No one believed her, no matter how many times she insisted she might have seen something. Someone had been in the garden, standing right beside the fountain. And someone had to have been on the stair railing. She couldn't have imagined it. Could she? Days passed since the incident and her conviction was starting to waver. Maybe she had been imagining it. Her mind was playing tricks. Living in a house full of vampires, rather cruel ones at that, and attending a prestigious night school could put a lot of stress on a person. However, that didn't explain the other strange goings on around the house.

Maybe it was a sort of relief, knowing that all this wasn't just in her head. Although it was very strange to consider. Was it better thinking their house was haunted, or knowing their house was haunted?

Her room was quiet, save for the pencil scratches on her worksheet. Perhaps it was the stillness of her room, or that her mind was distracted with the subject material, but she caught the tail end of a sound. Small, so much so it would have been inconsequential under normal circumstances. But lately, even the smallest of sounds seemed menacing, a warning for something. She stopped writing. Her hand was frozen. Her breath caught. She remained so still she might have been a statue. Nothing moved, nothing made a sound. Her room was as quiet as it was before.

Maybe it's just the house settling, she thought after a moment. Reiji had said something to that effect the last time she had brought up hearing strange noises every now and then. 'This is a house of no modest size. It's bound to make some noise here and there. It's nothing to worry about.' Those were the words he said. Remembering them brought some comfort and she consoled herself in that explanation. Only the house settling, nothing more. She returned to her homework, her pencil scratching filling the room again. Maybe she could turn on some music to fill in the quiet?

She reached for her eraser but her hand was still shaking. Her fingers fumbled and it bounced from her desk onto the floor beside her chair. She leaned down to pick it up. Someone was sitting on her bed. Granted, her response was probably warranted. She had been so tense lately with what had been happening that she jumped at even the smallest noise or voice. She stood straight up from her chair, so fast it nearly toppled over. It took her a few heart pounding seconds to realize who she was looking at.

"Are you that scared of me, Pancake? It's a good look on you. You should wear it more often."

"A-Ayato. What... are you doing in my room?" She knew the reason why, but the question still had to be asked. She considered her room her sanctuary, a place where if these vampires had any morals - which she constantly brought into question when she was alone - they would at least allow her this place.

The vampire said nothing. In fact, he didn't seem it was worth it to grace her with a response. He remained still, sitting on her bed with one knee bent so his shoe was on her duvet cover. Finally he stood up, and in that strange way of being able to move without moving, he was in front of her. "Let's pick up where we were so rudely interrupted the other day, shall we?"

Yui tried to take a step back but found herself trapped between him and the desk behind her. She had little means of escape as the door to her room was behind him, and even if she did, where could she run to?

Ayato had lifted a hand to push her hair away from her shoulder. His green eyes glinted dangerously, looking at her only as an object, a possession. He tugged at her collar next, shifting the fabric so it exposed her neck and shoulder. She tried to form some way of defense, to grab his hand and move it away but he only brushed it aside. He grabbed the upper part of both her arms with his hands, tight enough that the shock of pain sent a message to her. Resist and he'd only make it hurt worse.

She couldn't fight back, not if she wanted to be functional enough to attend school the next day. She could feel the passing breath as Ayato leaned down, his mouth open. She didn't have to see his fangs to get the unsettling sensation they were only and inch from her skin. His breath was warm against her exposed neck. She tensed, feeling two tiny pinpricks barely begin to apply pressure. It would be over soon, he'd leave her alone for a while afterwards. It'll be over soon.

Something moved across the room. The sound of fabric fluttering caught Ayato's attention and he stopped. The drapes of the bed had moved, just enough as if someone had walked by. The pencil on Yui's desk rolled off and landed on the floor. The back of Ayato's shirt lifted just slightly and the boy suddenly stood straight, a hand flying to the small of his back.

"What the-! Who pinched me?" He exclaimed. Even he could tell he had held down Yui's arms, she couldn't have reached around him. He stood back from her and looked around the room for the culprit. If it was one of his brothers...

