Chapter 12

The long since dreaded day of the infamous cultural festival finally arrived. Food stands were arranged outside, summer festivities planned by excited students. Inside the school was a bustle of activity.

Subaru hated all of it. Most of all, he hated how he looked. He tugged at his waist coat, glad that the mock cafe wasn't open yet. The door to the classroom was locked tight, the inside having been completely transformed.

Arika sits on the top of a desk, face stony. Despite her speech about not caring about if she cosplayed or not, when it came down to it, she was so not here for this. There's so many damned ruffles, and the thought of Ruki popping in and seeing this is making me want to throw up. I just KNOW he's going to say something weird.

And of course...every good ship needs a captain. Subaru physically winces when the door is clicked open and Reiji enters smoothly.

"I don't see why you gotta help. You're not even in this class, or grade!" Subaru snaps. Reiji adjusts his cufflinks. "I'm only here to help for a few hours to get you on your feet, precisely because you're all inept choices to be serving the public."

Subaru tsks and looks at Arika, before glancing away. She glares over at Reiji, but says nothing, already convinced he's going to be an asshole. She tugs the front of her dress up as her narrowed eyes shift back to the door. This shouldn't be legal.

Reiji looks on as two other female students join them, acting as other maids. He then clasps his hands. "Time to get started. You there, off the table." He snips, frowning at Arika. "I'm going to give you a brief run down of etiquette. The bare bones unfortunately. Now.. Since this is a maid and butler cafe I trust you know what to say, no matter how degrading you might find it."

Arika gets up and crosses her arms, cringing as she gives a curt nod. Welcome home, master, and all that shit. I can't do this. Fucking hell, I don't want to do this.

Reiji nods, and looks at Subaru, who blinks. "Uhh..." he trails off.

The elder brother sighs. "When a girl enters, you say: Welcome home my Lady. You then guide her to a chair and pull it out for her. Once she's seated you push it back in." He says curtly.

Subaru blushes and growls. "I-I can't do that shit!" He bursts. Sure he'd thought it'd be similar to that but...saying 'my Lady?'

"It's fucking better than 'Master'," Arika snaps. "Don't be a pussy. If the rest of us gotta say this shit, so do you."

This prompts him to snarl at her as Reiji sighs. "Why don't we practice? You there, girl. What is your name?" He asks patiently.

She grits her teeth. "Arika Amane. I don't want to practice, I got this. And if I don't got this, I'll jump out the window or something."

Reiji frowns slightly. "I wasn't referring to you needing the practice." He mutters, looking at Subaru, who tenses and mutters under his breath. Reiji directs his gaze to Arika. "Go and stand near the door. Then walk in as if you've just entered as a guest. Subaru, you will receive her." He says clearly.

Pulling a face, she pads over to the door. Slowly, Arika starts to realize that this could be a great thing, gaining a wicked grin. "I'm home~" she sing songs, smirking big. Subaru blinks, expression darkening- filled with hate as he forces himself to pad over.

Reiji makes a gesture to bow, and Subaru gives a curt one very stiffly. "W-wel..." He mutters, before catching the gloating look in her eyes and growling.

"Try again." Reiji sighs.

Subaru's lips thin. "Welcome.. home." He says quietly.

Knowing she was totally going to regret this later, Arika nonetheless crosses her arms and juts her chin out. "Welcome home WHAT?" She presses, milking this.

Subaru glares at her, rage making his jaw clench. Reiji clears his throat. "The repair cost from your last tantrum can be forgotten if you perform well for our school today." He mentions, trying to use incentives to stop his brother from killing the girl.

Subaru breathes out, clenching his fists. "My.. Lady." He forces out. "Now come in and sit your ass down!" He barks.

Letting the slip go, she followed him in, flouncing somewhat. She then waits in front of a table for Subaru to pull the chair, smirking as he yanks it out for her and gestures to sit, glaring all the while. Reiji allows it if only to speed up the process.

"I think the only way we're going to pull this off is if we do that trite thing where we brand ourselves."

