She was beyond upset. She was beyond devastated. She was beyond any strong negative emotion – in fact, all of those combined were the understatement of the understatement of what she was feeling.

Nakahara Sunako was no longer terrifying.

Ever since That Day, she had always been a walking macabre sight for all to see. She reveled in that very truth and took advantage of it; she scared to get what she wanted (although it mostly only worked on the bright creatures), and her look of doom assured her of a quick appeasement. She understood that she wasn't anywhere close to decent-looking, much more pretty, so Sunako spared herself of the effort of trying to dissuade such knowledge.

Sunako remained in her horror girl state no longer because of an aching broken heart, no. Not anymore. She was over it already. So he didn't like her, big deal. He could never compare to Hiroshi-kun anyway. He'd never be half the anatomical doll Hiroshi-kun was. Sunako forgot about him the moment she stumbled in on the horror section of their local library. Books – along with chocolates, which at the time she had in her pockets – were the best pain relievers for her.

Then she met more wonderful people. Freddy, Jason, Patrick Bateman and Chuckie were just a few of the males she had fallen for, and this time, she didn't need a reciprocation of feelings. With those boys and the other men up the same alley as theirs, Sunako began looking at life with rosy-colored specs and a background soundtrack of shrieks and screeches.

If anything, Sunako had moved on. She was picking herself up with the help of the darkness. The world she used to live in then – she knew she never belonged there, and she found herself in the dark world.

And she felt right at home.

Her beautiful and charismatic aunt was not one to give up on her so easily. She only wanted the best for her blooming Sunako, but the teenager knew that her aunt could never understand. The two of them had different views on beauty and grace. Sunako would find splendor in the way Leatherface revved his chainsaw; her aunt would relate magnificence to that of bright flowers and a complimentary kimono.

"Sunako, enough of this already!" Her aunt screeched, once upon a time. "You're beautiful, but all that darkness is going to consume that beauty if you keep hiding it from the world!"

Sunako was not one to give in either. "Auntie, leave me alone!" She took back the skull bowls from her practically shining relative. "I don't care about being pretty or all those shallow things! My world is with the darkness! It embraces me as I embrace it!"

"Beautiful people like you would never understand!"

It was the only fight she'd ever had with her aunt. She had apologized to Sunako for trying to impose her ideals on the teen, and Sunako sheepishly made amends with her. She hadn't known then that her aunt was still at it; except she had bigger plans and more complex schemes instead.

As was the norm of any teenager's life, Sunako entered high school and continued to study despite the discomfort she brought along to her surroundings. On the contrary, the dark-haired girl hardly even spared some pity for the people she'd sent to the hospital after being snared with one of her infamous death glares – which, to her, were actually just moments when she zoned out and accidentally landed her sights on an unsuspecting human.

Sunako made sure not to attract attention, despite being the very epitome of going against the status quo. She made sure not to socialize, nor sit with anyone during lunch or free time; should there be any group work or the dreaded pair work, she didn't move from her seat until everyone had someone, and only then would she begin work, which she was quick to finish. The only time she ever did speak was when it was roll call; after then she'd be on mute mode for the rest of the day. She made sure she arrived in school at the last minute and left the perimeter the moment the dismissal bell rang so she wouldn't have to agonize over her hiding spots before and after class.

In her current state, life was blissful, and she wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Why had she never done this sooner?

Then came the fateful day her aunt's scheme went into action. From the start, Sunako would've been more okay with getting an apartment room for herself while her parents traveled, but her aunt made sure to have plans of excessive traveling so her niece would have to be forced to watch over the house. Step two was then to FedEx four dashing young boys who were easily moved by the two words of "free rent" to try and convince Sunako that the world would be better if she just joined its people.

At first, Sunako was ticked. So even after all those years, her aunt still didn't want to let go of the fact that her niece had been taken by the dark side. A few moments later, she felt raw disgust taking over her: her aunt was willing to use unsuspecting and probable idiots to do her bidding. Then Sunako got over it and gave in to apathy. If she'd scared adults before, then those dazzling creatures were an insult to her abilities.

But those probable idiots didn't give in – besides, where else could you find an amazing house to live in with free rent under one probably possible condition?

The brightest creature among them, the one named Takano Kyohei, was the last person who talked to her, and the last person she had ever wanted to talk to. After the events of today? She didn't even want to think about thinking of his dazzlingly stupid being. The past three years with him was mostly composed of him begging or demanding (mostly threatening, when she thought about it) for food – even their first conversation started because he wanted to know whether dinner was ready or not!

Takano Kyohei ruined her.

He was the first to comment on Sunako's physical appearance on the day they met. "Why don't you cut your bangs?" He had queried nonchalantly as he blocked her way. "They're even longer than mine."

"Shut up. Mind your own business." She had snapped at him: an instinctive reaction when she was forced into socializing with creatures foreign to her world.

'If only he really had minded his own business,' Sunako bit her chapped lip, visibly upset. Then she sunk lower into her depressed train of thoughts. 'But it was my fault too. If only I had killed him from the start.' At age eighteen, she could be arrested for anything related to the act of murder – in fact, she could be arrested, period. Sunako had missed her chance three years ago.

