Chapter 9
The sky is clear tonight too. I can't hear the clouds whispering.
Mh.
The stars... I hear them exclaim, they're always so cheerful.
She fell silent.
Aneki, how long haven't you been looking at the stars?
She turned and curled up in a fetal position, under the blankets.
You who can see them... Look at them.
She sobbed.
Aneki...
- Oya, are you not feeling well?
Mary wiped her tears with the sheets, before freeing herself from the wrapping she had hidden in while she was resting, and with eyes slightly bothered by the light she looked at the nurse, who was peering out from behind the curtain.
- I think it's just exhaustion, nothing... serious...? – the girl curled her lips and stared at the young man who had approached her to examine her. He had long, light hair tied up in a low tail, wearing elegant rectangular glasses, a burgundy waistcoat and had a reassuring expression on his face.
If it hadn't been for that very familiar smile.
- Is there any problem? - he asked, worried, tilting his face and holding a hand to his chin, noticed the student's strange grimace, who in the meantime had raised an index to him.
- Karlheinz-san?
Silence.
The nurse stepped back, turned and went back to his desk to fill in the register; he asked her name, surname, class, reason for her presence in the infirmary, time and any treatment done; the ignored girl perceived another nervous crisis threatening to overcome her.
She hurriedly got up and reached him.
- I've already completed the form, you just need to countersign! What are you doing here? - she asked frantically, placing her hands on the wooden surface where the man was browsing the register.
- Oh, really? It's diligent of you, Flyer-san. If all the students were like you!
- Answer my question!
The medicine cabinets' glass cracked; at last the nurse's ochre eyes met the half-witch's silver ones, red-faced but still firm and composed.
- Don't I have the right to profess this job, Flyer-san?
Mary fervently wished to pierce his face with the scissors contained in one of the desk's drawers, wrap his hair with the adhesive tape and hang him to some street light near the school; she realized at the same moment that her thoughts were somewhat macabre, caused by murderous instinct. To think that until a few days she was shyly cuddling in the arms of a certain blond with ocean-coloured eyes...
- I didn't say this! - she replied, trying to keep calm; she rubbed her forehead, sighing - Why cause all of this with the Mukami, if you could have personally told me and settle everything in a civil way?
Truthfully, she wanted to discuss much more; but her instinct wisely advised her to stop: the vibes coming from the man weren't good, oddly different from the first time she had met him, that night at the inn.
Then, she remembered the recent meeting between him and his six sons.
- What do you want from us...?
- Curiosity killed the cat, I would like to remind you, Mary Flyer - the vampire's cold and low voice came to her ear as a warning, so the girl fell silent.
She kept quiet only that night: she wasn't strong enough to stand against him; however, she wouldn't have hesitate to face him in the future. She was wary of the Vampire King.
She left the infirmary; and her bad mood hadn't improved for sure.
Perhaps, not everything was going wrong that day: Ruki had proved willing to accompany her to Ari-sensei, beyond any expectation; Mary had almost reconsidered him, if he himself had not specified with that so despised smirk that they obviously would have kept an eye on her. In addition, she imagined he was interested in the man's place, after all the vampire's figure reminded her of the intellectual kind of guy.
Which wasn't that different about her...
Before she could have shuddered at that comparison, the half-witch move forward in the narrow alley, ignoring the poor Yuuma's complaints (he discovered that his height was an obstacle in certain situations) and his idol brother's laughs; Mary tried to suppress a grin in seeing the oldest Mukami's annoyed grimace, once realized he really had to crawl in that alley in order to proceed.
Azusa had nothing to whine about: although they had the same stature, the young man had a very fine physical constitution compared with hers (who was deeply ashamed of that chubby layer that for years she had been trying to remove with a diet not too rich of carbohydrates and various junk food - but in vain...), so he didn't have any problems.
Maybe he would have preferred to have them...
