"Are you trying to steal something?"

"W-what?"

He likely wasn't, but Mori's wide-eyed look of surprise clearly indicated he was trying to do something suspicious. He and Shizuko weren't discreet in their conversation of 'I can't find it,', 'how hard could it be?', and 'then you look for it'.

Yuuki set down her mathematics book, "You guys keep going into gakuchou-sensei's office. Should I be worried?"

"No, it's really nothing," Shizuko waved it away. "Say, Yuuki-chan, do you know where your otou-san keeps his keys?"

Narrowing her eyes, Yuuki replied cautiously, "Why do you want to know?"

"...Do you know how to keep a secret, Yuuki-chan?"

She nodded solemnly.

"We're going to celebrate Halloween with a scary movie night at the perfect place: the ~haunted~ Sunburst Chapel," Shizuko took Yuuki's shoulders. "That's why we need the key to that place."

Yuuki hummed in thought, "Wouldn't it be better to do it during Obon?"

"We don't have time to wait for next year to do it then. Besides," Shizuko gestured vaguely, "this school used to celebrate Christmas, why not Halloween?"

"Shizuko-san is really desperate to do something big," Mori ignored the glare directed his way with a smile aimed at Yuuki. "Do you think you could help us?"

Reluctantly, Yuuki nodded, "I think I know where they are, but I want to check out the chapel too."

Shizuko pulled back, "I don't think so. It's a super scary place, you'll get nightmares."

"I'm not scared," the whiny, high-pitched tone of her voice ruined the effect. "Even if someone died there, I won't be afraid."

"A person didn't die there. They just disappeared. Are you really not going to tell us?" said Mori.

If not there, then where did a person die? They didn't look willing to go into details around Yuuki. Willing to scare their classmates in a haunted building, unwilling to scare a six year old. When was her age ever not a block in the road?

"If you guys don't think you need my help, that's fine."

They ended up needing Yuuki's help.

If only Shizuko and Mori were astute enough to check behind the framed map in Kaien's study. That was fine. Yuuki probably wouldn't have found out that was where he kept the uncommon keys if not for seeing him switch out the basement keys. And now she got a field trip to a place she'd never been before: past the island.

The world of Kurosu Yuuki was irritatingly small. Perhaps it was normal for children whose parents worked from home. Perhaps not. The only times she went past the gates of the academy was to visit the shopping district in the hunter town. The one time Yuuki suggested taking holiday after seeing a beach on the television, Kaien quickly changed the topic. She's safe if people think Kaien's her biological father. She's safe if her birdcage is as small as possible. Safe from what?

Yuuki, riding on the back of Mori, passed the Sky Gate with its bridge to meet the main chapel. In the full moon, its presence bore down on them like a midnight beast.

Mori shut off his flashlight and waited a moment, "We have to see by moonlight now, so the professors don't see us," he adjusted his hold on her and felt the key ring grasped in her right fist. "You're sure these are for the chapels?"

"Its label said: CHAPELS. So, yes."

It had been too easy to climb up on the shelves, grab the keys, and then walk out the door. My, my, Kaien. If your 'daughter' ever wanted to run away, there wouldn't be obstacles. She filed that information away for later.

They went to the north-eastern corner of the island, crossed the Sunrise Gate and the bridge, and officially entered the dormitory area. At least, half of it. The other half was disused and separated by a lake. The Moon Dormitory once belonged to female students and the Sun Dormitory, the males. Now, living quarters were coed. They walked past two large buildings, presumably the dormitory itself and the staff quarters.

Two figures waited at the door of the Sunburst Chapel. It was smaller than expected, seemingly one or two rooms at ground level.

"Do you have the keys, Mori-kun?" came Shizuko's voice.

"Did you really have to bring Yuuki-chan?" Keiko's whisper followed after.

Yuuki answered with the jingling of the key ring. "I won't touch anything; I promise."

Keiko tapped her on the nose and took the keys. "But you will tell gakuchou-sensei about this, just like you told him I went into the basement."

Technically, Yuuki didn't tell. Kaien found out, when he noticed she put the horror films back.

