My name is Shirota Akari, and I'm 15-years-old. While my brother likes to keep things simple, I enjoy an exciting tale every once in a while. One complicated thing could reveal the truth about a person. So picking up a stray cat with my twin brother turned out to be the best thing to happen to us.
"Here you go kitty." I smiled at the small black cat who looked up me sleepily as I placed a bell around his neck. "What should we call him?"
"How about... Kuro!" Mahiru suggested, and I gave him a look.
"Calling a black cat black. How like you," I sighed. "Well, Kuro it is then."
The next day at school we were deciding who'd take on what tasks we'd be doing for the cultural festival.
"Let's see - we have to figure out who's working in the cafe during the cultural festival," the class president said. "The people left after that will be in charge of the costumes." Here we go.
"I can't sew..."
"Who in this class can?"
"What about Mahiru or Akari?" Sakuya suggested. "Mahiru and Akari live alone so don't they do all of the housework?"
"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked him confused.
"It's just that it means you're the best suited for this task, that's all." he grinned at me, and I gave him a look.
"Besides, we already decided that Mahiru's in charge of the cooking."
"Yeah, he's already experimenting..." I sighed.
"But is there anyone else?"
"Well if you people ever tried to do something new, then maybe one of you could do something," I mumbled making Sakuya laugh. Suddenly the door slid open, and Mahiru glared at everyone with cookies in his hand.
"What a pain! Why am I always put in charge of everything?! While you guys were deciding, I baked some experimental cookies," Mahiru told us.
"Mahiru!"
"Wah! They smell good!"
"They look delicious!"
"Get in a line! There's one for each!" Mahiru ordered before passing one out to each of them.
"So tasty~!" I sighed before Mahiru sat in front of me with two cookies in his hands.
"There's nothing unusual about the cookie dough, yet- what is it? Is he a pro?"
"Simple is best!" Mahiru told them. "So? What additional duty did you assign me? Costumes? It's an easy decision to make. Considering matters simply. I'm a guy who doesn't have much to do, and I'm good at sewing. I'll do it of course! All right!"
"Yay! We can't wait!" the rest of the class cheered.
"Mahiru, is it all right for you to take on so much by yourself? Plus there's the sports festival next month..." One of Mahiru's friends, Koyuki, asked remembering Mahiru volunteering for the relay team selection.
"But in the end, nobody volunteered, and a dispute broke out," Mahiru pointed out.
"Yea, with Akari taking the lead against the rest of them," Sakuya laughed.
"I would have beaten them all starting with you for suggesting Mahiru and me for the costume designs!" I tried to hit him in the head, but he just kept laughing and dodging my fist.
"But, Lord Mahiru, isn't doing everything yourself a pain in the butt?" Sakuya asked. "As your childhood friend, isn't it my duty to help you? A needle can't thread itself."
"Going it alone is the direct opposite of a pain in the butt," Mahiru told him.
"Do you even know how to thread a needle?" I asked him.
"Mahiru, hey, are you going to buy the cloth and the thread for the costumes before we get to the subway station?" Koyuki asked him.
"Eh? Yeah? I guess I should," Mahiru said thinking about it.
"It does make the most sense," I added.
"Be careful! Lately, in this area, there have been rumors of vampire sightings."
"Huh?"
"I'm not joking! There have been random attacks," Sakuya told us. "The victims have teeth marks on their necks and arms, and all of their blood was drained! There have already been dozens of victims."
"Ew-scary..."
"Psych! I just made up everything I said up until now!" Mahiru smacked Saukya upside the head. "Ow!"
"I believed you!" Mahiru shouted at him.
"So, it was just a made up story," Koyuki sighed in relief.
"Of course it was," I told him. "There's no such thing as vampires."
"Sakuya's rumor stories are usually a bunch of lies," Mahiru told him.
"Oh! Do you want to go to the karaoke in front of the subway station?" Koyuki asked us. "The rates are reduced at this time of day."
"Wow! Way to ignore someone!"
