Chapter 2
The Fear of Yui Komori
Reiji was inside his room pondering in anger.
Recalling the event that happened moments ago almost made him break open the door on the way in and proceeded to smash and destroy everything in sight. Almost. He was not a child; and he would not throw a tantrum like one. It was far beneath him.
He did, however, have lingering thoughts about revenge.
The second eldest of the Sakamaki sighed in frustration before relaxing in his seat. What good would being angry do him now? Sure, Yui Komori will pay for her actions, but what good would it be if he could not even go near the object of his revenge.
Still, he could not wait to discipline that arrogant human.
But he would have to control himself for now. He would never admit to it, but he felt quite embarrassed at his loss of composure earlier. Part of him felt ashamed of himself, it was beneath him to lose his cool. It had simply never happened before. Even the resentment he held towards his elder sibling, he kept himself in control the entire time.
Then again, nobody had ever gone that far to offend him.
Reiji took a sip of his special tea he had been working on. It was his very own recipe and it did help him calm down a bit.
'Now what to do with the insolent girl...' He closed his eyes in attempt to rest, not physically of course, but more of emotionally.
Reiji's thoughts wandered back to the letter he tore up. He examined the contents again and again trying to understand what the priest could've possibly meant by sending Komori Yui a protector. Keep the girl safe from what? Didn't he send her away to this place? Why the change of heart? And why now?
There was obviously something he was missing, that much Reiji knew. If the priest truly did want to protect his daughter, why not have sent for a guardian much, much earlier? Better yet, why bother sending her here in the first place?
'The priest mentioned there being a reason to sending her here,' Reiji thought trying to put the pieces together. '...besides being a sacrificial bride we're not allowed to kill, what else is her purpose here?'
On that note, Reiji should've noticed sooner. He realizes this himself. There was most probably a reason, an important one no less, as to why that man told them not to kill her. If it wasn't for that, the sacrificial bride would obviously be dead. That, and her blood did taste good.
'Understatement...'
Reiji muses to himself.
If that girl was good for one thing, it was definitely her blood—just the taste of it almost made them drunk and craving for more. It was the finest Reiji himself had tasted. None ever came close it. As much as Reiji hated to admit it, it was the main reason he and his brothers will not let anyone near Yui. Just think what would happen if another unknown vampire got their hands on her, or even another demon for that matter.
Which was why her scent that reeked of cigarette bothered him so much. Komori Yui did not smoke. Sure, she could've gotten near a student who did smoke and just happen to catch it. If that was the case alone, they would've left it at that. But there was another scent that lingered pervasively around her.
'A human male's...' Reiji notes. '...a familiar one.'
The answer was right in front of him, he just knew it, but he couldn't quite place his finger at it which frustrated him even further. During school, there were a lot of scents. Too many to pinpoint who it actually was that was near the sacrificial bride.
'This Ren Shinya...' He remembered the letter.'...he's the one supposed to protect her. But what exactly is he protecting her from?'
More importantly, is it even important to dwell on? When he places it all together, Reiji couldn't say that this Shinya person was a valid threat. The old priest mentioned something about having a reason to send her here. But what could it have been? Besides her role as a sacrificial bride, was there something special about her perhaps?
'No, it couldn't have been that.' Reiji denied it. 'There is nothing particularly outstanding about her other than the fact that she managed to survive for so long more than the others, which is an impressive feat.'
Reiji also noted that if he was going to send her a protector, why now of all times? Did he not send her here with full knowledge that the chances of her dying were quite high? If he was going to send her a protector, why bother sending a letter anyone could read? Why not just let this bodyguard of hers just come out of the open and tell her himself? It would've been much more discreet.
Reiji knew one thing for sure.
'Whoever this Shinya Ren is, he is certainly not protecting her from us.'
He then recalled the purpose of sacrificial brides.
"Sacrificial brides are supposed to be a form of peace offering between the Sakamaki bloodline and those hunters. Within a few months, their organization supplies us with a fresh source of blood, and in turn, we do not hunt."
Those were the words of Karlheinz explaining to his children about the purpose of the sacrificial brides.
But no matter how hard he ponders it, Reiji could find no reason as to how the current sacrificial bride, Yui Komori, stands out. Despite being an attractive blood supply, her skills and talents were painfully average, even her personality was too passive to be interesting.
At least until a few moments ago...
'Her resistance was quite unexpected.' Reiji balls one of his fists in anger at the thought. He had never been so humiliated twice in one night. Having the stupid human defying him and himself losing control had never happened before.
