"I gotta go guys," Rosaline said, her smile only growing. "The man that wants to look at the painting is in town."
"Wait, you're going to be alone with that guy?" Koyuki asked, clearly worried about her safety. "Shouldn't someone be there with you?"
"No, he's fine," she assured. "I did a background check and he's just a manager for an up and coming pianist. There would be a lot of attention on that if something happened to me. I doubt he would sabotage something like that. I'll let you know how it goes."
With that, she felt the classroom, heading to the winter hell outside. As she thought, the moment the cold touched her nose, she became a small hedgehog in the snow, scurrying through to get to her apartment. It would take at least two hours to get to the apartment in that form.
After managing to travel through the cold, she finally made it to her apartment complex where a warm lobby awaited. Before she could walk in, she forced herself into her human form to last long enough to get inside. Being a vampire was definitely inconvenient at times.
All she could do was wait. As she walked to the elevator, she noticed a few of the tenants staring at her. Whatever, they could mind their own business. Soon, she was in the elevator, leaving the surprisingly luxurious lobby behind.
As she ran to the apartment, she noticed she could feel something in the wind, or at least smell it. It was the oddest thing that made her stop on the freezing balcony, immediately turning her to a hedgehog as she looked over the city. Peony was mixed in with the pollution and cold frost. A small taste of home.
It was gone just as fast as it had come. Her thoughts lingered on memories of centuries past when she lived in Italy with her mother and His Majesty. She never found out if His Majesty ever learned she wasn't His daughter, but then again, she didn't care enough to worry about it. He had had a son three years after her birth, and she was nearly forgotten, both by her mother and father.
Rosaline was far from being her mother's biggest fan, but she would not let history slander her name. No, she protected her mother's memory for her father's sake.
Forcing herself into her human form once more, Rosaline managed to fumble her keys until she was able to open the door and fall in, hedgehog form once more. Sprinting to one of the many heating pads in the room, she curled up after she turned it on, hoping her small body could absorb the warmth faster.
Bzzz. Bzzz bzz bzzzz.
The annoying buzz woke Rosaline up from whatever nap she had. She turned into her human form as she sat up, wiping the drool from her cheek and frowning at the small puddle on the heating pad.
"Hello?" She answered her phone as she pulled the cloth from the heated leather.
"Ms. Greed, this is Rosen Kranz," the man greeted. "I do believe I am lost in your apartment building."
"Yeah, it's a bit confusing," Rosaline replied with a sheepish smile. "The two elevators in the lobby go to two different buildings. You'll need to get in the one on the left, then go to the fourth floor. I'm in 428."
"Ah, thank you so much," he hung up.
That gave her just enough time to brew some coffee for the two of them. She was hoping he liked coffee, because that's almost the only thing she owned. Humming as she tried to not stress herself out, she began rummaging through her cabinets for some sort of small treat. Relief washed over her body as she began destroying her refrigerator, searching for that store bought tiramisu she as found in the market. What a treasure that had been.
Just as the coffee finished brewing, her doorbell rang. When she opened the door, she found herself face to face with a smiling blond haired man. His long blond hair was nearly as long as her own, though braided and laying over his shoulder. He wore a thick black jacket, though it was the very opposite of the fluffy orange parka she had worn to school.
"Mr. Kranz?" She asked as the wind blew once more, ruffling his hair as he moved into her apartment.
Though she found it a bit rude, she understood why he would barge into any open door. She would do the same thing to get out of the cold. Her nose tingled a bit at the returning smell. He was the one smelling like peonies?
"I would ask you pardon the intrusion," he smiled.
"It is rather cold," she agreed as he took his shoes off and followed her further into the home. She could feel his awkwardness as he looked around, searching for any sort of welcoming piece or homey feel. "The man who owned the apartment was very much so a bachelor. He died, and I haven't had the heart to redecorate."
"I see," Kranz mumbled as he approached an odd statue that had been claimed as modern art, but Rosaline was certain it was just a melted coke can.
He turned, finding the piece he had been waiting to see. His eyes widened as his jaw dropped slightly while he approached the painting. "Your photography skills have little to be desired. This painting is more beautiful than any I've ever seen. You know, I'm not here to buy the painting for myself, but for a friend who found the picture you posted and hasn't stopped staring at it or trying to save the money to get it. Poor boy just can't seem to keep a job."
