Chapter 11

"I'm just...not yet used with the sunlight." at that moment, Sylvon and Rina tensed. Fuyumi's right behind him, plastic cups of lemonades in her hands. He knows that she heard and remembering what Sayako told them, he stood, defensively. He then pulled the strings from his clothes.
"I don't plan to fight you." Fuyumi said, stopping him. "As you can see, I've left my weapon."
"Whether you've brought it or not, you're still a slayer." he said, his eyes reddening. "You'll kill us if not now then in some other time when we're not alert."
"If that's true, then why are you still alive?" she asked them blankly. "We're in a festival, we should be enjoying."
"Don't change the topic." he hissed at her. "Slayers kill us as soon as they found out that we're-"
"I did not kill onii-sama." Rina looked up at her, Sylvon was surprised. "Nor Sayako-san."
"Y-you knew!?" he took a step back, a feeling of dread rising up from his gut. It's not for him...but for the said lord. "But you-"
"If you'll let Rina stay under the sun for long, she'll lose it." she paced to her although she tried to escape when she held her hand. He tried to get her away but Rina gazed at him, telling him to trust the slayer for this moment. "I know your nature. That's why I'm here not as a slayer but your friend." they led her under the shades. Rina calmed down.
"You know...our nature?" Rina asked, it's the same thing that Sylvon wanted to say so payed more attention to the brunette than he already has.
"You would die if your heart or head was taken. Or if ever sunlight touched you. You'll turn to ashes if you're not old enough. If you manage to survive, you'll lose your sanity and crave for blood more." she looked at them, it's well said. "The minimum year for you to be considered 'adult' is a hundred years."
"Who...told you that?" Sylvon asked, mesmerized by the girl's knowledge about them. "Who's that onii-sama?"
"Rui-oniisama." she answered; they gasped.
"T-that slayer!?" they grasped at her unison as their eyes are turning red.
"Easy, easy!" she slowly pushed them. "Mind your eyes..." they relaxed, not averting their eyes from her. Their eyes returned to normal.
"He concealed himself." Sylvon muttered to Rina.
The autumn is nearing its end and it's becoming cooler every passing day signaling the coming of winter. Sayako walks out of the building heading back for their dorm, being followed by Rinko, Fuyumi and Maria. The four of them are being watched by the them from the windows of their classroom with keen and suspicious red eyes. They looked at each other and chuckled, their eyes went back to their usual color. They stopped, bringing back the dreaded silence of thinking.
"Should we tell her?" Sylvon asked. "Sayako-sama's still not aware of that Fuyumi knowing her identity."
"If we won't it would be considered as betrayal...eh?" Rina answered with another inquiry. "If we will, we'll make things more complicated than it may seem. We might break the bonds that are forming between them resulting to a misunderstanding...or maybe even worse."
"We'll just stay silent...and wait for them to know those things by themselves." he made up his mid and turned his back after grasping his book bag. "That way...maybe it'll be better."