One of the girls watching pipes up. "Brand ourselves?"

"Yes. Such as...Subaru being a Tsundere butler." Reiji muses, making his brother blanch.

"What the fuck?"

His older brother adjusts his glasses, looking at the other two girls and pointing at one. "You will be the little sister type."

Subaru makes an undignified noise and whispers in horror. "How do you know about this stuff?" He asks thinly.

Reiji looks at the other girl. "You will be the kuudere type. I unfortunately, will just have to fill the role of typical megane." He mutters, lips turning down into a sneer.

Arika grits her teeth, on the defensive again. "I don't know what the hell I would be," she mutters, making another girl giggle darkly.

"Cutesy type!" She snickers, and the other begins to agree just for shits and giggles, nodding enthusiastically.

"Come on, Reiji-san, don't you want to see Arika being cute with pigtails and such? She's so small, she could be adorable!"

Reiji looks at Arika. "Well miss Amane can certainly be branded as such.. if she misbehaves." He mutters with warning.

Arika narrows her eyes. "Oh, suck a bag of dicks," she mutters. God, he's like Ruki, but worse.

His eyes narrow slightly in answer, he then looks at Subaru. "From here by the way Subaru, once the girl is seated, you take her order. If it's tea, I will step in for you to serve it, but in general some things to remember, no matter your character is to please who you're serving. If they drop a utensil, you stop them from picking it up, and get a new one. Now as for you.. " Reiji's eyes stray to Arika and the girls. "Can you competently serve tea from a pot in front of the customer?"

Arika scoffs. "The only proper way to serve tea is to tell the idiot customer that coffee is the only true beverage, and remind them not to be a leaf-water peasant."

Reiji folds his arms slightly over his body. "You're being the cute type." He says flatly, making the girls squeal happily.

"I am NOT," her cheeks redden slowly and she glances away, re-crossing her arms.

Reiji smiles, fine red wine eyes glittering cruelly. "Oh no, I insist." He says with a velvety voice.

"And I INSIST you suck a bag of dicks," she mutters right back. One of the girls pads over and leans on the desk, frowning.

"Come on. We need a cutesy type," she says, pouting. "And you're so pretty! We can do your hair, and your makeup, please? We need to work together to make the festival a success."

Arika glares at her for a moment, until she sighed, seeming to deflate a bit.

"Yay!" The peppy girl giggles, and drags her up.


Thirty minutes later, her uniform has been changed to something pink and somehow frillier that the last one, with a fat, stiff bow at the back above her backside. Her hair had been done up into soft pigtails, and the girls had even fixed her makeup in a 'cute' way.

Arika barely recognizes herself in the hand mirror. Subaru blinked and snorted upon passing by, dissolving into laughter.

She grits her teeth and whips a hairbrush at him. "Shut up!" She barks, blushing darkly.

Subaru catches it, eyes dancing. "We're opening now." He says in between chuckles.

Reiji and the others stand by, waiting as the door is opened and a group of three girls walk through, along with a lone guy. Subaru folds his arms as Reiji greets them first, giving them a low down of which personalities they had. Of course, Subaru was selected. His face darkens in response.

Arika stays way at the back, seeing no point in making her appearance known until she had to. The less people that saw her like this, the better.

Subaru bows stiffly to the group, nervousness apparent in his eyes, which was quickly stifled and replaced by anger. He took them to a table and gave them their menus, the sheer force of his bitterness actually helping to see it through. When they selected their meals, he bowed stiffly again. "Alright, I'll get them or whatever." He mutters, walking to the sliding door where the kitchen for food prep was situated.

Reiji glances at Arika. "You brushed it off before but CAN you actually make different blends of tea?"

"Don't you just dunk a bag of marijuana looking stuff in hot water and call it a day?" She asks grumpily, sinking down in her seat. He glares at her, turning to face her fully.

"No. You do not. Tell me, do you brew Green tea for a short time or a long time to get the right flavour?" He asks, firing the question.

Arika blinks. "...long time?" She guesses. "I mean, the longer you leave it, the stronger it tastes, aye?"

