A/N: I swear I'll update again soon! Sorry for the long delay guys, I was just really busy with studying and getting ready to start my career. It's all a bit terryfying, but I think I'll get into the swing of things.
AnimeFreak1145: Yes, I put more moments in with the others. I trying to do it more often, just smack me and say you want more when there isn't enough. Reiji will definitely have his moments here soon, trust me.
MadamCookieMonster: XD I guess that's kinda a spoiler. Tsuna was supposed to equip her own dress, but never did for reasons that will be mentioned soon. And her name is Cordelia, a pretty name for a terrible demon. That moment between Laito and Tsuna was cute, but then I realized it sounded pervy thanks to what another reviewer pointed out. And yes, I need to get her to interact with the others more, a terrible habit of mine. Well...In this chapter you'll see what happens with that poison. But you're right, she has no place to go, has mental issues, and doesn't have a proper education in order to live on her own.
TheTranslator001: Don't worry about it, focus on your life. I didn't realize it was dirty until you said something. It was nice writing a normal-ish chapter, which I'll have more opportunities to do eventually. The surprise is in this chapter~! No, don't thank me. I only wrote what came to my head, but it's all you guys who have given me the support that I needed to continue it!
...
Tsuna stirred the tea that she had made with a silver spoon she found in a drawer. It was Sunday night and she was still trying to get up the nerve to use the contents of the vial her Grandmother. She wasn't sure if it was fear or it was something else entirely, but every time she committed herself to drink it she would steer away and pocket it. Sighing she put a hand in her jeans and pulled out the vial. It was a long thing that was clear yet black and had a simple shaped top that looked almost like an owl. The liquid inside sloshed around as Tsuna brought it up to the light to inspect. "Time for round two billion and one."
She twisted the cap and a sharp spicy smell invaded her nose and made her cough. Shaking her head she moved the vial to let it hover over the dainty white and blue cup. As she was tipping the vial the kitchen door opened. The girl gasped and clasped her fingers around it in order to hide it better from the vampire that walked in. "Hi, Reiji-san."
The vampire gave her a once over before he went to a cabinet that had glass doors and began taking out a white plate set that had gold cherubs flying along the rim, their naked bodies clothed with long bits of silk. It was strange that a vampire who had no religion and scorned God would have such a thing. He placed it on the counter top before going to the refridgerator and opening it up. "Are you getting a snack?"
The boy's shoulder's stiffened before he glanced back at her. "Is there a need to question every single thing that I do?"
"No..." She held up a black kettle. "But I made some tea and thought you'd like some too. It's either that or I'll have to pour it down the sink again."
"..."
"It's orange spice in case you were wondering."
"...Fine." He turned back to the refrigerator. "I suppose it will taste good with the lemon tarts."
Tsuna wasn't doing this to be nice, she was terrified of Reiji, but she did want to know more about her Grandmother. It seemed everything that she knew about her was a lie. Perhaps talking to Reiji could help her down that road. Discreetly putting the top back on her vial she slipped it back in her pockets. She then reached up and grabbed a small tea cup off the shelf for Reiji and proceeded to fill it up with some of the steaming hot water. She then dropped in a tea bag before stirring it. She flinched when she felt a sharp sting against her shoulder, she turned to look at Reiji who had smacked her with a wooden ladle. "What?"
"You prepare tea in such a distasteful manner." He pushed her aside and dumped the content out into the sink. Sitting it back down he placed a tea bag inside the cup before pouring the water into it. He then opened up a small sugar container and plucked up two cubes before dumping them in and stirring them around with a flourish. "That is how you make proper tea."
"Right..."
The girl picked up her tea and moved to sit at the island, but was stopped by the vampire. "When I entered you were preparing to take something, what was it?"
Tsuna's heart nearly froze and her stomach fluttered. She hadn't thought Reiji noticed the bottle and if he did he couldn't have possibly cared. She took a deep breath, which was hard to do thanks to her heart in her throat. "W-what are you talking-"
"It's rude to play stupid." He reached out and grabbed her, spinning her around to look at him. "I know that you have a vial and I know that it's filled with a poison, I can smell it. It's poison made from a plant, perhaps a rare fern of some sort, or roses from the demon world. Whatever the case maybe it's a rare drug that only the rich of the vampire world could ever hope to obtain. The question is...How did you get it."