"Sa-chan~!" Rinko called as she entered their classroom, her eyes wandering for a little bit as she search for the said girl and resting when she found her, sitting on her seat while reading. She quickly strolled to her but halted when Sayako looked up with a glare. She suddenly felt chills when she saw the other's eyes. They are in the way they are usually in but there's some kind of pissed off aura coming from them. It's still their lunch break but Sayako quickly finished her meal and hurried back to their room. It's probably the reason why the whole class was idle and quiet.
"What do you want?" she asked, slightly being able to brighten her mood up.
"Did you see the new post on the bulletin by the room of the drama club?" she cheerfully said. "A Halloween party will be held his coming Thursday! October 31!"
"So?" she raised an eyebrow at the raven, putting her infamous book down her desk. "Have you forgotten that 'real thing' last Saturday?" they heard someone snickering and Maria came in from the back door. Her snickers turned to laughters when Rinko joined her. They stopped, catching their breath.
"...I thought we are the wimps!" Maria said, patting Sayako's shoulder. The russet snarled at the two of them when she got what she was talking about. Rinko smirked.
"Ne, obaa-san~." she sat on her own chair but turned, facing her. "You can be a scary yurei...an old yurei." she teased emphasizing the word 'old' and got some glares. When she turned around, giving an opening for her, the vampire pulled her hair, causing the slayer to shout in pain. Maria giggled at them. With her right hand still entangled with the raven's hair as she pulls them, she gave the damphyr a what-happened-to-her look. She's always utterly quiet. Is it because of this aho? She loosened her grip, and Rinko sighed in relief but gasped when Sayako grasped more strands of her hair.
"You'll be grim reaper, clear?" she blankly said. "Or some gruesome zombie. That suits you." the raven caressed her abused scalp when Sayako finally let go. Fuyumi entered and sat beside Rinko, on her seat, not minding their on-going conversation until-
"And Fu-chan will obviously be a witch with an old rod or-"
Smack.
"Who told you I'm going to that party, inoshishi?" Now, the raven's problem isn't just her scalp but her head itself. Then, they exchanged glares. "I won't go to that stupid party." she glanced at Sayako. "And I presume, Sa-chan also won't."
Maria and Rinko gasped, realizing the truth when they heard a "hmmp" from the president who returned to reading. They whined and pleaded to her, pretending to be crying every now and then. Sayako was slowly getting pissed off by them. It only worsened when Jole went in. Hearing that the 'most popular' student won't come with them, she also whined. Sayako's effort to threaten them were lost in vain when Rina and Sylvon joined them. She eventually said, "Yes, fine! I'll come!" abruptly just to shut them up which flattered herself. And because of that, Fuyumi also gave up, knowing that Sayako already did.
"Yatta~!" Jole, Rinko, Maria and Rina cheered up in unison. "Success! There're convinced!" the two who were mentioned sighed. It's hard to keep up your composure and patience around these people. They thought.
"Sa-chan will be a doll!" Jole exclaimed, and the other three stared at her then took three steps back. "E-eh? Doushite? Isn't that cute?"
"That would be...HARD." Maria and Rina said, striking her ears. Jole pouted at them then glanced at Rinko.
"W-what?" she asked, Jole stepped closer to her.
"What do you think?" she stepped closer again, eyes gleaming like a puppy's. "N-ne?"
"Well..." Rinko glimpsed at Sayako but quickly averted her eyes. Even she can't keep up an eye contact with the russet at a time like this. "T-that would be...nice..." Jole cheered up. "But scary." I mean...her being a doll would be alright but...I just can't imagine her wearing a Gothic dress or something. Angering her to that extent would be dangerous. and returned to being gloomy again. She paced to Sayako who ignored her.
"Onegaishimasu...Sa-chan?" she pleaded.
"Don't try convincing me on that part." she growled. Jole shuddered. "I most certainly won't be a doll."
"Why not?" Rinko suddenly popped up beside her that Sayako jerked in surprise. Well...yeah. I think that would be cute, though.
"Dolls can be scary." she muttered, covering her face with the book. Fuyumi glanced at her and snickered. Jole and Rinko looked at Fuyumi then back at Sayako. They smirked. Fuyumi's damn talent is on.
"Sa-chan's being embarrassed." Fuyumi said, still snickering.
"Eh?" Jole and Rinko continued to stare at Sayako.
"Majo...urusai..." Sayako threatened, glaring at her behind the book with an eerie voice that made the two hide behind Fuyumi.
"S-Sa-chan?" Rinko barely uttered. Sayako put her book down and glared at her, dreadfully. The three of them shuddered. "There's nothing w-wrong i-if you'll tell u-us why you don't like...d-dolls? Ne?"
"Aho..." they shuddered again when the student council president stood up, slamming her hands on her desk. But she calmed down, a slight blush on her face. "Nii-chan...once told me...dolls will choke you to death in your sleep."
Silence.
Snickers.
Then their snickers turned to laughters.
"Stop laughing!" Sayako roared at them, her light blush deepening.

The much awaited day of the week: Thursday.
They are preparing themselves inside the drama club room. Others' costumes are provided by the club. As Rinko said, Fuyumi dressed up as a witch-
"No. She looks closer to a necromancer with that staff and puppet book" Rinko said. The girls squealed when they saw Rui and Akira as vampires...like in the piece of paper of the witch while Jole wears a costume near to Alice in wonderland's-
"It's not Alice in wonderland. It's Malice in Horror!" Jole whined. Rinko – no matter how uncomfortable she is in a gown – wears a ghostly bride costume. When Rui and Akira neared her, she was in a daze again. The memory of the 'piece of paper' is still carved in her mind that she forgot her grudge against the bloodsucking beings. This made the two guys shudder since they know how perverted this girl can be.
Although hesitantly, Rina dressed in a nurse costume with blood splattered on it. She matches Sylvon's who's in a bloody-chef costume. Instead of scaring the gang, it just brought loud laughters and teasing when they saw the butcher knife he personally made. They became louder when Jin, who's in a gorilla costume, butted in with a zombie – who's actually Raito – in tow.
"Well...he's addicted with zombies..." Rina commented in a low grumble from a corner, she was actually scared or...surprised. She was caught off guard.
Eventually, their noise became louder and Sayako came out in a gothic red and black dress. She wears a small hat and a pair of white stockings in black high boots. Her hair was curled making her looks like a realistic horror-doll especially with the cosmetics - that makes the half of her face looks like decaying - Jole applied. She, as a doll, was emphasized with the realistic baby zombie puppet. She thought they would scream or shriek, terrified, with the silence that followed...which was broken when Rinko laughed loudly at her.
"Urusai, aho!" she hissed, her words not that clear through her gritted teeth. "...Or I'll curse you...!"
"Sleep with him, 'kay?" she stopped laughing. Her voice became serious yet still teasing. "He'll choke you to death!"
"Urusai!" all of the others exclaimed at her. Looking at Sayako right now will not be a help. With that costume, although the dress suits her, she's scarier than she used to be.

