Chapter ∞
Ryan was carefully gazing at Hope, busy with cleaning the white violin as she would do every afternoon at five o'clock, when her father was still dozing comfortably laid on the sofa in the living room and the twin was probably taking a nap somewhere (actually, she was also feeling like laying down to sleep...), while her mother was still at work and her two younger siblings were spending one last hour at the library before coming back home.
Turning around in his hands some candies he would often carry with him, the demon smiled at seeing her open her mouth in a grimace, as she let out a rude cuss at noticing more dirt than expected on the surface of her beloved instrument; probably, one of the younger twins had done something, albeit involuntarily: not rarely her little sister Faith would trip over her feet, dropping carrot juice or chocolate cake.
At last the vampire moved her blue eyes on the young man facing the window and puffed her cheeks out at his amused expression; she had sensed, or rather heard, his arrival a few meters before reaching her house, and she was used to this: also at five o'clock Ryan would finish his afternoon tours of deliveries and, coincidentally, Hope's house was always the last one.
She motioned for him to enter through the window, which she had grown accustomed to leaving open just to allow him in, although she always seemed so annoyed by him; the demon nodded his head and opened it, climbing over the wall, and closed it, without ever taking his gaze from her whom he delivered a couple of his candies as soon as he sat at the table one of the free chairs, in front of her.
- Good evening, Hop-chan, mhh~!
She snorted, letting out a light grunt, after examining the candies with a happy glint in her eyes and having unwrapped one to taste it.
- Hope, Ryan, HOPE. What are the news today? Provided that they're interesting and not the usual gossip – she grumbled, returning to carefully clean her violin.
- Mhh~ - he chuckled, leaning his elbows on the table and his chin on his intertwined fingers, cracking a mischievous grin which everyone in the city knew and many feared (though no more than his sister Nanami's one, huger disseminator of information) - Last night, while I was going home, I saw my sister on the doorstep... and guess who she was talking to~? I'll give you a clue: we don't really like each other, no, we don't at all.
- Kaoru-kun? - Hope made a bizarre movement of the head and brushed back her not too short dark blond hair, puzzled - But haven't they gone back to the castle yesterday?
- Apparently Uncle Reiji told them to stay a few more days with Martha-san and Theo-san, because of some unexpected event, if I understood correctly, mhh~ - Ryan explained, twisting a lock of his brown-reddish hair around his forefinger, and gazed at her with his amused purple eyes - But this isn't the most intriguing detail!
The vampire snorted, shaking her head, and grumbled that Nanami and Kaoru's relationship wasn't little known, as she placed the violin in its case with extreme delicacy.
- Hop-chan, you didn't what I saw! They were kissing~, mhh~ - the young man chuckled, his cheeks slightly red - Or rather, my dear little sister kissed him and he remained motionless, also mumbled something, but you should have seen how red he had become! - his talking's speed increased, as if someone had set it to the maximum – It'd be really great to see Uncle Reiji's face at knowing that his son is interested in the daughter of one of his "least loved" brothers... wait, Hope?!
- Huh?! - the girl opened her eyes suddenly and raised her head abruptly, letting out a painful moan at her neck's abrupt movement and sadly thinking that she had swallowed the candy.
Ryan puffed his cheeks out and pouted, grumbling that she had fallen asleep at the most exciting part of his story and she shrugged in response, repeating that she wasn't that interested and considering that she needed to get a little sleep on the couch behind her, placed there for possible drowsiness.
- Am I allowed to join your nap? - the demon spread his lips in a wide grin, resting his hands on his cheeks and staring at her intensely, tranquil, as if not concealing a shred of malice behind his words.
Hope gave him an annoyed look.
- Seriously?
But her rosy cheeks betrayed her.
- Hikari! Have you seen my spare glasses?
The vampire was comfortably and at the same time elegantly seating in an armchair, absorbed in reading the third voluminous book of the day; without looking up from the page, she murmured a "on the bookshelf" with a dull voice.
Kaoru sighed and approached the said furniture, finding his glasses' case on the middle shelf and asking his younger sister why it was there: while grabbing it in his hands, he immediately noticed it was empty and his freckled face frowned even more confused and irritated, putting his hands in his dark hair in an instinctive angry gesture.
- Hikari?!
- Ah, forgive me, Onii-sama: I'm wearing them myself...! I had almost forgotten it; you know, we have the same model of glasses and the same myopia - the girl cracked an evil smile, turning her red eyes towards his brother, who was breathing deeply to keep calm.
After all, the Vampire King's son couldn't afford such behaviour! A prince must be patient, calm, polite, meditative and...
- Onii-sama, would you buy me some tea packs?
…generous?!
- Why should I, with all the errands I have...!
- Because otherwise Otou-sama will know about your relationship with our cousin Nanami.
Kaoru did know about his sister's schemer and evil side; but he widened his eyes at finding out she knew about that and stuttered, out of embarrassment, resentment and indecision for that tragic situation.
Their father had been clear: there were no problems in getting along with the children of his brothers and the Mukamis'... but romantic relationships were forbidden!
The vampire rubbed his nose bridge, taking off his cracked glasses, probably another of his sister's evil plans - perhaps to make him pay the wrong of a few days before, when he had mistakenly kicked her foot and soiled her white boots? He had often wondered whom she had taken after her ruthless and manipulative personality, one of the few different traits between them, similar especially physically, despite the two years age gap.
Sighing exasperated, he took his wallet and left, ignoring his sister's smirk and regretting the chemistry books he had wanted to consult for a couple of his experiments with his father, once he had returned to the castle.
Had he known that his sister was getting along very well with someone...!
Morten hadn't given up covering his short blond hair with his dark green beret, a gift from his father, even at the first days of September; he quickly tapped his fingers on the keyboard, fixing the damage that the Mukami twins had caused to all the computers in the high school's computer room, a "welcome back to school" which he had been involved in precisely to prevent such outcomes: instead, Edward hadn't performed correctly his instructions and had crashed the computers. He and his brother Lucks had been punished with the entire school building's general cleaning during the afternoon, already accessible for afternoon club activities and laboratories, while Morten had been only tasked with fixing the problem they had caused; the teachers knew this trio very well and that the twins would almost always drag him against his will in their pranks.
- Pssst - the wizard suddenly heard, as he restarted the twentieth computer repaired after re-installing the basic software, and jumped on the chair, banging his knees against the desk and stifling a moan of pain.
