I do apologize with how close to passing the due date this updated chapter was. I was caught in the throes of work that I couldn't put my focus on this chapter properly.

By the by, I had someone ask me what was going on with the cryptic message I put before this. Well, it was because I had many reviewers personally ask me about what was 'really' going on behind TMTETS; and - since I can't answer that question yet - I figured throwing in a little hint might help with their endeavors to find the 'truth' of the story.

Happy New Years my beloved readers and reviewers.

I hope this coming year is filled with so many blessings for you all and those you hold dear.

Onward we shall proceed!

THE MOON THAT EMBRACES THE SUN

Chapter XI

Teddy's Acrimony: Part III

Raising her head from within her crossed arms, laid resting atop the cherry wood dining table, Regina set her weary, puffy-eyed gaze, onto the torrent of rainfall cascading against the large sash windows before her.

After crying herself a river, the high-strung emotions - which had wreaked havoc across her already weakened willpower - had finally begun to mellow down, easing away the storm that had clouded, not only the clarity of the night sky, but also the judgement of her young mind. Thankfully, this silent respite of hers had permitted the heavy shadow (which clung to her chest like an oppressive weight for these three long years) to finally dissipate. Filling her with a temporary ease, and a somewhat renewed sense of resolution, that - though incapable of fully healing the sorrow engraved within - had, at least, managed to partially cure the sadness that had previously overwhelmed it. Something she hadn't quite felt of since the day her mother had passed away.

Sniffling back her runny nose, she wiped away the lingering tears from her swollen eyes, and slowly rose from her chair; walking back toward the sink in the annexed kitchenette to rinse her face. The silence of the room was stifling, now that her muffled sobs no longer rung against her ears; and, though it had already been a while, she was sure she had heard the last of the storm's angry howls fading out into the distance.

Surely, what would follow next - in a couple of hours - would be the, much anticipated, break of day.

'I have to get the children ready for bed,' she thought, as she rubbed the exhaustion from her morganite eyes, trying - with all her might - to dissimulate the exposed signs of her emotional distress as much as she possibly could.

If she wanted to avoid stoking the flames of the people around her (who were already riled enough as was), she needed to ensure that no one - especially her siblings - would discover what had transpired within these four walls.

Within this sanctuary she averred as her own.

'These emotions are my cross to bear,' she clenched her fist atop her chest, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. 'There's no need to burden them with my concerns.'

Stepping away from the sink's counter, Regina softly dried the lingering droplets clinging to her skin with Kaname's robe, removing - in the process - the soaked bandage that her brother had placed just hours ago, to cover the residual bruise of Ayato's choking hold; and, though the skin was still slightly sensitive around the affected area, she doubted the black-and-blue mark would be visible behind the curtain of her long hair.

'So long as I don't change my hairstyle, everything should be alright,' she considered. 'No one will take notice of it.'

But there was someone who would.

Akumu.

And - knowing him - as long as the bruise remained visible to the naked eye, the hatred he had toward his Father would grow further.

"Okaa-sama," she whispered sadly, as she walked toward the door leading straight to the passage of the central manor, "You, better than anyone, understood what lay in Akumu-kun's heart. Much, as I know, you knew what was in Uncle Ayato's." Tenderly skimming her fingers over the sensitive blemish, she released a short breath, "I may not know why Uncle did what he did," though she believed it might have something to do with the foreign name he uttered, "but I do know that he can't be all that bad. After all, a part of him lives within Akumu-kun. Both are so much alike to one another that it's difficult not to notice."

Stepping outside the frame of the kitchenette, as she tugged on the knob, she heard the door creak loudly beside her. "Oh, Okaa-sama," she pleaded as she clutched the cloth above her chest, "What happened was no one's fault, but I fear that - if it's not fixed soon - it'll only drift them apart further. Please, if there is anything I can do to restore my brother's bond with Uncle Ayato, please...send me some kind of sign-!"

Before she could finished the hushed prayer, her words seized upon her lips like a tightly shut vault.

A strange, muffled, sound had reached her ears out of nowhere, stilling her movements altogether.

...tluck...

...tlock...

Her body froze instantaneously, as it stood just between the wedge of the door where the kitchen and hallway met.

...tluck...

...tlock...

"That...sound," she turned back toward the sink, but the faucet was completely leak free. "Where is it coming from?"

