The days passed quickly from the first movie night. Sunako feel into a routine of going to be in the late morning and waking up just as the sun was going down. She'd spend a few hours with Noi before she went off to bed. Sunako couldn't tell if Noi had calmed down after her scare or if she was hiding it behind faux confidence, but she had gone back to her cheerful-self by the next evening. After Noi left, Sunako would either spend some time in the garden out back or watch movies in the dark. Sometimes Kyohei would join her, sometimes it was one of the others.

One quiet night, Ranmaru joined her. He settled himself into the couch gently, barely even alerting her to his presence. Though she tried, Sunako found it hard not to take a small peek at him. She meant to turn her head only slightly to catch a glance at him from the corner of her eye, but a familiar gleam caught her attention. Her head spun around to her without her permission and she blinked a couple of times just to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

Ranmaru was leaning against the armrest looking as bored as ever, but she'd come to realize that this was how he usually acted. After a moment, a dirty smirk slid across his face.

"I knew it would hit you eventually, petit chaton," he said, turning his leer to her, "just how sexy I am."

Sunako's eyes shifted up to him. She'd tried to get him to stop calling her names but her threats didn't work with him. "No," she said. "You're drop."

Ranmaru blinked in confusion before looking down. Lying over his shirt, shining scarlet in the light from the television, was his Blood Drop. Earlier in the evening, he'd given into to the housewife of some CEO. She had accepted with a smile, swiftly hooking her new gift around her slim neck and commenting how it matched her outfit.

He knew she would have let him in her house anyway, but having the Blood Drop in there meant he didn't have to ask. He hated it about himself, but a part of him loved the shock it gave them to see him standing there in the shadows. At one point, he tried to convince himself he just liked to give them a head start; to let them know how wrong they were; let them die knowing he wasn't the person they loved. But after years, he knew he just liked the chase. He wanted to hear that scream of surprise, of fear, of fight. He wanted the adrenalin that pumped through their veins. Their fight or flight response made everything better.

He must have forgotten to put the drop away when he got home.

"Yes," he mused, "there it is."

He rarely ever looked at it. When he did, it brought back all the memories he hated. That dreaded first year when everything was new and good, and then the second when it was old and bad.

They never talked about their Blood Drops. It was almost taboo in the house, which he favored. Things had changed since the girl sitting next to him had showed up, though. Slowly, the need to talk about it became necessary. They needed to talk about what was going to change within the house now that Takenaga could leave. They needed to talk about how to handle the two girls, whether they should force them to forget or just leave them as they were. They knew Takenaga would never leave Noi alone for long, but he had many plans, indeed.

They needed to talk about many things, it seemed to Ranmaru; things he wasn't entirely enthusiastic to talk about.

"It's bigger than Takenaga's,"

Ranmaru snorted. Foul comment after foul comment flooded his tongue as he fought to keep the images out of his head. Years of sex and dirty thoughts had turned him into a pervert, he knew, but something ingrained from his human years wouldn't allow him to completely tarnish the young girls around him. He will admit to wishing Takenaga had been there to hear her statement just so he could tease him later.

After he had control over himself, he replied, "They're not always the same size. I think it depends on the circumstances in a way—how much you fight back. Yuki has the smallest because he fought it more, while mine is the biggest because I wanted it." He paused. "It's just another thing we can't prove, though."

"It seems like you don't know a whole lot about yourselves." Sunako remarked, clearly exasperated by their lack of knowledge.

Ranmaru turned to her. "What, how many vampires to you think are roaming around? There's not as many as you would think, and even less who actually want to know all that much about themselves."

"Why wouldn't you want to know about what you are?"

Ranmaru pondered the correct way to answer. "It makes it easier," he finally said.

Sunako sighed, giving up. "You treat it as if it's a disease."

"And you see it as a blessing."

She glared at him. "I've been given this speech before. In fact, by all of you in one form or another."

"Because you're not listening to us when we say it's not worth it."

"It is to me."

"It was to me, too. Things change."

"It's different."

"How?"

The age-old question. It was beginning to annoy Sunako. What annoyed her more was her lack of answer. "It just is" wasn't going to cut it with these guys, she knew, but she couldn't explain the desire any other way.

She stopped glaring and turned back to the movie she was watching before he came in.

"That's what I thought," he chuckled, but let it drop all the same.

They finished the movie in silence, but it was a strained silence. At one point Yuki had joined them, but left soon after. She wasn't sure if was the movie or the tension that filled the air.

