing over her face and sending goosebumps down her arms. She leaned forward, begging for his touch and needing it as much as he did. Ren did the same, anxious to finally feel those full, pink lips pressed against his. Sadly, their moment was interrupted by someone bumping into Ren's back.
"Ren?!" The woman gasped, clearly intoxicated as she struggled to regain her balance. "OMG, it is you! Ren, I haven't seen you in so long. Why haven't you visited me?" The woman asked, pressing her body against him as she attempted to give him a longing gaze.
"I'll go on alone." Karin offered, unable to watch any longer. Ren glanced in her direction as she vanished around the corner, anger bubbling through him at the woman whose name he could no longer recall.
"Leave." He growled, scaring the stranger with the coldness in his voice and eyes. The drunken woman left, no questions asked, too afraid she'll upset him even more. In the meantime, he ran off to search for his idiot little sister who always seemed to get herself into trouble. She was a magnet for it, apparently.
He couldn't find her. No matter where he looked, she wasn't there, as though Karin vanished off the face of the earth. Sighing, he ran his hand through his hair and headed back to the house, hoping she had already headed back considering how late it'd gotten after searching for so long. He debated stopping at one of his girl's for a quick bite, but something inside him told him that it wasn't a good idea.
Ren couldn't understand the overwhelming feeling of dread that ran through him. He went from calmly walking down the street to running as fast as he could toward the house, his undead heart thumping loudly in his chest.
"Stupid Ren." Karin grumbled, walking through the park and keeping her eyes low. Not paying attention to where she was going, Karin bumped into a taller figure that had just turned the corner. Surprised, Kenta smiled and grabbed her before she could fall from their collision. "Kenta?" Her cheeks heated up, embarrassed that she let herself get caught up in jealousy for her brother when she had Kenta in her life.
"Karin, did you already talk with your family?" He asked, smiling gently at her, and she nodded with a frown.
"Yea, they know about the Vampire Hunters. Whatever, they can take care of themselves." She muttered, trying to sound as though she didn't care despite the guilt eating away at her.
"You wanna talk about it?" He offered, and she smiled, letting him guide her toward a bench so they could sit down.
The two of them talked for what could have been hours, mostly about her family. Every time the conversation turned toward his mother, Karin would feel her blood pulsate, which obviously meant that it was an uncomfortable subject for Kenta Usui to talk about.
Fumio Usui was a beautiful, middle-aged woman, but her problem was keeping a job. It was hard for her to find a stable position no matter where she worked, the employers always being lecherous old men that only hired her for her body and later demanded that she sleep with them if she wanted to keep her job. Of course, she never did as they wanted, which led her to getting fired each and every time. It was a sad cycle, and Anju had once even suspected that Fumio's beauty was grand enough to even capture the eyes of Ren, which didn't bode well for Karin.
Karin loved Fumio. She was a kind woman with a large heart, and she always treated Karin well whenever she went over. However, that didn't mean Karin wasn't envious of her beauty. It was a stupid thing to be upset about since Fumio had no control over how she looked, but it still bugged the purple haired girl. She didn't like the way her jealousy made her feel.
"What do you plan to do about the Vampire Hunters?" Kenta questioned, looking Karin in the eyes, until she began nibbling her lip. His eyes slowly followed the movement, and it suddenly became hard for him to swallow as his face burned a bright red.
"Nothing. To my family, I'm human, and the Vampire Hunters will see me the same way. Besides, I'm powerless to stop them. I can't control my vampire abilities the way the others of my family can, so there is nothing I can do even if I wanted to." She explained with a sigh. It was sad to admit that she was useless to those she cared about. The only time she felt useful was when Anju was younger and depended on her for everything. That was the only time, and that was a long time ago.
"Karin," Kenta whispered, and she gasped when his lips met hers. Karin had always imagined what kissing him would be like: fireworks and rainbows. This wasn't like that at all. This was cold, rushed, and it left an empty, bottomless feeling in the pit of her stomach. She wanted to shove him away, but she couldn't find the strength to do it in fear that she would hurt his feelings.
After what felt like an eternity, Kenta finally broke the kiss and stared at the girl before him with wide eyes. He couldn't believe what he'd done and apparently neither could she considering the complete shock that was drawn on her face.
"Th-That was-." He began, but Karin cut him off by shouting, "I have to go!" With that, she ran from the park and headed home, hoping she wouldn't bump into Ren and his drunken girlfriend. It wasn't until she arrived at the house that all of her worries of Ren and Kenta disappeared, leaving only a look of horror on her face. Her home was covered in flames, the bats struggling to leave for safety while resisting the urge to return to protect their masters.
