Opacus: of a cloud dense enough to obscure the sun or moon


Chapter 50

"What are we looking for again?" Shu asked.

"Who knows. I just thought that maybe something would show up..." Ayato looked to the side.

"What? He left us a house warming gift?" Subaru scoffed.

"Hey, you know I'm trying here!" Ayato looked to him. He didn't want them to join his hunt anyway.

"Now, dear brother, I know Subaru really is not eloquent for words nor holds a good temper with these things but I suppose we expected you had a thought of what you might find?" Laito asked.

He sighed. "It's been how long?"

"We've worked night and day. Third daytime breaks in a few hours." Shu shook his head.

"Damn... I just thought there would be a trace or something..." Ayato looked to the ground.

"Well this bush here is just below her bedroom... maybe the gift they left is here..." Subaru kicked the shrub ever so slightly.

"AHH!"

The brothers watched as Subaru fell backwards and a cat landed on his lap.

They begin to laugh.

"Oh dear, watch out Subaru, it seems their family cat came by to spy on us..." Laito jeered as Subaru's face went cross. "Afraid of a little pussy?"

"In seriousness it could be a spy. Most demons from the underworld can shapeshift...although it has one tail so it might be safe..."

Reiji suddenly appeared behind them.

"So what should we do?" Subaru got up trying to act normal holding the cat by the nape of its neck.

"Kill it." Shu shrugged.

Reiji was surprised by Shu's unquestionable decision to allow an innocent cat to go to death. He'd been so soft for that pathetic puppy long ago. "Are you sure? It's not necessarily evil...I'm sure if we tempted it we could decipher if it is a smaller Nekomata..."

"If there is a chance I don't think it matters much." Shu turned away and left.

"Well that was a good laugh, but I'm afraid we're no closer to any answers." Laito put his hands in his pockets.

"Damn..." Ayato watched the cat scurry off.

"I'm done scavenging." Subaru brushed off his uniform and departed.

"I just have to ask again...did she seem certain that the Nekomata was drinking her blood?" Reiji looked almost warn.

"Yea... I mean...I can get eating her but like...don't they consume souls?" Ayato was positive. Why would she have suggested otherwise?

"Yes...well sometimes... which makes me suspicious. We don't really have souls. Although after your mother's reincarnation that might prove this to be not completely true...but... If she had lost part of her soul, as any human would, she would have remained unconscious. She didn't. In that case...if she was correct... I may have a theory...but I'm still missing pieces..."

"Why?" Ayato asked Reiji.

"It doesn't quite fit...I think we need a larger vendetta here. I think I'm going to head to the library at the school and see what I can find there...

"Forget that. I looked."

The pair turned to see Ruki behind them.

"You were searching? What makes you think you're searching is as meticulous as mine?" Reiji rasied a brow, and consequentially sighed. "Why don't we continue this conversation inside?"

The three of them returned indoors.

"Yea. Look, I know we don't really hate that man like you guys do, but I just question why these demons would appear so long after we killed the Founders. Taking Yui seems like a bit of a strange thing to do considering her blood means nothing for demons..."

"I was thinking something similar..." Reiji nodded.

"So, I looked up as much as I could find into his past..."

"What could you know about our father's past?" Ayato asked.

"Nothing. Until I found he went to the same academy. Perhaps somebody from then knows why demons might care about Yui... who else he may have told about this Eve stuff..." Ruki set down a year book on the table.

"How did you discover this?" Reiji asked.

"I asked the Librarian. She seemed damn hesitant to say anything but you know, Kou's eye does help in deciphering people's lies."

"So what's the point? So, he went to the academy? Why does it matter?" Ayato asked.

"Simple. If he had an old friend we might be able to inquire about demon rebellions around their time... or even better get some background information to take him down with." Reiji took the book and flipped through the pages.

"Are you doing this just to secure your spot as head? Because blackmail or not we're still looking for a mysterious demon man! Your games don't help her." Ayato couldn't help but suspect Reiji's actions.

"Any information is better than none." Reiji simply shook his head.

"As a matter of fact, there is a pattern I noticed." Ruki looked to Reiji. "Flip to page 166."

Reiji nodded. "Strange. How come we've never seen this before?"

"Simple. Off the shelves access." Ruki said. "We don't have the leverage you guys have, but when you get at least three of us in a room in an empty library with one other vampire we can be persuasive."

"So you say." Reiji didn't seem impressed, but simply acknowledged Ruki's partial win. "This man...this man with golden blonde hair...who is he? His grin is terribly cocky, but then I suppose our fathers icy smile is no different."

"Listed as Kohakoto Hiroshi. Appears in most photos with Him." Ruki nodded.

"Let me see it." Ayato looked at the image. He looked nothing like the man-demon he saw before.

"They look nearly as if our father and him are brothers..." Reiji looked at the image, and notice another on the next page.

"Something about this Hiroshi guy looks a bit rebellious." Ayato shook his head. "Is he alive?"

"Not sure. I assumed as a pureblood he might be?" Ruki shook his head.

"Hmm... I might look into this more..." Reiji closed the book.

"So she chose you..." Ruki looked to Ayato. "Or did you force her to choose you?"

Ayato looked cross. "No, I didn't. I had intended to leave before she chose but-" He didn't feel like telling it all to Ruki. She'd chosen him...but he damn fucked it up.