"I have to go home," Mahiru told them. "I have to take in the laundry!"
"Not to mention check on Kuro," I added.
"I hope you listened to what I said!" Sakuya called out to us. "You never know when you'll be attacked!"
"Sure we are, Sakuya!" I laughed as we ran towards home.
I couldn't get what Sakuya said out of my head. I understood he lied about it, but still...
"Hey, we're home!" Mahiru called out to no one. With our uncle always gone, Sakuya was right, we were alone here. So hearing the TV on was strange for us. "Huh? Did we leave the TV on?" We walked in the living room to see a guy sitting in total darkness except for the TV light.
"Who-" The guy was surrounded by manga and cups of ramen including the one in his hand. "Who are you?" The guy sighed before turning back to the TV in front of him.
"I'd rather die than deal with this..." Mahiru grabbed the closest thing to him, a mop, and swung it at him.
"Who the hell are you?! And what are you doing in my house!?" The guy surprised us by jumping above Mahiru and landing between the two of us.
"What a violent brat. Scary... stay away from me," the guy said staring at Mahiru.
"Wh... what...?!" Mahiru fell back, grabbing the curtain and letting the sunlight stream in. I screamed slightly and jumped away as the guy turned into Kuro in front of me. "Eh... Kuro...? Where's the guy who was just here?"
"He... turned into Kuro..." Mahiru picked up Kuro and looked up at the open curtain. Mahiru closed the curtain and Kuro changed back to the guy from earlier.
"What the hell are you doing?" Kuro asked. "I can't handle sunlight." Mahiru simply screamed in surprise.
"Wh... what the heck are you?!" Mahiru asked him hiding behind the curtain and throwing Kuro from his hands and back into the sunlight.
"Don't throw people around," Kuro told him making Mahiru scream again.
"It can talk!"
"Hey! You heard what he said," I scolded Mahiru. "He can't handle sunlight!" I grabbed the curtain and closed it allowing Kuro to change back.
"I'm just a vampire shut-in," he told us.
"That's it, I'm throwing you out the window!" Mahiru grabbed Kuro's jacket tails and started pulling him towards the window as Kuro scratched at the floor to stop him.
"Wait! I'm a vampire. I can't handle sunlight. I'll die! I'll die! I'm eternally young and immortal, but I'll still die!"
"Mahiru! Leave Kuro alone!" Suddenly, light surrounded me and Kuro then disappeared just as quickly... just happened?" I asked confused.
"Great..." Kuro sighed. "Humans can be such cruel beings."
"SHUT UP MONSTER! WHAT'D YOU DO TO MY SISTER?!" Mahiru asked him before gasping in fear. He grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him. "Did you say, vampire? Oh my gosh! Are you the random attacker? Did you come to attack us and drink our blood?!"
"Don't you think he would have done that already if that was his plan?" I asked giving him a look.
"Isn't that usually called being conceited?" Kuro asked him. "Wouldn't anyone rather die than go through that much trouble? Arracking you would be stupid."
"You're a vampire! Attack me!"
"Why are you wanting him to attack you?!"
"Should you be talking so easily about crimes like battery? Moreover, I'm thirsty. Do you have any tea?" Kuro asked.
"Yeah, I'll go get you some," I told him going for the kitchen.
"Don't get him tea?! Give me a break! Do you think it's okay to barge into somebody's house?!" Mahiru asked.
"Jeezus, chill dude," Kuro said as I handed him his tea. "Thanks, Akari."
"No problem," I smiled at him.
"If I bother you so much, I'll be gone by nightfall tomorrow," he told us.
"Why wait? Why not just go tonight?" Mahiru asked him with a glare.
"Akari and I started creating a contract. We can't be parted for 24 hours."
"WHAT KIND OF RULE IS THAT?!" Mahiru asked him.
"It goes back several hundred years. Explaining is so lame."
"IF IT'S TOO MUCH OF A PAIN, THEN MAKE IT SIMPLE AND GIVE ME JUST THE HIGHLIGHTS!" Mahiru shouted at him.