Reiji adjusts his glasses, the light hitting them to mask his eyes as he suddenly slams his hand down on the table nearby- or rather, a ruler from no where, on the table, creating a loud slam that made her jump. "No. Green tea must be brewed only over a short length of time. If you leave it in too long the flavour suffers." He mutters quietly, with seriousness. He then frowns. "What kind of tea pot should you brew tea in, if you want to sustain the heat inside it for longer? A Chinese iron pot or a traditional porcelain one?"

She makes a very pained face. "You don't get out very much, do you," Arika sighs, leaning her cheek on her hand. "I'm gonna just assume at this point that you have a bathroom reader on tea trivia. That isn't a hobby, my guy."

Reiji looked half a second from pouring hot tea on her himself, when a male customer arrived. Reiji's lips thinned. "You can go greet our new guest. Please try your upmost to be endearing. I know that will be difficult." He snips.

Arika bristles. "Oh, fuck you. I'll be the most charming charmer to ever charm," she snaps, rising. She flinches, however, upon seeing the guest in question. For the love of God, why?

Ruki raises a brow, looking her over with a slow drag of his gaze- right down her legs, before his eyes rise to her face. He looked at her expectantly, one of his hands casually stuffed in his pocket.

Arika's shoulders stiffen, and collecting herself, takes a deep breath before stalking forward and pasting on a very wide, fake smile. "W-welcome home, master!"

Ruki's mouth tugs slightly upwards at the corner, until he smooths his expression and inclines his head. "It's good to be back." He answers the greeting.

Oh, he's totally enjoying this and I'm going to beat the crap out of him when we get home, so help me. "Please let me show you your table!" She turns around, glad for the moment to collect herself without him seeing her pained expression. She leads him to a table in the corner of the room, somewhat feeling like he'd enjoy it more there.

Ruki takes the opportunity to look down the form of her back- and then further still, catching sight of the bow. Well, wasn't she adorable.

Death. Death is the only suitable subject on her mind as she pulls his chair out for him and forces another smile. She cocks her head slightly as well. Ugh, I can't tell if I want to spite Ruki or Reiji more. That's really what this is, because no matter what I do, one of them is walking away smug. Shit.

Ruki sits down. "Thank you." He says, pulling himself in and sparing her that small detail. His eyes follow her everywhere as she shifts, passing him a menu.

"Do you know what I can get you, or do you want to think for a little?" Arika asks, clasping her hands in front of her. She's fully aware he's staring, and feels bloody unclean.

"What would you recommend?" He asks, smiling slightly. He rests his chin calmly against the back of his hand, elbow on the table and completely disregarding proper etiquette, poking holes in his image as a gentleman, if such an image existed.

"Coffee," she says automatically, if only so she can rub it in Reiji's face that NO, not everyone is a tea-loving fuck. That in fact, coffee is a far superior beverage, and tea is pathetic and TEArable. Her lips twist a little at her own mental pun.

Ruki smirks and sets his menu down. "I trust your judgement, go ahead." He says calmly.

She nods, turning. "Kay," she goes back to the kitchen, one small win brightening her mood. "Coffee," she barks at the staff, before smirking at Reiji. "Not leaf water."

Reiji frowns at her. "Did you even ask him how he takes it?" He snips.

"He takes it black," Arika says tiredly, before catching herself and wincing. Shit. She shouldn't know that.

He raises a brow. "Seems like a rather bold assumption to make." He mutters, placing a small pot of milk onto the tray to be added if it was needed, along with two pockets of sugar. He then hands the tray to her with a cool look.

Arika accepts the tray, deciding to just roll with it. "Kay, my bad," she mutters, quickly coming back out and padding to Ruki's table. "I'm sorry for the wait, Master~!"

Ruki's hand unexpectedly clenches on the table, his eyes becoming slightly darker, visibly changing. He shifts his hand aside so that she can place the tray down. "Not at all." He mutters.

