Chapter 5
Ruki grinned as they headed to the classroom with the class registers in hand; having obtained the best results in a sudden test, the teacher had "rewarded" them with a small task to be entrusted exclusively to them, considered worthy of his trust. Certainly an honour to be in a teacher's graces, but that wasn't enough to placate the nervous crisis which Mary was a victim of; perhaps, it was a dilemma as to what was her bad mood's cause: Reiji's influence or Ruki's enigmatic and mocking grin?
Her nerves were throbbing everywhere and she was ignoring the vampire's presence beside her until, once the registers had been delivered, they gazed at each other in front of the teachers' lounge, her distrustful expression contrasting his usual smile.
- Pull a prank on me like last time and I swear I'll tear your teeth off. Don't you dare.
- First, I don't take orders from you; second - he kept on smirking, after saying the first sentence with a dark and intimidating tone - do you really think you can tear a vampire's teeth off?
Touché, I forgot you have a very strong physical structure, Mary thought, turning up her nose and then wrinkling her lips, sullen; Ruki, in front of this funny sequence of expressions, raised an eyebrow, amused, and approached her.
The girl felt cold on her neck, touched by the vampire's cold fingers sliding down the skin like icicles, at last touching the collar of her shirt; she blushed at the excessive closeness, as he breathed her scent with the tip of his nose touching the back of her ear.
Somehow that attitude reminded her of Shuu...
- You have a very peculiar scent. If I tore your flesh apart, the smell of your blood would spread instantly and everywhere, attracting even the farthest vampires and the vilest ones... - he murmured in a low, piercing voice - But I won't allow them to touché you: it would be an unforgivable mistake to leave you in the clutches of worthless creatures like them... or inept like the Sakamaki's...
- Hey, over there! Don't flirt in front of the classroom, you rascals! Back to class! - a teacher's call came from the hallway's bottom; Mary didn't hear him, too focused on not to panic.
Two days had passed since the last passionate conversation with Ruki, and none of the Mukami brothers had approached her or Yui; as Reiji had recommended, the Sakamaki's were always on guard and watching over the girls (focusing more on the vampire-to-be one), all of them but Shuu: he looked like he had alienated himself from the world and this had intensified Mary's concern towards him.
She had asked for possible explanations about his behaviour: Ayato and Kanato, who were totally disinterested and ignoring him as everyone else, hadn't been able to tell her anything; Subaru and Yui had mentioned her to vaguely remember a certain close friendship of the past when the six brothers were children; finally, Reiji, rather hostile to the question and strangely nervous, had clarified everything, at the same time revealing a malignant satisfaction that only an envious person can feel.
- I remember he had a human friend; that good-for-nothing would spend most of the time out of the house with that inferior being, and promptly attract our mother's attentions, who was justly opposed to his companion - he seemed to stiffen and the atmosphere became chilling, while scrupulously examining the library's furniture to look for the smallest trace of dust. Mary, s she leaned against a shelf while torturing her lower lip with her nails, reflected on what he had told her and asked another question.
- And now? I suppose that friend is dead, considering it happened several years ago...?
Right away Reiji interrupted her with a low sarcastic laughter, turning to her and throwing her an ironic look.
- Oh no, he didn't die of old age or illness - he died in a fire!
As soon as the last word was spoken, Mary widened her eyes, struck by a sad enlightenment, and before the vampire could even continue, she had already thanked him and had hurried away, leaving behind her his complaints.
She walked towards the blond's bedroom, stopping with her hand lifted, a moment before grasping and pulling down the door handle; who was she to bring up the past and her guesses?
She was a stranger; she knew nothing if not little of his childhood, of the people who had surrounded them, of the events they had experienced, of their feelings; she couldn't talk to Shuu about what she was thinking, or his pyrophobia which he kept on denying to her: she would have been intrusive and indiscreet. And perhaps she could have worsened that relationship that they had recently established, although she wasn't sure what kind of relationship it was or if he had recognized it.
