15 May 1897, Afternoon.

When Yu's silver pocket watch struck two and there still wasn't food on the table, he strutted through the dining room, octagonal room, and hallway with the bedrooms. He was proud to notice he hadn't gotten lost in the slightest this time. He pounded ferociously on Mika's door.

"Mika!" he called loudly. "It's mealtime! Rise and shine! Up and at 'em!"

With a mischievous grin stretching across his face, he patiently crouched outside of Mika's door. He waited silently and listened for any sound. The moment Mika opened that door, Yu would jump up and surprise him. Yesterday, Mika was groggy when he first got up, so this would probably be when he was most vulnerable.

Yu really wasn't the type to pull pranks or try to scare people, but, somehow, when he tried to picture Mika's surprised expression, he couldn't help himself.

As he waited, he carefully unwound the bandage Mika had bound his index finger with the day before. It seemed more like an aborted mummification than simple first-aid. His finger was a bit sweaty, but there was nothing but a little scab now. Yu was still perplexed by how thoroughly Mika had attended to the cut. Even if it had been bleeding quite a lot at first, Mika appeared surprisingly alarmed back then.

Yu flexed and extended his finger lightly after he tossed the bandage in the restroom trash. He then began to examine the animal heads, rugs, and paintings in more detail than he ever cared for.

And so, fifteen minutes passed.

Yu stretched his tense muscles and paced up and down the hall. He put his ear near Mika's door but didn't hear a single sound. He assumed Mika hadn't woken up yet, but a growing sense of horror encroached upon him, tracing feelers of icy dread through his gut and up his spine.

He knocked on the door and repeated this act thrice more, becoming increasingly frantic with each attempt. He idly wondered if his hand would bruise.

It was after three in the afternoon, and Mika hadn't made a sound, even when Yu racked his door with his loudest knocks.

Yu paced outside Mika's door, full of worry and concern. He frowned, putting his thumb to his teeth and gnawing on the nail subconsciously. Mika was the only resident Yu ever encountered during the daytime, and he didn't know where the servant quarters were. He didn't know where Ferid rested either. Yu wanted to break into Mika's room, but he couldn't risk Guren's business deal.

Scowling, he hunted down Guren, who was back in the library, making notes on that ancient tome again.

"Guren, Mika's not up yet," stated Yu without preamble.

"Then, isn't he just sleeping?" asked Guren, unconcerned. He didn't look up.

"He's not responding to my knocks."

"Maybe he's not sleeping in that room."

That response made Yu's worried expression slacken with surprise.

"What makes you say that?" asked Yu. "He hasn't slept anywhere else since we've been here, right?"

"Well, one of the maids looked real hot and bothered. She kissed him and dragged him up the stairs last night, so maybe he spent the night with his lover," stated Guren carelessly, never once moving his eyes from his book.

Yu felt like he swallowed a gallon of freezing ice water and then took in a mouthful of salt. Nausea overwhelmed his senses at Guren's words. A cold sweat dripped down his neck as his jaw tensed and heart began to race.

Mika? With his lover, the maid?

He opened his mouth to ask Guren what he meant, but Guren beat him to it.

"Yu, I said you should become friends with him to make a connection because he is the count's son," said Guren, cold violet eyes slowly turning from his books to look at Yu for the first time. His sharp gaze made Yu wince. Dread filled Yu's heart as he realized what Guren was about to say. "I did not say you should become so enamored with him that you forget your place… Eventually, we'll return to England. Even if the count moves there, it doesn't mean you'll encounter that boy again. You can check him out all you want, look at him as much as you desire—heck, you can even try seducing him, and I won't care—but you cannot let yourself fall for him. More than one man has fallen into ruin after being used by his crush. It's fine if you use him, but you mustn't become a victim."

"W-What's so wrong with falling for him?" asked Yu. His mouth was dry, and he had a hard time talking. He felt like a marble was caught in his throat.

Guren waited a moment, organizing his thoughts as he slowly tapped a finger on the tome.

"The count's lineage is… old. He is a purebred noble. As such, he knows how to gain power and how to keep it through any number of nasty means. You should consider the count to be a dangerous individual," explained Guren slowly.

"What does that have to do with Mika?"

"You think he wouldn't use his own son as a pawn? If Ferid can use Mika to control you, then why wouldn't he?"

"Mika's not that kind of guy."

"Who said Mika had a choice?" Guren raised his eyebrow. "And since when did you know what Mika's like?"