Catching the reaction, she startles a bit. Was she...unsettling him? Arika purses her lips and cocks her head a bit before crossing her legs. "I-is something displeasing my Master?" She asks in the cutest voice she can muster.

Ruki looks up at her levelly. "Yes. Something is. Would you do something for me?" He asks in a calm, quiet way.

"Yes, of course," she answers, now a little nervous as to where he's going with this.

Ruki's lips curve slightly, tasting her nervousness, his control back. "Those..pigtails. If they were down, I think you'd be more comfortable."

Arika lets out a sigh. "Yep, probably. Ain't my choice, though," she shrugs. She had done well to cover marks on her neck with makeup, so unless it's just that her neck itself bothers him, Arika didn't see the issue.

"No?" He asks quietly. "If you said it was the desire of your Master, would you not be allowed to?" He asks, taking his coffee and sipping it.

She paused, raising a brow. "I mean, I guess," she says slowly. "Where are you going with this, though?"

"No where at all. I could always request kitten ears to be perched on your head though." He smiles sadistically.

"Drink your damned coffee," she mutters flatly, turning an impressive shade of red and stomping away. Yanking the pigtails out, blonde hair falls loose down her back as she breathes out. Ruki 's eyes glitter with amusement over the rim of his coffee cup. He sips it and glances impassively at the menu. Sweet things...Hn. He wasn't overly fond of them.

Checking on a few other tables, Arika makes her way back to Ruki. "Do you want anything to eat?" She asks, now that she's in control of her expression again. I still have every intention of dumping arsenic in his soup when we get home, or something.

Ruki hums. "...Carrot cake." He blurts. It was a dessert. It counted. Damn them for only having desserts.

"Alright," she says, before going to the back. Desserts were already set out on plates, ready to go, so she just has to grab it and bring it to him. "Do you need anything else, Master?"

Ruki's hand accidentally knocks down a fork, sending it to the floor. Ruki looks down at it in surprise. "No, thank you." He mutters.

Stifling a groan, Arika leans down to pick it up, unknowingly flashing one of her thigh suspenders at Ruki- before tucking it into her apron pocket and pulling out a clean one. "Be more careful, Master."

Ruki's fingers brush against hers as he accepts the fork from her. "It's a pity.." He mutters almost to himself.

She frowns. "What's a pity?" Her hand draws back maybe a little too quickly from his.

He smiles slightly. "I'm afraid etiquette prevents me from saying it. But, should you find yourself bored on your break, you'll find me on the third floor. Perhaps we could make a wager of some kind. Unless you're not up to it."

Her eyes narrow. "I get a break in twenty minutes. I'm intrigued," she mutters quietly, for once, being the one to lean slightly over him. "Eat your damn cake and I'll see you then."

"I look forward to it." He mutters in reply, looking up at her unflinchingly before lifting some of the cake onto his fork and pushing it into her mouth- making her squeak with outrage.


Arika finishes the rest of her 'shift' with several customers but few issues. Because she had to come back after about a half hour, she decides to just leave the costume on when going upstairs to meet with Ruki.

Ruki sits in the established 'game room' sitting with a book in front of a chess board and ignoring people on a day he was supposed to be sociable. He glances up the moment she enters.

She raises an eyebrow at the setup as she pads towards him. "Kay, so what the hell do you want?" She asks grumpily, dropping the persona now that Reiji isn't around to bitch.

Ruki smiles slightly at the loss of pretense. "Play a game with me. That's all. If you win, it would be more interesting if you got something, so let's wager."

I'm not bad at chess. Arika slides into the chair across from him, frowning suspiciously. "If I win, I want you to swear you will never bite me again," she says, quietly enough that others in the room can't hear.

He smiles at her. "Are certain that's what you really want?"

Arika nods curtly. "Yes." I don't like his smile. It means he's thinking. And he's awfully annoying when he thinks. "And if you win?"

Ruki's thumb passes over his lips briefly as he shifts his hand from his chin, which he'd been leaning casually on. He then straightens in his chair and looks at her calmly. "Be my personal maid for the day, at home." He says quietly.

