Hey, everyone! It's been a while! I got a little busy binge watching shows on Netflix. . Also, extra sorry if there are lots of mistakes in this chapter! T.T My laptop crashed a couple days ago so I finished the edits on my tablet!
FMAVAMPIRELOVER: Thanks! Haha. :) Hope you enjoy this chapter as well! :D
HoneyBlossom99: Thank you! :) Sorry I took forever! Enjoy!
kamisdanti: Thank you! I try! :D Sorry I took so long! Hope you enjoy this chapter as well!
Thank you for reading! I hope you guys enjoy!
A feeling of indescribable pleasure flows through her body. The source of that pleasure is the sensation of the sun warming her exposed skin. A light, warm, pleasant wind brushes past her, causing her to release a sigh of contentment and close her eyes. She remains relaxed for who knows how long before the sun is suddenly blocked out. She slowly opens one eye to find out who the culprit is. Bright, excited, red eyes stare down at her. Blonde hair hangs loosely around her face. A matching smile is spread across her face when she says, "Mai, get up! Let's go for a swim!"
That's when all the noise around her seems to come alive. The sound of splashing, and children screaming and laughing. The sound of a whistle followed by instructions to stop running, but it's drowned out by the grumbling of whomever was caught. Mai slowly pushes herself up to a sitting position. She releases a tired yawn and glances around to find herself at a public swimming pool. Lots of people milled about the edges of pool while many more were in the water. Off to the far side there was a separate pool for many different waterslides, and the wading pool is on the opposite side. It's full of young children with supervising adults.
Confusion fills her body, and she finds herself looking up at Yui, who is currently putting the finishing touches on her sun screen. She glances at Mai, and a small smile spreads over her face. "You look like you've seen a ghost. Don't tell me you've been having those silly dreams again!"
Mai finds herself completely unsure of what to say to that. Before long, Yui's petite hand wraps around Mai's wrist and pulls her up to her feet before dragging her toward the water. An unsettling feeling spreads through Mai's stomach, and she opens her mouth to says, "Yui?"
It's like her friend didn't even hear her. She simply continues on about how Mai has been spacing out about some dream that she has been having. It was about some red haired boy that torments her in strange ways. Yui suddenly states with a chuckle. "You have such a wild imagination! Maybe you need to withdraw from the medieval history course you are taking and find a boyfriend! Then you wouldn't have to dream about silly vampires! Perhaps you should lay off the horror movies before bed, too!"
This is a dream.
Mai knows it has to be, which makes everything feel like a punch to her stomach. They have been walking forever and haven't reached the water yet. They were only about five feet away when they started, but Mai's legs have now grown tired. She glances around herself, fully taking everything in. Is this what a normal life looks like? Is this what she wants?
Her gaze turns up to the sky. The feeling of the sun on her skin feels so real that it's hard to ignore. With a pang deep in her gut, she realizes that she misses the sun a lot more than she realized. She didn't think it would matter since she is still a teenager, but she misses the sun. In fact, it's all she can think about now. Before she realizes it, she's standing at the water's edge beside Yui. Maybe it just felt like they had been walking forever. She wants so badly to believe that, but she has a nagging feeling deep down inside that this is nothing more than a dream. Yui glances over at her and gives Mai a pleasant smile. "Ready?"
Mai opens her mouth, but no words come out. Instead, all she manages is a soft squeaking sound. The skin of Yui's face is slowly becoming discolored. Blue forms around her smiling mouth, which served to make Mai feel incredibly sick to her stomach. The blue slowly creeps outward. The whole sight is made worse by the fact that Yui's mouth is moving, but no sound is coming out. Chills race throughout Mai's body. It looks almost like the blonde is choking. Mai wants nothing more than to lift her hand and reach out to touch her friend, but her hands won't move. In fact, her whole body has begun to feel so heavy that she isn't sure she is even breathing anymore. The bright light from the sun seems to wash over everything, causing Mai's eyes to sting. She blinks rapidly and tries to tear her gaze away from her friend. Unfortunately, she's not able to. Instead, all the colors start to swirl, twist, and wiggle together behind Yui, like some kind of bad trip.
The only thing that doesn't seem to move with a mind of it's own is the image of Yui, whose face is now a sickening gray color with blue lips. A white sheen covers her eyes, but she is still smiling happily at Mai. Bile starts to rise up Mai's throat, but she still can't move. The bile starts to feel like it's suffocating her. Tears spring forth, and she fights with all her might to move, but it's useless. She decides to try a different approach.
This isn't reality!
It doesn't matter how many times she tells herself this, it doesn't change what she she is seeing. She opens her mouth to say something, anything, but her tongue won't move. It felt like a heavy, dry piece of wood in her mouth. In fact, her mouth and throat felt like they were full of dirt.
"Don't you want to go for a swim, Mai?" Yui's voice reaches her ears, but it didn't match the movements of her friend's mouth. In addition to that, the words are spoken in such a fashion that it seems like someone has slowed time down to slowest possible speed, effectively mutating Yui's voice. "The water is great, I hear."
With no warning at all, Yui's arms wrap around Mai, and she throws her weight toward the pool. Even if Mai wanted to, she doesn't think she can resist. She's already off balance and stunned. Mai just closes her eyes and fully expects the water to be freezing cold, like the arms that are holding her.
Unfortunately, that's not the case. The water is warm and slides along her exposed flesh like velvet. Before she realizes it, the water closes over her head, but she finds herself oddly at peace about it. All the the tense leaves her body, causing her to feel completely relaxed. This is just a dream after all. It's not like she'll actually drown.
None of what she sees is real. Yui isn't dying or dead. She's simply sleeping in her room, likely beside Ayato.
"Are you sure she's not dead?" A calm, deep voice asks in her ear. She lets out a startled sound. Unfortunately, that action ends up with water rushing into her mouth and up nose, which is followed by bubbles. She attempts to thrash around only to find that her lungs aren't full of water. She isn't drowning. In fact, she is no longer submerged in water. Instead, she's standing in the middle of a dull light. Her eyes flick around her surroundings, but it's no use. Only a foot away, the dull light gave way to an almost tangible darkness. Her heart leaps into her throat, and panic starts to fill her mind. Even if this is a dream, the thought of being enclosed overwhelms her. Against her better judgement, she reaches out to the darkness.
When her fingers brush the darkness, it feels as if she were being electrified. Shock races up her arm and causes her heart to skip a beat, leaving a trail of mild numbness behind. Her heart starts to race, and she instinctively jerks her hand back and presses it against her chest. Full panic sets in.
Isn't she supposed to wake up before being hurt in a dream? Or is that just in the movies? No, maybe it's more along the lines that she's suppose to wake up before dying, but that already happened when she was drug into the water. Besides, the pain felt so real, and the lingering numbness feels real as well. She flinches and spins around when she hears a voice behind her, but she can't quite catch what is being said. A second voice responses to the first, but, once again, she isn't able to understand a single word.
The clicking of a tongue sends a shiver down her spine. She spins around looking for the source of the sound, but all she can see is complete darkness. Is the dull circle of light getting smaller, or is it just her imagination? Every fine hair stands on end, and her breathing starts to pick up. She desperately tries to tell herself that nothing is wrong with her, so she doesn't need to be so afraid.
Once again, she tries to tell herself it's just a dream, but the sting in her fingertips causes her to doubt her own mind. Tears well up, and her lips start to tingle. She stops spinning and squats down. Her fingers delve into her hair, and she tugs roughly at the roots. Pain prickles at her scalp. A soft sob leaves her lips. Why isn't she waking up? Her chest starts to heave so hard that her lungs start to burn. This is worse than Laito trying to drown her. She figures she's beginning to hyperventilate, which is seconded by the fact that she's quickly becoming light headed. Why of all things did it have to be an enclosure? Something about tight spaces just made her panic. She'd take Laito feeding off her over being restricted in such a way. She covers her face with her hands and lets out a sob that is louder than intended. It eerily echoes back at her through the darkness so many times that it becomes warped and sounds like many different women crying.
Two cold arms wrap around her from behind. A weight presses on her back, and a puff of cold air brushes the skin on the back of her neck, though she isn't quite sure how it got through her hair. The cold air feels like it's biting at her skin, and she immediately tries to jerk away. Unfortunately, the arms don't release her, and she's too afraid to drop her hands from her face to look back. A chuckle echos in her ear, and she tenses. Unfortunately, that's all she can do now. Her body is starting to feel heavy once again, and she can feel a cold numbness invading every part of her body. Between her fingers, she can see a hazy bit of her own skin, as if it were being viewed through something like a blanket. Her heart stops when the chuckling voice says in a soft feminine sounding coo. "Poor little thing, you are caught in their trap like a rabbit. Did you know they can hear your heartbeat?"
Mai makes a strange gurgling sound when she tries to answer. Her tongue stubbornly refuses to move. She hears a soft, male voice saying something, but she can't make out his words. It is almost like he is on the other side of a tunnel. The weight leans on her even more, and the feeling of being suffocated takes over.
Unfortunately, all she can do is silently scream inside her own head. Her body is completely numb at this point. She couldn't feel her own breath against her hands. In fact, the only thing that she can feel is the freezing cold arms around her waist. The voice lets out another coo, as if shushing a baby. "They'll hear you?"
"'W….h….o?" Her voice echoes once again, but she's able to somehow form the words. A soft laugh in her ear sends a feeling of pins and needles through the numbness in her body. Thankfully, the sensation disappears quickly. The cold arms start to tighten, and the voice answers playfully.
"My name is not important. What is important is that silly dream you had. Do you truly think you will live in that world, little rabbit?" The voice pauses for a moment, as if waiting for an answer, but Mai's tongue feels heavy again. Her head starts to feel funny, almost drowsy. The colors were starting to slowly brighten around her. That's when she notices that the voice is getting quieter the brighter the colors get. She isn't sure if she should feel relieved or more terrified. Something dangerous is waiting for her on the opposite side of those colors, and she knew that she won't like it. "Do you truly believe that Yui's alive?"
That caught her attention for only a moment, but her thoughts turn back to the colors. She could see a vague shape now, but she didn't know what the black, hazy blob is. She decides that anything in the bright world is better than the oppressive darkness. Her hands drop from her face, and she tries to lean towards it. Unfortunately, it feels like she is moving in slow motion. The voice steadily grows quieter. "You have noticed, haven't you? The transformation on Yui has started. Too bad you can't hear inside her chest. Her heart is slowing. She's dying to become like the one she loves. How ironic!"
She tries to keep from listening, but cold lips brush her ear. The voice continues in a muffled tone. "You know that you are about to be alone in this world, right?"
Mai's mouth opens and closes, but she isn't able to make any sort of sound. She isn't alone. She has Shiro and her parents. Besides, it doesn't matter if Yui changes into a vampire! Mai will always consider her to be a friend.
A feeling of warmth slowly creeps up her fingers. The bright colors suddenly engulf her, blinding her for a moment. She blinks rapidly and shifts her body. Her muscles react with a dull throb, causing her to gasp softly. She forces her tender body to relax and simply opens her eyes. Unfortunately, the light burns her eyes, causing her to blink rapidly. Still, she immediately notices a couple of things. The first ones being that she is laying on her side with a cold arm wrapped loosely around her waist. Her body still feels incredibly heavy, and she has an uncomfortable numbness racing through her body. Due to her rapid blinking, she isn't able to immediately identify where she is.
The positive part is the place she is lying smells amazing. She can't quite identify why, but she finds her tense muscles relaxing just from the comforting scent. Finally, her eyes adjust, and her muscles retense. Lying not far from her is a very familiar blonde. Thankfully, the bed is large enough that she isn't within arms reach, but it doesn't change the fact that everything before hand comes rushing to the front of her mind. She abruptly sits up, only to hear a groan from her behind her. She immediately scoots away to find herself glaring down at Laito, who looks almost innocently peaceful. Her heart has now leapt so far up her throat that she's sure she's about to choke on it. She carefully removes his arm from her body.