Regina turned back toward the hall, leaning her head just outside the door, as she faced both directions of the dimly lit corridor; attempting to find the source of the suspicious din, to no avail.

Yet, unaffected - by any means - with her inquisitive meandering, the sound continued to ring aloud.

Which, stranger still, despite the clarity within its tone - and how loud it seemed to ring against her ears - it felt rather...distant, and obscure.

And, to her, it appeared to be inexplicably - familiar.

...tluck...

...tlock...

The discorded melody that would follow, shortly after the sound itself, was almost similar to a drop of water that struck the waist of small bell, echoing across a vast, and wild, open field; shadowed by a sightless fog.

And, to this thought, Regina couldn't contain the goosebumps that ransacked the hairs on her skin.

Unease began to quickly fill her mind, especially after taking notice of how the hallway appeared to elongate itself, becoming narrower, sharper, and swallowed up by a darkness that wasn't there before.

...tluck...tlock...

...tluck...tlock...

The sound continued, this time, in even beat to a rhythmic drum.

Then suddenly...

...tluck...

...tlock...

It changed.

...clink...

Hypnotically guided by the mysterious sound, Regina followed the chime that reverberated throughout every cell in her body.

"That ring," she whispered, walking in the opposite direction from whence she came as though manipulated by some unseen force, "Why do I feel like its...calling...me?"

Deep beneath her blanched state, she could hear the cacophony (amidst that seductive symphony) wailing at her like apocalyptic trumpets of war. Begging that she run away from whatever was causing this somnambulistic walk, but she couldn't obey her own will - even if she desperately wanted to.

And as her legs carried her step, by meticulous step, further into the labyrinth of the vampirical manor, deeper became the corridors she reached...

Farther became the distance she walked...

And blacker became the darkness to which she succumbed.

~S.O.V~

Resting half of his body atop the cherry-red bed, as his feet dangled precariously off the corners of the wooden ledge, the nettled 10-year old swung his arms beside him; burdened by the heavy thoughts - and blackened emotions - that remained within him since the past hour.

Sighing, he stared deeply at the ceiling overhead - unguarded - for the first time since the start of the night, as the whistling gale sorely reached his ears; its high-pitched 'wheeeuw' escaping through the chipped wood of the windowsills, while his thoughts lay waste with the distancing storm.

Ever since he had returned to his room, he had tried to settle his emotions, to no outstanding success; and, though he was no longer angry with his brother and sister for reacting the way they did, it didn't mean that he wasn't at least a little offended by the mistrust they so fervently showed.

But, thinking back on it, they were absolutely right. He had royally screwed things up for his Nee-chan. Regardless if the intent behind his actions was for the sake of a beneficent cause.

'I just...I just wanted to protect her,' he thought with a frown, casting his gaze downward, 'but...I know that I didn't do it all for her.'

Draping his arms over his eyes, Akumu tried - in vain - to hide his sight from the grizzly mirages that his mind's eye concocted. Of the memories. Of the pain. Of the guilt. However, the further he pressed his limbs against his eyes, shutting himself away from what his rife emotions created, the darker his thoughts became, and the more realistic they felt; and, obviously frustrated by what it all implied, he reluctantly moved his arms away.

Acting against his better judgement, allowing himself to be led around the nose by the same rampant emotions that defined him, were all part of what made him reach that jaundiced conclusion. In reality - there had been nothing he had done, in his entire life, that was as risky - and selfish - as this.

Because not only had he (though part of the fault could be blamed onto Hime-nee as well) compromised his siblings' hard kept secret. He had also caused an unintended rift between the person he cherished most, and the one she loved most.

And it was all in order to claim his stance - his prowess - as being above that of his siblings, his Uncles, and even that bastard Father of his.

But, to what extent?

"Argh!" he scratched the back of his head, sitting up, and resting the side of his elbow against his propped up knee, before glaring down at the carpet. "I'm such an idiot. I practically fed them all to the lions. Just like that guy, when he was thrown into the den."

Unlike Daniel, however, the only thing he could do was watch from the sidelines, as the others fought their way through the struggles of his own creation.

And though unvoiced, he had betrayed them, and their trust in him; in much the same manner as he had suffered when he was betrayed by... He stopped his thoughts immediately where they stood.

He didn't want to remember anything from back then.

Waving his hand around him - as though swatting some pesky, invisible, flies - Akumu finally rested his palm beneath his line of sight; gazing onto the calloused skin in silent scrutiny. Brushing a single finger over the creases of his palm, he tried to recall a time when the power he invoked did not evoke a sentiment of fear every time he used it.

