Hi! Chapter three! I don't have much to say here. Umm…yeah. Enjoy!
Somehow, though Ai couldn't figure out exactly, Kuro had jumped in between Mahiru and the magician, the magician's sword piercing Kuro's chest and leaving Mahiru unharmed. Ai looked at him wide-eyed. Hadn't he wanted to run away? Plus, didn't Mahiru just irritate him…as well as vice versa? Kuro was lazy, and, honestly, seemed to care about #1…himself.
So, then, why?
Obviously, there was more to him than both Ai or Mahiru knew.
"Or, perhaps, he couldn't let anything happen to Mahiru until the contract has been cancelled…" Ai reasoned inside.
It seemed plausible, really.
"You're such a pain, I could die!" Kuro shouted, startling both Mahiru and the vampire magician.
Suddenly, Kuro shoved both Mahiru and the magic away in a rather violent manner. Ai just watched the scene, her looking at Kuro's face. He seemed really, really pissed off right now. As he opened his eyes, he looked even more bothered than before.
"Just what do you think you or I can do?! I haven't drunk any blood for hundreds of years!" Kuro said, readying to pull the sword from him. "I'm practically a normal cat."
She looked at his hand that held the sword. It was bleeding pretty bad.
He was clearly in no shape to fight.
"Kuro…" Mahiru said, still in shock from the save, as well as the outburst from Kuro, no doubt.
"Run. Though I don't think I can do much by myself." Kuro said as he freed himself of the sword, dropping it to the ground as he placed a hand over his fresh wound.
"I don't think I can do this by myself…" The voice of Mahiru's uncle echoed in Mahiru's thoughts. "I'll try my best. So, you try your best, too. How's that, Mahiru?"
Mahiru knew Kuro's feelings.
In fact, it was simple. That "someone" wasn't him. And it wasn't Kuro, either.
"That's probably because it's us!" Mahiru said in his thoughts, knowing what he had to do.
At that, Ai witnessed something she was not expecting. Mahiru shoved his arm into Kuro's mouth, resulting in him having to bite into Mahiru's arm and drink some of his blood. Somehow, Ai felt she should have known things would travel down this path. Still, Kuro's face upon Mahiru shoving his arm into the vampire's mouth…it kind of frightened Ai.
"Let's do something about it together, Kuro!" Mahiru shouted.
Kuro's mouth curved into a devilish grin, his licking away every drop of blood. He said so himself…he hadn't had any blood in hundreds of years. Ai could only imagine the hunger he had to have been facing. Well, unless vampires didn't truly lust after it, like all the movies showed them to. Or, perhaps, they can quell that hunger and not have to act on it?
Suddenly, from the exchange of blood, blue glowing light surrounded them. Chains formed, linking Kuro to Mahiru as if he were a dog on a chain.
Ai couldn't believe her eyes!
"People like you are the most troublesome," Kuro said in his usual lazy tone. Although, this time…it sounded a little creepy, not to mention dark.
Kuro developed what looked like extremely long black claws and his eyes were glowing red. He looked fierce! Lazy or not, no one should ever mess with this guy!
"Well, it can't be helped. You're my Eve now." Kuro said, looking only slightly bothered.
The magician looked, well, startled by these events. "This is a problem."
"He made a contract!" The magician stood to his face, another grin covering his face, as he pulled out a deck of cards from his sleeve. "True vampires that make contracts with humans have a name."
His cards ended up spelling out something, Ai reading it. "Servant + Vampire = SERVAMP"
"A servant vampire—servamp!" The magician finished.
"Meow," was all Kuro said in return, making Ai furrow her brows. He was strange. Finally, he spoke to Mahiru, "So, what should we do?"
Mahiru looked to Ryusei, his eyes falling on Ai next. He remembered everything from that night. It was clear what needed to be done.
"We'll defeat him!" He instructed, proud and true.
Kuro, however, looked anything but that.
