Sorry if this chapter seems to jump around a bit! It's from Laito's POV, and he isn't the easiest to write, though he's definitely easier than Shuu! Also, even though this is a bonus chapter, it has an important plot point! Anyway, I hope that you all enjoy this chapter, and thank you for reading!
He almost laughs at the situation he finds her in. She's about to be strangled by a very angry Subaru, who's wearing a foul smelling substance that can only be described as vomit. He quickly removes her from the situation and takes her to his room to avoid the rest of Subaru's rage. Despite all his temper tantrums, the youngest brother never enters anyone else's room. That had been a harsh lesson he learned when he tangled with Kanato one day. They found out that Kanato's temper is even worse than Subaru's. Of course, both of them were punished. Laito chuckles at the memory and lays a very limp Mai on his bed. He can smell faint traces of Reiji clinging to her, so he figures that is the reason she vomited on Subaru.
He slowly lays down beside her and starts to run his fingers through her hair. She twitches in her sleep, but otherwise doesn't move. It's become both amusing and frustrating to interact with Mai. Despite the fact that he's claimed her, she continues to run from him. Still, he finds the chase to be a thrill, so he doesn't really mind. After all, he always loses interest in his toys when they give into him. Getting their love is boring. Who cares about love, anyway? It's nothing more than words in the end, and it always elicits some obscene reaction from his current lover when he moves on. A frown takes over his face after a moment of thinking. For him, the most frustrating part of the chase is the fact that she still goes to his oldest brother of all people. In fact, that infuriates him more than he cares to admit.
She. Is. His.
His fingers move to brush over her neck. He's sure that her body still bears his bite marks, but he finds the urge to bite her again. This time, he'll put it in a spot that will be hard to cover. It always worked for Ayato, so why not give it a try. He leans down to bite the soft tantalizing skin when she mutters something in her sleep. He lifts his gaze to watch her face. Curiosity gnaws at his insides when he sees her lips moving. He can almost catch what she is saying, but it still sounds like a garbled mess, even with his enhanced hearing. His green eyes drift back to her neck when she rolls away from him. Suddenly, he finds that he doesn't have much of an appetite.
He decides that it won't be any fun to bite her if he can't see or hear her reaction.
He nestles in beside her and pulls her warm body closer to his. His eyes close, and he takes a deep breath, easily inhaling her scent, before he drifts off to sleep. He's vaguely aware that she wakes up once. Frustrated at her wiggling, he pulls her body tightly against his and mutters that she shouldn't trust Reiji ever again. Thankfully, he can feel her relax at the sound of his voice, so he allows himself to drift back off.
Before he is ready, Reiji appears and begins to quietly shoo him out of his own room. He grumbles under his breath and glances at Mai's sleeping form. A harsh word of warning is enough to get him moving. After all, Reiji doesn't look twice at humans, so Laito doesn't have anything to worry about. The 'morning' drifts by in a blur of activity that consists of Ayato irritating not only Kanato but Subaru as well. Finally, they are shoo'ed to the limo, once again by Reiji. Once he arrives, he finds a cold, hard knot forming in the pit of his stomach when he finds that Shuu has chosen a spot directly beside Mai. He takes a shallow breath and reminds himself that he likes sharing, so this isn't really a big deal. The cold, hard knot changes from an uncomfortable feeling to a cold thrill that runs through his body. He quickly sits beside her and gets her attention. The second she scoots away from him, the knot returns. This time it takes a bit longer for him to will it away, but he does manage to do so.
He finds himself relaxing when she pulls away from the eldest brother and turns his attention to teasing those around him in order to ignore the now uncomfortably warm sensation in the pit of his stomach. The feelings are easily forgotten when the brothers gang up to tease Subaru.
His father contacts Laito to inform him that his punishment for harming Mai is that he has to visit his father every single day, which is a punishment alone. Unfortunately, he's stuck sitting in his father's office for a couple of hours every day without being spoken to, or having anything to do. Other than that, everything falls back into the same routine; however, Laito decides to try something different. He decides to test Mai by keeping his distance from her, but he never stops watching her. If he isn't able to, he has familiars watch her. He observes the friendship develop between her and the male human. It entertains him to watch her desperately trying to reach out to her own kind. She's been tainted by him. She'll never return to human world. At least, not fully, and not until he said so. The human boy is handsome in his own rights, but Laito can easily tell that neither hold more than simple friendship for one another. That's when he notices something off about the boy. It's in the way he moves, and the way he seems to be observing the transitional Yui.
