Once Kouta left with Yuka, Lucy turned to the little girl who'd remained. "Aren't you going to chase after her?"

"No," Juuichi said. "Yuka helped me, and she's my friend, that doesn't mean I am going to follow wherever she goes. I have a mind of my own, big sis."

"Don't call me that. We're not family."

"We're the same blood."

"We're the same race, that's different."

"I want to get to know you. I wasn't allowed to be close to any of my sisters in the facility."

"I know what it was like, I was there too."

"Then now that we're free shouldn't we help one another? The whole world hates us, we need to stick together."

"You helped ruin things with me and Kouta! Why would I help you?"

Juuichi blinked her eyes and appeared unsure. "I didn't lie. What did I do that was wrong?"

"You could have not said anything at all!"

"Why? Are you ashamed of what you did?"

Lucy stiffened, she then walked away without another word.

"I'll be your friend if you let me drink your blood and play dress up with you." Kahlua offered.

"No thanks," Juuichi left as well.

"But I have some doll clothes that I think would fit you!"

XXX

His cousin's room was neat and orderly. She had already unpacked. Among the sparse possessions Kouta noticed a picture of Yuka and her parents. She was probably only five or six in it.

Yuka noticed. "That's the only picture I have left of them. I took it with me when I left Kamakura. The army wouldn't let me go back."

"Yuka, I am really sorry about your mom and dad, and about everything you had to go through."

"Thank you, Kouta."

"But you shouldn't have come here. I don't think you understand what serious danger you're in."

"Kahlua explained it to me. Everyone has to pretend their human, right? They're not allowed to show what they really are. So long as I don't tell anyone the truth no one will find out."

"It's not as simple as it sounds. The students here aren't regular High Schoolers."

"Everything is run just like a normal school though, isn't it?"

"Only on the surface. You can't imagine how violent this place is. There are fights all the time, the teachers allow it without any sort of punishment. Last year there were dozens of deaths and disappearances. Bad things happen all the time."

"I'm glad you're worried about me Kouta, but trust me, nothing will ever match what I saw on that day."

"I understand, but you'll need to always be on the lookout. You have to be careful about who you're with and where you are. I'll give you a couple teachers whose classes you need to avoid."

"Wait. The teachers are dangerous too?"

Kouta nodded. "One's an art teacher who had a bunch of her students disappear. The other is an algebra teacher, some of hers end up sort of brainwashed. Oh, and if anyone, student or teacher, offers to tutor you out of the blue say no and avoid them afterwards."

"You make this place sound like a war zone."

"Well, it's not quite that bad. Once you get to know them a lot of the people here are nice enough, some are genuinely kind. The problem is that the bad ones will kill you or seriously hurt you. The school won't protect you. Violence is accepted here in a way it just isn't in a real school."

Yuka frowned. "Kahlua said she would protect me if I'd let her drink my blood. I thought she was joking."

Instinctively Kouta rubbed the side of his neck. "She wasn't. I'd go ahead and take her up on her offer. Getting bitten and drained isn't pleasant, but it's better than some of the alternatives."

Yuka suddenly reached out and grabbed his hands. "Why don't we both leave here together? My dad had a life insurance policy and the Japanese government paid all the survivors large settlements. I have plenty of money, Kouta. We could go somewhere and be happy."

Kouta was caught off guard by the sudden suggestion. "I can't leave here before I graduate, and I doubt you'd be allowed to either. The Headmaster knows what we are and he wouldn't trust us to keep his secret."

"Then I'll stay here with you, it's where I belong."

"I'm not sure what you mean."

Yuka stepped forward and pressed her lips to his. It lasted for just a second. Kouta yanked his hands from hers, grabbed Yuka by the shoulders and pushed her back. "Yuka! What-"

She looked him right in the eye and spoke without any hesitation. "I love you. I've loved you ever since we were little."

He took a step back putting space between them. "I love you too, but as my cousin, as my family. I'm sorry, I don't have those feelings for you."

"But you have them for Lucy, even knowing what she is."

"You don't know her the way I do."

"From the moment I met her I knew she was wrong for you. She is nothing bur poison, why can't you see that?"

"You're not being fair to her."

"She killed my family. I don't need to be fair."

Kouta turned to the door. "I will walk you to class tomorrow. Please remember to be careful."

"You know I'm right, don't you? No matter how beautiful she is it doesn't change her nature. You could never be happy with her."

"I'll see you tomorrow."

XXX

Kouta visited the cafeteria to get something to eat before heading back. He was not really surprised to find Lucy waiting for him outside the boys' dorm. As usual she got straight to the point.

"Do you hate me again?"

"No, of course not."

"Then why don't you want me in your room?"

"Lucy," Kouta said patiently. "I just found out you caused all the deaths in Kamakura, including the deaths of my aunt and uncle. I'm not going to pretend nothing's changed."

"If I'd told you the truth when we found out you'd have been angry with me."

"Is that the only thing you're worried about?"

"Kouta, I'm sorry for what happened to your relatives and to the innocent people there. I am. But hurting them was never my intention."

"I know that, I know you didn't do it deliberately. But the fact is that you're responsible, and you tried to keep it secret from me. It's hard to trust you if you're never going to be honest with me."

"The only times I have ever lied to you have been to keep you safe."

"Lying about Kamakura didn't keep me safe. You did that for your own reasons."

"I just… I just didn't want to ruin things. I'd wanted your forgiveness for so long, I couldn't risk losing you again."

"Lucy, you haven't lost me. I still care about you, but I need to take a step back and think about things."

Lucy shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "Is this your way of breaking up with me?"

"No, but I need some space. We can still talk, but maybe we shouldn't be as, ah, intimate, at least for now."

"So you don't want to kiss me or make love to me anymore?"

Kouta felt uncomfortable. He did still love her. Yet this was one more horrible secret she'd kept from him. How many more were there? Did she really expect him to just accept it and move on?

"This is all because of Yuka." Lucy stated.

"No it's not, it's because of what you did. I would have found out the truth sooner or later."

"She doesn't belong here."

"I agree, but she's here now and she's not going anywhere." Lucy answered him with silence and an empty expression. "Lucy, if you hurt her I won't forgive you."

"I won't, I promise. But I'm not going to watch out for her the way I do you."

"That's good enough. She's going to be here two years. Maybe the two of you will learn to get along eventually."

"I suppose anything's possible." The way she said that Lucy probably thought the chances were about as likely as a meteor hitting the academy.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow." Kouta headed inside. He was feeling tired and was sure the first day of classes would not be easy.