Her heart stops when the bed shifts, and her gaze snaps to stare at the blonde. It doesn't come as any sort of comfort to find that he has shifted from his side to his back. One of his eyes is open, and he is giving her a tired look. She feels her breath catch in her throat and finds that she is scooting closer to Laito. She can't get Laito's words about sharing her with Shuu out of her mind. What if he told his older brother that, and the blonde took him up on the offer? Who know how long she had been unconscious for.
After a moment of thinking it over, she almost scoffs. She is just paranoid from the nightmare that she just had. There is no way that Shuu would even attempt to attack her while she was asleep. From her experience, she figured he wouldn't want to deal with the trouble of her possibly waking up and proceeding to struggle. A quick once over confirms her suspicions. It doesn't appear like she has any new bites. Her gaze focuses back on Shuu, and an awkward silence fills the space between the two of them. Ironically, a strange groan from Laito is what ends the silence. A sigh leaves Shuu's lips only moments later. His eye slowly slides open to look at Mai. Before he can saying, she quickly asks, "You guys, didn't… Um….. You know?"
She is beginning to doubt her earlier theory. Dread fills her entire being, and she finds that she isn't sure that she wants to know the answer, but she needed to. Another glance down tells her that her clothes weren't changed, but they were ruffled. Unfortunately, she can't tell if it is due to going to sleep with wet clothes or not. Her eyes lift to lock with a single blue one. Just as her patience wears thin, he tiredly says, "I have no idea what you are talking about."
Frustration builds in the pit of her stomach. She jumps when she feels Laito move against her side. Her gaze quickly snaps in his direction, only to find that he still seems to be asleep. He had been adjusting in his sleep, so he's now lying on his side with his back facing her. She turns back to Shuu only to find his eye closed again. She frowns at him. "Shuu?"
The seconds tick by in an agonizingly slow manner. She softly says his name a few times before she gives up. It seems like he has fallen asleep once again, which earns an eye roll from her. She glances down at herself and disgust fills her body. She carefully scoots down the bed. She is in desperate need of a shower, and she wants to go home. Bile rises in her throat. Had Laito followed through like last time, despite her not being conscious? It seemed like something he would do. She quickly shoves the disturbing thoughts away. It won't do to make herself sick thinking about it. Her bare feet touch the floor, and she slowly pushes herself upright.
A wave of nausea inducing dizziness threatens to overwhelm her, so she finds herself sitting on the bed once more. She jumps when she hears a chuckle from behind her and glances over her shoulder to give Shuu a cold glare. Unfortunately, his eyes are still closed, but he has a small smile spread over his face. While she watches, one of his arms lifts to cover his face. His already quiet voice is almost impossible to hear now when he says, "If you are leaving, take that with you. He makes too much noise."
Her eyes narrow, and she spares a glance at Laito, who is muttering something under his breath. A shudder runs down her spine, and she gives a small shake of her head before turning her head back at Shuu. She rolls to sit on her knees at the foot of his bed. "Can I ask you something?"
He doesn't say anything, so she takes that as the go ahead to start talking. She has so much that she wants to ask him, but she knew that he won't even answer half of them. She has to pick the most important pieces first. After all, she doesn't know how many she will be able to ask before he goes back to sleep. The first one she can think of is the most obvious one. She quickly blurts out once more. "You two didn't….do anything weird…..to me while I was out, did you?"
Shuu scoffs softly. Silence settles over them once again, and she is starting to think her worst fears are going to come true. Just as she gives up hope of getting a concrete answer, he mutters a soft. "We didn't have sex with you, if that is what you are asking."
Her face flushes a deep red color, and her gaze drops to her lap. An overwhelming sense of relief floods her body, but she feels just as much embarrassment by the blunt way he said it. She forces herself to lift her gaze back to his face, only to find that he has rolled onto his side. She watches him for a couple of seconds before she lets out a sigh. For a brief moment, she considers asking him more questions, but she decides against it. She doesn't even know where to start, and she doesn't think that he will understand her babble of questions that stemmed from the nightmare she just had. Besides, the most important question has been answered. Her eyes drift back to Laito, and they narrow a little.
For a brief moment, she catches herself longing for the life in that dream, but she shoves the feeling aside. It wouldn't help her here. While she watches Laito, she opens her mouth and softly calls Shuu's name. It doesn't come as a surprise that she doesn't actually get an answer. She begins to call his name once more when her stomach chooses that moment to release a loud growling sound. With a flush, she carefully stands up and makes her way toward the door. She hears Shuu say something to her to her about Laito, but she doesn't bother looking back. If he wants his little brother out of his bed, he can do it himself. A small smile spreads over her face, and she can't resist the urge to cast a glance backward at them. Her eyes meet a set of irritated blue ones. She playfully sticks her tongue out at him then slips out. She closes the door as softly as she can and releases a sigh of relief.
She feels disgusting, and her clothes smell moldy. Her stomach growls once again, and she frowns. She needs a shower and some new clothes before she got sick, and she needs to get some food. Preferably some type of red meat, or other iron rich food. She leans back against Shuu's door and glances up and down the hallway. An eerie feeling that she is being watched takes over, but she can't find the cause. She decides to just shrug it off. A sinking feeling tugs at her heart at how casually she brushes the sensation off now. This whole situation is unusual, but all she can think about is a shower and food. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She's not sure how long she stands against the door, but something surprising happens. A soft voice softly calls out Mai's name. She slowly opens her eyes to find Yui standing directly in front of her, only something is off. It takes a moment of studying before Mai figures out what it is.
Yui's eyes aren't their usual warm, red color.
They are now a cold, green color.
Every warning bell goes off in her head, and she quickly scrambles upright and stares at her friend, who seems to be playing it off as if everything is normal. A feeling of worry floods Mai at the seemingly 'normal' worried look on her friend's face. Yui hasn't been showing emotion lately. In fact, she has nothing more than a pale zombie the last few day. It suddenly feels like someone's hands are wrapped around Mai's. The sensation effectively kills her voice and almost halts her air. Is this another sign that she is going crazy? A playfully, knowing look flashes through Yui's green eyes before she tilts her head and blinks slowly. Once her eyes are open all the way, the red color is back. The playful look slips a little before dissolving completely into a confused look. Yui takes a couple of short, sharp breaths through her nose, as if she were sniffing the air. She slowly leans toward Mai. "Do you smell that?"
It takes everything Mai has to not flinch away. Embarrassment flickers in her stomach, and she reaches for that. It's better than the guilty feeling of being suspicious of her own friend. Mai unconsciously wraps her arms around her stomach and says so softly that she's not sure that Yui will hear her. "I'm sorry. I didn't get a chance to change my clothes before I fell asleep, and Laito threw me in the pool."
Yui flinches, making her feel even more ashamed of her state of clothing. Yui gives her a small, confused smile. "Did you sleep in Shuu's room?"
Mai reluctantly nods. To her horror and surprise, Yui lets out a small chuckle. Mai's eyes shift to look up. Green flashes through the red for a moment before they fade back to warm, red eyes. Yui reaches out and pats Mai on the shoulder. Her voice holds more encouragement than Mai has heard in days. "Why don't you take a shower? I can get you some clothes."
Mai doesn't get a chance to ask Yui if she is ok, since the blonde turns and quickly makes her way down the hallway. Mai finds herself rooted to the spot, while watching her friend. Her thoughts continue to race with what she had just witnessed, but everything stops when she watches Yui pass her own door and disappear into a different one. Mai bites back a groan and quickly starts after her friend. She tries to ignore the stiff way her clothes move, but it's starting to rub on her skin, making her feel even more disgusting. She arrives at the still open door and peers in. Her heart plummets to the bottom of her stomach when the very first thing she spots is an iron maiden that is clearly open. Despite not seeing any spikes on the door, it still sends a tendril of raw fear down her spine. Her mouth goes dry, and she feels every fine hair stand on end. She remembers hearing Ayato slept in one, but she thought it was a joke. With a sudden realization, she remembers something even worse. Yui had told her that Subaru slept in a coffin. Despite every effort, she finds a morbid sense of curiosity beginning to bubble up. Did Subaru really sleep in a coffin?
She hears a light thump and turns her attention toward a door that she assumes is the closet. Trying to keep her voice low, she hisses out. "Yui?"
She hears a squeak from the closet that she takes as an answer, so she continues in her soft voice. "What are you doing? I'm not wearing Ayato's clothes!"
A blonde head pokes out of the closet, and she gives Mai a confused look. Her voice is normal when she says, "Well, of course not. He wouldn't like that. I have some of my clothes in here for when he makes me to sleep in with him."
Mai is unable to keep her gaze from turning back to the iron maiden. Did Yui seriously sleep in that thing with Ayato? How was there enough room for two people? Those thoughts sent a shudder down her spine, and she finds herself insanely grateful that Laito's room is somewhat normal.
Her breathing stops, and her heart starts to race. Did she really just think that? Her hands grip the doorway tightly. Out of everything that she could have thought, why did it have to be that she is grateful Laito isn't into sleeping in torture devices? He's into much worse things. On a more concerning note, why is he the first thing she thought of?
Red fills her vision, and she blinks before jerking away. Yui tilts her head a little. "Are you ok?"
"Are you ok?" Mai counters with a harsher tone than she intended, but she doesn't want to talk about herself. After all, she isn't sure if she is alright, and she doesn't really want to think too deeply on the mass of emotions roiling in the pit of her stomach at the moment. She faintly hears Yui mutter something, but she's not able to focus on her friend's words. Finally, she's able to pull herself out of her thoughts when she hears Yui say her name for what seems like the third time in the span of only a few seconds. Once it becomes clear that Mai's attention is once again focused on Yui, the blonde holds up some clothes and smiles at Mai. Mai takes them with a soft thank you and heads to the bathroom while trying not to let her mind wander. She forces her mind to focus on taking a shower. She hears Yui ask her to meet her in the kitchen when she is done and faintly agrees over her shoulder.
She just knew something is going to happen to her in the shower, but the only thing that happens is the wonderful feeling of getting clean. Surprisingly, nothing happens while she gets dressed in the shorts and loose shirt and brushes her hair. Even the walk to the kitchen is uneventful. The moment she steps into the kitchen, a sense of deja vu spreads over her. Yui is once again lively and even humming a song under her breath. Just as Mai allows herself to start relaxing, Yui behaves strangely. Yui whips around and sniffs the air similar to how a dog would. Mai freezes just out of arm's reach and warily watches the girl. Yui's eyes close slowly, and she softly asks, "Do you smell that?"
It takes a moment for Mai to realize that she should probably sniff the air, but all she can smell is normal cooking smells such as the chicken Yui is cooking. A wide variety of ingredients were spread along the kitchen counter in a disorganized mess. After an awkward moment of Yui sniffing the air while Mai shuffles awkwardly, she realizes that Yui plans to make pan fried chicken with mashed potatoes. From the looks of things, Yui also plans to make her own style of mixed vegetables. Mai carefully asks, "You mean the chicken?"
Yui shakes her head and closes her eyes. She takes a few deep breaths, as if she were really trying to get the smell down. "No. It's like…Sweet like honey, but it's…. It's flowery, too."
She inhales a couple more times, causing goosebumps to break out over Mai's skin. Mai swallows hard and isn't able to suppress the shudder from wracking her body. Yui takes a few steps toward her, and Mai barely resists the urge to back away.. "Is… Is that lavendar?"
At this point, Yui had stepped close to Mai. Thankfully, it isn't too close for comfort, but it's still unnerving to watch Yui close her eyes and sniff the air around Mai. After a few awkward seconds, Yui's eyes open with a certain shine to them. It appears she figured out just what it is she is smelling. With an unnerving sense of excitement, Yui exclaims. "It's you! You smell like lavender and honey!"