Reiji raised a brow, stopping before he turned to leave. He had known Ayato had intended to depart if she did not choose him but not that he'd planned on leaving before she chose. What had happened that day? Curiosity killed the cat he supposed. Although Ayato had won and there were some cats that needed killing it seemed.

"Surprising..." Ruki admitted that he had expected Ayato to pressure her.

"Yea...if she's not happy with me after this. After I let her get taken and hurt, than that's fine, but frankly I'd rather die and never drink her blood again than face the idea of ever having to replace her." Ayato departed, his voice bitter. Ruki knew better than to challenge that.

"Surprising again. I know him to be rash, and perhaps that is rash, but ... to go so far as death?" Ruki looked to Reiji.

"A romanticized notion that death is better than a lost love...so yes, dramatic. But I am surprised he'd let her choose another if she blamed him for this." Reiji admitted.

"It appears you must read between the lines with him. I suppose if Yui chose him as her Adam there is no reason to rebuttal it. However if this helps, expect us to be on the cat's trail with you to return her." Ruki looked to Reiji.

"Oh, I expected so." Reiji nodded as Ruki disappeared. Hopefully this was not some poor wild goose chase. Who knows how long Yui would have.


"I see you've finished your meal. It contents me to see you abide."

"He... he just would have died. He only had half a soul..." Yui sat up from her bed as Osamu had come in without even a knock. She looked to the dead man on the floor. She felt so much shame, yet felt stronger. She still felt un-contented though.

"So the walls talk? Yes, the Nekomatas stole half. That's why you don't feel fulfilled. Spirit gives life to blood. But, he'd either sit here and rot or you'd have a meal to consume for three days. Like they say, never leave your wine out and un-bottled, it will lose its flavor. I suppose the rotting corpse could go..." Osamu snapped his fingers and three Geisha Nekomatas entered to pick it up with ease and left. "Better, now the only thing I can smell is the mix of his blood and your scent."

"It seems even more cruel...to steal someone's soul...or half of a soul..."

"Than what? Draining someone for days?"

"Yes, but ... he had no clue..."

"Ignorance is bliss, we did him a favor. Or would you rather I had just given him to you alive and well?"

She hesitated. She wouldn't have managed to steal his blood. She hadn't hunted yet. She really didn't feel like seducing or trapping a human man...it wouldn't have worked out in her favor.

"But you know we can only provide so much... tell me...we've all tasted your blood... what might you think of ours?" Osamu paced a bit and she noticed the way he walked. It felt more like a prowl.

"I'm with Ayato... I'm not going to-" He suddenly appeared in front of her and grabbed her wrist above her head.

"But what if you did? Does his blood taste the best or are you scared one of ours will taste better? Have you ever tasted the blood of a half-demon?"

"No but I-"

"I wouldn't kick it until you try it...how about a deal? I will provide another meal after a quick bite..."

"Why does it matter? I don't want your blood! I only want Ayato's!"

"Ah the love struck little puppy dog girl? You're a vampire now, and you could do so much more damage to the despicable world that puts us in these chains? You knew well the torment of vampires...you were human... now imagine being a step below... demons, and then half breeds below that, like us. We are an extinct breed because intercourse between a pure blood and a demon is forbidden... now perhaps you can remember how it felt?"

"What makes this any better?"

"I'm suggesting we reverse the hierarchy."

"But you'd still do that to humans..." She looked to where the blood stain of the man whom had been on the floor remained.

"Yes, but remind me whom created all those blood stains... perhaps a little vixen as yourself? Let's work this out one step at a time..." He pulled her wrist up higher so that he could remove the space between them. "Now, Yui, is it? How did you discern that this boy... Ayato... was the one? That his love was not lust?"

Osamu's chiseled jaw moved up, his amber gold eyes looking down coy. Like any vampire she'd known, they'd had an allure. Never had she seen one unattractive, and yet she knew it didn't entice her.

He didn't wait for her silence to go on any longer.

"We all know well what blood lust does...don't you? I'm sure he adores your sweet blood, or perhaps the incest that is his mother's heart in your body!"

"Ayato doesn't just want my blood he-"

He covered his hand to her mouth. "If you say so. I don't think I ought to suggest that if you did perhaps align with us I could grant you so much more freedom..."

She blinked at him. She wanted to cry but she held back tears. Damned would be the day she'd turn away from the Sakamaki's. Perhaps this demon elitism was wrong...she hated abusing humans for blood still but... it wasn't worth this.

Karlheinz was to blame perhaps. But not the Sakamaki's.

"I'm going to tell you now; my deals are dwindling. If you don't bite I will..." He put his tongue to her ear and then bit down the slightest. She felt the blood where he perforated her drip down. His threats almost seemed like flirtations. She saw no point to her biting him. Nobody's blood would taste as good as Ayato's...nobody's tongue on her skin... and she'd never face another man but a Sakamaki when it came for help and-

He looked at her again, straight on and suddenly his nails grew longer.

He sliced a bit of his lip, his eyes calm and coy. Playful and predatorily.

He removed his hand from her mouth and grabbed her free arm. He twisted it behind her, pulling her closer, perhaps not too far off from a tango position. She hated how vulnerable she was; these men were stronger than the Sakamaki's. She had so much less control.

"You amuse me more than anyone else I've ever found to end up in my possession... so once again...if you're lucky you'll learn your place too...where you can do the most for what you've been granted as a Founder hearted vampire..."

Then his lips forcibly found hers.

Blood exchanged.