When I woke up, I was laying on the sofa in Mahiru's apartment. I sat up before Mahiru walked in holding Kuro in his hands. The vampire jumped from his arms to my shoulder and stared up at him.
"Everything okay?" I asked him.
"Yeah," he muttered, but he still seemed unsure.
"Did yesterday happen?" he asked me.
"Yea." His eyes widened before he ran back to his room. I got up and grabbed snacks for the day before packing them in Mahiru's backpack. I, like Kuro, had a cat form and I transformed before laying on the counter next to his bag. He ran out of the room with Kuro in his arms. I jumped in the bag before he packed up Kuro. He zipped us up before running to school.
"Ryusei!" Mahiru shouted as I heard a door open.
"Oh. Hey, Mahiru," I heard an unfamiliar voice greet.
"Sakuya! Is Ryusei okay?" I felt us move before coming to a stop as Mahiru spoke. I actually tried doing school once. It was boring so I quit and Kuro and I left the area. I heard a small gasp and a sad 'no' before I heard Mahiru gasp in fear.
"Look alive!" I heard someone say before another grunted in pain. This voice sounded familiar to me. "That's the kinda tape you needed, right?"
"Ryusei!" Mahiru shouted in happy shock.
"Huh?"
"Hey. So you decided to come after all," someone else said happily. I yawned before curling up and falling asleep next to Kuro.
Later in the day, I woke up to Kuro and the other vampire fighting in the bag. We were already crammed in here and they were doing this.
"Hey!" Kuro shouted at him.
"I keep getting cat hair in my mouth!" the pinkette complained.
"Well, we were here first!" I reminded him.
"What the hell?" Mahiru asked and I looked up to see him looking in the bag at us. He picked up the vampire doll as Kuro and I jumped on his shoulders. "When'd you get in here?"
"I'm so very hungry!" the vampire complained. "Please just let me have a little bit of blood! Pretty please!"
"Keep it down and tell me why everyone is being so weird," Mahiru ordered him. "It's like yesterday didn't even happen!"
"What's with that boy?" I heard a girl from behind us ask.
"Is he yelling at a doll?" Mahiru turned to see people staring at him before turning red and squeezing the pinkette back into the bag.
"Ow ow ow ow ow! What are you doing you stupid little brat? I hope Tsubaki murders you soon!" After getting the doll back in the bag, Mahiru quickly walked away from the area.
"Who is this Tsubaki guy he keeps talking about?" Mahiru asked us as he walked. "You sure that name doesn't ring a bell?"
"No, and I can't imagine who'd want to hurt a cute, loveable cat like yours truly," Kuro told him.
"Stop pretending you're some kinda harmless kittens and not vampires."
"Meow," Kuro yawned.
"Let's think about it in simple terms. This Tsubaki person is obviously our enemy. If we don't do something about him, he might send more vampires to attack you two... and me." It suddenly started raining on us and I stared up to still see the sun shining down on us. "Huh? Sunshine while it's raining?"
"I don't remember hearing anything about rain today," I said offhandedly. Mahiru continued walking until a blood red barrier surrounded us.
"What is this?!" Mahiru asked as it closed around us.
"Hey, you." Mahiru turned to a person walking towards us in traditional Japanese clothing. "Why don't you tell me a story? Something good. I want to know about the most interesting thing that's happened to you." The man stopped in front of us far enough away not to do anything with any weapon that might be on him, but still close enough to make me uncomfortable.
"Tell him how your kitties turned out to be vampires! Or maybe how you used them to try and murder a brilliant street magician who was just putting on a good show!"
"I have a feeling this is going to be a real pain," Kuro complained.
"Wait- so is he... a vampire, too?" Mahiru asked fearfully.
"I'm guessing that's Tsubaki," I told him. The vampire started laughing like crazy until sighing and staring at us again.
"I'm already bored." Kuro moved behind Mahiru's neck and grabbed my tail to pull me back as well.
"What, are you trying to hide, now?" Mahiru asked him as he moved back to Mahiru's shoulder. "Wait- Do you know this guy or something?"
"Not a clue," Kuro answered. "But he's got a real crazy look in his eyes."
"Wonderful," Tsubaki said. "I've been looking for this fiend." He pulled the pinkette from Mahiru's backpack and my eyes widened at him. He was fast! "Thanks for picking him up for me. Mahiru looked down to realize his backpack wasn't on him now. I changed back to my human form and stood slightly in front of Mahiru, glaring at the vampires in front of me.