And in those three years, so much had changed.

Sure, she still had chapped lips and the occasional facial pimple overpopulation every Valentine's; she grew fangs when she got agitated, and her chibi form was not an unfamiliar mode to be in, whether it was an appropriate time or not. She still remained invisible (or tried to, because it didn't even take a day for the entire Morii High to know whom the four princes were living with) wherever she went; her favorite outdoor outfits were her overused sweats, and her fists never lost their attraction to jawlines.

Back then the latter wouldn't even think about thinking of getting her hair fixed. It didn't matter whether she was alive or not, or whether her clothes were clean or the new trend. She refused to spare her physical appearance any shred of concern because if she did, even the tiniest bit, she'd become like one of them again – and she couldn't afford to live like that once more.

But she kept her bangs trimmed and aligned. And shorter than Takano's.

Sunako felt herself puff her cheeks out – her own version of pouting – as she registered that last thought. It wasn't like she kept her bangs neat for the bright creature, or anything. She'd resorted to convincing herself that she did see well – but she'd rather not see the dazzling creatures better, oh no. If she saw better, then she'd have a wider range of household items to utilize whenever she felt like murdering the brightest creature (she doesn't recall ever falling short of a weapon, though).

The violet-eyed Nakahara fingered and eyed her obsidian locks in idle wonder and curiosity. When was the last time she'd had a nosebleed at the sight of the bright creatures? Thinking back on it, when was the last time she even had to at least fight one? Sunako couldn't remember that far back, and it took her a second later to register what she had just thought: was it really that far back?

Just when did Dracula learn to live under the exposure of the sun? Sunako felt exactly that.

But after meeting the bright creatures, she at least started using the beauty products Noi had bought for her ("Especially the chapstick," Noi had said sternly, "You have the fullest lips I've seen, so let's make them stand out, okay?"); she went with Tamao whenever the heiress wanted to go on a full makeover ("Sunako-chan, I wanted to talk about Ranmaru-san…" She would always say, and while she half did, Tamao always put Sunako first). Whenever she did get worked up, she at least stopped trying to lounge at any exposed flesh for her to scathe; and when she thought about it, nobody really did mind her chibi form waddling about. She did wear the dresses her aunt would force her into, but only under the condition that she could destroy it right after (but it was progress); and once or twice she had been curious of what the human skeletal system felt under her fingers if she wasn't busy punching it in pieces.

"Why would anyone ever think you were ugly?"

Sunako bolted up from her slumber. She had fallen asleep without knowing it, and that stupid creature's words had forced her back awake. From the start, after a small demonstration from Sunako which they had never intended, the boys had all come to an unspoken agreement that 'Sunako' and 'ugly' could never be put in the same sentence. Or paragraph. Or thought. Ever. Even if you meant to compliment her, or try to cheer her up, it was a no-no. But Kyohei wasn't one to stay put for long.

And after three years of living with her, the Dark Witch, the Mistress of Death, the Lady of Doom and Gloom, he just couldn't help himself. He had always found her weird, really, but not the kind of weird that he could easily pin on the girls that he had encountered. Because she was a pleasant kind of weird.

She was the kind of weird that only Kyohei found interesting.

Everything about her reminded him of his mom, actually. They both detested him to some degree. But for some reason, he had found it more difficult to leave Sunako alone (to this day he would claim it was because of the rent, because it should always have been because of the rent, he would persuade himself). Takenaga had said it was because she reminded him of the closure he never got with his mother; Ranmaru had argued that it was an instinct of Kyohei's to protect someone ("Yuki and Takenaga would know," He winked at the two, smug at their blushing reactions, "Just ask Noi or Machiko-chan."); Yuki had basically assumed that it was because he liked her.

And when Kyohei actually thought about it, he didn't actually hate her either. So what did he feel for Sunako if he didn't like her nor hate her?

He was sure it wasn't love. The only kind of love he had been exposed to was dangerous and fanatic. No, thank you. And he knew she didn't see him that way, either. Especially when the only guy she had actually had feelings for had shunned her off in the cruelest way he could. Of course she would be scarred – why else would she revert from giggly middle schooler to Duchess of the Undead?

But Kyohei had other things in his head more important than whatever they felt for each other. He had seen Sunako as a girl, and never a monster; an idiot, sometimes, but she had retorted that he was a worse case, to which the other three would agree. He had always thought she was intriguing, but not enigmatic; she would keep to herself, but if he asked her, she would answer him (along with a death threat under her breath). When he had learned about what started all of this, he had felt more frustrated at himself than with the guy or with Sunako.

Because she reminded him of his mom, and it was painful.

Pretty boys like him were the reason why there were broken girls like her.

Sunako never told him about meeting him in the past during that one time when she ran away and started working close to his childhood home. He had said something embarrassing too, and when he confronted her about meeting her a long time ago (after the five of them reunited), she had turned red and threatened to tan him with a magnifying glass and some tin foil ("You know, I wouldn't mind marrying you," His younger self had told her. "I'll be waiting then," She had answered). But the events lingered for a long time in his head. It was a good memory, he had to admit. It was one of those rare times when an older woman didn't try to abduct or molest him, so he had concluded that his younger self had assumed that she was the one.

