Chapter 25
Only three compartments had been reserved for them on the train; they were twelve people, so they had to split into groups of four: but who would have been with whom? After various discussions that had almost led them to lose the train, the bizarre combinations had been chosen: Ruki, Yuuma, Shuu and Mary; Subaru, Kou, Azusa and Reiji; Laito, Kanato, Ayato and Yui.
It is superfluous to add that the albino had been the most unhappy because of the it (excluding Ruki who would have endured a certain blond comfortably sleeping on the lap of his unrequited love), although it could have been worse: had he been with one of the triplets instead of the other brother, probably the train would have been destroyed.
The journey would have lasted several hours and only two had passed since the departure; and some were already about to jump out of the window...
Ruki had tried to read, but, as Yuuma had pointed out to him, he had remained still on the first page of the chosen book since he had opened it; perhaps his eyes had even glued to the first words, without going on.
He hadn't looked at them from the start, however, the vampire had perceived their movements, their voices, their scents: he knew that Shuu had laid down on Mary, not very happy because it hindered a little her movements; he was blissfully snoring and would sometimes wake up to exchange some not very intimate effusion (otherwise the girl would have kept him suspended in the air against the ceiling), grumbling about the presence of the two Mukami, Yuuma in particular who had answered with sharp snipes.
Had they started to kiss, it would have been enough...!
- Sh-Shuu! Stop it! - the protested girl, jolting out of embarrassment, as the blond kissed her neck after taking away the phone where she was playing some puzzles; he had wrapped his arms around her waist and rubbed his forehead against her face, tickling her skin with his golden curls.
Ruki snapped the book shut, placed it on the seat, got up stiffly and exited the compartment with firm steps; his brother didn't notice anything, because he had fallen asleep and was snoring like a log.
Mary wrinkled her lips and glared at the vampire, who shrugged and, while grinning, he kissed her lips after caressing them with his index finger, eating them eagerly and enjoying the vexed moans of the young woman who soon gave way...
Laito grunted noisily, his face supported by both hands and his elbows resting on his thighs, his back bent; bored, his green eyes glanced at Kanato, next to him, clutching his Teddy in his arms with whom he exchanged occasional words, for example, asking him whether in the city of the half witch they sold sweets and what kinds, or complaining about how irritating Yui and Ayato were.
The older brother turned his gaze on the couple, agreeing that their presence wasn't so funny: it seemed that Ayato had excluded them from his mind, imagining that he was alone with his girlfriend, with whom he was chatting about anything, holding her hand or surrounding her shoulders with one arm, and occasionally looking away while blushing, caught by surprise by some sincere and positive comments of her about him.
After about ten minutes of staring at them, he decided it was time to get out and take a breath of fresh air, away from that couple and that ungrateful little brother who had no longer looked at him since the departure (maybe even before).
Laito put his hat on his head, straightening it up, and without saying anything, got up and left the compartment, walking along the hallway of the wagon and thinking if there were any nice girls to hit on aboard.
Subaru was feeling oppressed.
Oppressed by the limited space of the compartment where he was and by the three vampires with whom he was sharing it.
Oppressed by Kou, too lively and talkative, who didn't stop from talking to him and harassing him with questions and protests that urged him to be more cheerful.
Oppressed by Azusa who was grabbing and shaking his hand in his, begging him to beat him up, wither to vent his anger on him or just for training.
Oppressed by a Reiji who was keeping an eye on him, worse than a sniper, ready to knock him out in case the anger caused by the unpleasant situation would break out.
He was suffocating, he felt hassled, he wanted to escape, a scream begged him to open his mouth; he clenched his fists very hard, his nails now stuck in his skin, veins throbbing in every possible place.
Then he saw Laito passing by through the window of the sliding door, whistling, one arm around the neck of a slightly embarrassed young girl.
- Reiji, if you let me out I swear I won't break anything. Otherwise... - he stated, clenching his fists; Kou turned away from him, paling and feigning (or not) to shrink in the corner, and Azusa, his eyes shining impatiently, turned to Reiji to urge him not to let the albino out.
The vampire adjusted his glasses, making two quick calculations in his mind.
If Subaru had gone out, perhaps he would have calmed down; but at least Kou would have been silent (he had threatened him at the time that would have made him ingest some poison if he had disturbed him) and Azusa would have devoted himself to self-injury (not a great result, but better than anything else; at least he knew nothing about his whip...).