"..." It was poison? She understood that her grandmother wanted to test her, but to go as far as to poison her? She wasn't sure if she should be upset with her or just go away and forget her entire existence.
She yelped when Reiji's grip on her tightened, bones threatening to break under her hand. "Perhaps I should try the poison on you? I always wanted to try it on a human, but never had the resources and authority to get it. But now that I have it..."
"...Someone gave it to me." She swallowed the lump in her throat. "She was an old woman who worked at the school. She said I should drink it and that it would make me healthy since I look too pale. I-I'm sorry if I did something wrong."
His pink eyes stared at her for several moments, before he finally let go of her. "Give me the bottle."
She slipped a hand in her pocket and grasped bottle. For a moment she faltered as her subconscious told her that her grandmother knew something about what was going on, that she could help her. But then reality settled in as she drew it out and set it in his waiting palm, there was no way she could protect her when she wasn't around.
Reiji raised the bottle to the light and examined it for a moment, his eyes narrowing as he did. "So she found you."
"Who?"
"Your grandmother." He said. "Her mark is placed on the bottom of the vial, a rose placed on a coffin. She was always melodramatic, trying to push symbolism in everything she did...But why bother contacting you now?"
"..."
He shook his head and slipped the bottle into his jacket pocket. "I don't want you doing anything without one of us with you for now on."
"I'm not going to run away," She said. "I learned my lesson-"
"Just do as you're told and get out of my sight."
Tsuna got up, tea all but forgotten, and quickly left the kitchen. She got what she wanted to some degree, but with it her trust was once again shot down.
...
The quiet sound of rain pattering against the windows made Tsuna sleepy. Even with the anxiety of her bottle missing, she couldn't get out of lethargy's grasp as she sat close to the window. Her knees were pulled close to her and her head was leaning against the cool window, some of her hair splayed on it like a bright splatter of paint. She watched the large drive way at the front of the house, her eyes straining to see the lights and hub of the city. Whenever she came to this window and looked at the gates she was always reminded just how far away the Sakamaki lived from civilization. It made her self aware that there was no one to hear her scream, and if they did they were probably too scared to do anything anyway. In a way it made her mildly amused to think she was now interwoven into some nightmare told to kids to keep them from entering this place. If she was here by her own voluntarily will she probably would have laughed at the thought.
"Tsuna-san."
She turned to look at Kanato, his body huddling close to his teddy bear as if in distress. During times like these he looked exceptionally cute and Tsuna just wanted to cuddle him. "What?"
"I wanted to go play a game, but the others don't want to play with me. You'll play with me, right?"
Even though he worded it like a request it didn't sound like one. Pulling her body into a proper sitting position she got up. "Sure, what did you wanna play?"
His eyes seemed to lit up some. "Darts, let's play darts."
"Alright."
The two hurried down to the game room, a place that Tsuna didn't frequent, and Kanato set down Teddy. There was a dart board hanging up on one wall and the blue and red throwing pieces were all pinned into the board. Most of them had managed to land pretty close to the bulls-eye, she wondered if Kanato was a good player or not. Tsuna herself wasn't much of a darts player, that specialty lied with her brother Rin. He was good at most things that required throwing, but she guessed that was because he was good at math or something.
"So how many rounds do you wanna play, Kanato?"
He arranged the colorful pieces in his hands as he walked over to her. "Three, the winner will get a treat from the looser."
Tsuna frowned as she took her darts, blue ones, from him. "What kind of treat?"
He shrugged. "Anything."
She watched him play with his darts for several moments before nodding. She supposed if the treat could be anything she could give him a high five. She'd never done anything like that with him, essentially a treat. "Alright, you go first then."
The boy turned to face his target. With his back to her Tsuna couldn't see his face, but she could see that his body was completely relaxed if not uncaring. With a seemingly easy throw the dart arced in the air and stabbed the board, only inches from the bulls-eye. "Your turn, Tsuna-san."
She gulped and walked up to the same point that Kanato had been standing at. It seemed an especially long way from the board, she wasn't sure she could see the numbers nonetheless throw a dart. She was sure it was just her anxiety talking, maybe, and all she had to do was throw the stupid needle. She balanced it between her fingers and raised her hand up the same way she had seen Kanato do. Taking a deep breath she moved her wrist back, but stopped when she heard a yell come from behind her.
