A couple days later, Yui and Minako were on their way to the rooftop to eat their school dinner. The air was fresh and cool, considering they had had rain the day before. It was a pleasant, calming aroma to take in.

"Fresh air is the best." said Minako, prompting Yui to wonder if she had somehow read her mind. "Perfect for when you're feeling under the weather. I like to be sure Fuyumi has her window open during the day when she gets sick."

"You care so much for your friend." Yui smiled. "It's so sweet."

"Well, she has an immune system about as strong as a wet paper bag." Minako seemed rather bashful at her remark. "And we've been friends for about six years. I'd be a pretty bad person if I wasn't concerned when she was sick." She held up the bag holding two lunchboxes. "And now that we're friends, I get to worry about you!"

"Oh, no! Please, I'm fine. You don't always have to worry about me."

Minako looked up thoughtfully, then smiled with satisfaction. "Right. I'll worry about you often then."

There was no winning with her. Yui smiled as they walked to their favorite spot on the roof. Minako was several steps ahead of her as she rounded the corner of what was guessed to be a maintanence shed. Yui heard a short gasp of surprise, or rather, shock.

"What is it?" she asked, unable to see what Minako was reacting to.

"Y-Yui... there's a d-dead b-body-" Minako said shakily. She was looking down at something.

Yui walked around her to inspect what she said. To her relief, she thought so anyway, it wasn't a dead body.

"Oh.. that's Shu. He's not dead." She informed quietly. The vampire had his headphones in but she wasn't sure if he was listening to anything. Shu usually didn't just appear for no reason. Then again, he spent most of his time sleeping in random places at school.

"Are you s-sure?" Minako whispered, looking wary. "I don't see him breathing."

"He's fine. He just sleeps a lot."

Minako looked unnerved at the presence of the boy. She stepped behind Yui, placed her hands on her shoulders, and wheeled her to another part of the roof - well away from the sleeping student.

They were on the opposite side of their favorite spot, but it seemed to be a distance enough to put Minako at ease. She sat down, glancing back at the maintanence shed. Before Yui could say anything, she pulled out the two lunchboxes and passed one to her. Yui popped off the lid and gave a small gasp.

"Wow! Your cooking skills will never cease to amaze me, Minako."

"Good, good. Well, keep going, my ego needs the validation."

"I'm going to get spoiled if you keep doing this."

"Judging by your previous diet, you deserve it."

Yui gave a grateful nod and took her first couple bites of food. Each part of the dish was so perfect and flavorful , she nearly forgot she was eating for the health benefits. Minako had been picking at her's, distracted. Yui was oddly aware of how much she was looking at something just below her chin. For a second, Yui worried Minako might have seen the healing puncture wounds on her neck. Usually her collar and hair hid it.

"W-what is it?"

"Nothing. Just looking at your necklace."

"My necklace?" Yui looked down as though she forgot she were wearing such an item. Minako was talking about her cross pendant.

"Can I see?" Minako asked.

"Oh, sure." Yui unclipped the chain and handed it to her. Minako took the pendant and looked it over between her fingers. When she seemed satisfied, she handed it back.

"Are you the religious type?"

Yui had to think. She had been - or at least had never questioned her faith before meeting the Sakamakis.

"Yes and no, I guess."

"Yes and no..?"

Yui clipped the necklace back on. "I was raised by my father. He's a preist."

Minako had the tip of her chopsticks to her lip. "Whoa, can't get more religious than that."

Yui gave a small shake of her head. "Not really, if you think of it that way. While I did go to church and I have my beliefs, I'm not extreme about it." Thinking about her father was painful. He had raised her since infancy, only to abandon her to a family of bloodthirsty vampires. She had never been able to get in contact to ask him why, although she eventually got her answer all the same.

Minako was watching Yui's saddening expression gradually get worse. Yui's thoughts were immediately halted when a piece of hamburg steak was pressed to her lips. She looked at Minako in surprise.

"Eat." She urged. Yui opened her mouth and accepted the bite. The thoughts disappeared as she found a strange comfort in their meal. The wonders a good, homecooked dinner could do. As they finished their boxes, Minako looked like she had something on her mind but couldn't find a way to bring it up.

"Hey, Yui?"

"Hm?"

"I don't mean to pry or anything - okay maybe I do a little bit, but could I ask you a question?"

"...Sure." Yui had a momentary sinking feeling in her chest.

"So, if you were raised by a priest-dad, what.. do you have to do with those guys?" She made a small pointing gesture back to the maintanence shed.

The question wasn't as bad as she feared but it was still tricky to answer without raising suspicion. In her quiet, Minako suddenly seemed flustered that she asked something too personal.