"You read too much shonen manga. I don't want to face him…" He said as he rubbed his head with his claw-hand.
He, then, stood up tall. Ai was shocked by his real height. He was tall! Kuro swiped his claws down, a sadistic grin on his face. He was thirsting for blood. She knew it. She was sure Mahiru knew it, too. The power that came from that single swipe was amazing! And also terrifying. Kuro was not just some lazy oaf. Then, again, that is how it went in stories. The least likely one always ended up having the most powerful attacks, or so it seemed.
The magician was clearly scared of Kuro, as was Mahiru, a little bit.
"Servamps move according to their master's orders. So, I take no responsibility for my actions from now on." Kuro, his eyes glowing red, said to the magician.
He burst forward in a jolt of speed that left Ai's eyes unable to keep up. In less than the blink of an eye, Kuro had sliced the magician, blood shooting from the injury. The magician fell to the ground with a hard "thud", Kuro walking over and picking him up by his hair. Kuro's gaze at the magician was one of a killer looking at its prey. He wanted to feed.
"Mahiru…tell him to stop…" Ai said, wincing as she moved her leg.
Mahiru didn't need telling, though. "Kuro. Kuro! That's enough. He can't move!"
Kuro only looked at him with something that appeared to be a glare. Seems like he didn't have any intention to listen. He made ready to bite the magician, intending to truly kill him by draining every ounce of his blood.
Mahiru grabbed and pulled on the chain, forcing Kuro to halt in his assault. In Ai's opinion, that tugging looked like it hurt on Kuro's end.
"You told me that I have to take all responsibility, right?" Mahiru said, tugging on the chain even harder than before. "Then listen to me!"
"Kuro…let him go." Ai said in a whisper. "it's over."
Kuro released the magician, who fell with a lifeless "thud" on the ground. Kuro seemed to be a little out of it. Perhaps, he was getting his bearings together? Either way, the magician was not dead. Far from it.
"You shit! You shit, you shit, you shit!" He cursed at Kuro and Mahiru, coughing up blood as he did so. "The fun and exciting vampire parade to hell! It's a runaway train with no stops in between, you shitty brat!"
Oh, that sounded so, so, so bad.
What had Mahiru gotten himself involved in?!
The magician took his hat out. "Well, we'll end the show here for today!"
When he placed it on his head, the magician…turned into a little doll that looked exactly like him. Only much smaller, and much cuter. How did he do such a thing? Ai and Mahiru had no idea.
Mahiru looked at the doll. "Wh-What the hell?"
He picked the doll up, speaking, again, "Is he dead?"
Ai began feeling a little irritated. She really could use some help. Still, she couldn't blame Mahiru with being preoccupied with the doll-vampire-magician…thing. And, to make matters better, it wasn't even dead!
The doll started kicking and laughing. "Of course I'm not dead! I'm a vampire! Stupid! Stupid!"
Kuro, no doubt irritated with the doll, poked his claws through the hat, shaking the thing about a little. For a second, the thing shut up.
He was probably not expecting that on Kuro's part.
"Stop! Don't shake me!" It seemed to plead.
No doubt, it didn't like it. Ai had to wonder…what would happen if its hat was ripped off?
"Why did you attack another vampire like Kuro?" Mahiru asked straightforward, Kuro still shaking the doll.
Ai began to pull herself into a better sitting position, not able to just lie there on the ground. It was concrete, after all. Not exactly comfortable.
"It was my errand!" The doll replied, Kuro finally stopping his shaking of the doll. The doll continued, "You see, I have a master, too. His name is Tsubaki and he hates Sloth!"
Sloth? Oh, what a good name for Kuro. Really. It fit like no other.
Kuro seemed a little surprised. "I don't know this Tsubaki guy, though."
So, then…was Kuro actually Sloth? Like from the Seven Deadly Sins…? This could get interesting!
As well as, no doubt, dangerous.