As soon as they came out of the eerie alley, Mary saw two red-haired heads from the stairs leading to the entrance in the subsoil and recognized the two girls who were coming up: Mai and Rai Calling, the twenty-seven-year-old twins who delivered letters from the city where they lived throughout Japan and vice versa.
- Oooh! - the two said in unison as they realized the presence of their kohai - Cho-hime~!
They looked at each other with their almond-shaped eyes before approaching the group, greeting the four vampires with a polite nod; Kou looked interested in the little hat covered with colourful feathers that both of them were wearing sideway, evoking the print of their laced and over-knee-length suits, while Ruki listened attentively to the dialogue between the three witches. Yuuma, masking his expression, glanced up at the twin's cleavage... and Azusa looked at him questioningly, innocent, not realizing what was drawing his interest so much.
- It's been a while, Mary-chan~! How are you doing? - they asked in tune with each other, each holding a hand on the girl's shoulders; Kou wondered if they were singers, since their voices were incredibly clear and intoned.
- I could be doing better - she said frankly, impassive - Ari-sensei?
The twins exchanged an understanding gaze, grinning.
- Apparently he's in a bad mood because he met a certain person...
It wouldn't have been that man...?, the half-demon thought, remembering what had happened in the infirmary.
- Thus... good luck! – they concluded, each of them grabbing a pendant hanging on their leather belts - Bye bye, Cho-hime~! – and they disappeared.
Mary rubbed the back of her neck, wondering to herself why those twin sisters had the vice to leave in that way, whenever you would cross paths with them; she shook her head and headed to the stairs, noticing Minocchi's absence.
She heard voices coming from the underground room and she entered with caution; she was almost forgetting that there were the Mukami's behind her.
She looked around, realizing the change in the furniture and objects' arrangement, and her eyes finally spotted Ari-sensei, who was discussing seriously with a woman with dark green dyed hair and matching long nails.
- Elena-sensei? - she called her, approaching her gradually, followed by the four vampires who were looking at the surroundings: Kou was captured by the vibrancy of the colours of dusts, bottles and various undefined objects; Azusa stared at some daggers in a small showcase; Yuuma touched some flowers on a long table in their own labelled pots; Ruki smiled as his gaze paused over several bookcases.
The woman flinched and her green eyes fell on her former patient; she had looked after Mary at the time of the Miriandola Bluetta's accident.
- Mary-chan ... I see you well - she smiled; she wasn't the type to show too much emotions, but in truth she was sincerely happy to see her again.
- Ah... Cho-hime... - Mr Ari murmured, finally aware of her presence; he seemed lost in his thoughts, and that sullen expression he often displayed was more intense than usual - Right, you had written to me about Laito-kun...
The man kept on mumbling, heading towards a table where a burner was heating a transparent container filled with a scarlet liquid; the ex-pupil stared at him perplexed, then questioningly looked at the doctor. The latter sighed, explaining her that recently he had been busy meeting people in order to solve or seek solutions to several issues.
- There have been a lot of hunters, lately... in this area, I mean - Elena said, holding a hand to her cheek, deep in thought – It seems there have been some controversies in the Demon World, too.
Fantastic. No, wait...
- That means... Okaa-san, is she coming back?
The woman fell silent at the girl's hopeful question.
- No - the ex-teacher said in her place, turning off the stove and pouring the hot liquid into a beaker – It's because there were problems in that location, that she must still stay for a while. Cho-hime...
The man turned and peered at the four vampires.
- Why are you with Karlheinz's adopted sons?
- Eh? Foster sons?
Mary turned to the boys, eyes wide ope: Ruki smirked, nodding; she facepalmed, suffocating a grunt under Kou and Yuuma's snickering eyes, and told the man she didn't want to talk about it.
Suddenly Elena informed that she had to leave and bid farewell, hurrying to the exit; Ari-sensei stared at her, gloomy, before moving his eyes to the ex-pupil and asking her if she was in any way responsible for the death of a huntress that had happened the night before: the girl clenched her lips, confirming with a fearful nod.
