The next morning, Kaori didn't go to school.

She stared at Mr. Yuuki's cold face, with her tiny hands trembling on her knees. The whiteness of the room reminded her too much of funerals, and the antiseptic scent that came off of the sheets didn't suite well with her. In fact, she shuddered at the thought of being beside Mr. Yuuki at all. However, she forced herself at his side, and prayed to someone, anyone that he would get better.

The nurse had just come in with a new, fresh bag of blood. Her eyes widened at the sight of the bloody bag as the nurse set up the blood transfusion. He turned around and asked Kaori if she wanted to stay. She did.

She stood up and walked to a corner so she wouldn't get in the way, and watched while he worked. She flinched as he jabbed the needles into her caretaker's small, peculiar veins. She took in Mr. Yuuki's cold, lifeless body, and the warm person next to him, who was treating this like he would any other case. Well, of course he would. He was used to dealing with stuff like this. It was so commonplace he knew the cures like the back of his hand!

Kaori thanked him with a bow, which seemed to fluster the nurse. He scrutinized Mr. Yuuki, before smiling. "He your dad?"

"Yeah, he is."

"Lucky man then." Without another word, he strolled away, already flipping the pages in his clipboard, his eyes scanning for his next patient. Kaori, once again, returned to her comfortable chair, placed her hands on her lap, and simply waited.

When Akira found him, he called Kaori to come over, the rising panic evident in his voice. For the first time in a long while, she was happy he ignored her orders, and with Mori-san's help, they carried the ailing man out of the building and called the nearest hospital. Akira made a point to check Mr. Yuuki's neck, trying to see if there were any okiagari bites, but Kaori swatted him away. She would have none of his behavior at that moment.

Anemia. A class 3 hemorrhage, or extreme blood loss. That's what the doctors told them, at least. Kaori was shocked after that; Sotoba's death came rushing back to her like an unwanted nightmare. Natsuno, her mother, her father…they all came back, greeting her with their demonic arms outstretched. She waited until the doctors left did she start breaking down. She felt Akira's arms come over her shoulders, and through her tears, she could see her little brother shaking; he was terrified too. Had the okiagari followed them here? What'd they want? What were they after?

After Akira left, Kaori refused to follow him, and stayed in the hospital with the very confused doctors. They were still trying to determine how Mr. Yuuki lost so much blood, especially when there were no obvious injuries present. There was no internal bleeding, no history of medical problems or diseases, no signs of abuse, and with the exception of his repeated calling for Natsuno, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Kaori closed her eyes, and wrapped her fingers around Mr. Yuuki's hand. Both she and Akira knew that Natsuno was dead. They had from the moment they saw Sotoba in the newspaper. The bodies, the stakes, everything had remained as it was. The corpses were strung together, buried alive, staked, beaten down, run over, tied to nails and trees…it might as well have looked like a concentration camp instead of a village. And all while that was happening, Kaori was hiding in fear, trying to preserve her unnecessary life.

She bowed her head, hot tears spilling over. Had the evil follow them here? Would it be just another replay of the Sotoba mess? Could she even handle herself, as she did back then? "Natsuno…"

She looked up and hastily wiped her eyes. Mr. Yuuki's pale, weary face was buried in the back of her mind. Though the doctors thought it nothing more than a lonely illusion, she knew full well why he called out to his dead son. The attacker might've looked like Natsuno. Might've even robbed his makeshift grave and stole his clothes for the fun of it.

"Natsuno…" he called out again.

She leaned back against her chair and put her head in her hands. "Natsuno's dead," she said at last. "We're the ones who killed him." She smirked painfully at the memory. "Remember? You never let us protect him from the okiagari. You said you'd help him, but that was just a lie, wasn't it? And now you're here, suffering the same fate."

She allowed herself to ease to a soft, broken smile. "You know, I think I'll stay the night. Akira can come too, so you won't be by yourself. That'd make you safe, right?"

No answer came from Mr. Yuuki.


Megumi had frequented the club for a while now. The bored expression plastered on her face became permanent, along with the lack of excitement she once had for for the club. It was just the same scenes, over and over again. People were dancing to the same tunes, doing the same moves, making the same love to someone once or twice a night. The colors that once drew her to such a place now hurt her eyes, and the loud, raucous music beat down her ears like an irritating, unwanted scream. It was a familiar pattern she'd come to recognize, and truthfully, she didn't like it at all. How people managed to do this every night, she didn't know. She only came here for the free blood.