"That's right. You don't know Tsubaki." The doll said, his voice almost a crying or pitying sort. "Poor Tsubaki. Poor Tsubaki. No one knows Tsubaki! That's why Tsubaki wants to kill! His siblings, humans, society, and the world! He wants everyone who doesn't know him to die!"
Tsubaki? Okay, Ai really doubted she ever wanted to meet him.
"Hold on…technically, that means we shouldn't be targeted. Your words contradict themselves." Ai said to the doll.
Mahiru looked at her and back to the doll. "Why did you target Ai like you did? Why single her out?"
"Oh…someone have a crush?" The doll cackled.
Mahiru instantly blushed. "I do not! Just answer the question!"
"At first, I just wanted to kill her! But, then, I got a good idea! I was thinking of bringing her to Tsubaki as a present! She is lovely enough to want to unwrap!" The doll said with another cackle. "I can only imagine what her blood tastes like! Tsubaki might even keep her."
Mahiru glared at the doll for his words. Ai, for now. just tuned them out.
Kuro spoke, "Putting that aside, what I don't know, I don't know. That's just how it is."
Immediately, the chains and Kuro's claws disappeared, leaving both Kuro and Mahiru stunned. At that moment, Kuro sprawled out on the ground, his arms stretched way out. Mahiru panicked for just a moment.
"Kuro!? Are you alright?" He asked the vampire.
Kuro, with his usual irritated and tired expression, replied, "I'm not alright at all. I'm definitely going to be sore all over tomorrow! What a pain…"
Mahiru just gave him a hopeless looked. "You get sore muscles?"
But at least Kuro was back to normal. Just as Ai had mentally pointed out, Mahiru also thought he was rather scary moments ago. She seen him fall down, Ai calling out in shock as Mahiru and Kuro—who was now in his cat form—seem to pass out.
"Mahiru?! Kuro?!" Ai exclaimed in concern, trying to push herself over to them both.
Something else caught her attention, however. It looked to be a pink and black butterfly.
"What in the…?" She asked, suddenly feeling very tired herself as she felt a rush of something come over her. She tried to not pass out, but she couldn't help it. Whatever was happening…she felt, in a way, soothed. It wasn't something scary, like the fight with the magician and Kuro. This was easing. Gentle. And, obviously, inhuman.
She, however, did not fall asleep before hearing the echoes of maniacal laughter, although her vision was too hazy to see who or where it was coming from. She guessed that, for now, it didn't matter.
As such, she gave into the darkness of her dreaming mind.
Ai awoke the next day, in her bed at her grandparents'. She turned her head and looked at the digital clock. She knew she was in her grandparents' house and in the room they had prepared for her. So, then…had all of that been a dream? She sat up, standing up but only to fall back down to the bed. She nearly cried out in pain, her looking at her left leg to find a stitched-up wound that was around 3-4 inches in length.
Her eyes widened.
Wait…if that was there, then…all of that really happened?
She grabbed on to her nightstand for some stability, pulling herself to her feet. She could feel the pulling where the skin had been stitched together, but, overall, it wasn't too terrible. She could at least walk. Or rather limp. Somehow, she made it down the stairs, where her grandparents ended up seeing her.
"Ai! You shouldn't be up yet! Your leg—" Her grandmother started.
Ai, however, gently cut her off. "It's alright. I can walk. Not very good, but I can get around. Umm…what happened?"
"They said you had been involved in a car accident. A large piece of glass had been lodged in the leg. They said you were lucky, as more harmful debris could have hit you." Her grandfather explained. "We were so worried when they called us."
She gave them a smile, hugging them both. "Thank you both. I'd be lost without you. But…is it alright if I go to school? I think I remember another friend of mine being involved in that accident. I just want to see if he's alright."
They looked at each other, ultimately nodding.
"Just take it easy. Careful not to rip them open." Her grandmother said.
"I will," Ai said as she readied for school. She'd be a little late but they might let it slide.
Mahiru ran to school and burst through the door, yelling, "Ryusei?!"