"Geez..." Sayako sighed. She and her cousin are having their time spent on chatting with each other while sitting on their chairs and sipping their drinks on their table.
The best session of the party was the choosing of the 'best in costume' this year. Jole was in the third place. Two second years on the following places and a third year for the best one. Sayako was supposed to be the 'best in costume' with her decayed face and puppet but she was one of the judges.
"What are you sighing about?" Rui asked.
"Well...I shouldn't have told them about what Kairo-niichan told me." she explained, sipping her juice. "They're more annoying now.
"You still remember what he told you?"
"Of course," she gazed at him, it's not a glare but somehow, Rui felt a bit of sadness in her eyes. "I won't forget them. So they can still live in my memories."
"Hmmm." he uttered, staring back at her. "He was with you even at your childhood."
"We weren't related...otoo-sama adopted him." she rested her face on her arms, giving no care to the decaying-looking cosmetics which might become distorted. "He died...when you came, you were still a child..."
"What's with the serious tone?" he chuckled. "He protected us."
"He didn't have to. He's just a human...I was eighteen and you were ten at that time, right?" it's not really question so Rui didn't bother to answer. "He was early twenty or so...I failed to protect him. I must be the one who did what he did."
"Stop this talk. I don't like your remorseful tone." Sayako looked up to him. She's not crying though the tears are collecting in her eyes, waiting to fall from a corner...but she held back. "Anyway, there's no classes tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah." she leaned back on her chair, her coolness and composure back.
"We're gonna visit her village. That's where everyone were buried." he flashed a smile. "Want to come?"
"We aren't that close. Why would I? I'm not an intruder or a gossip." she laughed to herself. It's not a joyful one, mocking instead. "Humans are lucky to have a corpse when they die, ne?"
"Don't be like that. You're being ironic."
"Ironic?" she paused for a while, waiting for him to explain but he didn't. "Yeah. People say they're alright when they aren't. They laugh when in reality, they want to cry out loud. Ironic isn't the perfect word. Perhaps 'crazy'."
"Yako-oneechan..." he held her hand, she looked back at him. "I'll be with you forever. I won't leave you alone."
"Stop calling onee-chan." a grunt escaped her lips as she took back her hand, a light pink color spread across her face. Watching Rinko and the others have fun made her think of the slayer's very own sadness. "You appear older than me now. It makes me think I'm really old. Plus, it doesn't suit you. It's like you're being a child." he chuckled; she giggled.
What she just said makes sense. It's upsetting that you don't have a grave for your loved ones...since they don't have a corpse that needs to be buried to decay to begin with. Yet, they're pretending they're happy. They were just interrupted when a drunken Rinko grabbed them. They ended up as players of the stupid game. Their small circle composed of Jole, Rina, Jin, Sylvon, Khana, Raito, Maria, Akira and Fuyumi and of course, Rinko. And momentarily, they forgot the gapping hole in their memories.
"The game's rules are simple." Jole started to explain as she placed a bottle at the center of their circle. "The one who'll spin that bottle will do whatever that's written inside these paper." she took a fish bowl with rolled close papers inside. Then she grabbed a bottle of whiskey from her back. "If you won't, you'll just have to drink a shot."
"Sounds fun." Rui said, flashing a bright and wide grin. Sayako glared at each one of them. The others aside from Jole seemed a little drunk.
"I refuse." she said, standing up. Rinko bit her ankle causing her to squeal then stumble on the floor. The slayer's bite marks are deep although there are no blood gushing out. Sayako snarled at her, gripping her hair and pulling them like she wants to turn her bald.
"Bakemono-baachan looks really scary!" Rinko patted Sayako's shoulder as she dizzily slumped against her. Sayako tried to shove her away but Rui snickered at them. She glared at him.
"Congrats, you have another nickname." he teased.
"Che!" she snapped, anger in her tone as a pulsing vein appeared on her forehead and temple. "Why don't you help me get this aho off me, annoying brat!?" reluctantly, Rinko touched Sayako's temple and caressed it. "What are you doing!?" she smacked her head. Rinko giggled and then laughed and lunged herself to Sayako again.
