.
.
My plans would have to wait.
It was Yuki's birthday. Which, according to her, meant she was going to practice everything she'd learned and utilize it against Kaname. And I do mean a brawl, in the most 'I look up to you and love you and think this is a great way to spend my time with you because you're great' kind of way. Kaname didn't stand a chance.
Yuki, on the other hand, was the one not standing.
Dad sat next to me in the shade of the garden, the worried noises coming from him my only indication he was still breathing. Kaname for once didn't dress up like he owned the country, a loose white collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and capri's that seemed so out of place on the old fashioned vampire I knew it was Yuki's buy. His jacket was tied around his waist, his hair pulled back into a ponytail.
Yuki lay sprawled in a miserable heap below him, groaning about her loses.
"Sorry." He apologized, unsuccessfully hiding the laughter in his voice. "I understand you want to be prepared for the heavier disciplinary duties, but . . ."
"I'm good!" She stumbled up to her feet, nearly knocking over one of dad's pots. "I'm out of practice. I'm really, really good at cardio!"
She sighed. "I suck at punches."
Kaname didn't seem to mind. He might have been happier that she sucked. It'd taken two weeks of begging on Yuki's behalf before he relented, his clothes mysteriously disappearing being the back breaker. Dad, of course, might have been in Kaname's boat but in the end it was always Kaname's decision. He was her brother after all.
"It's alright." Kaname remained unbothered, glancing up at the cloudless sky. "Maybe a break, Yuki? You've been at this all morning."
She grudgingly agreed, moaning soft complaints as she moved over to us. Kaname was smiling his own victory at the occasion, which likely had to do with him weaseling his way out of meetings and vampire things. I handed Yuki a glass of water.
"You did good." I praised. She'd need to know everything in the long run. If I got the bonus of watching her get clobbered while she trained, it was all for the sake of keeping her alive.
She chugged the glass down, dad inserting himself with an energetic pat to her shoulder, "Yes, good job! Kaname-kun, I'm glad you've taken Yuki's request so seriously. She will be the star of the committee!"
"Dad." Yuki's pout was ignored.
Kaname smiled, reaching over to pat the girls head. She looked like she could have happily thrown her cup to pieces with how jittery she looked at the simple gesture.
"There's no rush. but yes," Kaname's expression softened to a degree I doubt anyone would discover what was underneath, "She did good."
Never mind that Zero was elsewhere at the shooting range. Never mind that the night classes would be starting soon. Time was ticking. And so was my watch, as I walked home from school the next day. I set it to a healthy ten minutes, hesitated, and then turned it to eleven. No one said I wasn't a risk taker.
I stopped in front of the alley.
My plans were far different then my siblings. In a small part of my head, I acknowledged I might not walk away from this. The previous time I was lucky. This time rode entirely on how tasty I looked today. I sniffed my sleeve. It'd be fine.
The alley was just as gross as I remembered. Granted the memories were suppressed and anything about it was a blur of adrenaline. The dumpster was pushed further back. It'd been cleaned recently. Something about how the moldy boxes sat to the side, the newspapers littered the ground, and the absence of a certain stain felt like vampire hunters. No one else could clean a crime scene that good.
I sat down on the ground and pulled out my lunch. I hadn't had anyone to eat with since Mao had returned to school. She didn't talk to me and regarded any talk of me with confusion. Kanon was gone without a trace, her name on the class roster mysteriously disappearing. I wondered if I'd see her cleaning up a crime scene one day. It hardly mattered. I was only a little upset the rice balls Yuki made were soggy. She wasn't good at cooking, but she was capable of making basic meals.
"Ew."
I paused, chopsticks raised to my lips. The rice fell down to the box in my lap. The voice in my ear was very familiar. I tilted my head and- there they were. Uglier up close, their skin sunken in around their face and their hair in a state far beyond saving. Even their eyes looked like they'd pop out at any moment, darting from the wall, my legs, my neck, my face, to my lunch and back. They were breathing raggedly on my shoulder.
I put my chopsticks down. "Hello."
It made a face. "No." It moved to my other side and my arm itched something fierce at it being so close. It hunkered to the ground in a crouch, nosing at my sleeve like it was something awful. Its face drew together in disgust. "No."
"No?" I echoed.
"Disgusting." It shimmied away, drawing into the shadows of the alley like I was hardly worth its time. I waited till my hand stopped shaking to pick up my chopsticks and stick a rice ball on the end, extending the offering out like an olive branch.
"Hungry?" I waited. It didn't come out so I ate the rice ball instead. Their loss. "I was hoping I'd see you."
There was movement in the shadows, two glimmering red eyes staring from behind the dumpster. As if I was far scarier than its claws. I glanced at my chopsticks and set them down again. It came closer. The light of the alley was dim, but the closer it got the less appealing it appeared. Its skin was matted. It was emancipated, its hips poking through its pants. Its toes poked through its shoes like talons. It looked like a monster.
"Here." I offered the box.
It didn't take it. Its fangs lashed out and bit into the side, ripping it from my hands and dragging it into the shadows. The crunching and slobbering noises that followed didn't leave much up to the imagination. I'd need a new bento box.
I waited till it'd calmed down before asking, "What's your name?"
An angry hiss.
"Do you know who bit you?"
Another hiss.
"Do you know where you are?"
It's hissing trailed off until it was a low, rumbling growl. It crawled on the ground like an eldritch horror, its head twitching rapidly as it moved towards me. My spine straightened and I sort of wished I had the box. Something to occupy my hands instead of hanging in my lap. It was close enough that I could see the cuts on its face.
"No." It said, snarled, spat, and gagged. Words were not kind to it. "No, no."
I considered if this was a waste of time. It didn't seem like anything could be gained from this alley, other than proving Kaname correct in every way. It was hard to picture Zero crouched on the ground like a cornered animal. But it was hard to picture him eating Cutter and-
"If you have anything to say." I said. "Go ahead."
It leaned forward. Its breath was rancid. Its mouth was parted, revealing far larger molars then I'd imagined vampires having. Something brown was dripping from its teeth.
"No." Its lips met its eyes in a wide grin. "No."
I moved to stand with caution. It hardly stopped it from leaping at me, the force of it sending me to my back. The floor had my head seeing stars, not enough to distract me from the looming menace crouched on top of me. My phone clattered to the ground a few feet away. It was laughing, a guttural and unhinged noise.
"Sister," It cackled, "You're ugly."
I inhaled and exhaled.
"Sister." It continued to crone, its face far too close to mine and eyes blown wide. "Tastes so shitty. I'm so thirsty. I'm thirsty, little sister. You know?"
I mutely nodded.
Its smile dimmed down until it was grimacing at me. "Disgusting." And in a flurry of claws, it scrambled off me, howling something into the shadows I couldn't make out. Its footsteps faded until all that occupied the space it'd been in was silence. I breathed. I sat up, a headache pounding at my skull. There was a scratch on my shoulder, small enough to not even draw blood. There was brown stains on my shirt.
I breathed again.
I stood up.
My blood tastes bad. I watched the alleyway raptly. It had enough self-control to be picky about its meal.
It was something to think about as I mechanically made my way back home. Kaname was right, but Yuki's hope was brimming at the edge of it all. Zero sat in the middle. Zero who would end up just like that.
My watch beeped, but I kept walking.