"I'm at the point where I'm really almost ready to take anything for it just to get rid of it, but at the same time, it holds a lot of sentimental value, and I don't want it to be mistreated."
"Yes, I understand. Would it be okay if I recorded the story for him?" Kranz asked as he pulled a recorder from his pocket.
Though caught off guard by the request, she agreed. Pouring the two a cup of coffee and grabbing a piece of tiramisu for each, she headed to the kitchen table and sat down. "I'll tell you everything I know. I must warn you I pulled some of this information from The Purpose of Greed."
"The romance novels?"
"Yes."
So, he began her story from the beginning, from what her mother had told her. The men of the city captured a vampire and kept him in the sun where he was forced to stay as a hedgehog.
Kranz couldn't help but laugh at that.
When Ophelia found the hedgehog, she decided to keep it as a pet and as a friend. The vampire became someone she loved dearly, and he loved her as well. Soon the two had formed a bond deeper than friendship; they were lovers. Within that short time period they were together, Ophelia got pregnant with the vampire's child. Not long after the discovery, Ophelia had married a neighboring kingdom's prince to try to stop the war. The Prince never knew the child wasn't his since she favored Ophelia. The hedgehog almost lost complete interest in the princess, following his daughter everywhere she would go in the kingdom. When he turned into his human form for the first time, the girl hardly let him go, always wanting to be at the hedgehog's side. Ophelia was at some point executed for treason. The hedgehog was one of the more devastated in the crowd, abandoning the girl and staying at a statue they had made in her honor.
By the end of the story, Kranz was in tears. "What a beautiful story! What romance, passion, even death! How awful for someone to do that to that poor child. Is there a record of the child?"
"No, not really," she shook her head. "There was a small burned out defaming tree I managed to find, showing the Prince and princess had had a son. Rumors say she was killed shortly after her mother, based on treason as well."
"How upsetting." He seemed genuinely distraught over the information. Finally managing a smile, he reached into his back pocket, and pulled the money for her. "I can assure you this painting will be dealt with the utmost care."
"You're a manager of a musical artist. I know it's in good hands."
"I suppose you're right," he beamed. "Oh, right," he began searching through his wallet again, pulling out a small ticket. "Licht will be in town in the summer. I would love for you to see his concert."
"Oh, thanks," she smiled as she took it. "I should be able to make it."
"I hope to see you then." He picked up the painting and left.
Just how late was it? The snow clouds had darkened the afternoon sky to look nearer to evening. Winter was genuinely terrible. Luckily, she wouldn't have to leave her apartment for the next couple of weeks. She would just have to live off popcorn and coffee since it was too cold for her to shop for groceries.
Heading to the couch, she picked up the heating pad and placed it on the suede couch. After turning on the television and putting her phone on the arm of the couch, she turned to her hedgehog form and curled up on the warm heating pad.
"-ine! Rosaline!"
She groaned as she rolled off the couch, landing hard on the floor with a solid thump. Climbing to her feet, she stumbled to the door, running her fingers through her messy hair, hoping she looked presentable. She growled when her doorbell began to ding over and over. Heading for the door knob, she tripped over the welcoming rug, still managing to open the door, but greeting her visitors with her face on the floor.
"Rosaline?! Are you okay?!"
"Doing great," she grunted, not bothering to get up. "What brings you out here?"
Someone put his arms under hers, lifting her to her feet. She found herself face to face with Sakuya who gave her a toothy smile. It was the first time she had really noticed his crimson eyes. So, he was a vampire as well. Highly doubting he was one of her father's brothers, she could only conclude he was a subclass. So, he didn't have a time limit either, not really.
"We've been trying to call you," Mahiru said as Sakuya put her down, all of them stepping in. "Did he buy the picture?"
"Yeah," she smiled. "He also gave me a ticket to his client's concert."
"Whoa, someone famous bought the painting?" Koyuki asked as he removed his scarf.
"It feels like summer in here," Ryusei complained as he began peeling off his stacked layers of clothing. "What's wrong with you?"
"He said he bought it for a friend," Rosaline said, ignoring Ryusei. "The guy is struggling to keep a job, so I doubt it was the pianist."