Her shoulders visibly stiffen. "I-isn't that a little extreme?" She asks, shifting uncomfortably.

"It's as extreme as the concept of never biting you again. Thoughtless to one. To the other...well." He says, being obviously vague. "Do you accept?"

She sighs. "Fine," she mutters, figuring it's probably worth it to not get bit. She squeezes hands into fists before releasing.

"White go first. Go ahead." He says calmly, looking at his own black chess pieces. Arika moves her knight first, as she always tended to do. One of her greatest failings at chess is her lack of using her pawns.

Ruki moves his black pawn, drawing her into conversation. "I was surprised to see you today."

"I didn't have a choice," she mumbles, moving the other knight into the game. "It was awful."

"What happened to you skipping today? Didn't you say you would?" He asks, pushing his Bishop behind his pawn that had moved.

"Couldn't. Teacher basically told us we're suspended unless we had a verified absence," she says, voice dropping. "Can't even mimic the old bitch's voice. I've done it so often they caught on." She moves another piece.

Ruki pauses. "You could have asked, you know." He mutters, before moving his Rook, causing her to raise an eyebrow.

"Asked what?" She asks, taking his pawn with her knight and getting a small smirk.

"For me to bend the rules a little." He mutters, taking her knight with his Rook as she'd taken the bait, him sacrificing the pawn on purpose.

She sighs. "Didn't even think of it, but I wouldn't wanna owe you anyway. You're awful annoying, no offense," she says, tone slightly teasing as she presses forward.

Ruki's eyes lift from the game to meet hers. "Hn. I would've asked for something in return. "But...while we're being honest, I didn't know if you were here today, yet I stopped by the cafe anyway." He smirks a little. "I'd say it's a good thing you didn't skip, even if you don't."

"Couldn't resist the chance to gloat, hm?" She asks, a little annoyed. She decides to just pull her queen out, knowing she would do the most damage. Hopefully.

"You knew I'd come." He mutters, moving his Knight out. "You could almost say that you were waiting for me."

"That's a little presumptuous. If we took the same bus and I still went to the stop, despite knowing you would be there, that doesn't mean I'm waiting for you," she mumbles, blushing faintly as she lines her queen up for his knight.

Ruki smiles slightly, moving his Knight out of the way but leaving his pawn vulnerable. "Are you certain that you weren't sometimes looking at the door? Heh.. At the very least once they dressed you up like that you must have been dreading it. What they did to you was.. Disappointing however." He mutters, looking at her frills and bows with mild distaste."That's why you should be allowed a do over."

"You are reading WAY too far into this," she mutters. In her flustered state, she actually takes the pawn, while she would normally think it over a little better. "You got a maid kink or some shit?"

"I'm just thoroughly interested in seeing your composure break." He says, just as he takes her Queen with his Rook, in a move that mimicked the one which took her Knight. Distraction, decoy, then capture.

Arika makes a small strangled noise, feeling like the game probably just went to shambles in that one move. "Well that's rude," she mumbles as he sets her white queen down along with her other lost pieces and contemplates them for a moment.

".. After reviewing the situation by the way, I've decided that you should just focus on Annie as your target. You don't have to befriend the youngest Sakamaki anymore." He mutters quietly.

"That's fine," she murmurs, sighing. "She's probably easier to deal with, anyway."

"Mn." Ruki looks at her. "Are you going to give up?" He asks, glancing at the board. She shakes her head and moves another piece.

"I would actually rather die."

Ruki's expression changes slightly, as though pleased. "He was looking at you, you know." He says offhandedly.

"Who was?" She asks, glancing up at Ruki from over the game.

"Subaru Sakamaki." His eyes remain contemplative as he looks at the game in front of them.

Arika pulls a face. "Course he was looking at me. I piss him off all the time," she shrugs, nothing occurring to her that he's implying something else.

Ruki looks up at her suddenly. "You're not that naive are you? He quite clearly has an attraction of some sort towards you."