Apparently, Laito isn't the only one to notice. Ritcher's hard to spot when he doesn't want to be seen, but Laito is still able to catch glimpses of him from time to time. He is always looking in the girls' direction with a look of such longing that it leaves Laito curious every time. Curiosity isn't the only thing he is left with. He always ends up with a bad taste in his mouth after watching his uncle slink around for a while before disappearing once more. After all, he doesn't exactly have a good relationship with his uncle.
He makes sure to stick closer to Mai when he notices his uncle loitering, but it's never necessary. There are plenty of students who are part of the Laito's world, and there is no way that Ritcher will risk his or his brother's reputation by attacking a couple of high school girls.
Another form of amusement for Laito is her interactions with the new vampires. It's obvious that she's uncomfortable around them. In fact, the looks of suspicion and unease on her face are down right hilarious to him. Once again, he finds that he doesn't feel any threat from them. After all, their focus seems to be Yui. She's classified as the bride, after all. Mai's nothing more than a silly human who has become tangled in something that she doesn't quite understand.
But, Laito's starting to feel that Mai might not be just a silly human. After all, his father has taken a special interest in her. That alone deserves his attention. With that in mind, he decides it's time for him to recapture Mai's attention. After all, she has been wandering too far from his side lately and is getting comfortable without his presence. There is also the fact that he's been getting thirsty. With a jolt, he realizes that he hasn't tried drinking anything lately
A smile adorns his face when an idea comes to mind. Perhaps he there is a way to make her willingly return to his side, and he can sate his thirst at the same time. It'll teach her a lesson about living without him.
It doesn't take long for him to find a willing girl. He leads her to an empty classroom near Mai's next class and doesn't waste any time. He easily lifts her up onto a desk and settles between her spread legs. He's just getting to the good part when he hears her footsteps approaching. He can faintly smell her scent drifting from the hallway. A smirk overtakes his features, and he buries his face in the human girl's neck. His fingers find all the right places that leaves her putty in his hands. He lightly rakes his teeth over her neck and encourages her to be loud. A thrill runs through his body when he hears the change in Mai's breathing. He can hear her creeping footsteps drawing closer to the door that he so casually left open for her.
A smile spreads over his face, but it goes unnoticed by the girl in his hands. Mai'll realize how fun it is to helplessly watch her loved one play with another. After all, Mai is too shy to interrupt something like this. The thirst in the back of his throat swells up, and he finds himself sinking his teeth into the girl's neck without a second thought. The thick liquid runs down his throat like syrup. He almost gags at how thick it is, but he hasn't been drinking blood lately, so he decides to just deal with it. He can feel the thrill growing when he hears a soft noise from Mai, but disappointment quickly takes it's place when he hears her leaving without ever looking in.
The girl begins to struggle in his hands, but he just covers her mouth and continues drinking until she becomes still. With his stomach full, he pulls away lets the unconscious girl slip away from him. She falls off the desk and lands on the floor with a sickening crack. Using his tongue, he easily licks away any stray drops of her blood from his lips before he uses the back of his hand to clear his face. He turns to sit where the girl had just been sitting. The scent of her perfume seems to choke the air, which just serves to irritate him even further.
Perhaps he should give up the chase with Mai? He has been getting too invested in her, and he doesn't like that thought at all. His eyes drift back down to the unconscious girl. The knock to the head will be enough to make them doubt anything she said, and he doesn't care enough to try to hide the puncture marks in her neck. With that thought in place, he turns his attention back to the door. After a few more minutes of silent thought, Laito decides something about this Shiro boy has him curious, so he isn't quite done with Mai yet. With a small smile, he pushes himself up and sets out to find his little toy.
It doesn't take him long to find Mai. When he sees her sitting with the human boy, he decides to hang back and listen to their conversation, rather than go right up to them. The more he listens, the more he becomes sure that he needs to find out more about Shiro. Finally, he makes himself known. Just like expected, Mai simply ignores him. The longer she pretends that he doesn't exist, the more bored he gets. The project that she discusses with the two boys is obviously boring enough that neither of the boys pay much attention, but Mai is too focused on getting the school work done that she doesn't notice what is going on around her.
This gives Laito a chance to really study the human boy. Unfortunately, the human manages to school his expressions enough that Laito isn't able to glean much, so he turns his attention back to Mai. In his boredom, he decides to tease her by following her home. Unfortunately, it doesn't go as planned. She's obviously still upset with him, but he didn't expect her to lash out at him quite so much. The second he hears her mention that Ritcher told her about him and Cordelia, a cold, black rage fills the pit of his stomach. Is Ritcher trying to take away yet another of his possessions?