"What's the pianist's name?" Ryusei asked as he pulled out his phone.
"Uh, Licht...something." Rosaline headed to the fridge where she had placed it under a magnet. "Licht Jekylland Todoroki."
"What a scene kid," Ryusei criticized. "He dyed a part of his hair white."
"What a cute pet!" Koyuki cooed.
"Pet?" Rosaline asked as she grabbed the phone from Ryusei.
She nearly dropped the phone as she looked over the teen. According to his fan-based bio, he was seventeen until December. He was attractive, his black hair hanging in his face. As Ryusei had described, he did have a white streak in his hair, but she doubted it had been dyed. He had quite the following across Europe, though he had a small fan base in Japan since his father was a violinist from the country.
It was his pet that held her interest. A black and white hedgehog sat on his shoulder as he played the piano. It was him. There was no way it wasn't. Rosen Kranz had bought a painting for a hedgehog, a hedgehog that was her father. Lawless, the servamp of Greed belonged to a pianist now. She was going to that concert, and she would see him again.
But, would he want to see her? Was he still as broken as he had been when she last saw him? After her half-brother had been born, her father and mother practically forgot about her, a guard taking her under his wing. His name was Guildenstern, or Gil since his name was far too hard to pronounce, and she later found out he was her father's subclass. He was the one that showed her how to be a vampire. Her father had asked him to "waken" her vampiric part when she turned twenty, though she hardly looked sixteen. It took a lot of convincing on Gil's behalf for her to drink blood. When the blood of her brother touched her lips, she was frozen in time and soon forgotten.
"Wow, already drooling over him?" Ryusei asked as he took the phone back.
"Hey, that's a mean thing to assume. He's attractive, but I'd take that hedgehog over him any day," she smiled.
Koyuki took the phone, scrolling through the bio page, "Weird. There's nothing on his page about the hedgehog mother than how adorable it is, and that's just comments from the fan base. There's no name or acknowledgement he even owns a hedgehog."
Ryusei laughed when he got the phone back, looking through the bio again, "He likes cute little things, so you have a chance, Rosaline."
"Wow, someone's jumping the gun on this," Rosaline rolled her eyes as she looked at Sakuya, "Speaking of romance, why are you here?"
"Kimiko is buying Christmas presents. I'm not allowed to go since she's buying for me."
"I think she's actually starting to get attached to Sakuya. She sent been paying Mahiru as much attention," Koyuki told Rosaline.
"Thank God," Mahiru sighed.
"But, since that's the case, we want you and Mahiru to act like a couple when we have the Christmas party at Sakuya's place," Koyuki smiled innocently.
"What?!" Mahiru and Rosaline roared.
"Aw, cmon! You don't have to do anything, just be real close together," Ryusei grinned mischievously. "We want to know if she's really given up or not."
"No, you're trying to set us up again," Mahiru accused.
Rosaline crossed her arms over her chest, rolling her eyes at the group. Teens were so ridiculous. "So, what brought you here?"
"We thought you might have been murdered, so we ordered take out to be delivered here," Sakuya smiled.
"So you can eat over my rotting corpse? How thoughtful."
He laughed, "We wouldn't really know what else to do."
The doorbell rang again. Mahiru answered the door as Rosaline headed to the kitchen to start some tea. Her eyes lingered on the coffee pot, some of the dark drink still in the pot. In a way, it was the beginning of her new life.
She poured out the old coffee, washing out the pot as Mahiru juggled in the multiple takeout boxes.
"They had a really good deal," Ryusei explained as the teen dropped seven boxes on the counter. "Do you have money for a tip?"
Rosaline opened a drawer, pulling some cash and handed it to him to give to the delivery guy. After rummaging her cabinets, she pulled out plates for everyone since it was clearly some sort of mix and match mess they had ordered.
"Sorry, Rosaline," Mahiru said sheepishly. "I didn't know what to do."
"Mahiru, don't. If you hadn't come, I would have been eating popcorn," she told him as she began pouring tea for everyone.
"Popcorn? That's all you have?" Koyuki asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, and that's supposed to be for decorating," she grumbled as she looked at the less than festive room. "Since you're here, you can help me decorate."
"You like Christmas decorations? You're not even excited about Christmas," Sakuya stated as he opened one of the boxes.