The following laughter made him stiffen and roll his eyes, exasperated: it was Edward, and his grey eyes shining as if to say "I have a new plan" didn't imply anything good.
- Morty~ Guess what I have in mind~! – the young man with short brownish-blond hair tied in ponytail laughed, his canine a little more obvious than the other, pressed against the lower lip.
- G-Goodness... E-Eddy... Y-You're already c-cleaning the whole s-school, do you want t-to take care of n-nursery, too...? – his friend, classmate and maternal cousin stammered, as always, rubbing his knuckles in a nervous gesture.
Edward snorted disgustedly.
- Nah, Lucks is already takin' care of it, with his soft spot for the little brats... and I don't wanna ever change diapers, bathrooms are already crap... – he complained, sniffing his clothes already impregnated with the stench of the male toilets; he wondered if Lucks had even seen the apocalypse in the female ones, but he shook his thought away to bring his attention back to the Morten's brown eyes with green spots, worried and already anxious about the possible consequences of his new plan.
- Come on, my friend, don't make that face! It's a very trivial and innocent thing!
- Y-Yes... I-Innocent like th-that time when you ha-had put needles in K-Kaoru-san's s-shoes... - the wizard commented taking off his glasses and cleaning the lenses with his sweatshirt's edge.
- Aaaah, do you remember that?! Ahaha, what a wonderful experience! His face…! Moreover in front of Ryan's sister... Anyway, I just wanna mess up the library! Like moving some books in the wrong section, or changing the order... stuff like that!
Morten stared at him gravely and not at all convinced, thus Edward pouted and asked what the problem was: it didn't look such an evil and dangerous action!
- E-Eddy... Hi-Hikari-chan... you will be ve-very angry...
The other bent an eyebrow and took a few seconds to reflect on what he had told him: why would that four eyes have been pissed off? Oh, right, that four-eyed mad scientist's sister of loved to read, she loved the whole island's libraries and in the same way she nourished this affection towards the school one; nevertheless it shouldn't have been a problem: the two-eyed siblings rarely attended their same school, just when coming to the island to visit Aunt Martha and her cousins, as they lived at their father's castle.
- Who cares! – he snapped, grabbing him by the shoulders and dragging him on his shoulder, laughing and ignoring the protests stammered by the poor cousin.
Meanwhile, downstairs where the school library was located and which they were heading to, the aforementioned vampire had heard their voices; she put the book back in its place on the shelf of Physics, frowning in annoyance, and walked to the door, stopping in front of it with arms crossed, legs tight and head up, severe and intimidating.
Or at least she intended to appear so at the sight of the other vampire who opened the door, cheerful and then rolling his eyes at the sight of Hikari.
Morten raised his face a little, noticing her presence.
- H-Hello Hikari-ch-chan... - he greeted her, shaking his hand in a bad way, no longer feeling the blood flowing in his veins as he was clinging to his friend's collar for dear life.
- Mukami Edward! You better free Flyer Morten, first, and then return to your cleaning jobs, if you don't want to incur worse consequences! - the girl declared with firm tone.
The young man blinked a bit taken aback, then burst out laughing and smirking.
- Well, little bookworm: what would these worst consequences be? I'm not doing anything wrong, by the way! - he retorted, putting down poor Morten who staggered into the room, looking for a chair to sit down and appease the slight dizziness that had come to him.
Hikari blushed with irritation, also embarrassed at that nickname which only Edward would use for her.
- Not yet, to be precise! Would you really like to cause some trouble?! With your mother knowing about it?!
Bingo! Edward, at his mother being mentioned, paled slightly, imagining her with her stone look glowing like divine wrath: he had actually suffered the same vision and the related lecture when they had tilted the school computers (let's not talk about when she had almost hit them for putting needles - the second time he had used them to "experiment" - on the chair of thir old math teacher... ouch!); perhaps it wouldn't have been the case to see her again in that state, if not even worse...
... but if he had given up it would have been like letting that little bookworm win!
- Blah blah blah! - He stuck his tongue out, pinching her nose and entering the library to get close to any shelf and start his diabolical plan.
The female vampire felt a nerve throbbing painfully on the forehead and turned around, grabbing his arm between hers and holding him, while scolding him; yet his strength was greater than hers, so that rather than block him she felt herself being dragged along with him, as he chuckled at seeing her become red with the effort: she was cute.
- What's happening here, goodness!
Kaoru's voice caught them by surprise, making them jump (Morten nearly fell off the chair); Hikari was about to give a look of help to his brother, ready to tell him everything, but the sight of Nanami Sakamaki behind him, and especially after linking the red of her lipstick to the red glimpsed on the base of his neck, not well covered by the collar of the shirt unusually unbuttoned, was the coup de grace.
- You...! You were...! - the girl had reached the peak of redness on her face and suddenly fell silent, formulating evil plans of revenge against both her brother and his girlfriend.
Wait for our father to find out about it, Onii-sama ...!, she thought, before realizing that Edward had wrapped an arm around her shoulders and approached his face to her ear to whisper, grinning mischievously.
- Come on, don't do this: I know we're gonna do the same, in a few years, under the stairs nearby... - he said, ending the sentence with a kiss on her cheek, then wisely disappeared, avoiding Kaoru's fury who had reached his little sister to wipe her face, "disinfecting" her.
Nanami shook her head and rolled her eyes, looking amused at the two cousins who were bickering and Morten staring at them bored, holding his head in his hands and his elbows resting on his legs; Hikari hurried out of the library to find that rude vampire who would have paid for that rude gesture: Nanami mocked her a little, stifling laughter at hearing her angry and indignant replies, and watched her walk away along the hallway .
- Was it really necessary to bother her, Nanami-san? - Kaoru sighed, approaching her.
The vampire smiled innocently and brushed her hair back, turning around.
- Ohoho~, come on, Kaoru-kun~ I just want to play it down, she's so touchy! – she chirped, wrapping her arms around his neck after raising herself on tiptoe.
- I-I think I'll g-go back u-upstairs... - Morten escaped from the room quickly, aware that that atmosphere was a clear invitation to leave them alone.
Kaoru closed her eyes and took a deep, patient breath.
- Nanami-san, I should go home. I promised to help my aunt in some matters.