"I mean, you don't have to answer! It's just.. I hear the other girls talking and I was just starting to wonder.."

There had been rumours circulating ever since Yui first started attended the school with the brothers. She wondered what things Minako might have heard. "It's a difficult situation to explain but.. I'm living with them."

Minako looked as if it was an answer she hadn't been wanting to hear and let out a breath. She looked concerned and at a loss for words. Disbelieving. "Is.. is that.. safe?"

The short answer was 'no'. The long answer was 'my life itself is threatened on a daily basis by not one, but six vampires with varying degress of cruelty'. Neither answer she felt the safety or freedom to say. Just mentioning the brothers alawys seemed to summon them somehow.

"They might be intimidating but they're not bad." She replied feebily.

Minako raised her eyebrows, not looking very convinced. "Well, I don't envy you that's for sure. I feel sorry for the girls in this school that do."

Yui had a morbid thought wondering how long any of the students would survive in her place. Minako popped open the tab of her juice can. The carbonation fizzled and she held it away from her.

"All the girls at this school love them. Heck, I'd say some of the boys do too. It's like they're all idols with their own fanbases." She looked at Yui as a thought struck her. "They're.. not idols, are they? It'd explain how most of them look like eye-candy."

"No, they're not idols." Yui was amused by the idea. She wasn't going to mention that one such vampire attending the school was in fact an idol.

"I don't see what's so great about them. They're like..." She cast her eyes around as if searching for the correct word, then glanced down at her lunchbox. "like deceitful tomatos."

"..Tomatos?"

Minako held up a cherry tomato to prove whatever point she was trying to make. "The outside can be the reddest, ripest, juiciest looking tomato in the world, but if the inside is black and rotten, the whole thing is bad." She looked at Yui for an indication that she was following her train of thought. "I mean, who wants to be around anything rotten right?"

Yui could only smile warily. Minako was stomping on eggshells without realizing it.

"Don't tell them I said that though!" She added hastily.

"Of course I won't." Yui was accustomed to hearing the female students sing their praises about the Sakamakis that it was a little strange to find one who didn't seem all that interested. Maybe Minako was.. level headed? Her confidence in their friendship felt could confide her worries to her without feeling judged, she hoped anyway.

Footsteps behind Yui inturrupted their convresation.

"Is there no place in this school free from noise?" Asked a low, sleepy voice. Yui started and turned around. She had forgotten Shu had been sleeping nearby.

"Ah! The sloth is alive, thank god!" Minako said with a exasperated sigh.

"Sloth?" echoed Shu. He regarded Minako with a curious expression. Since he was in a different grade and spent most of his time playing hookie, this was the first time encountering her. Still, he looked a little.. transfixed? Minako had been holding Shu's gaze.

"I'm sorry, Shu. Did we wake you?" Yui asked.

"Not that he should be sleeping at school anyway." Minako muttered, taking a last bite of her meal.

"And you're going to scold me?" The vampire asked cooly.

Minako averted her eyes, becoming uncomfortable. "N-no."

The corner of Shu's mouth twitched upwards, but his expression remained wholly uninsterested. Now knowing how Minako felt about the brothers, Yui became somewhat worried and searched for a change in conversation.

"O-our next class is starting soon. We should get going."

"Good call." Minako collected their lunchboxes back into the bag. "Sleeping Beauty wants his sleep, so we should leave quickly."

Yui stood up with Minako following suit. "Sorry we disturbed you, Shu." Yui dipped her head quickly and began walking towards the stairwell on the other side of the roof.

"Aah.. " Was all Shu replied with as he scratched the back of his head sleepily. At least he acknowledged her apology.

Minako had to throw away her juice can, the task putting her only a moment behind Yui. She dropped the can into the recycle bin near the stairwell door when a voice crept up behind her.

"So.. we're like rotten tomatos, are we?"

Minako jumped slightly, her eyes wide and her mouth in a grimace. She took a second to collect her thoughts and slowly turned around. "Ah, crud, you heard that?" She couldn't feign innocence. "Well - I - uh..." Her voice stumbled and trailed away. "just... call it like I see it."

Shu continued to watch her, his face expressionless. Minako was both flustered and annoyed by his lack of.. anything. When she piped up again her voice was rushed. "What am I supposed to think?! Ever since I started talking to Yui, you guys have all been shooting me death glares! It's rude." She huffed. Shu was standing between she and the doorway, she couldn't politely get around him. She shook her head. "Forget I said anything, oka-"

"What do you want with her?"

His question was so abrupt, Minako needed a second to process it. She looked at him incredulously. "I - wh- what? She's not allowed to have friends or something?"