"Stop! None of you wanted to play before!"
"Yes, but Slut-chan is playing."
"Oi, don't get too comfortable, Chichinashi is Ore-sama's"
She turned and saw Laito holding Kanato's darts above his head in a teasing manner. It looked like something out of a Saturday morning cartoon with the big brother teasing the baby. Ayato was leaning against the doorway with that sneer on his face that never seemed to go away.
Sighing she put her darts on the pool table and went over to them. "What's the issue now?"
Kanato faced her. "Laito won't give them back!"
"I just want to play with, Slut-chan." Laito said. "Is that really so wrong? Besides, there's no rule saying I can't play with her."
"Ore-sama claimed her first." Ayato warned. "I can make all the rules I want."
Tsuna watched them for all of three seconds before walking to the door. "You three act like a bunch of kids, if you're not gonna play fair I'm just gonna take a nap."
Ayato grabbed her around the waist before she could exit, nearly causing her to bump her head against the door frame. "Not so fast, Chichinashi. We're gonna hold a contest to see who get's to keep you, I don't think you want to miss it."
No, she didn't mind missing it. No matter who won it was going to end badly for her. She allowed herself to be dragged to a chair and pushed down into it. Ayato snatched up one of the darts and played with the needle as he made his way up to the line. Without any pomp he threw it at the board and managed to make the bulls eye. Laito gave a low whistle while Kanato grumbled about it being unfair. Next up was Laito who picked up a dart and strolled over to her. "Blow it, Lady Luck?"
"Oi, go already!" Ayato pushed his older twin away, making his brother laugh at him.
Going to the line he threw it casually, pouting when the thing missed the bullseye by mear inches. "Awe, I wanted to spend time with Slut-chan. You always get a chance to play with her Ayato-kun, I want a turn!"
Ayto scoffed and leaned down, blocking Tsuna's view of Kanato's shot. "So you're mine, Chichinashi."
His breath shadowed her neck and on instinct her entire body stiffened up. "Aren't you cheating Ayato, we haven't seen Kanato's throw."
"Che, I doubt he could beat, Ore-"
"Yes!"
Ayato twisted around and cursed while Tsuna sighed as Kanato cheered, his grin stretching across his face making him look more demonic than usual. In the dead center of the dart board was Kanato's dart wiggling broadly as if to smear victory in Ayato's face. "Alright then Kanato what do you-"
Tsuna shrieked as Ayato yanked her up and pulled her close to him. "You wanna face me in a game, wanna try in a fight?"
Kanato's eyes narrowed. "You're only saying that because you know you'll win!"
"Ha, victory belongs to Ore-sama!"
Laito gave a low laugh as he walked towards his brother, a smirk curled on his lips. "Why don't we just do this?"
He swooped in and tilted Tsuna's face up slightly, his cold breath cascaded along her face before his lips trailed down to her neck. She flinched as he took a bite, the initial pain making her jittery, but it was quickly over run by the pleasure that he leeked. A breathy moan escaped her lips as she moved her head to the side to allow the vampire to get a better bite out of her neck.
"Oi, you can't do that!"
"Slut-chan seems to like it." Laito murrmurred. "Look, she's moaning like a whore. It hurts you say? Then why all the provocative noises coming out of you? I'm delusional? Hardly."
Laito continued to feast on her, making Tsuna's body warm and tingly. However her heart began to beat in her throat when she felt her shirt being pulled up. "Hey!"
Kanato ignored her and continued to roll it up, exposing her too thin midriff to him. "I won, so I should get a prize too, right? Afterall, you're letting Laito take a bite out of you and he took third place."
"I-I didn't let him take a bite, Kanato." She said. "It just sorta happened that way."
"Right." He licked around her belly button, the cold appendage making her back involuntarily into Ayato. "But I still get a prize, I won and you lost."
She gasped as another set of fangs pierced her skin. She had never been double teamed like this and it made her head foggy. She could hear both of their moans as they gulped down her blood and could feel their hands shift on her as they used her to balance themselves. It was truly and amazing feeling that she wished would happen more often. The though barely registered in her head before she shut her eyes as hard as she could, cursing low under her breath. She shouldn't think that way! It was nearly as bad as having sex with two other people, it shouldn't happen no matter how good it felt.
