|Maaka Residence|

Junko disentangled herself from Ren when she woke up. He groaned in his sleep, holding on to her night shirt, before finally letting go with something that sounded like a tiny snore. She grinned when she heard that. And he was always claiming he didn't snore, hah.

Ever since she had told him that her father's men had found her he had been even more agitated than before. Even if he didn't say it, she was sure he had his bats checking the surroundings of the house more than once. In a way, he was even more determined to stay near her than Elda had been. Though in his defense, she preferred his methods of waking her up far more. And on top of that, there was the 'problem' with Anju.

Ren hadn't told her, and Anju was as silent as the grave about what was going on with her. One look at Karin and it was obvious she was completely unaware of anything that went on. And she wasn't so sure she should talk to Henry about something that was very clearly Anju's business, those were her thoughts as she walked down the stairs. She'd found some pajama pants, walking down like that. Since she would be able to work from home out there was no need to get up that early. Though it had meant she had missed breakfast with the Maaka sisters.

Or at least one of them. Junko blinked when she encountered Anju on the way down. Dressed prim and proper like always, the girl gave her the same look as always, though this time it was mixed with a small smile.
'Good morning.' Anju said softly.
Junko quickly checked the clock. She had thought it was later than it actually was. 'Good morning, Anju-san. What are you doing up so early? Are you going to school again today?'

It had been made clear to Junko that even though Henry encouraged a human upbringing in his children, the older they became the less they were able to bear the sun. Even young Anju experienced terrible headaches on hot days, in combination with faint spells like Karin experienced after more excessive blood loss. It was unusual for the girl to have gone to school every day of the new semester.

'… Yes.' Anju replied.
'Listen, you human cow, ya gotta stop Anju. She's doing stupid things for the sake of that stupid sister of hers.' Bge interrupted, flailing wildly in Anju's arms.
Anju frowned. 'I'll leave you at home if you behave like that, Bge-kun.' She threatened, arching a thin eyebrow in expectancy to be obeyed.
The doll indeed stopped his thrashing and flailing about, even somehow seeming remorseful about what was going on. Junko frowned.

'Anju-san, I know I'm not a vampire, and I don't have any business with this. But still, I have come to care for your family! So please, if there is anything I can do, please ask me for help.' She offered.

Anju looked up at the woman in surprise, before considering her offer. Perhaps she could be something like the Kenta boy for now? Though her big brother was sure to make a scene if he found out that Anju used Junko to still be able to move in the daytime more easily.

'Could you walk me to school today?' she finally requested. 'And then pick me up again, if that's okay?'

Junko nodded, for some reason happy that her offer of help had been accepted. 'Of course. I'll go get dressed. Be back down in ten minutes.'

As soon as Junko had left, Bge started to wiggle in Anju's arms again. 'I'm not blaming ya for trying to stay in the sun much longer. But if you stay out too long again today, you're gonna faint again. Even if it's for the sake of that idiotic sister of yours, there's only so much you can take.'

Anju grimaced at the idea. Her transformation was beginning, but for now she could only hold on for as long as possible. Before her sister was trapped alone in the day world for the rest of her life.

|After School|

Junko hummed a tune as she picked out a cooled drink for Anju. The girl had felt like she was burning up, even though the spring sun was still pale at this time of year. She had figured that something cold to drink might be the best way to perk the girl up.

'Anju-san, I brought some strawberry milk and a kiwi cooler. Please take whichever one you like best, since…' her voice trailed off as she saw the Tachibana girl standing near Anju. She could just hear the last part of her sentence.

'… or you'll get a nasty burn.'

Junko frowned, setting both her feet apart as she looked at the girl with one eyebrow raised – a look she had been trying to copy from Anju since the first time she had seen it. It seemed to work, since the girl shrunk back in response.

'Wha-what? What's with that yakuza look you've got going on, huh?' Yuriya asked, clearly not comfortable with Junko's appearance.

Junko handed Anju the strawberry milk with a gentle smile, before glaring right back at Yuriya. 'I will not have anyone threaten a member of the Maaka family.' She made clear, folding her arms over one another as she did so. Her own kiwi drink was on the bench behind her, clearly forgotten. 'If you're going to be spouting threats at anyone, don't do it at them.'

Yuriya let out a shaky laugh. The woman wasn't going to pick a fight with her in the middle of the day, was she? 'Look, I was just talking with Anju about her awakening as a vampire, that doesn't mean…'

'Just like you talked to Karin about how the children of a human and a vampire are infertile.' Junko added. That bit of information had sent Karin into a wailing mess of despair for a few days, even leading her to interrogate Junko about her feelings on the subject. Junko had, quite honestly, replied that at the moment the thought of children couldn't be further of her mind. 'If you have nothing better to do than annoy people with maybe's and could have's, you might want to spend some time honing other skills.'