She sighed bitterly and gave up; maybe a more opportune circumstance to discuss might have happened. With this not very comforting thought, she decided to go to Laito's room and examine his condition, unaware that her scent had reached the ocean-eyed vampire's nostrils.
The girl tapped her fingers nervously on the tea can, aware that this gesture had attracted the attention of the classmate who was studying her on the other side of the courtyard, along with his brothers; Mary was sitting next to Yui on a bench, trying to ignore as much as possible those sharp eyes on their figures, watched over by Subaru, not much far from them. There was still a dozen minutes before the break's end, which she had spent with fair-haired girl, chatting over and over; and right then, after ignoring them for two days, the Mukami brothers had decided to come back, even though they were merely observing them.
She glanced up slightly, meeting Kou's blue eyes, who sweetly smiled at her; overcome by a sense of uneasiness, she immediately turned to her friend, asking if she was still troubled by some Math exercises. As she listened to the answer, she spontaneously pondered out of curiosity: considering that the Sakamaki brothers had suffered trauma during their childhood, what kind of past did the Mukami's have?
She stiffened in hearing the blond's laugh whom she had established with that short visual contact and furrowed her eyebrows, wondering if he could read their thoughts. She looked at the four vampires again, freezing as she saw Ruki's mysterious smile, Azusa's thinking expression, and the other two's snickering faces.
She grimaced, anxiously stared at by Yui, who shook her shoulder slightly to distract her; Mary returned her gaze, smiling mildly.
- Sorry, I didn't mean to forget about you.
- Uh-uh – she said, shaking her head and smiling - I understand that they're putting pressure on you... actually, I admit I don't like them much either...
- It's not a matter of liking or not - she sighed, explaining as soon as she met her kohai's confused eyes - I just want to understand what's their purpose.
And how do they know Izanami and Izanagi?, she thought, wrinkling her lips; the bell rang. She heard Yui mumble a few words of disappointment as she stood up and bid her farewell with regret, then walked towards her class; Ayato and Kanato reached her a few seconds later.
Subaru, leaving the corner where he had settle in for to watch over them, approached her, surpassing her and moving towards the school's inside.
- Let's go - he just said, hands in pockets; before following him, Mary looked where the Mukami were standing: they were gone.
Reiji sighed, rubbing his temples and mumbling that, one at home, he would have looked for some painkillers for his headache that was more frequent and intense recently.
- Is it strictly necessary? - he asked, grinding his teeth; the girl in front of him kept on staring at him impassively, just moving her head in an affirmative nod.
The vampire took off his glasses and brushed back his hair with an exasperated gesture.
- Alright then! I'll grant you only two hours to go, find what you need and get back!
Otherwise…? Whip... ?, Mary thought shuddering inside, without letting out any emotion; she thanked him and shook her hand in Yui's direction, who looked a little worried, and to the other brothers, some being more or less disinterested.
She heard the albino shouting, stating that some of them should have gone and watch over her, but she didn't care; she had assured Reiji that she would have been able to defend herself.
Or maybe...?
She advanced to the high school gates, drawing the town map in her mind to find a decent shop where she could buy some urgently needed clothes. Thanks to somebody, most of her mid-season sweaters had been torn off and consequently unhappily discarded; or even re-used by someone else as cloth for his future plush toys.
And she also needed take a break. Definitely.
As soon as she was crushed by the night urban crowd she looked for a clothes' store and before entering, she prayed the Creator to help her in finding some suitable sweatshirts right away so that she could still have some more free time.
In about forty minutes she found two large and comfortable hoodies, made of soft, beautiful fabric and above all of good quality, one was aquamarine coloured and drop-patterned, the other one simply indigo; she also bought a heavy, black cotton sweater, with red lace edges and a print on the front representing a large rose stained with blood.
Appropriate...
Then, in order to enjoy the last hour of freedom, she first satisfied a small caprice: she bought five packs of dark pepper chocolate; then she window-shopped items which were quite cute as useless; at last, she ventured in a library looking for a couple of interesting books (not found!) and some nice manga to read in the evening (not found!).
