Chapter 30
Morten breathed a sigh of relief once they were all seated at the table, waiting for the ordered meals to arrive (and wasn't afraid of delay and related complaints, knowing Miko's employees' punctuality): the vampires, divided into small groups, had been immediately distracted by the four witches who had joined them as soon as possible; Reiji and some of them were also curious to meet those two vampires they had heard so much about and who were supposed to arrive soon with Theo.
Yuuma, Kou and Ruki had jumped at noticing Mark at their table, popped from nowhere, while Azusa had greeted him with a smile, interrupting for a second his slow and quiet conversation with Finn, who was holding his hand in her own ones as usual.
Reiji, Kanato and Morten had sat at a table with three seats available for Theo and the vampire sisters; promptly, the blond wizard had asked a waiter to give the purple-eyed vampire a plate of pastries, already aware of its hysterical personality and that sweets could have kept him calm.
Ayato, Yui, Subaru, Isa, Claire and Laito had sat at another table, all of them at ease, except for the albino who would have had to bear with the jealous and possessive attitude of said first vampire and the sickly effusions between the other one and the half-demon; however, Isa, perceiving his discomfort (which wasn't so invisible because of the nerve pulsing on his forehead), had proceeded to entertain him by talking, trying to focus on topics that could have interested him a little (for example, about Finn's superhuman strength despite her small physical constitution).
Anna had taken a seat at another table, alone, and when Yuuma had asked Mark why she was being a loner, he had explained she was waiting for her four sisters to join her for lunch (they were used to dine there all together, and their wallets didn't suffer as much because the restaurant owner was a relative of theirs); the witch, eavesdropping the giant's question, had shouted at him that she wasn't a loner, and thus they had begun to quarrel, until a sword's hilt fell on the girl's head.
- ARGH! Ellen! - the girl cried, rubbing her sore neck and glaring at the young woman who had hit her, staring at her sternly, as the vampires watched them.
- For you it's "Onee-sama", or rather "Onee-san", since "Onee-sama" is for the eldest - she replied, sitting next to her; a little further back, three other female figures were approaching and the vampires, focusing on their appearance, could see how much they had in common with Anna: blond hair and stone-like gray eyes, slender physiques and elegant and proud bearing; they all had very long and smooth hair, except for one that had very curly and fairly short hair.
The sister named Ellen greeted the vampires with a polite smile, and then gave a very sweet smile at Mark who intensely blushed at feeling it, and the Mukami brothers grinned at his reaction; her hair was tied in a ponytail, without any locks falling on her face, marked on the cheek by a large scar; she was wearing the blue-banded uniform.
In the meantime, the other three sisters had reached them: the first, presumably the eldest since the other two were much shorter and with childlike visages, had blond braided hair tied up high on her head, and had sat down after he greeting the vampires with a little polite bow; the youngest, with hair tied in a low tail, introduced herself as Michaela, adding to be twelve years old (later Claire would have specified that Angela was twenty-five, Ellen twenty-one and the fourth-born fifteen), with a more sincerely kind and warm approach; the last one, Lucy, shyly sat down whispering a greeting, then widened her eyes and suddenly turned her head towards Kou.
- Ah! – she exclaimed, shocked - Mukami Kou-sama...! – she whispered with a choked voice, as her eyes sparkled with several little hearts.
Anna glared at her little sister, remembering that she had a soft spot for the idol, her absolute favourite singer, and also glared at the very vampire as she heard him giggle and greet her cheerfully.
Before she could verbally fight him (it wasn't a surprise that Anna was known as "Wrath" among her sisters), Claire had jumped up, beating her hands once in a gesture of pleasant surprise.
- Look at who's here~ Hehehe, what do my eyes see on that finger~!?
All of them turned to who the half-demon was gazing at: Mary and Shuu were approaching them, him with an arm on her shoulders and her with her face shyly bowed, the fingers of their right hands intertwined with each other; the ring-shaped mark on his ring finger was evident as soon as they were close enough and Isa and Anna's younger sisters jumped excitedly, as the older ones smiled and Finn's eyes gleamed on her impassive face, deducing that there was the same mark on the half-witch's right ring finger, covered by the glove.
Anna was staring at them and then she turned away, with an indecipherable expression; Claire, giggling at the vampires' confused expressions (they didn't know what the ring-shaped mark meant; they had understood the situation from the perceived scent coming from the couple, though) and exchanging a glance with Mary who had blushed violently, she explained:
- They're officially husband and wife, according to a ritual of ours, hehehe~.
Silence fell to be interrupted by their exclamations of surprise or of a little disappointed joy, and there were those who were simply upset by the news and those who were at first shocked and then happy; and then there were those who, unnoticed and taciturn, had got up from the table and had left, using the usual excuse to use the toilet...