Before Mai can even respond, Yui lets out a squeal before eagerly continuing. "That smells so good! Did you borrow someone's shampoo or something? I need to get that!"
Mai finds herself only able to stare numbly at Yui, while her friend bounces excitedly. After a few more tense seconds tick by, Yui releases a gasp, startling Mai. The blonde quickly spins and proceeds to attending the chicken once more. Mai finds herself staring at the back of Yui's head in a stunned silence. What just happened? Mai didn't use anything different from the last time she showered at the mansion. Dread fills her stomach when cold realization spreads over her.
No.
It can't be too late, can it?
Her eyes narrow, and she begins to watch Yui carefully. Seeming to sense Mai's gaze, the blonde glances over her shoulder. Red eyes meet slightly glazed over brown ones. A curious smile spreads over Yui's face, and Mai's heart sinks to the pit of her stomach. It's almost like Yui is back to her normal, cheerful self. Her voice cuts through Mai's thoughts. "Hey, do you mind helping me?"
Questions threaten to spill from Mai's mouth, but she finds she isn't able to form words. She just numbly nods and waits for Yui to tell her what to do. After a short pause, Yui asks her to cut the vegetables into bite sized pieces so she can steam them quicker. Mai quickly locates a knife and finds herself washing and cutting vegetables. A silence settles over the two girls. After a few seconds, Yui starts to lightly hum what sounds like a church hymn. It takes a few more minutes before Mai finally works up the courage to clear her throat.
"Yui, are you….. Are you feeling ok?" Mai pauses her cutting and looks up at her friend. The scent of mouthwatering chicken assaults her nose, but it's not enough to dim her concerns. "You look pale."
Red eyes lift to meet Mai's, and she searches through them in hopes that she'll find nothing but a human girl. Unfortunately, all she is able to see is confusion. Yui tilts her head and says, "What do you mean? I'm fine. In fact, I feel better than I have in a while, but I'm a little thirsty though."
Mai's body stiffens, and she turns her attention back to cutting the vegetables. She mutters softly, "I don't think you are."
Yui tilts her head a little, but she doesn't get a chance to say anything. A loud scoff behind the girls has Mai jumping. Unfortunately, it happens right as she's bringing the knife down. Thankfully, she misses her fingers. So, she drops the knife and spins on her heel to glare at the offender. To her absolute surprise, she finds herself staring into angry, red eyes, which causes a shudder to run down her spine. She desperately wants to apologize for throwing up on him, but her mouth seems to take a life of its' own. She blurts out. "Do you really sleep in a coffin?"
He glares at her coldly before making a sound of disgust. He spins on his heel and promptly leaves without another word. Mai casts a panicked glance at Yui, who is barely stifling a giggle, before she quickly rushes after him without a second thought. She's not sure why she feels so desperate to keep a friendship with a vampire, but she feels like she should at least try to make sure that Subaru understood that she is truly sorry for throwing up on him. It really wasn't her fault after all. It was Reiji's.
She flinches at that. Of course it's her fault. She should have known better than to trust the dark haired vampire. She notices Subaru turning a corner at the end of the long hallway outside the kitchen. She quickly rushes after him with a cry of his name, but he doesn't answer her. She takes the corner faster than intended, and her body collides hard with another person. Instinctively, her eyes snap shut. With a weightless feeling, she bounces backwards. Thankfully, whoever she ran into reaches out to grab her upper arms, keeping her from a painful landing. Her eyes snap open, and she says, "Subaru, I…"
The words die in her throat upon finding unreadable, green eyes instead of angry, red ones. A shudder runs down her spine when a smile slowly spreads over his face. Her heart leaps into her throat, making her feel like she is choking. She immediately tries to rip away from him. To her surprise, he simply releases her, so she scrambles backwards quickly. Unfortunately, her back hits the wall hard enough to drive the air from her lungs in one deep whoosh. She doesn't get a chance to recover though since Laito's hand lands only inches from her face on her left side, while he presses the fingertips of his right on the top of her hip bone. She flinches away, which causes him to release a light chuckle. Her eyes flick to his hand when he touches her again before snapping back up to glare into his face. She flinches when she discovers that he is much closer to her than she thought he would be. In a useless effort to get away, she presses her head against the wall as hard as she can. His fingertips slowly 'walk' their way up until his hand comes to rest on her side, and he begins to lightly rubs circles into her side with his thumb.
"Don't touch me," she hisses at him and tries to swat his hand away. He releases a deep, husky chuckle right beside her ear. She shudders when his chest presses lightly against hers. In response, she presses harder against the wall and attempts to make her breathing shallower. His cold breath brushes along the skin of her jaw and neck. She once again tries to shy away from him, but he simply presses his body closer to hers. Every muscle in her body becomes tense. She feels like she can feel every part of his body. Her eyes close tightly, and she releases a shuddering breath. She can't exactly explain why, but she has a feeling that he's angry, despite not saying anything. Finally, after what feels like an eternity of him simply breathing on her, he finally pulls away. She releases a small sigh of relief and lifts her gaze to find amusement on his face. Her mind scrambles to say something to him, but she can't find any words. Unfortunately, she only gets a few seconds to think before he starts to move again. Her heart leaps into her throat when his hand drops from beside her face only to wrap tightly around her right wrist. Pain races from her wrist to her shoulder. Her lips part to release a soft gasp of pain. The moment the sound leaves her mouth, her body is yanked forward, and she fully expects to slam head first into Laito's chest. Thankfully, he moves, so all she does is stumble. The relief is short lived when he gives another sharp tug on her wrist.
This one causes her to lose her balance when she pitches forward. Her knees scrape along the carpet painfully. She uses her left hand to try to brace herself, but it also scrapes painfully when Laito gives her right wrist another painful jerk. Tears spring into her eyes, and her body jolts forward once again. It feels like he's about to tear her arm off. She tries to scramble to her feet as fast as possible, but she isn't able to make it before he gives her another sharp tug, sending her careening to the floor all over again. Still, it doesn't hurt as bad as when he yanked on her arm while she was still been on the floor. Once again, she tries to scramble to her feet.
This pattern continues for what feels like an eternity before they finally arrive at the destination Laito wanted. He pauses long enough to reach out and open the door. Thankfully, it's enough time for Mai to climb to her feet. She flinches when her knees give a painful throb due to the now open wounds on her knees from being dragged across the rugs on the floor. The moment she is steady, he jerks again, this time toward the open door. She finds herself stumbling inside. As her body passes his, he releases her wrist. She's not sure if she should happy that he finally let her go, or even more terrified. She recaptures her balance and spins to face him just in time to hear the lock slide into place. Her heart begins to race, and a cold feeling settles in the pit of her stomach. A quick glance around revealed that they were in one of the hallway bathrooms. Her eyes turn to lock with amused green ones that have traces of coldness racing through them.
It feels like goosebumps have begun to rise all over her body. Not only is she locked in the bathroom with Laito, but he stood between her and the only exit. She clasps her hands tightly together to try to hide the fact that she's shaking. She's sure that he can probably hear her heart racing and smell her fear, but she still doesn't want him to see her shaking.
Something bad is about to happen. Her mouth feels like it's gone painfully dry, and she finds herself desperately wanting to ask him what is wrong. She wants to demand that he release her; she wants to plead that he doesn't hurt her anymore than he already has, but nothing would come out other than short ragged breaths.
After an eternity of silence, Laito finally releases a chuckle, causing Mai to flinch. He appears before her and scoops her up before she can react. An icy chill of pure fear races up her spine when he sets her back down on the counter. The counter is uncomfortably cold beneath her thighs, but she decides to not pay it much mind. He gives her a look of mock concern then leans down to inspect her knees. "Ah, Sweetheart, did you hurt yourself?"
She unconsciously presses her legs tightly together and gives him her best frustrated glare. Before she can stop herself, she snarls, "Yeah, I wonder how that happened."
Her breath catches in her throat when his eyes lift to look at her. She expects to find anger or frustration, or even amusement that she's trying to talk back to him. Unfortunately, all she see is a blank stare. There's absolutely no emotion in his now glowing, green eyes. Mai cringes at the thought and scoots her body further onto the counter, but she doesn't have much room to work with. His green eyes drop back to her knees, so she forces herself to look down to see that droplets of blood is oozing out slowly. She's not sure how long she stares at her own stinging wounds, but her mind begins to wander, effectively causing her to zone out.
Everything comes back into sharp focus when the sting intensifies for a moment. She lets out a hiss, and her eyes refocus to find Laito grinning smugly up at her. His face is only inches from her own, but she stubbornly refuses to move. His cold breath brushes her face when he chuckles. His voice is low, and she catches a hint of danger. "Why did you wander off? I was trying to do something nice for you."
Mai's eyes narrow a little, and she coldly says. "I'm sorry. I'm not interested in sleeping with Shuu in his bed."
A smug look flashes over Laito's face for a moment before he pulls back. His thumb brushes over her knee, smearing the small traces of blood along her skin. He releases a chuckle deep in his throat, but his voice comes out cold. "I thought you were jealous. I was trying to make us even."
Mai can feel her mouth drop open, but she can't find words to describe how she feels. Is she disgusted? Is she irritated?
No, she's just confused. What did he mean by that? She finally manages to make a noise that he must have taken as her asking him what he meant, since he releases another chuckle. To her horror, he lifts a hand from her knee. His fingers lightly brush up her thigh to the bottom of her shorts before slowly working their way back down to her knee. She cringes, but she doesn't move to stop his strange petting, despite the fact that he is smearing the blood along her thigh. The last thing she wants to do is provoke him further. She still has a nagging feeling that beneath the surface, he's angry. His voice is barely audible when he says, "those other girls."
He says something else, but Mai can't quite catch it. She feels completely stunned and shifts a little to keep the edge of the counter from digging into the back of her thighs. His eyes narrow, sending a jolt of fear down her spine. She reaches out to push his hand away, but she found herself reluctant to even try.
She stubbornly tells herself it's because he's being threatening toward her. After a few minutes of silence, she realizes that he's waiting for a response. She attempts to say something, but it comes out as a strange croak. She clears her throat and tries again. "I… I don't…..care about that."
Without warning, her body is jerked off the counter. She scrambles to keep her balance, but her stomach gives an uncomfortable lurch when she's spun to face the counter. Laito's body presses into her from behind, causing her to be painfully pressed against the counter. Due to trying to catch herself, her hands are awkwardly spread over the counter top. A cold breath on the back of her neck has her frantically searching the counter top for something to help her get away him. After all, she doesn't want a repeat of what happened last time. Unfortunately, the entire counter is clear of anything at all. There isn't even soap to wash hands. The pit of her stomach feels like it's dropped out from under her. He planned this. Her entire body begins to shake, and she tries to struggle, but she stops when Laito's body presses against hers so hard that it causes the edge of the counter to dig painfully into her flesh. She releases a soft hiss of pain. Suddenly, cold fingers grasp her chin in an almost loving manner. She stiffens, but she allows him to lift her face. Her eyes lock with his in the mirror. What she sees makes her blood run cold.
Her face is twisted into one of pure terror, while Laito's face appears above one of her shoulders wearing a look of amusement and excitement. She's leaned awkwardly over the counter top with his body draped over hers like a blanket. It feels so much worse to see it instead of just feeling it. While she watches, her face begins to pale, while Laito's eyes glow an eerie green color. His smirk reveals his fangs to her, causing her breath to halt in her throat. Her eyes snap down to one of her hands when she feels something cold brushing the skin. She watches as his fingers intertwine with hers. A feeling of numbness begins to take over her body. There is no way she can get out of this situation. He's pressing against her so effectively that she's not even sure her legs would move. A breath on her neck causes her to lift her gaze to meet his in the mirror. The terror melts away from her face at this point. To her utter surprise, she finds a look of cold indifference on her own face. While she watches, his nose brushes along the skin just behind her jaw. When he reaches her ear, he releases a puff of cold air against the skin just below her earlobe, sending a shudder down her spine that even races down her legs. He releases a soft cooing sound before saying in a low, husky voice. "Ah, is that a sweet spot?"
