"Honestly," Reiji sighed. "This is what happens when I entrust anything to Kanato..."
When the second-eldest member of the Sakamaki family came into view, Hoshio had an overwhelming urge to embrace him. His arms were crossed and he was standing with his back wide open for her to tackleーbut she withheld herself, instead lowering her gaze. Reiji stared directly at the dead man's body.
"This far just to get out of a soirée? My, and you called us the lunatics," Reiji commented, shaking his head. "And you, Mukami. Keep your hands to yourself."
Hoshio's eyes flicked up to Yuma. "H-he wasn't going to do anything," she hiccuped, defending him with all her might. She had no reason to, other than that it was something to focus onーinstead of that corpse lying there beside them. She swallowed. Hoping she wouldn't stutter again, she continued: "E-e-even if he was, nothing could compare tー"
Her breath hitched, and she squeezed her eyes shut as more tears fell. They curled down her cheeks and dampened her palms, and a throbbing began to manifest itself near her right eye. Reiji furrowed his brows. He turned around fully to tend to her, with one arm falling to his side and the other reaching out to her.
"Now, you've made a mess of yourself. Come here," he said, motioning for her to come closer. However she stepped further away from him, hiding behind the corner's wall. Her face was sticky with literal blood, sweat, and tears, and she wore the most threatening expression she could muster. The air around her was dedicated entirely to warding him off. But he only sighed, and did not back down in the slightest. "I'm not going to harm you. Come here."
Still, she refused.
The blonde boyーwhose name would eventually reveal to be Kouーwas the one who spoke first after that, taking the chance to appease his nagging curiosity.
"Hey~ What's wrong with her, anyway? She's been acting out of it today... It's kind of cute, actually, but still.."
"Hoshio is not very fond of soirées," Reiji explained quickly, leaving an open-mouthed Hoshio to writhe, "and she has been throwing a tantrum all night."
"...What?" she whispered, gathering her wits. That didn't last for long, though. "I might have been fine with this if you weren't so secretive! How was I supposed to know I needed human blood to satisfy this thirst?! What else should you have told me?!" She subconsciously glanced back down to the bloodied corpse, and her heart pounded, before a new wave of tears washed over her. It took all of her willpower to keep her voice from cracking.
"Do not raise your voice with me," Reiji lectured. "I already told you that we were attending a gathering for vampires. You should have been able to deduct from that that you were one as well. You were the one who chose not to believe me."
"...You couldn't expect me to believe something like that!" She snapped, rubbing away the smears on her lips. Reiji stepped forward and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, and began to dab at the corners of her lips. Hoshio swatted him away.
"I'm not a child; stop it," she hissed. He continued regardless.
"I can assure you that you're much more foolish now than you were when you actually were a child," he jeered. As he spoke, he took a step to the side, subtly blocking the splintered corpse below from her view. Hoshio's focus remained on his face, and she was not having him at all.
"Oh, shut up! You're probably the one who wiped my memory anyway—even Reika said so, that she wasn't allowed to tell me anything because you told her not to!" Hoshio glared right into Reiji's eyes—the ones that reminded her so much of sweet rose flowers—and huffed. Though he didn't deny it, he did not exactly admit to it either. He continued to wipe away the bits of her last meal from her face, and his silence gave the two Mukami siblings the opportunity to speak.
"Hah?" Yuma started, facing Hoshio. "Shio's got amnesia?"
"Mhm," Hoshio hummed rather pensively, as she was not in the mood to explain this to them. "I woke up this morning and wasn't sure where I was... I'm still not sure."
No one commented on the fact that she said "this morning" instead of "this evening," but Reiji was particularly irked by it. Humans were the ones who associating mornings with waking up—rarely ever vampires, and especially not vampires who were in such a raw and instinct-driven state like Hoshio. She should not have been able to even think of that phrase, he thought. But he did not say a word.
"Where were you when you woke up?" Kou questioned. At this point, the memory of the deceased man beside them had completely slipped Hoshio's mind.
"Reiji's family's mansion... I think." She looked to Reiji for clarification, whose silence gave her all the affirmation she needed. Her tears had already dried up and her heart was no longer pounding in her chest; her headache had flittered away as well. It was as if the murder never happened. And the soulless body lied there forgotten.
