Short note to StephPen : I don't remember if I every replied to your wonderful review, so in case I haven't : please forgive me! I am so sorry for not seeing that review, and I'm a horrible person for forgetting if I ever replied or not.
Also, to all the other people kind enough to leave me a review : you always make my day!

|Karin's School|

Junko clenched her teeth together, her brain reeling to find a way to answer the woman who was bending over towards her so menacingly. She thought she could see where Ren got his less friendly moments from. Fangs gleamed in the harsh light of the lamps, and outside people could be heard laughing and shouting.

'I… I… my name…' she stammered out, taking another step back.
The woman reached out before she could get away any further, grabbing Junko by the throat. The woman had the same eye color as Karin, for all an onlooker would know it was Karin who was doing this to her. Except the long hair, and the slimmer chest, there was almost nothing differentiating the two.

'I don't need to know your name, silly girl.' The woman pulled Junko closer again. 'You are a bit older than I need, so maybe I should just erase your memory and be done with it.'

Junko's dark brown eyes grew wider as she attempted to pry the vampire's hands from her, but it was as if she had been caught in a steel vice. Breathing alone was hard enough, but at the same time her heart was stammering violently in her chest. She found herself praying that anybody – Ren! – would come and save her from this predicament.

'Grandma!' Karin's voice came closer, Junko could hear the younger girl running up the stairs. 'What are you doing to Akane-san?' she yelled.

Junko felt her feet lifting from the ground as the woman moved towards the window, ignoring her granddaughter's cries for her friend's safety. When the woman jumped, Junko grabbed her hands, praying that this wasn't some kind of crazed suicide the vampire was executing. They dropped on the ground safely enough, and the grip around her throat was replaced by a grip around her wrist. The woman pulled her along, into some bushes on the school grounds. When Junko noticed the bodies of a boy and a girl on the ground, she gasped.

The vampire followed her gaze, and let out a chuckle. 'I didn't kill them, if that's what you're worried about.'
Junko swallowed when the woman released her, but thought better of running away. She knew from firsthand experience with Ren just how fast a vampire could be.

'I take it you would be Maaka-chans grandmother then?' she asked in what she hoped was a demure enough tone. She watched as the pale woman drew a needle from her purse, drawing blood from the two teenagers on the ground.
'My name is Elda Marker, and yes, I am Karin's grandmother. She's quite cute, isn't she?' the woman continued, placing a hand against her own cheek as she said so.

Junko let out a sigh as she realized the amount of self-praise that went into that last sentence. Still, she had better not anger the woman. She didn't seem to be the type that would let herself be pressured into something she didn't want to do.
The woman stood up, the collected blood in a bottle. Just then, Karin rushed in the bushes as well, finally having spotted them.

'Grandma, please don't hurt Akane-san! She's really, really, really nice and doesn't mean any harm. I promise!' the girl's face was flushed, her breath coming in ragged gasps. It seemed like she had ran all the way done, and then some to find them here.
Elda looked at her granddaughter, flipping her long hair behind her shoulder. 'Hurt her? I just wanted to scare her a little bit. It seems like two of my darling grandchildren have gotten themselves in a mess. I just wanted to check things out, and get something important as well.'
She showed the bottle filled to the brim with the red liquid to the two women with a smile. 'Why don't we walk towards the house, and we will talk everything over, okay?'

|A Bit Later|

Junko and Karin walked behind the elder woman, who seemed to have no problem in walking around in this company. Sometimes they exchanged a short glance, before facing in front of them again.
'Girl. Maybe you should tell me your name now.' Elda said over her shoulder, the bottle filled with blood glinting in the moonlight.

'Ah… My name is Akane Junko, ma'am.' She replied quickly, making a small bow while walking. Elda slowed down her walking until she was between the two girls, grabbing each one by the arm. Pressing the girls close to her, the older vampire grinned as if this was a very normal occurrence for them all.
Junko could see slight panic in her eyes as her grandmother did this.

'Grandma… why are you collecting blood without biting people?' she asked softly, trying to ignore the happy hum with which she was being dragged forth.
Elda held up the bottle a little bit, showing it to Karin with a smile. 'This is for your grandfather. James is still sleeping, but this should wake him right up.' The woman smiled, looking up at the moon before pulling the girls closer to her. 'Has my son told you about his father, Karin?' she asked.
Karin shook her head, and this was all Elda needed to launch into a story about her and her husband.

'… and then –' Elda neared the conclusion of how James had proposed to her. '- then he took my long hair, and kissed it! Isn't that just romantic?' she burst out at the end of her story, blushing like she was a young girl again. 'Your grandfather is truly a really fantastic man!'

