Chapter 0

Mary hurried down the hall, paying attention to the bowl of water that she was holding in her hands and to the cloth on the shoulder; her hair fluttered in the air, pulled back in a messy ponytail, as if she had tied them up in a hurry without caring too much, nonetheless the hairdo was still pretty, paradoxically.

Her expression was so deep in thought that if a helicopter had been about to crash on her, she wouldn't have realized it in the slightest and wouldn't have moved.

She entered the room, closing the door, and walked to the bed with the green-shaded sheets and curtains; with slow and distracted movements she put the container on the table that had been placed next to it, as she stared at the pale face of the vampire lying on the mattress.

She sat on the edge, watching those eyes half shut and glassy, fixed on the ceiling, and his face emotionless, white as death, as cold as the Universe with no stars.

The girl leaned over him, stroking his cheek, sad, and moved a few strands of hair from his forehead, spread out after the convulsions occurred during that day, during which Mary and Yui, every hour, exchanged places to check on him, verifying that everything was "standard": this meant absence of consciousness and sudden unconscious movements, sweating and short incomprehensible babbling.

She soaked the cloth in the water and squeezed it, then used it to wipe Laito's face with loving care.

- Laito – she murmured, with a weak and pleading voice - please, get better...

Subaru was sitting on the inside windowsill, at the north side of the villa; he was staring up at the cloudy sky and at the dim light that leaked from a few clear areas, from which he could see the stars flickering, almost uncertain of what they were going to see on Earth from up there.

He was frowning and tightening his right hand into a fist, whitening his knuckles more than his pale complexion was; he turned his gaze toward the open door that led into that room and saw Mary passing, towards her bedroom, with the same silent and lost aspect he had to endured for the whole summer, making that season feel longer than ever: it had been an unbearable period, more than all his brothers put together.

At the beginning, after Mary had run in Laito's bedroom to see him, after being taken inside by his brothers, the girl had been worried with moderation and she had taken care of him calmly, even asking for help to Mr Ari, who however hadn't replied yet, probably because of other matters he was involved in; therefore, summer break came and the girl's composed mood had deteriorated, changing with each passing week and alternating sporadic panic attacks with long moments of distraction and anxiety.

On the other hand the brothers took no responsibility for it: the other triplets, though they should have been the most "close" ones, had visited him only once, when Yui, another unique kind caring soul, had kept her company, and had taken advantage of it to make morbid and tactless comments (Ayato recently had seemed nostalgic, but he would have never acknowledged it); Reiji had been banned from meddling in case he had taken interest in him, since Mary was sure he would have used him as a guinea pig for his experiments; obviously Shuu had grown jealous of her paying attention more to Laito than him, still uncertain about the strange feeling that was making him want to be the only one worthy of the dark-eyed girl's care; and Subaru...

Like the others, he didn't care much about his brother, who was in a sort of coma interrupted by brief moments of spasms and disoriented consciousness, when he was babbling gibberish as if he was in horror; what troubled him was the girl's health, weaker, and the ineffectiveness of her powers; often he had noticed her face darkening when she was trying to distance herself from a too-much-neglected Shuu (actually he had some good laugh, since his older brother's frustrated expression was really hilarious): nothing would happen. It was like her powers had suddenly become deaf to her requests; probably this was due to the fact that she wasn't focused enough: Mary was indeed used to act a bit in a hurry, but her thoughts were synchronized in a network of meaningful connections, albeit complex and weird.

He sighed, back watching the sky, and behind the clouds that were thinning out he saw the half-moon's light, melancholy.

- Mary-san has lost some weight...

- And what about it? I don't understand how that could concern me - Reiji replied coldly at Yui's timid, as they walked towards the living room, followed by a sullen Ayato: he didn't really like that his girlfriend's was worrying about the other female!

- I mean you also could do something, you're still brothers! For example, Reiji-san, why don't you use some of your books to find a remedy to Laito-kun's problem and...

- And waste my time and my precious ingredients to heal that good for nothing? Good grief, Yui-san, I didn't think you were so foolish to think that I would do something like that - the vampire snapped, disapproving, and adjusted his glasses with an irritated gesture, entering the room.

The girl paused and sighed in exasperation and troubled by that umpteenth defeat; for several days she had tried to raise awareness and encourage those guys to act, to no avail; nevertheless, Ayato, Shuu and Subaru were mostly inclined to blow down the stone wall separating them from Laito, yet she was sure the reason wasn't all about a spontaneous and sincere concern for the very brother, but was caused by selfish interests: her boyfriend certainly didn't tolerate her negligence towards Ore-sama, the sleepyhead would have had her dear friend all to himself and the albino would have been more relaxed about her.

Ayato peered at her pursing his lips and frowned, before pushing her inside the room while capriciously scolding her, his hands pressed against her back; she smiled slightly, softened by his childlike jealousy; she didn't forget however that he could have radically changed his mood and attitude, and then it would have been trouble...

- Reiji, I hope you have a valid reason for disturbing me... I was sewing and I don't want to waste my time - Kanato asserted coldly, glaring at him from behind the pair of glasses he had begun to wear in mid-summer; they gave him a more mature and elegant appearance, concealing his dark circles partially.

Reiji ignored him and cleared his throat, not before scornfully peeking at his beloved brother who was lying comfortably on a couch, legs overlapped on the armrest and crossed arms behind his head.

- Everyone, I have an important communication to tell; the tsukaima have told me about the presence of other vampires in town... so I would like to recommend all of you caution and self-control – he looked severly at Ayato, who grunted bored, and Subaru, which snorted angrily - from tomorrow onwards.

- What about Mary-san? - Yui asked, looking around in search of the girl who was absent; Reiji sighed impatiently, glancing at her sternly.

- It's the second time, today, that I'm hearing you say nonsense! Be quiet! I don't appreciate talking to people who don't listen to me, I'd like to remind you...

- Reiji - the blond interrupted him, while stretching his arms - and do you really think I listened to you, now? - he grinned sardonically.

An abrupt noise of broken nerves caused the present to teleport elsewhere, leaving a spectacled shaky vampire alone in the living room, near to a violent hysteric crisis.

And I'm back with the sequel~ :D

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!