"Ugh, it was so cramped in there," the pinkette complained again. "You're very late, my precious Tsu-Tsu."
"Precious... Tsu-Tsu?"
"But you did come for me. I'll forgive you, Tsu-Tsu."
"That's just weird," I shuttered at the interaction between the pair before Tsubaki started moving towards us.
"That was fast," Mahiru said. "Why's he here?"
"This might not be the best time to ask questions," Kuro told him. "We should get out of here while we can."
"And where do you suggest we go?" I asked him. "We're in his barrier and I doubt he'll be letting us go anytime soon." Tsubaki was suddenly in front of us and I pushed Mahiru back more.
"Yes. I am the one called Tsubaki. So what? I'm the one who's chosen to challenge the three of you. So what? And I'm also the one who wants to massacre lots and lots of vampires and humans. So what?" He grabbed Kuro by his face and threw him to the ground making him transform to his human form. He used his other hand to grab my throat. "I'm feeling a bit bored and depressed today. You know what would help, Sleepy Ash of Sloth? You could tell me a really interesting story. If you don't, I'll have no choice-" He pulled me towards him making my back hit his chest. "I'll have to pay you back for what you did to Belkia and we'll have to go to war."
"Huh?" Mahiru asked confused. "What are you even talking about?"
"Come on, big brother."
"Wait, what? You're Kuro's... little brother?" Mahiru asked.
"No, he must be off his rocker," Kuro told him while staring at me. "I've never met him before. Tsubaki started laughing again, squeezing my neck tighter as he did.
"Terrible! Heartbreaking! So you don't know who I am, either?" Tsubaki asked him while laughing. "None of my Servamp siblings know I existed! Can you imagine?" He finally stopped laughing and looked at Mahiru. "Say... Do you know how many Servamps there are, kid?"
"There's seven of us," Kuro answered for Mahiru.
"Sure. It's Seven. Sleepy Ash of Sloth. Old Child of Pride. Doubt Doubt of Envy. The Mother of Wrath. Lawless of Greed. World End of Gluttony. And of course, All of Love of Lust. You might think that these seven are the only true vampires in the world. But there's actually one more in the family. I'm the Servamp of Melancholy. The eighth true vampire in our line. My nickname is "Who is Coming"." And I am the youngest of the Servamps."
"Kuro, you have so many siblings. Is it 'cause you're a cat?" Mahiru asked him.
"No. And besides, I'm the only cat of the litter," Kuro told him from behind him. Tsubaki threw me towards the other two before jumping up in the air with his own chuckles. He spun in the air before transforming into his animal form. A fox. He landed on Mahiru's arm as Kuro transformed and laid on his shoulder.
"He's right. This is what I can transform into." Tsubaki started chasing Kuro around on Mahiru's shoulders.
"Hey, get off me if you're gonna chase each other!" Tsubaki jumped away and transformed back into his human form. "So, you're a dog, huh?"
"You need to relearn your animals," I told him.
"Don't insult me by calling me that," Tsubaki told him. "My form is a fox." He started laughing again before sighing. "Not interesting at all."
"Tsu-Tsu. These three idiots kept me from murdering all those people like you ordered me to. They ruined everything."
"Tsubaki. Why do you want to kill so many people?" Mahiru asked him.
"Oh, you want a motive?" Tsubaki asked him. "Maybe it's just that I'm not so fond of humans. You understand, right?" Tsubaki started shaking the doll slightly. "You attacked this vampire because you didn't like him. It's the same thing. Tell me... Do you know how many people died in this town yesterday? No idea, right? Then does it really matter how many of them we killed? Does it make a difference? No, I think not."
"Are you crazy?! Of course, it matters!" Mahiru yelled at him. "Why hurt innocent people when they haven't done anything to you?!"