Reiji Sakamaki was a vampire. Vampires were considered one of the strongest, if not the strongest, species of demons there is. A simple punch from a human female as fragile as Yui would've been so easy to dodge he could've done it in his sleep.
But he couldn't.
Not because of inability, but simply because he did not expect such an action from the blonde. His eyes could see the incoming fist, but he was too shocked to register what was actually happening. Even more strange, was that she simply knew how to throw a hook. Since when did that woman know a thing or two about fighting? She couldn't fight to save her own life.
Reiji wanted to learn just exactly what happened tonight.
He decided to spend some time formulating a plan.
000
"Hey, human, wake up..."
"...huh?"
Yui slowly opened her eyelids that still heavy from sleep. The first she saw in her hazy vision was a handsome face with orange blond hair staring down at her stoically.
"Shu?"
"Human." The eldest Sakamaki responded in the same lazy tone he normally used. "You're a mess."
Yui groaned. Strange...why did her back feel so rough? And why did it feel like she was still wearing her school uniform? Why did her bed feel like cement? Was something wrapped around her right hand?
This didn't feel like her room.
Something wasn't right.
"What happened? Why am I here?" She draped an arm over her eyes and closed them again in rest.
"Your punishment has been decided." Shu ignored her question. He simply placed his hands inside his pockets.
"Huh? Punishment?" That got Yui curious. "Punishment for what?"
"For what happened last night. Don't tell me you've already forgotten, human."
"Last...night?" Yui yawned and turned around away from the eldest vampire brother. She was too sleepy to simply care about what he was talking about. "Why? What happened last—"
At least, until his words finally hit her.
"Oh my God!" She shot up and scrambled to sit down. Her sleepiness and drowsiness finally vanished. Although her blonde hair was a mess and there were still bugs under her eyes, she was quite awake now.
"Oh God, is Reiji alright?!" Yui immediately sat up with her eyes wide open. She no longer felt sleepy in that very instant. She could feel her heart pumping at an accelerated pace. "Is he angry at me?!"
"That's something you should be asking him." Shu said lazily.
"Oh, boy..." Yui felt like she badly wanted to cry and reverse time. Had she known what was in store for her today, she would've just remained passive. Even though she asked the question, she already knew the answer. Yes, Reiji would not let this go.
"Anyway, you are to serve Reiji for this week and the next starting today."
"What?!" Yui yelled and rushed to stand up on her feet. "Are you kidding me?!"
"Keep your voice down, human." Shu said with a subtle hint of irritation in his voice. "It's quite early in the morning for you to be so loud."
Yui bit her lip and tried to calm herself down. "Are you serious? Please, I'd rather get any other punishment than that."
"It's already been decided." Shu said apathetically.
"Can't you do anything about it?" Yui begged grabbing on to the back of his shirt. She was looking at him with puppy dog eyes. "Please, Shu..."
For a moment, Shu looked at her in the eye. Yui could not tell what he was thinking. The eldest vampire seemed to be pondering inside his thoughts. His body did not move and remained like a statue that made Yui feel eerily uncomfortable.
A noticeable moment later, Shu sighed.
"There is nothing I can do. It has already been decided."
"But please, Shu! Reiji will kill me! I'm begging you!"
"He will not kill you." Shu says with his hands inside his pockets. "At worst, he will probably torture you or suck out your blood to near death, but he will not kill you. You are much too important to die."
"That's not any better!" Yui practically screamed. Her hands were now digging into Shu's shirt tightly. She realized that she was now begging for her life. Although Reiji may not kill her, she was most certain she might not be able to walk again after such a whipping.
"There has to be something...anything."
Shu raised a brow. That got his attention.
"I'd rather serve under you, Shu..."
Shu broke eye contact. After a few seconds, he looked at her again.
"You'll do anything I ask?"
It wasn't a question. They were negotiating. Yui knew that she had to convince him that she'd rather serve under him than Reiji. It shouldn't be too hard. Right now she was willing to put everything she had on the table. And Shu seemed like he was giving in.
"I suppose I can lessen the time." Shu offered. "But Reiji will not like it. I can take away half of your time with him although you will serve under me."
Yui backed away. That wasn't good enough. Although it will spare her half the torment, Reiji would just put twice the effort to break her.
Yui fell down on her knees. Her eyes were tearing up.
"No, no, no..." She repeated like a mantra as she grabbed her head. "That's not good enough."