The second key unlocked the door. Trepidatiously, the four of them entered, turning back on their lights.

Mori sneezed, "Damn, this place is dusty."

"It's remarkably well preserved," Keiko walked on the creaking floorboards. "If we get some cleaning supplies, put blankets on the benches… Don't you guys think it'd be pretty cool for a movie viewing?"

"A scaary film fest," said Shizuko to Mori, who scowled.

There was a tense vibe in the room, but only because it was dark and the quiet continuously became disrupted by each step of the students. Although not overly familiar, Yuuki had seen the insides of churches and chapels before. Besides the filth, there was nothing disturbing.

However, that didn't stop Mori's hairs from standing on end and his hands holding Yuuki's legs from becoming clammy. Each crack and cobwebbed rafter was examined with their flashlights. Detailed carvings revealed a story which had been left to dust.

Nothing happened, but Mori's breathing grew quicker, shallower. Yuuki wanted to whisper something like 'nothing scary is happening' or 'boo!', yet if she did that, he would surely jump and throw her from his back out of fright.

Shizuko and Keiko stood on the pulpit, looking up at the effigy of the crucifixion. It wasn't a painted carving, just deep brown along with the cross. The man fastened to it hung his head to the side and showed off his skeleton figure, as if the Romans had starved him and let him waste on the cross until flesh and structure were intertwined. Maybe the hundred-year air had changed the effigy from the beauty it once was, because the light gave strange shadows and curves. In one blink, it could have not been a model handcrafted by an aging artist, but rather a branch washed up on the shore which had the curiosity of a man's face reaching out of the wood. A spirit put into a physical form.

When Mori joined the girls, Keiko opened her mouth to speak.

...ccrreeAACKK

Yuuki felt a sensation of weightlessness before jarring impact with stone and Mori's body. She heard the broken floorboards have their own introduction with the ground as well as two 'thump's of Shizuko and Keiko.

One of them cursed while Yuuki pushed at Mori's shoulders to get him off her.

"What just happened?" Keiko said and looked up.

Mori stood up and tried to reach up towards the hole in the ceiling, "We just ruined our chance for going out with a bang."

"Maybe," started Shizuko, "we can just tell people to move around the giant hole we created." She didn't sound convinced.

"I can't get up myself, but if one of you girls got on my shoulders you could probably do it," Mori said.

Keiko sighed, "We'll probably just break more of the floor trying to pull ourselves up. Unless Yuuki-chan's light enough to get up and then get some help."

"Have her run out in the middle of the night?" said Shizuko, "How about we don't involve the teachers and just find the stairs?"

They had fallen down into a hallway. To the left were two doors at the front and three doors at the back. The right had one door at the front, two at the back, and one at the end of the hall. That one was locked.

Keiko didn't move after finding the doorknob wouldn't budge, none of them did. They were unified by the thought which flashed in one mind to the other like electricity: 'are we stuck down here forever?'

"The stairs are probably behind another door," said Shizuko.

They should have immediately looked at the front doors. Instead, they opened the back doors one by one, finding the same room in each. A bed. Nothing else, save for the occasional stains on the sheets.

"Why does-"

"Shut up," Mori said.

"Why. Does," Keiko repeated. "This look like a prison."

"Or a mental asylum," said Shizuko under her breath.

"I don't need you guys freaking me out," Mori said, without the heat in his voice from earlier. "Please stop."

The first front door contained what Yuuki recognized as an autopsy table with straps. They moved on without comment. Larger than the others, the final room was an office.

"What the hell? There's so much dust in here. Cover your mouth and nose with your jacket, Yuuki-chan," ordered Shizuko.

The students spread out, opening cabinets and desk drawers. Yuuki looked at the dust piles. Pompeii. If she tilted her head, they could look like the white-ashen bodies in Pompeii had turned black from sitting in the dark for a century. Yuuki paused at the thought. Ash? No, the blue notebooks said that- She crouched and looked closer. They were bigger and harder than normal dust particles, like rocks. Sand.

The notes read that vampires dissolved to sand.

Yuuki's legs gave out and she fell. Right on the dead vampire. The black sand figure collapsed like how a charred body might break into little pieces. Fire. That was how her parents died.