"Er," mumbled Yu, quickly dropping eye contact as a blush raced up his face. "When we went hunting yesterday… and… Uh… He just doesn't seem like such a bad guy…"

Guren gave Yu a sympathetic smile.

"Yuichiro," continued Guren calmly, "when you're only around one person, that one person can seem like the world to you. You may love that person with your entire being, no matter what happens. You may even be willing to destroy the world for him—or her," he continued gently. Yu nearly rolled his eyes when Guren once again suggested Yu might hook up with a woman. "Once you're back in civilization and around more people, you'll see that there are many other attractive people out there, ones with much less baggage. If we were in a city with many other people, then would you even bother speaking to a rude recluse like the count's son?"

Yu thought for a moment.

"You wouldn't," answered Guren for him, "because there are easier people to make friends with."

The heavy air felt suffocating. Yu balled his fingers into fists.

"But we're not in a city," said Yu finally, "and Mika is here, and I decided to be his friend. I don't want to exchange him for someone else."

Guren sighed. "Whatever. You don't even know if Mika likes men…"

Anger burned Yu's shoulders at Guren's disregard for Mika's welfare, but he breathed slowly, taking deep breaths as he unclenched his fingers. Guren was always callous toward others, especially those who didn't work under the Ichinose. Even when Guren was with his friends, he came across as cold-blooded, but Yu knew he cared more than he let on. Even if his words were cruel, Yu felt like Guren was trying to protect him. He just felt like Guren wasn't being entirely honest about why he wanted Yu to have a close-but-not-to-close relationship with Mika.

Even though Guren was being an ass, he did it to protect Yu. With that thought, Yu's anger cooled. He had more questions than answers, but he made a decision. Yu exhaled before speaking again, and Guren patiently waited for him.

"I'm going to judge Mika for myself," stated Yu resolutely.

When Guren saw that Yu's stubborn side rise up, he could only sigh. He paused before changing the subject. He combed his fingers through his slick black hair as he thought.

"Anyway, if Mika is out of commission," he asked slowly, "then how are we going to eat?"

"Why don't we ask for one of the servants to do the cooking?" asked Yu tentatively, wondering why Guren didn't propose such an obvious solution.

"No," said Guren without hesitation.

Yu raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

Guren glanced off to the side sheepishly before answering.

"One night, I was up late and asked one of the maids to make a snack… Let's just say that, when Mika said no one else in this castle could make edible food," continued Guren, his expression growing dark, "he wasn't joking."

The air grew heavy, and Yu's empty stomach lashed out with a pang.

"What exactly did she cook?" asked Yu, becoming concerned.

"I asked the tall maid to make some toast with jam since she seemed to be the more serious and cautious one. There wasn't a problem with the jam, but the bread was burnt so black, I couldn't bite into it. It was like chewing on a brick," elaborated Guren with a severe expression. After a dramatic pause, he added, "And she didn't understand why I wouldn't eat it."

Yu shuddered, picturing the one time his female friends tried to cook breakfast for the boys but set the kitchen on fire instead. Black smoke was billowing out of the house by the time the boys arrived. Shinoa ran around like a headless chicken as she screamed about water, and Mitsuba held the flaming pan away from her but was too stunned too put it down. The boys never let them forget it and never let them into the kitchen unsupervised again.

"I see," replied Yu, deciding he wasn't going to ask any more questions about that. "Then…. I guess we'll just have to cook, huh?"

Guren grew still.

Yu thought as a rare epiphany slowly hit him. He recalled all his past meals with Guren. During their trips, they always bought food or ate things that didn't require cooking. At home, Guren was the heir of a prestigious family going back several centuries, so he always had cooks to personally prepare food for him. Even when they had a rare picnic, someone always brought the food to him.

Despite all the time Yu spent with Guren he had never, not even once, seen Guren make the slightest attempt at cooking.

"Guren," said Yu very slowly, "do you know how to cook?"

Silence weighed heavy in the air, and Yu's stomach ached as a sense of foreboding overcame him.

After a short while, Yu went to the kitchen. He was confused when he found fresh cream, eggs, and bread since they hadn't been there last night and none of the servants were up during the daytime. He just scratched his head, deciding to not think too much about it and focus on the task at hand.

His eyes moved from the ancient stove to the pantry to the counter.

When Yu watched Kimizuki cook before, it hadn't involved equipment as old as this.

Yu gulped. He and Guren's stomachs were on the line…

That day, Yu and Guren ate scrambled eggs. Yu wasn't sure what he did wrong, but they came out brown and yellow and were runnier than any eggs he'd ever eaten before. How they were simultaneously burnt and runny, Yu didn't know, but he was able to swallow them down. When given the option of going hungry, eating the gross-looking eggs, or attempting to cook, even Guren couldn't complain. Even though the food made him wince, he ate several spoonfuls of the goo and burnt eggs.

