Chapter 2

Yui slept soundly and awoke to the sound of a gentle sigh against her ear. Her eyelids fluttered, her head now spinning and her body aching, and she soon realized where she was. When she would lose consciousness, normally the boys would either leave her to herself when they had finished with her or bring her to bed if they were feeling extra generous. Azusa had done neither. His arms were in a loose lock around her waist and were cold as ice. "Azusa-kun," Yui whispered through the darkness. The blazing fire had deteriorated to dimly lit flames among the ashes. There was no response besides his arms tightening around her and his head burying against her neck. She was suddenly no longer cold despite the freezing air pinching to the still wet blood that stuck against the skin all over her front. Yui began to come to the horrible realization that Azusa cutting himself the night before was no dream, but a very real reality that was sleeping right underneath her. "Azusa!" Yui cried. The sudden outburst from her mouth caused her to jump and shake off Azusa's grip, sliding clumsily off of his lap and awkwardly kneeling before him. Azusa's eyes opened slowly, the dim light reflecting beautifully off of his eyes that were now warm and inviting. "Eve," he cooed. Past all of the drying blood smeared on his face, a smile was playing on his pale lips. Seeing a man who had just bled that much smile - it actually scared Yui. Despite the fear twisting inside of her, she grabbed his hand and overturned it. The cut looked like it had been healing for four days at least. "But-" she began. Azusa interrupted her, smiling, "I'm okay." His smile suddenly vanished as Yui's curious fingertips touched the raised wound along his wrist. Azusa began to feel a sensation that was foreign to him; a warmth building within the pit of his stomach. No one would ever touch his scars, no one but him. Yui's finger traced along the cut slowly and then she brushed it with the pad of her thumb. "I can't believe it," she muttered, "this is incredible. It's as if it happened weeks ago-"

"Cut me," Azusa said breathlessly. A gentle whine crawled up his throat and he shifted in his seat, absorbing the touch of Eve and whimpering, "Eve... cut me. Right here..." Refusing to let go of the contact that she had with his fresh scar, Azusa used his free hand to pull up the front of his sweater, exposing his pale flesh. Yui quickly released his arm and sat back on her knees, her eyes wide and awe struck. She scanned his body slowly, taking in every single scar and scratch. It was as if his body was a canvas for his most morbid thoughts, or even worse- the thoughts of those from years and years before. The thought of how they got there made her cringe and suddenly, Yui burst into tears. She hadn't realized how exhausted she was until she ran out of the room and darted down the unknown hallways. She cried, forgetting about all of the others who lived in the mansion as well, and clawed at her own face. She just wanted to get the sight of him out of her head. "Stupid!" She howled, "I should have just stayed in my room. Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Her breakdown came to an aggressive and unexpected end. She hit something, hard enough to go flying back and fall onto the floor.

"Very stupid," Ruki said coldly. "You're causing a racket." He stared down at the pathetic girl before him, curling into herself and smearing blood on the expensive carpet. He sneered and scooped her up bridal style, forcing her head down to his shoulder as he carried her through the halls. Yui attempted to control her breathing as her cheeks burned a bright crimson. She was embarrassed to be seen like this by Ruki. The livestock shouldn't be acting out of line, she thought to herself. Tears burned the whites of her eyes and she couldn't help but to whisper, "How could you let him do that, Ruki-kun?" Ruki continued walking. Yui's voice unintentionally raised as she cried, "You're supposed to protect them yet you let him do that to himself! Do you want him to die?" Instead of responding, Ruki dropped her to the floor and pinned her to the ground. He yanked down her top to expose her shoulder, the one Azusa had been feeding on, and quickly sunk his teeth into the fresh holes. "Ruki-kun!" Yui gasped, clutching onto the back of his shirt and struggling beneath him. He gulped a mouthful of her blood and growled, "Shut up, livestock. You have no right to speak to me that way. No right to speak to me at all." He shoved his fangs down deeper into her flesh, causing her to squeal, and sucked her until she was unconscious.

She dreamt of the four of them for the first time in weeks. She stood underneath the all too familiar apple tree and shivered as a gust of wind erupted from behind her. The air caused her nightgown to puff up and Yui inhaled deeply, allowing the fresh air to invade her lungs and swim through her veins. It wasn't bright nor dark, the perfect shade of light - dusk was her favorite time of day. "Eve." Yui's gaze was dragged from the tree to the boy standing in front of her. His violet eyes locked with hers and she gasped. Azusa-kun. He was... beautiful. Scars and all. He smiled at her, exposing the points of his fangs, and his cheeks flushed. "Azusa-kun," she said as she stepped forward. "Eve." Another voice said. It was sturdy, cold. Azusa looked past her and Yui turned around, staring into the dark eyes of Ruki. He towered above her with Yuma and Kou on each side. Neither Yuma or Kou would look at her. Instead, they turned around and began to walk away. Footsteps tapped behind her and soon, Azusa's back was to her. He was walking away with Yuma and Kou. She didn't want him to leave - why couldn't Ruki take his place? Ruki stared at her and hissed, "He will never be Adam."

Yui woke up in a fit of crying and sweat. To her satisfaction, she woke up in her own bed and was no longer in a blood soaked nightgown. She raised her hands in front of her face and she could see through the tears that they were clean. Someone had washed her, changed her. Seen her undressed. She began to feel vulnerable and curled into a ball, attempting to forget where she was. "Eve." Yui suddenly jerked up and was staring into the eyes of Azusa. She gasped and held her pillow to her chest, wanting to feel less exposed. She quickly rubbed the tears from her eyes and babbled, "I'm so sorr-" Azusa hushed her. She waited for him to say something as she held back the choking tears but no words came out. He instead sat on the bed beside her and awkwardly wrapped his arm around her shoulders, yanking her forward and having her rest her head to his shoulder. He sighed and mumbled, "Eve... I'm sorry." She was shocked to hear the words come out of his mouth. "I scared you..." he continued, "I just thought... you loved me." Yui's eyes widened and a few tears rolled down her burning cheeks. She forced herself to close her eyes and instead of saying anything, she simply relaxed and allowed herself to melt into him. She didn't know the right words. "I forgive you, Azusa-kun." She wanted to hold his hand but when she reached for it, he snatched her by the wrist and lifted her hand to his mouth. She gasped and he hushed her again, saying calmly, "My precious Eve..." before pressing his mouth to her wrist. She cringed in preparation for the feeling of his fangs penetrating her flesh but it never came. Azusa parted his lips and gently kissed her skin. He pulled back an inch or so and whispered, "You... you have scars, too." He turned over her arm to expose the few puncture marks that had been left there from the Sakamaki boys. Shu, probably. Yui's face flushed a bright red and the level of exposure she had shown to Azusa in the past twenty four hours was overwhelming. His fingers traveled up the length of her arm and he tugged softly at the short sleeve of her night gown, exposing the most of the bites along her shoulder and neck. Whenever she looked into the mirror, all she saw now was bruises and marks, something so foreign to her fragile body. It was ugly and she was ashamed for allowing it to happen. Azusa spoke and left her stunned. He lifted his mouth from her wrist and stared into her eyes, muttering, "You're beautiful, Yui."