He blows cold air onto that same spot, sending another shudder down her body. She finds herself stubbornly biting her lower lip to keep from making any sort of noise. He releases a chuckle and tightens his grip on her hand, but she doesn't find it uncomfortable. His voice in her ear causes her to jump. "I think it's adorable that you are denying everything."
She frowns at him in the mirror, but he's not meeting her gaze. Instead, he's looking down at her shoulder, as if it's the most interesting thing in the world. A sense of uneasy spreads through her body, and she grasps at it. Unfortunately, it melts away just as fast as it appeared, and she finds herself not sure what exactly it is that she is feeling. His next words send chills all the way to her bones. "You like this just as much as I do. You don't have to deny it anymore. I won't judge you. I promise."
His cold lips leave butterfly kisses along her jaw. She flinches and tries to lean away, but she doesn't have much room to work with. He mutters once again in her ear. "Look at yourself."
She swallows hard and drops her gaze to the counter, since she's afraid of what she'll see in the mirror. He lets out an amused chuckle against her skin, which he had started to kiss once more. His hand drops from her chin and begins to slowly trace her collarbone. She feels an even stronger sense of uneasy spread through her stomach, but she doesn't have a chance to say anything to him. His voice fills her ears when he says. "You claim that you didn't like sleeping with me, but you told me afterwards that you loved me."
A flicker of anger ignites in the place where the pit of her stomach used to be. She manages to snarl. "You made me. I didn't enjoy anything you did."
Her gaze snaps up to glare at him in the mirror, but her mouth falls open when she feels his fangs brush the skin of her neck. Her eyes lock with her own in the mirror. A look of surprise colors her face. She can feel herself shaking, but she can't form any words. His eyes lift, drawing her attention. A look of pure lust colors not only his face, but his eyes as well. While she watches, his fangs brush along her skin once again, but he put a little more pressure behind them this time, making her flinch at the slight sting. He pulls away and blows cold air over the stinging area. She flinches and closes her eyes tightly. She curls her hands into fists, though one of them simply grips his hand tighter. She shudders when he blows cold air over her skin again. His voice is somehow even lower than before. "You are mine. I'll prove it to you."
She opens her eyes to deny him, but she never gets the chance. The moment she can see herself in the mirror, she feels his fangs sink into her skin. A look of pain flashes over her face, and her head drops forward. She grits her teeth and clenches her eyes shut. She lets out a soft whimper, but the pain only lasts a moment before the same mind numbing pleasure from before slowly spreads over her body from where he's biting her.
She slowly opens her eyes to stare at the sink. It feels like an eternity is passing by in an agonizingly slow manner. All she can hear is his soft moans, and the sounds of him swallowing in her ear. The pleasant tingle has spread all the way to the tips of her fingers and toes. Her body felt oddly warm, which makes the spots his cold skin is touching even more noticeable. A sense of heaviness begins to fill her limbs, and her head starts to feel lightheaded. She hasn't had enough time to recover from the last time he drank from her. Cold fingers send a shock through her body when the fingers tracing her collarbone lift to gently grasp her chin once again. She tries to fight it, but she finds her body not wanting to respond correctly. He easily lifts her face upwards. Her gaze locks with a shocking sight.
Her face is paler than normal, but it isn't twisted in pain like she expects it to be. A look of pure pleasure twists her face into something unrecognizable. It makes her feel sick to her stomach to see that it appears she is enjoying it. Her eyes lock with glowing, green eyes. He pulls back enough to give her a fanged grin. A dark, red color coats his teeth and bottom lip. His tongue is also a darker shade of red than usual. Her limbs suddenly feel cold, but her body continues to pulse with that pleasant tingle. Her mind scrambles to figure out if she is frightened by the sight of Laito's blood stained mouth hovering near her shoulder or if she is enjoying what he is doing.
Her thoughts turn to a more pressing issue. What is wrong with her? Has she become a masochist? When did she become one?
"You never try to run," Laito coos in her ear. She feels his cold tongue slowly run over the source of the pleasantly numb feeling, and she shudders. He's right. She should have tried harder to get away from the Sakamaki's, but she just went along with everything.
"You had an opportunity to tell someone else about us. What stopped you?"
She opens and closes her mouth a couple of times. The dizziness is creating a fog over her mind, and she finds herself absentmindedly watching him continue to alternate between licking and kissing her neck. Her voice comes out as small and weak. "I...don't….."
She flinches. She can barely hear herself talking. He lifts his head to look at her in the mirror. A smug smile colors his face. Without warning, she finds herself being swung around again. Her head spins violently, making her feel even sicker to her stomach. She once again finds herself sitting on the counter, only this time she doesn't get a chance to close her legs tightly. Laito settles himself between her knees, causing a sense of alarm to race through her body. Her muscle tense, but the spinning hasn't quite stopped yet. Unfortunately, she doesn't get a chance to get her bearings before Laito makes his next move. One of his hands rests on the top of her thigh, just below the edge of her shorts, while the other buries itself in her hair. She barely has time to close her eyes before she's jerked forward. Her lips collide hard with his. She lets out a hiss of pain, but that turns out to be a mistake. It parted her lips just enough that he is able to shove his tongue into her mouth. Her eyes clench shut, and a metallic taste overtakes her mouth. She breathes in sharply through her nose and gags around Laito's tongue. It feels like he is trying to coat her entire mouth in the taste of her own blood. She tries to pull away, but his fingers curl even tighter in her hair, causing tears to spring up in her eyes.
Her lungs start to burn from the overwhelming need to breath. The short breathes she's able to get through her nose is quickly becoming insufficient. Finally, it seems like Laito's had enough, since he pulls back. Mai greedily gasps in air the second that Laito's lips leave hers. The lightheadedness seems even worse than before, and she finds herself unconsciously leaning forward. Her head rests on his shoulder, while her forehead presses against his cool neck. Despite herself, his cool skin feels wonderful against hers. She feels like her body is on fire, and she's having a hard time getting her thoughts in order. She's vaguely aware that his cold fingers are once again lightly petting her thighs. Thankfully, his fingers are stroking the outside this time. The smell of his cologne threatens to overwhelm her, but she finds a strange sense of comfort in it.
Her eyes widen when that thought crosses her mind, and every muscle in her body stiffens. She's faintly aware that Laito is humming something under his breath, but she can't make out what song it is. She decides to not dwell on it, since it doesn't sound familiar anyway. Her mind swings back around to the fact that at some point she started to believe she's safe around Laito. She feels him move, and his arms wrap around her waist. Suddenly, the entire room feels like the temperature drops. Her eyes widen, and she lifts her head away from his chest. Her eyes meet pitch black ones just over Laito's shoulder. Her hands unconsciously find the sides of Laito's shirt, just above his hips. Her entire body begins to shake, and she wants nothing more than to tear her gaze away from the horrifying sight.
To make matters worse, she watches what appears to be a worm slowly work its way out of one of the dark holes and bump around before disappearing into the other one. Bile quickly rises up her throat, and it only gets worse while she watches something white start to slowly creep around the edges of the darkness. She doesn't want to know what it is, but she has a feeling that she already knows. The scent of death and decay quickly overwhelms Laito's scent, making her gag so hard that her abdominal muscles ache. She tries to tear her gaze away, but the second she looks away, an entire skeletal face appears only a foot away from her face. Unfortunately, it's now in clear view to her right and appears to be a rotting head. There's no hair, and bits of decaying flesh cling to the cheek areas. The white bubbling out of its eyes begins to move like it's alive. Mai feels herself dry heaving once more. Without warning, the wiggling mass falls out of the eye socket onto the counter beside her with a wet sounding plop. She's not sure why, but her gaze is drawn downwards. She unconsciously releases a loud screech at the sight of a handful of flailing maggots. She tries to thrust her body away from the floating skull, but something blocks her. Despite trying her hardest to look up at what she knows is Laito, she can't get her gaze to leave the sight of the disgusting larvae, so she ends up scrambling the best she can into his body. She faintly hears him saying her name, but she still can't turn her gaze away. A haunting voice that sounds vaguely familiar begins to echo throughout the bathroom.
"The time has come for you to play your part."
She finally manages to slam her eyes closed, but it doesn't stop the voice from ringing in her head. Instead, it gets to the point where the words begin to echo over each other, so it's impossible to understand what is being said. She's only able catch names here and there, but the rest may have well been baby babble.
"Mai…." A muffled voice coos in her ear. Everything falls eerily silent, and her eyes snap open. She finds that she's still sitting on the counter. Her legs are tightly clenching Laito's waist, while her hands are covering her ears. She lifts her head up, only to have her nose brush against Laito's. Surprise fills her entire body, and she jerks backwards. Her head collides hard with the mirror, and pain races through her skull. She lets out a cry of pain that echos loudly throughout the bathroom, making the ringing in her head even worse. She quickly leans away, only to feel something slip down the back of her shirt. Prickles of pain follows the tickling sensation, causing her to thrust her body forward. She frantically reaches back, but the shirt pulls at whatever was in her shirt, making the pain even worse. She lets out a soft whimper of pure terror. Her mind keeps looping around to the maggots. Were they real? She flinches when she's pulled tightly against a chest. The scent of death and decay that seems like it will forever be stuck in her nose begins to slowly give way to something much better. She jerks when she feels the back of her shirt being pulled away from her body, but she doesn't fight against him. She found Laito's touch preferable to being bitten by maggots. She tenses when she hears a soft clinking sound on the hard counter behind her. A sigh from above prompts her to slowly lifts her gaze to meet amused, green ones. Her mind finally finds a life line, and she's able to focus once more.
She focuses on his scent, since she worried that the disgusting smell from before will assault her once more. His cologne helps to erase any traces left over. She closes her eyes and subconsciously leans closer to him. She flinches when his cold fingers suddenly touch her spine. It felt like ice cold water had been poured over her. Her eyes snap open; her back arches, and she jerks herself away from him before settling a glare on him. He lets out a deep chuckle and lifts two fingers to his mouth. Disgust fills her body when she sees small traces of blood on his fingertips. Her eyes lock with his, and she finds herself unable to turn away. Lust fills his eyes, and he slowly parts his lips only to slowly press his fingers in. He slowly pulls his fingers out, gives her a seductive smirk, and allows his tongue to lightly lick any 'traces' left on his lips. Mai feels herself cringe, but she's unable to actually look away.
A loud banging on the door causes her to jump. Relief feels her body since she's finally able to snap her gaze in that direction. It feels like all the tension in her body melts away. She hears a soft groan from Laito, and the tension returns. Her breath catches in her throat when she feels him press his face into the joint between her shoulder and neck. His breath tickles her skin, causing her to cringe. She jumps again when someone knocks on the door once more. She opens her mouth to respond. Unfortunately, Laito chooses that moment to lightly nip at her skin, causing her to release a sharp gasp instead. She puts her hands on his shoulders and shoves hard, but he doesn't move an inch. She presses hard again, but it just causes him to chuckle against her skin and nip once more. She jumps when his fangs brush along her skin.
"Mai? Are you ok?"
Mai's gaze snaps back to the door. That sounded like Yui's voice. The blonde starts to loudly knock on the door once more. Mai opens her mouth to call out to Yui, but a sharp pain races through her head. She flinches hard and jerks away from Laito. Thankfully, he decides to let her go this time. She doesn't waste any time in sliding off the counter. She cringes when her body brushes his and quickly steps away the moment her feet touch the floor. She's careful to keep her eyes on him while she backs toward the door. A shudder runs through her body when something catches her eye. Her gaze reluctantly turns toward the mirror, and her heart drops to the bottom of her stomach causing her to freeze on the spot. Her head decides that is the moment to let out a very painful throb.