'Oh yeah, like what?' Yuriya asked, not happy at being talked to like this.

'Running.' Junko said. 'You see, miss Elda has been teaching me a lot of useful tricks, and I promised her I'd practice. So if you won't leave Anju-san alone, I might pick you as a practice partner.'

At the mention of Elda's name the blood drained from Yuriya's face. Junko's guess had been correct, Elda was known and feared throughout the vampire community. The young girl started to back away from the woman, observed by Anju as she did so. 'You wouldn't. There's no way you would.'

This time Junko mimicked one of Elda's laughs. It was a good thing she had had the opportunity to observe them so often or it wouldn't have gone half as good. That was enough to send Yuriya reeling away, without so much as a goodbye. Junko watched her run away with a pleased smirk on her face. If anybody was thinking about picking on Ren's younger sisters, they had another thing coming.

'Well, that showed her.' She said, sitting down. Of course she had forgotten about her kiwi drink, spilling it on her shorts as she sat down. Suppressing a row of swear words a twelve-year old shouldn't hear she retreated to the public restroom of the park. At least the Tachibana girl hadn't seen her doing that, or her intimidation attempt would have been laughable.

When she returned five minutes later she could see Anju walking towards her with deliberate steps, her umbrella still shielding her from the sun. In her hands she held a crumpled paper. 'We're leaving.' The girl announced, her silver hair slightly glinting in the sunlight.

'Anju-san, are you alright?' Junko asked in surprise. Anju took her by the shirt, leading her away from the bench they had been sitting on.
'I am fine.' She replied, a sort of strain still managing to sound through her voice. 'Some people are annoying me, that's all.'

The girl wobbled for a second, but regained her senses before she had to be supported by the mortal.
'Anju-san, I-'
'Anju.' The girl said. 'You should call me Anju, from now on. You stepped in on my behalf, like my brother would have done.'

After that the girl ignored any attempt Junko made at talking, simply keeping quiet as she marched home with a steady pace. All the while she kept her parasol in such a way that the sun's rays could never cast their rays on her.

|That Evening|

Junko finished the last touches on the picture she had to edit when a door slammed shut on the floor below her. She startled, nearly deleting her work out of fear. Clearly something was going on. With a sigh she rubbed her temples. Should she go and check it out? Hadn't she been meddling enough for the day already? It wasn't her job to get involved with the family business this much.

With a guilty look she glanced towards the tomes that had been collecting on her desk. She and Henry had been going through them in her spare moments when she wasn't working or out running errands. Today she had barely made any progress. But then again, if the residents were in trouble right now, shouldn't she help them out?

With a curse she went out of her room, towards Anju's room. It had sounded like it came from her direction, though she couldn't be sure. She knocked on the door, gently so she wouldn't come off as a concerned mother.
'Anju-sa… Anju? Are you in there?' Another knock. 'Anju, are you okay?'

Someone gave her a light tap to the side of her head. With an annoyed frown Junko gazed up at Ren. 'What was that for?'
'That kid isn't in her room anymore.' He said, softly. 'She probably went outside to cool off a little bit.'

'Is it because she's becoming a full vampire?' Junko asked.
Ren opened his eyes wide. 'How do you know that?' he asked. He had obviously been thinking it was one of the best kept secrets in the house.

'I heard Tachibana saying something that Anju should be careful not to get herself burned. I kind of jumped to conclusions from there on out.' Junko confessed, before telling Ren the story as far as she knew.

'Tjeh, that girl. Good thing I wasn't around when she was picking on Anju, or I would have shown her something else. Though you did pretty good too.' He admitted, looking at her with respect.

Junko shrugged, lifting her hands next to her in a show of victory. 'What can I say, I'm a natural talent.' She ignored Ren muttering something that sounded remarkably like 'demon woman' and continued. 'But I am worried about your sister. Isn't twelve a bit early to be an adult already?'

Ren let out a sigh, before motioning her away from Anju's door. The last thing the girl needed was to hear two adults discussing her problems while she could hear it. 'It's early, but she's always been extremely strong. Nobody can control the bats like she can, for one example.'
He seated himself in the chair his grandmother always used when she came to observe Junko in her room. His eyes seemed to attempt to pierce a hole in the wall as he talked and thought at the same time. 'The real problem is Karin slipped her some spicy food just now. One of our weakest moments is when we are about to awaken, so this will really cause her some problems.'

'When do you think she'll… you know?' Junko asked, taking one of the books from the pile on her desk.

'With those symptoms? Before the week is over.' Ren said, without thinking twice.