The young woman tilted her head and wrinkled her lips, sulking, mumbling that it was still too early and that they had spent very little time together, adding the Latin phrase "nec sine te nec tecum vivere possum" to show off her only skill, besides her passion for history; the other vampire, putting a hand through his hair and rubbing his scalp, corrected that most of the two hours spent together had been used entirely to exchange overly passionate expressions of affection.
- Exaggerated~ Those were just pecks! - she complained jumpingon the spot, falsely capricious.
- In my dictionary those "pecks" do not correspond to a long session of French kisses or, as your brother says, to "make out".
The vampire puffed her cheeks out and stared at him insistently, tickling the back of his neck with long nails painted with green just like her eyes; at last he surrendered, but just to share a last kiss for the day: he could have done more in the next days, before returning to the castle.
Kaoru looked at her face for a few seconds, her close eyelids painted with a light red eyeshadow that recalled her hair, in which he put his fingers while bending down, approaching her lips with his and closing his eyes too.
Melissa jumped happily between the shelves of the supermarket, happy that Uncle Kou had accompanied her, taking advantage of his commitment to record a couple of his new CD's songs which would have been released soon.
Unaware of some elderly lady or young boy's glances at her, intrigued or disturbed by the scars on her face, the tiny witch bobbed her head to look at the goods on display, from books to fruit, from cereal packets (perhaps Justin's breakfast ones were nearly finished...?) to the beautiful set of kitchen knives... she could already feel their blade on her skin, cold and fine, and see the bright red blood dripping! Immersed in her fantasies, she straightened her ears at hearing familiar voices from the electronics department.
Quickly and equally silently she went to that area, fixing the wavy dark haired tied with a blue bow in a tail and making sure that the bangs were pretty (not "neat": she was fond of her dishevelled hair she had inherited from her father); from behind a shelf she peeked with her lavender eyes - also inherited from her father! She was so happy she looked so much like him – as they shone at the sight of that head covered with a dark green beret and the few locks of hair escaping it, rebellious.
- E-Ed, I think i-it's not the c-case to buy t-these earbuds... - she heard Morten's beautiful voice muttering to the other person, who was none other than his cousin Edgar, his eyes always bored and half-closed with drowsiness.
The latter ruffled his dark blond hair, annoyed, mumbling in a hoarse voice that they had been there for half an hour just for a pair of decent headphones or earbuds.
- Y-You keep on changing them e-every month...! And y-you always b-buy poor qu-quality ones... H-Here, these headphones sh-should be fine...! - Morten exclaimed, grabbing the package of a pair of the aforementioned, black with silver edges.
Edgar tilted his head, unconvinced.
- Won't they be too uncomfortable, Mort...? And it's not me the one breaking them, it's Ran's fault, he doesn't pay attention when I lend them to him! – he complained, turning in search of any comfortable place to take a nap; his blue eyes fell on the thin strands of hair protruding from behind a shelf, recognizing them instantly.
- Mort, your sweetheart is here - he mumbled, knowing that probably his date with sleep would have been postponed until later.
His cousin turned slowly with a twitching eye and he saw Melissa leap from her hiding spot and reach him trotting; the redness on his cheeks stood out even more in contrast with the green of the beret on his head.
- M-M-Me-Me-Melis-ssa...?! – he muttered, already hyperventilating.
- Morten-senpai...! - the witch spread her arms and closed them around the wizard, holding him affectionately and rubbing her head against his chest, pleased by that contact; the other vampire raised an eyebrow and rolled his eyes.
- Ok; I'll take these headphones... bye Mort, see you tomorrow! - he said, leaving him with the young girl as he headed to the cashier to proceed with the purchase.
The boy with glasses jumped on the spot and repeatedly moved his head from Melissa to Edgar, feeling betrayed by his paternal cousin: what if the girl had started asking him to try to cut her, who would have helped him get out of that situation?!
Maybe he'd better start caressing her head: yes, that was the best way to distract her from any thoughts... and her satisfied smile was adorable, thus Morten would have been pleased too.
Among the many things she hated, even more than those times when her father didn't have time for her because of his idol work, Hana hated playing games against her friend and classmate Christa: there had never been one time she had won against the albino, never. Also, there was Maria's constant chatter as background music, concerning as usual the soporific history lessons that would have caused the Sakamaki twins (the older ones) to fall into an eternal coma, besides the ticking tip of the cutter which Melissa was turning between her fingers, carving thae pencil with little doodles and giggling happily, since it was a present by her Morten-senpai.
- I can't take it anymore - she huffed in shock at another lost race, while the other raised her arms upward in a gesture of victory.
- Sooner or later you'll make it, Hana-chan! - Christa encouraged her, stretching her limbs and back and looking at her with her scarlet eyes from behind the white fringe - You'll see that by struggling it you will be able to reach your goals!
- Not always totally, though - Maria added with a vein of acidity in her voice, turning a faintly sweet look at the blonde who in response gave her a glaring look with her blue-grey irises.
Christa jumped up and took the cutter out of Melissa's hands just in time, before she could cut her fingertips and pour a few drops onto the clean, light blue bedcover, gently scolding her to be careful with her activities in appropriate places - keeping in mind that she could have even done without it.
Melissa puffed her cheeks out.
- No. I want to make as many friends as dad did~! – she smiled looking at some scars on her arm, thinking with so much affection about her father. The vampire gave the witch an understanding and tender look, then sighed amused and boredom at hearing the other two friends bickering with each other.
Hana was crossing her arms and curling her lips in a sulky grimace, replying to Marias' considerations as she kept her hands on her hips, her green eyes firm on the other's and her reddish-blond hair seemed to swell every times she was about to lose her temper and raise her voice, moments when she was flashing her vampire fangs.
Christa put herself in the middle to try and reconcile them, though she was used to it and it was impossible to make them agree on everything: since they had been born, the two girls had shown a tendency to taunt each other; Aunt Yui and Mrs Lucy had repeatedly told the famous story of when Hana had pulled Maria's hair, the latter had thrown on her little blue dress the milk of the last meal and both, finally, had slapped each other faces screaming unintelligible verses... and how Uncle Ayato and Mr Kou had cheered on their own daughter.
Maria suddenly let out a terrified cry as she felt something crawling through her hair, as the witch watched with a smirk the roots she had grown on her head, fiddling with a lock of her blond curls; Christa arranged to help the other vampire, trying in every way not to tear her hair, as the latter threw some angry glances at the blonde, soon harassed by Melissa who asked her to do the same thing with her: she thought that the roots would have grown directly on her scalp, causing pain, when in reality Hana had just launched some seeds, masking the movement of the arms as a gesture of irritation.