- You're dismissed.
Subaru came out immediately, feeling as light as ever, as he heard Kou complaining about being bored without him, while Azusa curled his lips, sulking.
Ruki had never lived such a boring experience on the train: he had left the book in the compartment and didn't want to return and take it back; he had turned back and forth from one wagon to another, exploring almost all of them and without getting anything satisfactory (not even having eavesdropped the pervert triplidiot behind some door, busy with some stranger); finally, he had just stop to stand still in front of a window, observing the landscape and the cities getting farther and farther, disinterested.
Anyway: how come trains with compartments still exist...?
His casual thoughts stopped as his nose smelled another vampire approaching, which he recognized to be Subaru.
- Oh. The youngest Sakamaki, eh - Ruki grinned, observing the albino, who halted in front of the adjacent window with a puff of impatience.
- Tch – he just answered, keeping his gaze fixed on the external environment; the eldest of the Mukami brothers snorted and turned away.
Both of them were silent for a couple of minutes; the first to break the ice was Subaru, who cleared his throat and clicked his tongue, irritated, making the other vampire to frown and ask the question he had already formulated before, after carefully observing the Sakamaki brothers.
- You and your brothers don't really get along, do you?
- I don't even consider them my brothers - the albino muttered contemptuously, clenching his fists, and went on before the other could ask more – I see you do get along, on the contrary, even though you're not related by blood.
Ruki stared at him, focusing on the vermilion eye that was looking down.
- I envy you a little... - Subaru murmured in a feeble voice, turning to the other side.
The dark-haired vampire narrowed his eyes and returned to the landscape, thoughtful and slightly embarrassed by the situation; the reason couldn't be explained, but after a few minutes he said:
- I noticed that you put up a little more with the firstborn...
Subaru groaned, huffing.
- With good manners maniac that looks like a menstrual woman, a hysterical brat walking around a stuffed animal, an idiot who believes to be the king, a pervert who do it with a wardrobe if there were no more women, Shuu is definitely the most tolerable! – he vented, rubbing his head with a frustrated gesture – I couldn't stand him for a while, though, because he was with the ugly witch...
- "Ugly witch", heh... - Ruki repeated, amused, and then got serious and reflected on the last words – Don't tell me that you too have a crush on her...? - he whispered more to himself, almost unconsciously.
Subaru blinked and looked at him strangely.
- "You too"?
The young Mukami managed not to blush visibly, realizing his mistake, and shrugged his shoulders, grinding his teeth and warning him to ignore what had escaped his mouth; the other said nothing more after whispering that he no longer felt anything for her.
Silence fell again, even more awkward, soon interrupted by the voices of some girls and that of a certain acquaintance of theirs who was having fun with them; they exchanged an annoyed look and walked away, conversing on how much they both agreed that some individuals were really unbearable.
- Changing the topic - Ruki sighed after a while, returning to the compartments - I guess Kou kept on harassing you.
- Agh, don't talk about it... don't you have a free seat? – the albino muttered, twisting his nose at the thought of sitting next to that idol again.
- I had gone out because your brother was courting the "ugly witch", to put it mildly - the vampire ruffled his hair with an annoyed gesture, sighing again.
- But there's the other with them, right...? – Subaru asked, a little bothered by the news.
Ruki stared at him silently before answering.
- He was sleeping…
Both widened their eyes open and rushed into said compartment, opening the door abruptly and stiffening: Yuuma was snoring, Mary was sleeping on top of him with crumpled clothes (which had presumably been fixed as best as possible) and on her face there was still some redness caused by the intense attentions received by Shuu, who was lying down unconscious on the other side, with a showy bump on his forehead.
The two vampires huffed out of relief, thanking the giant's readiness.
Reiji had risked another nervous failure, after retrieving the mannerless brother who didn't want to separate from the girls with whom he had spent the time during the trip; Mary's glare had sufficed to make Laito cease his behaviour and at last all of them had left the train with their luggage, tired and stunned as never before.
Kou was keeping an eye on Azusa, fearing he could have even thrown himself on the rails in order to get hurt; Ayato glared at the young passers-by who dared to comment on his girlfriend, who was pressed against his chest, a considerable redness on her cheeks and on the tips of her ears. Laito whistled, looking around and winking at the girls, without being noticed by his older brother who had taken off his glasses to rub his eyes.
