Chapter Seven:

It was back to school for me the next day. Reiji gave me a stern talking to about keeping my fangs hidden, but he said it wasn't a huge deal if one person saw a glimpse. Nobody ever said anything anyway—they just figured it was some weird thing that vampires had done to themselves for fun or whatever. It was simple too—I just had to not open my mouth too wide, which I didn't even know why I would ever do that anyway. And the other thing was not to snarl, because apparently that happened sometimes. I couldn't see myself doing that either, so I didn't think they would be a problem. They were so small anyway. I could barely see them when I wanted to.

"Wait for me," Ayato said. I looked over at him, in nothing but his dark blue swimming trunks. I thought he said he was going to the bathroom or something, but I wasn't listening before. I was sitting on the edge of the pool, dipping my feet into the shallow end. I nodded at him and he walked off. The teacher had left the room over ten minutes ago, so everyone was already playing in the water.

"You're Yui?" a voice said from behind me and I looked around to found a short girl with large, round glasses looking over at me. She was in a dark red one-piece bathing suit that she wore like she was in a bra and miniskirt. She clearly didn't seem comfortable, but at the same time… there was something strange about her.

"Yes, I'm Yui."

"My name is Sona," she said softly. "I don't know if you noticed me before, but I'm new here and the other day… in the pool with Ereka… I'm sorry."

"Huh?" I tilted my head. "That's… That's all right." I didn't even see how that was her fault…

"It's just, I saw she was going to push you in and I wanted to shout out but I just… didn't." Sona looked at the ground and clasped her hands behind her back.

"Oh, that's fine." I have to put on a smile, even though this is a little weird. I don't want her to be self-conscious, especially since she seemed to be truly apologizing to me. She seemed sweet. "No harm done. I was fine."

"Oh…Okay. I just wanted to tell you."

"Yea, don't worry about it. No worries."

As she headed for the ladder to enter the pool with the others, I realized that there were a lot of new people here. I remembered Haru saying how a bunch of people just transferred from one specific school, which used to be his old one or something… I wished I could come here every night like a normal student, instead of just when the brothers allowed me to go. I probably would have known most of the new students that way. Now… every time I came here, surrounded by people, I felt so lonely.

"All right. Get in."

Ayato gave my back a shove and I almost slipped and went into the water. I grumbled and turned to give him a tiny death glare before gently sliding myself down the side wall and into the shallow end. Ayato jumped in right next to me, splashing my hair. I frowned at that.

"Ayato!" someone shrieked. I turned and there was Ereka. So much had happened since the last time I saw her that I almost forgot she was in this class with us. "Wasn't yesterday in health class sooooo much fun? We should do that every time we have a class together, don't you think?" She wore a huge, white-teethed smile and she walked one inch in front of me, trudging through the water. She stopped when she was standing next to me, her back facing me awkwardly like she wanted to be between me and the yellow-green-eyed vampire. I just rolled my eyes. She was still doing this? She was going to learn her lesson the hard way if she kept this up… Ayato was friendly for a whole different list of reasons than what she expected.

But at the same time, him being friendly towards her made me a little uncomfortable, as well.

"Yui…"

I turn and get distracted by Sona coming up to me again. I force a small smile and wave.

"Yui… would you mind being my partner for today? My friend is absent and I'm… well, I don't have any other friends…"

I take a quick glance back towards Ayato, and when I find him easily distracted by Ereka, I just nod at Sona. If he's going to be busy, then I might as well try to make a new friend. It's what I want, after all—to have some normal human interactions again, instead of just spending all my time with the vampire brothers. It was unnatural. And what was better, she was a girl. No more boy drama like Haru. There was no reason for Reiji or Ayato to be mad that I found a girlfriend.

The period went by quickly, and I learned a little bit about Sona. She mostly talked about her previous high school, so I got the same descriptions and some of the same stories that id already heard from Haru. But that didn't stop me from listening. I told her a little bit about myself, but obviously nothing too dramatic because she wouldn't understand.

I climbed out of the pool and Ayato threw me his towel.

"That's your usual partner?" Sona asked, and I nodded. "Is he your boyfriend?"

"Uh… no, we're not… We're just friends."

I notice Ayato shoot me a look from across the room. Of course he could hear me, but what was I going to say? That he wanted to sleep with me so we could have a vampire bond and live happily ever after? Plus, Ereka was still following him around like a lost puppy. It was pathetic. She was getting on my nerves a little, too, now. Maybe I should try talking to her or something. I wondered how that would go… probably not well.

"Oh…" Sona trailed off. "Oh, I wanted to ask you something else. I know it might be a little weird, but I'm just curious… Where do you live?"