They're making us watch mom and dad's immolation. The bodies burn like chicken charring on the grill. Because the cultists shaved them beforehand, there is nothing to distract the scent of burning meat and smoke. Except, maybe, the screaming. She can only look at her brother's face. They don't deserve what's happening, but this is what he gets. What he brought unto them. If only he didn't-

The smell of flesh to the fire. A food offering to their god.

"Ah? Yuuki-chan, are you okay?"

She was suddenly standing up and letting Keiko try to wipe off the sand with her white jacket. The sleeve grew darker and darker. Like charcoal, the remains were leaving smudged stains.

Mori picked her up, Yuuki couldn't move beyond shaking otherwise.

"We have the key, let's just get out of here."

"This feels a little reminiscent, don't you think, Yuuki-chan?" Kaien said as he washed the blood vampire sand from her body in the bathroom.

His smile was both disappointed and more forced than usual. Guilt clawed at Yuuki's throat. Their group had climbed the stairs of the Sunburst Chapel, walked out of a side room, and met the surprised faces of a pair of adults. When the floor broke, Shizuko dropped her flashlight in such a way, the light shone through the door and out to the wilderness, where people were alerted. Kaien had just looked at her with an unreadable expression after he came to get her.

Yuuki reached out and touched Kaien's cheek to get his attention. Oops, he hadn't cleaned that hand yet. Maybe he wouldn't notice she had stained his face.

"I want to get tou-san to smile more."

"You don't think I do it enough?"

"A lot of them aren't genuine."

Kaien's face became pensive. He started on cleaning the other arm.

Yuuki continued, "Who told you to smile even when your feelings aren't the same? It's better to only do it when you feel happiness."

"But then I'd become as serious-looking as Yuuki-chan."

"...That's true. I'm sorry for being bad."

Kaien might not have wanted her, but he tried his best. Education, food, conversation, shelter, hugs. She hadn't been very good at repaying his kindness. One shitty drawing for his birthday didn't cut it in any sense.

He sighed, "It was only an accident. When I saw you, covered in sand, after being woken up at two in the morning… I guess it's a feeling a parent would have."

Yuuki waited until Kaien started brushing out her hair to speak, "Do you think Keiko-san recognized what it is?"

She counted thirty breaths until he replied, "You know, sometimes it doesn't feel like I'm a parent. It's more like… I'm back in my mentoring days."

"Kaien is the best tou-san I have."

That earned her a bitter chuckle, "The sand is very distinctive. Ichinose-san will call her parents if she's curious about more," he said. "What's underneath some of the buildings here is one of the reasons certain places here are restricted and also why they can't be torn away. This academy is built on bones and ghosts of vampire and hunter inventions. I would like to invent peace."

Kaien stopped brushing, "There's too much. I think we'll need to cut it."

Oh.

Oh no.

Kaien never specifically said the words 'punishment' or 'discipline'. He didn't have to. They both knew Yuuki's freedom would be restricted. No one came to babysit her and she wasn't allowed out of the house. Time ran backwards to the earlier days, when Kaien worked in his office and Yuuki had the television running in the background. At least there was Daedala.

She tried to be a good daughter. Except, Yuuki didn't quite know how to do that. With her parents, simply being their child felt enough. Gifts for holidays, doing the chores, achieving good grades. Small details on the foundation of love. Resentment and obligation tied Yuuki and Kaien together. She had so much to thank him for, not all of them met with positive feelings. Out of all the people she knew, he treated her the most like a child. Her body and practical side needed that. Needed to work on her language skills, to eat food, to have shelter. The young woman inside of her, which was growing fainter by day, hated being so weak.

Yuuki didn't know Kaien's mind, but she did know a man like him probably didn't plan on having children, not unless they were with a lover. Something made him say 'yes, I'll let the world think this child is my own'. Obligation to what? Orphanages weren't uncommon, nor badly run, from what the documentaries showed. The long series of wars in the last era made such institutions vital.

