I can't believe I never noticed just how many shades of shadow there are, Kokoa thought, revelling in the heightened sense of sight she currently possessed. The shadows revolved around her feet, cast by the tall lampposts lining the cobblestone path between the library and the dorms, brightening and dimming as her proximity to the individual light sources changed. Her eyes were glued to the ground, her focus consumed by the orbiting silhouettes.

It was something she had noticed after the first couple of times she had fed upon Vlad, a temporary sharpening of her already heightened vampiric senses. Usually she did it before they started working on the project so she could focus better, but this time she choose to save it until afterwards as a treat.

"I am going to be so happy when we finally turn that project in. Just seven more days and we never have to think about it again," Vlad said as he threw his empty juice box into a garbage can along the path, the remnant of a treat of his own. He had started bringing snacks along to replenish his blood after Kokoa drank from him, but the rule about food in the library meant he had to consume them during their walk back. His attempt to continue talking was cut off by a loud yawn.

"It's only ten pm," Kokoa said, glancing at him with slight smirk. "I thought America was the country that never sleeps?"

"That's just New York, and from what I hear that's not really by choice."

"Well, don't fall asleep here. It'd be inconvenient for me to have to either stay out all night to guard you or drag you to your dorm room."

"And god forbid you be inconvenien- yawn"

Kokoa smugly tsked at him. "Can you really not handle such a short walk?"

"Short my ass. This campus is huge! Seriously, I thought Poe was…" Vlad's face fell.

An awkward silence rose between the two, bringing Kokoa slightly down from her mini-high; an unacceptable occurrence to the vampire who was acutely aware of how short they were and the fact she could only experience them once a day.

Ugh, what could distract him? she thought. Her mind cast out and recalled a story she had heard earlier that day, in the so-called "newspaper" club room. Normally she ignored everything that went on in that wretched area, blocking out all but the telltale sound of her elder sister being released from her prison, but today something strange happened. The pink-haired imposter and her friends had actually managed to stop fighting over the human. The sheer novelty of the situation was enough to get Kokoa to pay heed. And if the story could, after a fashion, capture her attention, then surely it would enthral a lower-class monster like whatever Vlad was.

"Did you hear about the incidents around campus?" Kokoa asked.

Vlad straightened up and looked at her, apparently also wishing to end the awkward silence. He made a noise that Kokoa took as an indication to keep talking, not that she needed his permission to do so.

"A bunch of weaklings have been found laying around on campus, clearly having picked a fight with a superior foe and suffering the consequences. Left them with nightmares. It seems they were beaten so badly that when they woke up they were..."

"...They were?" Vlad said.

Kokoa's mind was racing, her knowledge of english having failed her in this instance. What is that stupid word. That stupid word in this stupid language. She opened her mouth slightly and nearly made an uhm noise, a worthless time filler that she had been taught was unbefitting of a noble vampire to make in speech. Thinking quickly, Kokoa found the word she was looking for. "Faceless."

Vlad stopped in his tracks and looked at her, bewildered. "They had their faces torn off?! And they woke up afterwards?"

Evidently it was not the word she was looking for. Stupid language, it had none of the elegance of japanese. Kokoa kept walking, turning her nose up and acting like she had meant to say that. Before she could continue her story, Vlad spoke up.

"What's that?" he said as he looked off of the path, squinting into the darkness of the forest.

Following his gaze lead Kokoa's eyes to what looked like an unconscious person on the ground. A girl with short black hair and impressively pale skin. There was a shadow on top of her that looked like it was moving, spreading to cover almost all of the body.

Kokoa shrugged. Not her problem. She turned around and kept walking, making it a few steps before she realized that Vlad was not following her. Looking back over her shoulder, Kokoa could see Vlad going off of the road and towards the fallen girl.

"Hey!" Vlad called out, presumably to either the shadow or the girl.

Kokoa rolled her eyes. "If you put yourself into danger," she said, "I'm not getting you out it. It's your own fault."

Vlad made no indication he had heard her as he walked up to the shadow, which had stopped moving.

Idiot, Kokoa thought as she started to resume her walk. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the shadow start to peel off of the body. Well, hopefully he won't get killed. His blood is too delicious to lose. The thought made Kokoa stop in her tracks. She turned her head just enough to be able to observe the situation, to make sure her supply wasn't permanently lost to her. But it seemed there was no danger, the shadow had started to slither off of the body.

Kokoa scoffed. Cowards, every one of them. Every single creature at this pathetic schoo- her train of thought was cut off by a brief flash of shock which was itself swallowed in a flood of pure rage.

The shadow had attempted to flee, running across the path behind her. As it passed, Kokoa felt the unmistakeable sensation of someone lifting up the back of her skirt. It felt a lot like someone signing their own death warrant.

As soon as her skirt was lifted the shadow ran away, traveling remarkably fast for a two dimensional being. Then again, anything would move quickly if it had a powerful, enraged vampire in pursuit.