I paused, and then answered as best I could—the last thing I wanted was to tell her I live with a bunch of vampires… which to her would just be like living in a house with a bunch of boys. I gave her the address of the Sagamaki mansion and she looked at me, confused. I laughed. "Sorry, you're new around here, right? It's at the top of the big hill if you drive past the main road… Where you can always see the sunrise from?" Sona just shrugged and I laughed again. "Yea, sorry."

"Maybe I could come visit some time?"

And since I didn't want to be rude, I just nodded. Yea… like that would ever happen with six vampires living there with me. I wished…

I headed for the locker room to change back into my school uniform.

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It seemed like Haru was completely ignoring me. It was a little awkward when I had to walk past him or look in his general direction, but it wasn't that bad. It was almost as if nothing had ever happened between us. I wondered why that was… Maybe the brothers scared him. Maybe he just wasn't that interested in being my friend anymore… That thought made me lower my head. The brothers had turned me into a human repellant. No one ever even talked to me anymore. I used to get "hi" and "how are you" from random people, but now the whole day was filled with silence. Unless one of the vampires was making a comment or something.

But then there was Sona… who seemed to be just as antisocial as I was. And it was nice when I talked to her earlier in the day. It almost made me feel like I could have a friend. She even seemed interested in me, seeing as she asked where I live and if Ayato and I were dating. She seemed just like a normal human girl. She reminded me of myself… before all this.

"Let's just go home tonight," Kanato whined.

"We weren't even planning on going anywhere," Reiji tsked, "Please keep better track of the days from now on."

Kanato pouted and snuggled Teddy.

We were all in the limo on the way back to the mansion. It had been a quiet ride so far, the only silence being a few grumbles and shuffling around. Ayato, who usually sat next to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders to make me uncomfortable, was instead leaning away from me, towards the window, glancing outside like he was bored. I'd been thinking about what I wanted to do with him all night. I want to ask him out… but at the same time I don't, because why would he want that? He wouldn't. Not at all. But it was the only thing I knew when it came to furthering a relationship with someone. I just couldn't do this the vampire way.

Once we pulled up the long driveway and everyone dispersed, I sat in the limo alone for a minute. When I stepped out with my bag over one shoulder, the limo sped off again, not to be seen until tomorrow, as usual.

I stepped under the threshold and headed for my room. I knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep unless I did something about this, so… against my better judgement. I placed my bag on the ground and stood up straight.

"Ayato…kun," I whispered. And then I waited.

It didn't take long—only about ten seconds—as expected. Ayato appeared in my room, without even opening the door. Or, he opened and closed it so fast I couldn't see. Either way, there he was, staring at me like he expected something. Which I guess was the right response, seeing as I called him here.

"What, Pancake?" he asked, when I ended up just staring at him. His arms were crossed and he leaned against the far wall. And I had no idea how to ask him, so I just blurted it out without thinking.

"Would you like to go see a movie or something with me?"

"Why?"

I paused, expecting a different reaction from him from my outburst. But he tilted his head, seeming genuinely confused by my question.

"Well… I mean… If there's something else you'd rather do…"

"You already know what I want to do."

I flush bright red. "Th-That's not…"

"It's not what?"

"It's not… appropriate."

This wasn't going the way I had hoped…

"To you, maybe."

"And you don't care what I think about it?" I ask, a little hurt.

"I think your view on our lifestyle here with you is skewed because of your past. And I know you don't fully understand the position we're all in… which is fine, but… you're going to have to accept it eventually… or not. At least come to a decision instead of being so… human."

"It's… it's just how I am… That's why I thought… if you wanted to see a movie—"

"—Why do you keep asking that?"

"What?"

"What does that have to do with anything? And have you even seen a television in this entire house? It's because we don't care for petty human entertainment. We have much better ways to entertain ourselves." He smirked and looked me up and down.

I was about to respond when a knock came from the door, and before I could say anything, it opened and Reiji stood outside. I just blinked a few times, not expecting him.

"I couldn't help but overhear the two of you in here," he said, and then turned to Ayato. "Your ignorance amazes me sometimes." Ayato hissed, but it was ignored. "Humans bond with each other through mating, yes… but Yui is suggesting that you spend time with her, since humans bond via familiarity, too."

"She's already familiar with me," Ayato sneered.

"You really don't understand?" Reiji asked, and it looked like he was about to say something more, but he just nodded once at me and then closed the door and left again. I glanced at Ayato, who now seemed a little angry.

"What?" he snapped at me.

"I… I didn't say anything…"

And then there was silence for a bit before Ayato shuffled where he stood. Was he getting uncomfortable…? What Reiji said made it seem like Ayato didn't understand the concept of dating… But was that really true? Didn't he talk about that before, though?