Guren said this food was still better than what the maid cooked. The idea made Yu tremble with anxiety.

At five o'clock, his stomach still slightly queasy from his mid-afternoon breakfast, Yu returned to hammering on Mika's door. Had Mika really stayed out all night with his lover? The nausea in his stomach grew as he thought about it. The maids were both attractive and showing off their assets, so it shouldn't have been a surprise if a young noble were sleeping around with his maids, right? Considering how exhausted Mika appeared yesterday, lust really must have really awakened his stamina…

Yu tried valiantly to come up with coy jokes when he saw Mika again, all complete with some variation of sexual innuendo he'd heard back home. Even so, these thoughts weren't enough to distract him, and his lewd puns soon died on his lips.

He paced up and down the hall as anxious as could be. He frowned, checking his time piece for the fifth time in just as many minutes.

With a sigh, he hammered his fist on Mika's door once more.

"MIKAAA! MIKA, MIKA, MIKA!" he howled, firming his resolve. "If you don't come out, I'm coming in!"

Mika slept deeply in the type of exhausted sleep in which one rarely moved until gasping and rolling over with aching muscles. He was too tired to move. Ferid's guests could serve themselves for once or else just wait until he felt rested.

He was just so, so tired…

Being drained by those monsters always made him feel sore, exhausted, and thirsty. He knew he was thirsty because he was dehydrated and anemic, but he really didn't care for the irony of it all. It took a while for the consequent bruise with a pair of distinct pinprick-like puncture wounds to completely heal as well, so he always had to make an effort to conceal them when human guests were around. Of course, once the residents here decided the humans were more useful as snacks than whatever they were invited here for, they never lived for more than a few nights and soon died from severe blood loss. This was why Ferid was cautious and only drank blood from Mika every two weeks at most. That said, Ferid seemed to be drinking more lately and drained Mika so much on his birthday a couple of weeks ago that he could hardly walk in a straight line the day after.

Mika's hair tickled his face uncomfortably, and he squirmed.

He slowly blinked before rolling over and facing a pair of worried, familiar green eyes.

The monsters here have red eyes, not green, thought Mika, still quite asleep. Blinking slowly, he realized why that face looked so familiar. The face grinned, and Mika suddenly felt the most awake he'd been since the night before.

"Yuichiro, what are you—" began Mika before being interrupted by the intruder.

"It's 'Yu,'" corrected Yuichiro happily. Yu's hand was resting on Mika's forehead. "You feel awfully clammy, Mika."

Mika jerked back, not forgetting to pull his sheets up to conceal his bruised neck. With only his head sticking out and the rest of him swamped with blankets, he wondered just how ridiculous he looked.

Yu stood next to Mika's bed. When Mika shrank back, the corners of Yu's lips curled up.

I really must look ludicrous like this, concluded Mika, replacing his expression of surprise with a glower.

"What are you doing in here?" asked Mika, unamused by how dry his mouth and throat felt. "Get out."

"I said I'd come in if you didn't come out," stated Yu as he cheerfully gestured to himself, "and here I am! Besides, you said you'd hang out with me every day, so you can't kick me out."

Mika looked at him with confusion, trying to figure out how Yu decided "hanging out" meant Yu could barge into Mika's room uninvited any time he pleased.

I knew I should have murdered him, thought Mika with annoyance, flattening his expression with an unamused gaze.

Yu lifted the chair from Mika's desk and placed it next to Mika's bed.

"Mika, how are you feeling today? It's already evening," said Yu softly, plopping down on the chair. It was almost like he was genuinely concerned. It was endearing, really, this odd behavior of his.

"Fine," lied Mika, his voice hoarse.

Yu responded with an awkward silence and a stiff facial expression.

"Okay!" chirped Yu after a moment. "Since you said you're feeling so crappy, I'm going to prepare some tea for you. Be right back," he finished before skipping from the room, leaving the door open for all to see.

Mika's eye twitched as he buried himself deeper under the blankets.

Damn those bloodsuckers, he cursed silently, blaming them for this humiliating situation.

Although he had no idea why Yu seemed so happy about making tea, he knew he had to change his clothes quickly before Yu got back. Although he was nearly too weak to care, he didn't want Yu pointing out he hadn't changed and then questioning him about it. Mika could just lie and stay he stayed up late to take care of something and didn't go to bed until after dawn. He could say that he was too exhausted to undress before bed last night. He had a feeling of foreboding that, should he give Yu the slightest leverage, he would overwhelm Mika with his excessively willful nosiness. Perhaps it was just intuition, but he trusted it more than anything and certainly more than anyone at this estate.

