Chapter 19

The woman stared intently at the triplets, smiling.

- You don't know whose mother I am, yet, and...

She turned to her twins, not after asking Ruki to politely withdraw a little with his chair.

- You don't know whose sister I am, yet.

Mary and Mark were perplexed for a second, and then connected everything through those two sibylline sentences; Laito, mute and immobile, sensed the brain suggesting something and Ayato and Kanato took on confused expression, the former huffing.

- I'm the elder sister of the late Cordelia - the twins noticed a veiled contemptuous, but melancholy, light in her eyes - and I'm Mary and Mark's mother.

Silence.

Reiji blinked, eyes wide open; Shuu was speechless; Subaru raised his eyebrow in disbelief; Ruki was still and inexpressive; Yuuma was looking uncaringly at the table's surface; Kou mumbled that the family connection between Mary and the "triplidiots" was bothering him; Azusa was nibbling his finger, jealous (?); the triplets themselves had become statues out of shock.

Mary rubbed her neck, clearing her throat without being able to express anything; Mark was facing upwards, as if he had been suddenly attracted by some mysterious and celestial entity; Theo was smiling like an idiot; Yui, taking courage in the mid of that embarrassing silence, turned to the Lady of Glass, while a chorus of voices in the half-witch's head was intoning a lyrical song of praise to the neo-vampire.

- This means that Ayato-kun, Kanato-kun and Laito-kun are Mary-senpai's and Mark-san's cousins, right?

The woman nodded, smiling.

- Exactly. I just regret I've never managed to say it as soon as possible, because of my duties...

- Don't worry, Mum - Mary interrupted suddenly, almost without realizing it, her hands joining apologetically to her mother's disapproving look.

Ayato burst out laughing.

- I can't believe it! I'm related to an ugly witch...!

- And I with a megalomaniac idiot – she grumbled in response, resting her head on a hand, bored, as the red protested, displeased, and Subaru grinned, amused.

- Holy words - the albino said, turning mockingly to the brother who glared at him.

- Ayato, Subaru - Reiji called them, fixing his glasses with a nervous gesture – Mind your manners; postpone your fight, without resorting to hands - he pointed out, trying to avoid any more damage to their mansion later on. Finally, he turned to the Glass Lady, who had witnessed the scene with an amused smile on her lips.

They seem much more close to each other than last time..., she thought.

- This explains why I had sensed other life forms in you, madam, nineteen years ago - he said, shifting his gaze to the woman's twins, who nodded again.

- Eh~ Me and Bitch-...

- Laito-kun - the aunt scolded him, keeping on smiling, but with a sharp and hostile look; the vampire shrugged and pulled his hat down, as if to hide.

Mary gave him a melancholy look, before crossing her eyes with Shuu's ocean ones, who had been staring at her for a long time, deep in thought: that very visible and fresh bite on her neck was bothering him a lot.

- I hope not to be indiscreet, but I'd like to know what kind of duties you were talking about - Reiji stared into the woman's eyes, trying to keep himself composed and not to be overwhelmed by the tension he felt in her presence.

- To put it simply, we're having some problems in the Demon World - she began to explain - Some people with whom we had made agreements in the past got tired of respecting them and, since I was one of the moderators at the time, I am obliged to resolve the situation, along with your father.

The six brothers froze; the Glass Lady wasn't surprised at all by their reaction, on the contrary, she seemed almost pleased by it.

- This is the big problem on one side; on the other, it seems that lately this city has been a destination for a couple of hunters...? – she went on, moving her eyes on Mary who confirmed - Well, while we were just a few kilometres from here, Mark had perceived the presence of several other hunters... In fact, unfortunately, when you happen to cross ways with hunters, whether you drive them away or kill them, the result is always the same: either the surviving hunter returns to warn his colleagues, or his sudden disappearance alarms them and makes them come to inspect the place.

Reiji narrowed his eyes and Ruki looked very serious.

- What a bother... Does that mean we'll have to be more cautious from now on? - Shuu grumbled, rubbing his neck tiredly and rolling his eyes to the sky; Yuuma raised an eyebrow, wondering if there was at least one thing which could make him more... alive.

The Glass Lady smiled, satisfied that he had understood the message behind her words; the blond snorted, annoyed, not without receiving a contemptuous look from the spectacled brother as usual.

Ayato snapped, protesting that he wasn't that weak to avoid fighting some hunters: after all, between vampires and humans, the formers were indisputably stronger; Subaru and Kanato agreed with his words, specifying that it wasn't just about "Ore-sama", annoyed.

- Some of them are not completely human, and others have acquired powers through genetic modifications - Mary replied, suddenly raising her tone as if she had suddenly gotten nervous about something.