In the meantime, she was starting to sense the unpleasant feeling of being stared at; she had suspected that there were the Mukami brothers somewhere from the beginning, but she knew how to distinguish their shrewd looks from the murderous one.
She had a hunter on her heels.
In comparison, the four vampires were not a problem.
More or less.
Her eyes, among the displayed periodicals and comics, found some magazines: in particular, one had a photo of Kou Mukami on the cover, in a bizarre pose as he was sensually brushing his hair back and giving some lavender roses to a girl.
He has the world's fakest smile, Mary thought, grasping the item, browsing and reading some details about him: the young vampire was working as an idol, and was well known among his fans for both for his songs and his looks; she wasn't surprise, after all the young man was indeed good-looking and probably his figure was suitable according to the requisites expected by the agency that had hired him.
What she was really curious about was his voice; it would have been interesting to listen to some of his songs, but where could she find a CD?
- Neko-chan~ You can ask directly to me!
Oh, Santa Claus made of chocolate sold at the pastry shop near school, Mary cursed in her head, remembering how she had hated those moments when kids would push her everywhere in order to get there as soon as possible and get that seventy-five per cent discounted product.
- Kou-kun - she face to face with the boy smirking at her – I thought it was weird that no one had reached to me yet.
- Got a problem, ba~ka? - she heard on her left, recognizing Yuuma's sharp voice; the girl breathed deeply, keeping herself calm, and put the magazine back in its place and turned to the giant just to jump in meeting, not his hazel eyes, but Azusa's lavender ones, suddenly in front of her (even Kou had jumped, probably not expected it).
- Oh... that's... pepper chocolate... it's spicy, isn't? Right? It burns... - he grinned, touching his lips with his fingers which were holding the usual bandages; behind him Yuuma took a sigh of exasperation, as she raised an eyebrow, puzzled.
- It's strange that those incompetent Sakamaki's let you wander around, by herself.
Here's the boss, I couldn't wait to see him again, Mary thought ironically, breaking out in a cold sweat as she felt her right arm being grasped by the youngest brother; ignoring Kou's mischievous smile and Yuuma's ambiguous look, she shifted her eyes to Ruki. She pondered her words before speaking, as she felt some nasty vibes near them.
- It's even weirder that you vampires can't perceive a huntress' presence nearby - she whispered in an audible voice, staring into his eyes. The classmate, sincerely taken aback, his pride terribly wounded, became serious and crossed his arms to his chest.
- This could be a problem. Are you going to act in some way?
The girl didn't answer immediately, deep in thought; Yuuma scratched his head, grumbling something about that unwanted and unexpected event, and searched into his pockets some of his sugar cubes, munching them with joy to relax; Azusa kept on observing her, clutching at her right arm; Kou had carried his hands behind his head, swinging on his place, and leaned onward to look at her face, trying to read her thoughts.
After throwing an annoyed look at him, Mary sighed again, massaging her nose bridge.
- I don't like to get my hands dirty, but... - she recalled the past experience with the last hunter and how suspicious was that another one had arrived in the same town - Maybe it's better to get rid of her before she can warn her colleagues. Ah, she just left.
Her silver eyes gleamed; the Mukami's, who were looking at the front door, couldn't see them, but dozens of impalpable and invisible butterflies had flown up, chasing the hunter who was getting away from the store.
- Well, have a good night... - the girl said hastily, taking advantage of Azusa's distraction to get out of his grip and hurry to the door; she felt her shoulders being clawed at and she mentally screeched out of despair.
- Neko-chan, not so fast~ Karlheinz-sama tasked us with reporting you a very important message, hehe~ - Kou told her, holding her as he wore his strange smile; Mary repeatedly blinked, frowning.
- What exactly would it be? - she asked, slowly drawing back from the grip and turning for the last time to them; Ruki smiled at her, enigmatic.
- I'll be brief and exhaustive at the same time: the Sakamaki brothers don't need two blood supplies; therefore it's appropriate that you come to us.
Now I'm really in trouble, she thought with eyes twitching, after fiercely facepalming.
Thanks for reading~ I hope you enjoyed the new chapter!