"Please, Kuro?" I asked him. "What did you mean by we started creating a contract?"
"You two are full of complaints and questions. For the meantime, I can say this for sure: Mahiru and I would rather die than ever get along."
"I COULDN'T AGREE MORE!"
Kuro then took the time to explain to us about being a pet vampire.
"But how are we supposed to take care of a vampire?" I asked him confused.
"Well, it goes like this: the master I make a contract with gives me blood, and, even though it's a pain in the ass, I do whatever my master orders. I'm what's called a servant vampire," he explained. "I have another name, but there's no point in telling you if I'm not going to stick around."
"SHUT UP! YOU'RE ANNOYING THE HELL OUT OF ME!" Mahiru shouted at him. "I don't understand much of what you said, so you can leave!"
"But what happened with Akari changed the situation," Kuro told us.
"How did it change?" I asked him.
"Don't tell me that was a contract forming?" Mahiru asked him.
"No," Kuro denied. "That was a provisional contract. It's so bothersome I could die, but I'm bound by the rules. One of them being, for instance, Akari and I cannot be separated beyond a certain distance."
"What would happen if we became separated?" I asked him curiously.
"Well, something happens but I forgot what it is." I laughed as Mahiru screamed in annoyance.
"HOLY CRAP! YOU ARE DRIVING ME NUTS!"
"Oh, calm down, Mahiru," I told him. "You're not even the one who has to deal with this right now. Kuro and I are."
"Yea, calm down," Kuro told him. "I should be fine as long as I don't drink your blood in the next 24 hours." I nodded my head in understanding.
"But, will you be okay not drinking blood?" I asked him.
"I haven't had blood in a long time. I'll be okay," he told me. I stared at him as he ate potato chips.
"QUIT EATING MY POTATO CHIPS!" Mahiru shouted beginning to vacuum.
"Mahiru! Stop it!" I ordered separating the device from Kuro's jacket.
"How could you suck your sister's cute pet into the vacuum cleaner?!" Kuro asked him. "Human males are much crueler than vampires..."
"SHUT UP! YOU AREN'T A CUTE PET!" Mahiru shouted.
"Ugh... I can't believe I have to spend 24 hours with this dork... Akari's one thing, but this kid..."
"That's my line!" Mahiru shouted. I just sighed while Mahiru jumped on him to either take the chips or just to pick a fight with the vampire I couldn't tell.
"All I know is that the status of the contract will be decided after 24 hours," Kuro told us. "You don't have any cat hating parents around, right?" Kuro covered his ears with his hands as Mahiru continued to vacuum next to him. "I hate the sound of vacuum cleaners..."
"What are you worrying about?" Mahiru asked him. "Other than me and Akari, there's a middle-aged guy living here..."
"You can call him our uncle, you know," I told Mahiru.
"The old guy travels a lot, so it's almost as if we're living by ourselves since he's usually not around."
"Where are your parents?" Kuro asked.
"We never knew our dad," I told him.
"Our mother..." Mahiru paused in telling Kuro the truth, and I couldn't bring myself to help him. "Our mother died in a car accident a long time ago. Akari was in the hospital for a long time after that, and that's how I almost became alone. Even after she was released from the hospital, we'd lost our home. And then our uncle took us in. Without our uncle, I'm sure..."
"We'd have been separated a long time ago," I finished.
"Ah, I see..." I could see memories swimming in Kuro's eyes and knew not to ask. I had a feeling that if he'd known how hard it was for Mahiru and me to talk about mom, he wouldn't have asked about our parents. It's one thing to talk about a parent you never knew, but a parent who died right in front of you? That's a whole other story. "So, you were found like a dirty cat, weren't you?" Then again... "It's stupid, isn't it? Your situation sucks."
"Like you're not a source of irritation!" Mahiru shouted at him. "Oh!" I followed Mahiru's gaze to the clock. "We have to meet up with our friends. We have to go..."