Cool wind numbed Yuuki's face. Sitting on the opened window sill of her room, she closed her eyes for a moment. Doing this too many times would make her sick, especially if it started to snow. For now, she stayed half-sleeping under the night, toying with the idea of leaving, even though she wouldn't.

"Yuuki?"

Kaname stood under the window gazing up. He was almost a dream-figment, except Yuuki never dreamed about him. She opened the window further and shifted to the side. From a distance, she couldn't make out his finer details. She knew, though, his head tilted just a centimeter. An 'oh, I didn't expect this, but I'll allow it'. Yuuki didn't see how Kaname jumped through the window, he was simply in the room.

"I can't have visitors after a complication. You might not be allowed to be here."

"Kurosu-san will let me," came the confident reply.

Her room was under a microscope. Kaname's eyes tracked everything: each book, pencil, and paper. The unmade bed, closed closet, cat teaser. Unframed photos scattered on her desk, calligraphy set next to them. What was his room like? Yuuki wouldn't know. There seemed to be an unsaid rule that the mirror between their worlds was one-way. Kaname could look in, trace the painted poems she pinned to the wall, leave his black-stained imprint on her short life. When she died, Yuuki would be bone. Kaname's death would leave shattered glass.

"Your hair looks pretty."

Yuuki felt herself frown before she could stop it. Apparently, vampire sand was nigh impossible to get out of long hair. Hunters kept their hair short for that reason unless they were skilled in avoiding killing vampires in a way which made the sand scatter around. Looking at her face in the mirror, hair to her shoulders, gave Yuuki a distinctly uncomfortable feeling.

"You didn't like it long?"

"It's not that," came the immediate reply, "it was also pretty long."

"Is there a hairstyle you wouldn't like me in?" at the pause, she suggested, "bald?"

"You would still be pretty bald."

Yuuki couldn't suppress her smile, "It's only because you're a child, that you can get away with a cheesy line like that."

"Is that so? Then I suppose it's fortunate I'm so young," said Kaname, the edge of amusement on his lips.

O

Time ran out before things could revert to the way they were.

Yuuki's restrictions were lifted by her birthday, which was a straightforward affair. They had a picnic by the lake, where the topic of that incident didn't hide itself. Trespassing to a restricted area past curfew and destruction of property earned Keiko, Shizuko, and Mori a phone call from their parents and extra classroom cleaning duties. Babysitting was always going to be removed from the seventh year students' duties when the time for university exams came.

The options for universities in the country left much to be desired. One in the capital, one in their prefecture, one near the sea. The people who received higher learning were usually the elite, while the common people pursued education as far as their towns allowed.

Cross Academy was naturally available to only the top social class, with the exception of certain families in the neighboring town.

The Ichinose family sat next to Yuuki during the graduation ceremony. A black-haired mother, a blond father, and a cousin, who couldn't hide his sleeve tattoos well enough. When introduced, the mother looked at her with scrutinizing eyes. Yuuki stared back.

'Ah, Kaien-san, she looks a bit like you, before your change of heart.'

Then, her world became smaller.

O

"You don't have to hit so hard, Masao-kun."

"Sorry."

THWUMP

"Well done, Yuuki-chan," came Kaien's absent-minded reply as he looked over papers from the other side of the room. Since they were going through a routine, it didn't need the attention of an actual spar.

Masao's grunt of pain was entirely exaggerated. Yuuki helped him off the mats anyways, although it was just for formalities. Despite her training, a seven year old body could not support a twelve year old boy entering his growth spurt. She could, however, redirect his energy and flip him to the ground. Masao's type of fighting relied on using the strength of a tank, useless in a spar where he had to pull his punches.

"Have you gotten taller? That sound of impact was a bit louder than average."

Yuuki earned a half-hearted glare. She replied with a smile.

These days were bearing the first fruits of self-improvement. Books were read with only moderate dictionary consultation, her fine motor skills refined themselves, cooking was an activity which could be done together by Kaien and Yuuki. The lacking aspect was her peer group, dwindling to Masao twice a week and Kaname once a month.

"You shouldn't talk so much when sparring," Masao chided.

"I wouldn't need to talk if you weren't distracted by it."