Sunako got up to replace the movie with another one when Noi came in. She was surprised to see the girl up at three in the morning, but she realized quickly Noi wasn't there for her.

"Ranmaru," she growled grumpily, "she's here. Get her to leave. Now."

Ranmaru's expression shifted from shock to delight to irritation to emotionless so quickly that Sunako wondered what he was really thinking and who could have caused it.

As he left the room, walked up to the sleepy girl who had crashed on one of the couches. Sunako poked her. "Whose here?"

Noi's eyebrows furrowed and she let out a groan of disgusted mixed with annoyance. "Eliza." She hissed. "She's the one who changed Ranmaru. I hate her. She killed my grandma."

Sunako's eyes flashed. Slowly, she left Noi on the couch and headed down the hall. She knew there was a possibility she wouldn't find them, but she would regret not trying. Her worries were pointless, though, as she came to the grand staircase. Leaning on the railing was Kyohei and Yuki, but silently watching the floor below. As Sunako joined them, she noticed the figures they were watching. Wrapped in Ranmaru's arms was a tall woman, their lips locked together.

"Please tell me that's not some vampire mating ritual," Sunako gulped with displeasure.

Kyohei rolled his eyes. "No. That's some human ritual."

Sunako nodded. She mentally added it to the reasons she wanted to be a vampire. Humans were silly.

So she's the vampiress who changed Ranmaru? Sunako thought intrigued. Sunako remembered him saying that he thought he was in love with her, but they were too similar. "I can see why," she muttered to herself, their passionate meeting still happening before her.

Next to her, Kyohei cleared his throat to pull their attention away from each other. "Now, I know this is a nice little get-together for you two, but the rest of us don't want to watch. End it or take it elsewhere."

The vampiress, who Sunako could now see was very beautiful, smirked. Suddenly, she was out of Ranmaru's arms and standing before them. "Kyohei," she purred, running her finger under his chin. "It's a pleasure to see you as always."

Sunako couldn't take her eyes off the being before her. She could tell that this woman loved everything about herself; the way she looked, all her dark thoughts, and even what she was. True, Sunako couldn't say that she liked the way the woman acted, but that if that was who she really was, then who was Sunako to judge her. She was everything Sunako wanted to be. Dark and confident and free to be whoever she wanted to be.

"Is this a new pet? Has the other one died already?" In her staring, Sunako hadn't notice the immortal's attention transfer to her.

"No," Noi snapped behind her. "I'm still alive. Thanks for your concern, Eliza." The hostility was clear behind the polite words.

"Oh, good." The vampiress laughed. "It's so easy to lose track of time, you know. It's nice to know that not too much time as passed since I last saw my favorite progeny." By this time, Ranmaru had joined them at the top of the stairs and Eliza had encased him in her arms again.

"If she's not the new pet, then who is she?" The words seemed harmless, fueled by simple curiosity.

"She found"—Yuki started, but Ranmaru cut him off.

"—out about us. Takenaga's still trying to figure out what to do with her."

Eliza rolled her eyes. "That Takenaga's always been too soft. I bet he's still brooding around here somewhere, right."

"Well, he's likes his alone time." Noi replied with a stiff, mocking smile.

Eliza grinned in return. "Being trapped in this place, you'd think he'd get all the alone time he needs. But I know if I was constantly surrounded by a mortal completely in love with me, I'd hide too."

Noi rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to give a retort but the man in question appeared. "Noi, there's no need for you to defend me. I'm capable of doing it myself."

The emotion in Noi's eyes changed quickly. She looked at Takenaga with an apologetic pout. "I know," she said, "but I can't help it."

Takenaga nodded. "I'm not hiding," he said in reply to Eliza's comment. "I am sure that I've told you before to give future notice when you're going to be visiting, though. Maybe if you did, I'd be here to greet you."

"You have told me," Eliza shrugged. "I just never know when I'm going to be in town, you know that. It's always spur of the moment."

"Of course," The master smiled. Sunako could tell now what sort of background he had. It was hard to believe she hadn't noticed it before; her aunt had been trying to marry her off to men just like him for the past couple of years. On Takenaga, it didn't seem so bad, though. "Will you be needing a place to stay."

Noi glared at the dark-haired vampire when he made the offer. Sunako had never seen the other girl glare, but she found that she liked it.

Eliza laughed. She turned her head up and kissed Ranmaru's cheek. "No, not at all. Some poor fool is putting me up tonight. I just wanted to stop by and ask if Ranmaru would like to join me tomorrow night. It's been a while since I've hunted with anybody."