- Don't regret it, you see - the man said, surprising her; she was really expecting to be scolded by him, but soon her thoughts were discarded by the following words - That woman had killed Minocchi.
Mary bit her lips and felt a wave of hatred threatening to overwhelm her; she didn't express the usual condolences to her ex-teacher: she knew how much he disliked such formalities, therefore, holding back the knot in her throat, she decided to get to the point of her visit.
- Do you know what could Laito-kun be suffering from, Ari-sensei? - she asked, following him with the vampires behind her as the man headed to another bench to macerate cobalt blue leaves.
- Something like Claire, I think.
Mary reflected a few moments before scowling. After all... after all, they both had had similar experiences, didn't they? She had preferred not to think about it, but in the end the cause probably resided in the vampire's past...
- So are you preparing that medicine to calm the brain cells down...?
- Hm. His thoughts will be reorganized and will re-acquire self-consciousness; of course, keep in mind that the side effects are the loss of his life's most recent moments, so he could even forget about you - he warned her; the girl sighed, whispering that she knew.
Mr Ari informed her that he still needed ten minutes before the medicine got ready and asked her to fix the computer in the room next to the bookstand, in the meantime, pointing at it with a dropper.
Mary nodded, slightly annoyed by the request, apologized to the Mukami and left.
- AND DON'T PRY INTO THE LOCKED FILES! - the man screamed before turning to the vampires - If you want to wander around my place, there is no problem. Just be careful not to touch anything but the books, though... - he grumbled, returning to his job.
Aptly, Ruki was already standing in front of the shelves, looking for some interesting volumes; without being noticed, Kou snorted, annoyed by Mr Ari's misanthropic attitude, and roamed among the benches, staring at a container on top of a closet; Yuuma stroked some pale petals belonging to a strange red flower, reading the tag hanging from a leaf; Azusa bit his index, staring at a showcase containing two katana with a singular hilt.
The blond observed the celestial sparkling liquid of the bottle and stretched out his hand to grab it: he didn't know what it was, but something made him want to grasp it; too bad that he wasn't tall enough to get it with his hand. He didn't see any chairs or furniture suitable for the task, so he called Yuuma, who approached him unwillingly after leaving those so fascinating plants reluctantly.
- What do you want? - he snapped, obviously annoyed, clicking his tongue.
- Yuuma-kun~ pull that little bottle down for me~? - Kou asked, smiling disdainfully, while Ruki's doubtful eyes gazed at them, Azusa being also curious. The giant made a resentful grimace:
- Huh?! Bullshit, Kou, he clearly said that not to touch his stuff! Go read some books...
- Yuuma-kun! Don't be stupid, I hate books! – Kou dryly replied, as Ruki approached them with a serious look - Come on, I just want to see what's written on the label! I'll give you back the sugar cubes I stole...
- Oi, Kou, Yuuma... - the older brother called them, expecting the worst; Azusa had in the meantime raised his hands, aiming to calm them down invain.
- HAH?! YOU TOUCHE MY PRECIOUS SUGAR-CHAN?! –the giant yelled aggressively, slamming a hand against the closet.
They heard something tinkling and the four of them looked up.
- Eh? - they exclaimed in unison, seeing the bottle so yearned for by the blond swaying and finally falling on them.
- Ari-sensei, I've fixed the computer...
Mary dropped her arms along her hips. Her eyes widened at the sight of four vaguely familiar children sitting in front of the table where the ex-teacher was pouring the ready-to-use milky liquid into three containers. The black-haired one had a scary look on his face; the blond smiled furiously, slapped at his head by the brown-haired one, plainly furious; the tiny one stared at her insistently with his lavender eyes.
- Uhm - he muttered, closing the three flasks with hands trembling out of nervousness, not knowing how to tell her - You know what happens when you're being curious...
- I. Demand. A. More. Accurate. Explanation. NOW.
Thanks for reading~ I hope you enjoyed the new chapter!
Okaa-san means "mother"; oh, and kohai is a Japanese term for the underclass people.