"That's just it," Tsubaki told him. "They'd all be much more interesting if they could only realize they're an integral part of my big plans for the future. Especially you..." Tsubaki's leg crashed down on Kuro knocking him off Mahiru's shoulder and onto his human back. He slammed his foot down on Kuro's throat making the older Servamp cough up splatters of blood. "...my dear brother, little Sleepy Ash." He lifted his kimono sleeve and flowers fell out of it before transforming into the hilt of a katana. "Hey, don't just lie there. Now that we're together, why don't we play? All of you have forgotten about me. No... you want to forget. I won't let you. I want us to reunite in a great big party. Why don't you call the rest of our siblings here for me, brother? My teacher would be so happy if we could all gather together in one place. Then I could make this world-regret everything-its entire worthless existence!" Tsubaki swung his sword down, but I blocked it with my daggers. Kuro kicked him away from us, but Tsubaki spun and attacked again. I blocked him again and forced his blade off mine.
"Kuro! Drink my blood!" Mahiru told him.
"No thanks." Tsubaki attacked again and Kuro blocked with his jacket tails. "I'm still really sore from yesterday."
"You're so lazy!" Mahiru insulted. Tsubaki forced the tails away and Kuro jumped back. Tsubaki just followed him and kicked him in the back, forcing him back to the ground again. Tsubaki smashed his foot into Kuro's chest making him cough blood once more. I threw my daggers at him and he dodged before coming to attack me.
"Don't!" Mahiru tried making his way to us, but Tsubaki placed his blade in Mahiru's face. "I don't get it. You want to start a war? Why?" Tsubaki kicked me into Kuro and sent us spinning away from the pair. "Kuro! Kokoro!" Tsubaki grabbed Mahiru by the neck and lifted him up in the air.
"Because it would be interesting. I don't really care who lives or dies. The only thing that matters to me it that it's entertaining to witness. A kid like you has no idea how I feel. Not just you, nobody gets me. No one in the world truly understands how I yearn."
"Nothing's interesting to you because you aren't facing your feelings honestly," Mahiru told him. "It's no wonder you're so bored. You feel like no one understands you, but you don't even understand yourself. So how is anyone else supposed to care about what you want?"
"Huh?" Tsubaki threw Mahiru to the ground before he started laughing again. "Maybe you're right. But that just makes me want to start a war even more! Fighting is a method of communication. Look at it that way."
"No! You're wrong!" Mahiru shouted at him. "I won't let you do this. I'll stop you before you can kill anyone else. I'll use everything I've learned about Servamps in the last day." We watched Mahiru stand up and glare at Tsubaki. "If I name you and make you drink my blood, then you'll have to obey me, right? That's how it works. So I challenge you to face me head on! Mahiru ran up to him and grabbed his shirt. "But first I'll give you a new name."
"Really?" Tsubaki asked him. "But what if someone murders you before you're able to do that?"
"Mahiru! Watch out!" Tsubaki swung his sword again, aiming for Mahiru's neck. I tried to block it while Kuro tried to get the boy out of the way like he had last night. Suddenly, we were in an alleyway. Kuro was laying on his stomach with Mahiru on top of him and me on top of them both. I got off them and sat next to Kuro's head, leaning on the wall. Mahiru quickly rolled so he wasn't upside down.
Gah! What happened? And where are we?" Mahiru asked us.
"Somebody must have saved us," Kuro sighed. "Probably another Servamp." I remembered the pink and black butterfly flying away from us.
"One of your sibling?" Mahiru asked. "Really?"
"Yeah, if I had to guess."
"I'd guess it was..."
"Mahiru Shirota." We all turned to see two little girls with pink hair and red eyes looking at us. They were holding hands and held the other two out to us. "Please follow us. All of Love is summoning you now-Come!"
"Who, me?" Mahiru asked them.
"Please."
"What a drag." Kuro transformed before jumping on top of Mahiru's head. "I think I'll sit this one out."
"I know it's out of the ordinary, but I must insist you come with me." A boy sitting in a chair told Mahiru. "And I won't accept any answer other than "yes"."
We all loaded up into the kid's limo and drove off. The kid sat next to the window and Mahiru while I sat between the twins with Kuro on my lap while they pet him.
"So are you the one that they call All of Love?" Mahiru asked him.
"I'm not," the kid denied. "My name is Misono Alicein."
"Misono Alicein?"
"I'm the Eve for All of Love. The seventh Servamp."
"Eve?"
"The human who holds a contract with a Servamp," I told him.
"You're Kokoro Shirogane, right?" Misono asked me. "The former Eve of Sloth?"
"I was."
"Oh, so we're the same. I'm an Eve, too!" Mahiru said happily. Misono said nothing to him.
"That's my place ahead." I looked out the window to see a large mansion the limo was pulling up to.