Yui did not consider herself a fool. She knew full well that even half an hour spent with Reiji when he was determined to pay her back for last night would end with her not being able to walk.
"That's the best I can do, human." Shu said turning around to exit the room. "You will begin serving Reiji by nine o' clock this morning. An hour from now you will make your way to his private library where he will be waiting. I will inform him of the changes regarding your time with him right now. You will be under my care by three in the noon. Don't be late."
With that, Shu left the blonde girl an utter mess.
Yui whimpered. Despite the fact that she managed to negotiate a more comfortable predicament away from the hands of the strictest brother of the bunch, she still had half of the time with him. No doubt her body will not be able to take the excruciating pain Reiji will inflict on her without mercy.
"Lord, please help me..."
All the weak human could do right now, was pray.
000
"This the place?" Ren inhaled the cigarette one last time before tossing it away. He had his free hand on a cell phone talking to somebody.
"Are you sure?" He waited for the answer. "By any means necessary then?"
A few irate answers go through the phone.
"Okay, okay, geez..." Ren whistled and gave his spike black hair a ruffle. "I'm on it. Don't worry, I'll make sure not to destroy too much of the forest, ya damn tree hugger."
He pocketed the cell phone after he disconnected with the other side, grumbling while at it.
"Miss Bossy always tells me not to leave too much of a mess. How's a man supposed to deal with supernatural predators if he's gonna keep it clean?"
Even when dressed in his favorite thick green jacket and dark jeans, Ren notes that it's still pretty cold up here in the mountains in the early morning. Personally, he would've preferred to just assign the job to another hunter in the city and go back to sleeping in again, but he was the nearest and dealing with werewolves were tricky business. But the pay was good, and the old priest did ask him to help clean up the town. Either way, the call was an emergency so he had no choice but to accept.
He took a few steps forward. The work shoes he wore made crunching noises against the grass.
"Now where are you mutts hiding?"
He looked around for signs. Broken twigs, footprints, blood trails, claw marks, and just about anything really. Even the smell of faeces was a sign that someone's been there. Not pretty, he knew, but it was part of the job and that's what he was trained for. And there was always a clue or a sign no matter how subtle he could use to track down his prey.
But for these guys however, there wasn't a single visible trace. The trail he had been following earlier ended here in the middle of nowhere, barely enough to get a signal back to his boss.
Whoever these guys were, they were smart enough to cover their tracks. Pesky werewolves always gave him damn trouble with their speed. They could easily outrun him so he had to be careful and take them all down quick otherwise they might escape him.
Ren pulled out a .44 revolver magnum from inside his jacket. Guns were illegal in Japan, sure. But with proper contacts, he could get his hands on virtually any gun he needs for whatever operation. The only real problem was concealment and getting the approval from his strict higher ups who insisted to bring the smallest and quietest weapon possible.
"No wonder so many of us die," he sighed staring at his gun. He wanted to bring a hunting rifle for this mission, but there was simply no time due to the urgency and lack of time to prepare. Besides, he didn't think his superiors would allow for it anyway. "...if only they'd give us more firepower and a little bit of leniency."
Ren exhaled his breath visible in little white transparent clouds due to the coldness.
"It's a pain, but a job's a job."
000
Yui steeled herself.
In front of her was Reiji's private study. She knew the vampire was on the other side waiting for her. She did everything she could to buy herself some time by making the hour go longer by staring at the clock. She wanted to wait until the last second to knock on the door. She doesn't want to come in early.
...tick...tick...tick...
Nine o' clock, it was time to serve Reiji.
Yui frowned. Even with shaking hands, she forced herself to knock at the door slowly. As much as she did not want to be there, she didn't want to risk being late even for a second just to buy herself some time from her inevitable fate. To Reiji, time was precious and is not to be wasted. The vampire held nothing but disdain for tardiness. And knowing him, he would most probably use any excuse to punish her further.
Her great fear came to pass, and the door opened.
Reiji Sakamaki, the second eldest, had a strange smile on his face.
Being a small fragile girl as she was, Yui felt herself shaking in fear like a cornered rabbit awaiting the jaws of a wolf.
Dressed in a white long sleeves and dark pants along with leather shoes, Yui notes this was the most casual outfit she had seen him wear. A few buttons at the top of the long sleeve were loose and she could see a fair amount of his chest. His glasses were also quite absent. It was rather strange, Reiji had always dressed conservatively.
Seeing his change in style made Yui desire him, much to her dismay. She both feared and desired him. And it made her feel sick about herself. She couldn't help being a teenage high school girl with hormones.
