Miku couldn't quite believe what just happened.

She had just agreed to date Luka...Elluka...Luka...whatever, Miku decided, just call her 'Luka'. That was huge. Gigantic, even. Miku couldn't quite comprehend what that would mean. With a normal, non-vampire person, Miku knew more or less what to expect. Dates in the sunlight. Study sessions in the library. Eating ice cream together on summer nights. Sharing an umbrella. However, with Luka, all of the above seemed too...banal for what Luka was in reality. It all seemed so commonplace, so ordinary. How did vampires date in the first place? Did they even date? All of Miku's classes told her no. Not with humans, at least.

Furthermore, the two of them had just kissed. It was Miku's first kiss too, her first real kiss, if that wasn't enough to add on top of everything already, and her first relationship. Not to mention the whole problem of Luka's identity, which Miku decided to deal with later. This relationship was definitely going to get complicated later on, but right now, Miku found that she couldn't care less.

Because even though she was confused, and even though Luka wasn't exactly who she claimed to be, she was still Luka, and Miku's heart felt giddy, her stomach fluttery. Her lips almost felt as though they were pulsing from the chaste kiss they had just shared. Everything seemed surreal now, or disconnected. Even Luka seemed like she wasn't exactly here, even though she was. Miku just couldn't believe it, it was all so much to process.

"Are you okay?" said Luka, breaking the silence. "If you don't want to date, we can-"

"No," said Miku hurriedly. "No, like I said, I want us to...to date, but it's so much right now." Miku mimicked an explosion with her hands. "I..." she laughed. "I just can't believe it. I can't believe we're dating."

Luka smiled. "Let's take it slow. What would you like to do? You're free for the rest of today, right?"

Miku nodded. Something in Luka's smile was reassuring, and Miku felt herself relax a little. Still, dating Luka surely entailed a greater intimacy as time went on. Even Luka's words - "Let's take it slow" - implied that later, they would...Miku swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. She couldn't think about that right now. Her old bite wound, long since healed over, tingled. It felt almost like her neck was a magnet, attracted by Luka's fangs. The irony. "I'm free, yeah. Wow..." Miku managed to choke out a laugh, and she hurriedly brought up a random topic to distract herself from the strange, not-at-all-unpleasant feeling in her neck, "it seems like it's been a while since anything crazy happened, huh? Leon Magnus, the wendigo...think something crazy's going to happen soon?"

Luka grinned. "Didn't something crazy just happen?"

"Well...no. I mean, yes, but not like that."

Luka shrugged and walked over to Miku. Miku immediately stiffened as the blackberry-and-musk scent of the vampire brushed over her nose, intoxicating her senses. She felt Luka's hand on her own, and her heartbeat accelerated to a gallop. "Let's not think about that. I haven't heard of anything going on, at least, and I promise that this time. Have you heard of anything strange with Yukari or Lily?"

"No," Miku admitted, sucking in her lip, her hand exploring the unfamiliar terrain of Luka's. It was cool and smooth, like a river stone, but soft. Miku's thumb wonderingly ran over skin over delicate bone, her fingers unconsciously seeking a pulse that wasn't there. Each of Luka's fingers were thin and graceful. Miku was so entranced by something as simple as Luka's hand that her train of thought was soon lost. All she knew was that she wanted. Her neck was itching and tingling so bad it felt like her blood was about to jump out, painful and hot and Miku reached out a hand to place over her own neck, hoping that the residual coolness from the ice cream would help, but it did nothing.

Luka's thumb caressed the back of Miku's hand, a repetitive motion that Miku tried her best to concentrate on. "Are you sure you're okay?" Luka asked, concerned.

Miku shook her head. This was as bad as that time she was in Luka's room. Worse, actually. Her heart was thumping a one-two beat, her hand squeezing tight onto Luka's.

I'm like a drug addict, thought Miku. An addict who wants another hit and has it right in front of her.

"Is it always like this?" Miku whispered.

"Like what?"

Miku bit her lip. "My neck feels really weird when I'm close to you. It feels all tingly and itchy and stuff. That...that doesn't happen all the time, it started during the wendigo thing. I was just wondering why that is."