"No way, Akari can't," Kuro reminded him. "If we separate, something will happen." Mahiru glared at him and I glanced at the fading light under the still closed curtain.
"It should be dark enough by now," I said before picking up a cat Kuro and holding him in my arms.
"Stop! The sunlight! I can't handle the sunlight, remember?!" he asked me.
"By the time we get outside, it'll be darker than it is now," I pointed out. "And if not I'll make sure you're covered from the sun." Mahiru walked outside of our apartment before hearing a crash from inside. "What was that?" I asked.
"I don't know, but we gotta go." Mahiru grabbed my arm and we ran down the hall to the elevator.
By the time we met up with Koyuki and Ryuusei, it was full dark like I'd said it would be. But Mahiru...
"Therefore this is probably a vampire! The real thing! A vampire like Sakuya was talking about at school! This little guy is really a monster!" I took Kuro out of his hands and held him in my arms. He opened his red eyes and stared up at me for a second before closing them again.
"Seriously? YUou believed Sakuya?~ He's always full of shit, yet you believed him?!" Ryuusei asked Mahiru.
"Um... Mahiru...? You know that's a cat, right?" Koyuki asked him pointing at the cat.
"No, it transforms into a human! Help me out here Akari! Kuro! Oi! Change into human form!" Mahiru ordered and I just shook my head.
"Mahiru... are you okay?"
"Living with only your sister must be awful. Go see a psychiatrist."
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" I shouted at Ryuusei who just looked away from me.
"NO!" Mahiru shouted. "Oh, yea! I window! His reflection shows his other form..." Mahiru's words froze before we were suddenly approached by a pink-haired guy in a white suit with a top hat.
"Hello, hello, students!" he greeted. "Along the worthless road of youth, won't you stop and watch my show?" he asked us.
"Huh?"
"Wow! Is it a magician street performer?" Koyuki asked excitedly applauding with everyone else.
"Thank you, thank you for the applause! Now then, let me begin!"
"Oi, forget about this magician. Let's go," Ryuusei suggested flipping his bag over his shoulder. His other shoulder was suddenly grabbed by the magician to stop him from walking away. "What?"
"Well, the first question is: what is the reason I stopped this young man? 1. He's ignoring me. 2. He crossed in front of me. 3. I'm hungry. 4. He ignored me."
"What...?"
"The answer is..." The magician bit into Ryuusei's neck making the gathered crowd scream in fear. "ALL OF THE ABOVE! BUT, FOR IGNORING ME, HE DIES!"
"Ryuu-chan!"
"Ryuusei!" We ran to our fallen friend as the magician laughed before jumping up to a street light and hanging from it upside down.
"Thank you! Thank you for the applause! Yes, my sleight of hand got your attention. I'm more of a vampire than a magician, aren't I?" he asked and of course, his words caught our attention.
"Vampire!?" Mahiru asked.
"Yes, you two met one yesterday, right? I wonder which one you picked up. There are 7 vampire brothers each of a different type. Lust? Gluttony? Greed? Wrath? Envy? Pride? Or neither. You picked up the oldest brother. The vampire of Sloth, Sleepy Ash." Sleep Ash? Is that his real name?
"I don't understand what you mean. What's going on?" Mahiru asked, his fear lacing every word. "Are you Kuro's friend?"
"Or not?" the vampire asked jumping down from the street light. "We hate the black cats. Therefore, shelter or skewer?" We? "Come on! Come on! Applause! Come out, Sleepy Ash! Bold and vampire-like! Let's see who can kill the most!" I looked down at my arms to see Kuro gone. I began to look around for him when I noticed a shadow behind the pinkette vampire. ""Tsubaki" also wishes for that..." Kuro kicked the guy in the head through a shop window before falling back to the ground.
"Kuro!"
"What's going on here?!" Mahiru asked him.
"Nevermind this," Kuro told us before transforming back into a cat. "Run!" He grabbed my sleeve in his mouth and dragged me away from my brother, friends, and the other vampire.