"Anju!" Karin shouted as she finally composed herself. Taking a deep breath, she bolted into the house and was immediately met with a face full of smoke. The thick, black smoke covered every inch of the first floor, leaving her to hold her breath as she fought to keep her watering eyes open.
The way the bats outside were acting had alerted her that her family was still inside. Whether they were alive or dead was another matter altogether. Her chest tightened in an uncomfortable fashion as she made her way up the stairs, each step she took filled her with fear of what she'd see.
It was easier to breathe upstairs, but that didn't mean she could drop her guard, especially with how bad the floorboards looked from the fire. Any one of them could collapse under her weight at any moment, so she had to be extra cautious where she stepped.
She wanted to call out to her family, but she wasn't sure how safe that would be. The first place she checked was Anju's room, but she only found it empty apart from the screaming spirits that Anju had trapped within her dolls. Spotting a familiar doll, Karin burst forward and grabbed it and ran out just as the ceiling collapsed over the entire room.
She cradled the small, stuffed dog to her chest as she resisted the urge to cry. Anju had to be safe wherever she was; she had to be. She continued through the rooms, unable to find any signs that her family was there but knowing in her gut that they were. She nearly lost it when she saw how demolished Ren's room was.
As Karin approached the upstairs den, her heart began to quicken in her chest. She knew before she even opened the doors that they were in there, alive or dead. Tightening her grip on the stuffed toy, she pushed open the large, wooden double doors, ignoring the heat as a scream escaped her lips.
Her family had been hung from the ceiling, their hands and legs restrained. She didn't even take notice of the several Vampire Hunters surrounding the clan as she stumbled forward.
"Karin?" Winner called, but she couldn't hear him. All she could hear was the flames as they danced around the room and the way her heart hammered in her chest.
"B-big sister." Anju spoke, eyes slowly creaking open to greet the newcomer. Relief washed over Karin as the others also began to regain consciousness after having heard her shout.
"Big sister?" Winner repeated in horror, his eyes darting between the hanging vampire and his ideal woman. The other Vampire Hunters around him were quick to catch on and turned their weapons on the still approached purple haired girl.
I have to save them, Karin thought, her mind wandering and taking her places she'd never been before. The doll she had once been holding onto for dear life had slipped through her fingers, and Anju's eyes followed it as it fell onto the burning floorboards.
"Karin, run." Henry choked out, giving her pleading eyes.
"Get out of here! Go, now!" Calera shouted.
"Don't come any closer! Leave!" Ren begged.
"It's no use." Anju and Elda said in unison, and the others looked at them in confusion.
"Her eyes are hollow, empty. She can't hear us anymore." Elda explained, a frown placing itself on her face as her own eyes followed her precious granddaughter.
"Stay back, vampire! You should listen to your family!" One of the Hunters yelled, rushing forward but being stopped by Winner as he jumped between them. "What are you doing, Rookie? Get out of the way. Are you defending that monster?" The Vampire Hunter asked.
Winner didn't get a chance to speak as a glowing hand pressed itself against his back, sending him flying forward and unintentionally tackling down the Hunter who'd been questioning his loyalty.
"Stay out of my way." Karin sneered, her voice unusually cold and threatening. There was a killer intent in it that made every Vampire Hunter present cower as her family gazed at her in utter astonishment. This wasn't the Karin they knew, and that became clear as her entire body was enveloped in a red glow.
Large, crimson wings ripped their way out of her back as her hair slowly began to grow out passed her hips and turned the same pale silver color as that of her family's. Her eyes glowed a blood shade of red, and her fangs grew sharper and longer. The wicked, crazed smile that placed itself on her face was one that promised death.
"It's time for the Hunter to become the hunted." Karin purred, moving so fast that no one aside from her family could see her movements. She started off small, breaking their arms and legs, leaving them helpless and unable to escape their fate. When she came face-to-face with a horrified Winner, she did something unexpected. She let him go.
"Karin?" He called, stiffened when she gently brushed her hand over his cheek.
"Get out of here, Winner, and don't come back. Stop hunting vampires because one just spared your life. Go." She ordered, and he hesitated for a moment before running for the exit.
"Why only him?" One of the other Vampire Hunters asked, and she glared down at his pathetic form.