There was a time when he had briefly wondered what a lifetime with Nakahara Sunako would be like. Despite the fact that he wouldn't ever find a girlfriend that didn't try to eat him up every two seconds (prior to meeting Sunako, and even if she didn't eat him, she would butcher him for a different reason altogether), Kyohei couldn't help but entertain the lingering thought. Despite the inevitable, he had thought he might have had a chance if it was Sunako by his side; even if it meant suffering from a daily routine of attempted murder.

It was Sunako, he had thought, and with her, it wasn't a case of anything could go wrong.

If he was with Sunako, it was more of everything would go wrong.

"Why would anyone think you were ugly?" He had asked her. He knew he had crossed the line – he had broken down the most vulnerable part of their truce (because Sunako would never want to call themselves friends, and he didn't want to call them friends, because they were terrified of possible developments); he had broken the one rule they were all supposed to follow.

But Sunako stared at him with those eternally dark pools of violet for millennia. She proceeded to slump in her coffin inside her room (you couldn't have known why Kyohei was still inside her room; Sunako was always quick to kick him out) as Kyohei watched her by the door. When she had fallen asleep, he remained in that position, still meticulously studying her. When she had jolted awake, he was still in the same spot, and his eyes were still on her. He was expecting an answer from her.

If people, Sunako's aunt included, had just looked past her mannerisms (but they never did, and that was their mistake), they could have seen Sunako the way Kyohei did. Sunako honestly wasn't in the least bit ugly. Her black hair shone in retaliation whenever the sun beat down on them, and her violet eyes had enchanted men (albeit they were all weird men) whether she glared or not. Noi was right about Sunako's full but pale lips – once or twice, Kyohei had admitted to himself about wanting to know how those felt on his fingers (and never on his own lips because she would never allow it, and he would never want it). Her skin was as fragile as her well-hidden heart, and Kyohei was afraid whenever she dressed up and he had to be her escort (because Sunako's aunt would simply make it so) that if he touched her she would break.

Sunako wasn't over-the-top beautiful like her aunt, but you couldn't call her average either, because she was above that. Kyohei thought pretty wasn't enough, and cute definitely didn't suit her. Magnificent? She was more of Maleficent, he had to admit. She was an evil kind of beauty, a dark kind of gorgeous – Sunako was drop dead beautiful.

And he could never understand how someone like her, who had stopped trying to make herself look good for attention, was actually really beautiful without even trying.

"You," She whispered, voice hoarse from the shouting she had done in her head, just dying to stop her from talking. "You said we wouldn't talk about this." She meant about her face, her body, her physical everything – anything and everything that she was insecure about and her aunt was determined to change.

"You're not ugly." Kyohei simply replied, because it was as simple as that, and beautiful people like Sunako always worried about the complications that never even existed in the first place.

"Stop it." She croaked again, because she knew where this was going.

"Sunako," She refused to meet his beautifully bright golden eyes, because she was anything but.

"Don't." Her tears were closing in on her, and if they showed up, he might trespass, and Sunako didn't want someone bright to be tainted by her. She heard Kyohei sigh, and then some soft footsteps that ended at her legs. When she finally looked up at him (she hadn't really realized he had grown so tall despite the one time she had put him on an all-veggie punishment), he was smiling as if he was remembering a particularly good memory.

And Sunako was one of the many particularly good memories.

And when Sunako read his eyes, watched his thoughts playing on them, she forgot about crying in front of him, or anything about crying. She wasn't nosebleeding, nor fighting one, and she raised a hand to run her cold fingers along the jaw she consistently damaged but miraculously always healed. Kyohei still had not moved from his crouching position, because he knew if he touched Sunako now, she might either break or they both wouldn't be able to stop. He felt her cold touch slowly leave his face and retreat back to the lap it rested on.

He couldn't understand how he didn't love her and how she didn't love him either.

"You're not ugly," He repeated again when Sunako was still. This time she stayed quiet, her breathing barely audible. "People are stupid for thinking you are. Your aunt, that guy…"

Sunako allowed a small chuckle. "What would that make you, idiot?"

"An idiot with better eyesight."

"I'm not beautiful," She insisted.

"Well you're not ugly either." He pushed. "And if nobody else sees you the way I do, I'll make a rain check on that offer," Kyohei stood and headed for the door. He saw her Pinhead clock bleeping bright red 3:07 AM on its screen. At Sunako's silence, he turned around again. "I honestly really wouldn't mind marrying you."

Even if he didn't love her, and she didn't love him.

Sunako's face allowed a small smile in response. "My answer wouldn't change."

Oh my god. This thing took me like 2-3 days to work on because I was inspired full blast. Oh my god. Oh my god. Please review, tell me why I shouldn't keep this on FFN.

I MEAN LIKE I DIDN'T EVEN PUT A PRE-STORY AUTHOR'S NOTE THERE OH MY GOD WHAT

(unbetaed lol)

-Strawbeariiis