Luka stared at Miku, her eyes wide, dead silent. She said nothing for so long that Miku began to feel genuine worry gnaw at the edges of her mind. Was she actually addicted? "Luka?"

"After only two bites..." Luka said, quietly. "That is an abnormal reaction to have after two. Usually it takes many bites from the same vampire to generate that sort of response."

"I-is it because you're Elluka?" asked Miku.

Luka shook her head. "That has nothing to do with it. But..." Luka put a hand to her chin, "don't worry. There are two ways of dealing with this. One of them is, obviously out of the question, me taking your blood again. The other is through medication. We have some at the house, I can go and get you some now, you can come with me."

"Why is you taking my blood out of the question?" asked Miku, quietly. "Would that make it worse?"

Luka stared at Miku. "What?"

Miku quickly looked down; she couldn't meet Luka's eyes. She felt too flushed with a heady mix of shame and want, her heartbeat fast, her cheeks warm. She could almost feel the vast network of blood pulsing in her body, but at the same time, all sensation seemed to be focused on her neck, as though all of her blood cells were on high alert for any activity there. "We're, uh...dating now, right? And it's not like you haven't done this before..."

"Miku, please," said Luka, her tone of voice indecipherable, both pleading and ragged, rational and emotional. "We just got together."

Miku glanced at Luka under her lashes, not raising her head. "You don't want my blood?"

"I thought you wanted to go slowly," said Luka carefully. "Because of, you know, my identity. Everything."

Maybe this was a bad idea. Miku didn't care, not when she was feeling like this. Maybe afterwards, she would start to feel regret, but the Miku of now didn't care about the Miku of later. "You're still you, aren't you?"

Luka nodded. Her eyes were beginning to turn a tinge of red, mixing in with blue, like blood diffusing in water. Her hand twitched in Miku's own. There was a thumping in Miku's head, a tribal, ancient drum beat that urged her forward, forward, forward. Luka was still hesitant; Miku brought her other hand up to Luka's cold cheek.

"Please," said Miku.

Luka closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," said Miku. Her voice sounded weird to her own ears, all choked, an involuntary movement of her vocal cords.

Luka nodded and opened her eyes, which were almost completely red now. She slowly lowered her head to Miku's neck. Miku closed her eyes as she felt Luka's hair brush against her cheek. Her neck felt unbearable, all tingle and desire focused in on a single overloaded point, and when Luka breathed over the former bite wound, Miku couldn't help but to gasp at the sudden cold air. Luka licked carefully at Miku's neck, her own breathing becoming ragged and heavy. Miku squirmed.

"Please," Miku said in a near-whimper, her hands twitching. At some point she had grabbed onto Luka's shoulders, her hands squeezing hard.

"It feels better," said Luka, "when you build up to it." Luka drew her tongue in concentric circles around Miku's neck, each stroke eliciting a bone-deep shiver. Then, Miku felt fangs.

Miku's eyes went wide and her legs went wobbly - only Luka managed to keep her standing, her hands supporting her back, running up and down her body. The vampiric venom immediately circulated itself in Miku's body, causing spasms of delight as pain mixed with heady pleasure. The sense of elevation and simultaneous relaxation overloaded Miku's brain circuits. All she could think about was the feeling of her hot, clamoring blood whipped in a frenzy, the feeling of Luka's cold hands in contrast to Miku's seemingly burning-hot skin, the feeling of the two of them slowly sinking to the ground. Heat pooled in Miku's body; she wanted more than this, more than even getting her blood sucked. Her hands tentatively went down to Luka's sides, exploring unfamiliar terrain, mapping out curves in her mental image.

Luka pulled back her fangs, and Miku gasped as the cold air met her new bite wound, the last of the vampiric venom making its way into her body, circuiting through her system. Still, the nameless desire remained in Miku's body, and she stared pleadingly up at Luka, unsure of what she wanted, unsure of what to do. Luka hesitated and leaned down, brushing her lips against Miku's. Thanks to the venom, every part of her seemed extra sensitive, and Miku shivered at the feeling of Luka's soft, soft lips against her own. She wanted more, more than this. She wanted all of Luka, all of everything, all of-

Luka pulled back abruptly. "Someone's coming."