Sakuya gave him a friendly smile. "Mahiru? I thought you weren't coming?"
"Sakuya! Where's Ryusei?!" Mahiru asked in panic.
Sakuya instantly gave a look of mourning mixed with regret. "Y-Yeah…"
Mahiru's eyes widened in fear. "…No. What about Ai? Is Airi okay?"
Sakuya's look of despair just seemed to deepen, Mahiru fearing the worst had happened. Well, that was until a roll of tape smacked Sakuya in the forehead, leaving him momentarily whining in pain.
"This vinyl tape will work, right?" Ryusei's voice came into play.
"Ryusei?!" Mahiru exclaimed in relief, Ryusei looking a little lost.
Mahiru sat on Sakuya's back, bending his legs in a very unnatural and painful way, speaking, "What was with the look earlier?"
"No, you just seemed so serious! I thought I'd follow along!" Sakuya said in pain, only to have his legs bent back even further. "AH! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
Mahiru just ignored Sakuya's painful cries. "Ryusei? Is your neck alright? Also, is Airi okay? I didn't see her."
Ryusei touched the bandage on his neck. "Yeah. It's fine. They called it a car accident, but it barely necked me. As for Airi…I don't know."
Koyuki spoke up, "She think she needed stitches. She's probably at home resting."
Mahiru's eyes went big. "A car accident?! No! The reason you were injured and she needed stitches was because of—"
Koyuki just laughed a bit as Mahiru explained everything out. Naturally, they didn't believe him. But how could they not? They were there! At that moment, Ai appeared in the doorway, trying to hide the painfulness of her stitched-up leg. Why did they have to pull so much? It was literally something she couldn't get used to feeling. If she moved the wrong way, she was met with instant pain.
"Airi?! I didn't think you'd be here. You should be resting." Koyuki said as he noticed her.
Ai just shook her head. "Nah. It's just a few stitches. No big."
Ryusei and Koyuki looked at each other with shock in their eyes. They didn't think stitched were "no big". At this time, Ai noticed Mahiru practically torturing Sakuya, to which she gave a confused expression.
"Don't worry. He deserved it." Ryusei said in Mahiru's defense. "You should hear of how this all happened yesterday. Mahiru said it was from a vampire magician."
Ai's eyes went wide, her looking at Mahiru with a knowing gaze.
Mahiru was shocked to see this. Did this mean, then, that Ai remembered…but everyone else forgot?
"Really? Well, Mahiru…can you come with me to the nurse's station? You're best at changing bandages and what not, right?" She asked, trying to get him away from everyone else.
Luckily, Mahiru caught the real meaning to her words.
He nodded. "Yeah. I'll come along."
As they walked there, Mahiru looked at her leg, noticing a limp. "Does it hurt really bad?"
Ai relied, "It's the pulling that gets me the most. I'll never get used to stitches, I swear."
"You've had them before?" Mahiru asked.
Ai was a little hesitant to answer, but, regardless, she did, "Yeah. Two times when my mother came after me. She always got away with saying it was simply an accident. She always got me medical help immediately, so they didn't really suspect much. Or I guess they didn't."
Mahiru looked at the ground. "Sorry I got you involved."
"Hey, I'm okay, aren't I?" Ai asked, trying to reassure him. "Despite vampires being involved, this isn't as bad as living with my mother. Trust me. But, enough of me, they think everything was just because of a car accident? My grandparents said the same thing when I saw them before leaving."
Mahiru nodded. "Yeah. They said I wasn't even there. I don't really understand. I remember everything, and, apparently, so do you."
"Maybe it's for a reason. I don't know." Ai said with a shrug. "I'm gonna try to not worry about it too much."
After school was over, Mahiru and Ai just strolled the street, trying to reason things out. Ai wanted to let everything go, but Mahiru just didn't seem to be able to.
"It's strange, isn'ti it?" Mahiru said to her. "The vampire and I were not there, but you were in their memory. Also, things have been forcibly wrapped up. No one seems to be able to explain anything to me, either."