Shu didn't grace her with an answer and instead asked another question. "What's your name?"

Minako's shoulders dropped, her riled up agitation quickly deflating. "Why do yo care?" The hardness in her voice was gone. Shu continued to look her over as if trying to find some sort of detail she didn't feel comfortable with him finding. She became increasingly nervous, however, she still challenged his stare with one of her own. Finally, she had to relent when a tentative call from Yui down the stairwell inturrupted them.

"Minako... Tamura. Now wouldja please move? Class is starting."

Shu took a couple steps away from the door, but her personal space bubble was still going to be invaded in order to pass him. She took a step down the first stair when his low, lethargic voice spoke again.

"Mina.. ko?"

Minako stopped as if she had touched something gross. "Yeah- when you say it, it gives me the hibbie-jibbies." She continued her desceant. "Later."

He continued to watch her disappear down the winding stairwell a moment before his eyes looked away. A small twitch of a smile disrupted his apathetic gaze.

Minako had been right about fixing her diet. Her lack of proper meals had been affecting her mentality more so than she realized. Now with the boost from her last few box lunches, Yui was feeling considerably better. However, when she showed a positive mood, it was bound to attract attention from the others. They gave her little reason to be happy about anything. She'd have to be careful.

What with their guest causing havoc around the house, everyone else had been thrown out of sorts. All things considered, they were moreso trickster than a pest, at least to Yui. She was almost amused by their antics.

Maybe she could do something to cheer up the others? But... what? Offering her blood was certainly out of the question, but she could offer something equally edible.

She spent most of the night in the kitchen, careful not to make a mess as she baked two dozen madeleines; one of her favorite types of cookie that paired well with tea. She left a few plain, and dipped another handful in melted chocolate, but that left the other half with nothing.

"I wonder what I could do with these.." She wondered aloud. As she pondered her options, she noticed movement in the corner of her eye. Admittedly, she was startled, she had been so engrossed in baking, she practically forgot where she was. The kitchen was one of the few places ideal for corner her in -another being the bathroom or her bedroom. Bjut it wasn't a body she had seen moving. It had been so quick, she wondered if she had imagined it. No sooner had the doubt crossed her mind when it happened again.

The plate of madeleines moved, abruptly scooting an inch away from her. She watched in numb shock as the plate jerked again, nearing the edge of the counter. Finally her voice started working. "S-stop! You'll knock them over!"

The plate stopped, but now the whisk started rolling across the counter in a circular pattern. Behind her, one by one, the cabinet doors swung open in quick succession. Even the drawers slid open. Yui was unable to move. She felt surrounded by an enetity she couldn't see. Filled with the same kind of fear she had experienced before, her instincts telling her something was there. She wanted to run yet was terrified and locked up.

The cabinet doors began alternateively closing and opening, thudding against the hinges and frames each time.

"Y-you're scaring me." Her voice was so small, was she even audible? "Please stop.."

For so long, Yui had been used to an environment where even when speaking politely, most of her requests to cease an action went ignored. She only realized this fact as the cabinet doors closed, the whisk stopped rolling in circles, and all together the feeling of dread disappeared. The kitchen felt oddly empty now, more so than it had before the activity started.

How long had that thing been in there with her?

Are they gone? Yui remained still for a long moment, waiting, listening.

Nothing.

Her choking sensation of fear was completely gone. Strange. Perhaps their guest wasn't all that bad? Frightful, yes, but less malicious than her instincts lead her to believe. She would count her blessings that, for now, they were gone.

If she didn't clean up the kitchen, Reiji would be upset, leaving a hasty retreat out of the question. She dropped a few madeleines into wax paper bags until they were all packaged away. She wasn't sure who in the house would eat them but at least they were available to satisfye a sweet tooth.

"Ah! I know. I'll give some to Minako tomorrow. She'll be so surprised." The thought brought up Yui's shaken nerves.

"I thought I smelled something sweet." Said a voice at the kitchen entrance. Yui looked up from her work.

"Oh, Kanato." Yui was considerably less on edge at his appearance. Kanato loved swees, it was only natural to expect him to show up. "I just finished baking some madeleines, would you like some?" She held up the closed bag in her hands in offering.

Kanato regarded her closely, an expression she often didn't like. "Before that, I heard you saying something out loud."

"Mm? Oh that-"

"Mind telling me what it was?"

Yui never enjoyed feeling interrogated, it was such an invasion of privacy. If she let slip now her closeness to Minako, she wasn't sure what would happen. Kanato was undoubtably familiar with her, as they shared the same class, but to put it into words would mean solid verval evidence. She tried to steel her voice.