She bristles. "I'm not naive. He's brutish and weird and aggressive. That isn't how people behave when they're attracted."

"We aren't people though, Arika. You seem to keep forgetting that. We're vampires. Him, being older than both you and I. When you've been set in your ways for a long time...attraction can be manifested into other ways."

"Regardless. I'm not interested in him," she sighs, voice quiet. "I... can't be with someone that shows their affection by attacking me."

Ruki stops and looks at her. "...Were you frightened of him when he bit you?" He asks, no judgement in his tone, simply asking.

Arika sighs and moves another piece. "...Yeah," she admits. "It...isn't exactly normal, Ruki, much as you think it is. If I just came up and nommed you on the neck, you wouldn't just sit there and take it. Probably. I dunno what you're into."

Ruki moves another piece. "No, I wouldn't be pleased. But, without Subaru biting you, I hope you realise that I won't hesitate to be the one to do so. Unless you win..." He mutters.

She blinks up at him. "I'm not a bloodbag," she mumbles. "Even if you try, I'll fight you. Don't think THAT'S gonna go away."

Ruki looks at her. "That's fine. I don't want you completely tamed. If that pride left your eyes...it wouldn't be as interesting. But that doesn't mean that I won't monopolise you for myself now. My brothers won't touch you. Understand? If they do...you're to tell me."

Taking his bishop with her own, she scowls. "No. Fight me," she mutters automatically. Arika slouches down in her seat some, giving the impression of pouting. "You sound like... you're trying to be my weird vampire boyfriend or some shit."

Ruki raises a brow. "Oi, you're not making yet another reference to that terrible movie, are you? Kou might have laughed the other times but he's not here right now." He mutters, taking another of her pawns but disinterested in it. He wanted her King now.

Arika shakes her head, face a lot more serious than usual. "No. I'm asking why the hell you think I'm going to just... let you do what you want with me. 'Monopolize me'."

Ruki looks at her levelly. "The conditions when you came to stay at our house was to gain information, and give your blood. If I didn't monopolise you, you'd be bitten by all four of us. Unless you've formed an attachment to my other brothers...I will keep you." He says in a calm manner. "Do you want someone else other than me to bite you?" He asks.

"That was NEVER agreed upon. You just said information. I didn't even know you were a vampire when I made the agreement," she points out, ignoring his question.

Ruki smiles, fingers curling. She was sharp. "Well then...do you want to leave?" He asks suddenly.

Her eyes narrow. "No, I don't. You seriously gonna take that angle?"

He raises a brow. "No. I can give you my word that I won't threaten to kick you out. I'm just saying: If the pain of being bitten by me is so terrible, then leave. It's that simple." He mutters, taking her King via his other Bishop. He then looks up at her.

Arika shifts uncomfortably as her expression darkens. "You never expected I had a chance to win, did you," she asks softly, not looking up.

Thin lips tilt up to smile slightly. "I was born less than a decade before the second world war, I've had quite a few years of practice."

She blinks up at him now, slowly smirking a little. "Fuckin grandpa," she mutters teasingly.

Ruki hums, cutting his eyes to the ceiling briefly. "Kou is only a year younger than me but he says the same."

She snickers quietly. "You're all fuckin seniors. Heh, you should see if you can get a senior's card."

"Not all of us can be edgy teenagers miss Amane." He teases lightly, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Oh, fight me," she grumbles. "Speaking of which. I'm totally going to fight you when we get home, outcome of the game aside."

Ruki glances at the clock on the wall. "Then I have something to look forward to. I suppose your break is over now." He says, before shifting and taking her hand. He then smiles and leans down, pressing his lips to the skin of her knuckles. Arika startles and redden, quickly yanking her hand back and rising from the chair with a loud scraping sound.

"Oh, FUCK you," she mutters, hurrying from the room while clutching her hand. He's such a self important bastard.

Ruki tsks. Annoying. He'd been just about to bite her. He leans back in his chair and regards the empty doorway. He hoped she understood the consequences if she did follow up on her words and tried to fight him. Foolish Livestock.