"I would be my pleasure, Eliza." The redhead said, gazing down at her with hooded eyes.

"Well, now that that's all cleared up, maybe you should move this gathering to a room." Takenaga's eyes sparked before he turned away. "Kyohei. Noi, There's something I'd like to talk to you two about."

Kyohei sighed as he followed the two down the hall. Ranmaru and his companion headed in the opposite direction, Eliza's arms still wrapped around his chest as he led the way.

"And then there was two," Yuki said, smiling at her.

Sunako didn't say anything in return. The new information from the previous exchange was floating around.

Yuki tipped his head. His green eyes were curious but unassuming. "Do you want to do something, Sunako? Everyone else seems to be busy."

For a moment, she wondered if he was trying to keep her from snooping out answers for herself–to keep her busy for a while. She wanted to think that it wasn't who Yuki was to purposely do something like that, but if she learned anything from her day with him a week ago, it was she didn't know Yuki at all.

"Why do you think Ranmaru didn't tell her that I had the drop?" She asked. Yuki seemed taken aback by her question.

"I'm not sure," he answered with a clueless shrug. "I don't try to understand Ranmaru's motives. He does what he wants, regardless of us."

Sunako considered what he was saying. Still, she felt something wasn't right. "But why do you think he would hide it. It doesn't have anything to do with him."

"The only reason I can think of is," Yuki paused and then sighed, "he doesn't trust Eliza."

It seemed like the right answer, but she thought back to their greeting. Why would you kiss someone who you didn't trust. "What do you think they're talking about?" Her head jerked toward the hall the three disappeared down a moment ago.

Yuki's hand landed on her shoulder. "What ever it is, if it were important Ranmaru and I would have to be there. So how about a movie?"

Sunako studied him. He was calm and answering her questions, but he also was a vampire and would lie if it served him. "Sure," she said, "a movie sounds good."

Yuki's smile was bright. "Just nothing with ghosts, okay?"

Sunako rolled her eyes. Movies with the other one were more fun. "No ghosts."

Three hours and a couple of movies later, Sunako heard voices echoing in the hallway. Looking at Yuki told her he heard it, too. She went to stand, but Yuki's head snapped in her direction and his eyes demanded that she sit. The hard stare he held her with told her if she moved she would regret it. Sunako realized at once that she was right in thinking Yuki was just her baby sitter, keeping her occupied while the other three talked about her.

After a moment, the voices faded and Yuki looked away. He stood and silently walked out of the room, leaving her there to wonder what was going on in the once pleasantly haunted castle.

Right after Yuki left, Noi came in, bringing Sunako out of her ponderings. "It's after six, you know." She said. Noi was trying to smile, but there was a tiredness and unknown emotion shining through.

Sunako looked at the clock on the walk and found that it was indeed after six AM. Usually she was getting ready to go to bed around this time. At the thought, a yawn erupted from her.

"I'm tired, too." Noi laughed. For the second time, she crashed on the couch next to Sunako and curled up.

"Are you going to go to bed?" Sunako questioned.

"No," Noi shook her head. "I don't like messing up my sleeping patterns too much. I'll stay up a little longer, then sleep only for a couple of hours. Hopefully that will carry me to my normal bed time."

Sunako nodded. She wondered if it was hard for her to be wake when the rest of them were usually asleep or if she liked the quiet time.

"By the way," Noi continued through a large yawn of her own, "Takenaga and the others want to talk to you before you go to sleep."

Good, Sunako thought. She wanted to talk to them. "Is Eliza gone?"

Noi smiled. "Yes. But not for long. She'll be back tomorrow night." She frowned and groaned at the thought. "I don't know why Ranmaru lets her in. He hates almost as much as I do."

Sunako's eyes flickered again at the thought of their greeting. Yuki said that Ranmaru didn't trust her and Noi claimed he hated her, but it didn't fit with how he treated her. Sunako knew there was a piece of the puzzle missing.

"Do you want the TV on?" Sunako asked when she stood up from the couch. Noi nodded and reached blindly for it. Sunako handed it to her before leaving the television room and shutting the door. Looking down either way, she realized she didn't know where to go. After her initial exploring, she didn't learn what the different rooms were for, and she had no idea where the vampires spent most of their time.

A whistle caught her attention. Standing at the top of the staircase where they had all congregated earlier was Kyohei. "This way." He nodded his head down to the first level. Sunako followed him as he led the way. After the first floor, he took her down another hall that she had seen before but had never searched.