"I know him, and Winner played no part in this. He isn't capable of it, but you disgusting pests are, and you will pay for what you've done here today." She declared, running her tongue over her fangs with a smirk. "You've turned my family into animals. You've hurt the ones I love all because you cannot accept what we are. You made our kind hide in the shadows, disappear from existence. You made us inferior to you humans."
"You're monsters!" Another Hunter interrupted, and she scoffed.
"The only monster I see here is you." Karin no longer made any attempt to hold back. Anju's eyes widened as blood splattered onto her face from the man that Karin had murdered before her. Karin had ripped out their throats with her teeth, drinking them until there wasn't a drop of blood left in their bodies.
Henry and Calera could hardly recognize their little girl when she'd finally finished and turned to them. Her face, clothing, and hair were stained in the blood of her victims, and her eyes continued shine a deep red even after the glowing faded away.
"We have to get out of here." She said, her voice returning to normal as she clumsily cut them loose, starting with Anju.
"We have nowhere to go. It will be daylight in just a few hours." Henry noted, and Karin wracked her brain for ideas.
"Kenta! We could go to Kenta's house! At least, until we are able to find somewhere else." She thought.
"That's not too bad of an idea. Let's go." Calera demanded and took one last look at her daughter before leading her family toward the house just below their hill. It was when they were walking through the forest that Karin separated herself from her clan and went in a different direction.
Kenta and Fumio were more than happy to let them stay over once they heard what had happened. Of course, he was worried about Karin, but Ren was quick to say, "She'll be fine."
They were all worried for her, but none of them could make a move as the sun was beginning to show itself just over the horizon. They were trapped, unable to go out in search of the one they were all worried about most.
Karin didn't want them to see her after what she'd done. She didn't want to see the disappointment in their eyes when they looked at her. In the end, she found herself sitting in the bell tower of an old, abandoned church with tears running down her face.
It was clear that the life she knew was gone when she walked into the light and got burned. Her arm stung from the severity of it, and her throat ached as it thirst for the blood of the unhappy. How could she face those she loved when she couldn't even fathom looking at herself in a mirror, too afraid of what she'll see? She was ashamed of the monster she was becoming, a killer.
Karin had waited for a while, anticipating one of Anju's familiars to go out in search of her. Apparently, she was too well hidden even from them. Standing from her spot, she rang the heavy, rusted bell to ease her boredom and let her eyes wander toward the world of day that she once was a part of.
She remembered how much she used to want to be like the others of her kind. She used to dream of what it would be like to be one of them, immortal and forever hidden from humanity. It sounded so lonely, and it was.
"Why did it take such a horrible thing to awaken who I was always born to be?" She asked no one in particular as she descended the long, spiral stairway. She couldn't leave until the sun set, so there was no harm in getting some sleep. She needed to rest anyway, finally shut her heavy eyelids. She was emotionally and physically exhausted, so rest would be good for her. Besides, sleeping was the only normal thing left she could do.
Laying on a dusty, wooden bench in the main church, she let her mind and body succumb to how tired she was. When she woke up, she would find her family and apologize for what she'd done. She had to.
Luckily, she didn't have any nightmares after what she'd done. Her dreams were rather happy. They showed her a life where she could be with Ren, where he returned her feelings and loved her as much as she secretly loved him. It was a nice dream, and she wished it could be true, especially now with Kenta no longer being an option
When Karin woke up, she felt refreshed. She'd almost completely forgotten the events of the previous night until she saw white strands of hair fall over her face. She nearly gave herself a heart attack, but she was quick to accept her change and grabbed an old cloak from the priest's chambers.
With her hood up, she headed back toward Kenta's house, avoiding any and all eye contact on the streets. She'd never realized how painfully bright the city lights were, and she wondered how her family was okay with walking them every night. She desperately wished there could be a power outage seeing as how she was already getting a headache from the brightness of it all.
She'd never been more thankful for the darkness of the broken path that led toward Kenta's house. She was almost there when she spotted Anju exiting the house with Elda, both freezing at the sight of her.
"Big sister?" Anju called, and Karin couldn't hold herself back as she dashed forward and lifted her younger sister into her arms.
"Well, I'll be damned." Elda said under her breath as the rest of the Maaka and the Usui family came out to see what all the commotion was about. Kenta froze at the door, his eyes wide as he took in the sight of Karin. She was nothing like the girl he knew.
"Ren!" Karin yelled, rushing into her brother's arms and grateful that he didn't push her away. Ren held her close, breathing in her scent and only relaxing his grip when he remembered that there were others watching them.