- Hana! You'll pay for it! - the green-eyed vampire complained, as she moaned in pain at the umpteenth hair torn with the few remaining roots that Christa was taking away as gently as possible.
- I've already paid enough with the your trick in June! - she replied sticking out her tongue, referring to the very fine pebbles she had found in her sneakers while she was changing for her physical education class.
- As always, such great friends! - the albino commented sarcastically, giggling as Maria pinched her ears, whose irritated grimace had already changed into an amused smile.
Soon even Hana smiled, stroking Melissa's head and denying her another request to hurt her with her powers.
- Nick... we ran out of dried apples... - Justin sobbed, wiping his lavender eyes and blowing his nose into the tissue, throwing it along with all the others piled on the floor; of course he would have cleaned later, like the good polite boy he was.
- Hold on - the other sniffed, the blue-green eyes watery on the screen – Hold on... Oh God, he's dying...!
His friend squeezed the blanket wrapping him and straightened his back, widening his eyes at the scene: after witnessing the tragic death of their fellow travellers, the protagonist had just slashed the enemy's chest, who had collapsed to the dying ground and had just asked her to take off his mask so that she could see his face before dying.
Nicholas put his hands in his brown hair, tense, and bit his lips, waiting for the plot twist: with all the films Justin had shown him, he had already realized that the enemy would have been an important character believed lost by the protagonist, who was bending down to discover his face, with gestures so slow that the two friends were dying from curiosity to see who was hiding under that disguise.
And the doorbell rang, making both of them jump; the demon snorted and stopped just in time the film with the remote control, giving a silent but meaningful look at his friend who replied with an equally eloquent look: why were unexpected events always occurring at the crucial moment?
They had never seen a full length film, without interruptions, though organizing themselves: chosen an afternoon, Nicholas would make sure to have his home free, or his father and the older twins would be sleeping deeply, preparing couch, blankets, drinks, snacks and especially tissues for the movie; Justin would arrive with a movie rented at the library, or the USB key after downloading it thanks to Morten, and his favourite blanket and notebook to take notes about the film and review it on his blog.
Yet there was always something interrupting their hobby: during an action film, Nicholas' twin, Faith, had accidentally burned a little plant in the living room after getting a little too excited, waking up and alarming the poor father; Ryan had once arrived to give them a few letters and had remained left to chat while waiting for Hope to wake up from her afternoon nap (in vain); there had been that blackout all over the island, unintentionally caused by Edward and Lucks when they had tricked Mr Theo; again, it had happened that Ranmaru had been invited by Edgar at home to do their math homework had kept the stereo loud enough to make sure his friend stayed awake, just metal music; at last, one day Melissa had joined them and had the brilliant idea of experimenting on her skin the kitchen knife, when she had gone there just to get her brother a glass of water.
- Justiiin, you go, please... - Nicholas sighed at hearing the second ring.
His friend stood up, cracking a smile: the father's laziness had not spared even his friend, although not as much as with Edgar and Hope; Nicholas was just lazy and was rather awake, perhaps thanks to the extraordinary creativity that urged him to write stories, fomented by the multitude of novels he would devour in a single week and also by the events of the movies he would suggest to him.
Justin walked down the hallway to the front door and opened it, stunned to see who was impatiently trying to ring the doorbell for the third time: Christa's red eyes and Maria's green eyes reflected in his lavender ones and, slipping his fingers through his black hair, the wizard felt his cheeks burn at the sight of the latter.
- Ma-Maria... Christa... Hello, what are you doing here...? - he asked timidly, trying to keep his gaze down, as he heard Nicholas's voice asking who was at the door, shouting from the living room.
- Niiick~! - the enthusiastic albino called him, entering nonchalantly into the house and quickly darting towards the room where the demon had stiffened and then looked around desperately, looking for a hiding place.
Anyone, however, would have failed in trying to hide from Christa.
- Niiick ~! - The enthusiastic albino called him, entering nonchalantly into the house and quickly darting towards the room where the demon had stiffened and then looked around desperately, looking for a hidden hiding place.
Anyone, however, would have failed in trying to hide his presence at Christa.
Justin and Maria were left alone and they exchanged looks, both embarrassed in the same way but expressing it differently: the wizard nibbled his lip, the vampire turned in her fingers the cross pendant given to her by her mother.
- Did we interrupt your movie? – she broke the ice at some point.
Justin nodded his head.
- Can I stay with you for the rest of the movie...? I promise to be quiet, I have knitting with me to keep me busy - she said, pulling out the plaited draft of an ochre wool scarf to confirm her words.
The boy smiled and nodded, adding that there was no problem; he let her in, they reached the other two in the living room, refraining from giggling at seeing Christa comfortably crouched on the couch against Nicholas, red as a tomato and extremely nervous, and sat on the carpet: Justin wrapped himself in the blanket and invited Maria to stay next to him.
The vampire accepted a bit hesitant: she would have to bear his bewitching scent of soap and above all resist the temptation to taste his blood; but she would have sacrificed anything just to spend some time with him.
On the contrary, Christa didn't mind biting Nicholas's wrist during the movie...
A dozen of children ran among the first sweeps of autumn leaves, along the path inside the forest crossed by the island river, shouting with their bright and cheerful voices; Lucks, who was walking quietly behind them, with his hands in his pockets and his eyes focused on each of them, smiled at the sight of their enthusiastic faces and soon clapped his hands to draw their attention and propose the activity he had planned for that day.
- Well, kids, come here... Ida, you're very tall, you're hiding poor Joseph - the vampire chuckled messing one of the girls' hair and inviting her to move further - Okay! Here is today's task: gather all the leaves that seem different from each other and then let's meet here to try and recognize together which plant they belong to! How about it?
Almost everyone screeched positively, looking forward to it; those few who pouted were only small lazy kids who wanted the main event to occur as soon as possible: Lucks would sit on a big boulder and they would sit around him on the ground, on their jackets, to listen to his speech about trees, their leaves, their flowers, their fragrant wood, which had started working since long before, creating magnificent works of craftsmanship... he would always bring some little, but still precious, samples to give to each of them.