Junko let out a nervous laugh, trying to decide if the woman had truly forgotten about her, or was still deciding what to do with the human who was in the loop about everything.
Karin, who wasn't possible on the menu, was more able to appreciate the romantic implications. 'You got married two hundred years ago, and you still sound like you're in love. That must be nice…'

Elda chuckled. 'What about that evil eyed boy?'
'Why do you think that, why are you suspecting us?' Karin cried out in surprise.
'The wisdom of age, that's all!' Elda laughed out loud, giving Junko a sideways glance as well. 'And you were being so flirty about it, it was kind of hard not to notice the two of you.'
'Please don't tell mom and dad!' Karin started to plead. Elda let go of Junko's arm, hugging her granddaughter.
'Of course I won't rat out my adorable granddaughter.' She patted Karin on the head. 'I want you to meet James right away! When he wakes up al groggy and can't tell us apart, I'm going to slug him!' the woman said, sounding as if she was looking forward to the event.

Junko froze up immediately when the woman turned to her. They weren't far from the Maaka residence now, she recognized the streets where she had slapped Ren once.
'And seeing as how my handsome grandson seems to be having a secret of his own, I think maybe I should have a little talk with you as well.' Elda said, her reddish brown eyes gleaming towards the only human in the company.

Junko waved her hands in front of her, trying to diffuse a potentially harmful situation. 'Me and Ren are not involved like that. I mean, we're friends now, but it took us a pretty long time to become friends, and even now we fight a lot, so you really shouldn't worry about us at all. I mean-'
She was shut up when someone hit her on the head. With a yelp she looked from where the hit had come, straight in Ren's golden gaze.

'You're making things complicated again.' He told her, trying to ignore his grandmother grabbing his arm in a hug. 'You could just say we're friends, or that I'm helping you.'
Junko scratched the back of her head awkwardly. 'Well, you try explaining things when you think you might die any moment.'
Ren arched his eyebrows. 'I had to do it when your father kidnapped me for a chat.'

Junko's world froze up when she heard those words. In her daze she didn't hear much about how Ren tried to get away from his grandmother, or how Karin was trying to make things less hectic. Her father had found Ren. What had he said? What had Ren said?
She stopped her rampant thoughts when Ren laid his arm around her shoulders as he started to pull her away from his relatives. 'I'm going to bring Junko home. I'll try to come before the sun comes up.' He said over his shoulder as he kept a brisk pace. It seemed like he had gotten away this time without getting his clothes torn open.

Karin waved goodbye after them, and Junko thought she could also hear Elda shouting towards her to 'stop by for a chat soon'. She shuddered for a moment.
'Thanks for picking me up.' She mumbled towards Ren. A shiver ran across her spine when she thought about her father. When Ren laid his jacket across her shoulders, she looked up at him in surprise. He looked to the side, clearing his throat.

'You're weaker than me. And if you're this annoying when you're healthy, I don't even want to know what you're like when you're sick.' He said, pointedly not looking in her direction.
'Ah…' Junko said.
'What's 'ah' supposed to mean, huh?' Ren asked, as if he was insulted by that answer.
'I just said 'ah'. Not everything has to be a comment on what you do!' Junko replied to him.

The both looked away from each other again, Ren with his hands stuffed in his pockets, Junko wearing his jacket.
'Hey Ren… What did you and my dad talk about?' she asked him softly.

Ren grunted. 'Well, he threatened me a bit, for starters. You might have mentioned your father is some kind of gang lord. And well… he told me that if I don't stay by your side, I might as well prepare myself to sleep with the fishes soon.'
Junko bit the inside of her cheek. 'Look, I'm sorry he had to drag you into this. It's why I want to leave Japan, okay? If I have to stay here, then he'll try to get me into his world. I'm not cut out for a place like that. I don't want to live his life.'
'So you're hoping that book you're writing will somehow give you the ticket out of here. Where are you planning on going?' he asked her. He seemed to be curious about what she was planning on doing.

Junko kicked a pebble away from them. 'I was thinking… Europe. London sounds like a lovely place. And maybe I could travel around a bit, see different countries. Have some fun. My sister always wanted to see the Louvre. She loved painting, and she was really talented, just like my mother.'
'You have a sister?' Ren asked surprised.
'She died.' Junko replied curtly. She left it at that, Ren didn't need to know every detail. She didn't need him pitying her or her sister.

The reason her sister had died was because of what her father did. A rivaling gang had shot his car, thinking he was in there. In truth, both her sister and her mother had been in there. They had borrowed the car to come pick her up from school. It had been hot that summer, and they had made a habit of getting ice cream, and then strolling through the shopping streets.