"Ayato-kun…"

"What is it?"

"I…" I trialed off, but then found a bit of courage. "I want to… be closer to you."

"You want to mate?" He looked up.

"I… want you to be considerate of… how I feel."

"You're not making any sense, Pancake. Do you want to mate or not?"

"I want to go see a movie with you…" He lifted an eyebrow, but I continued. "Or have dinner, or… something… anything."

"So you can fulfill your human desires?"

"Does it bother you that the answer is yes?"

"I think it's strange." He paused. "I won't act like a human. I won't do those things. Just allow me to bond with you."

"You do understand what you're asking, right? Don't you know that for me, that's strange, too?"

"It shouldn't be."

I frowned. "Fine."

"What?"

More silence came between us, and I instantly regretted saying that. What was I thinking? I can't… not now… not with Ayato… not here… not… just… no…

"I can bond with you?"

"No."

"Then what did you mean?"

Silence erupted again and Ayato snarled. I jumped at the noise and realized he was getting closer to me, but he sounded angry.

"Why not?" he growled. "You're mine. Or did you forget that already? I can do with you what I please. You belong to me."

"You wouldn't…" I gulped. "Force me…"

"And what if I did?"

I gulped again.

"Reiji said… you wouldn't want that… if I didn't want you to, it would be…"

"Unpleasant? True… But at least I would be bonded. Not being mated to you at this point is unpleasant anyway… And… I'm sure I could make you change your mind halfway through."

I couldn't stop swallowing. Saliva kept dripping into my mouth like I was hungry, but I just kept swallowing and gulping. I was nervous and I couldn't stop it. Ayato was intimidating when he was demanding.

"Yui…" he said, and his voice was quieter. "Like that." He closed his eyes. "I can feel your anxiety and I shouldn't be able to. This is like being half-bonded. It's torture, especially since you took my blood. Why won't you just let me do this? I can feel you when I shouldn't. I can feel you in a way that makes me uneasy. Even when you're happy or sad, I feel… itchy. Dry. Dirty. Like I would if I was bonded and you were in pain. It's constant. It won't stop. Just… let me stop it."

And then he stepped forward until he was right in front of me. "You'll enjoy having a mate, I promise you. There isn't a female in the world who would turn down an offer to be taken care of. You have no one else. Why do you insist on refusing me? Or refusing any of us? We are literally offering our lives to you and you refuse? I don't understand you…"

"Is it… really that bad for you?"

"It's like… walking into cobwebs. There's something there—your bond to me—but unless I'm bonded back… I can't see what's in my face, bothering me."

"And what happens to that when you… bond?"

"I've only heard what happens when you bond, and if this is considered a form of half-bonding, then it's as if I've tried mating with you and you wouldn't have me…" He trailed off for a moment. What was half-bonding, anyway? "It's unpleasant for a male if they try and force a female to bond, so then the male becomes bonded, and the female does not. It's never happened the other way around. And when that happens, it's like punishment for what the male has done… This feels like punishment to me. When both male and female are bonded, it's a mutual bond, so the benefits are…"

"Are what?"

"I've never been bonded before, and I've heard very little about it. Of course, the male becomes protective, feeding becomes more insistent, and emotions are slightly shared, primarily for keeping the female safe and away from other, unwanted males. It's just a bond… but we all seek it. It's in our nature as male vampires."

"If I say yes… I don't want children."

"I know."

"Are you… really in pain?"

"Discomfort, more like."

"And you'll be like that until…?"

"Forever, unless I bond with you."

"What if you bond to someone else?"

"If this is anything like half-bonding, then it would be impossible to bond to anyone else anymore."

"What if I was… dead?"

"It would be… very painful."

"But could you bond with someone else then?"

"It's impossible to bond with anyone if you're half-bonded to another."

"I still don't understand what you mean by that."

"Half-bonding is… generally, punishment for rape… It's why females are usually dominant in our species. A male can't just have a female. If she doesn't want to be bonded or for the male to bond with her, she can choose not to have him. And then the male becomes half-bonded, for trying to force himself on a female."

"How is that anything like this?"

"It seems like the same symptoms that I'm having. And it's almost the same, just you're the one who's bonded and I'm the one who's not. It's ironic that even when the female has bonded without the male's consent, the male is still the one who suffers…"

Ayato looked away from me. He was suffering…? And he would continue to suffer…? I already knew I wanted this with him, but was it selfish of me to wait for this? I expected to mate with him in the future, but I wanted to do other things before that happened… I was being selfish…

"Ayato."

He slowly looked up and met my eyes. His truly were beautiful…

"I want you to bond to me."