The Mukami brothers, the Sakamakis and Yui opened their eyes wide and stared at the girl, speechless, surprised by her unusually abrupt attitude, being used to a more calm and personality, agitated only in certain particular circumstances, and surely not at the moment.

- The hunter who was with Richter had abnormal abilities and the one I met about a month ago with them - she continued, pointing to the four brothers - was the daughter of abused witches.

Reiji repeated the last two words with a questioning look, asking her to explain who she was referring to; the Glass Lady, having detected her daughter's distress, deflected his attention for the moment, turning to Yui and Mary.

- Girls, it wouldn't be bad for you two to spend some time together, what do you think? You just see each other at school, it'll be relaxing to hang around the city like real friends outside the school walls.

The two ladies exchanged looks, the neo-vampire slightly intimidated by the invitation that she knew was more like an order (having lived with the vampires, she knew how to recognize the difference) and the half-witch grateful to her mother for having avoided the topic they were about to face; they both got up, ignoring Ayato's chorus of protests, and left, heading for the exit of that place.

- Theo, Mark, watch over them - the woman recommended to the two young men, at last.

The first nodded with his usual stupid grin and took his leave; the other seemed to vanish, but, judging by the movement of air, they realized he had moved at top speed.

- Back to us... - the woman began, looking into the vampires' eyes one by one.

Before talking with Mary, I must try to appease this youth's spirits.

- I have very important matters to discuss with you, and they concern you.


- Why are you here? Do you want to prove you're a daughter worthy of our parents?! - Cordelia had shouted, once she had locked herself in a room with her older sister, whom to "talk with" in private. The green-eyed vampire had thought she would have punished Ayato later on, having sensed his presence behind the door, eavesdropping with Kanato and Laito (who obviously weren't going to be punished); though he was old enough, this wouldn't have held her back from scolding him properly.

The Glass Lady had cracked a smile and bowed her head, examining the rich patterns of the tiles; she hadn't discarded the possibility that her sister would have discovered since the first moment that she was pregnant, or involveed the fragile relationship they had with their family.

- They're twins, aren't they? You have the same smell I had then... - the vampire murmured, clasping her hands on her hips: she knew her older sister, having married a wizard, would have had more chances to give birth to hybrids... and therefore...

- Mary, Mark.

Caressing her belly, the white-haired woman had pronounced the two names. In front of her, the little sister with eyes green like envy, had frowned at her with hatred.

- Even if you were to give birth to Izanami... our father will not notice you. You're his shame... he preferred me even if I wasn't born as a demon! - she had snapped, sharply.

The woman with clear eyes had looked at her impassively, then turned away.

- I do not care, sister. I will live for me. Not for the others - she had whispered, in her voice had been an imperceptible crack, almost melancholy; finally she had moved away, to return to Beatrix and Christa in order to bid farewell to them.

Cordelia had bitten her finger, frustrated; she should have given birth to Izanami, not her older sister who had been disowned by their own father for her anti-conformist ideas: this way she would have risked her place as favourite and the Glass Lady would have replaced her, having shown her superiority, albeit unwillingly accepted by their family.

But no. She had given birth to three inept males.

- AYATO! - she had shouted; her son had stiffened in his hiding place, knowing well what would have expected him; in the meanwhile, in his heart depths, he had already begun to plan his bloody rebellion, tired of those tortures...


The Glass Lady stared at the pensive, slightly uncomfortable young men, including the Mukami brothers; the woman had decided to start with the topic concerning Eve and Izanami, explaining their father's intentions the same way as in that letter addressed to her daughter (possibly avoiding new criticisms directed at Karlheinz, knowing that the four adopted sons respected him).

If there was a person seemingly enjoying the news, it was Ayato, with a pleased and self-confident smirk on his face.

- He, there's no problem! – he exclaimed, standing up and resting his hands on the table – Ore-sama and Chichinashi are the chosen Ibu and Adamu! Certainly my successors will be the best (still less than me)!

Reiji, Shuu, Ruki, and Kou massaged their ears to his crippled English; he had never been that good in this subject...

- But if Ibu is set up... the ugly witch? - Ayato continued, looking at them perplexed and then snickering - Who wants the ugly witch?

Kou shot a mischievous glance at his older brother who looked back with an expression which the blond thought of comparing to that of an enraged demon, shrinking out of fear; Azusa, realized the reason behind that strange way of communicating, curled his lips, a little jealous.

The Sakamakis, in the meantime, had all turned to look at Shuu, who had arched an eyebrow and sighed, rubbing his neck and grumbling his disagreement (or so he wanted to make it appear).

- Don't look at me...

- Of course you won't look at this idiot - Yuuma interrupted him abruptly, standing up and glaring at the older blond, who stiffened before raising his eyes to him, annoyed.