"I'm sure that, in time, we'll get those answers. Maybe, right now, she should be happy we don't have them. Yesterday was enough excitement to last for quite a long time." Ai said to him with an exhausted expression.
She heard some rustling in his backpack, Mahiru taking it off his shoulder and looking inside. There were two voices she could hear, both being rather familiar. He opened it and revealed Kitty Kuro and the vampire who turned into a doll.
"Not him…" She groaned.
Mahiru took the doll out, speaking, "When did this guy get in here?"
"I'm hungry! I wanna drink blood! Just a little!" The doll said aloud.
"Shut up!" Mahiru said to the doll, earning him some odd looks and whispers.
This made Mahiru shove the doll back in his backpack, the doll whining as he did so.
"Ow ow ow! What are you doing, brat?! Someone like you should just get murdered by Tsubaki!" The doll cried out before getting shoved inside.
"He said that name, again." Ai pointed out.
"Yeah. Who is this Tsubaki guy?" Mahiru wondered aloud. He looked to Kuro. "Kuro, do you have any idea?"
Kuro replied, "The idea of someone who would attack such a good-willed cat like me?"
Ai looked to him. "By the way…what are you? A vampire or a cat? I mean…can you honestly be both?"
He just yawned with a "Meow". Was that supposed to be an answer or something?
"Thinking simply, this Tsubaki person is our enemy, and if we don't do something about him…another vampire will attack." Mahiru said to Kuro He looked to Ai. "You might want to think about not being around me so much. Some stitches could be the least of your problem, if you think about it simply."
Ai brushed it off. "The chances of that person showing up already is a million-to-one."
After she said those words, a weird "clacking" noise came to her. Suddenly, it started raining. Then, she heard the sound again. Mahiru stopped to look at the sky for a second before continuing his pace. Ai, then, heard the sound for a third time. Suddenly, red seemed to swallow the scene, putting them all in a weird alternate world for the time being.
"…Oh no." She said. "I should have shut up..."
"Hey, you…" Said a voice.
Mahiru gave a narrowed look, him becoming serious and protective. Ai looked around. There was nowhere to go. Everything was red, but it was still raining. How was this possible? Soon, her and Mahiru noticed the figure who had spoken. He was a young guy, black hair, red eyes, and he wore an old-fashioned Japanese outfit. Also, he wore the old-fashion Japanese sandals. Who was he? And, moreover, was he a vampire, too?
"Tell me an interesting story," the man said as he walked closer. "I want to hear the most recent and interesting story you know."
A story? What was this? Story Time?
Suddenly, the doll from Mahiru's backpack began speaking, "The kitty he picked up was a vampire! And the boy used the vampire to murder the magician that threatened to kill his girlfriend!"
"I'm not his girlfriend, you little pipsqueak!" Ai said to the doll's voice. "Friend? Yes. Girlfriend? No!"
All of a sudden, the guy in the yukata started laughing hysterically. Ai looked to him, knowing that laugh. She had heard it just moments before passing out yesterday! Oh, this was not good! However, after a second or so, he stopped laughing just as suddenly as he started.
"Not interesting at all," the man said, bored now.
Kuro just moved, trying to hide behind Mahiru. Ai had to give him a "Really?" expression. He was a vampire hiding behind a human?
"H-Hey! Don't hide!" Mahiru scolded him. "Isn't he someone you know?!"
"Don't know him. He has a crazy look in his eyes." Kuro replied.
The man suddenly lifted up something, pulling an object out of it. He was holding Mahiru's backpack, and the object his pulled out was the doll!
Was this man Tsubaki, then…?
"Hey, I was looking for this. Thanks for picking it up." He said, motioning to the doll.
Mahiru, then, noticed his backpack was missing. Like Ai, he was wondering when the man had even grabbed grab it.
"You're late, Tsubakyun!" Exclaimed the doll. "My shoulders got all stiff!"
