Accost: to confront

Chapter 5

"So what are you saying? We allow them to take her?" Subaru scoffed, back at the mansion.

"No. I'm saying consider what assets we have to deduce a way to confront them." Reiji adjusted his glasses. Nothing was clear right now.

"But why entice the Lady Bitch with a few surprise visits? His ways are not easily read. No true stealing of anything...sneaking in her bed and he never really even-" Laito playfully questioned it all.

"-Perhaps the goal was never to take her." Shu muttered.

Reiji raised a brow and looked at his brother. "Explain."

"Well you said it, he never did anything rash. If the goal is to either kill her or bring her to Burai, wouldn't convincing her to trust him be the best way?" Shu looked up a bit.

"And you think that that was convincing her?" Reiji looked unmoved.

"Seducing her perhaps...but even then...knowing her...especially now that she is forever indebted to my dear brother...even I wished to partake-" Laito nodded a bit, with a cheshire smile.

"Please, we get it." Subaru scoffed.

"I suppose we ought to at least fancy the idea. However, I still quite don't see King Burai taking such a passive approach..." Reiji questioned the events in his mind again. "Again, I think you all ought to consider drinking the tea I made. Becoming more akin to poison's effects can help us- surprisingly I've found I've adapted and come to withstand some of my more potent elixirs now." The confident look Reiji wore well was now remerging onto his face.

"And if you poisoned us all now you would be all the closer to the thrown that our father so gracefully left for Ayato..." Laito playfully jabbed.

"While I do have to withstand you all for the time being, let us recall our main priority is our Lady..."

"Not the title of King, brother?" Laito tipped his hat up.

"Well yes, but while retaining power is important... I think we can all agree...she is the most valuable now."


"Please Ayato it wasn't your fault."

Ayato looked at her, a bit peeved. "This whole thing is stupid..."

Yui clutched onto the fabric of his hoodie by his hip. She looked up at him concerned. "I don't blame you Ayato...I actually wish I could have done more. I don't know who he is...or exactly what he wants but-"

Ayato looked distracted.

"What?"

Ayato quickly darted before answering her, as he took the lamp nearby and threw it across the room, shattering the mirror hanging across the way.

Yui's eyes remained wide, surprised by his sudden rash movement before she realized why he had done it.

The snake had returned. Had it been hiding on the lamp's stand?

Now it was limp in a pile of broken mirror and glass.

Ayato walked forward and took the snake by its neck. "I don't care if you bite me, just leave my Yui alone, or I'll cut off your head and tail with the damn Seraphim sword!"

"Please, don't bite him!" Yui clamored up off the bed.

In a moment the snake had become human again, and although Ayato would have preferred his size to his advantage, the jade haired man had about a half a foot to him.

However, his neck was still being constrained. Ayato's grasp was a mere slight twitch from gouging his neck into blood.

"Fine, just let me go..." The man said, his eyes relaxed with a smirk.

Ayato hesitated to drop the beast, but he also wondered why his brothers were not upstairs yet after the crash. Yui was too open alone behind him.

"What is this?" Reiji approached, appearing as if on call.

The devilish man spoke. "My name is Sepsei. But you may call me Sep if you prefer." He seemed to shrug as if the last events were of little risk to him.

"Well it seems he is not the only visitor."

"Ah, they are here too I suppose." His head moved to the side, and his angled chin tilted up, His eyes, deep with a red aura...peering to them below lidded eyes and a slight keen smile.

"Ah, yes, it seems you snake demons prefer to make uncommon entrances ... windows ...forests ...ladies bathrooms I hear, and now being so civil as to knock on our door?" Reiji scoffed. "Tell me why he is alive?"

"I had a feeling. Yui was behind me. All I could imagine was-" Ayato merely looked to the window before regaining his confident composure. "But I had intended on wringing his neck and then perhaps taking his head with my sword for fucking around with Yui."

Reiji read what he had meant. The window was where the large neko-vampire had taken her before. He had been right to step back, leaving her out in the open behind him

They were already scarred from their mistakes.

Ayato perhaps most for the brother who once rarely admitted fault.

"I have already notified the Mukami's in case we need backup. However if they want to challenge us-"

"Just let me talk." Sepsei looked up at them. "Allow me to defend my position...I promise you my way is better than-"

"Oh what? Going into my Yui's bed?" Ayato looked down on him.

"Ah, so she's yours?"

"And?"

"Ah, well I only assume she would be the one who would belong to the Vampire King- the heir to the long rein that killed all of my kind..." He seemed so calm and sure with his words – certain and confident. In some strange sureness and grace behind the strange demon eyes.

Ayato clenched his teeth.

"I don't belong to anyone. I chose to love Ayato." Yui finally spoke up.

"Love him? Oh that's interesting..." He seemed to give a bit of a laugh. "I like you already. And I think you'll like-"

"Enough talk. I think it's about time to make things clear as to what is going on here. I never took Burai for a fool, but this is quite the interesting situation." Reiji, who was about the same height took the man by the lapel of his neck. "And please no threats of bites, during the same time it would take to bite me, I'd already have distributed my own poison to you."

"Let's go Yui." Ayato looked to Yui with hardened eyes.

She nodded taking his hand to return to the others.