"What's this talk about?" She asked after a few minutes, curiosity getting the better of her.

Kyohei glanced at her over his shoulder. She could tell from the tension in his shoulders that it had been a long night for him. "Just something we would like you to fully understand." He said simply, explaining nothing.

Sunako sighed in impatience. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"What makes you think anything is going on?"

"You're all keeping secrets."

Kyohei turned around and stopped in front of her, blocking her path. "Aren't you about to get some answers?" he growled. "Besides, if we want to keep secrets, it would be our right. What makes you think you get to know everything about us?"

Sunako couldn't provide an answer, but she knew it wouldn't have mattered anyway. He was more annoyed with the events than with her, but she would have liked to have one.

"Fine." She snipped.

He glared a second more before turning back around and continuing on his way. Finally, they he opened a door and let her inside. Sitting at a small square table were the other three, with two chairs left open for them. She took a seat at one end while Kyohei took his seat next to Takenaga.

Takenaga looked at her, but it wasn't his usual calm expression. He seemed bothered by something and she wondered briefly if this was it—if she was going to die now. However, she realized how stupid the thought was a moment later. The head vampire had done nothing but try to keep her alive and away from vampires; he wouldn't kill her now.

"By now I'm sure you know Eliza is the vampire you changed our friend Ranmaru, here," He motioned to the red-haired vampire who seemed to be off in his own world.

Sunako nodded. "Did she really kill Noi's grandmother?" Ranmaru winced as if the memory literally hurt him.

Takenaga gazed at her. "It was an accident."

"For who? Noi's grandmother or Eliza?"

This seemed to make him smile a little. "Perhaps Eliza could have exercised a bit more self-control, but it's all in the past now."

Sunako remembered Noi saying that her mother had been close to Ranmaru, and taking in his reaction to her question, she wondered if that was what brought them close: his guilt that he had allowed it to happen. Or were they already close beforehand and he felt regret?

"That's sort of what we want to talk to you about," Yuki started out. "Eliza's going to be around for a little while. We just want you to know that she can be unpredictable. It's probably best if you're not alone around her."

Talking to Yuki reminded her of their earlier question. Turning to Ranmaru, she asked why he had interrupted Yuki before when he was telling Eliza why she was there.

Ranmaru looked at her from the corner of his eyes. "Like Yuki said, she can be unpredictable. I don't know what she would have done with that information."

Sunako thought back to the woman she had met earlier. She didn't like people who acted like her, but there was something undeniably capturing about her.

"We just need you to stay away from her while she's here," Takenaga finished. His voice was soft and easy, but held a tone of finality to it.

She nodded, not wanting to upset him at all. "Can I leave now," she asked after a moment of silence.

Takenaga nodded and she let herself out. As she was leaving, she heard Kyohei mutter, "I could really use a good fight right now."

Looking back quickly, she saw how edgy the four seemed. It was completely different from how she usually saw them. It surprised her how one vampire, this Eliza, could cause this. It left one question in her mind above all others.

How much damage could Eliza possibly cause?

So this chapter is a bit shorter than the past three. Almost a 1,000 words shorter. Sorry about that, I know you guys like the longer chapters. I figured it would be, though. I've been sick lately and haven't been in the mood to write. Which is why this chapter probably seems so forced—it feels forced it a way. It's definitely not my favorite chapter. It does introduce Eliza (from volume 2, remember), which is important to the story. It kind of gets things rolling. She is an evil little thing. We'll have fun.

By the way, the name Ranmaru calls Sunako at the beginning of the chapter is 'little kitten.' After her knife throwing, he really can't help himself, but he's too scared to do it in a language she can understand.

I would like to thank Bunni16 for last chapter. She's the real reason it was out before I went on a three day vacation. And she reminds me of my promise to update in a timely fashion despite school. That, and she sends me lovely PMs that make me want to update. So, three cheers for her. (By timely, I mean I've put a two week limit on how long it can take me to update this story. So if it's ever longer than two weeks, feel free to yell at me.) Along with Anitsirch and .onii-sama.

All of the reviewers are a huge encouragement. So are all the visitors, so don't think that I don't love you just because you don't review…I'd like to hear from you though…

So, yeah. Thanks for reading and reviewing. You guys make me feel good, which is good, because then I write this stuff which I hope makes you happy, and then you guys make me feel good. So it's a good circle we're in.

If you see any mistakes, let me know. It was a quick edit.

Until next time,
K'onix.