"I'm not used to celebrating it. My former roommate loved it, always decorating and so excited for Christmas parties."
"You've never said his name. Why is that?" Koyuki asked.
"Because I never knew his name. He always said to just call him 'Sin', so I did. He didn't talk to me, I didn't talk to him, except to pay rent. Even then, I left it on the counter for him to pick up. Some of his friends might show up for the Christmas party, as if I'll have one."
"Weird," Koyuki mumbled. "I guess it's safe to say you don't miss him."
"I don't know. Somehow, I felt safer," she lied. "I just got use to the loneliness."
"Why not get a pet? Is this place pet friendly?" Mahiru asked.
"I killed a goldfish five minutes after I got it home because I didn't know it needed to adjust to the water temperature before it got put in a bowl. Some people aren't made for pets."
"You liked the hedgehog. Why not a hedgehog?" Koyuki suggested.
"It wasn't the hedgehog she was staring at," Ryusei laughed, earning a piece of broccoli getting thrown at him.
"You can shove it, Ryusei," Rosaline laughed.
"Wait, so you do have the capability of liking someone?" Sakuya asked dramatically. "The day has come!"
"What are you talking about? I don't have a crush on the pianist I've never met. Besides, he looks like he would rather hug a cactus than deal with the public."
"Yeah, he did look a bit uptight," Koyuki agreed. "Rosaline deserves better than that."
"Oh, you mean like Mahiru?" Sakuya suggested with a nasty smirk.
Before Rosaline said anything, she noticed the blush on Mahiru's face as he adamantly denied the suggestion. So, he did have a crush on her, or something that would possibly grow into one.
"Mahiru doesn't need a girlfriend," Rosaline said as she ate some rice. "He already has to take care of himself and you," she pointed her fork at Sakuya, "That's more than enough for him right now."
It was the easiest way for her to turn the attention away from Mahiru. She had no desire being pressured into a relationship. She didn't want to deal with the possibility that he would become too attached.
"I'm not that bad," Sakuya tried to defend.
"You are that bad," Ryusei, Koyuki, and Mahiru deadpanned.
He laughed awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck, "That's not fair, ganging up on me like that."
The group laughed until the doorbell rang. Everyone looked at the door then the clock. It was already after 9 at night. With a sigh, she pushed away from the table, heading to the door to see who had come to visit.
She raised an eyebrow at the man standing in the door, shivering. Everything he wore was marked with a traveling florist company advertisement, and he had a vase in his hands.
She stepped out of the way, allowing him in, "Please, come in. I'll get you some tea."
He cried many thanks of all kinds as he rushed in, placing the case on the nearest table and rubbing his gloved hands together. All the guys in the kitchen had gone quiet as they watched the man standing in front of the door while Rosaline got him some tea.
"As grateful as I am for the flowers, you didn't have to bring them tonight," she told him as she offered him the tea.
She immediately noticed his eyes staring desperately down at her. A subclass with a message had come to visit her. He ha had a couple of visits since her arrival in Japan, all claiming to be subclasses of Pride. The servamp must have gained a new eve.
"Something is going on," he said quietly as he took the tea. "Pride can be found at a bath house on the edge of town, if you have questions. He's worried, Rosaline. I'm one of his oldest eves in Japan, and I've never seen him like this."
Her eyes moved to the flowers. Lotus flowers? Whatever. Pride was unique in his own way.
"Alright'" she sighed. "Here," she walked to a notepad she kept by the door and wrote down her number. "Tell him to call when he needs me."
"He left an important message with the flowers. Thanks for the tea," he handed her the cup and left.
"Is everything okay?" Mahiru called as she walked to the flowers.
"Yeah," she replied distantly, trying to come up with a lie. Pulling the card, she hid it in her pocket, "Just one of Sin's friends sending me flowers for Christmas so I wouldn't feel so alone."
"That's nice."
"No, it's weird," Ryusei and Rosaline chimed as she headed back to join them.
The subclass's words haunted her mind, despite how much fun she was having with her friends. The guys ended up staying the night, Rosaline pulling futons and blankets out of various closets for them to stay on.
"Sakuya, you should probably go home. I don't want Kimiko showing up," Rosaline teased.
"There's no way," Sakuya said as he started taking off his shirt. "I might get kidnapped or something in the snow."