He glanced towards the door, which was now open just a crack. Standing just beyond was a shadowy figure, looking into the room. As soon as Ayato had made eye contact, they disappeared, moving visibly away from the door. There was a sound of muted footsteps on the carpet lining the hallway. Altogether forgetting about Yui, Ayato let her go and gave chase out of her room. He threw open the door and turned left to follow the figure. Yui stood alone in her room, hair and clothes disheveled, having believed she would have met a horrible fate that evening. Now she simply stood there at her desk, wondering what on earth she had just seen.

Ayato raced down the hallway until he was met with the dead end. He hadn't seen the figure since looking at the door, how could they have disappeared so quickly? They must have run into one of the rooms lining either side of the hallway. If they didn't want to meet their end with Ayato, they probably would with one of his brothers. Ayato wanted to have the bragging rights of getting rid of their pest, however. He wasn't going to let one of his brothers hold that over his head for the rest of eternity.

He turned back to see where their pest might have gone, maybe he missed a possible exit that wasn't one of the bedrooms? He'd start searching every room if he needed. As he began retracing his steps, a door behind him opened, followed by the one directly across from it. Passing across the hall, a figure walked quickly. As soon as it left the first door, it slammed shut. Ayato was alerted and whipped his head around. He saw the second door close. He grinned. Their pest wasn't very good at their game of hide-and-seek. He would have their head on a platter soon.

He entered the second door and looked around the dimly lit room. It was an old study room. The walls were lined with old dusty books none of them bothered reading - well maybe Reiji still did. The room hadn't been touched in years. Ayato even forgot this room existed until now. He sniffed slightly at the choking smell of dust. With the way the room was set up, there was no place for someone to hide.

He stood in the middle of the room to get a clear look of where they might be hiding or if they tried to make a break for the door. "Come out, come out, wherever you are." He taunted, then hissed. "You little brat. No one touches Your's Truly and gets away with it. If you come out now, maybe I won't drain you dry."

Nothing. The room was silent. Maybe they had tricked him into entering an empty room?

Something behind him rattled, a sort of shuffling noise a book might make when being pulled or pushed into a shelf, only more hectic. He had little time to find where the noise was coming from when there was a sound of sudden movement and something collided with the side of his head. The sharp pain caused him to yelp slightly and clasp a hand to the right side of his skull. A book landed on the floor, nearly hitting his foot for good measure, with the cover facing upwards. The title read 'Manners in Minutes'.

A couple days later, Yui still couldn't get the scene out of her head. Sitting in class, her mind was distracted by the memory. She hadn't been taking the notes for the day's lesson, which had ended moments before and left the students to their own devices for a few minutes. She'd regret it later but somehow it seemed to be a small thing to worry about compared to what was happening now. No matter which way she looked at it, whatever had happened in her bedroom had distracted Ayato from committing his heinous act. It had saved her a night of agony. As strange as it sounded, she was grateful for whoever, or whatever, it was.

Her thoughts were broken by a fluttering of papers. To her left, a shower of sheets scattered to the floor.

"Ah crud! I had 'em in order." A voice said in protest. The student was on her knees collecting the papers and trying to get them back into some form of a uniform stack.

"Here, I'll help." Offered Yui as she knelt down to pick up the further spread papers.

"Ah, thanks." The student said with a smile of relief. "I tripped over someone's bag. Go me."

When she handed the papers over, Yui got a good look at the student. She had fair skin, violet eyes and wavy shoulder length auburn hair pulled into a half up half down fashion, held in place with a yellow ribbon. Yui had to admit, she didn't look familiar. She wore their second year uniform just like her's, but her socks were the white, baggy style. When the papers were all gathered again, they both stood up.

"Thank you so much. I'm so sorry."

"It wasn't any trouble. I'm glad to help." The question struck her and was out of her mouth before she realized what she was saying. "Are you a new student?" She had her answer before the girl even spoke, as she was giving her a rather curious look.

