It's cold.

The constant whip lashings that crashed against her skin would warm her skin until the sheer cold of the torture dungeon captures her over and over. He was angry. Angrier than he had ever been. More than he had ever let on.

"Tell me once again. What did you do that landed you here, Miss Komori?"

Reiji Sakamaki's voice chills the blonde to the core. Goosebumps lacing up against her forearms. Yui looks down at the concrete as tears brimmed at the seams. Another hit. She cries out a little bit louder. Body whimpering for plea.

"I-I got tutoring lessons f-from someone..."

"And who is that someone?"

Yui's lip quivers and she lets some tears fall to the floor, sniffling. Reiji clicks his tongue and reaches out for her chin, making her look up into his now darkened raspberry eyes. His fangs sharpened from his intense anger.

"Who?"

"S-Satomi-san...!" Yui immediately answers, fear growing more persistent in her eyes.

Reiji tries to find a hint of sadistic joy he can get out of his beloved cries and agony but he simply could not. The fact that she went along and found someone else to tutor her...and for that tutor to be the woman that was causing him so much displeasure. He drops her chin to let her head hang there and turns away from her, tracing his fingers across his riding crop.

'Mifuyu Satomi. Third-year at Ryoutei Academy, eighteen years old. Transferred into the institution two years prior from another academy due to her Father's name in the industry of Journalism...'

He had never interacted with her. If he had it was only on one occasion where they never spoke. The vampire recalled her having long thick braided hair before but up until last year, she had cut it all off. Reiji had no intention to know anything about her other than the basics. She was nothing but a woman with issues regarding anger and lashing out. But was incredibly intelligent within the fields she was interested in. A smart woman with such a mouth was absolutely disappointing. It made his entire skin crawl.

"...H-How?" Yui asks herself quietly, feeling herself getting more and more choked up.

"How did I know that you two were going to see each other? It was quite obvious." Reiji didn't miss a beat. He turns his body facing towards her and takes her face albeit less harshly than before. His rage seemed to soften. Only by a tad.

"You have kept your promise of not using that phone to contact help. You have only used it when in an emergency. But while you were quite sneaky at getting around, I took note that you were using it more frequently." He gets closer up to her face. "The other night, when Laito was distracting you. I purposely asked him to do so while I checked your phone whilst you were unconscious."

Yui's eyes widen even moreso, swallowing a fearful lump in her throat. "B-But..!"

"The last text message you had seemingly sent was not by you. It was me. I was already made aware of your preparations." He finishes, feeling himself starting to grin.

"Y-You're..horrible..! So cruel..!"

Reiji then starts to laugh and lets go of her chin again to only brush off some hair strands away from her neck to make it more seen.

"Maybe if you apologize for more to me...I might reward you..."

"I-I'm sorry..! Please..!" Yui begs, squeezing her eyes shut in anticipation for a bite. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you what I was planning...I-It was wrong for me to do so. Please, forgive me...Reiji-san..!" She braces her body for the impact of sharp pain...

But it doesn't come.

Reiji sighs and brushes her bangs away from her face which makes Yui open her strawberry eyes again. He looks directly at her. The tears in her eyes always looked so beautiful. The immense sorrow she was expressing, the sheer fear. It immensely satisfied him.

'I cannot let her not just see that fool again. I am too preoccupied to be following that woman by myself all the time. So...I'll have to use Miss Komori to get what I want.' Reiji plans and runs his gloved hand to stroke Yui's cheek.

"Satisfy me with your blood. Then perhaps, I shall forgive you..."

Not waiting for a response, Reiji opens his mouth and plunges his fangs into the bride's neck to which she cries out in pain. Biting her lip to endure it. He drinks deeply.

It's hot.

She with stains all of his rage directed at her, the punishment inflicted by a mere riding crop, and his glistening sharp white fangs sinking into her supple neck. Yui could tell he was serious. But the fear that ran deep through her veins was evident when the vampire started to lean into her more, soaping it up. She knew it was not going to be this easy for him to let her see Mifuyu again. But, anything counts.

She'll just have to be careful.

"So Miss Satomi, what sort of plans do you have for this fun weekend?"