"Wait! Stop! Kuro!" I finally got him to stop running away in an alleyway. "Why are we running away?" I asked him confused.
"Wh-what the hell are you doing? We have to get out of here! You saw that insane vampire, right?" he asked going back to his human form.
"Of course I did! But why are we running away?!" I asked him.
"I don't know any of those people," Kuro said and I stared at him wide-eyed. "This has nothing to do with me."
"My brother is back there!" I shouted at him. "And my friends! Those people are all in trouble! We have to do something!"
"This sucks..." Kuro said. ""It's hopeless", "he's too strong", "somebody", "somebody", "somebody do something". That's what everyone's saying, and so am I."
"I'm all too familiar with people saying that about me," I told him. "I may not be strong enough to stop him, but I can at least try. You can run if you want to, but I refuse to leave those I care about!" With that said, I turned and ran back to my friends and brother. I jumped on the vampire and held his sword arm back with my other arm around his throat.
"Akari!" Mahiru shouted in surprise. "Stop! What are you doing?!" "Somebody", "somebody else" is always what everyone's thinking when it comes to helping people, or doing simple things. Acting like there's nothing you can do is the worst thing humans do.
"I can't take them in, I already have too many children," one of our many relations said as Mahiru and I sat in front of our mother's picture.
"Is there anybody?"
"Somebody should take on the burden..." I shrank more at those words. Is that all we were to them? Just burdens?
"Someone?"
"What with all of this "somebody" "somebody" business?" a new voice asked them as footsteps grew closer to us.
"But it's hopeless..."
"Not as long as I'm their uncle. Now it the time for simple thinking." Mahiru turned at looked up at the man as I stared at mom's picture.
But there's always "somebody" who comes forward.
"I will take care of them."
Uncle stepped up to help us when no one else would! I refuse to let the people I hold in my heart die when I might be able to do something to change it!
"Get them outta here, Mahiru!" I told him.
"What an outrageous act of courage. Shall I kill you?" the vampire asked as he overpowered my arm holding his sword arm back. My eyes widened when I saw it coming straight for me.
"Akari!" I closed my eyes and waited for the blow to hit, but I only felt something splash on my face. I opened my eyes to see Kuro in front of me, sword through his chest.
"Kuro!"
"This guy is such a pain in the ass that I could die."
"Oh my!" The vampire quickly backed away from us as Kuro pulled out the sword from his chest.
"Are you okay?" I asked him worriedly.
"Chill," he told me. "Yeah, I'm hit, but I haven't drunk blood in hundreds of years now so for the most part, I'm now just a cat."
"Kuro... why did you..."
"Get ready to run with your friends," he told me. "Though, I don't know if I can do this alone..."
"I don't think I can do this alone," uncle had said that day and I'd finally looked up at him. "I don't know anything about raising children, but, if I do my best and if you do your best, then that should be enough."
"Well... a cat is still a cat, even if it's an immortal cat." What we needed was just one person, maybe not even two, but... "Since I'm stalling for time..." I grabbed the discarded sword and cut my arm on it and offered it to him. Kuro's eyes widened as he stared at me.
"Maybe the two of us can do our best, and it will be enough."
"Akari! What are you doing?! We need to get out of here!" Mahiru shouted at me.
"Are you sure? You don't know what you'd be getting into by becoming my Eve," Kuro pointed out.
"That may be true, but I've always been a quick study so I'll learn along the way." I smiled at him as he thought about my words. He finally used one hand to grab my arm and place the cut into his mouth. I winced slightly when he bit down forcing his fangs into my flesh. The same blue light from before appeared again, only this time a chain connected my wrist to the back of Kuro's neck. Black claws appeared on Kuro's hands.
"Look's like you're my master now, Akari."
"This is a bother," the pinkette vampire drew our attention back to him. "You've made a contract. Ah, but, hehe, the true nature of that contract is known as a servant vampire, Servamp." He held up cards in his hands saying:
Servant
+ Vampire
=Servamp