While her shade led the girl away, the boy walked over to Rumiko. Just as she had planned. She felt his hand touch her shoulder and opened her eyes. The dream eater couldn't stop a sneer from appearing on her face, so she hid it behind a smile as she rolled over to see her prey.

"You okay?" the boy asked. The words came out slow and unsure. Rumiko's sneer grew. A simple mind made for easy prey. "Thing attack you. You okay?"

"Thank you, I'm fine," said Rumiko. Her voice thickened and distorted as she spoke, layering her words with yoki. "But tell me," She looked into his eyes. "What do you fear most?"

Kokoa wouldn't allow herself to gasp for breath. Her body hadn't earned it. Clearly it wasn't sprinting as fast as it could if this scrap of darkness was outpacing her. Worse, it seemed to be toying with her. Slowing down just enough for her to nearly step on it before speeding up again.

I am the greatest predator in creation! How is this perverted thing outrunning me? Her lungs burned and her eyes stung with sweat.

What kind of vampire allows herself to be outrun by a mere shadow!

Rumiko's mouth watered in anticipation as she waited for the boy's eyes to glaze over, for him to come under her illusion, for his emotions and yoki to start flowing into her body.

...Any second now.

The boy's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Sorry, what you say?"

Rumiko blinked. Maybe she didn't put enough into it the first time. "What do you fear most?" she asked again, forcing even more power into her words.

"Sorry, sorry, I japanese not good," The boy said. "Please, slow?"

The dream eater couldn't believe it. Her magic required the target to register her words so thoughts of their fears would start bubbling up. This idiot was too stupid for it to work on him.

He reached out a hand to try to help her up but she swatted it away.

Rumiko grit her teeth and tried again, speaking slower. "What. Do. You. Fear?"

"I- I- I not understand. You voice so…" the idiot made a gesture with his hand as he tried to find the word he was looking for. "Not standard?"

Rumiko could feel a headache coming on. To make matters worse, the timer on her shade was about to run out.

Just a bit faster. Just a bit faster. Just a bit- where did it go? Kokoa stopped in her tracks. No, no, no! It must be hiding somewhere. Her eyes darted around the trees, the roots, the rocks, anywhere a shadow could conceal itself this late at night. It can't have disappeared! It can't have gotten away! But try as Kokoa might, no matter how much she strained her eyes she could not find the moving shadow. She had to face reality. It had escaped. She had lost.

Kokoa felt her knees buckle and she nearly collapsed, but through sheer force of pride she kept herself standing. What is wrong with me! If it had been Moka she would've captured it before it had even got off of the path! Even the imposter would have been able to stop it! This can't be all I can do! It can't be! It can't!

The stinging in Kokoa's eyes got worse as her sweat mingled with tears. She wanted to run away, to hide her shame. She wanted to wake up in her bed from this nightmare. She wanted her sister. But her sister was still trapped in a prison that she wasn't strong enough to break her out of. Another failure. What else could she screw up.

She reached for her phone. Inside it was a picture of Moka. The real Moka. It always helped her feel better when nothing else could. But her phone wasn't with her. It was in her bag, which she had dropped when she chased the shadow. With a sniff she turned around and started heading back towards the path to collect her things.

This was getting intolerable. Rumiko had repeated herself slowly, quickly, and with as little yoki as she could put into her voice and still have the spell work. The idiot still didn't understand. She was about ready to cut her losses when the idiot started digging around in his pocket.

"Wait," he said. "I have the idea." He pulled out a phone and opened up an app. "Speak to this."

Rumiko rolled her eyes and was about to give it one last try when she heard footsteps coming from the forest. She glanced at the source and saw the girl from early, her head down as she shuffled towards the path. Rumiko's eyes widened. Even from this far away she could feel the girl positively dripping with emotion. Her sneer returned. Maybe the night would not be a waste after all.

The idiot looked at the girl and started to speak in a language she couldn't understand, but no matter. He didn't get to say much before Rumiko cut him off.

"What do you fear most?" she nearly shouted at the girl.

Kokoa heard someone call her name and blearily looked up. It was Vlad, he was still there with the other girl. Kokoa hastily wiped her eyes, no need for anyone else to see the state she was in. Before Vlad could finish what he was saying, the girl yelled at her.

What a stupid question, Kokoa thought bitterly. She had no time to deal with idiocy. She was about to tell the stupid girl off when she saw a flicker of movement on the ground. The shadow was standing right in the middle of the path! Without a thought, Kokoa dove for it.

Kokoa had expected the shadow to once again flee but instead it merely slid to the side, avoiding her pounce. She kicked out at it, but the darkness seemed to effortlessly dodge her. A loud roar ripped out of her throat. This thing was not escaping her, not again.

She dove at it, swung out and faked motions at the shadow, but always it danced just out of her attack. As her frustration reached a boiling point, she wrenched a stone out of the path and threw it at the shadow with all her might. It hit and buried itself into the road, pinning down the shadow.

"I have you!" she yelled in triumph. She jumped on the darkness, planting both of her feet right over its heart but the shadow had no reaction. She stomped down on it several times, but to no apparent effect.