That being said, with every memory that came to mind - deeply rooted frustrations and heavily piled negativity - were always sure to follow.

"Fire isn't a blessing," he scoffed, sitting momentarily against the edge of his bed, before standing up and walking toward the window, "Never has been. Never will be. Those boring old history lessons that the Old Geezer would give us, was proof enough for me." He stared back at his hand, "It's either hated by the people that died, or lost something precious to them because of it; or those that wanted to destroy others with it. There's no in-between."

And because he knew that, he understood that there wasn't a single good thing about his so-called 'gift' that could - should - make him feel remotely proud of possessing it.

'But,' he clasped his hand within the other as it began to tremble in his hold, 'Why is it that I still feel...awed because of it? I mean, just look at what I pulled off in front of everyone! Even in front of that damned Oyaji! I was-' he gasped.

Realizing the course of his thoughts, he berated himself almost immediately.

'What the hell are you thinking, Akumu?!' Grabbing the nearest pillow from atop the bed, he shucked it against the wall at the opposite end of where he stood; thwarted by the silent implications of what this unvoiced 'pride' meant.

Just when he thought that the satisfaction of the infernal heat would get to his head and roast his brain (for thinking such things in the first place) he remembered the reason as to why he was supposed to be proud of his little 'show-and-tell' demonstration.

Heaving a disgruntled sigh, he admitted to himself what he had tried so hard to reject before.

Yes, he had been satisfied.

Completely and utterly satisfied.

He had just proven his siblings that he did have the ability to control that wayward element, despite knowing how small the semblance he showed had been; and, to him, it had been enough to boost the swelling of his already inflated ego, skyrocketing him to infinity and beyond!

But, when that heightened pride returned to earth, and he saw just who had taken the brunt of the force, remorse had taken over him like a tide mother on the volcanic banks of a lava-pitted island.

Absentminded, the ten year old dhampyr looked up at the golden framed mirror decorating the fireplace in his room, glaring as the incandescent green of his eyes stood out from the rest of his reflection, before - with a single snap of his fingers - he lighted the dried wood beneath the chimney. Bathing the entirety of the once dreary room within a scarlet glow.

'Nee-chan is far too kind to stand for this kind of bullshit.' He watched the embers crackle within the orange hue of the lit wood. 'She already has enough on her plate with having such a shitty parent like that damned four-eyes, and -...'

He looked away, his bangs flopping over his eyes to hide the wrathful glare he cast onto the world.

"With having a problematic brother like me," he sneered, more to himself than anyone else, "Maybe that's why she left after Uncle Four-Eyes did...pro'bly couldn't stand to be near me after I talked back to him."

Deep within his heart, however, he knew that to be entirely bogus.

His Nee-chan wasn't that kind of person at all.

He knew her well enough to understand that she'd never reject him because of anger. No matter how many times he'd get into trouble, or the kind of mischief he'd involve her in, she would never be upset, or even bitter, toward him.

Still, even though he knew that, it was difficult to forget how much it stung him when her hand moved away from his touch.

After all, had he been strong enough - better enough - she would never have hesitated to rely on him as a shoulder to cry on. That's why he had tried so hard - so desperately hard - to become a proper pillar of support for his Nee-chan.

But, it seemed that he still wasn't quite at that level, yet.

Unwittingly bending toward the fireplace, his hand rested over the flames, moving the singed wood around, as he watched the blaze enveloped his skin like a scarlet mantle.

Slowly retracting his limb, he was not surprised to find that the only tell-tale sign of him touching the crackling flame directly, had been the residual warmth lingering in his touch. Other than that, not a single scar.

'Three years,' he thought, somewhat appalled at the time frame, 'It took me three years to do something like the candles, something like these logs; and at a painful cost too! So...how long'll it take me to go beyond this novice stage? Another three? Ten? Fifteen?! How much more do I have to endure in order to become stronger?! Will it ever be enough?!'

But more important than all that:

What if, by then, his Nee-chan was already old and gray?

Or worse?

"No!" he jumped backwards, almost colliding with the foot of the bed, as he grasped the sides of his head while clenched his teeth tightly, "No! I have to be stronger now! I have to! If I don't then I'll never be able to-!"