He moves without really thinking. He claims her mouth easily, and ignores the people around them.
It's time he taught her just who she belongs to.
The pool at his house will do nicely. It proves incredibly easy to push her into the water, and it gives him a sense of being in control. She ends up clinging to the side, and she has to listen to him. He doesn't bother trying to hide his anger at both her and his uncle, nor does he hide the past. After all, he never did anything wrong. Her appalled reactions only serve to irritate him even further. His anger reaches it's peak when she tries to pull herself out of the pool before he is done with her. He begins to name off the people she can possibly run to. She doesn't react when he states the human boy or Subaru, but he thought he saw her twitch when he said Shuu's name. His eyes narrow a little, and an uncomfortable feeling settles in the bottom of his stomach.
With a sick realization, he discovers what is irritating him. It just takes her asking if he's jealous. He hasn't felt this disgusting feeling since Cordelia, and it revolts him completely. His thoughts immediately turn away from the uncomfortable feeling, when he considers what he should do to punish her for straying too far. After a moment, it comes to him. She glares up at him from the water. Her brown hair sticks to the sides of her face, and her clothes fan out over the water. The opportunity is too much to pass up. It seems she realizes his intentions a few seconds after he decides on a punishment. The look of pure terror sends a pleasant feeling all the way to his core.
It's almost enough for him to forgive her for making him feel such outrageous emotions, but she'll never learn if she isn't punished for stepping out of line. Without a moment of hesitation, his hand whips out to shove her head beneath the water. A feeling of satisfaction fills his entire being as he feels her struggle. It's time she learns that he's the one who holds all the power, and not the other way around. He releases a sigh when he sees her open her mouth and inhale a mouthful of water. His other hand reaches into the water to grab the front of her shirt. He pulls her to the surface and awkwardly drags her back onto dry land. He rolls her onto her side, places the back of her head against his legs and begins to rub her back.
"It's ok now, Sweetheart. I got you," he coos in her ear. He continues to repeat those words until she spits out all of the water. Once that has been accomplished, he moves her head to rest in his lap. His fingers lightly run through her hair, and he thinks about how to reward her for giving him such a good time.
His gaze lowers to stare at the side of her face. She is dazedly staring at the wall beside them, though he's sure she probably isn't even seeing it. An idea clicks in his mind, but a cold knot forms in the pit of his stomach at the thought of sharing her with his brother. Still, he needs to reward her. On the plus side, it might even drive her away from Shuu due to sheer embarrassment.
But first, he has to slip some more teasing in. Once that is complete, he takes her to Shuu's room. The one thing he isn't prepared for is her swinging at him, though he figured later that he should've seen it coming with Mai's personality. After all, she did swing a baseball bat at him not long ago. It sparks a hint of anger over the ever growing knot in his stomach, but the pleasure he gets from her resistance makes everything better. After all, she is still entertaining.
She still needed to be broken in.
Without a single regard to her complaints, he sinks his fangs into her flesh. She'll give into the pleasure once she feels it; he's certain of it. After all, pleasure is what everyone lived for. One carnal pleasure after another. Her silly human mind is simply denying her body what it desires because of something humans foolishly called morals. Her blood seems to flow so much easier than the girl he had at school. In fact, it tastes so much better that he almost loses himself to it. It's not until she goes limp in his hands that he realizes that he may have taken it too far. He carelessly lets her drop into the middle of Shuu's bed and stands over her limp form. He reaches up to clean the blood off his face.
She's visibly paler than normal, but it isn't alarmingly so. She'll probably feel tired for a couple of days, but it was well worth the meal she gave him. He releases a huff when another thought occurs to him. He won't be able to see her face twist with pleasure when Shuu finally joins them.
A door opening draws his attention away from her. A sigh escapes the blonde vampire, and Shuu tiredly says. "Ah, it's you."
"Hello!" Laito practically sings. "Want to play a game with us?"
He doesn't even bother asking what Laito and Mai are doing in his room, nor does he respond to Laito. Instead, he simply moves down the steps and makes it to his bed. He casts a lazy glance at the human, but he doesn't show much interest in her. Instead, he lets his body drop onto bed. A couple of minutes pass with Laito staring intently at Shuu's back.