"Hello there, Angry Vein-chan~!" she whined, trying to reach Sayako's forehead which is hard since Sayako's pushing her away. Their circle of friends around them started a throaty laugh. "MOU~! You're such a killjoy! Let me play with her~!"
"What vein!?" she smacked her away. "You want me to let you play with my forehead!? Are you crazy???" she tried to reach the bottled in the center to use it on her so she'll just faint and shut up but Rina quickly snatched it.
"She's drunk." Rina informed her. "Be more patient." Sayako twitched then sent Rinko another glare.
"STOP LAUGHING!!! IT'S NOT FUNNY AT ALL!!!"
Ri-chan's probably dead by now if looks can kill. Err...well...that's pretty possible with Sa-chan... Rina thought nervously. Ah...I'll just buy lilies for her grave if Sa-chan can't really control herself...
"Bakemono-baachan!!! Don't get in my way with my cute Angry Vein-chan~!"
"What's cute with a vein?" Maria thought...out loud. Rinko directed a glare in her direction.
"It's squishy, you know~!" and she averted her eyes back to the vein. "You probably don't know how to play with a water balloon that you guys think like that~!" they sweatdropped...and shuddered when they looked at Sayako. She looked like an antagonist in a horror film as she glares at Rinko with evil laughs. It worsened when she played with the baby zombie puppet. She's surrounded with murderous intent now. Rui can't help but to stare at the two of them. He knows that if he'll get in between he'll just be the first one who'll see what heaven is like.
"J-Jole.." Sylvon slowly turned to face Jole. "It's better to stop this game now...she's drunk and t-there...that's what-"
"Wait, wait." Fuyumi interrupted in a low voice. "A-are you saying it's our fault she's drunk?"
"Precisely, yes."
"For your information..." she exhaled, she's been holding her breath since they took a dreaded glimpsed at Sayako. "She was also like that before...not doing the consequences; Just drinking on purpose."
"Y-you mean..." Rina butted in and gulped. "We most likely might get beaten into a pulp because...she's drunk and is pissing Sa-chan off...b-because she wanted to?" Fuyumi nodded.
"Guys, you know..." Khana joined in, can't take the tensed air anymore and really needs to share what little information she'll tell. "Sa-chan has three options when she's out of temper..." all of them looked at her. There's a chilling depressed aura fuming from her.
"And...they are...?"
"1)Electrocute." she enumerated. "With that, she'll be paralyzed for her whole life. 2) kill. Well...she might still be alive...with only machines supporting her. And 3)...last but not the least...curse. She might haunt her for life...believe me...it's the thing you won't want to get. You might just die on your own with that."
Silence. They looked at the two...
They're wrestling with each other. "For the sake of Angry Vein-chan~!!!" Rinko shouted a battle cry.
"Rui...I think you should stop them now...or...Rinko will go to the other world a little bit early..." Akira suggested. The other group stared at him. By other group that means, Khana's problematic group. There are actually three groups, divided by invisible lines...Rinko and Sayako are in solitude right now, considering in what situation they are in.
"HONOU-SAN!" Maria jumped to him, if Rui didn't dodge her, she might have knocked him off on the floor. "If you still want Ri-chan to live...STOP THEM NOW IN AN INSTANT!"

two hours later...

Sayako, Rui and Akira are panting heavily. At last, Rinko dozed off...too drunk to stay awake. The problematic group stares at them, sweaty and trembling. Sayako struggled from Rui's grip and got freed. No one will blame him...she's strong after all...being the antagonist of this the ring-like horror film she's – no, no! I mean the vampire lord of this stupid vampire story, she's the most powerful one in their gang.
"All of you..." she said in a low intimidating, eerie, ghostly voice. "If that crazy-stupid-mental-hospital-run-away-aho got near to me again...within fifty meters radius...I'LL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO GET A TEN-WHEELED TRUCK AND RUN OVER HER THREE TIMES!!! I SWEAR!!!"
Bang!
She left, stomping all the way to the door...which she didn't forget to slam hard.
"Ouch..." Rui said. "The door broke down on the floor..."
"And the wall cracked..." everybody said.
They gulped, although their throats are dry...and sighed in relief.
"Sa-chan...has a s-short t-t-t-temper...ne?" Fuyumi absentmindedly said.
"I don't think she has that temper you're talking about." Akira said.

[Their crazy Halloween party]