He felt something wet trickle down the side of his lip, before noticing a drop strike the back of his hand - coming to the startling realization that his mouth was bleeding.

"Wha-?" he rubbed his lip with the back of his hand, only to find a long stream of blood imprinted on his skin.

Apparently, in the midst of the fit of his flaring temper, he had inadvertently bitten his lower lip with his slightly receding fangs.

"Tch...just what I needed." Tugging his wounded lip inward, Akumu sucked back the blood that escaped him, knowing full well that he wouldn't be able to calm down the need for it.

At least, not with his own.

It was hard to explain, but it just tasted real nasty to him. It was dry and metallic. Hardly even drinkable. But, he got that there was a certain concern with leaving his blood out in the open when, at every turn of the manor, there were ravenous purebloods waiting their meal.

They'd probably not want to eat him, but one could never tell with those assholes.

'If they dare so much as try, I'll incinerate them all!' he thought, sticking his tongue out at his hand, as he licked the remaining liquid on his hand.

However, in the midst of swallowing the metallic taste down his parched throat, he was reminded of the blood whence the sweetest of tastes fulfilled his every famished thirst.

Regina's blood.

A single drop of it had made him esurient for more, and though he had felt absolutely awful for what he had done to the person he loved most, it was fairly difficult to forget that rosy fragrance. Even if he wanted to, the reminder of it would always be somewhere there, drying his throat up until it took what it needed.

Whether that was because of vehement remorse, or ardent craving, he couldn't tell anymore.

And, adding insult to injury, his Nee-chan remembered absolutely nothing of it! She had passed out shortly after he bit her that she didn't even realize what it was he had done to her! Worst of it was that he hadn't even bothered to clear things up with her afterward, for fear of facing her rejection.

She knew he had bitten her, but the accusation never came.

And he couldn't help but be grateful to the Geezer, for had he not been there in time to stop him, he would have surely killed her by accident.

A thought that always sent shivers down his spine.

'No. I'm gonna protect Nee-chan. Always.' he gripped his first, decided on doing what was right. Which was a real ironical nutcase because, had he really wanted to protect her, he wouldn't have outwardly put her into more danger than before.

Why couldn't he have just told the truth?

'Because he would have never accepted her, and you know that...' he pushed back his hair in the same manner as his brother did when stressed, 'What'll Nee-chan think of me now?'

That he was a no-good liar, that's what.

It's what everyone else thought of him anyway.

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Akumu stared back at the flames of the fireplace, before opting on abandoning this pointless negativity of his, in order to face the repercussions of his actions - head on.

Without thinking too much on a plan of action, as was natural of him, he grabbed the nearby vase and dumped the water over the fire, watching as the embers sizzled and the smoke rose upward onto the chimney, before the room was plunged back into a cold abyss.

"First thing's first," he said undoubtedly, "I need to find Nee-chan and apologize."

Everything else would go as it came.

Self-assured, he emphatically stepped outside his room to search for his sister downstairs, but not before stopping dead in his tracks; taking notice of the last thing he'd think of finding in the hall this early in the morning.

~S.O.V~

"Did you find them?" Kanato appeared beside his younger brother, alarm clearly visible within the restless mauve eyes of his, as he - with a single rushed breath - inquired after the children. Subaru didn't appear to be as restless - or hysteric - as the youngest of the triplets, but he was affected by the missing girl in his own way, if the crackle in his jaw was anything to go by.

"Does it look like I did?" he bit back, looking around the ballroom of the estate for any signs of the platinum-haired child. He could've sworn he had seen a small shadow pass by earlier, when they had been looking around the central wing for them.

But the place was just as silently dead as the rest of this God forsaken manor!

"Luka! Luka! Luka, where are you?!" Kanato continued to call out, hoping his son would appear from somewhere amid the somber building.

"Damn it!," Subaru stopped beside a decorative onyx column that connected the second floor of the ballroom with the first, "None of this would've happened if you hadn't left them alone!"

"Ha? You're saying its now my fault?," Kanato stopped his search to pucker his lips in a tearful, angry pout, as he glared at his brother in both fret, and annoyance, "You were the one that was getting pissy over something so stupid!"

"Ha?," Subaru furrowed his brows, practically stomping his way over to Kanato, "Listen here, pipsqueak. You were the one that was stepping out of line with Luna!"

"So what?"

"She's my daughter!"

Getting far too choleric at this point, the white-haired prince did not take notice of his words, or what they so obviously implied.