"You make it hard to sleep, and your silent staring is ruining the music. Is there something you need?" Shuu asks in a monotone type voice. Laito drops down on the opposite side of Mai and lets his body fall back till he is laying beside her. He hadn't realized how suffocating another male's scent is until that point. In fact, traces of it still clung to Mai, so it almost overwhelms her wonderful scent.
"Do you like this silly little human?" Laito asks. He doesn't care one way or another, but it'll make it easier to manipulate the lazy vampire into doing what he wants if he does feel something for Laito's toy. At least, Laito hopes it will be easier. Dealing with Shuu is exhausting for just about anyone who has ever encountered him.
Like expected, he doesn't receive an answer, but it doesn't deter him. He joyfully tells Shuu that he'd like to reward his little Sweetheart for being such good entertainment, and he figured that he could share her with Shuu as a reward.
A scoff cuts him off. Shuu's tired voice reaches his ears. "I'm not interested in joining your perverse show."
Laito lets out a whine and rolls onto his side. "Why not?"
Silence is his only answer. In fact, he's sure that Shuu has fallen asleep. The blonde has an uncanny ability to just doze off without regard to the situation. With a roll of his eyes, he presses his body against Mai's and allows himself to doze off as well.
It turns out that he doesn't have anything to fear from his lazy older brother after all.
His first thoughts are groggy. He's not sure why, but he reaches to feel for her body to warm his cold one. All he grasps is wet blankets. Finally, his eyes slowly open to realize two things. The first is that he is beyond livid. The second is that not only is Mai gone, but Shuu is as well. His thoughts turn back to Cordelia, but he quickly shakes them away. Mai is not even in the same playing field as Cordelia in terms of appearance, so there is no reason to compare the two. Mai is a toy to relieve his boredom at best, while Cordelia captured his heart. His earlier thoughts that he felt something for Mai had been wrong.
With that thought in mind, he quickly searches her out, only to find her chasing after Subaru, who looks just as livid as Laito had felt.
She seems to have that effect on people. Still, he can't help but feel the dull anger raise once more, and it frustrates him even more to feel anything past desire. His anger seeps out, and he decides to punish her once again, since the attempted drowning didn't penetrate her thick skull. It's not until he smells her blood that he seems to regain his senses. He glances at her knees and playfully coos at her, though she seems less than impressed. He bites back a chuckle. After a short, but frustrating talk, he decides to show her an image of herself.
He wants to see her break while watching pleasure twist her features as he drinks from her. He can't resist sucking a little more blood, and he finds himself losing the original plan after her blood touches his tongue. He quickly grasps at it, though he's pleased when she starts to crack. Still, an annoying feeling of dissatisfaction is swelling in his chest. He doesn't want the game to end yet. Who knew when their next bride would come along.
Thankfully, things move in a different, but much more pleasant, direction, so his thoughts are easily forgotten. He allows himself to go with the flow; however, they're interrupted before they get to the best part. Still, he doesn't find himself angry with the interruption. After all, he now has even more ammunition to use against her when she tries to misbehave. He successfully turned her into putty in his hands. The only thing that starts to kill his pleasant mood is her bringing up his mother once again.
What effectively kills his mood is the fact that she retreats ,once again, to that sloth's room.
Unfortunately, his loitering outside Shuu's room draws unwanted attention, which results in not only Laito receiving a lecture, but Subaru and Mai get dragged along, too. Laito easily tunes out Reiji's nagging. After all, that's all the dark haired vampire seems to do. He's more of a nagging mother than Cordelia ever was. For Reiji, it's all about looking good for the Sakamaki name. Make sure you get good grades, or you'll reflect poorly on the Sakamaki name. Yada, yada, yada.
Laito has heard it all, and he knew he isn't the only one to ignore Reiji's annoying lectures. Ayato and Shuu don't even pretend to listen, and Kanato is blandly rude to Reiji during any lecture. Laito, at least, pretended to care. Thankfully, the lecture ends, and Laito is able to sneak back in bed with Mai, though they are once again woken up. This time, Laito didn't mind. He was having a nightmare about being locked in the dungeon once again. He knew what the cause of the commotion was immediately, but he wanted to see Mai's reaction, so he retrieved his familiar. Once he announces it's fate, he sees a change in her.
He can't understand her need to protect it. The familiar had not only failed him, but it also dared to bite his master's property. Amidst their conversation on whether he'd kill the familiar or not, her phone rings, and an intriguing possibility opens up before him that he can't possibly pass up. After all, it'll allow him to get in depth information on Shiro.
That human boy isn't normal by any means, and Laito loves a good puzzle.