Whether they were going to become hunters or not, it seemed everyone within that 'in-the-know' group learned a bit how to fight. Thus, a lot of their time spent together involved the basement or Daedala. Yuuki won less than a quarter of their spars, tragically.

"Being devious like that isn't fair."

"Fair? Coming from a yakuza?"

Masao rolled his eyes. It wasn't a true statement. It also wasn't false. The Ichinose family were one of the connections that helped the hunter community hide the bodies, metaphorically and literally. Money, blackmail, weapons, those things passed through the hands of the Ichinose before finding their way towards the buyer, whether human, hunter, or vampire. As a result, their ties with the yakuza, along with the hunters, were blood strong.

At least, that was what she inferred from Masao's vague comments, Kaien's softened statements, and the gray notebook from the study, containing information on prominent families.

"If we're done here, let's take a row around the lake." Yuuki suggested.

"You mean me row you around the lake."

"Naturally."

There were originally eighteen unique 'strains' of level A vampires. Now, seven remained.

Entirely different than humanity in both biological and mental processes… unemotional, untouched by time… feared, revered, despised… the destiny of each and every level A lay in being killed…

'How scary,' Yuuki thought, as she read. 'Why is it like that?' Her original world had nothing like a true 'vampire'. There were different types of hominins, long ago. None of those species had powers, though. A supernatural element had to have involved itself. This prompted the question of other impossible creatures' existence. Vampires? Werewolves? Faeries? Ghosts?

When she asked that question, Kaien had laughed. 'There's only vampires. Isn't that enough?' But why? Why 10,000 years ago? The wars which occurred during that time didn't involve nuclear bombs or materials, which could cause rapid mutation. In fact, the era revolved around recovering the land and people from the radiation which humans left 1,000 years prior. Of course, she couldn't be sure about the information she had. Her history knowledge was gained through books and television created by people who didn't know the existence of vampires. Perhaps she could ask someone very old, but that seemed unlikely as she was not a vampire herself and had little reason to mix with them. Kaname was too young to know anything. The Vampire Hunter Association might have records. Would they give her access to them? Not unless she integrated within their ranks and Kaien didn't want that.

Yuuki sighed and flipped through the notebook. It was a deep emerald green, instead of the blue ones she took the first few times, indicating the change in subject from biology to vampire types. The notes, while eye-opening, hinted at books, studies, and common knowledge she didn't have. Asking Kaien might induce answers at the cost of revealing Yuuki had been reading the notebooks. She knew the material wasn't fit for children. The depraved actions of crazed level E vampires, widespread massacres by the Shirabuki family, intense experimentation done to consenting and nonconsenting hunter-turned-vampires, those things stripped innocence away like methylene.

She might have had nightmares from what she read, if she hadn't lived a previous life. Her dreams were scattered and scarce moments of when she was older: vague, chilling things which left her sweaty. Really of little issue, she had more problems with sleep paralysis.

Her knowledge was too shallow and the way to gain information was locked. Because she was still a child.

She was still weak.

Kaname brought a girl the next time he visited.

A very pretty girl.

In the fading light, her medium-length silver hair gave off a violet hue, matching her eyes.

"Yuuki, this is Seiren. Seiren, introduce yourself."

"I'm Seiren. Nice to meet you," she gave a low bow after reciting the formal introduction. "I look forward to our relationship, Yuuki-sama."

Yuuki's heart was going to burst. She couldn't handle the overflow of cuteness.

After returning the bow, she replied, "I, too, look forward to our relationship. Addressing me with such formality- I'm not worthy of that. Just my name is fine."

Seiren kept her eyes to the ground, "But how can I address Yuuki-sama with such casualness?"

Yuuki glanced at Kaname. What did he say to Seiren to make her like this? At the same time, she was thankful he brought her a new potential-friend. A girl, at that. It had been nearly a year since she had spoken with a female person, other than politely accepting compliments from passing old grandmothers in town. Kaien had given her more than one odd glance on the occasions she accidentally used 'boku'.

"If it's like that, then can't we compromise and use 'aneki'?"