... and only Azusa, who was smiling happily at his Izanami, overwhelmed by her friends who were enthusiastic about the news, only him had noticed and thoughtfully watched Ruki leave.
- Where's Theo-kun? - Laito asked, considering that said wizard and the vampire sisters were still missing; at the same time, a shout made the restaurant shake and some waiters were quick to keep the crockery still, sighing in annoyance.
- GUYS, SORRY FOR BEING LATE~! - Theo emerged from the front door, alternating his steps with a few hops, followed by two young women who were more or less as tall as Kanato; both had ruby-coloured eyes (which Reiji found particularly familiar) and dark-green hair, cut into a different hairstyle, and the indistinguishable pure vampire's scent reached the vampires' nostrils. They had freckles scattered all over their pretty faces.
The one with shorter and thicker hair, with a very short fringe framing her forehead, waved her hand and introduced herself with a cheerful tone:
- Nice to meet you~ I'm Martha. It's an honor to meet the sons of Karlheinz-sama! – she smiled, then turned to Mary and shook her hand - And I'm glad to finally meet you, Mary-chan! Theo-kun has always told me so much about his childhood friends.
The girl returned the smile, carefully observing the gleam in her eyes and the bizarre and unusual freckles: despite being the first time meeting her, the vampire female had made a good impression on her, mentally "approving" her as her best friend's girlfriend.
The other sister, who had her hair tied up on her head with a wooden clasp with bronze engravings, made a respectful bow to the Sakamaki brothers, then fixed the crescent-shaped glasses that had slid down her nose because of that gesture, and nodded to greet the Mukamis.
- I'm Lily; you can contact me or my sister if you were to need blood supplies; you can find us at the hospital or on the east bank of the island - she added, serious and precise, and then approached Mary to make her acquaintance.
The Sakamaki brothers, on the other hand, were looking at them suspiciously: their hair and especially their eyes had begun to look very familiar, and even their smell was reminding them of someone they knew; Reiji was the only one, along with Shuu who wasn't paying much attention to it, that had mentally realized who they could be , but decided to postpone confirmation questions out of politeness.
Lunch drew the attention of some curious and not bystanders, especially since Morten and Yuuma had started to bicker with each other, the first offended by the vampire's comments about his height, after bumping into his head with his elbow while he was wriggling out of Kou's pleading grip (to whom the portion of breaded and fried chicken nuggets hadn't been enough).
Thus Mark had got up and had joined them in an attempt to calm them down, a little timidly (and perhaps also to attract the gaze of one of Anna's sisters in particular...), sparing Ruki's task as he was concentrated, with sore ears, on his mushrooms soup, sporadically glancing at Azusa who had been staring at him from time to time since his return, alternating a mouthful of food with some exchange of words with Finn, suddenly more talkative than usual (some teachers had even thought she was mute...).
Kanato, fortunately, didn't look too annoyed by the racket, thanks to the tray of pastries and cupcakes he had ordered; on the contrary, Reiji was looking gloomily at the two disputants and, after hearing Lily sigh and whisper that it wasn't polite to behave in that way while dining, he began a pleasant conversation about etiquette with her, and then lingered on other topics, including disapproving comments about Theo and Martha who were chatting and moving the food in their plates with the cutlery.
Isa had miraculously managed to make Subaru listen to her, despite him pretending disinterests in her various stories about her friends, although he had risked several times to burst out laughing or to take on a shocked expression; Ayato and Yui were eating, him commenting that that takoyaki was the most delicious he had ever eaten and recommending she should have learnt from the cook, so that she would have made them for him again, and her nodding with an amused smile; Laito and Claire had placated their mutual needs for each other to discuss something unusually serious for them.
Anna's sisters' table was the most silent: every now and then Ellen and Angela were exchanging information and news about their work (for example, sightings or anomalies on the island), Michaela was sending messages on her mobile without getting caught by the eldest, Lucy was glancing full of admiration and emotions at Kou, who made her blush with a smirk whenever he noticed her; Anna was silent, glaring at Lucy and the idol, as well as observing her senpai who was sitting alone with the first-born of the Sakamaki family, at one of the tables close the walls.
In the meanwhile, Mary was struggling at preventing Shuu's panic attack: unfortunately, the blond had casually raised his eyes upwards and, as soon as he saw the large chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, with real lit candles, he had paled considerably, stiffening and widening his eyes; the half-witch had taken his face in her hands, turning it to her, and began to whisper sweet words to calm him down, stroking his cheeks and hair, shaking his hands and urging him to focus on the tasty steak in his plate.
