Chapter 23
The water had barely turned cold before Azusa scooped Yui up from the tub, cocooning her tightly in a large cotton towel, and carried her off to his bedroom. She first thing that she noticed when they entered was the sheets had been changed. No longer were they blood splattered and stained, but rather a soft cream color that radiated warmth and was ultimately inviting to the girl who had seen so little comfort in her past days. As Azusa began preparing her fresh clothing after laying fragile body down into the covers, Yui gently piped up, "Azusa-kun?" The boy turned away from his wardrobe, where he had managed to store some of her clothing previously, and looked over to her with gentle eyes. "Do you mind..." she said hesitantly, "if I stay like this for a little while longer?" As she awaited his reply, she draped the plush comforter over her naked skin and allowed herself to be absorbed into the warmth. Azusa paused in front of the wardrobe and then let out a soft sigh, his lips curling into a smile as he approached his lover and sat on the edge of the bed beside her. He watched as her eyes closed in a gentle bliss and saw right where her smile formed and slowly began to grow. His fingers gently kissed the surface of her porcelain skin and he touched her cheek, feeling the heat radiate off of her cheeks and he chuckled as he said, "Asking my permission... to lay among my bedding in the nude. How lewd of you..." Yui's eyelids flew open in panic but once her eyes met Azusa's, the two looked at each other calmly for a moment and were thrown into a fit of shared laughter.
Their juvenile giggles and chattering together lasted merely ten minutes before they were rudely interrupted by the sound of a bang down aways in the mansion hallway among Azusa's room. The Mukami manner was rarely a place for loudness so when the sound reached their ears, Yui practically leapt from the bed and desperately covered herself in the comforting covers. The color immediately drained from Azusa's face and though Yui had opened her mouth to say something about the odd occurrence, the expression that she saw on her lover was enough to completely silence her in a deadly awe. The following quietness was disturbed by the sound of Yuma speaking in a hushed tone and the sound of something dragging along side him. "You'll be fine," they heard him say, "A bath and some food, I know you'll be alright."
Within the time it took for the human girl to blink, Azusa was gone from the room and had snatched both of his brothers who had been sulking down the hallway. His cheeks had flushed red with anger as he pinned Yuma by the throat against the glass of his own outdoor greenhouse. The practical use of teleportation was something that Azusa rarely used but he knew what was about to happen was something that Yui could not ever hear, especially the sounds of Ruki choking as he pinned him up along side Yuma. "What are you doing?" Yuma coughed as he slapped away Azusa's hand and fell down to his feet, collapsing on his ass beside his half-dead brother and clutching onto his neck. "What have you done?" Azusa growled through gritted teeth as he squeezed his hand tighter onto Ruki's neck. The leader of the brother's looked up at the once timid Azusa with his deep blue eyes, a look of pity swimming throughout them, and refused to react even as Azusa's hand tightened. Ruki looked to have aged at least fifteen years, the hollows under his eyes were black as night and his skin had sunken in; it was a sight that not even Azusa could endure fully and he finally let go and stepped back from the house. Yuma had slowly risen to his feet and brushed himself off, grabbing onto Ruki's upper arm and lifting him back up to his feet. "Allowing that sow to come between you and your own brother," Yuma spat, "how much lower could you possibly go?" And with those parting words, he and Ruki were gone.
The look on Yui's face read of pure fear and exhaustion once Azusa had returned to his bedroom and slowly shut the door behind him. "What is it?" She said in an urgent tone. By this time, she had already rummaged through his wardrobe and dressed herself in the clothes he was originally going to put her in. She was clutching onto the cross that draped around her neck and he could hear from across the room that her heartbeat had quickened as he entered. "Is it Ruki-kun?" She practically whimpered. Her hand was tightly wrapped around the cross and as she waited for her lover's reply, she would never admit to it but she was silently praying. Azusa's hand had barely left the door knob before he whispered through tears, "Please forgive me" and lunged at her with all of his force.
The world was spinning, her head was pounding, and the Earth beneath her was clearly moving as she began to woke. The girl pressed her palm to her head and could feel a trickling feeling of blood dripping from her nose as she rubbed the pain of her forehead, whining gently at the touch and beginning to articulate what was currently happening. The Earth was moving beneath her, she had been laid down in the car. Her last memory was the hazy outline of her love Azusa as he was strapping her down to the seat all over and wept quietly.
"W-where are you taking me?" Yui choked from the back seat. She had never had the pleasure of finally seeing who their driver was and often questioned if he was himself a vampire, and it seemed that that question would remain for there was barrier between the two of them. He didn't respond. "I know you can hear me!" She cried out. The pain zapped through each of her temples every time she raised her voice but the poor girl wasn't able to control herself, for the volume of her cries only raised as she was spun into an ultimate panic.
The car came to a sudden stop and despite not being able to see out of the window, the familiar feel of the gravel underneath the tires was something that Yui recognized all too well and feared more than anything. "No," she whispered to herself as she heard the footsteps outside. She listened as the front door opened and was practically sick at the voice that she heard say "Thanks," to the driver and suddenly slammed the door afterwards. The slam was enough to make the girl jump in her seat and within moments, she had met her true nightmare. The backdoor slowly opened and she was faced with the man she hated most. "Hey pancake. Seems like fate is always driving you back to Yours Truly, aye?"