The mirror behind the sink is cracked with a few shards missing. She flinches when she realizes that the 'bug' that went down her shirt was really a piece of glass. Why didn't she notice the sting from before? Her hand lifts to touch the back of her head, but she stops when Laito clicks his tongue at her. Her gaze snaps back to him, and a mixture of disgust and anger starts to burn through her stomach. Every part of her that he touched begins to crawl. How could she willingingly let him touch her so easily after everything he's done to her? To make it even worse, she hadn't even tried to fight back.
Bile starts to rise in her throat, and she watches his mouth move. She can't quite catch the words though, and she frankly doesn't care. She knew there was a reason that she didn't fight back. The idea makes her feel even worse. She lets her hand drop to her side once more. She silently denies her new revolution with everything she has, but she knows it's no use.
She has not fallen for him. He's a cruel, sadistic, brat who only thinks of himself.
She can't describe how thankful she is when Yui knocks on the door once more. Mai quickly turns her back on Laito and bolts to the door. The second her hand touches the cold metal, she hears Laito say, "You have already fallen, you just don't know it yet."
Goosebumps appear on her skin, and she stares at the door hard. She gives a soft shake of her head and jerks the door open. To her surprise, Yui's face pales slightly, and she lifts a hand to her nose. Self-consciousness threatens to overwhelm Mai, but she shoves the thoughts away. She has already had a shower so there is no way that she could possibly stink. Yui's red eyes widen in concern, and her slightly muffled voice asks, "Are you ok?"
"Ummm…" Is all Mai manages to say. She flinches when her head gives another painful throb. Without a second thought, she reaches up and touches the middle part of the back of her head. Pain races through her skull, and tears spring forth. She lets out a loud whimper and jerks her hand away. She glances at her fingers to find that they are lightly coated in a familiar, red liquid, causing her to feel sick to her stomach. All the strength seems to drain from her body, and her legs start to shake. Cold hands grab her shoulders, making her let out a strange strangled sound. Her gaze snaps up to find concerned, red eyes.
A strained look passes over Yui's face, and her eyes flick down to Mai's fingers and lingers longer than necessary. An unreadable look passes over her face before lifting to look at Mai's eyes once more. Her gaze morphs back into a look of concern once more. That feels like it cements everything. Yui is no longer human, but Mai doesn't think she's a vampire yet. A shudder runs down Mai's spine, and it feels like the entire world is suffocating her. Is she all alone now? Helplessness threatens to overwhelm her. For a brief moment, she allows herself to wallow in self pity, but it quickly disappears when Yui gently prods her further into the bathroom. Mai numbly follows. She's faintly aware of the fact that Laito is still standing by the sink with a playful smirk on his face. Somehow, Mai finds herself standing in front of the sink, though Yui stands between Mai and Laito. Water rushes from the faucet below, but her mind can't quite grasp why. It's not until a small amount of cold water pours over the top of her head that she figures out what Yui is doing. She quickly leans down closer to the sink and closes her eyes. Cold water is splashed over her scalp, and she finds herself gripping the edge of the counter tightly. Maybe she should just take another shower to wash the blood out of her hair. Both Mai and Yui jump where there is a loud sigh near the doorway. Three sets of eyes turn to find Reiji standing there with a stern, cold frown on his face. His arms are crossed over his chest, causing him to look like a parent that just caught children misbehaving. Mai's heart leaps into her throat and begins to race, effectively making her feel like she is choking on it all over again. She swallows hard, but it does little to soothe the sensation.
"What is going on here?" Reiji coldly asks.
Silence is his only answer. A look of irritation slowly starts to spread over his face before he sighs and takes a step toward the group. Mai flinches, but she's unable to move from the approaching vampire thanks to Yui, who is still holding her hair. Reiji stops uncomfortably close and glances from Yui to Mai and, finally, at Laito. After a few more minutes of silence, Reiji lets out another sigh and turns his attention back to Mai. The look he gives her makes her feel like a child that got caught stealing sweets before dinner. She swallows hard and blurts out the first thing that comes to mind. "I…. Well….. I upset Subaru, and I…"
"I am well aware that you or Yui upset Subaru; however, that does not explain what the three of you are doing in the bathroom together," Reiji coldly states. Mai swallows hard and closes her eyes. She secretly curses the fact that Yui is now leaning into her and still has a hold of her hair, so all she can really see without much effort and pain is Reiji's stomach. After a few tense minutes pass, Mai hesitantly says.
"Well, I don't really know for sure, but… I mean Laito and I were here, and I accidentally hit my head on the mirror. I didn't even feel it until Yui caught my attention and…."
Reiji lifts a hand to stop Mai's nervous explantation. She feels Yui tense against her side, which makes her even more nervous. Mai closes her eyes and waits for something to happen. Unfortunately, something does happen. Cold fingers brush her scalp, causing her to jump. An annoyed sigh causes her eyes to snap open, and Reiji coldly states. "Please hold still. You have glass in your hair, unless you'd like to cut your scalp more than you already have."
Every muscle in Mai's body becomes taut to the point of pain. She's not sure how long she stands there staring at the pink tinged water run down the sink, but it sent chills down her spine that the only sounds of breathing she can hear are her own. She wants nothing more than to glance at Yui, but every time she moves to look at her friend, Reiji presses his fingers into one of the shallow wounds hidden in her hair. This earns a hiss of pain from her which is followed by a satisfied sound from Reiji. After what feels like an eternity, Reiji suddenly presses on the bottom portion of her skull. Despite the urge to resist, she allows him to push her head under the faucet. The cold water is enough to steal her breath away. She grips the edge of the counter even tighter and closes her eyes. She's grateful that the water runs harmlessly along the edges of her face, but it's still nerve wracking. Thankfully, it only lasts for a few seconds before she's released. The second she straightens, a towel covers her head, and she finds herself jerked backwards. Her back collides with a solid chest, and she feels fingers begin to lightly prod her scalp. Despite herself, the sensation is more pleasurable than she cared to admit. Her muscles start to relax in response. In fact, she is so relaxed that she doesn't even jump when Reiji coldly states. "Since you have rudely broken something that doesn't belong to you, you will have to pay for it."
Mai slowly reaches up to grab the edge of the towel and lifts it enough to find Reiji staring at the broken mirror with a look of cold indifference. Mai bites back a retort. The last thing she needs to do is upset Reiji even further. After a few more minutes of silence, she watches Reiji turn his attention to Yui. His cold voice cuts through the silence like a knife. "It seems that you are still an airhead. Do you not smell something burning?"
Yui lets out a piercing cry of surprise that has even Mai cringing at the echo. Before Mai can say anything, Yui seems to literally disappear before her eyes. A feeling of uneasy settles in the pit of her stomach. It continues to grow when Reiji's cold, red eyes find Mai's partially hidden ones. Once again, Reiji coldly states, "You do not have any concerning cuts. It appears that your hair kept most of the glass from cutting your skin."
Mai quickly thanks him, but he doesn't respond. So, she lets the edge of the towel fall back into place, causing him to disappear from sight. After a few tense moments of silence, the massaging stops, and she reaches up to pull the towel away from her head. She takes a step away, and spins to glance up at Laito, who casts her a flirtatious smirk. She opens her mouth to snarl at him, but she decides against it and closes her mouth with a snap. She turns on her heel and starts towards the door. Thankfully, he doesn't say anything to her. The unfortunate part is he follows her out. She clenches her jaw tightly, but she refuses to break the silence. Sadly, Laito doesn't seem to share that thought process, since he starts to talk the second they leave the bathroom. "Aren't you curious as to what I was doing with other girls?"
A strange heat begins to form in the pit of her stomach that is quickly followed by disgust. She quickens her step, despite knowing that it won't help. Sadly, she's right, since Laito simply increases his pace and begins to go into gruesome details about not only what he did with other girls but also describes how their bodies felt. A sick feeling settles in the pit of her stomach, and she tries to make it to the kitchen before she finally loses her cool. Unfortunately, she's still a couple feet away when she finally snaps. Laito is currently describing exactly what he felt while having sex with some random girl. Mai spins on her heel and turns to face him. Her face feels hot, but she isn't sure if it's embarrassment at what Laito is telling her or anger at him. She blurts out coldly. "Why do you feel the need to tell me this crap?! I don't give a damn if you sleep with 90% of the female population! Keep it to yourself!"
An amused grin spreads over his face, and his eyes seem to light up. He takes a threatening step towards her, but he looks like he is genuinely enjoying himself, which makes her even more furious. He tilts his head and gives her a look of mock curiosity. "Ahhhh, is someone jealous?"
"Who would be jealous over a freak like you?" Mai snarls. Her hands curl into tight fists. "In case you didn't notice, my whole world does not revolve around you!"
He playfully clicks his tongue and coos in a clearly mocking manner. "You look jealous. Why don't you be honest with yourself and give into the pleasure?"
"Like hell I will, and I'm not jealous!" Mai snaps out. The smug smirk on his face infuriates her even more, so she turns to finish going to the kitchen. It's clear that something is indeed burning, and she can faintly hear Yui apologizing to someone, though Mai assumes that it's likely Reiji that the blonde is apologizing to. Unfortunately, she only gets one step before two arms wrap around her shoulders from behind. A chest presses into her back, and her entire body tenses in response. She flinches when a puff of cold air brushes against her ear.
"You look jealous, sweetheart," Laito coos in a tone full of mock love. It feels like something literally snaps deep inside her body. She barely resists the urge to elbow him in the ribs. Before she can stop herself, she coldly states.
"I may appear that way to you, but at least I'm not a literal motherfucker."
The air around her suddenly becomes stale and cold, and she instantly regrets that last jab. His arms start to tighten around her shoulders to the point of pain. She grits her teeth and tries to bare it, but it quickly becomes obvious that he doesn't plan to release her anytime soon. She finally lets out a hiss of pain and softly says. "Look, I may have gone too far with that last one. I'm sor…"
"I don't need an apology," Laito's deep, cold voice states in one ear. Goosebumps begins to rise all over her body. She can practically feel the unusual anger radiating from just those words. Her breath catches in her throat, and she feels her body starting to shake. She cringes when she hears a deep, cold chuckle. To her relief, he finally starts to loosen his grip on her shoulders. She silently urges him to release her a little more, and her mind begins to try to form an escape plan. She flinches, and her mind goes blank when she feels his cold lips brush the skin just below her ear lobe. His voice is still deep with a hint of cold anger to it when he says directly into her ear. "I want you to be honest with yourself."
Chills race up and down her spine, and she closes her eyes tightly. She decides that it'll be easier to just tell him what he wants to hear, rather than dealing his anger. She shudders when she remembers what had happened the day before. The last thing she wants to do is provoke his anger and have him try to drown her again. After all, she values her own life. She closes her eyes tightly and says softly. "Look, I'm really sorry."
Something cold rubs her jaw, causing her eyes squeeze even tighter. It feels like she's been punched in the gut when he whispers softly in her ear. "I want you to admit that you are jealous."
Her jaw clenches tightly, and her stubborn streak sets in. She fights against it with all her might and forces between clenched teeth. "Fine."
Silence fills the air after the tense word. She barely refrains from rolling her eyes. She opens her eyes to glare in the direction of the kitchen. She focuses on the scent of burnt food rather than her own words. Still, they come out from between clenched teeth. "I'm jealous."
"Of what?" Laito playfully prods. Mai barely represses the growl of utter frustration.