Seiren quickly looked up and met her gaze. Was it too straightforward? The girl in front of her looked not only physically a child, but had the shyness of one as well. Thus, sisterly feelings came out in full force. She would like to try to be the older sibling, for once.

"I-it's as aneki says."

Yuuki couldn't hide her pleased grin, "Sieren is very pretty. Don't you think, Kaname?"

He tilted his head in affirmation. A smart boy like Kaname would know Yuuki's attention rested solely on Seiren for today.

Despite positive feelings, Yuuki had difficulty adapting to the dynamic of the three of them. Usually, Kaname or her would start a conversation with an interesting subject or observation, they would speak, and then let a comfortable silence reign between them. They frequently discussed poems, Kaien, and lessons.

Seiren was painfully shy, only speaking when spoken to at first. She rarely talked after Kaname did. Further on, she didn't read many poems, didn't know Kaien, and her lessons centered around-

"You're learning Wing Chun?" Yuuki was sure she had stars in her eyes. "Perhaps, you would like to spar?"

"Not possible," came Kaname's immediate reply.

Yuuki looked at him. The relationship between Seiren and Kaname was obviously a sort of master-servant type. The vampire hierarchy didn't involve her, a human who could treat him as an equal without the weight of decorum. That also meant, as an outsider it wasn't her place to criticize what he allowed his people to do or not do.

"Because she's a vampire," he explained, "she might hurt you."

It wasn't an overreaction. A vampire child could kill a grown man, much less the young body Yuuki currently had. Kaname gave the impression of possessing excellent control. She didn't know about Seiren.

"Then perhaps Seiren could only teach me some of what she's learned."

They looked to Seiren, whose eyes widened at the sudden spotlight. After exchanging glances with the two, she looked at the ground, soft pink dusting her cheeks.

Yuuki backed down, "That's something to be done another time. Do you like art, Seiren? Chichi, Kurosu Kaien, gave watercolors to me for my birthday."

Personally, she wasn't good at painting. Yuuki's talent lay in picking up minute details and shadows for realistic drawings. Developing a unique artstyle beyond that wasn't to her interest. She wouldn't have described herself as artistic in her previous life, Yuuki simply fell into the hobby of drawing and calligraphy. She didn't think video games and social media were advanced enough for her to go back to her previous pastimes.

They set up the art supplies in the garden. The light of the hanging lamps didn't allow enough clarity for Yuuki to paint from the scenery. Instead, she created a basic gradient color wheel. Seiren, who had vampiric eyesight, painted the purple moss phlox which surrounded them.

"Is that a… moth, Kaname?"

Kaname paused at his work. Unless he were really bad, Yuuki identified dark brown-red wings and antennae. It flew towards a white corner circle surrounded by watered-down black.

"It's supposed to be a butterfly."

"Ah, I hope it goes well."

"..."

Seiren didn't accompany Kaname the next time he visited, nor the session after that.

"When are you going to bring Seiren again? It was fun to be with her."

"She's busy. Don't you like being with me?"

"...You know, Kaname, jealousy creates character. Make sure you don't have too much of a personality."

"Masao, you need to stop growing. Soon, you'll end up taller than me," Keiko accusingly pointed her coffee spoon at him.

He smirked, "That's the plan."

"Please, stay a shortie like Yuuki-chan. She's barely grown at all since I last saw her."

The person in question scrunched her eyebrows and gave a stern look towards Keiko. It wasn't fair she still hadn't hit puberty. Yuuki's intimidation levels were in the negative, especially with her ruffled clothing and doll-like face. Having it pointed out that her feet didn't touch the floor when she sat didn't help.

Because Masao's birthday landed on a Sunday, they were able to brunch together with Keiko in town. It was odd to see her out of uniform, wearing subdued, practical clothing. The cafe she picked was just the same: small and hidden away in the winding streets a ways past the shopping plaza. Inside, partitioned seating gave the suggestion of privacy. It was there Masao opened his presents: homemade candy from Yuuki and Kaien, and a phone from his parents, delivered by Keiko.

"I picked out the keychain charm, by the way," Keiko said, smiling.