And then he would take them in turns on his shoulders, running along the path and towards the fields that, in spring, would be painted with colourful flowers among daisies, daffodils, violets and tulips.
The vampire looked at them with a tender smile as they started searching for leaves and he moved aside, leaning against a tree trunk: his grey eyes moved from one child to another, observing their actions, their gazes, their talking, and above all their energetic strength; he adored them.
And he adored even more the sight of head with straight black hair, not that taller than the children, because of the small stature she had inherited from her mother, although she was still a little taller than her: Christina, on the way back from her daily walk through the woods, was walking along the path, not surprised to see the children dive into the piles of leaves, and looking for who had brought them with her green eyes behind her thick glasses.
As soon as their meaningful gazes met, the vampire smiled and approached him.
- Good afternoon, cousin Lucks – she greeted him with a calm and composed voice, her hands stuck in her sweatshirt's pockets, and she turned her attention to the children.
- Tina, you're as punctual as ever and with your glasses on, that's good - he laughed, glancing at the wristwatch to confirm to confirm what he had stated and remembering how often she happened to drop her glasses - You didn't plan this short stop, did you?
The young woman shook her head, slightly widening her amused smile.
- Don't talk nonsense, I always calculate a few minutes more than usual to go home.
- Isn't it the same thing? - Lucks scratched his head, keeping himself from laughing.
- I didn't think I would meet you... for example, I also saw Hana-chan, by the river.
- Our cousin? Shouldn't she be with others to prepare for the beginning of classes? - the boy asked slightly confused.
Christina shrugged, not knowing what to answer, adding that the only information she could give him was about why she was there: she was growing a small flower bed; and when the other asked her again, perplexed, to what purpose, the vampire giggled, stroking a lock of her hair, which reached just below her ears.
- She wants some flowers to make a crown and give it to Ranmaru-kun. You know, for that time when he chilled her makeup, unintentionally.
Lucks burst out laughing, imagining said boy's embarrassed and resentful face.
Ranmaru and Edgar would meet with each other more often than the other peers; not only because they were cousins on the paternal side, not only because their fathers, among all the brothers, were the ones "liking each other more": what most united them was their character. Both were taciturn and rather reserved, albeit for different reasons - the first out of shyness, the other out of laziness and disinterest in others – and they often understood each other even through non-verbal communication; they respected each other's personal space: if Edgar would suddenly fall asleep, a very frequent and normal event, Ranmaru would leave him alone, ordering his collection of broken objects (the father had always asked himself whom he had taken this bizarre and unusual habit from), and if Ranmaru would listen to metal music, Edgar wouldn't have minded joining him and renouncing to the classical one.
They were talking about music that afternoon, sitting on the wall overlooking the sea, near the graveyard; the blond yawned, nodding or dissenting with nods or monosyllables, as the other complained of prejudices against the metal genre, especially the so-called "symphonic metal", gesturing with fervour and at the same time glancing around, looking for anything that was broken or damaged: an old pencil, a shard of a precious phial, a rusty chain of a ruined piece of jewellery, a stuffed plush abandoned in the street.
Edgar began to realize after half an hour that something was going wrong as he heard the stuttering of his amber-eyed cousin with brown hair covering part of his face, like his albino father (the opposite part, though): turning to him, he noticed the redness on his cheeks and his eye twiching, deducing that his sister Faith was nearby; so he turned back, bored, and then changed his expression to a more nervous one.
Faith was walking along the wall keeping herself dangerously balanced, accompanied by her friend Aiko; Edgar's gaze lingered on the latter, staring at her long blond hair dancing on her back, and at her brown eyes with green spots, focused on the other girl and anxious she could fall at any moment.
Indeed Faith lost her balance, but fortunately on the side where the ground was ready to receive her landing; the steep hill didn't welcome her corpse and the other three let out a sigh of relief, wondering how a fifteen-year-old girl could be so reckless and unconscious.
As curious as our mother..., Edgar thought, raising and waving his hand to greet the two girls who approached them, ruffling her little sister's dark hair as she clung to his torso, affectionate.
- Big Brother! - she exclaimed, rubbing her head against his chest, happy.
Ranmaru looked at her, feeling a little jealous of his friend, then away after crossing Aiko's giggling gaze, who shifted her attention to Edgar, placing her hands on her hips.
- You haven't given back my chemistry book, yet, lazybones! - she reproached him, making him snort in annoyance.
- I still need it... we'll have a test on the first day... - he justified himself, muttering.
- Actually, we would have a Literature test... – the other was about to reveal, finding his own mouth abruptly muffled by the blond's hand, nervous.
- Eeeeeed - the blonde crossed her arms, narrowing her furious eyes on the vampire, who rolled his eyes to the sky, ready to hear the usual lecture - You shouldn't even need it, since you have already studied it two years ago!
- I need a review... - Edgar replied grumbling, rubbing his neck and pulling away from his little sister who had remained embraced to him until that moment, chuckling at them.
The two began to argue, she animatedly and he chatty all of a sudden, as Ranmaru eyed them with an arched eyebrow murmuring that they would have never changed and that he wouldn't be amazed if they would get married in a few years; then his eyes fell on Faith, who was absorbed in who knows what kind of thoughts, her expression rather childish for her age.
- Ran-kun, my dear cousin - she exclaimed suddenly, moving her deep dark eyes on him, almost causing him a fright - Do you think Ai-chan has no more a crush for Justin-kun?
The young man blinked and curled his lips.
- I think so... I mean... after what happened...
They recalled the day when poor Aiko had talked too much about her affection for Justin and the latter had happened to reply too bluntly, involuntarily; thus, Maria had realized that she had never paid attention to the one had always given her most of his attention (Justin had often lent her notes for school, thanks to Melissa's advice, he had always given her flowers on women's day and on her birthday, only he would notice the slightest changes in her clothes or hair), having always sought for Kaoru's attention in vain, bitterly finding out that Nanami had already captured his heart.
Aiko had cried a lot, despite being known as one of the toughest girls of her age; after all, she also had feelings, and she had been hurt. For a long time they hadn't spoken to each other, Justin embarrassed and ashamed of his tactless reaction, her out of pain and rejection. In the end everything had been resolved with the gift he had made her, a couple of succulents seedlings that had been added to the small corner of her room that she had reserved for her gardening hobby.