Miku stared at Luka, uncomprehending as she struggled to pull her mind back to reality. "Wh-what?"

Luka pulled Miku up to her feet and sniffed the air. "Doesn't smell like anything supernatural, though."

"Oh my god," Miku mumbled as she shook her head. What just happened? Did that really just happen? Her fingers involuntarily brushed against her new bite wound. At least she was no longer feeling that weird...neck tingling anymore. But still...did she really just act like that? Her? Miku gulped. She suddenly felt like she wanted to run back home, hide herself in her room, and never speak to anyone again. She acted like a total blood addict. God.

Luka looked at her carefully. "Are you okay? I told you I could have just given you some medication..."

"N-no," said Miku. "No...I'm fine. I don't regret it...I think," she added at the end. "I just...wow," Miku let out a shaky laugh. "I can't believe that just happened. It's like..." Miku looked away, "it's like that wasn't even me."

Luka nodded. "Um...like I said, we can take it slow. I don't have much experience in dating either, so-"

"Wait, really?" said Miku. "I thought you were like, five hundred years old."

Luka shrugged. "I had flings, but I hadn't committed myself to anyone seriously in a long time. It's hard to get a vampire to fall in love." She grinned at Miku.

"Oh," said Miku, her cheeks heating up.

Luka smiled and opened her mouth to say more, but then she stiffened. Miku blinked, confused at her reaction, and looked around, seeing nothing. After a few moments though, Miku heard the crunching of leaves behind her. She turned around and saw Rin and Len. She blinked, dumbly. What were they doing here?

"What are you doing here?" said Miku, her mouth moving before her thoughts.

Len looked at her askance. "Uh...this is the shortcut to our house, remember?"

Rin sighed. "Gosh, Miku. I thought we grew up together."

Oh. Oh. Now that they mentioned it, Miku did recognize this place. Shit. She had been too dazzled by Luka to remember.

"So what are you doing here?" asked Len brightly. "Did you wanna hang out?"

"Oh, uh, no, I was just here with Luka," said Miku.

Rin furrowed her eyebrows. "Luka? Who's Luka?"

Oh, right. Miku had forgotten that Rin and Len knew nothing about all the supernatural stuff happening these days. Perhaps that was why Miku felt as though she hadn't seen them in a long time. Without her even knowing it, she had let her childhood friends fade out of her life. Guilt tugged at the edge of her heart. Miku turned towards Luka to introduce her, but to her surprise, Luka had gone. Probably hiding somewhere, Miku guessed, in case Rin and Len were Seraphim agents.

"Oh, you'll meet her someday," said Miku. "She's cool."

"Huh," said Len. "Well. Okay. So...you don't want to hang out or anything? I mean, it's been a while. We could, I dunno, play some video games. We just got a PS4 a few days ago."

"Yeah," Rin chimed in. "We have Shadow of Mordor and stuff, it's great!"

"Uh, sorry, sorry," said Miku, putting on a smile, "I got a lot of homework to do and stuff, you know the drill, and my parents are getting on my case about grades. Next time, okay?"

"Alright, next time," said Rin with a shrug. "Come on, Len."

Len bit his lip and nodded. "Okay. Uh, see you sometime, Miku."

"Yeah," Miku echoed as she watched the two of them disappear through the trees. After some time, Luka landed next to her. Apparently she had hidden herself in a tree.

"I hadn't realized that it's been such a long time since I last talked with them," said Miku, softly. "With everything happening, it's like...I don't know."

Luka glanced back. "Well, there's nothing weird happening now, right? You can still hang out with them."

"Yeah," said Miku with a sigh. She wasn't sure how that would turn out now, and in an effort to get her mind off of the strangeness of her interactions with the people who were once her childhood friends, she changed the subject. "Why'd you hide?"

Luka blinked. "I didn't know who was coming, in case it was the Seraphim."

"Come on," Miku playfully elbowed her. "You were just eating ice cream with me out in public."