The little green turtle was more elegant than feminine, but there was little doubt his sister got it to tease him. Conversation meandered from relaying well-wishes from relatives to daily life. Keiko's studies were going well, her work in the family business consumed her time. Because of the initial heir's inability to have children, the closest cousin, Keiko, suddenly started being prepped to take over. The lives of Masao and Yuuki were less hectic.

"But didn't gakuchou-sensei ask you about that certain thing?"

"Hmm? What thing?"

Keiko shook her head, "If he didn't ask yet, then I won't tell. It involves hunter business. I know he'll talk about it with you and the others at school, so don't worry."

"How can I not worry when you say something vague like that?" Masao pushed away his finished plate.

"I wasn't given all the details," sighing, Keiko said, "Drop it. You'll know next year for sure."

Masao's lips twisted petulantly. "Yuuki-chan, do you know what she's talking about?"

She started to shake her head, then stopped. "We're moving to the official headmaster's residence. Maybe it has to do with that?"

Yuuki found it to be a curious decision, considering Kaien had always lived in the groundskeeper's house before and after she arrived. Since she would be entering school in a couple years, surely he would feel a strong sense of loneliness in the larger residence, with only the cat to accompany him. The building was only slightly closer to the Sun Dormitory, standing at the other side of the lake, along with the unutilized Moon Dormitory.

"If he's just going to ask me to help move boxes…" Masao slumped. "Can you at least teach me how to do that trick?"

At Keiko's questioning look, he dug into his bag and produced a deck of cards.

"Oh, you've found you have the ability?"

Masao nodded and handed the deck to her. Keiko pushed aside her plate and coffee cup.

Looking between them, Yuuki asked, "What trick? Magic?"

"In order to kill vampires, hunters have some psychic ability," Keiko explained, shuffling the cards. "Nothing as flashy as a level B, fortunately or unfortunately. It mainly helps with sensing presences and predicting movement."

It didn't sound like anything, according to Yuuki. Hunters were extensively trained to deal with vampires, it's natural they would pick up unconscious adaptations to fight them. Then again, elemental powers were supposed to be possible to level Bs and above, it wasn't so unreasonable for hunters to have some gift.

Yuuki watched as Keiko set down five cards, faces down. "Why is it fortunate the powers aren't as strong as a level B?"

"Everyone hates vampires, some more than most. If we share too many characteristics with them, there's the thought 'are we also the bad guys?', but," Keiko met Yuuki's gaze, "even if a hunter has a really long lifespan, they're still a person." She looked back to Masao, "Okay, tell me what they all are."

Masao stared at the cards for over a minute, eyes shifting from one to the next, "Three of spades, three of… hearts, two of spades, seven of diamonds, and… a jack- no, a queen of clubs."

Keiko flipped them over to reveal: three of spades, five of spades, seven of diamonds, two of spades, jack of clubs. A three out of five could have been convenient luck.

"Nice try," she said. "Do it to me and I'll give you some tips."

Masao took the deck and reshuffled. Splitting it apart, he handed the top half to Yuuki, "Pick two cards and give them to me."

Yuuki searched through the cards and picked the black joker and queen of clubs.

"Alright," said Masao, putting down Yuuki's cards and three he picked, "You tell me what they are."

Keiko took longer than Masao, up to two minutes. Then, she quickly read out her predictions, tapping the cards, "Seven of spades, queen of clubs, joker, ace of hearts, ace of hearts. Tricky, you included a duplicate card."

Masao turned them over to reveal exactly as Keiko indicated.

"Did you see how I didn't hesitate?" she asked. "Remember to keep calm, too. Even if it takes five minutes, the trick is in getting them correct, not quick."

Yuuki voiced her confusion, "It's just like that? You suddenly know?"

"More like you demand to know the answer and it tells you. Since Yuuki-chan is Kaien's daughter, there's a high chance you'll have a talent for it once puberty hits," said Keiko. A mischievous glint entered her eyes, "Speaking of puberty… Tell the truth, Masao-kun, don't you want to perfect this trick in order to pick up girls or boys?"

He spluttered, "W-what? No. No!"

"Sure, I believe you."

Kaien liked listening to rock and metal music.