"For once, I wish I wasn't right…" Ai said to herself.
"Tsubakyun?" Mahiru asked, confused. Well, that was until he put the pieces together.
"But you saved me! Thanks, Tsubakyun!" The doll praised him.
"Just an educated guess but…I think that is Tsubaki…" Ai said to Mahiru and Kuro.
"Huh?! That's him?!" Mahiru exclaimed.
Before anyone could think, Tsubaki appeared right before Mahiru, just inches away. "Right, I'm Tsubaki. So what? I'm the one who picked a fight with you. So what?"
He, then, began grinning, eyes glowing somewhat. "I'm the one who wants to kill lots of vampires and humans. So what?"
Again, before anyone could think, Tsubaki grabbed Kitty Kuro by the head and chucked him onto the floor like a ball. Kuro "poof'ed" into his human form, being forced into it. Ai gasped upon seeing this, Tsubaki grinning at Kuro's fallen form.
"I'm very melancholy." He said. "Hey, Sleepy Ash of Sloth, tell me an interesting story. I have the basis for one, if you'd like to hear it."
He turned to Ai, her gasped at the sudden movement.
"Why does an ordinary human girl know my name before Sloth's Eve can guess it?" Tsubaki continued. "I'm very interested to know the end."
"Oh! Oh! Tsubakyun! I was going to give her as a gift to you! Doesn't she look lovely?!" The doll exclaimed in joy. "You could eat her or keep her!"
Ai felt her heart quicken at this. Mahiru's breath hitched in his throat. Was this guy going to do something to Ai now?! Tsubaki looked at Ai, grabbing her chin before she even blinked. He turned her head from side-to-side, examining her. Then, he looked her up and down. Ai wanted to pull away but the grip he had on her chin was a very rough one. Honestly, she wasn't sure she could get away from.
He grinned. "Belkia, well done. I've been wanting a pet for some time, you know."
He released Ai, the girl holding onto her chin and massaging it a bit. Tsubaki turned to Kuro. "Well, brother? Do you have a story as interesting as what I proposed? If not, then let's have a war."
Ai blinked.
Well, that escalated quickly.
The more this went on, the more she heavily disliked it. Now, this guy was talking about waging war?!
"Huh?! What are you saying?!" Mahiru demanded.
Ai was wondering the same thing, because, honestly, none of what he said made sense.
"Come on, Big Brother." Tsubaki urged.
Mahiru looked to Kuro with shock. "Big brother?"
"But…Kuro looks younger…" Ai thought to herself. "Maybe looks don't matter when you're a vampire?"
Kuro, however, wanted no part of this. "No. No. He must be mistaking. I don't know this guy."
That just elicited even more laughter out of Tsubaki. "Terrible! How terrible! So, you don't know me either?!"
And the laughing continued. "In the end, all of my Servamp siblings didn't know who I was!"
When he stopped, he spoke, "Hey, do you know how many Servamps there are?"
Ai ended up speaking first. "Well, your doll was calling Kuro 'Sloth', which is one of the Seven Deadly Sins. So…I'm gonna guess a number of seven. Eight, including you."
Tsubaki gave Ai a wicked grin. "Right! Sleepy Ash of Sloth. Old Child of Pride. Doubt Doubt of Envy. The Mother of Wrath. Lawless of Greed. World End of Gluttony. And, then, All of Love of Lust."
He grinned even wider with his next words. "The ones called true vampires are siblings of seven. But you are right. There is one more. I am the eighth true vampire. The Servamp of Melancholy. My nickname is 'Who is coming'. For guessing correct, you get a prize."
Tsubaki appeared behind Ai, her gasping at his sudden presence. He whispered into her ear, "I'm sure it will be one you'll find most satisfying, my dear."
"Kuro!" Mahiru ordered, Kuro grabbing Ai before Tsubaki could land a bite.