- Ugh, I wanted to hunt mushrooms in the woods... - Faith grumbled discontentedly, crossing her arms and trying to call her friend who kept on ignoring her, focused on lecturing Edgar - Ok, I'll go to the library to see Ruki-nii~!
- Wha- Wait, Faith! - as soon as the voice of the witch pronounced that name, Ranmaru jumped alarmed and tried to stop her in vain, because she had already left quickly towards the aforementioned place.
The vampire let out an angry grunt and, glaring at his friend and Aiko, ran after her; he hated that man greatly: he was sure he had bewitched Faith since she had been a child, taking her away from him.
The vampire looked satisfied at the work just ended: all the books were back to their place and where they were missing he had put some compositions of coloured stones, or at least small objects aesthetically pleasing to fill the void, as Faith had suggested, the same creator of some of these craftworks she had given him.
He opened the agenda where he would record all his plans and reminders, barring the books' general reorganization; as expected, he had managed to finish it all in three days, included cleaning the shelves' interior, and the next day he would have cleaned the rest of the furniture and the entire building. He reasoned that he would need Yuuma and Azusa' help to finish by the evening of the next day, so that he could have welcomed the first year's primary school student with the library in perfect condition, with the lessons' beginning; then he would have asked Mary to replace him in the evening, for a couple of hours, the time to return to his home and take care of it too.
Maybe Kou was right: he spent so much time in the library that he could have also moved directly there and leave his apartment to the future young people.
He brushed his hair and placed his glasses, an exclusively aesthetic element of his librarian appearance, in their case, inside one of the drawers of his personal desk, closing it with a padlock.
His vampire senses felt the presence of the usual intruder who had attended the library and his company since childhood; he smiled, amused, and sighed, sitting on the chair and leafing through his inseparable book, closing it as soon as he perceived the witch reaching him from behind, impatient to be able to read its contents, one day.
- Nooo, I was almost there! - the girl complained, jumping on the spot like an capricious child, and stared at him sulking with her big dark eyes.
- Faith, shouldn't you be on your way home? - He said, crossing his arms and arching an eyebrow at that behaviour which wasn't proper at her age.
- By the way, Ruki-nii, I see you've tidied up everything! – the shoulder length brown-haired girl exclaimed looking around; the hairpin used to keep her locks away from her eyes was as useless as usual, slipping towards her face because of her too straight hair.
Ruki sighed, this time as a reflex of his attempt to maintain patience.
- Of course everything is in order. Soon the children will be new students, it is a must to welcome them with a clean, arranged and welcoming building – he smiled looking at some of the stickers that the same witch had attached on the work-benches' lamps, most of them portraying stylized animals or witty faces.
- There's an hour left till dinner, I can still stay half a hour to keep you company, Ruki-nii! – she answered, giving him an innocent look.
The vampire brushed his hair and murmured if her father wouldn't get angry at knowing she was in the library again with "that soy sauce hair guy"; the girl sat on one of the tables and rocked her legs, saying that she coudn't wait for the moment when the children would set foot in that building, introduced into the world of stories; Ruki considered that he could involve his nephews and nieces and he others, especially Lucks who knew how to behave with kids; Faith laughed, commenting that he dad had a strange way of giving people nicknames.
Yes, Faith was like this: very often her words would refer to what had been said before the last sentence by the interlocutor; the vampire had always thought that she was rather skilful at going on like that for a long time, as much as she was just adorable when getting angry at failing at it.
He thought it was one of the few traits that made her different from her mother, with whom she shared everything else, especially her curiosity and passion for creative hobbies, though she was devoted more to crafting than to writing, her twin's talent, and drawing, on which Mary had worked so much, becoming an illustrator of many books that the library itself owned.
- Ruki-nii, are you thinking about my mother? - the girl suddenly asked, curling her lips.
- Sorry, were you telling me something important? – he replied, ignoring Mary's mention, which caused Faith to puff her cheeks out, annoyed.
- Ruki-nii, I'm sorry to repeat it every time... but mother is with dad. I don't mean you have to forget her, but... - for a moment she wanted to try and be a mature person, which she couldn't do at all with the childish voice she always used, except during the interrogations at school where she was unrecognizable.
- I think we've already talked about this, Faith - Ruki said harshly, giving her an icy glare - You would never understand me. Now go home, your family is waiting for you.
- How can I get back to my family when you don't have one waiting for you at home? - the witch murmured, looking sadly at him.
The vampire's eyes widened and he opened his mouth and then closed it: how could he reply? Kou had Lucy and his daughter, Azusa had Finn and three children, Yuuma had Anna and, also, three children; Ruki was alone, closing in a treasure chest his love for Mary without ever forgetting her, accompanied just by books and his brothers and the Sakamakis' offspring, between highs and lows: despite their flaws, or a bit of hatred towards him by some of them, he had never been so comfortable among young people, being them a quite brilliant generation.
And then there was Faith. He had always wondered what had pushed that child she had been, to the teenager she had become, to follow him everywhere and establish a friendly relationship with him; he had always tried to avoid behaviours that might have deluded her, given her young age, prone to passing and deceitful crushes. After all, his young "bachelor" appearance had attracted high school students during all those seventeen years, since he had decided to live on that island along with his brothers.
He sighed and brushed his hair in a nervous gesture.
- Faith, go home.
- I understand you perfectly! - the girl jumped on her feet, placing her hands on her hips and changing the tone of her voice, more appropriate to her age.
Ruki laughed bitterly, shaking his head.
- You wouldn't even understand how I envy your father, Faith, you love him so much.
The witch shook her head, refusing to go out and walk home; impatient, Ruki was about to tell her to behave like a good girl and leave, only to stiffen at what his ears heard.
- I do! You envy my father as I envy my mother, Ruki-san. But I love her anyway, she's my mom!
The vampire sat down on the chair, staring at her, astonished; with a simple sentence she had revealed two things: that he had been completely wrong about her and underestimated her, and that Faith was infatuated with him. He put his fingers in his hair, breathing deeply and torn between a mature reply and a nervous reaction.
- But don't worry, Ruki-nii! - Faith smiled radiantly, returning to her childish attitude - If you'll never be able to reciprocate my feelings, I'll just do the same as you had done with my mother! I, Faith Sakamaki, swear to love you and protect you forever, even from a distance! - she stated solemnly, putting a hand on her forehead as if in a military salute.
Ruki had a déjà vu and laughed; Faith blinked at him in confusion, wondering if she had been too childish.