"So that's how you're going to play, Chichinashi?" Ayato growled in her ear, returning her to reality for just a moment. "You're going to let yourself be dominated by these losers?"
"I-I don't have much of a choice, Ayato." She gasped when she felt a hand fondle her chest, she really didn't want to know who did that.
"Let me show you who you belong to then." He hissed before another sharp pain entered the left side of her neck.
She tried to make her body stiffen, she tried to feign disliking it but the pleasure was already there and making her light headed. More, she need more . She wanted their bodies closer, that strange cold heat that radiated from them to glide across her skin and set her blood aflame with desire. These wanton thoughts were sinful, deadly even. but she didn't want them to stop. And even if she did would it really matter? The residence of the mansion would have corrupted her to such desires...
If they hadn't already.
...
Later that evening found Tsuna in her bed. She was too sore to move after having to go up a flight of stairs after being tripled teamed by the triplets and then finally carried by a reluctant Subaru. She moaned and rolled over onto her side, a hand putting pressure on her neck to keep the wounds Ayato gave her from killing her. "It hurt so much."
Subaru rolled his eyes. "You put yourself in that position, if you hadn't followed Kanato around then you would have been fine."
"Until he decides to stab me for not playing with him." She deadpanned. "Anyway, why do you care? Normally you tell me I'm stupid and should just shut up or whatever."
A pale pink flushed on his cheeks before he shoved her into the pillows. "Just shut up, alright? I don't need people at school questioning why you're gone before a cover story is made up."
Those words made her stomach flip around. "What? Y-you all make cover stories on why all the sacrificial brides don't come back to school?"
"How else did you think we got away with it?"
She had never really thought about it too hard before. She thought the boys just killed girls and no one said anything since they were so popular. She hadn't realized that even they weren't over justice, or at least the system wasn't corrupt enough, and they had to have some form of a reason for all those girls to be gone. But hadn't anyone asked why so many people decided to live with the Sakamaki? And and even better question was why no one questioned the fact that the people living with them were always girls. The entire thought made her stomach sick and she curled up into a ball, content now to do as Subaru asked.
She stared at the vampire as he sat on the side of her bed, a book in his hands that looked like it was assigned from school or something. Her question from earlier flitted through her head once again as she watched the vampire turn a page in his book. Why was he bothering to take care of her? Out of all the vampires Subaru had to be the one that cared for her, in his own twisted way, the most. He vowed to protect her, he gave her a knife to protect herself, he had even taken her to bed when she couldn't do such a simple task. The kindness didn't seem prevalent in vampires, male or female, so was Subaru the exception? Had something happened to him that made him care for humans?
Now that she thought about it she didn't know much about the brothers. She knew that they all had different mothers and that the triplets' mother was dead, but aside form that she knew nothing. It was just another enigma that was this mansion and the residence within. Shifting slightly she scooted further from Subaru as her mouth began moving. "What happened to you?"
...
Reiji stared at the vial sitting on his desk, a sneer on his delicate face. He had expected Tsuna's grandmother to take an interest in her, but had never expected it would be some type of murder mission. The stuff in the vial smelled so much like poison he was willing to bet his entire tea cup collection. However it was never good to do these types of things without proper study, and yes Reiji would study it. Any poison created by that woman needed to be thoroughly examined down to the very atoms that had helped create it. However, as much as the vampire didn't like to admit it, he didn't know enough about that woman in order to make a good study on it.
The vampire stood up and went to one of his many bookcases. Taking out a red book he opened it and retrieved the phone inside. yes, Reiji needed to study it but would never understand due to the bits of...personality that she no doubt threw into the concoction. Any poison maker worth their salt made things partly out of their own heads. So he needed someone to help him with this. Someone who knew the old woman like the back of their hand.
Going through the small number list he clicked one and brought the phone to his ear. The thing trilled for several seconds before a breathy tired voice answered. "Yes, what is it?"
"I need to speak to you about an old friend, Azure."
...
A/N: And that's the intro for this season! I hope you all enjoy it as much as I have, even if this took an eternity and a half to write! We're finally coming up on the nitty gritty of this series, which also reminds me about the fact that it'll be ending soon. Ah well, nothing lasts forever, right?