Luka laughed. "Well, okay, maybe I was being a bit paranoid. But I had just taken your blood, so I don't know, maybe the Seraphim can tell, or maybe someone saw us and called the Seraphim to help you."

"Well," said Miku, taking Luka's hand, trying to forget about the strange awkwardness between her and the twins,"let's forget about all that for now. Let's do something fun. Wanna watch a movie?"

-o-o-o-

People had been acting weird for the past few days. Weeks. Months, even. Len had no idea what to think of it. His friends, Lily, Yukari, and Miku...they all seemed so distant these days, sort of. Almost. He wasn't sure if he was paranoid, or if for some reason they really were becoming more distant. It was like the three of them had split off into their own group, and him and Rin were becoming increasingly left behind. Before, calls and texts to hang out with them on weekends or after school came frequently. Now? They didn't contact them at all. It was as though Rin and Len had been slowly fading out of their friends' lives. Their earlier meeting with Miku was only further proof of that. Before, conversation would be free and easy. Now it was awkward, strange, acquaintances who hadn't seen each other in years, half-hearted promises of meeting again later.

"Len!" said Rin cheerily, bursting into his room. "You ready for the big day?"

"Y-yeah, I guess," said Len, pushing away his thoughts. He wondered if Rin ever thought about the strange state of their formerly close friend group. She definitely seemed aware of the awkwardness the other day, not that she said much to him about it other than a shrug and a simple, "Things change." "Um. The meeting is at North First Street, right?"

"Geez, of course it is, Len. That's where the Seraphim Quarters of Crypton is. I'm super excited," said Rin, almost hopping, "I still can't believe we got into the Cherubim Program!"

"Yeah," said Len. "I wish we could've all gone together though. You know, us and others."

Rin shrugged. "They didn't sign up, remember? Besides, who cares? They aren't into supernatural stuff. All Yukari does is read supernatural romance novels, and Miku and Lily don't really care about it either. We're the only ones interested in fighting the good fight," Rin jabbed the air in a one-two punch.

Len didn't especially care about the so-called 'good fight', and he was willing to bet that Rin didn't either. They applied out of boredom, a sort of 'haha we'll never get in' deal, but now they're in, and their acceptance, well...it was also a matter of boredom. It wasn't as though their friends ever invited them out to do anything anymore.

Oh well. The Cherubim Program was at least a fast track to Seraphim success, and there was, Len had to admit, a certain romanticized allure to working as a fighter against dark supernatural forces. It was like those spy movies where agents used tons of cool gadgets and drove cars with rocket launchers in their fight against evil. The uniform was cool too, and the pay, at higher levels, combined with governmental perks, well...it was hard to pass up. Working as a Seraphim was definitely better than working as some office drone. Maybe he could make new friends in the Cherubim Training Program. Maybe he could impress his old friends once they cared enough to ask. Maybe he could even impress Miku.

"Let's go," said Len, getting up and pushing his chair in. "We don't want to be late."

-o-o-o-

"As you know," said Yuuma, pointing to a ragged map of Crypton tacked onto decaying corkboard, "corruption is the name of the game in this city. Of course, relations between humans and supernaturals have never been cordial, but it is only in Crypton where anti-supernatural sentiment is so pronounced. Crypton is the only city that prides itself on having a population of zero in dream-eaters, djinn, sprites, the list goes on and on."

"All this," SeeU took over, "is thanks to those bloodsucking parasites, vampires. Even though Crypton's population of supernatural creatures is low, vampires run rampant in this city. Vampires were the ones who drove out every other supernatural species out there in order to cull competition for their food source - humans." SeeU folded her arms. "All this bullshit is to make Crypton their private feeding pen. And the top of the top vampire house in this city? House Karnstein. They were the ones who tied us down with legal documents and fed upon us until we had no strength left!"

The assembled, rag-tag group of werewolves glanced at each other uneasily. The two de-facto leaders of their pack were terribly passionate about taking down the Karnsteins. Sure, the werewolves were collectively fed up with the vampires, but what could they do? They were only a small pack. How could they possibly stand up against powerful vampires who were so entrenched in the city that the local government would defend them? Even looking at raw strength, while werewolves usually had the advantage, they were all too weak now.