Her therapist asks with an enthusiastic smile. His office desk is decorated with little Halloween ornaments. Ghosts bobbleheads and whatnot. Mifuyu decided when going to her session that she had to play it up that she was doing fine. After her last visit, she promised herself she wouldn't let herself slip like that again. Now that she was set into a situation where she knows she cannot get out of- or rather refuses to get out of, she needed to play up the act.

"Well, my school is hosting an event for the occasion for tomorrow," Mifuyu says softly. 'Let's not get too happy. That'll look suspicious.'

"My, my! I take it things are doing alright at the academy then?"

"Yeah. The students seem to be more comfortable with one another and they seemed pretty siked for it. Not gonna lie, I am too kinda.." She says as she rubs the back of her head.

"That's wonderful news, Miss Satomi! I also hear from your aunt that you are tutoring a young girl from a class below you as well?" Mr. Fukumoto asks, smiling genuinely.

"Ah yeah. I am." Mifuyu laughs nervously, a blush of embarrassment starting to rise to her ears.

"Well, tell me about her. What are you helping her with?" He asks leaning onto his hands.

Mifuyu fiddles with her hands and looks around the room, trying to find the right words for someone like Yui. "I...guess she's really nice. Kinda dumb sometimes-" She catches herself and holds out her hands before her therapist could put a word in.

"I-I mean naive! I didn't mean to say dumb, I'm sorry."

The therapist laughs initially and shakes his head. "That isn't something nice to say. But it makes me happy that you are actively trying to improve your behavior."

It did make Mifuyu's heart flutter to hear that. While everything was going on with the murder, and that damned Sakamaki and Mukami, she was trying to improve how she talked to others. It was incredibly difficult and for him to recognize that made her legitimately glad.

"I know you had a rough time at the start of last year opening up to others but I'm very happy to say you have come a long way, Mifuyu. Just keep that up, alright?"

"I will, sir. Thank you." Mifuyu bows her head and then stands.

"I will be here whenever you need me. I would rather you try to socialize and you attend your meetings. If there is any trouble or you need any advice, please talk to me. Okay?" He asks, shutting his notebook and putting his pencil in his cup holder. Mifuyu goes toward the door and smiles gently.

"I will. Thank you, Mr. Fukumoto."

The ravenette leaves his office and walks down the hallway. Last night and those last few days went by rather quickly and tomorrow was Friday. The night of the festival. She hasn't had time to question those close friends of the victims but she'll have to save that for later whenever this is over. Hell, these past few days she hadn't been tutoring Yui because she had been noticeably distant from her. Small talk here and there but once she asks about the lessons, she says she'll be fine by next week. After the festival. It was incredibly suspicious to Mifuyu that she started acting like this after Reiji told her to leave the library to go...home.

She grimaces and takes a deep breath.

"Take it slow...you got this."

Just like how her Dad always said.

Chatter among students fills the hallways when students were finishing up the final touches for the festival. Girls talking about what they could wear to the event or their booth of one worked on one, boys quietly admiring the other party by how excited they were while also talking about their own plans for after the event. Mifuyu on the other hand was walking through the courtyard behind the school. Beautiful roses decorated the flower beds, a smooth concrete palette securing the walkway for her shoes so they don't get dirty with the dirt on the sides. Intermittent clouds cover the moon's shine making it even darker outside than it was before. Thankfully each light pole guided the adolescent's way to one of the few benches in the area. She sits down and pulls out her notebook. Taking out the pencil from the spine, she opens up her pages.

"If I can investigate outside the crime scene...maybe I can try to find some clues. Maybe where that window is." Mifuyu mutters and scribbles that down in her notes.

"Gahh...I have to question those who were close to those boys, too. Actually, that's my best bet-" She crosses out her original plan and writes that down instead. The two she had to talk to were the second-year students that ran past her that night.

No...there were three.

One had almost knocked her over without saying anything. The last two that ran past her were two girls. Mifuyu didn't know their names and wasn't sure how she would be able to find them in the sea of students at a festival. Considering she and Yuma crossed a major line by entering the crime scene, even she couldn't fathom getting into the student files to find out who they are. Especially not now.

"Ya seem to be thinkin' there pretty hard eh, detective?"

Mifuyu jumps out of her seat and holds her notebook tightly, standing and turning around immediately to see Yuma Mukami with his larger hands shoved into his pockets. He tilts his head to the side and snickers.