Ruki and Subaru glared at Shuu, who had bent his head to Mary to let her examine the bump Yuuma had caused him, the giant explaining and justifying his action; the girl was clutching her lips to hold back from laughing, occasionally glancing at them, and stood on tiptoe to kiss the handsome vampire's forehead, as the giant snorted, bored, hiding a sneer at the blond's red cheeks.
Reiji, having calmed down a little and making sure that all the brothers, Mukami and Yui were present, had looked around, observing the few people who crowded the station, and turned to Mary:
- It's strange that there are so few people. Where do we have to go now, exactly?
- Usually this is one of those times when a small number of people travels... Now we have to reach that elevator and get off at the last underground floor; then we will head for a secret exit and walk for a while, all the way to a protected bay.
Shuu grunted, already exhausted at the thought of all that movement; Kanato asked if there wasn't a simpler way, but the young woman shook her head.
- It's the safest way to get to the island where my city is. Are you covered enough? Even if you're vampires, you have to keep in mind that it's much colder here and that we'll have to be outdoors for a while... - her gaze focused in particular on Yuuma, worried by the only scarf he was wearing over his huge black cardigan.
- Nah, chill out, chubby - he chuckled ruffling her hair.
Ayato took off his jacket and put it over Yui's shoulders, mumbling that he thought she wasn't covered enough; the girl blinked at first, surprised, then blushed and smiled happily at the boy's attitude towards her.
As soon as they arrived at the bay, the vampires (some of them rather chilly as Mary had predicted) were astonished: not out of amazement, but out of bewilderment at seeing nothing and nothing; just sea and sand in front of them, after the vast wooded area they had crossed.
Ruki cleared his throat and looked puzzled as Mary advanced on the beach, looking around and smiling as if addressing entities they couldn't see.
- Kachiku, are you sure that...?
- Aaah, wait a minute! - she retorted, lowering herself on the ground, and seemed to communicate with something or someone, observed by the confused eyes of Subaru, Yuuma, Laito, Kou and Ayato.
Kanato began to show signs of a hysterical breakdown, Reiji quickly stepping in to try and suppress his tantrums before they turned into capricious and irritating shrieks; in the meanwhile Mary had stood up and told them to move toward the sea.
- Even if you think you'll be putting your feet into water, do it. Then you will understand, I can't explain it to you...
The vampires exchanged unconvinced glances, Yui puzzled and thoughtful; only Azusa and Shuu proceeded and, as soon as they reached the line where the water was foaming on the shore, they disappeared, leaving the others open-mouthed out of surprise.
- What, what happened?! – Kou yelped, confused, widening his eyes even more as his little brother reappeared.
- Come on... trust me... it's magic...
Reiji and Ruki, curious to understand what it was, imitated them and soon all of the others followed them.
As soon as they set foot in the water, sinking instead into other sand, they found themselves in a further extension of the beach and marvelled as they stared at the island that suddenly appeared in the mid of the sea before them, reachable through by a low bridge. Mary smiled, pleased with their expressions, and explained that it was thanks to some sprites' who hid the island and that part of the beach from the sight of prying eyes.
- And if someone accidentally comes here and discovers it while he simply wanted to swim in the sea? - Kou asked, as Subaru muttered why he was the only one questioning and disturbing the others with his voice.
- There are wizards at the edge of this wood to keep an eye on the area – the girl replied, turning back to nod at the group of trees that functioned as a natural barrier.
- AH?! – Ayato shouted, jerking, pointing with a finger at a row of strange black little beings behind them - What are these things?!
- They're sprites - Mary smiled, greeting them.
The tiny creatures resembled a cluster of five black pebbles, with the size of an orange, the upper one resembling a head, deducing it from the circles that could be seen as eyes and the line as a mouth; they moved their heads in a movement similar to that of many little bells and the noise produced reminded them of the rustling of the leaves.
Mary stared at the island in silence, as the vampires approached the sprites, curious and amazed.
She recognized the cliff where was located the school she had attended.
From a distance she recognized the shape of its ruins: a sort of crescent, as if a spherical explosion had destroyed and taken away a large part of the building.
And she had been the cause.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