Despite his promise that the familiar will be alright, he has already sent it to be dropped off to Reiji. He doesn't have the time nor the patience to deal with a familiar who doesn't do as it's told.
The day turns out better than he expected. The Mukami brothers certainly livened things up, and he finds himself able to talk to them easier than he thought he would, but he still keeps an eye on Shiro.
It's due to this close eye that he notices that Shiro has been giving Yui a calculated stare that did not sit right with Laito. That's when it dawns on him what the human boy is. He almost laughs at the possibility of them still existing. It's rumored that Reiji used one to kill his mother, but Laito didn't truly believed it.
Everything suddenly made sense. The boy befriended Mai to get closer to Yui, the prospective bride sent to them by the church. Though, he does think that the human had unexpectedly developed true feelings of friendship toward his spunky little human.
It turns out that this'll be better than Laito could have ever dreamed. He doesn't care that Mai slips away from the boys. It gives him time to drop a casual tip to Kou about the suspected identity of Shiro. His familiars are lurking around Mai anyway, and they'll report everything they see to him.
Before that happens, he finds himself alone with Shiro. Laito is casually looking through some games when Shiro steps up beside him.
"Leave her alone," Shiro mutters softly. His voice is clearly meant to be deep and threatening, but Laito can't help but smirk. He turns playful, green eyes to the human beside him.
"Oh? If I don't?" Laito prods with a smirk on his face. Shiro reaches out to pick up a game, though he shows no genuine interest in it.
"You won't live long if you touch her," Shiro mutters. It seems like he's trying to make it sound like an afterthought, but Latio can tell it's something that he's thought about quite a bit. He scoffs loudly before letting out a laugh. He doesn't care if he draws attention to himself. Shiro on the other hand slams the game down and glances around before hissing at Laito to be quiet. To Laito's amusement, a hint of red starts to color the boy's cheeks.
"Oh, silly little human. You're already too late. That girl is mine." Shiro's eyes narrow angrily. The look of anger darkens the boy's eyes by a shade. He takes a step a threatening step towards Laito and says in a low rumble.
"Don't touch Mai again. I already lost the one I was supposed to get, but I won't let you take the other one. She's a good person, and you're ruining her. She deserves so much more than your twisted, blood sucking, lifestyle."
The smile melts away from Laito's face, but he doesn't frown. Instead, he allows a smug look to take over his face and says. "Do you think she can ever be normal again?"
Shiro scoffs and glances around before turning his attention back to the red haired vampire. "No. I'm not a child, but she can be trained. She can be used to help stop monsters like you."
"So you plan to use her just like I am?" Laito asks. He makes sure to add an innocent note to his voice. "How does that make you any less of a monster?"
"No, I didn't mean it that way," Shiro snaps. Amusement continues to build in Laito's chest.
"Fine, fine." His smile returns, and he leans closer to Shiro, who leans away in response. "You say she's a good person?"
He waits till Shiro nods before he continues. "Do you think that she can ever bring herself to kill someone?"
Shiro opens his mouth, but he closes it only seconds later. After a few minutes of silence, Latio lets out a chuckle and says softly. "She can either go with you and be forced to learn to kill, or she can stay with me and discover a life of fulfilled desire. Tell me, are you going to make that choice for her? I believe that makes you more of a monster than me."
Shiro's lip pulls back in a silent snarl, but he turns on his heel without another word and leaves. A sense of victory takes over for a moment before Laito returns to his lazy shopping. He just has to wait until his familiar brings him the information about Mai.
And it turns out to be quite a bit of information. After all, she blabs about his true identity and their relationship to Shiro, though Laito finds he isn't even upset by it. The human boy did play on her emotions, and she did trust him. Mai also wants to feel human, and she isn't getting that with Yui any more. In fact, she's the last fully human girl in the bunch now. Which strikes him as funny since she is now surrounded by predators at all times.
So, he slips home to converse with Reiji about a punishment that will make her sick but not seriously harm her. It turns out to be more entertaining than he thought it'd be, though he can feel the edges of exhaustion taking over when he finally drags her back home.
His last thoughts before he allows himself to slip into unconsciousness is that he enjoys feeling the warmth of her body pressed against his own.
In fact, he wouldn't mind feeling her body, cold or warm, pressing against his body for a while longer. It doesn't matter that he knows what Shiro is now.
He brushes those disturbing thoughts away. He figures it's just the exhaustion talking.
With that decided, he allows himself to sleep into what he hopes is a dreamless sleep.