"No...? I've been here since the semester started. If there's anyone who's new here, it'd be you. Miss Komori, right?"

"Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude asking like that." Yui felt silly, but the jovial tone of voice the girl had didn't leave her feeling like she was being laughed at. Yui had never been fully observant of her classroom.

"Not rude at all. I sit behind you and I don't really talk to anyone else besides Fuyumi."

"I see."

"My name is Minako Tamura. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Yui smiled. The way Minako kept things light in their first conversation gave Yui a little pep boost from her earlier thoughts. Minako had put the worksheets on the teacher's desk and returned to her.

"You have home ec after this next class, right?"

"Yes, but how did-"

"Miss Komori, we're in the same grade. We're in, like, all the same classes." Minako looked amused at Yui's obliviousness. "Wanna walk there together?"

"Sure!"

When class ended, the students filed out of the room into the hallway. While it was best to walk directly to their next class down the hall, most of the students took their time and stood in groups to chat or gossip. Yui and Minako made their way to the classroom, able to walk and talk at the same time. Minako had been telling a story of her friend Fuyumi.

"So then I told her, 'If you're going to stay up late watching those dramas you can't complain the next day when your tired-" Her attention changed from Yui to someone ahead of them. Yui looked as well. The pair stopped as they found their way down the hall blocked by someone. Yui's heart sank slightly.

"Ah! Miss Tamura, how nice it is to see you! How is your friend doing? I haven't seen her in a while." Greeted Laito with an open smile.

He was addressing Minako like the two were acquainted. Yui thought sickly of how innocent the smile seemed yet what was going on in his head was anything but. She hid the thought behind returning a worried smile. She often forgot the Sakamakis were well and able to make friends of their own at the school.

"She's still out with a cold." Minako spoke a little more casually to Laito than she had been to Yui. "She probably won't be back for a couple more days."

"And your friends with Yui as well?"

Yui gave a mental sigh. Though rarely, he had used her name instead of that awful nickname. "No, we only just met this morning."

Minako shifted her weight from one leg to the other, favoring to lean in closer to Yui.

"Chit-chat is nice but we're gonna be late if we don't move it."

"Oh, alright." Laito sounded rather disheartened by the abrupt halt to their conversation. "Send my warmest regards to Fuyumi, Miss Tamura."

"Will do." Minako offered a beaming smile and gave a little salute of her hand. Yui followed suit, bowing her head slightly to the Sakamaki. The two continued down the hallway as the beginning chime of the bell rang through the school. Laito's smile slowly faded into a slight frown of suspicion. He placed a hand on the brim of his hat.

"Interesting..."


"FRIEND? HOW DARE SHE MAKE FRIEND? SHE DOES NOT NEED FRIEND SHE HAS MEE? WHAT GIVES?' calm down top hat. that's going to be them the entire fanfic basically just. HOW.. .HOW DARE U BE SOCIAL?

For future reference, the music I listen to while writing these chapters is available on youtube. I might even recommend some to read during specific scenes for added immersement.

Lorelei's Lullaby
Horror Piano Theme
Darkest Child
A Cold Presence - Adrian von Ziegler
Ghost Bride - "
Marsh of the Undead - "
Purified - "
Red Queens Lullaby
Gothic Mirror: Derek Fiechter (they have many others in Dark/Goth playlists)

I don't want large gaps of time to be between chapters but what I'm doing is trying to write out as much of this before hand so I'm not stuck posting a chapter then something down the road causes me to have to backtrack and make adjustments. So basically.. a manuscript. Or something. It's great just... I GET TO WRITE VAMPIRE TRASH EVERY DAY WHAT IS MY LIFE. END ME.

Once again for those of you who have read my previous uploading of this fanfic, please keep spoilers and any talk of the chapters from the reviews. Let's keep this as new a fanfic idea as I can scrape together okay. Let's not ruin anything. But I would love to hear any comments you guys might have! You have no idea how motivating it is when writers get comments on their fanfics even if it's just saying you enjoyed the chapter.