As for Ia, she was tired. After getting information from Yukari, the werewolves seemed to have done nothing but sit on their hands and plan endlessly, giving speeches that went nowhere. In fact, Ia was beginning to have a slight suspicion that the werewolves had no plan at all - that all of this was empty bluster and ambition, the words of a pack of rebellious kids with a head full of dreams. Before, Ia was fine following orders, but the more time she spent here, the more it seemed like she was just being given busywork without a set goal in mind. In other words, wasting her time. Ia hated wasting her time.

Ia heaved a sigh. "You've made an awful lot of these speeches, but I'm curious to hear about your actual plan. I've agreed to help, but I still don't know what I'm working towards."

"Isn't it obvious?" said SeeU. "We're aiming to equalize. We're aiming to make Crypton a place of more even supernatural population, and, well," SeeU shrugged, "in the process, showing those uppity vampires that other supernaturals are still a threat."

"I get that much," said Ia. "Brush up on your listening comprehension. What is your plan? So, okay, SeeU is going to school to...to what? And then what am I going to do with those nightmares you asked me to create? What is everyone else going to do?"

SeeU sighed heavily, as though Ia was a particularly dim student. "Look, dream-eater-"

"Excuse me," Yuuma intervened. "I realize that we have been vague in the detailing of our plan, but you have to understand that it is still early and you have only just joined our group. Now, you can think of this, as we call it, rebellion as a start-up of sorts. Do you know what a start-up is?"

"I know what a start-up is," Ia said. "Do not patronize me, please."

Yuuma cleared his throat. "Yes. Well, as in any organization starting out, I am sure you realize the importance of hiring good employees. Now, what is a good employee? Someone who works hard, someone who is trustworthy, someone who has ingenuity and creative drive. We brought you in because of your unique qualities as the last dream-eater in Crypton, and we could guess from your lack of employment history that you have been operating mostly off-the-radar. We are unregistered werewolves, Ia, and we highly respect that. It is quite a feat that you are still alive in this city."

"I didn't give you my nonexistent resume," said Ia, flatly. "Cut your Business 101 bullshit and tell me your plan."

"However," Yuuma bowled on, "because you are so new, it will be highly unorthodox for us to tell you everything about our plan. Not even our more established employees know about it. Ia, you can think of yourself as an intern here. Interns do not know everything about the internal workings of their organization, right? Interns just do what they're told. Now, it is not at all unusual for organizations to extend full time offers to their interns."

Ia laughed. "Please. I seem to recall that you two were the ones who called me out. You two were the ones who came crawling to me with a dream-vial as a bribe for my help. You seem to think that you're negotiating from a place of higher power, but from what little you told me, a dream-eater seems to be integral to your plan. 'Now'," said Ia, adding an extra mocking emphasis on the word, "I have no interest in wasting my time helping a bunch of ragtag puppies without a tangible plan and a tangible goal. I got along fine without relying on anyone before, and I can get along fine without you werewolves. You need me more than I need you, and if you want our..." Ia paused, "business relationship to continue, I want more knowledge than 'go here' and 'do that'."

After that, Ia stared at Yuuma for so long he had the grace to look embarrassed.

"Well," he said awkwardly, "let me consult with SeeU." That said, he turned towards her and the two of them had a heated, hushed discussion for several seconds. After a while, Yuuma turned back towards Ia. "Have you heard of the Cherubim Training Program?"

Ia considered this. It sounded vaguely familiar. "No. What is it?"

"It's a program that takes in second-year high school students and up and trains them to become new members of the Seraphim," Yuuma said. "As you can imagine, high schoolers go in idealistic, wanting to protect the city from the threat of supernaturals...including vampires. Unfortunately, the city is so corrupt, and vampires so powerful, that the Cherubim very quickly fall under vampiric inveiglement. Thus, this prevents the Seraphim from ever really realizing how much power the vampires actually have within the city. "

"They're predators," SeeU cut in. "They get them when they're young and make them puppets dancing on strings."