And, in the midst of another rising argument, neither did Kanato.

"Stepping out of-? Are you serious?!," Now Kanato was getting frantic, for more than just his missing child, "I patted her head because she wanted me to! That's it! You make it sound like it was inappropriate or something!"

"Of course its inappropriate, you damned pedophile! She's my kid! I don't want your disgusting, sticky-fingered, dirty-ass hands on her!"

"Wha-? How dare you?!," he clenched his teeth, "You know what, just for that, I'm gonna pet her head EVERY SINGLE DAY, bastard!"

"Ha?," a tick was appearing on both of their foreheads as they faced each other head on, not realizing how childish this fight appeared to outsiders, "Then I guess I'll be taking that kid of yours in exchange, and treating him as my pet!"

"You keep Luka out of this, you hear? He's my son!"

"Then keep your shit-filled hands off of my daughter!"

"Who the hell do you think you are to order me around?!"

"No, who the hell do you think you are to order me around?!"

"Bastard!"

"Bipolar!"

"Violent!"

"Crazy!"

"I don't understand how that little girl is even related to you, she's nothing like you!" Kanato huffed, nearly out of breath from how angry he was at his brother.

Subaru's exasperation didn't end where it started, but he was thwarted by the same thoughts that had encompassed his own earlier; which, in response, only seemed to fuel his frustration.

"Oh yeah? Well, I don't get how such a calm kid like him is even fathered by a crazy, bipolar, man-child like you!"

"Why you...!" Kanato eyes widened drastically as his lips receded into a thin line, "Leave my son alone!"

"Not until you leave my daughter alone!"

"Fine!"

"FINE!"

"FIN-!"

"WOULD YOU GUYS JUST FUCKING SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY?!" Ayato walked into the room, practically slamming the doors from side to side as he looked at his two brothers, deeply annoyed. "Shit! You're making Yours Truly get a headache with all your crazy squabble! Look at you two! You're acting like preschoolers for fuck's sake!"

And crossing his arms, the red-head scrutinized his two younger brothers and the way they seemed to want to pulverize the other.

"Just what the hell is going on in here anyways? I thought we put aside everything in the living room to at least get a good night's rest!"

"Ask the fucking pipsqueak. I'm busy!" Subaru turned away, continuing his search in silence.

"Have you seen Luka?" Kanato asked his triplet, instantly forgetting the banter he had with the youngest prince (as well as the fact that he hadn't quite forgiven Ayato for telling Reiji to lock up Luka alongside Teddy), in order to ask the only other person that may have caught wind of the child's whereabouts.

"How the hell should I know anything about that freak?" Was Ayato's immediate response, which did not bode well with Kanato.

"Luka's not a freak," The Father of the youngest dhampyr crossed his arms furiously, "If anything I'd say it was your kid, Ayato. You saw the kind of power he has. I'd be more concerned of him burning us all to a crisp in our sleep if you start pissing him off again."

Ayato 'tch-'ed in response, but said nothing about Akumu.

"I'm just wasting my damn time with you two, I'm going back to bed."

"Whatever," Subaru murmured, as he walked over to the other side of the ballroom, kneeling on the ground to look through the vents on the walls, "Damn. I'm going somewhere else, you guys do whatever the hell you want."

"What's with you?" Ayato furrowed his brows, surprised to see Subaru acting so...unSubaru-ish.

"Both of our kids are missing, what'd you expect?" Was Kanato's sole response as he jumped over toward the second floor of the ballroom.

"So? Why should he care?"

Both lavender and white-haired vampires stopped and faced their older brother.

"What the hell are you talking about, Ayato?" Subaru glared.

"What's it to you?," A cruel smirk filled the corners of the red-haired prince. "Just because some damn paper says so you're gonna believe the bullshit they feed you? Just because that man says its true, we're now supposed to accept the fact that Chichinashi left us to give birth to those kids? I never touched Chichinashi. Her kid ain't mine."

"You think you didn't," Kanato answered ruthlessly, "You don't even know for a fact that that's true."

"It is, 'cause I say so."

"Fine, but that doesn't mean we're all on the same boat, Ayato."

Those words, and the weight they carried - like an executioner wielding their blade before the accused - had struck something feral within Ayato; and he turned in a whiplash toward his triplet. Betrayal smoldered deep within those dark green irises of his.

"What'd you say to Yours Truly?"

