"I know he lost a lot of blood, and the marks were weird, but Onoto, how the fuck did you jump to siring?" the second cousin asked the first, breaking up a long silence. Shinji had been accompanying Onoto out on the balcony as Jirou showered.

"You have a better idea, Shin?" Onoto asked, again lighting up.

Shinji leaned on the railing, pocketing his hands. He raised his eyebrows and turned away. "I was thinking something a little more foxy," he hinted at, looking back to Onoto.

Onoto exhaled, watching Shin through his cloud of smoke as he nodded. "A kitsune-mochi?" he replied, considering it. "Why do you say that?"

"About the vixen?" Shin asked, almost making it sound obvious. "They're tricky, and that red hair, man. And I mean, vamps just aren't common in Japan. Popular, though. She could be trying to mislead any dimwit that caught on. Even if she was a vampire, it would be way too rare to add siring on top of that."

Onoto looked away. "Maybe you're right," he reasoned. He again closed his lips around the paper, considering it all. He blew out the smoke, ready to express his bottom line. "I don't give a damn what it is. It'll be taken care of soon enough."

Ren moved stealthily, creeping up behind Ivy as the wind tussled his hair. She had occupied herself with something at the ledge. He had left her here, at the top of a building, while he pursued his prey. He had been doing this for a while, as she declared she was now fine with it.

"Though I prefer Anju, I don't want to be a burden to anyone. You chose to have me as a burden, so I don't feel as bad, but if I need to I will stay here and 'behave'." Those were her exact words and Ren hadn't questioned them. As he looked over her shoulder, however, he felt perhaps there might be a reason not to leave her alone.

Ivy had returned to her illustrated diary, something she had not done since she was human. Ren watched as she continued to add wildfire around the screaming souls.

"What's this?" he asked, jumping her. She reflexively pushed the notebook towards the edge, enough for it to slip. Ren's reflexes, however, were much better, and he caught it, bringing it to look at closer.

Ivy didn't protest but instead pivoted and sank, leaning up against the barricade of the ledge as she waited. Ren didn't give it much of his time, flicking his eyes back to Ivy.

Ren crouched, still hovering over her and staring at her with his yellow eyes as he decided on his words.

Ivy's eyes lifted to look at his hands. She replayed his phenomenal grab in her mind. All things supernatural about him attracted her, and she reached out to touch his available wrist, gently pulling it towards her as she allowed him to think.

Ren simply watched her, seeing her sullen again. It came after her sudden open affection toward him. He hoped the two weren't related.

"What is this?" Ren asked, his tone more demanding.

Ivy finally lifted her eyes to him. "It's just a drawing," she answered, almost seeming to believe it.

He looked down at her hands on his one, pulling at him tenderly, and realized that the affection and woe were, unfortunately, likely connected. So he pried. "Why are you doing that? Why now?"

Ivy knew what he was getting at and didn't dance around it. She didn't need to with him, not anymore. "Because I believe you're different. I don't trust myself to, but I feel that way. And I don't mean about being a vampire, I mean as a man."

She stopped, so Ren repeated, "Why now?"

Ivy narrowed her eyes at her thoughts, though they focused on the hem she now toyed with. "I went back to my ex's place. A lot of awful things happened there, things that I had blocked out. They've come back. When I was waiting in the park for you after, I was scared to tell you what I'd done, but I then knew you wouldn't abandon or hurt me. You might be upset with me, but you would help me. When I told you it finally set in. You're not like them."

"Why are you upset then? Do you think you don't deserve to be treated better?" Ren questioned, running through ideas. "You've been good towards others. Don't you believe in karma or some shit?"

Ivy was quick to shake her head. "No. I believe there's a balance. For there to be good there must be bad. Anything good I ever had was taken away from me horribly. Accepting that you don't intend to harm me at any point, that things are good, means something terrible is coming. I've had this ominous feeling since I went behind your back that night. I feel like I've done something that will return to destroy us. Ren, I'm scared, and I feel powerless..."

She drifted off. Ren had limply kept the book open up until this point, but now snapped it shut and set it aside. This was all a bit annoying as Ren's confidence in his powers forbid him to share such grim feelings.

"Everything is fine, Ivy. You realize now that I'm not going to let anything happen to you, so just enjoy it."

"How can you be so sure?" she returned.

Ren smirked. "Darling, you don't have the slightest idea of what I'm capable of. You haven't seen anything yet."

This piqued Ivy's interest and started to revive her. "Is that so?"

Ren used the hand she had claimed to pull her up with him as he stood. "Do you feel better now?" Ren asked, thinking he had settled the matter. Ivy's eyes disobeyed her, glancing away. "What's holding you back?"

"It's just... when it comes down to the battle between good and evil, evil always prevails," she confided sullenly.

Ren looked at her, her eyes cast aside. He knew that she could not trust his words more than her experiences. He now also realized that her feelings and affections were corresponding. She now clung to him for safety, something else she hadn't done since she was human.

He reached out, hooking a thumb into her jeans as he took hold of her hips, allowing him to guide her closer. "That all depends on perspective. To most in this world, we are the evil."

She nodded off to the side as she considered this, her eyes still straying. She was still not convinced.

His other hand raised slowly, coming to rest on her cheek as he thought this over. Forming a thought, he grazed his finger along her skin before he bumped up her chin, redirecting her focus.

He didn't really want to, but he asked, "Are you unhappy?"

"No," she answered, narrowing her eyes in thought. "That's just it. I'm worried because I have something to lose now. I've never had that before."

Ren accepted this and dropped his hand to rejoin the other at her hips. He had found her old rebellious habits endearing, but was glad to see that she was finally realizing she had nothing worth rebelling against. It was making her much easier to manage.

"So it took this long to convince you that you could trust me. How long will it take for you to stop worrying about it?" he chided.

Ivy raised her eyebrows and tilted her head, looking away. After a moment she said, "You're right-"

"Oh," Ren indulged, interrupting her. He pulled her fully against him, a smirk on his face. "I loved that. Say it again."

He felt Ivy's muscles relax slightly as she rolled her eyes. She shook her head, but a small smile came to her lips. "No," she answered.

Ren tightened his hold, smiling. "Say it."

Ivy huffed and looked back at him, but after a minute conceded, "You were right."