Junko looked down at the book, saddened. From what she had seen, Anju was extremely attached to her older sister. To lose her ability to be near her sister, to protect her… she had been a younger sister as well, and now her sister was dead. Though it wasn't really comparable with what she had been through, perhaps she should have a talk with Anju later on. For safe measures, she would be sure to slip Anju her own phone number first thing the girl returned.

|The Next Evening|

Of course Anju hadn't called her when she had gotten in trouble. Independent as she was, she had tried to fight her way out of it herself, and lost. Junko stood in the opening of the door as she watched the young girl cry out, comforted by her older brother. Henry was in the room as well, as distraught with the situation as everyone else was.

'Congratulations, huh?' Henry asked. Apparently Karin had congratulated Anju in an attempt to be nice, which had backfired sadly. 'That's unfortunate.' He added after a pause.

Junko's look crossed Ren's for a second, and she gave a curt nod. For now she would go back to her room and read a little bit in the old books. After a while she'd come back to check on the situation. Before she entered her room she considered going to Karin's room, to check how she was dealing with the situation. Then she shook her head. In the end she and her sister had always made up between themselves after a rough patch. The Maaka sisters would have to go through the same thing.

Though in the end that didn't stop her two hours later, when she opened Anju's door. Ren let out a sigh of relief. 'I need to go to the bathroom for a second, Anju. I'll be back in a moment.'

Anju let him go with a look that was the dictionary definition of sadness. With a sob the newly awakened vampire let herself fall back on a pillow. When Junko threw Ren a questioning look, the older vampire shrugged. Like he had a manual to deal with two over-sensitive sisters.

Junko sat herself down on the bed, next to Anju's crying form. Everywhere in the room, dolls were watching the pair of them. Junko spotted the stuffed bear she had gotten Anju on the second shelf, looking very innocent among the rest of the girl's collection. Some of the eyes in the room glistened a bit too knowingly to be comforting.

Hesitating, she stroked Anju's long hair with one hand. It didn't seem to bring about any change, for good or for bad, so she continued. 'Anju… I'm sorry. I'm so very sorry for you.' she mumbled. She didn't think it was pity the girl wanted, and it wasn't pity she was offering. Just a very well-meant feeling of being sorry for her loss.

'She didn't mean it. She just thought that… that you would be happy for becoming an adult.' Junko continued. Between her and her older sister, Junko had gone in a flying fit when her sister hadn't wanted to come with her on a vacation. Angered she'd gotten on the plane, before giving up after two days and returning home to apologize to her sister. Three months later she'd been dead.

'I'm not…' Anju sobbed. Junko decided to risk it, slipping one arm around the girl, lifting her up from her lying position. Before Anju could protest, Junko had the girl's head firmly nestled against her collarbone.
'Cry. Keep crying. You need to get all of that out of you.' she said. Anju continued crying, not because she wanted to obey but because right now her mind need an outlet. Her thin arms wrapped around Junko, who was a poor substitute for the person she really wanted with her now.

Junko kept stroking the girl's head, ignoring the looks the dolls were giving her. 'That's it. Don't stop crying. Just keep crying for as long as you can. You don't need to be strong right now.'
When her sister and mother had been killed, Junko hadn't come out of her room for a week. After that had been her first run-away from her father.

She made encouraging sounds, trying to support Anju's more violent hiccups as she continued to cry. Junko felt tears of her own coming up at this genuine show of distress but forced them back. This was Anju's turn to cry, and hers alone.
'Being the little sister is tough.' She murmured. She could see Ren peering through the crack of the door. He didn't want to disturb them, but it was obvious that he at the same time wanted to be near his sister at this point. With a small flicker of her eyes Junko urged him in the room.

'It's never easy, protecting someone.' Junko continued. 'But it's okay to stop fighting, just for today. Just for a little while.'
Anju started to wail even harder at that. 'You're not weak, Anju. You've been fighting so hard this entire time. Let us protect you, for a little while now.'

Ren knelt down beside them on the bed, stretching his arms out for Anju. The girl immediately responded, wrapping her arms around her big brother's neck. Junko ignored the wet stain on her shirt as her eyes followed the movement. She gave a last touch to Anju's shoulder, before mouthing good night to Ren.

Outside the door she found that she was shaking. It had been so long since she had seen someone cry so earnestly. So long since she had found her heart breaking for someone else's distress. With a shudder she straightened her shoulder, making her way to her own room. She still had a date with some dusty books that needed to be inspected. She tried her utter best to not hear the wails coming from Anju's room.

|Moon's Note : Believe it or not, we are nearing the end of the manga, and therefore, the end of this story. I know I don't do this often enough, but I want to say thank you to everyone who has been reviewing so far. With a special mention to Amandalucia for being so dedicated to reviewing lately! Don't worry too much, there are still a few chapters to go… just not that many…|