"Holy Crap!" Mahiru exclaimed. "This place is gigantic." We climbed out of the car and stared at the home in front of us. Misono sighed before sitting down in the same chair as before again.
"I'm tired. Let's rest a bit."
"It's only been 5 minutes since we got out of the car and you have to sit?!" Mahiru shouted at the boy. "And where did that chair even come from?!" Someone started laughing close by and Mahiru turned to find the voice as he started talking.
"Unfortunately, Misono has something of a weak constitution, my dear Mahiru." On Misono's head, was sitting a pink and black butterfly that seemed to glow purple.
"What are you looking at?" Misono asked us.
"All of Love," I told him. He looked confused for a moment before throwing his hand in the air.
"Gah! Lilly, I keep telling you not to land in my hair!" Misono waved his Servamp off his head
"A butterfly?" Mahiru asked confused. The butterfly transformed into All of Love with his shirt hanging off his shoulders and partially open.
"Nice to meet you. Please let me know if there's anything you desire," All of Love told us. A shiver ran up my spine.
"Put your clothes back on!" Misono ordered while throwing a shoe at his Servamp's head.
"What? I was just trying to make a good impression," All of Love told him.
"It didn't work," I told him. Once All of Love was fully clothed he stood beside his Eve with a large grin on his face.
"Allow me to introduce this stripping perv, All of Love. The Servamp of Lust."
"My Eve has given me the name of Snowlily. But please, feel free to call me whatever you'd like." Lilly started to take his shirt off again as he spoke.
"Stop that!" Misono punched the vampire in the back to stop him from stripping again.
"You haven't changed at all, have you?" Kuro asked him. He'd transformed back into his human form still on Mahiru's shoulder. The weight of Kuro was too much and Mahiru collapsed under the weight as the Lust pair moved to the door.
"It's very nice to see you, too, brother. Now please, come inside," Lilly told us.
"Get off of me," Mahiru ordered.
"I am the one who helped you out behind the scenes with that horrible magician business," Lilly told us.
"Oh, thank you!" Mahiru thanked. "It's nice to meet someone on our side. There are so many things I want to ask you guys."
"Before we get to your questions, there's something we have to ask you," Lilly told us once we were in a room between the pair and the twins. "I didn't help you out just because I was feeling kind, unfortunately." The door closed and the three of us turned to Misono and the twins. Lilly transformed back into a butterfly and Misono moved the collar of his shirt to reveal his neck.
"Here, Lilly." Lilly landed on his neck and took some blood before transforming again. The pink and black chain appeared between the two and a scythe appeared in Lilly's hands. I summoned my daggers and prepared for a fight.
"Don't." I glanced at Kuro and he shook his head at me. "Don't fight him." I let my daggers go with a sigh before looking back at the four in front of us.
"Mahiru, you bastard. I hear you didn't launch a single attack when you faced Tsubaki today."
"Misono... You know about Tsubaki, t-"
"You haven't earned the right to say my name," Misono interrupted him. "How pathetic. You don't understand what it means to be a Servamp's master at all. Mahiru Shirota. You must become my servant. I'll give the orders now. And you'll tell Sloth and his Subclass what I want them to do. I'm afraid you don't have a choice. You must say "yes"." Lilly jumped and attacked us, and we all ducked.
"I really would like to resolve this peacefully if it's at all possible. You'll be a good boy and play along nicely, now, won't you?" Lilly asked while attacking again and while he left Kuro and I alone, Mahiru wasn't so lucky. The boys and I were backed against a wall with Lilly smiling down on us.
"Things are turning into a mess again," Kuro sighed.
"You can't just order us around!" Mahiru tried explaining to them. "I only came here to get some answers!"
"You're not very quick on the uptake, are you?" Misono asked. "Ugh, this is why I hate working with commoners."
"What?" Mahiru asked confused. "Look, you're obviously rich, but do you really have to act like such an arrogant jerk to us? How do you expect me to trust you after you showed up outta nowhere and demanded that we obey you?"
"Peasant! How dare you talk to me that way?" Misono jumped up from his chair angrily at Mahiru.
"That's it, Kuro, we're leaving!" Mahiru grabbed a cat Kuro by the scruff of his neck and my wrist before dragging us to the door. Mahiru slammed his shoulder into the door and we ran down the hallway. We ran through the mansion until we arrived in what looked like an outdoor courtyard surrounded by four walls with large windows in them and a large fountain in the middle. "Man. This place is like one big maze."