"Of the fact that you were with other girls." Pain ripples from her hands. She hadn't even realized that her nails were digging into her palms until that moment. To her utter relief, Laito lets out a chuckle and finally releases her. She quickly steps away from herself, she glances over shoulder at him. His chuckle hadn't sounded genuine. Surprise fills her body when she catches an almost lonely look on his face. A lump forms in her throat, and guilt threatens to overwhelm her. She'd overstepped the line when she had insulted him. After all, he could've been an unwilling participant. He did react negatively when he talked about his relationship the day before.
A cold wave washes over her. She is making excuses for him. A sickening feeling settles in the pit of her stomach once more. She stubbornly repeats to herself that she thought of him as a friend at best. His words in the bathroom float back to her, and her entire body tenses. Did she really belong to him? Is that why he made her watch him drink her blood? Before she realizes it, she's running away. Tears fill her eyes. She did not care for him as anything more than a possible friend. A haunting chuckle echos after her, and his words feel even more haunting.
"You know love isn't real."
She chokes on the air, causing her to let out a strangled noise. Her feet follow a familiar path, and she barges into a room. Unfortunately, it's not empty like she is hoping for.
"Hey! What the hell?" A frustrated voice snaps out. Her eyes lock with green eyes that seem to haunt her, even if they held a look of frustration instead of amusement. That frustration melts away into a look of unease. Her hand grips the door handle to Yui's room tightly while she watches a watery Ayato lean away from her. "What the hell are you crying for?"
Humiliation makes the pit of her stomach feel like a cold heavy rock. To make matters even worse, she lets out a loud sob. Ayato makes a sound that is close to a groan. "Hey, don't fucking cry! You look ugly when you cry! Was it Laito? If you are crying over such a freak than you are a pathetic human, who deserves what she got!"
She isn't sure why she is still standing there. She feels like curling into a little ball. All she manages to do is nod a little. Her eyes close, and warm tears start to fall down her face. When did she turn into such a crybaby? She hears Ayato let out a sound of complete irritation. She faintly hears him telling her something along the lines of Laito being an asshole and a handful on a good day. She frustratingly wipes at her face. After the third sigh of irritation and unintelligible, awkward set of words, she mutters an apology and quickly leaves. She stays close to the wall and makes her way down the hallway. She pauses midway to her half thought out destination. Perhaps she should go back to the kitchen. She quickly shakes the thought out of her head. There is no way that she is going back there. Either Laito is going to be there, or Reiji is. Yui would be there for sure, and Mai doesn't think she can form a coherent sentence at the moment. She also doesn't feel like trying to explain what is going on inside her mind. Her new plan isn't ideal, but she doesn't think that she will harassed as much.
Once she convinces herself that this is her best option, she is able to continue on her way. Thankfully, she makes it to the desired door without any mishaps. She reaches out to knock, but she pauses with her fist inches from the wooden door. She only takes a moment to think about it before she drops her hand to the knob without all, he is probably asleep, and she doesn't want to wake him up and have him kick her out of his room.
She easily and silently slips into the room. Her eyes catch sight of him lying on his bed, causing her to release a sigh of relief. His back is to her, and from what she could tell, his side is steadily rising and falling. She quickly glances around the room before her eyes lock with a door, and a sense of determination overwhelms her. With one last glance at the sleeping Shuu, she quickly and quietly makes her way over to the door. Without a second thought, she slips inside and closes the door, which leaves her in total darkness. The overwhelming scent that seems to hang around Shuu hits her nose. Her hands pat her pockets, and relief rushes through her. Once again, it seems like Laito has slipped her phone into a pocket at some point. She takes it out and wakes it up. To her surprise, it's only mid-morning. She notices that she has a couple of text messages, but she chooses to ignore them for now. After a moment, she activates the flashlight mode and glances around the closet for a place to hide. Once she finds and settles in one, she opens her texts. To her relief, it isn't her parents. Instead, it's Shiro.
He's talking about hanging out sometime the next day, then he proceeds to whine that Kou cornered him at school and demanded that he join her and Shiro. A smile spreads over her face. The second one is asking how Yui and her are doing. He also asks if Yui would like to hang out with them outside school. The smile slowly melts away, and she ends up reading the text a couple of times, completely unsure of how to respond. Finally, after reading it at least ten times, she responds with a simple generic text about how funny it is that Kou cornered him. She tells him that Yui and herself were both fine and hanging out sounded like fun. After a second of hesitation, she types that she will ask Yuk if she wants to hang out. She jumps when her phone goes off only seconds after she sends her text message. She quickly opens it to see that he said that it's good that they are doing well, and he asks where and when they should hang out.
It takes a couple of text messages before they settle on the next day at around three p.m. Unfortunately, he informs her that Kou has been texting him and asking, so he's going along with them. After that, the conversation turns to Kou, with Shiro mostly complaining about how he doesn't like people like Kou. Tiredness threatens to overwhelm her, and she can't help but wonder if the cause might be the fact that Laito had drank so much that she passed out. Before she knows it, she dozes off.
A bright light appears behind her eyelids, and she release a groan. A soft chuckle forces her to open her eyes. The lightbulb in the closet burns her eyes, causing her to blink rapidly. Thankfully, a shadow falls over her, allowing her to finally open her eyes and see who woke her up. She finds herself staring up at an amused Shuu. Sleep stubbornly clings to her body, so she's not able to form coherent thoughts. She barely understands Shuu when he playfully says, "I didn't know you were a closet pervert."
Mai scoffs and closes her eyes. She pulls her pillow close to her chest and snuggles into it. Shuu lets out a soft chuckle, causing irritation to well up in her stomach. She opens one eye to look up at him. Sleep even clings to her voice when she croaks out, "Is there something you need?"
"You are in my closet," Shuu states, as if it couldn't be more obvious. Mai rolls her eyes then closes them.
"Obviously. You've never had an issue with me being in your room before, and I've been in your closet plenty of times." She forces an eye open when he releases a breathy chuckle. He had leaned closer to her. To her surprise, she doesn't feel the same sense of danger that she usually feels with the others. She lets her eye drift closed once more. She's so warm and comfortable that it's hard to care that a threatening vampire is leaning over her. "I never bother you while you're sleeping."
"You have," Shuu states dryly. Mai lets out a sound of irritation and slowly rolls so her back is to him. She's careful to take her pillow with her. After all, it wouldn't do to lose such a comfortable thing.
"That was on Reiji's orders. In case you didn't know it, Reiji is terrifying," she tiredly states, trying to put as much irritation as she can into her voice. Shuu lets out a scoff.
"Reiji is all bark and no bite." She chooses not to respond to that. Perhaps he'll leave her alone if she simply ignores him. She hears a shift, and relief fills her entire body. It seems like pulling a Shuu on the very person will pay off. She jumps when his voice appears directly in her ear. "Hey, closet perv, how long do you plan on clenching my clothes? I didn't know you were into using men's underwear as a pillow. My shirt's not a blanket. You certainly are perverted."
Mai lets out a soft screech, causing him to pull away and release a slightly annoyed sound. She sits upright to find that Shuu isn't lying. She isn't sure how, but she somehow created a nest of his clothes in her sleep. She leaps to her feet and bolts toward the door without a second thought. Unfortunately, a hand wraps around her upper arm with surprising strength. Her gaze snaps back to meet tiredly amused, blue ones. He says in a playful tone. "Hey, hey. You can't just new up my closet and try to run away."
Her muscles tense, and she glances at the mess before turning her gaze back to him. She stutters a few times, which just seems to amuse him more. She finally forces herself to stop and take a deep breath. Thankfully, it seems like Shuu isn't in a hurry, so she takes her time. Finally, she says softly, "You're right. I'm an intruder, so I'll fix the mess I made."
He releases a disinterested scoff and releases her. The relief she gets from that is short lived though, since he adds. "You owe me more than just cleaning up the mess you made. You intruded in my room without permission."
Her eyes lift to lock onto his once more. She knows what he wants without him having to say anything. He gives her a chilling smirk and turns to leave the closet.
"I'll collect that debt when I'm ready to," he lazily calls over his shoulder. Mai rolls her eyes and reaches down for the first piece of clothing. There is no way she is going to be him blood. After all, she never agreed to. To her surprise, Shuu adds "You can sleep on the floor or the couch. I don't care which."
She glances out the closet door at his back. A feeling of gratitude swells up, despite his cold way of teasing and demand for her to pay with her blood. She wrinkles her nose at the feeling nose and makes a face at his back. She returns to the task at hand and quickly tries to finish it. Thankfully, it doesn't take long, but the second she steps out of the closet and shuts the door, there is knocking across the room. She glances at Shuu, who once again appears to be asleep. She jumps when she hears Reiji's muffled voice from the other side of the door. "Mai, please meet me in the kitchen."
Unease fills her stomach, but she forces herself to slowly make her way toward the door. Just as she reaches it, she hears Shuu mutter. "He's so scary that you obey his every command without question, huh?"
Mai can't help but stick her tongue out at him before quickly leaving. The last thing she wants to hear is him claiming that she is offering something strange to him. She makes her way toward the kitchen. A mouthwatering scent meets her halfway, causing her to pick up her pace. The second she rounds the corner, she is stunned to find that she isn't the only one to be called to the kitchen. Subaru sits in a chair in the corner of the kitchen, while Laito leans against the counter with his arms crossed. Both wear completely different looks on their faces. Subaru has his usual annoyed look, while Laito has a mischievous one. Mai sucks in a deep breath and turns to leave when Reiji's cold voice cuts through any thought of escaping. "If you leave, you'll be punished."
It's a genuine threat that she doesn't think he'll have any issue carrying out. She slowly turns back to the kitchen to find Reiji standing in the middle of it with his arms folded over his chest. He's also giving her the coldest look she has ever seen. Without further instructions, she stiffly makes her way into the room and finds a seat as far away from Subaru and Laito as she possibly can. After a few moments of fidgeting, Reiji lets out a sigh of pure irritation. His sharp, stern voice causes her flinch. "Human, enough with the fidgeting. Now, Subaru, I will start with you."
She glances at Subaru when she hears a snarl from him. Though,he doesn't even spare her a glance, much to her disappointment. She breathes a small sigh of relief that Reiji's cold glare has turned away from her for the time being. It feels like she's about to get lectured by her parents. Unfortunately, it seems she's right to some degree when Reiji coldly states, "Subaru, enough with your behavior. It's unbecoming of the Sakamaki name. Please get over the fact that she vomited on you."
Subaru starts to say something, but Reiji simply raises his voice. "Humans are vile, disgusting creatures, so it is to be expected that they would result to animalistic behavior. It was something that she simply could not help. I would appreciate it if you would stop venting your anger out on the house, or I will send you to live with her and her family for a couple of months."
Subaru releases a threatening growl, but he doesn't retort. He simply stands to leave. Fortunately for him, it appears that Reiji is done with him, so he quickly makes his exit. Mai clenches her fist and glares at Reiji. She can't believe what he had just said. She isn't some farm animal that can't think for herself. She barely manages to keep from saying just that when his cold, red eyes turn to face her. "And you…."
She could practically feel the venom dripping from his words. "You come into this house and break everything in sight. You are almost as bad as Subaru. If you had just listened, you wouldn't be having this issue with him. On another note, your crude behavior with Laito needs to stop, as well. You are both appalling and behaving in an undignified manner. You'll stop acting like a lovestruck puppy with every ounce of attention that Laito gives you."
She opens her mouth to protest, but Reiji just rises his voice like he did with Subaru. "I do not care what your relationship with him is. Either give yourself over to him willingly, or find someone else. You cannot continue to string this relationship along in such a manner. You are the most unlady-like, human, female I have ever met. Do you have no shame?"
He scoff, as if laughing at his own cruel words. His attention turns to Laito before Mai even gets a chance to be defend herself. "Laito, you are to stop coercing this pathetic human. Your games are getting in the way of not only your schooling but hers as well. If one of you shall fail, father is likely to punish you over the human."