"Alone, us werewolves have none of those powers over the human mind and perception that vampires possess. What we do have is brute strength, but brute strength is useless when we're competing against public perception. That is where you come in, Ia."

SeeU nodded and picked up where Yuuma left off. "People are influenced by their subconscious mind. By planting recurring dreams in their head, it's like that movie, Inception. By mixing together a cocktail of all their primal fears about vampires and making them dream it night after night, you plant the seeds of discomfort. But we don't do everyone."

"First," said Yuuma, "we aim for the Cherubim. We know that a group of humans at Vocalo High is being actively inveigled by a Karnstein vampire, Luka Megurine. This group of humans are in the same class as a Rin and Len Kagamine - two new entrants in the Cherubim Training Program, as announced on the Seraphim website. We will become close with this group and try to break them free of their dazzlement. By doing so, we will be able to use them to gain information about the Karnsteins. We will then use Rin and Len to find out more about the hierarchical structure of the Seraphim, and, well," he shrugged, "we'll figure out where to go from there, and who to target with the dreams. That is only a portion of our plan, and it is the portion that has to do with you, specifically."

Ia sat back and thought about it. The plan seemed rickety to her. Sure, she could give a few people nightmares every night about vampires, but so what? While she understood that the werewolves were aiming at fighting a war for what was essentially mind territory, she was only one dream eater against tons of vampires. Furthermore, the werewolves didn't even know what to do after gaining inside access to the Seraphim. Maybe they wanted to use Len and Rin somehow, but from Ia heard, it was unlikely that Cherubim would have much power within the organization anyways.

Still, at least this granted her a steady source of food. In order to plant a dream, Ia needed to consume the older one first. This plan also came at little additional risk to her, especially since she was no longer planting herself at that high school. Life for her would go on much as it always did. And if the werewolves' plan worked and supernatural equality was somehow established, well, all the better for her. And if it didn't work, it wasn't as though Ia had any documentation. If all the werewolves got caught, it was no skin off of her back, even if SeeU and Yuuma gave her away to the authorities - it wasn't like they had any photos of her, and it wasn't as though Ia even had a concrete home. For someone who spent all of her life hiding, it was no big deal.

"I assume you want me to plant the dreams into Len and Rin's heads," said Ia. "Since they're Cherubim. Not the others, right?"

SeeU rolled her eyes. "For someone who admonished me for my listening comprehension, you sure don't seem like you have any. Didn't we just say that we wanted to break Luka's group free of their dazzlement so that we could gain insight about the Karnsteins, or did that get lost in your little brain somewhere?"

Ia glared at SeeU. "Excuse me. I thought that maybe you had a plan other than making me do everything. 'We' will become close to the group, 'we' will try to break them free of their dazzlement, sorry that I thought that maybe you had some abilities other than turning into a dog. But I guess with your personality, you can't break anyone free from their dazzlement."

SeeU visibly bristled, her lip pulling back to reveal slightly sharp teeth. "What did you just say?"

Yuuma glanced between SeeU and Ia. "You two seem to have some issues with each other. In order to promote a healthier environment, it is important for people to air their communication problems in a constructive manner without resorting to ad hominem attacks."

"Shut the fuck up, Yuuma," said SeeU. "You talk like an Intro to Business textbook."

Ia took a deep breath and thought over what she had just learned. "Okay. So essentially, you want me to break into, what, four houses a night. The Kagamine house, the Hatsune house, the Yuzuki house, and the Masuda house. That is a lot of work for what I was promised. To use words that you can understand, Yuuma, I would like to re-open negotiations."

Yuuma stared at her.

"I would like some tangible form of compensation for all this trouble," said Ia, "as opposed to the vague promises you give the rest of your pack. I didn't really get the sad state of your affairs until now, but it seems like you need me to pull off pretty much everything in your plan. It seems like, if I leave, everything in your plan falls apart. It seems like I should get a little kickback for helping you all so much."

SeeU scowled. "Well, what do you want?"

Ia looked innocently at her. "Not that much. Let's just say that you owe me favors. A lot of favors."