"Well, well," Reiji spoke up, his smile widening. "...I'm glad you've finally arrived. Ah, but you look like you've seen a monster. Is there something wrong, Miss Yui? Have you slept well last night?"
Yui could not respond. She just waited for him to do whatever it is he was going to do. She knew there were venoms in his faux interest in her health.
"Why don't you come inside?" Reiji moved out of the way for her.
Yui went inside the room cautiously. Although any amount of guard she mustered was a wasted effort, she knew. There was nothing she could do go against whatever Reiji wanted her to do. She was completely powerless.
The only thing she could really do...was begging.
"I'm sorry..." Yui whimpered softly as she stared at the ground in shame.
"Hm, sorry for what?" Reiji's voice was strangely gentle. It was almost as if he really didn't know what she was talking about. "You seem quite shaken."
Yui gulped. The blonde realized that Reiji was clearly pretending not to remember the events of last night. The red spot where she had hit him already healed and faded. Part of her wonders if Reiji wanted her to admit her wrongdoings first.
"For last night, Reiji-kun..."
A coy smile reaches Reiji's lips. One Yui did not take a liking to.
"And what happened last night?"
Yui's eyes looked down in shame and humiliation.
"I...I punched you." She squeaked.
Reiji's coy smile turned into a devilish smirk.
"That's right." He said as though he praising her, just like how a master praises a dog for doing tricks on their behalf. "You've been a naughty girl, haven't you?"
Before Yui could answer, Reiji closed the door, sealing her fate.
"You're going to pay me back in full, Miss Komori."
Reiji licked his lips.
"Are you ready to take full responsibility for what you did to me, Miss Komori?"
Yui gulped.
"N-no." She stammered.
Reiji frowned.
"Now, that's not good." The second eldest Sakamaki shook his head in mock disappointment. "In fact, that doesn't really sound all that fair, wouldn't you say so?"
The blonde could not find it within herself to answer.
'I don't care. I want to go.' She answered back in the depths of her mind. But Yui would never dare to say it out loud. Especially in front him.
Reiji gave a frown when he saw that she would not answer. He closed the door.
By the sound of the door shutting, Yui winced, now feeling like she was trapped in the room with the second eldest. This was all too wrong. A girl her age should be swooning at the fact that she was alone in a room with such a handsome young man. But it was far from any kind of scenario that she read out of a romance novel.
"Are you simply going to stand there?" Reiji's voice cut through her thoughts like a scalpel. Yui immediately gave him her full attention. "I was informed by Shu that he will be taking you after some time. Is this true?"
Yui saw the look on his face and saw that he wasn't too pleased that she tried to weasel out her time with him. But she nodded anyway.
Unexpectedly, Reiji simply didn't do anything or lash out when she fully expected him to then and there. The raven head simply exhaled as if he was dealing with a toddler who broke a few dinner plates playing around the kitchen.
"Well, I won't have you waste your time being idle." The second eldest crossed his arms. "For your behavior last night, you will spend time cleaning my room, attending to me in my lab, and then making me tea whenever I request it. If there's anything else I need you to do, you do it, understand?"
Yui blinked. She wasn't sure if she heard it right. Clean, make tea, and do whatever Reiji needed to do? She was expecting torture, but this kind of work made her sound like a—
"Basically, you are to be my personal maid during your time here."
Yui still couldn't say anything.
"You-you're not going to hurt me?" She was pushing her luck, but she could not stop herself from voicing it out.
"Oh," there was a curious raise of Reiji's brow. "…would you prefer a different sort of punishment then?"
Yui immediately shook her head. She started hoping that Reiji wasn't joking about this. "No! No! This one's fine! I can do this."
Reiji's stare at her was cold and felt even more intimidating without his glasses being on. Yui still felt uncomfortable despite knowing her punishment didn't involve physical pain in any way.
"Then go make me tea."
"Yes, sir!" Yui moved towards the tea set on the other side of the room. She exhaled in relief.
'Looks like I didn't need to make that deal with Shu after all.'
000
Meanwhile in Shu's room…
"Now," the eldest Sakamaki started going through a pair of outfits most of them ranging from being rather skimpy to outright scandalous. "…what should I make her wear?"
There was a wicked smile on his face as he wanted to find just the perfect one.
Or perhaps...he could make her try all of them.
He was looking forward to this afternoon.
Chapter Fin...
Next Chapter Expectation: Sometime this December