The vampire stood up and gave her an indecipherable but at the same time tender smile, then pinched her cheek and told her again that it was time to go home, ignoring the poor witch's grumbles of pain who was trying to escape that iron grip.
Meanwhile, two amber eyes remained staring at them for a few minutes, dejected.
Ranmaru left the library without leaving traces of his presence, as much as possible, and went down the steps leading to the entrance with slow and shuffling steps; he had always hoped that Faith's interest was only something fleeting. Certainly he was still young and his feelings could have changed... but he was pessimistic about it.
He recalled hearing Uncle Laito talk about some unrequited love of his father, one day he had been invited with Edgar by Ryan to his house; that time he had almost thought that his father had been weak and a little pathetic, but at that moment he felt terribly guilty: a lot of strength and courage was necessary to overcome that state of discomfort, of loss. You could have called it "a simple teen crush, it's nothing!" and perhaps in the future he would have thought the same, but he was really feeling down, despite he was trying to ignore the lump in the throat and the sudden nausea.
- Ran~ maru~ kun~ - he heard a female voice coming from his left.
- Ah, the ugly witch - he muttered, gritting his teeth, rolling his eyes.
Hana puffed her cheeks out, offended, and jumped down the wall siding the stairs, where she had sat on while waiting for him, her hands behind her back; the vampire narrowed his eyes towards her arms, suspicious.
- What's up there? - he asked immediately, expecting it to be some revenge against him for any wrong he had unknowingly made to her, as he often happened to be accused of.
The witch smiled mischievously and raised her head with superiority.
- You'll only find out if you close your eyes!
- As if, I won't fall for it. See you - Ranmaru snorted, putting his hands in his denim jacket pockets and walking down the road to his house, wondering about dinner.
Hana stared at his back, turned away, upset, and ran after him and then jump on his shoulders, almost unbalancing him; the boy cursed heavily and shook her off, turning furiously to tell her off: he instinctively closed his eyes at seeing her raise her arms to his face, and then reopened them at her chuckling and moving her limbs away.
She was looking at him with a happy expression, red cheeks and bright eyes; unaware that even his face had assumed a slight pinkish shade, the vampire realized that he had something in his head and felt it with his fingers, recognizing a soft and fresh feeling to the touch, made of intertwines alternating with more complex and fragile shapes: he gently lifted the object of his head and frowned as he faced it, discovering it was a simple flower crown, with daisies, violets and other varieties, grown due to her magical powers.
The witch, afraid that he could have thrown it to the ground, took it in her hands to put it on his head, announcing that it looked good on him; the young man arched an eyebrow and shook his head, retracing his steps.
- Flowers are girly - he grumbled; but he didn't take the flower crown off, a gesture that filled the girl with joy, as she followed him, clinging to his arm and tugging at him, and informed him that she had been invited with her parents to have dinner with them.
Ranmaru commented ironically that his father would've been very happy; Hana chuckled.
And thus Subaru found Kou and his family at his home when he got back, stiffening on the entrance doorstep with a twitching eye at seeing the blond waving his hand happily in front of him, smiling and asking him if he wasn't happy to see his best friend again; Lucy and Isa were chatting in the kitchen, the first helping the second to prepare the table for dinner, ignoring their husbands' bickering in the living room (at least Subaru would have later consoled himself at knowing that his daughter was getting good results at her CrossFit classes); meanwhile, Hana was trying to beat Christa to a shooter game for the umpteenth time, in vain, both stared at by Ranmaru, annoyed that the two girls had seized his own bedroom to take advantage of his console, not before the boy had hidden the crown of flowers in a safe place.
Yui returned home from her exhausting nurse shift, both physically out of exhaustion and psychologically (she had seen two more elders die while holding their hands, keeping her promise of assistance until the end); the daughter welcomed her with open arms, telling her the news of the day and discarding the details on the thorn bush she had planted in the neighbour's garden, a joke suggested by her father because he hadn't forgive the old lady for criticizing him about his takoyaki's love; Ayato, on the other hand, was busy looking for and buying online the first year textbooks recommended by the high school, which Maria would have started attending the following week, enthusiastic but also embittered that she wouldn't have been in the same class with all of her friends (unfortunately Melissa and Christa had ended up in different classes, and she waswith Hana... with whom she had a sort of rivalry...).
With a joyous smile on his lips, Azusa welcomed his three children back from a walk, kissing his two little girls on the forehead and ruffling the second son's hair; Finn squeezed them one by one, lingering longer on the younger one who appreciated the pain and the sound of creaky bones; Christina immediately sat in her favourite chair, with a book to read, Justin helped his mother in the kitchen, reflecting on how to review a film he had just seen that afternoon, and Melissa, who had been forbidden to set foot in the kitchen after the disasters caused in the futile attempt to prepare delicious food, kept her father company in the living room, crouching against him on the couch and letting her father caress her hair with heart-warming, calm and affectionate gestures.
Lily narrowed her eyes on her two children, secretly cracking a smile: her maternal sixth sense had perceived what they had done in the island during their short vacation with their cousins, before returning to the castle where they were having dinner with their father, respecting the rules of etiquette with care as Reiji had taught them; it wasn't difficult even for the Vampire King to notice a reddish spot on the back of Kaoru's neck, thinking that after the meal he would have exchanged a few words with the eldest, hoping very much that the smell of his pervert brother's offspring was just fruit of his imagination, and considering that Hikari was also emanating a different scent than usual, which reminded him of a certain non-pureblood vampire... As usual, these thoughts did nothing but make his nerves throb.
Edward returned later than usual, having lost his perception of time while training with Mr Flyer (whom he considered more like a grandfather than as the cousin of who-knows-which-degree-of-kinship he was); Anna was waiting for him at the door with crossed arms and furious, aware that he had once again tied the water pipes in the garden, giving more trouble to his father who was working with caution with the beginning of autumn and the cold days; the neighbours were accustomed to Yuuma's yells, as he was lecturing his rebellious son, scene witnessed by the twin Lucks, with a witty air like saying "I told you so" (as if he himself hadn't been responsible for other catastrophes), and Aiko, her eyes narrowed to two cracks, annoyed by the irrecoverable behaviour of her older brother; his father slapped Edward in the head, threatening to withdraw him from the martial arts club.