"Exactly as you heard." Subaru seconded, not caring whether those two ripped their heads off in the brawl, "Just because you admit that you never took her, doesn't mean the rest of us didn't. You know what happened that night. You know what was going on around us. There's a chance we changed because of the moon," His gaze was downcast, as if the very idea sickened him, "It's not rare for our kind to go through a frenzy because of it."

"That's only when we pass through our coming of age," Ayato held back a growl, denying the images his brothers' words invoked.

Of his Chichinashi pleading beneath his body; sagging, groaning, moaning for his attention, begging that he take every part of who she was for himself, before eternally succumbing to his ruthless possession.

"Doesn't mean its unheard of." Kanato admonished, bringing him out of his reverie.

"So," the red-head spoke through his tightly clenched teeth, "Let me get this straight. What you're trying to tell me is that you two touched my food without my permission?"

"She wasn't only yours, you know." But Kanato's refute was silenced by Ayato's explosive yell.

"Bullshit! She was mine, completely and utterly mine and you both know it!" He pointed accusingly at them. "I told you! Ore-sama strictly warned you all not to mess with what was mine! If she left us its because of you bastards!"

"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Subaru, riled by the grievous accusations being spouting by the waspish red-head, readied his fist. "If she left it was because of you!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Last I checked, you were the one that told her you didn't want her. You didn't need her. That she was nothing but cattle awaiting the slaughterhouse for you. Tell me then, what changed your mind when you practically begged her to choose you? Was she really so important that you were willing enough to throw your pride away?"

Subaru swung his fist, but missed Ayato by a fraction of a millisecond.

"Shut up! Shut the fuck up!" Subaru yelled.

"You're in no position to say anything about it, Ayato," Kanato input, startling the two arguing males.

"How so?"

"You have that rosary, don't you?"

"Psh, 'course not!"

"As if, I saw it in your room the other day," Ayato glared at his brother for exhibiting him that way in front of the other, "You always change the rose in the vase. Almost as if you-"

"If you know what's good for you, I suggest you shut your mouth this instant-!"

"Shhh!" Kanato covered his brother's mouth instantly, placing a finger against his own lips in a sign for immediate silence.

"..."

"What?"

"If this is some kind of prank of yours to stop-"

"SHHHhhh!" Kanato interceded again, looking around the room. "Did you guys hear that?"

The other two looked around as well, but other than the foggy windows, there wasn't much of anything standing out in the empty ballroom. Then, they heard it. A small 'click' coming from the farthest door, before it was repeated all around them.

Ayato, Subaru, and Kanato immediately ran to the exiting doors.

"Did you lock the doors when you came in?" Subaru asked Ayato.

"As if!"

"What the hell, then?"

"Who locked the damn doors?!"

Kanato pressed his ear against the door, but he couldn't hear anything; and though he had a vague suspicion of someone - or rather, something - he didn't want to jump to conclusions this early in the morning. "I have to find Luka."

"I gotta find Luna," Subaru added as he struggled with the knob.

"Yeah, no shit. What we need to do is find a way to get out!" Ayato concluded, as they all struggled, individually, to open the doors; but it all proved a futile attempt, even with their immense strength.

"hehehe..." a laughter broke through the air from just outside their door, "I wouldn't struggle if I were you...You won't be getting out any time soon...hehehe."

"Who the hell was that?!" Subaru questioned his brothers as he heard the laughter die out in the distance.

"I don't know! But doesn't it sound like that-?"

"It's Teddy" Kanato paled as he answered his triplet, wide-eyed by the revelation, as he struggled desperately with the knob. "We have to hurry! He's going to go after Luka!"

"Luna's with him. If that bear finds him, he'll probably charge against Luna as well!" Subaru shoved his weight against the door frame, trying to break out of the room to follow that damned bear.

Ayato was perplexed by the protectiveness his two younger brothers showed for the endangered kids.

They were acting almost as though their own lives were at stake.

Almost as though they were...Fathers.

But the feeling, in all its foreign sentimentality, was not something he understood. Especially since he had never experienced it from anyone - not from a man who hardly acknowledged his existence - and certainly not from a whore that punished her son out of boredom.

And surrounded by those dismal thoughts, Ayato called for the other two to help him lift the nearby chair.

"What the hell do we need a chair for?"

"What do you think?" Ayato questioned his stupid brother, "We're gonna break the damn window."

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