To Mai's surprise, she actually sees Laito cringe. She wants to enjoy the moment, but her anger continues to boil under her skin. She felt humiliated and insulted, but she isn't sure how to even get a word in edgewise. Thankfully, the sting of Reiji words are lessened by the way he talks to Laito. "You know how you are expected to behave. While she is no longer a guest, you still do not have the right to torment her to the point that it bothers the rest of us."
Laito lets out a sound of mock annoyance. "The only one bothered is Subaru."
Reiji clicks his tongue like a parent would at a misbehaving child. His face slowly morphs into an even sterner look, though it clearly isn't working on Laito. Reiji coldly states. "You're wrong. She wanders the halls in an effort to be rid of you. She proceeds to bother Yui, which frustrates Ayato. We finally have some peace and quiet from his childish pranks, but it will not last long if this human continues to disrupt the two of them. Not only that, she now irritates Subaru with her mere presence. Her run-ins with Kanato typically result in a loud exchange between the two of them. You provoke her to the point that she is unnaturally loud."
Heat flushes Mai's cheeks. She feels utterly humiliated and insulted; however, like before, she's unable to get a word in edgewise. He continues by stating. "Recently, you have chased her into that good-for-nothing's room, causing his disgusting scent to cling to her. It's utterly repulsive when mixed with her already overwhelmingly human scent. If it continues, I'll be forced to take disciplinary actions."
Laito gives Reiji a playful look and asks, "Oh? What'll that punishment be?"
Reiji slowly pushes up his glasses, and Mai finds herself feeling curious as well. It seems like an eternity passes before he finally answers. "I will handcuff the both of you together before adding Kanato to the mix."
Mai cringes at the very thought of being handcuffed to Kanato and Laito at the same time. That practically spells trouble. She feels the blood drain from her face. What did she do to deserve this? Her gaze snaps to Laito when she sees him open his mouth out of the corner of her eye. She tries to convey a silent threat, since she's positive that he is about to sass Reiji. The last thing she wants to do is get punished because Laito can't keep his mouth shut. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be paying much attention to her. "That doesn't seem like much of a punishment. It actually sounds more like a reward."
To her complete frustration, it sounds like he's pouting. She jumps when there is a noise directly in front of her, and her gaze snaps around to find mouth-watering steak sitting before her. She glances up, but Reiji is already across the kitchen. Her eyes drop to the food below her, and a sense of hesitation swells up. Should she risk it? What if it's poisoned?
She flinches when her stomach loudly growls at just the scent. She glances up to find both of the vampires watching her. Laito has a look of pure amusement on his face, while Reiji has an indescribable look on his face. Mai's eyes drop back to the mouth-watering plate, and she fights the blush that threatens to take over her face. She closes her eyes when her stomach growls loudly once more. She tenses when Laito start to laugh. Reiji's voice cuts through Laito's laughter. "Eat before it gets cold. If you waste any food, you will never eat at this house again."
Mai's eyes slowly open, and she glances up at Reiji. There is so much that she wants to say to him, but she can't bring herself to say anything. She decides it's best to just do what Reiji says and starts to eat. She barely represses the moan from escaping the second the food touches her tongue. She'll never admit out loud, but Reiji is the best cook she's ever met. While she eats her food, she's faintly aware of the fact that Reiji is still lecturing Laito, but she doesn't pay particularly close attention.
"You've got to make….feed her….." Reiji states coldly. Laito lets out a whining sound and responses with something along the lines of that Reiji never allows anyone in the kitchen, so how could he make anything? Mai quickly loses interest and proceeds to finish her food. She leans back in her chair and lets out a content sigh. Her eyes drift closed, and she feels every muscle in her body start to relax. Despite everything that has been happening, it still feels nice to have a full stomach. A sudden feeling of tiredness sweeps over her, and she yawns. She doesn't even know what time it is, since she isn't sure how long she slept on the floor in Shuu's closet. She jumps when she hears a sigh above her. Her head is reclined back, so the moment she opens her eyes she can see a set of red eyes peering emotionlessly down at her. Fear washes through her, and she bolts to her feet. Just as she gets to her feet, her body suddenly feels heavy, and she has to reach out and grab the table to keep from tipping over. It feels like an eternity passes before she's able to focus. The first thing she notices is that her plate is gone, and Reiji is talking to her from across the kitchen once more.
"Go to sleep. It'll be irritating for the rest of us if you pass out and sleep on the floor like that good for nothing. Next time, tell Laito not to suck you to the point you pass out."
Biting back the remark that Laito won't listen, she simply gives a slow nod. Once more a sense of tiredness washes over her, and she finds it hard to focus on anything. Once the haze clears enough to form thoughts, she finds herself alone with Reiji. His back is to her, and it sounds like he's doing dishes. Mai casts one last glance toward Reiji before leaving and wandering down the vast hallways. She vaguely remembers the room Laito had shown her. She assumes it's fine to sleep there since she was told it was supposed to be hers. She pauses in the middle of a hallway and cringes. Her heart starts to race. Perhaps she should go back to Shuu's room? That thought makes her cringe just as much.
No. It'd be better to finally have some alone time. After a couple of deep breaths to calm her nerves, she continues on her way.
After a couple of tries, she manages to find the plain room. She uses what little strength she has to shut and lock the door before collapsing on the bed. She's faintly aware of the fact that her pocket is vibrating, but she finds that she doesn't really care enough to exert the effort to fish out her phone. Besides, she can't fight the tiredness anymore, so she just gives into the warm embrace of unconsciousness. She's faintly aware that the door sounds like it's opening.
Her eyes refuse to open, but something woke her up. After some effort, her eyes slowly open. She's still laying in the middle of the bed, but she's lying on her side. Something presses against her back, while a weight rests over her waist. A steady breath moves her hair a little and cools the back of her neck. She doesn't have to look over her shoulder to see who it is. She already knew. Oddly enough, she has a feeling that it isn't Laito who woke her up. She slowly lifts her head and glances around the room, but she doesn't see anything out of order. She carefully twists her body until she is sitting upright, causing Laito to shift in his sleep. Still, her mind doesn't focus on him. She has the hair rising sensation that someone is watching her. Still, she can't find the source or what woke her up. A cold wind rushes over her, causing her to shiver and regret not using the blanket. Suddenly, she notices something odd out of the corner of her eye, and her gaze snaps in the direction of the bathroom. She jumps when Laito's arms wrap around her waist and draws her closer just as another biting wind rushes from the open bathroom door. She blankly lets him pull her back down. She's faintly aware of him pressing his face into the back of her shoulder. Adrenaline begins to course through her veins, sending a thrill to the tips of her fingers. Her heart starts to race, and she feels positive that all the doors had been shut when she dozed off, though she hadn't paid close attention.
Due to the cold, her skin begins to form goosebumps in order to deal with it, and a shudder races through her body. She pulls her legs up to her chest, wraps her arms around them, and stares at the open door. An unusual amount of light pours through the doorway. In fact, it's so bright that she can easily make out all of Laito's features when she glances over her shoulder. Every warning bell in her mind starts to go off. There is no way that she's going to step into the bathroom and shut the window. She hugs her legs tighter and glances back at Laito.
For once, she finds herself grateful that she isn't alone. A thud from the bathroom causes her gaze to snap back in that direction. It's followed by more thudding sounds, causing every muscle in her body to tense up even more. She's so focused on the doorway that she misses the movement behind. She lets out a scream of pure terror when something cold touches the area around her belly button. She rockets off the bed and tries to twist mid-step. Unfortunately, she still hasn't completely recovered from her blood loss the day before, so a wave of dizziness sweeps over. The room continues to spin, even though she's sure she's stopped, causing her to end up losing her balance and landing on her butt. She lets out a hiss of pain that is interrupted by laughter. Mai's gaze snaps up to find Laito holding his stomach in what appeared to be genuine laughter. For a moment, she feels like her heart skips a beat before anger sweeps over her. She puffs out her cheeks and snarls. "What the hell are you doing in my room? Why did you touch me?"
It takes a moment for Laito to fully contain his laughter before he turns his bright, green eyes on her. Her eyes narrow a little in an attempt to look threatening, but all she gets in response is a fanged grin. When he finally talks, his voice is low, almost seductive, when he asks. "Oh? This is your room?"
Mai's eyes narrow at the stressed word. She has a feeling that he's setting up a trap, and she isn't about to willingly walk right into it. He shifts his body until his head is propped up by one of his arms. The other rests lazily on his side. One leg stretches to it's full length while the other is bent to an upright position. Silence settles between them for so long that Mai almost forgets about the thumping that had woken her up. As the seconds tick by, Laito's grin continues to grow, causing unease to completely fill Mai's body. Finally, Laito breaks the silence. "If you accept this is your room, than do you accept what it means?"
He punctuates his sentence with a dark chuckle. Mai's muscles go completely rigid. She clenches her jaw tightly and scrambles for something to say. Laito only gives her a few seconds to come up with a reply before playfully stating. "Your silence is enou-"
"It's a guest room. I misspoke." Mai cuts him off. Laito's eyes glow for a moment, making Mai awkwardly scramble back a couple of inches. She instantly regrets not getting to her feet, but she has a feeling that she'll just feel dizzy if she tries. Thankfully, he doesn't make a move to follow her. He simply watches her with an amused look on his face. She swallows hard and opens her mouth to change the subject when the thumping starts up again. She jumps a couple of inches and finds herself scrambling back toward the bed, completely disregarding the dizziness. Before she can stop herself, she's climbing over the top of Laito. Despite her fear, she still gets a sense of achievement when her knee hits his sternum hard. She hears the wind rush from his body, but it doesn't slow her down. Thankfully, it seems she stuns him enough to make it to the headboard. She twists and presses her back tightly against the frame and glances upward before turning her gaze toward the bathroom door. She can now see a little bit of the bathroom, but she can't see what the source of the sound is. She jumps when she hears a low growl from Laito's direction and reluctantly tears her gaze away from the doorway to look down at furious, glowing, green eyes. Mai flinches and presses her back even tighter against the headboard.
The thumping in the bathroom causes her gaze to snap away from the angry vampire again. She lets out a squeak when she spots something dark flash from one side of the bathroom to the other. Unfortunately, it moves so fast that she isn't able to actually figure out what it is. She turns her frightened gaze back to Laito when she hears laughter erupting from him all over again. Her entire body is shaking at this point, and her mind races with a variety of things that the dark flash can possibly be. After all, she has seen plenty of women in white by this point, and the decomposing face earlier has her nerves on edge. She jumps when it starts to thump once more. Her eyes return to the doorway. Her arms wrap tightly around her knees, and her nails dig into the skin on her forearms. Prickles of pain race up her arms, but she chooses to ignore the feeling. The only thing to tear her gaze away is the sight of Laito's back when he makes his way toward the bathroom. Every fine hair on her body stands on end, and her mind starts to race. Could he also hear that terrible thumping noise? Does that mean that it isn't all in her head? She finds herself watching him intently the second he steps into the bathroom. His head turns in a direction that she can't quite see, and she watches him squat down. His lips move, but his voice is too low for her to hear.
Her throat feels like it's suddenly gone dry. Is he playing a prank on her? Her nails dig deeper into the skin of her arms, and she hugs her legs tighter to her body. She glances upward once more just to make sure that nothing is creeping along the ceiling. The sound of a sigh brings her attention back down. Her eyes catch vivid, green ones before she notices something moving just below her line of sight. Her gaze drops even further to find that he's cradling what appeared to be a bat in his hands. Her heart skips a beat, and it feels like all the tension leaves her body. Her eyes flick back up to find Laito's amused smirk. His playful tone cuts through the silence. "This is what you are so scared of?"
It's clear from his tone that he's mocking her. She grits her teeth and rolls her eyes before looking back down at the bat. "What is it doing here?"