She rolled her eyes, taking his shirt from him and folding it on the couch. "You might regret losing that layer. I keep it cold at night."
"Yeah, yeah," he waved off as he fixed his white undershirt. "Goodnight."
She repeated the same process with the others, though she didn't have to fold Mahiru's clothing. "Thanks for letting us stay, Rosaline."
"Don't worry about it, Mahiru. I have a feeling this will happen again before winter break is over."
"Well, if you would answer your phone, it wouldn't happen."
She gave a sheepish smile as she held up her phone, "Well, I'll try to do better."
Bidding him goodnight, she headed into her bedroom, pulling the card she had been given from her pocket. A website for vampires. Grabbing her laptop, she got on the website and read through everything. There were some servamps commenting on the website, mostly Pride, but the were more subclasses than anything.
As she read through the posts, she learned a lot about the various vampires on the page. The servamp of Wrath was experiencing a difficult time, her husband's life nearing its end. The servamp of Gluttony seemed to complain a lot. It was the servamp of Lust that had the most information pertaining to what Pride's subclass had said.
His subclasses were being killed. What was worse was his subclasses were children. What a nightmare this had turned into. No one yet knew the name of the person behind it, though on occasion, the servamp of Envy was blamed, only to have the eve of Envy to deny the accusations. As she struggled to remember her father's family, she tried to pin down who it would be. Her father wasn't even in the country, so he wasn't a suspect. Envy and his eve almost seemed merciful to kill subclass children. Gluttony wasn't in the country. Wrath was with her dying husband. Lust and Pride were trying to figure out the answer to the problem.
Sloth was missing.
His name was brought up a few times, but "Big Brother Sloth" was "too lazy" to even think about chasing someone down like that. There was also some sort of tension when he was mentioned, like there was some secret that couldn't be described by any of them.
With a sigh, she created an account to join the posts and notifications. After a lot of debate over how to introduce herself, she went with her name, Rosaline Greed. Hesitantly, she started the account and waited. Every new member had to fill out a small application. Were they subclass, vampire, or servamp?
Uncertain of what her official race was, she chose vampire. There was really no telling what she had just signed up for. The announcement of her joining the website had caught attention almost immediately. Within seconds, subclasses, vampires, and servamps alike were posting about her.
Sighing, she closed the laptop and pushed it aside. At was a lot. Attention she didn't want to deal with, though she was sure other servamps had children. If not the servamps, then surely their subclasses had children. Not that she really knew what was going on. The last time she had a slight clue of what was happening in the servamp world was when she had had blood centuries ago.
As she lay in bed, she stared at the ceiling. Never before had she had an eve. There was no certainty she could be one. There was no certainty she could make a subclass. Not that she would want to. She couldn't keep a goldfish alive, how could she keep a subclass alive? Would she even need to?
Closing her eyes, she turned to her side to get comfortable. She could deal with that another day.
She woke up to someone knocking on her door. Huffing a bit, she turned into her human form and rubbed her eyes. It was still dark in the room. Who got up before the sun? Narrowing her eyes, she checked the time on her phone. How was it almost noon and no sunlight?
Groaning, she got up and went to her bedroom door, opening it to find the place abandoned. Mahiru had cleaned up best he could since he didn't know the layout of her home, and knocking echoed through the home.
"Shut up!" She yelled as she walked to the door. Roughly jerking the door open, she found a small teen bundled up in more jackets than she ever dreamed of wearing and a tall man, almost naked in the doorway.
"It's been less than five hours and you're already here," Rosaline commented as she turned away, letting the two in. "So, who are you?"
The teen glared, his purple gaze starting to darken as he got into the warmer room. With quick movements, he had lost all of his layers, but exhaustion seemed to take over him as a chair suddenly appeared behind him. He had the most unfortunate cowlick in his violet hair, one she was hoping had been caused by the beanie he had been wearing.
"My current name is Snow Lily," the tall blond man introduced as he started losing layers of clothing to the point his bare skin was starting to show. "You can call me whatever you like."
"Stop stripping, you pervert!" The small teen yelled. He huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest, standing once again, "My name is Misono Alicein, and this pervert is the servamp of Lust. I don't know what sort of rules you live by, but you're going to be my servant as well."