Yuuki would have pegged him for a peppy pop lover, given his taste in movies and books. On the other hand, he did own a collection of horror films. The radio on the ground floor could be heard from Yuuki's room as she packed up the last of her day to day necessities. It had taken them a week to box everything but the heavy appliances. A moving company couldn't be used because of the location and nature of some of the things in the house. Now, Kaien was downstairs with his friends packing up and moving the furniture.

Kaien had friends. Strange to think about. Without realizing it, Yuuki had fallen into the childish trap of thinking Kaien's life revolved around her, because her life depended and revolved around him. To be fair, he never mentioned an indigo-haired Momochi or scarred Fujibayashi. Yuuki rarely asked about his life. Well, that had to change.

She left the full boxes and walked downstairs. The adults would get it when they went up to move everything upstairs anyways. Besides, her arms hurt from yesterday's training with Masao. The few moves Seiren taught them took a long time to get right, since neither Masao nor Kaien were skilled in the style. Seiren was also learning jujitsu. Kaien had given her a soft veto when she suggested learning it. 'Isn't that too aggressive for Yuuki-chan? Wouldn't it be preferable to learn tai chi?'

The adults had the ground floor cleaned out when she entered the office. Fujibayashi was idly laying on the floor while Momochi leaned against a wall, staring out the window. Kaien must have been taking the last box out to the moving van.

Fujibayashi turned the radio off, "Is Yuusu-chan done upstairs?"

"It's all packed up, Hunter-san."

The moment Fujibayashi had entered the door, she commented on the smallness of the building, complimented Kaien's taste in plants, and gave Yuuki a nickname. 'Yuusu', a combination of her forename and surname to mean 'kind master'. 'Because Yuusu-chan is too harmless-looking to be Kurosu-shishou's daughter.' Yuuki awarded a nickname in return, although Fujibayashi was pleased to have her obvious profession acknowledged.

After Kaien came back, they ate an early dinner in the empty dining room. It was fully dark when they moved everything and set out necessary furniture in the cold headmaster's residence. To finish things up, Hakkaisan Sake was brought out.

"Not for you," Momochi said, taking the bottle from Yuuki's hand when she picked it up to read the label.

The first thing Momochi did when he saw Yuuki was crouch down and say 'So you're Kaien-san's daughter, huh? Who's your mother?'. 'Dead,' she replied immediately. It was the only thing she could say; Yuuki had forgotten the other parent's name on her birth certificate. Her reply forced out choked laughter on Kaien's part and a frown from Momochi. 'Brat, that's not what I asked for.'

The atmosphere loosened with the alcohol. Yuuki stayed silent, blending in with the floor and becoming a fly, overhearing Kaien's relaxed conversation with his friends. He didn't smile a lot, even with them. Good, that means I didn't reduce his joy when I entered his life. When Kaien did smile, it was a kind, delicate thing.

He had that same smile at night, as they lay in their respective futons, staring at the other. Daedala could be heard in the background, prowling the moonlit room. It had been a hectic day for her.

"Tou-san looks like he had fun today."

"I suppose it felt fun to have a big event like that."

"It was a very familial atmosphere," Yuuki said. "Do we- you not have any other family?"

Her own family hadn't been large, but her parents drilled the importance into her head since young. Kaien didn't seem to hold onto that idea. What he thought about this or that, what he liked or disliked doing, did Yuuki have any idea? Nearly half a decade of living with someone, what did she know?

Kaien let out a sigh, "My parents died a long time ago and they only had me. There could be some remnants of a branch clan out there, but the relationship wouldn't be stronger than any other hunter family."

"Was my… other family a hunter one? Keiko-san thought I would have some psychic ability because…"

Because Yuuki was Kaien's daughter. Except, that wasn't true. They were, instead, a stranger who took in a child-mimic one snowy day.

Kaien was quiet long enough Yuuki thought he had deliberately ignored her question to fall asleep. His sudden voice made her heart race in anticipation.

"I," he started, "don't really know. About the ability. If you have it or if you don't, that's fine with me. Yuuki-chan is great the way she is."

If Kaien said something about her family, Yuuki didn't hear before she was sound asleep.