"Nowhere strange then," Yuma concluded, and Kou tapped his chin.
"Weird. And you guys have no idea what caused it?" He asked Reiji.
"No, we do. She was prodding around somewhere she shouldn't have been—I suppose it was inevitable that she returned with some sort of repercussion."
"Eh~ I see~" Kou nodded understandably. "But you can never forget a pretty face like mine, can you? Remember me~?" He shoved his face very close to Hoshio's, much too close for a comfortable conversation with anybody. In her attempts to move away from him she hit her head on the wall behind her, and for the second time that night, she looked to Reiji for help—which he ignored.
"I-I don't," she said. "Sorry." But she did get the chance to stare long and hard at Kou, taking in every mesmerizing detail of his face. At least he was in tune with himself—for he was very pretty indeed. Practically an angel. But upon hearing her answer, he twisted his lips to the side, pouting through offended puppy-eyes.
"It's Kou! Kou Mukami~!"
"Oh... Nice to meet you," Hoshio offered, feeling a bit shy. It was a terribly awkward feeling to be in the presence of someone who was already familiar with her, while she couldn't even recall his name. Like my own mother, Hoshio thought despairingly. Her mind trailed to that elderly woman from her memories. And her sister, who was so beautiful, and the well, and the cupcake. That was all she had of herselfーwell, besides what the people had called her.
An aristocrat, Hoshio-sama, who was also a prospective bride. Although Kanato claimed that the piece about being a bride was false, Hoshio was confident that she must be someone important. Even the plain waitress Chie knew her on the spot, and gushed about how lucky she was for being able to dine at the night's aristocratic soirée.
It made senseーshe had maids, after all. Perhaps she was a prospective bride for a member of the Sakamaki family, so that their rich families could form connections with each other. Perhaps she was living with them to decide which one to marry.
But they were not suitable for her, not at all. They were far too crude and rough. It was odd enough that six adult brothers still lived together, but Hoshio supposed rich children could not leave the nest until they were married off to another respectable family. As things were, she'd much rather prefer someone like Yuma or Kou. And they seemed to be aristocrats too; they were dressed in the same onyx and crimson, and wore the same gold-lined masks.
...Maybe the soirée wouldn't be so terrible, if people like them were attending. The Mukami brothers seemed sweet enough; it might have just been the Sakamaki family that was questionable. She considered it.
"Now then," Reiji coughed. Though it was subtle, he was beginning to sound impatient. As if he wished Hoshio would refrain from speaking anymoreーand let him handle the rest. "We've covered Hoshio's reasoning for being out here, however... you two have yet to explain why you are idling around these parts. Where are the other two?"
"Ruki's still at the hotel, said he had to do somethin' first," Yuma said without skipping a beat. "An' Azusa wandered off after we passed the shopping district... Bet he probably stopped at some cutlery store. We were jus' lookin' for him when we found Shio."
"You're staying at a hotel?" Reiji questioned.
"It's only a two-hour drive from our place, but Kou has a couple concerts in the area this week, an' it just makes the commute easier."
"And also they have a waterpark!" Kou exclaimed.
"Yeah, but no one's there 'cause it's ten fuckin' degrees this time of year," Yuma rolled his eyes.
"That's not true~! I went there last night and there were tons of people there—some of them even asked for autographs!"
"With that aside," Reiji cut in, bringing the attention back to him. He was sounding more and more irritated. "We should be off. Regards to that prim-faced brother of yours." And he took Hoshio by the arm, rather firmly, and dragged her back to the soirée building. She stumbled to keep up with him, looking back only once before the sight of both Mukami brothers was cut off by the passing wall. The two boys were just as taken aback by the sudden abruptness, though Yuma snapped to attention.
"Fine, jus' leave us with some dead body to deal with!" He shouted after them. Reiji did not answer, but it stirred the female vampire, as she suddenly remembered the taste of that man's blood—and the entirety of what had just occurred. She cringed to herself, and clenched the sleeves of Reiji's blazer tighter. Holding onto him like that brought her some comfort, at least.
If only Reiji would allow her that much... but Reiji was not the kindest of souls, especially not when his patience was wearing so thin.