"Karin." Calera and Henry called at once, and their daughter approached them with a sad smile.
"Forgive me, mama, papa. I don't know what came over me. I couldn't forgive them for what they did to you, and my body just reacted to what I desired to do to them in my heart. That's a horrible thing to admit, but-."
"Oh, Karin!" Henry shouted, sweeping his daughter into his arms and cutting her off. "We don't care. You did what you had to do, and we know that. None of us are angry. We were only worried about you." He assured her, running his fingers through her hair as she began to cry into his shirt.
Fumio and Kenta had no idea what was going on, but the scene before them was touching nonetheless. Smiling, Karin pulled away from her family and wiped away her tears as she turned to face Kenta.
"Can we talk?" She requested, and he followed her away from everyone. Henry tried to listen in, but Calera pinched his ear and dragged him into the house before he could.
"What happened to you?" Kenta asked once they were alone, and Karin did her best to restrain her bloodlust. It was harder than she originally thought, and craving blood hurt more than producing it.
"You heard about what happened to my house?" He nodded. "It was Vampire Hunters. They attacked us, and they hurt my family. I had no idea they would move so quickly, and I messed up. When I saw what they'd done, I lost it. I lost control of everything, and I- well, I did something horrible." She admitted.
"What did you do?"
"That's doesn't matter anymore. It's done, but I've changed because of it."
"You're a full vampire." Kenta said, understanding. She looked up to meet his gaze, regretting it as his sorrow increased and fed her hunger.
"I'm going to suggest to my family that we leave tonight to be with some distant relatives. Winner found out what I was, and I'm sure he'll call in more Vampire Hunters soon." She said with a frown, and she stepped back when Kenta stepped forward.
"You're leaving, just like that?" He couldn't believe it. After everything they were through, Karin was leaving him.
"This is for the best. My family's safety comes before anything else. Besides, this - what we had - is no longer possible with what I am now." She was a creature of night, and he was a creature of day. It was a doomed relationship no matter how anyone looked at it.
"Answer me one question: did you ever think about what we could be?" Kenta built the courage to ask, balling his hands into fists and averting his gaze. Smiling, Karin stepped toward him and placed her hand on his cheek to get his attention. Once he was looking at her, she spoke.
"All the time, Kenta." She admitted, leaning forward and capturing his lips in a soft kiss. Before she could leave, she turned and added, "If we did get married and had a daughter, I would have named her Kanon." With that, she was gone, and he was alone with those empty words of hers repeating in his mind.
Karin told her family what she'd told Kenta about leaving to be with Frederick and Elga. Calera resisted at first but caved when she saw how defeated her family was in their current state. She knew that leaving was the only possible thing to do with everything that'd happened to them.
Elda eased herself out of the house without being spotted and plucked a rose as she headed up the path toward the burned down house. The sight of it broke her heart, and she had to force herself to move forward. Standing before the rubble, she lay down the rose over it and smiled.
"We're leaving now, James." She spoke. "I don't know when we'll be back or if we'll ever come back. I hope you find peace, dear husband. You were such a pain to deal with, but I'll miss you. Goodbye, James." Blowing a kiss, she headed back to where her family awaited her, all of them ready to leave but still holding onto the pain of being forced from their home.
"I'm going to miss it here." Karin admitted, standing beside her brother. Looking down at her, Ren sighed and took her hand in his.
"I am, too, but we should be happy we're all together and alive." He was right. They may have lost their home, but they were all safe. Giggling, Karin tightened her grip on his hand before turning to face him.
"Ren, I love you." She said, and he rolled his eyes.
"Yea, yea. I know." He misunderstood.
"No, you don't know." She corrected him, and he looked at her with an arched eyebrow. "I love you." She repeated and pulled him down by the arm she held onto and captured his lips. This time, it was magical. Ren snaked his hand around her waist and pulled her close as she wrapped her arms around his neck. The kiss was sweet, gentle, and it made her feel as if all the planets in the sky were aligning just for them.
"You're right; I didn't know." He grumbled when they finally pulled apart. Everyone, except Anju, averted their gaze to give them some privacy as Ren said, "I love you, too."
"Finally," Anju whispered, tightening her grip on the stuffed puppy in her arms. Its ears and one of its legs had been burned away from when Karin dropped it in the fire, but that didn't matter. It was a symbol of their bond as sisters; it was a reminder that they were nearly killed, and they survived.