"I was talking about the madeleines and who would eat them. Here, these are for you." Not far from the truth, but he must have picked up on the unsure tone of her voice.

"If you're covering up what you said, it must be something you didn't want me to hear, is that correct?"

"It's not-"

"Were you speaking ill of me?"

To jump to such an assumption, Yui was taken aback. "No! I wasn't saying anything like that. I was just-"

"Then what did you say?"

Well, I'm trying to explain that... Yui was at a loss. She hadn't even thought about him but she didn't want to put her friend in danger. She had already told him the technical truth, but he wasn't satisfied with that.

"Why are you being so quiet?!" His voice was so sudden and loud that Yui jumped slightly. "You did say something bad about me after all, didn't you?! Is that why you're not answering?!" His voice felt so loud in the confines of the kitchen. The louder his voice rose, so did the panic Yui was feeling. "You were making fun of me behind my back weren't you?!"

Kanato swung his hand hard and smacked Yui's offering away. The madeleines slammed onto the ground, cracking or all together falling apart.

"Kanato!" Yui said in shock, holding one hand in the other. "Please.. calm down. There's nothing to be angry about-"

"Calm down?! After such disrespectful treatment, how can you expect me to be calm?!"

Though she was understandably terrified, she was fighting back the urge to cry. She couldn't always be intimidated by the vampires, even if it meant they'd become angry. She looked down at the broken madeleines she had so enjoyed making. Now they were ruined.

"I really didn't say anything bad about you!" She was surprised to hear anger in her own voice. "I wasn't even talking about you at all!"

Their altercation left them unaware of the person looking into the room from the doorway. Their gaze moved from the human, to the vampire, down to the cookies, and back to the vampire.

Such a conceited brat

Yui's attention was suddenly caught. She sucked in a breath, her mind halted. "D-did you hear a voice just now?"

Kanato was visibly agitated that Yui's attention had been snagged from his tantrum. "A voice? What a foolish thing to ask."

But she was sure she heard it. Then it quickly dawned on her that she hadn't heard it by ear, but inside her head. Was it talking about me?

- he needs to learn to shut his mouth -

The voice was filled with an anger that quickly upset her stomach. It had a slithering sort of voice she might have expected to hear from a snake or some other such unnerving creature. Her heart was pounding, it felt like her body was heating up. She was hearing someone else's voice inside her own mind, alongside her own thoughts.

Her eyes caught movement, a change in the scenery. Beside the doorway, she saw a... silhouette, standing just out of sight of the door frame. They were obscured in blackness, their image out of focus, overlapped several times at varying intervals of movement.

"Don't ignore me!" Shouted Kanato, forcing Yui's attention back on him. In the instant it took for her to look at him, the entity also moved. It stood behind Kanato, standing inches over him. The shadow raised a thin, pointed finger to its grinning mouth in a shushing gesture before it disappeared.

Yui felt like she was going to be sick, and having Kanato hounding her wasn't helping. He hadn't noticed the entity at all, but he had seen her eyes looking at something over his shoulder.

"Clearly you don't know the meaning of showing respect to those above you."

Yui might have mentioned they were the same age, but he was angry enough as it was. "I-I'm sorry. I really am." Her voice shook. Kanato mistook her unease as something he caused, as an amused smile lit up his face.

"What a stupid look you have, Yui. Like you've seen a gho-"

At the mention of the word, Yui's body kicked into gear. She walked past him, catching him off guard. "Please excuse me." Was all she managed to say before she fled down the hallway to her room

What odd behavior, the boy thought. "I don't think I was that frightening, was I, Teddy?" Kanato spoke to the stuffed bear toy he held in his arms. The house was quiet. His brothers were all off keeping themselves busy. He had hoped to find some form of entertainment from Yui, but that was a dead end. He walked along the hallway to the stairs. In the end, he might as well retire for the day.

"Looks like it's just you and me, Teddy. But don't worry. We'll get her next time for sure."

He walked on, not fully paying attention to his surroundings. Why should he? He was a vampire, he had very little to fear. In fact, there was nothing in this ugly world that could possibly frighten him.

Through his thoughts he heard something. What could it have been? The hallway was empty, besides he and Teddy. Perhaps their 'guest' was up to no good again. Turning portraits upside down or switching around furniture. What a pest, he sneered. A cowardly creature. Skulking in the shadows, never seen or heard, only noticed. Only a coward would behave in such a way, he thought. Nothing to fear.

Clak.. clak.. clak

He heard it that time. Footsteps. They were somewhere nearby, behind him. Why didn't they say anything? "Don't I even warrant a 'good evening'? Everyone in this house has become so rude -" He looked over his shoulder to scold his sibling.