Laito lets out a chuckle and carelessly tosses it onto her bed. Her heart drops for a moment then begins to race when she hears a painful squeak coming from the small creature. Before she thinks through her actions, she's on her hands and knees, crawling toward the poor animal. She freezes when it starts to move awkwardly. Upon watching for a moment, she realizes that one of its wings is sitting at a cringe worthy angle. Pity swells through her stomach, and she glances up at Laito. Shock threatens to overwhelm her pity when she finds an unusually cold expression on his face. She barely represses the flinch when his eyes move from the bat to meet her gaze. The cold look melts away into one of pure amusement. His playful tone cuts through the silence. "It's just one of my familiars."
Mai cringes and looks down at the poor, broken bat. She scoots closer as worry threatens to overwhelm her. She watches its chest rise and fall rapidly. Its head is hidden beneath the awkward wing, so she isn't able to see its face. She scoots close enough to reach out and touch it. She lifts a hand to do just that before freezing. Don't bats carry all sorts of diseases like rabies? She recoils for a moment and looks up at Laito, who is once more giving a cold, uninterested look in the direction of the bat. The seconds of silence pass by before Mai goes against her better judgement. "Laito?"
His gaze instantly snaps up to meet hers. She flinches back then cringes when a playful smile spreads over his face. He tilts his head a little and playfully says, "It told me it hurt itself coming into your bathroom, though I don't know why it was trying to. I have other familiars who watch over you."
Every muscle in Mai's body freezes, and the overwhelming sense of being invaded takes over. She can practically feel the snarl taking over her face when she asks, "What?"
He lets out a chuckle. That's the only warning she gets before his face appears only an inch or two in front her own. She flinches back. Thankfully, he allows her to distance herself. While she watches, his hand comes out to lightly run his fingers over the bat. It comes as a little bit of a relief to see the bat relaxing to some degree under his touch. Her attention is drawn back to Laito's face when he starts to talk. "Why wouldn't I? You're my little toy, and I've got to watch out for my things."
Mai feels repulsion threatening to overwhelm her. She scrambles to find something to say, but her mind keeps turning back to the fact that she was watched without her knowledge or consent. She finds herself wanting to know how much and where he's watched her, but she's also afraid to find out the answer. Her gaze drops back to the bat once more, and she decides that she has to change the subject. "Are you going to help it?"
Latio lets out a scoffing chuckle that sends a cold feeling of dread to the pit of her stomach. She watches his fingers slowly leave the bat's fur and has to fight the urge to lunge for the bat. Laito lets out a sigh, though it somehow sounds amused. His head moves, causing her to look up at him again. To her utter disbelief, she finds him shaking his head. His states in a playful tone. "No. It messed up by going somewhere it isn't welcome. I'll just have one of the other familiars gather it up and take it away. Perhaps Reiji can find its parts useful for whatever."
The bat lets out a piercing squeak that Mai assumes is full of terror and starts to flail wildly once more. Mai's eyes widen in disbelief, and she stares at him in a stunned silence. Finally, she manages to choke out. "Yo….you're going to kill it?!"
Laito's eyes lock with hers, and his usual playful smirk is still in place. Mai's heart skips a beat when she sees him reaching for the bat. Without any hesitation, she lunges forward and scoops the bat up. She's on her feet bouncing awkwardly out of his reach. She turns to give him a cold look. Her voice comes out much shriller than she intended. "You can't just kill it!"
The second she finishes her sentence, a searing pain races through her hand. It travels up her arm until it reaches her shoulder, making her feel like she just got electrocuted. Another jolt races up her arm only seconds later, and she involuntarily releases the bat. The pain continues to race through her hand and arm even after her fingers leave its' body. She flinches when she hears it hit the floor, and guilt instantly fills her body, leaving a bad taste in her mouth. Her gaze glances down to make sure its alright before turning to look at her hand. Tears spring up in her eyes when another wave of pain runs up her arm. Her palm is quickly filling with blood, but her brain doesn't want to catch up to what's happening. All she can focus on is the fact that small ripples of what feels like ice is now rippling from her hand. It's not until ice cold fingers wrap around her wrist that she's able to focus. She glances up to find Laito's glowing, green gaze peering at her. She doesn't move at all when he leans his head down while pulling her hand up. She screams in her head to jerk away from him, but her body refuses to move. She can only watch with tears welling up in her eyes as Laito starts to lick the blood in the palm of her hand. Suddenly, everything feels surreal.
She is so caught up in the moment that she jumps when her pocket starts to vibrate. Thankfully, it's just the boost she needs to rip her hand away from Laito, reach into her pocket with her clean one, and grab her phone. She glances at the caller ID, and her heart skips a beat. She can tell she has missed a couple of calls, since they are in the notification bar, and she has a couple of texts as well. Her main focus is the person calling her.
In bold letters, it reads: Shiro.
Without further hesitation, she swipes to answer the call and lifts it up to her ear. She instantly regrets is when a loud voice echos through the phone.
"You're late!"
Mai flinches at the sound and pulls the phone away. She glances to make sure that it really says Shiro, since that certainly doesn't sound like his voice. Confusion fills her body when it does indeed say his name. She finally replaces the phone back to her ear only to catch the person mid-rant. "...en here for like an hour! You better bring M-Neko-chan! If you don't, I'll…. Hey!"
The voice changes, causing Mai to roll her eyes. Thankfully, it turns out to be Shiro on the other end. His deep voice playfully asks, "Hey, did you forget?"
She hears what appears to be a slap, causing her to stifle a chuckle. She can hear what she assumes is Kou's voice in the background, but she can't catch what he's saying. Mai finally gets her chuckles under control before saying. "No, I didn't. I just overslept, sorry."
Her gaze turns to Laito only to drop to where the bat is. Her heart skips a couple beats upon finding it gone. In fact, she almost drops her phone, but she manages to snap her attention back to the conversation she's having with her friend when he says in a playfully, whiny voice. "Please, please, bring Yui. If you don't, I'm sure we won't be able to handle Kou. I suspect that's his true reason for wanting to come along to hang out with us."
Mai lets out a sigh and rolls her eyes once again. She says in a playfully, annoyed voice. "Fine. I'll go drag lazy bones out of bed, but if I get in trouble it's your fault! Are we still meeting at the mall?"
"Yup." Shiro lazily states. Mai barely catches Kou's voice just before the click of the phone.
"You're buying lunch for making us wait!"
The beep in her ear brings the dread back to life. Laito is still standing uncomfortably close to her, and she has a feeling that he heard the entire conversation. She glances at her wounded hand to find that it's still throbbing, and blood is still bubbling up, though it's slowed considerably. Panic fills her body at the sight of the blood since it reminded her of the bat. Despite it biting her, she still doesn't want it to die. It is an animal after all, and she should've known better than to handle it the way she did. She jumps when Laito chuckles, and she drags her gaze away from the blood to glare at him. Before she has a chance to even ask anything, he says. "Don't worry about the familiar. I have others taking care of it. In the closet, you'll find some clothes. If you promise to take me, I'll go get Little Bitch for you."
Unconsciously, her eyes narrow a little, while suspicion fills her body. His 'kindness' always comes with a price, and the smile on his face practically spells trouble. She starts to shake her head no, but his face turns into one of genuine hurt, complete with eyes that are steadily gaining a small amount of moisture. She cringes at the sight. It's now completely obvious that Kanato and Laito are related. She grits her teeth and states as coldly as she can. "Fine, but you have to behave yourself. Please try to get Yui away from Ayato. I'd rather not have to deal with him in public. You and Kou are going to be bad enough. You do realize that it's almost noon, right? The sun is going to be out."
Laito only winks at her before disappearing. Mai flinches and reluctantly makes her way over to the closet. She jerks it open only to roll her eyes. It looks like half of her clothes are hanging on one side of the large closet. She glances at her hand, and guilt fills her once more. She hopes the bat will be alright. After a moment of hesitation, she grabs new clothes and quickly changes inside the closet. She glances around the whole time, but she doesn't see anything out of the ordinary. Still, the thought of being watched makes her rush through the process as quickly as humanly possible. Thankfully, she makes it out of the closet just as Laito appears with a half asleep Yui in his arms. He carelessly dumps her on the bed causing Mai to roll her eyes. She hurries to her friend's side and quickly explains what is going on. Thankfully, Yui seems on board with it once she fully wakes up. She promises not to wake Ayato while she goes back to her room to change. They come to an agreement that the three of them will meet at front door in twenty minutes.
The minute Yui's gone, Mai hurries to the bathroom to wash the wound out. She mentally curses herself for not doing it sooner. While soaking it in water, Laito appears beside her, causing her to let out a jump and a yelp. She gives him a frustrated look in the mirror, though she does notice he is ready to go. The thoughts of what happened the last time they were in a bathroom together has her cringing. To her utter surprise, Laito gently takes the wrist of her wounded hand and pulls it closer to himself. She tries to jerk it away, but he gives her a playful smirk and tightens his grip to the point of pain. She grits her teeth but needs his silent warning. It takes a moment to force her muscles to relax. While she is doing that, he proceeds to slowly wrap a bandage around her hand. Once again, this act of kindness rouses suspicion in her. Her eyes narrow, and she practically snarls. "What are you planning?"
He blinks at her with feigned innocents that quickly melts away into feigned hurt. "I was just trying to be kind."
She cringes at the fact that he even manages to make even his voice sound hurt. Unfortunately, everything is short lived when he presses a finger into the wrapped bite, causing her hand to give out a sharp throb. She releases a gasp and opens her mouth to snarl at him, but he's already gone. Unfortunately, he didn't bother tying the bandage off, so it quickly starts to loosen. Mai barely bites back the anger. He just created more work for her, since she now has to unwrap and rewrap the wound. She mutters under her breath about how much she hates him. Why on earth did he have to use a wrap-like gauze? She tries to give up halfway through and searches for band aids, but, oddly enough, she isn't able to find any. She considers leaving it open, but she cringes at the thought of it getting infect. She finally heaves a sigh and gives into trying to wrap the gauze around it. It takes a few tries, but she finally manages to get it situated correctly. She checks her appearance once more in the mirror before quickly making her way to the front door.
A sliver of relief fills her when she finds only Laito and Yui standing there. For some reason, she thought that Ayato would show up. After ushering them out the door, she glances back at the mansion. Her thoughts turn to the poor bat, but she quickly pushes the thought from her mind. She'll ask Laito about it later. Right now, it's time to finally unwind after everything that has been happening. A thrill of excitement rushes through her veins, and she hurries after the other two. A regular, black car is waiting for them at the bottom of the steps, much to Mai's relief. Unfortunately, she somehow finds herself stuffed between Laito and Yui.
Still, she's determined to not let it damper her mood. She's going to hang out with a couple of friends like a normal person would do. She jumps when a cold hand appears on her upper thigh. She casually brushes it away. Only seconds later, the hand reappears. She rolls her eyes for what feels like the millionth time in the span of only an hour.
She takes back her previous thought. Nothing is going to be normal about this outing. Her eyes flick over Laito, who is leaning against the door with his eyes closed. He looks completely relaxed, asleep even. Mai grits her teeth and turns her gaze to Yui. She gives her tired friend a smile and starts a one sided conversation about what all they should do today. Unfortunately, it does little to distract her from the strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. The hand remains on her thigh, despite every effort to brush it away. To make matters worse, he gives her a playful squeeze.
She tenses and closes her eyes. It feels like the skin under her jeans is crawling, but it also feels warmer than normal. Something is seriously wrong with her brain. Sorrow starts to overwhelm her. She just wants a normal day for once. Why can't something like that ever happen?
Oh.
Right.
She lives in a world where vampires are real, and she was stupid enough to get tangled up with them. Her life will never be normal, even if she does manage to escape Laito.
A lump forms in her throat, and she forces herself to focus on continuing the small talk with Yui. Hopefully, it'll be enough to put her mind at ease until they get to their destination.