Ai fell to her knees in fright, her looking to Kuro and muttering a "thank you" in between gasps of shock. Kuro looked to her and spoke, "I would suggest keeping your guessing to a minimum. Just a thought."
She nodded to him. "I'll take that into consideration."
"Kuro has so many siblings…" Mahiru commented. "Because he's a cat?"
"Wrong." Kuro corrected. "I'm the only cat in the group."
Tsubaki, then, transformed into his own animal and landed on Mahiru's arm. "See? I can transform into this."
Then, he proceeded to chase Kitty Kuro on Mahiru's shoulders, making for quite the comical scene, actually. Mahiru, however, didn't find it so amusing.
"Ouch! Don't fight on me!" He called out.
Tsubaki, then, jumped off Mahiru's head, Mahiru speaking, "A dog?"
Ai, without thinking, corrected him. "He's a fox! Are you blind?"
Only after did she mentally slap herself. Kuro just looked at her with a "When will you learn?" expression. Tsubaki grinned, looking at Ai.
"I must learn your name, for you know so much about me. Much more than my own siblings, even." Tsubaki said before turning his head to Mahiru. "And, you...how rude. Calling me a dog. I must say, so far, the only interesting thing is your lovely friend on the ground."
"Tsubakyun! I wasn't able to murder like you ordered because of them!" The doll informed Tsubaki.
"I'm gonna end up stitching your mouth shut…" Ai said to the doll, irritated with it already.
Usually, she stayed quiet but…really, her leg was killing her. The stitches were pulling. In fact, she wouldn't be surprised if one or two of them even broke at this point. Not good! In reaction to her words, the doll hid.
"She wasn't this mean yesterday!" He whined. "Keep her away from me, Tsubakyun!"
"Tsubaki, are you killing people?" Mahiru asked, upset by this news.
Tsubaki didn't look fazed at all. "So what if I am? I don't like humans. Didn't you take down this vampire because you didn't like him, too? Isn't it fair?"
"Not really…he was going to kill us." Ai said. "That is self-defense."
"I was going to kill them." The doll corrected. "I was going to drink some of your blood and bring you back to Tsubakyun! Get it right!"
"I swear…I will get needle and thread for you." Ai said, coming out of her "shyness" even more. "Maybe even a pair of scissors."
During times like this, she couldn't be shy. In a way, it was odd, but, then again, it was pretty normal. Maybe they'd help her come out of her shell even faster? Minus the vampires—aside from Kuro, who was pretty much harmless—she would consider this a win-win situation.
"Hey, do you know many people died in this town yesterday?" Tsubaki asked, Ai not able to answer that. He continued, "You don't know, right? Then, it shouldn't matter how many of those were murdered by us."
In a way, that logic was sound. Twisted, yes, but still sound.
"What are you trying to do?!" Mahiru shouted. "Don't involve people who have nothing to do with this!'
"Have nothing to do with this?" Tsubaki asked to Mahiru, turning his way. "Take your lovely friend. When you think of it, does she really have anything to do with this? It's not interesting that some think they have nothing to do with this."
He, then, kicked Kuro to the ground, forcing him back into human form. "Especially you, Sleepy Ash."
Out of Tsubaki's sleeve poured red flowers, which created a katana blade. Tsubaki grabbed the sword, pulling it from its sheath. When he spoke, he sounded so deranged that it made Ai's skin crawl. "Well, Brother. Let's play! You have all forgotten. No, you all want to forget! I want to have a great parade! Call all seven siblings here for me. Teacher will be happier with more attendees. And all I want for this world to regret it all!"
Ai's ears perked up at those words.
Teacher? Who was this "Teacher" he spoke of? Maybe, Tsubaki's master?
Tsubaki tried to launch an attack on Mahiru, Kuro stepping in and protecting him. Mahiru tried to get Kuro to drink his blood, but, oddly enough, Kuro didn't want it. What vampire doesn't want blood?! What was Kuro thinking?! He kept dodging Tsubaki's attacks but he wasn't getting anywhere. In fact, within just a few moments Kuro was on the ground, again. Tsubaki stepped on Kuro's chest, blood getting coughed up by Kuro.