Ryan and Nanami, even though they had themselves flirty attitudes, hated to come back home and see their parents making out in the living room: they stopped on the spot staring at them with a bored look and letting out an irritated grunt instead of a "here we go again"; at least Claire jumped and broke away from her husband, apologizing but not very embarrassed, as Laito chuckled and winked at his son, as if to tell him to learn from him for when he would be alone with Hope (surprisingly, what he had expected and told his beloved cousin Mary seventeen years ago had really come true!); the daughter sat down between her parents and began to tell them about what she had discovered while hanging around town, the son went into the kitchen to prepare dinner, knowing that he would have had to learn in order to compensate his beloved girl's laziness and subsequent inability; his little sister would have been more lucky, since probably Uncle Reiji had taught his children to cook.
Morten relaxed, laying on the living room carpet and letting himself be lulled by the melody played on the piano by his father, after having put the glasses on the table and bent his beret like a pillow under his head; meanwhile Ellen was making a disaster with dinner and certainly would have soon called her older sister to to help her; Mark ran his fingers light as feathers on the keys, applying minimum pressure, but intense emotions through sound, at the same time communicating telepathically with his beloved twin, smiling a rare and unspeakable affection, which only he and Mary could understand, and from time to time feeling sorry for his poor friend Theo and his wife Martha, alone in their love without fruits because of a genetic defect; his son fell asleep shortly later and soon sweet dreams suggested by his father's poetry turned into nightmares where his cousins were involving him in evil plans that surely would have had a negative result, making him break in a cold sweat and contort in his sleep.
Ruki gazed at the moon already visible in the sky from the ceiling's central oculus, which let all the light of the sunset illuminate most of all the library's shelves and furniture; the light was enough for the vampire to see the words on the book that had belonged to his father, at the moment resting on his overlapped knee, absorbed in the contemplation of that white satellite and his thoughts. A short laugh escaped him, remembering what had happened with Faith, and, caressing the blue cover, he lifted the book to keep on reading, manipulating it in such a way that a thin object, like a filament of grass, escaped from the bottom pages; Ruki, confused, bent down to pick it up from the ground and widened his eyes at the sight of that dried and pressed lavender's little branch; he turned it thoughtfully between his fingers, and then smelled it: the aroma had been lost with time. He smiled and stood up, moving towards a bookcase where books about herbal medicine and plants were placed: he took one about flowers, opened it at a random page and put the lavender branch in it, then closed and placed it back in its place; he got back to his desk and at last to his book.
Faith stepped quietly towards her three victims, holding back from giggling at the sight of all them the couch, blissfully asleep next to each other; Nicholas was looking at her, scratching his forehead, certain that their father and older siblings would sooner or later notice her presence; instead, as soon as the twin jumped into their laps successfully, they jumped and opened their eyes shocked by the sudden impact, recognizing the cause of their awakening and reproaching her with displeased tone and eyes wishing their sleep had never been interrupted; Faith settled on her father's legs and wrapped her arms around his neck, cuddly, and Shuu softened a little, though remaining apparently indifferent; Hope checked the time on her cell phone, blushing at a pretty naughty text from a brown-reddish-haired demon, almost risking her father to read it; Edgar sniffed and threw his head back, instantly falling asleep again and dreaming long blond hair; they heard the entrance door open and close and the children stood up quickly, hurrying out of the living room.
Nicholas was the first to reach her and gave her a sweet smile; Faith, who ran as fast as a gazelle, went to meet her, embracing her with enthusiasm; Hope walked towards her and stopped nearby, waiting for her to approach her in order to get her jacket and bag and put them on the hook; Edgar slumped sleepily against the living room's door, unable to move after only a few steps, and greeted her with a sleepy voice:
- Welcome back, mother.
Mary smiled as radiant as the sun as was greeted by her stars, and then turned a look full of love to Shuu, who had appeared behind her to kiss her on the cheek.
- I'm home.
- Rose-san, have you seen it? My nephews sent me another picture~.
Kanato giggled with a thin voice and put the photograph in a purple frame with white flowers, adding it with all the others on the ebony cupboard he had chosen to collect his nephews and nieces' gifts (his brothers' ones ou of courtesy - pressed by their wives – would be burned or kept, depending on whether they were sweets, fabrics or toys); he looked at the faces of the people portrayed on the steps of a stone staircase, with an expression that was unusually sweet and at the same time undoubtedly disturbing, sometimes frowning at the children of those filthy non-pureblood vampires.
Kaoru and Hikari were certainly the most serious and disciplined one of the group, but a closer look would have noticed that the she was pinching her brother on the side, probably to take revenge for some small wrong, and he was holding back from scolding her; Hope was the most inexpressive, on Hikari's other side, with whom she unexpectedly had more friendship than the others, perhaps because she was the least noisy one; Nanami was clinging to Kaoru's arm with hers, smiling at the photographer with a less mischievous face than usual, as Ryan was showing a little grin, his arms resting on Edgar's shoulders, his eyes narrowed in an annoyed expression, and Ranmaru's, clearly displeased by that contact; Christa was looking sideways at Nicholas, who was smiling shyly behind her little sister Faith, cheerful as always; Melissa was squeezing her brother and sister's hands, her smile serene and joyful, while Justin was somewhat embarrassed, since Maria, standing on a step higher than him, had put her hands on his shoulders, affectionately hugging them; Christina was smiling mildly, even if Lucks' fingers were touching hers, him also apparently quiet, his shoulders surrounded by his twin's arms; Edward had emphasized his wider and braggart sneer, stare at with a bent eyebrow by his sister Aiko, probably unaware that the photo had already been taken, arm in arm with Hana; finally, Morten was staring at the camera, stiff and with a crooked smile which the twins Lucks and Edward would have probably teased him about.
- They're cute, aren't they, Rose-san, Teddy?
On the armchair in the middle of that room, filled with stuffed animals made by the same vampire, adorned with ribbons and lace on porcelain doll dresses, the girl's zombie didn't nod, neither with a monosyllable nor with her head, her glazed eyes empty; even Teddy, sitting next to her, seemed more expressive.
Since not everyone deserves the happy ending.
It's over...! I truly hope you enjoyed the whole story and the ending... though I admit some of the diaboys' "happy ending" is not really "realistically possible". But I wanted to grand them a happy endng, at least, to compensate their tragic past.
Thank you for reading!
I still hope to receive reviews about it, now or in the future. ^^