- Nobody asked for your opinion.

- Hah! Like I care, Neet!

- So why did you intervene, brat? - Shuu frowned, even more irritated; the giant felt a pulse throbbing painfully and slammed his hands on the table, aggressively snapping at the Sakamaki family's first-born.

- "BRAT" WHO, YOU PIECE OF SH-...

- Yuuma! - Ruki rebuked him, nervous at the tense atmosphere of the moment; the the others exchanged some questioning glances at the inexplicable dialogue between the blond violinist and the giant, and the Glass Lady had observed them with an impassive face and her eye focusing on every single detail.

- Oi~ there's no need to be so violent, nfu~ Subaru is already enough and too much.

- WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, YOU DAMN PERVERT!

Before Subaru could physically attack Laito, and Yuuma and Shuu could beat each other up (in the meantime they had went on fighting with Azusa waiting for the right moment to get between them and receive a punch in the face), Kou had raised his voice:

- Reiji-kun, why are you laughing~? - he had asked in a playful and at the same time cunning voice, having caught him in the act of smiling secretly at the quarrel between his older brother and that vampire whose face he had recognized...

The young man had fixed his glasses, clearing his throat as soon as everyone's eyes had fallen curiously on him, waiting for an explanation; Shuu was staring at him wide-eyed, as he had a bad feeling about it, and Yuuma observed him intently, certain that there was something strange among them, something that was linking them in some way.

- It almost looked like you were enjoying Shuu-kun and Yuuma-kun's fight... - Kou added, widening his smile more and more; behind his bangs, his right eye turned red.

Reiji allowed himself five seconds of thinking before showing off a sadistic smile.

- I find it rather amusing that both of them were such great friends a hundred years ago... and now they are even worse than dog and cat - his eyes lit up with malice, dwelling on Shuu, apparently indifferent but entreating with his eyes, and Yuuma , who was recording and connecting in his head the necessary to understand his words.

The giant admitted he remembered nothing of his past, which Reiji reacted to by replying that perhaps it was better that way, after the fire that had destroyed the village where he had lived with his family; the blond widened his eyes and began to break in a cold sweat.

- Reiji... be quiet.

- Don't you dare, Neet! I have the right to have answers! - Yuuma growled at him, grabbing him by his cardigan's collar, while the spectacled vampire enjoyed the scene - Tell me what happened in the past! We were great friends, right? And then?! Why there had been that fire? And why have you never told me anything ?! HUH?!

Shuu gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, trying to find the energy to answer and in particular the words to use.

- Because it's my fault. I didn't want to care about you... a mere human being... I started the fire, that time.

An icy silence fell into the room.

The blond looked down, not paying attention to the MP3 player detached because of the lack of delicacy by Yuuma, who was staring at him in disbelief and shock; Reiji widened his eyes and almost retorted, but was preceded by Kou who had slammed his hands on the table, getting up furiously.

- LIAR! It's not true that you started the fire! Don't lie! - he hissed at the vampire, who was about to repeat that he was the cause of the whole tragedy.

At that point the other vampires were all exchanging puzzled looks, more or less uncomfortable among all that commotion; the Glass Lady wasn't speaking: the matter concerned them and only them, so she wouldn't have intervened.

The giant looked at Shuu.

- Why the hell did you lie, Neet?

- It's... my fault, anyway. If I had avoided meeting with you, you could have saved yourself...

- No, NO! - Kou shouted, angrier than before, while Ruki sighed exhausted - You're lying to yourself! It was him! – he pointed a finger at Reiji, who frowned – He started the fire!

Shuu and Yuuma turned to look at the young man who, with a stiff and slow gesture, fixed his glasses on his nose, again.

- Reiji, you...?

- It was you, four eyes?

Silence followed and the room temperature seemed to decrease dramatically.

- That's enough - the woman's voice broke that silence – You'll be able to carry on this issue at a more opportune and reserved time and, I'd recommend you to sort it out without resorting to violence – she narrowed her eyes at Yuuma who looked away.

- It was a pleasure to see you again and I think it won't be long before we meet again – she smiled enigmatically, and then turned to the triplets - before dismissing everyone, I'd like to have a little chat with you. Follow me, please.

The woman stood up and walked to a secluded corner of the room, where she settled into a chair and the three vampires took a seat on the sofa in front of her, a little under pressure.

In the meanwhile, Subaru, Kou and Azusa looked at them curiously, while Ruki made sure not to have a triple homicide occurring among Yuuma, Shuu and Reiji: the three of them were exchanging glares, the blond then bowed his head and ignored everything, even the strong pain he was feeling in his chest.


Sorry for the late update, I had been busy with University, again, and family matters.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, thanks for reading! ^^