"You're jumpy aren't ya?"

"Don't do that! Fuck! I don't like when people do that. Next time that happens, I'm gonna sock you in the face!" Mifuyu yells and Yuma just laughs harder.

"It isn't funny! Ugh. Why are you here anyway?"

Yuma chills out the laughter and breathes, hopping over the bench to only sit down on it. "We agreed to work with each other, right? That's what we agreed upon?"

"..." Mifuyu averts her eyes away from him, huffing and puffing for a rebuttal but it doesn't come.

"...Sure. Yeah."

"Then what do ya got so far, Detective?"

Mifuyu takes a deep breath and continues to stand, opening up her notebook. "Nothing new. I wanted to investigate outside where that window is in the basement for clues but the festival will be surrounded by students and probably security. So we can't."

"Yeah, that's a good point," Yuma mutters, already figuring out a way around that. Vampires were incredibly quick to their feet to get out of a situation. If he wanted to he could investigate that area himself without being spotted but he would have to do it by himself. He makes a mental note of that later.

"What else?"

"My other plan, at least for right now, is to question the students who ran into me that night before I went into the basement for the first time," Mifuyu says, starting to pace.

"Do ya know their names or somethin'?" Yuma asks, hiking one leg over his other and leans back into the bench with one arm over the railing. Mifuyu shakes her head.

"No. I don't want to risk looking at their files either. What we did was risky. While I like that we did, it isn't a good idea." Mifuyu suggests.

"Hah? Why? Ya think Four-Eyes might tattle on us?"

Mifuyu freezes her walking and bites her lip, hands going up to her chin. "I don't want to admit but...yes. I don't trust him." Speaking of the Sakamaki, Mifuyu's eyes widen with a question in mind.

"In fact, how do you know about him anyway? You talk as if you knew each other." She turns her body to face the Mukami. He raises an eyebrow.

"Are ya stupid or something? We're in the same class, so of course we-"

"Liar." Mifuyu interrupts and walks toward him. "He may have transferred here with his family over the summer after I graduated into third-year but you didn't show up until several months later after the Sakamaki's had already made a name for themselves. You've been here for six months." Mifuyu says, narrowing her eyes.

Yuma looks up at her with a blank expression, turning annoyed, shaking his head. "Why ya interrogating me? Am I not your partner?" He asks, not sincerely meeting he was hurt.

"Sure you are, tough guy. But if you're going to be my partner, I don't need any secrets kept from me." Mifuyu leans in but not too close to his face.

Yuma thinks carefully about what to think next. 'Damn, this girl is persistent. Always in my face asking me questions and shit! So annoying. I might as well give her a half-truth...or lie...' He inwardly groans but exhales deeply.

"Our family used to know each other a long time ago. We were neighbors and we didn't exactly like each other. Rich versus the needy. That type of shit." Yuma answers briefly, not breaking eye contact with the ravenette.

Mifuyu studies his facial features quietly. He wasn't sweating nor constantly shifting his body, or moving his eyes to the side to indicate a lie. But anyone could lie with a straight face. She closes her eyes for now and lifts her head, going to sit down on the same bench but a little ways away from the vampire.

"Yeah. Alright. I believe you." Mifuyu gives in. For now at least.

"Good." Yuma knows she didn't believe him entirely and he curses himself but, it would have to do.

The bell tolls. Signaling that lunch was over. Yuma stands and stretches, popping his back. "We can continue this later or something." He looks over his shoulder to see Mifuyu look down at her hands. They had already closed the notebook but she seemed unresponsive.

Yuma's eye twitches and he lightly shoves Mifuyu. "Oii, did ya hear me? I said we can talk about this another time. Right now we gotta focus on what we're doin' right now. Got me?" Mifuyu looks up at Mukami and blinks.

Her face then twists up a brief scowl. She huffs and then stands. "You're right. Let's go." Mifuyu walks past him as she heads towards the side entrance of the school. Yuma's eyes follow her and soon the rest does the same, shoving his hands into his pockets.

'Talkin' about me hiding stuff. What about you, Detective? What're you hiding that I can't see?'

"Satomi-san? Satomi-san!" A voice calls out.