The police were still searching for that guy's… Haruma's killer. She watched from the sidelines as they interrogated the people in the host clubs, brothels, slums, anywhere. They were so desperate, and it was apparent by their lack of sleep and their abusive behaviors. It amused Megumi, so much so she'd rather observe them than be in the club.

She had her eyes closed and leaned against the wall. A couple of guys earlier were bothering her, asking if she wanted to dance. Her cool pupils fixed themselves on their necks, the veins coursing with alcohol and opium. Not to mention they smelled bad, and they were anxiously arrogant, kind of like Masao, who thankfully died in Sotoba. And besides, she's already fed an hour ago. She raised her eyes and turned away. They lost interest after that.

She yawned after a few more minutes. If she was that bored, she should just go out into the city and play for a bit. Go to another club, with similar scenes, similar people, and see if she liked it there. Highly unlikely, she might add.

When she exited the club, she turned east and started walking to particularly nowhere. Automatically, her eyes narrowed, the whites revealed at last. There were two presences behind her, one of which she recognized as "Ryusei-kun." The other, she believed, was a stranger, one with no life or ambition. He was weaker than her, since she could tell he hadn't been feeding, though his murderous intent was still evident. She took in their auras and continued walking. What business did they have with her?

The shapes passed her by, and the normally wondrous, silky clothing she'd come to love had slowly become dull in her eyes. She'd only stop to weave her own little accessories around the plain dresses and jeans. All in all, they seemed too plain for her, and rarely did any store meet her expectations.

She turned into a dark alley. There were no humans here. So she stared at her so-called stalkers and regarded them evenly. "Can I help you?" she asked darkly.

"Th-that's her!" Ryusei-kun frantically whispered. "She's the one who killed Haruma!" Ah, so that's how they knew. She could see the bite marks on his neck, the ones she made a while back. He was the only vampire who frequented the club, as far as she was concerned. Was he mad she stole his feeding grounds?

She twirled her bangs as the other man examined her. He had green and brown hair, something that curled down to his neck, and his clothes were dark and tattered. She liked the velvet skull T-shirt that clung to his skin, and his nails were black. He, at least, had a sense of style. "Hey you." He took a threatening step forward. "Were you the one who killed that guy?"

"Don't know. I killed a lot of people," she said lazily.

The guy winced at her tone. Carefully, he revealed his fangs. "I'll ask you again. Were you-"

"Why? You're not cops." she snapped annoyingly, stepping forward and staring them down. "What right do you have to talk to me that way?" The man caught her wrist and tried forcing her back, but she wouldn't have it. With one hand, she dug her nails into his chest, and with another arm, she shoved him to the ground. Her heels kept stabbed the man's left knee to keep him in place. She leered over him like a shadow, and turned her full back from Ryusei-kun.

"Aito!"

"W-we're…" 'Aito' struggled to say, as his body writhed in pain. He looked like cockroach from all the way here. "We're in the syndicates-"

"Syndicates? Is that supposed to impress me?"

"Y-yeah! Only the best of the best can be apart of it!" Ryusei-kun squeaked nervously. "We serve the Baroness!"

She sighed, and gazed back at Aito. He really was pathetic. Who were they anyways? Just a couple of foot soldiers for the Big Bad? They, if anything, seemed pretty disposable; no one would care if they simply vanished. And it's not like they had much else to live for; just who was the Baroness anyways?

But then something in her memory jogged. Syndicates…Yoshie said something about them. They were apart of the big city unit who went on kidnapping people and bringing them to the villagers who couldn't feed for themselves. They were pretty big back then, but now that Sotoba had been destroyed, all the kidnappings had ceased. No one wanted to return, after that horrible incident.

She shifted her weight from one leg to another, and swiftly backed away from Aito's leg. She folded her arms and carefully surveyed Ryusei-kun's face. He was shaking, though his red eyes were glowing in pride. The murderous intent was gone, and all that was left was a sad, pathetic duo that didn't know how else to go about their night. If anything, it made their "syndicates" seem like a ragtag group of killer wannabes. The aspect was neither thrilling nor amusing.