Towards the end of the eventful, yet pleasant, meal, as they were finishing their own desserts, Anna's older sisters were the first to leave because of their jobs; after them, even Morten, Theo and Mary (much to Shuu's displeasure, who clung to her shirt) stood up and exchanged a knowing look.
- I thought it'd be better to let you choose what to do this afternoon, and the girls will guide you - the blond wizard said, wearing his leather jacket which had rested on the back of his chair during lunch - I have work to do at home, Theo has to fix something at the hospital and Mary...
She sighed, after succeeding at shaking off the blond, who pouted.
- They have already loaded my bag with letters and packages to deliver... by six o'clock – she gritted her teeth, rubbing her bridge nose exasperated (and Kou was staring at her thoughtfully, his right eye red), and then smile to those present - I'll see you at dinner tonight, guys.
He patted Shuu before turning, and with the two wizards she headed towards the exit, obviously not before paying the bill for everyone (somehow they had managed to get pile up enough money together).
- Momo-kun, don't you have anything to do? - Yuuma muttered, as he crunched the last of the twenty sugar cubes he had ordered; Mark murmured curling his lips not to call him that way and replied that he had a music lesson, and Kou exclaimed he wanted to go with him to see how it was.
- Okay – Mary's twin cracked a smile and then called his brother-in-law (it sounded so strange...!) - Shuu-kun, I think you wouldn't mind joining us...
The blond looked hesitant for a moment, pausing to look at Kou, who was staring at him with a smile that wasn't recommendable at all; at last he sighed and accepted: after all it was the best solution, otherwise he would have had to bear with all the others regardless of what they were going to do.
One of Anna's younger sisters, Lucy, stood up shyly.
- E-Er... may I join, too...? – she stuttered, her face red and her eyes focused on Kou as if the permission depended only on him; the vampire blinked a little surprised and, before the witch with the long blond braid could reproach her little sister, he nodded.
- Of course~ The more, the merrier! Right, Usagi-chan~? - he exclaimed in a playful tone, as Anna stood up to grab Lucy, fainted from that blinding vision, too intense to sustain.
- DON'T GIVE THESE DISGUSTING NICKNAMES TO LUCY, YOU PARASITE!
- Eeeeh, but only Subaru-kun can call me that way... - Kou muttered, crossing his arms behind his head.
- Anytime - the albino growled with a throbbing vein on his forehead and cracking his fingers, then felt them being squeezed by Isa's hands who begged him to stay calm, looking at him with puppy eyes and making him blush a lot.
- Onee-chan~, I'll go home, I have to study for a history test! - Michaela, the youngest, said while standing up and nodding her head to say hello, then left.
In the meanwhile, Lily and Reiji had agreed to go to the hospital with Martha, since the male was looking for answers to his premonition about them; Ruki also joined in, curious to know how it was possible that there were stocks of blood exclusively for them, but especially because he knew he wouldn't have tolerated the others, likely to be very noisy.
Anna, having succeeded in reviving her little sister, had got up and had gestured at Finn that it was time to go to the training camp, impatient to practice with Mr Flyer; yet the tiny witch kept on staring at her impassively, clutching Azusa's arm, who smiled shyly and enjoyed that crushing grasp.
- Seriously, Finn. Let's go - her friend called her back, irritated; however, the other seemed only to lean more on the lavender-eyed vampire who, wisely, proposed:
- I'll come... with you... okay ...?
Finn had got up and dragged the vampire with her, passing Anna; the latter gasped in disbelief, and then facepalmed, grunting something rude and growling at seeing Yuuma, Subaru and Isa follow the couple.
- Do I have to babysit all of you?! - she shouted, leaving away.
- Heee, Anna always complains so much... but in the end she takes care of everyone~ - Claire said with her face in her hands; Laito lowered one to lick some cream off her cheek, making her giggle.
- Nfu~ She reminds me of someone I know - the vampire teased, glancing at Reiji who raised an eyebrow, then sighed and asked what they were going to do in the afternoon.
- I think I'll take Laito-kun, Ayato-kun, Kanato-kun and Yui-chi for a tour in the city~ There are several interesting places and I'm sure they'll appreciate them, hehehe~ - the half demon smiled, assuring the Sakamaki second-born that she would have taken care of them in the best way.
Reiji wasn't very convinced, but nodded and took his leave with the vampire sisters and Ruki; in the meanwhile, even Mark's small group had already headed towards school.
- Good, good~ Let's go? - Claire stood up, curling her hair with a rather flirtatious gesture (some guys who were still having lunch whistled at her, earning an unexpected cold look from Laito), and took arm in arm Yui, ignoring Ayato's protests, and invited the triplets to follow her to their long adventure among the city several shops.
And maybe she would have dropped them somewhere, leaving them to suddenly make do, so that she could improvise a private date with Laito, just the two of them alone...
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