Mifuyu blinks and sees a smaller student wave at them. It was Yui. Mifuyu walks quickly over to her and notices how incredibly even more pale she looked than last time when she fell down the steps with her.

"Woah, are you okay-?"

"I'm fine, Satomi-san...The headmaster would like to see you." She says, breathing a bit heavier than usual.

"You can call me Mifuyu and why? Why does he want to see me?"

"I-I'm sorry..!" Yui bows and Mifuyu starts to visibly sweat, holding in a nervous laugh. "I-I'm not sure. He just found me and asked politely for me to tell you to see him."

Mifuyu sighs and crosses her arms, pudding the tiny notebook in her skirt pocket. "Alright, I'll go. Thank you for letting me know, Yui-san." Mifuyu nods to her and then takes off, leaving the vampire and sacrificial bride alone.

"You look like shit, sow. What did that freak do to you?"

"..." Yui doesn't respond. She averts her eyes and clasps her hands over each other nervously. Yuma clicks his tongue and starts to walk past her.

"The headmaster wants to see you too, Yuma-kun..."

Yuma spins on his heels. "Haaah?! Why?!" He yells out in frustration which makes Yui flinch. She turns to face him.

"Ruki-kun told me that the Headmaster spoke with him. He knew I was going to see Satomi-san and he knew you were with her so he asked me to deliver the message to...you..." She looked frightened. Yui tries to prepare her body for any incoming bites of anger but they don't come.

"Tch! So annoying! Fine. I'll go. Only after school though. I don't need that Detective up my ass again."

Yui doesn't say anything but silently follows the Mukami out of the courtyard and into school for their next separate classes.

...

A soft knock greets the door. Followed by a greeting. "It's Mifuyu Satomi. Headmaster wanted to see me?" It was the most polite she could muster while underneath she knew for a fact that this was not going to end well.

"Come in."

Mifuyu opens the door and sees the headmaster filling out the last of the papers. He puts them in a separate folder and closes it, filing it away in his drawer. "Please sit, Satomi-san."

She does as she asked and stares directly at him. He folds his hands across the desk and heaves a heavy sigh. "I'm going to cut to the chance since I know you're not a fan of beating around the bush."

Mifuyu's eyes widen a little but she does her best to remain calm. She also clasps her hands together across her lap and remains quiet.

"You will be assisting Yui Komori with a booth for the festival and are not allowed to leave the festival grounds nor go into the school building."

Mifuyu stands in shock. "What?! Why-!?"

"Please, sit."

Her midnight hair ruffles a little whenever she does sit back down, now crossing her arms. He fixes his glasses and clears his throat.

"I take it you have no issue with her considering you are helping her with lessons. I could have made you not attend the festival at all considering what you did."

"What I did? What did I do, Headmaster?" Mifuyu asks, now realizing full well of what she was here for now.

"You broke into the basement along with Yuma Mukami which is strictly forbidden for any student or faculty member. I was notified by your student council president. So be generous with my offer of letting you attend but not do anything else other than help Komori-san. Understand?"

The headmaster's voice was absolute. There was no compromising nor convincing needed to be done. Mifuyu's shoulders sank and she begrudgingly nodded. "Yes, I understand."

"Good. I wanted you to at least do something during all of this chaos instead of simply just sending you home for that night. Sakamaki-san even advised me to do so but I decided against it. So please, do not disappoint me. Alright?"

Mifuyu swallows and then stands, bowing to him. "Yes. Thank you headmaster for your generosity." With that, Mifuyu exits the office and starts to go toward her remaining classes for tonight, gritting her teeth all the way there.

"Reiji Sakamaki..."

'Do not concern yourself with matters that are not yours.'

Those icy cold raspberry eyes are what she remembers. They pierced the very depth of her soul as utterly ridiculous that sounded. The very atmosphere, the aura around him was surrounded by malice. She could feel it. She had been looked in that kind of way before when she was younger. Though, part of her thinks that it would be a disservice to compare the Sakamaki with that priest. He was nothing but malice and hatred...

...Was that the same for Reiji?

'I'll play along with this silly little game of yours. I'll make sure of it.'

He was hard to read. Incredibly difficult for the amateur detective she is. Mifuyu quickens her pace to her class, biting her lip rather harshly.

"Why am I terrified?"