"Kuro!" Mahiru tried to come closer, but Tsubaki pointed his blade Mahiru's way, stopping him from moving further.
Ai looked to Kuro, her growing worried over his current situation. Tsubaki was serious! He was going to try and kill him! She hated to think of it, but…if he succeeded, then what would happen to her? Mahiru would have no chance of fighting off Tsubaki on his own.
"I don't get it. A war? Why?" Mahiru asked Tsubaki.
Tsubaki delivered a harsh kick to Kuro's side, resulting in him rolling several times before landing face-down in a pool of his blood that he'd coughed up. Ai almost couldn't bear to watch this. This was horrible! How could Tsubaki take this out on his siblings?! It wasn't right! She crawled over to Kuro, the pain in her leg being too much for her to walk. If she did break a stitch, she needed to be careful.
She touched him, Kuro looking at her from the side. Seeing his eyes glancing at her, she had to breath out in relief.
Tsubaki grabbed Mahiru by the collar, lifting him off the ground.
Ai saw this, gasping for his safety. "Mahiru!"
"Because it's interesting. It doesn't matter who dies." Tsubaki said in reply. "Nothing matters as long as it's interesting to me. You don't understand how I feel. Nobody knows who I am anyways. And those few who do…I take them back with me. No one can understand who I am anyways."
But Ai and Mahiru knew how that feeling felt.
Their past situations might have been different but the end result, that emotion, was always the same.
"You're wrong! All it takes is one person for you to begin to see things different from before!" Ai yelled out. "This won't make things better, killing everyone who doesn't know you, but that 'someone'…they can make it better! I don't know how it works, but it does!"
"Exactly. That is why nothing is interesting to you. You aren't facing your own feelings! You feel no one understands you because you don't want to face others." Mahiru said to Tsubaki.
Tsubaki blinked. "Huh?"
He then tossed him to the ground, laughing in that maniacal way of his once more. "Maybe so! That's why I'm saying we should have a war! It's a method of communication! A positive way of thinking!"
"That's it…he's just 100% insane. No other explanation." Ai said, her attention going back to Kuro.
He hadn't moved at all. She was really worried about him.
"You're wrong! If you want to start a war, then I'll stop you!" Mahiru shouted. "And I have a way!"
At this point, finally Kuro had turned his face towards the situation, his propping himself a little on his elbows as he just watched everything. Ai, too, just watched. What was Mahiru saying? Even more, what was he thinking?!
"If name a Servamp and give them my blood, they'll listen a little, right?" Mahiru asked, saying his next words with some power. "I'm telling you to face me head-on!"
Mahiru grabbed Tsubaki's kimono, speaking stern, "I'll give you a name!"
Ai had a same look as Tsubaki at this moment.
"What the hell, Mahiru?" She asked herself, doubting his sanity at this point.
Ai looked to Kuro. "If you're waiting for a good moment to jump in, this is it! He's gonna get himself killed!"
Tsubaki closed his eyes and grinned, it turning downright creepy and insane within the second as he looked directly at Mahiru. "I see. But, you'll die before then?"
"Get away, Mahiru!" Kuro shouted, rushing to the scene.
Suddenly, the three of them all vanished out of the red-clad world. Tsubaki was, needless-to-say, a little stunned at this. "Huh? They got away? Even the girl is gone."
He reached down and picked up the doll. "What a killjoy."
The doll spoke as Tsubaki walked, "Tsubakyun, is it okay to let them go?"
"We have to save fun things for later," Tsubaki answered, disappearing into thin air. "My name is Tsubaki. Right, Teacher?"
Okay, wow! That was a long chapter! But it is done! So, I can start on the next! I am so focused on this chapters right now. Wonder how long that will last for, eh? Hehehehe…
Well, until next chapter!