'I'm sorry to hear that.' Ren told her. He sounded genuine about the sentiment, as he sent her a crooked smile. Junko grimaced, wiping away her long dark hair behind her ear. She didn't notice how Ren followed the movement, his eyes not lingering on her jugular but instead just appreciating the gesture in itself.

|Later|

When they finally neared her apartment, Ren looked around him. Now that he was actually paying attention, he could see two men hidden in the shadows of some trees nearby. In the elevator he got the first seed of an idea, a way to help her.
'Junko… I know how you can be safe. There is a place in town where your father won't be able to find you. Even he won't be able to get in, and that is in the case he manages to find out where it is.'

'Eh?' Junko asked, surprised. Ren stopped at the door. He would have to make the trip back to his own home this time, if she agreed to what he would be proposing.
'My home is shielded. Humans can't enter there without a vampire of my family guiding them inside. It would be an adjustment for you, living there. My parents would have to agree. I'll have to tell them about you.' He rested his head against the doorframe when he realized how that conversation would be going. His father knew, his father had discussed Junko with him. But the step from 'I know a human girl' to 'I want the human girl to stay with us' might be a bit sudden.

'I'll have to tell them how I screwed up in the first place. Not looking forward to that.' He groaned. He looked up when Junko placed a warm hand on his arm. For a moment he couldn't believe how brightly she was smiling at him.

'You would do that for me? Really? If you're serious… I mean… I don't know. If it would work, and your parents agree, it would be amazing. If I'll survive… your grandmother is a bit intense.' She ended the last part in the tone people usually use when they say something and really hope they're not offending you.

'I'm serious. You can still ask me questions over there. Hell, you can ask my parents, and my sister. For some reason the old hag seems to like you, so maybe she'll be willing to talk to you as well. And you'll be safe there. That's the most important part.'

He froze up when Junko threw her arms around his neck, standing on her tippy toes so she would be able to reach. He patted her back a bit insecurely, listening to her exclaiming what a great friend he was. Feeling her warm body pressed against him felt unfamiliar. Completely unfamiliar, but also extremely right. He hadn't thought a human would be able to evoke this sort of emotion from him. As she pulled away from him, he imagined he could see little lights twinkling in her eyes.
He offered her a place in a house infested with vampires, and she was grateful he offered her a safe haven. At first she would have been reluctant. In the first days they had known each other, he would never had considered offering it to her.

But she was so fragile. Unlike him, she could be harmed so easily, and it would take ages for her to recover that. Her apartment had been his home away from home, but he found the idea of having her so close by his own living space almost just as agreeable. She didn't judge him. In a way, he was now offering her what she had been providing for him for so long.

She handed him back his jacket, making him promise to call her as soon as he knew if it was okay or not. The way she was rocking back and forth on her heels suggested she would be packing before he had a chance to get home.
'You better be careful for the rest of the evening, okay?' he told her, flipping a finger against her forehead. She stuck her tongue out at him, still looking excited.
'I will. You don't forget to call me. And say hi to your sisters for me. Oh, maybe I should bring Anju a gift. Maybe I should get something nice for Karin as well. Would your parents drink from the blood packets I'll be bringing? They won't try to drink from me, will they?'

He listened to the stream of questions and musings with an amused smirk. At the last one, he grabbed her by the chin. 'Nobody else gets to drink from you. Only me. And only when you tell me it's okay.'
Junko started to blush at the close contact, before looking at him worried. 'Are you hungry now? You had nothing to eat all day, since you didn't finish your blood packet this morning.'

He frowned when she told him she had found out. Those blood packets were really only good if he were to be starving. He usually tried to hide he didn't drink all of them, but lately that and the scarce times she let him bite her were the only nourishment he had.

Other woman had simply not seemed delicious compared to her.

'Are you telling me I can have some now?' he asked her. She looked to the ground, shuffling her feet. Feeding was still an awkward something to her. She was the first woman who was actually aware of him drinking from her, so he didn't know how to handle the situation either.

'Only if you're hungry.' She mumbled, bangs hanging in front of her face. He made her lift up her face again, lowering his mouth to near her neck. Being so close to her, feeling how anxious this made her. Somehow the event made her stress out a little bit, making her seem more appealing than before. He stroked a finger across the length of her neck. Her breathing quickened as he pushed her inside the doorway, closing the door behind them.

'I'll be gentle.' He promised her, as his fangs started to elongate. She nodded curtly, waiting for him. As his fangs pierced her skin, she let out a soft cry, wrapping her arms around him. He held her up by the waist, being as gentle as he possibly could.

The feeling that he didn't want her to leave Japan at all started to gnaw in his stomach.

|Moon's note : hello everyone! I have good news for you; because this story is closest to it's ending, it is now promoted to most frequently updated ongoing story in my list! Which means, more updates! Yep, that's good news.
Also, because the story is set in the manga world, Elda never had a romance with a human and is more forgiving towards Karin's feelings for Usui, though she still disapproves of the entire setting. This is also why she let of Junko so easily.
Have a nice day!|