Empty.

His brothers weren't the type to stomach a scolding, but he at least expected them to stick around long enough until he finished speaking. His mood was just getting worse. Not several steps into his returned path, he heard it again.

Clak.. clak.. clak

He was getting annoyed. "What do you want?! I'm not in the mood for games!" When he turned around, the hallway was still empty. Probably Ayato or Laito playing a trick on him. He'd catch them next time. With measured steps, he began walking once more. He listened intently for the second the footsteps began. His brothers could teleport fast, but not so quick that he wouldn't see something.

This time the second set of footsteps took slightly longer to start. Once he heard the first contact, he turned around. His 'aha!' moment was once again thwarted by an empty hallway. Only, the footsteps kept going. They echoed without a pinpointed source down the hall, as if someone were approaching at a leisurely pace. Then he realized he wasn't hearing the sound of shoes on carpet, as his were. He was hearing the sharp, precise sound of heels on tile.

Clak.. clak.. clak

The hallway was empty, yet the sounds were getting closer. Each click of the heel echoed less as it neared. It had to be one of his brothers, it had to. But even as he assured himself of this, he watched as something appeared down the hallway, fading in from nothing at all.

A woman, tall and thin, with a grayed complexion slowly approached. Her figure was covered in a white bodice, the rest obscured by the round flow of a ball gown, white as snow. In her gloved hands she held a bouquet of wilted flowers. She faced forward, walking slowly as a bride would down the aisle.

Kanato's eyes were wide as he stared at the sight. She looked like one of his mannequins he collected, only her dark hair was shaken free of its updo, long and loose, looking distressed though her face lacked any emotion. She had stopped walking several paces away from him.

All was quiet, except for the rustle of the wedding gown. Her head moved slowly, deliberately. The sheer mesh veil did little to mask the lifeless eyes looking in his direction. Unfocused, trained on something slightly below his head as if fixed in place. Her head was lifting upwards. On her neck he could see a thick, purple-black rope bruise. Her eyes moved, rickety like a dolls, sliding upwards until they focused dead center on him.

The bouquet dropped, her empty hands held up as if begging to touch him. Her gown rustled as she began to walk forward, her steps not as gliding as before, but as if her knees were rusted joints.

Kanato was not all too eager to find out what this bride intended to do to him, and he wasn't about to find out. Hugging Teddy tight, the young vampire took several back pedaling steps.

"N-no way-!" He said in a shaky breath. "You can't be moving... it's not possible."

"... Kanato.. " the woman sighed, her voice sounding hardly more than a whisper.

"Y-you're dead! How is this-"

"I've missed you.. " She reached for him. Kanato dodged and used his momentum to throw himself into a run. He didn't stop until he slammed his bedroom door behind him. Despite the situation, he laughed between gasps. How could this be possible? It couldn't - it just couldn't. Those girls.. they were all dead. He knew they were. The dead don't just come back to life. And yet what he had seen was contradicting that belief.

"D-don't be scared, Teddy." He sat on his bed, holding the bear close. "I'll take care of this." Strong words were betrayed by the waver in his voice. "I didn't do anything wrong.. why is it coming after me?"

Clak.. clak.. clak

Sharp and clear on the other side of his door. A shadow stopped, blocking the thin light above the threshold gap. Kanato pulled his knees to his chest. The doorknob turned, clanking against the locking mechanism. Again, it clanked.

Knock... knock... knock...

Kanato remained silent, unmoving, pretending the room was vacant.

The whisper of the voice came through the door. "Kanato... please open the door." The voice was muffled, but he could hear it was on the verge of tears. Another rap of a knuckle on wood. "Please let me in.. " The voice sounded warbled, as if he were hearing it through water. "It's so cold.. Kanato.." The doorknob turned again. "I miss you so much.. please let me in.."

He did nothing.

The door began to rattle.

"Kanato! Let - me - in!" A harder force hit the door, a fist or a full hand slamming against it. Kanato felt something within him shake involuntarily. The door shook in its frame. The boy covered his ears. He couldn't bring himself to shout in protest.

All together, the cacophony of sound stopped, as if someone flipped a switch. He looked up to see the shadow beneath the door was gone. He might have felt relief.. had he not noticed an icy, cold sensation slide over his shoulders and across his chest.

Let it be known here and now, Kanato is my least favorite of the sakamakis. Or the most hated I should say. He just.. yells.. constantly.. he finds problems where theres none and he just yells about it like boy take a chill pill. Is he angry cause hes shorter than everyone else despite being the same age as Ayato and Laito? Bruh if they're triplets I'm the King of France.