Mika shucked the blankets off and stood up slowly, putting one hand against his nightstand as he used it to steady himself. The edges of his vision faded into gray, and black cobwebs started crawling in from the gray. After a moment, color returned. His vision became a little blurry and flickered in and out of focus, but he was still standing.

Mika walked as quickly as he dared to the door, but his gait was wobbly. He used his hands to steady himself by touching a wall or furniture as he moved.

He began shutting the door with every intention of locking Yu out and earning himself a moment of privacy, but the door suddenly smacked into him.

"Surprise! I brewed the tea earlier, so there was no need to wait," came the obnoxious, guilt-free voice of the culprit.

Mika crashed to the ground. His butt ached as the room spun around him.

I really hate him, thought Mika, putting his hand to his head, as if that would make him any less lightheaded.

"Eh?" asked Yu innocently, with a tea set resting on a platter in his arms. "What are you doing on the floor, Mika?"

Mika's pale blue eyes glared at him. Utterly unfazed, Yu set the platter on the desk.

"If you needed to get something off the ground, you could've just asked me," said Yu, as if that were an option.

Yeah, right, scoffed Mika internally. He didn't trust Yu even remotely.

"Right, then!" said Yu, suddenly gleeful now that his arms were free. He flexed his fingers and then reached his arms toward Mika. "Let me help you up."

Alarmed, Mika sprang up to his feet.

"I'm fine," he stated abruptly as the world around him was suddenly engulfed by darkness. His heart beat rapidly in his chest. Oh, he thought as his legs grew weak and his senses dulled. He heard Yu's fading voice call out his name as he collapsed before silence consumed him.

After an indeterminable amount of time, Mika blinked up at the familiar, blurry ceiling above him.

"Oh, God! Mika, are you okay?!" asked Yu. His wide green eyes were so close to Mika's face that he couldn't help but squirm.

"Fine," muttered Mika weakly. He wrinkled his eyebrows when he felt the bedsheets under him. Did Yu move him to the bed after he fainted? What a waste of effort, he criticized silently as he eyed the intruder. Didn't Yu realize Mika would've woken up just fine if he were left alone?

"I was so worried! Don't do that! If you need anything, I'll get it for you!" rambled Yu, his expression slightly panicked.

Mika still wasn't sure what Yu's aim was, but he was a decent actor.

"I wouldn't have fallen if you hadn't attacked me," stated Mika flatly. He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. He was really so tired…

When he opened his eyes again, Yu had a puzzled expression.

"Attack you?" asked Yu, confused. "I was only going to help you up."

Right. Mika supposed that might be true... Yu caught him lying vulnerable and unconscious twice so far, so it wasn't like Yu needed to take advantage of him while he was awake… Well, it didn't matter.

"I don't need your help," he stated, not understanding why Yu wouldn't leave him alone.

"Too bad," said Yu, clearly unconcerned about Mika's opinion. The smile he gave made Mika's gut twist with discomfort. He recalled what Guren said about Yu being "more stubborn than a mule" and his recommendation about just giving in.

Mika scowled as Yu disregarded him and poured him a cup of tea.

Uneasily sitting up, Mika sniffed the tea carefully. He didn't smell anything unusual. Although he was mildly concerned it might be drugged or tainted with a small amount of alcohol, he decided to take the risk instead of spending the rest of his evening with Yu badgering him.

He tasted the tea carefully. Oh, it's tainted, alright, thought Mika as he cringed. The tea was so burnt, its bitter taste made his taste buds shrivel. He glanced wearily at Yu, who returned his gaze with a beaming smile. Somehow, he suspected—

"I made it!" said Yu proudly. "Not bad, is it?"

Yes, Yu had brewed the tea himself. Mika turned his weary eyes to the drink, wondering if Yu had tasted the stuff before daring to serve it.

"It… It could be worse," mumbled Mika as he tried to remember the last time someone gave him something to drink or eat without him ordering it on an outing. It must have been years ago, before he became Ferid's pet and was brought to live at the castle. The monsters here had long forgotten what human food was supposed to be like, so they never showed him small kindnesses.

After a moment, Mika drank the rest of the tea in the cup.

It could be worse.

Although he knew Yu must have had an ulterior motive, part of him felt touched by Yu's gesture. A very, very small part, he decided.