"Yeah, this definitely isn't the way out," Kuro said from Mahiru's shoulder. Suddenly, thousands of glowing red eyes looking down at us and whispering.
"Who are they?" Kuro asked him. "Children? And why are there so many? They can't all be Lilly's kids, can they? I know he's Lust, but that is nuts!"
"No, no- Certainly not." Mahiru jumped in surprised at Lilly showing up behind him. "All those cute kiddos are just my subclass."
"Your subclass?" Mahiru asked and looked at me.
"We're lower-level vampires that were created by Servamps," I explained.
"They're our servants. They follow the orders of the vampire who created them," Lilly told them.
"So those kids are vampires, too."
"Tsubaki's minions have started killing subclasses like these children," Lilly told us and I saw Kuro's fur stand. "They seem to be his first targets. We know of two who were murdered this week alone. Possibly more." Misono appeared panting for breath.
"Do you know how to play chess, Mahiru?" Misono panted.
"I guess. Why?" Mahiru asked him.
"As the game goes on, the number of pieces on the board gets smaller and smaller. But as long as your king survives, you win. It's unfair. And it's not how battles should be fought in the real world, either, understand? I don't want to hide on some throne and be protected. That's why I need all the power I can get on my side. I need so much more than I have-" He grunted before having to sit in the chair that seemed to follow him. "Tell me, what do you plan on doing with your strength? There's a single Eve for every Servamp, and you're one of them. So what's driving you? Can you use Sloth's powers to achieve your goals?"
"Mahiru Shirota." The twins were standing in front of us again. "You'll help this lonesome king, won't you? Please?"
"You know... I get it," Mahiru told him. "Simply speaking, you're just trying to protect people. I don't think you have to do all this alone. Wouldn't it help if others were by your side? You need allies. Misono... Kuro, Kokoro, and I will help you. Only not as your servants, but as your friends." Mahiru held his hand out to him as Kuro and I sat against the fountain watching them.
"Hey, don't drag me into this," Kuro told him.
"He's your Eve," I reminded him. "Where he goes, we go."
"Don't remind me."
"Okay, I guess. If you won't be a servant-then we can try things out this way. It's not that big a difference," Misono said. I smirked at him as Lilly chuckled. "What do you think you're laughing at, Lilly?!" Lilly transformed back into a butterfly and flew away from him. "Come back here! By the ay, Mahiru... Since you're new to this, you don't have a weapon yet, do you?"
"Weapon?" Mahiru asked confused.
"Of course! You don't plan on fighting vampires empty-handed. An Eve has the ability to wield a custom weapon created from their Servamp's power," Mahiru explained.
"What? Seriously?" Mahiru asked.
"What a novice. I suppose I'll have to teach you everything, won't I? Why haven't you told him about it Kokoro?" Misono asked.
"He never asked me to." I shrugged my shoulders.
"Yeah," Mahiru said with a smile. "Please do! You'll be like my mentor." Misono glared at the kid who just grinned at him.
"Mahiru?" I yawned on Mahiru's shoulder as Kuro slept in his bag. "So you decided to keep the cats after all." Mahiru's green-haired friend, Sakuya, said coming into the store we were in.
"Uh-Yeah."
"Better watch out, then-you know black cats are really bad luck."
"Oh don't worry," Mahiru told him. "They're just normal cats."
"Okay, fine, if you say so," the boy said.
"Ooh! I think I'm gonna buy this wristband," Mahiru said picking up a black and white cloth wristband."
"What?" Sakuya asked him.
"Remember? I lost mine somewhere."
"No, you can't do that, because, you see... Aw, jeez! Here!" the boy blushed as he handed a back to Mahiru.
"Uh..." Mahiru took the bag and dug inside it before pulling out a wristband. "For me?"
"After you told me you lost yours, I saw this. I figured I'd go ahead and buy it. I was gonna give it to you later."
"Sakuya." I looked between the boys to see them both blushing. Did they like each other or something?
"I know it's kinda weird, but don't make a big deal of it," Sakuya told him.
"I won't, but thank you, Sakuya."
"I feel dumb now," Sakuya said throwing his arm around Mahiru's shoulders. I moved into the backpack with Kuro and fell asleep.