Aito sat up and rubbed his knee. "Those things hurt."

"Yeah, that's why women wear them." Megumi replied.

"I thought that was for torture."

"What'd you morons want with me? Want me to join your "syndicates"?" Her pink hair fell to her eyes. "If you're as weak as this, no thanks."

"Wait miss-"

"You can't even fight off a woman!"

"Look," Aito growled. "We haven't been feeding. Haruma was supposed to be our kill, but you got to him, so now we're in really deep shit."

"Is that my fault?" Megumi flipped her hair, and almost took the skull ribbon she had with her escaping fingers. She sighed and removed the ribbons altogether, her ponytails cascading down her back. "He was going to rape me, so I killed him. Is that so wrong?"

"Which is why we can help each other," Aito said. "We can give you protection from the other syndicates, as long as you join our group. A pretty girl like you is easy game for everyone else."

"Oh?" She couldn't help but laugh at the notion. She'd been living here for a month now, and no one had ever approached her! Was she really good at staying hidden, or were they all just too afraid to come to her on their own? "Easy game?"

"Yeah. Unlike us, sweetheart, there are nasty monsters out there who would love to rip out your heart. You've been gaining a lot of attention, haven't you?"

She scoffed. "Go bother someone else."

Aito placed his hands behind his back and smiled. She was going to be a tough one, that girl. There was something about her he couldn't place, something that cried out for saving. She was probably alone, lost, wandering from place to place without any specific goal. All her loved ones and dreams were dead, so what else did she have to live for? She was bored! "We could give you assignments."

"I'm not the type for dirty work."

"It doesn't have to be dirty. Don't you want to see the Baroness."

"I've never heard of her."

"No, but you have heard of those organizations. You know, the ones who pay to kill?"

Megumi's interest sparked, the dark, graceful elegance she came to adore now blooming before her. Here it was, the chance to make something of herself in the shiki world. She could easily see herself draped in crimson and black, with tiny roses decorating her neck. The silver knives would gleam so vibrantly along the moon's glow, and her pale skin would decorate the outlining of those sweet, sweet nightmares. She would be above the world of humans; their rules wouldn't pertain to her. The city of lights were relatively boring really anyways, and unless there was some corruption, she might as well have just returned to Sotoba and rot in that deep, dark hole.

She leaned forward. She wasn't really in need of any money either. She could just bite a guy and have him pay for everything. But the sheer awe of the prospect made her feel an adrenaline she hadn't seen in a while. "I'm listening."

"Meet us at the Bethlehem hospital in three days. At midnight of course. You'll meet our employer there."

"Do you have to stay in one place?" she questioned quite eagerly. "Can you travel anywhere?"

Aito smirked. "Isn't that an obvious answer? What? Don't we have two feet?" She blinked in pleasant surprise. She wasn't expecting such a find to just come up here.

But surely there had to be strings attached. Megumi didn't have to trust some stranger's word, and if there was money and blood along with joining their group, there had to be some fee involved. She shivered at how Tatsumi easily manipulated her into doing his bidding, how he demanded her not to even touch Natsuno, else she be purged. She closed her eyes and looked up. "Three days?"

"Yeah. Look, I can see this is a lot to take in, so we'll leave you alone for tonight. But we still want you to come to the hospital."

"R-right. I'll be there."

"Good." And with that, the two men vanished, though Ryusei-kun was a bit of a struggle. His stammering sentences went along the heartbroken lines of why he let her go, especially after puncturing his "gorgeous neck." She giggled a little, but held it down before the two left, seemingly content with their encounter.

She leaned against the walls, the shadows dancing around their usual, normal lights. Huh. She could travel. She didn't have to stay in one city. She could go from place to place, without so much as a care in the world. She could rise up the ranks as she did back then, killing and murdering for the sake of it. She didn't have to deal with the poisonous blood of her usual prey; she could have clean blood, something she longed for since her time in Sotoba. She could do anything, be anyone, and all the boredom and pain would go away.

It'd be like a drug, almost.

She felt herself sinking to the ground, landing in, thankfully, dry concrete. Her hair hung all over her face, and her eyes were adjusting to the darkness once more. She was facing a new, exciting life on her own. And in truth, it felt a bit lonely.

No. That's not any way to think. This was what she wanted all along, right? To be scouted and to party in the clubs all night?