Getting down on all fours, Kokoa began punching. Her strikes dug out massive chunks of road. Dust and gravel blew into her hair and eyes but she did not let it deter her from her moment of triumph. But no matter how hard she hit, the shadow did not react. If anything her punches seemed to be doing less damage, at least to the road. From blowing holes in the ground to cracking the rocks to not even loosening the stones she had struck.

This lack of reaction infuriated Kokoa. How dare this stupid thing deny her the pleasure of seeing it torn to pieces. She was a vampire! The strength of her species was the stuff of legends! She grabbed the shadow and threw it against a tree, raining blows upon it as it stuck to the wood. Hooks, jabs, uppercuts, nothing was doing anything.

No.

Her attacks weren't even enough to make the tree rustle.

No.

She gathered up all of her strength for one final blow. Put all of her yoki into her fist and sent it right at the center of the shade. The only result was a stinging in her knuckles.

No.

How could this be. She was… weak.

There was a soft thump as Kokoa's knees hit the dirt, the small sting not even registering through her tears. She tried to look up at the shadow but all she saw was darkness. To the left, to the right, above and below; an empty void.

An authoritative voice rung out. "Hey!"

Kokoa looked up. She knew that voice. "Y- yes?" she asked. Before her stood her sister, her real sister, in all her silver-haired glory.

The idiot seemed confused at the sight of his friend diving for nothing. He spoke again but Rumiko had had enough of the sound of his voice. As he turned away from her, she sprang up and wrapped her arms around his neck and legs against his waist, pulling him to the ground in a choke hold.

His hand shot up towards her arms to defend himself, but stopped just short of touching her. Rumiko did not even register the strangeness of his lack of resistance, her eyes were fixed upon the thrashing girl in the middle of the road. The idiot started trying to wriggle his way out of her grip, but she merely tightened it. "I have been waiting all day to feed!" she hissed into his ear. "You will not ruin this for me!"

As the illusion grew more powerful the girl went from pounding the road to pawing at it to simply lying down, motionless. Her eyes were the only part of her that seemed to have any life in them at all, wide open and darting around. Rumiko closed her eyes and sighed as she felt the power flow into her.

The idiot opened his mouth to try and yell but he could only gurgle from the lack of oxygen, and soon he couldn't even do that. His wriggling lessened and she could feel his heart slowing.

"Don't bother trying to save her, it's pointless," she said. "It would take more than your pathetic whining to break my illusion. Nothing you could say to her could reach her now. Now shut up and let me enjoy my meal."

The idiot said something that she didn't understand, but he sounded more annoyed than fearful. The show of insolence made Rumiko tighten her grip around his neck even more. He stopped flailing but Rumiko knew his heart was still beating too fast to be unconscious. She didn't loosen her hold even a little.

His arm went up again and Rumiko watched it carefully, ready to dodge out of the way of any strikes. But the limb came nowhere near her. Instead he pressed the back of his arm to his lips. She ignored it. Who knew why idiots did what they did. Her attention returned to savoring her meal.

Kokoa pounced at her sister, trying to hug her only to be smacked down out of the air. Of course, Moka was far too dignified for such a thing. Kokoa stood back up and smiled at her sister.

"Who do you think you are, smiling at me like that," Moka said. "Know your place. Now listen up. I am looking for my little sister. Do you know where she is?"

Kokoa was taken aback. "Wh- what do you mean? I'm your sister!" she said.

Moka scowled at her. "Do not lie to me. Now, where is she?"

"I'm right here! Please, sister-"

"My sister," Moka said firmly, "is a vampire."

"I am a vampire!"

"No vampire is as pathetic as you."

Kokoa was left speechless. She tried to defend herself, but she couldn't summon any words. Even if she could, what was there to say in her defense? She felt her eyes start to sting again and looked away from her sister. She didn't deserve to cry in front of Moka. She turned around and tried to walk away.

"Well?" said the headmaster.

Kokoa jolted at the sound. She looked in front of her. There was now a desk, and behind it sat the headmaster. Kokoa was sitting in a chair opposite him.

"Well?" he repeated.

"W- what?" stammered Kokoa.

"Ms. Shuzen, if you wish to enroll at this academy we must know what form of monster you are so proper accommodations can be made."

"I'm a vampire!"

"Please, stop fooling around Ms. Shuzen. We really don't have the time for it."

"I am a vampire!" she screamed. She grabbed his desk and tried to throw it at him, but the wood did not budge.

"You're awfully weak for a vampire. Ms. Shuzen, impersonation will not be tolerated here."

Kokoa's mind raced. She was a vampire! There had to be some way to prove it. "Here! Here," she pulled up her upper lip to reveal her teeth. "You see? Fangs! I am a vampire!" she said, pleadingly. Shame filled her being. It was seen as unsightly in vampire society to draw attention to your fangs. This was what she had been reduced too.

"What fangs?" the headmaster coolly asked.

"What?" Kokoa ran her tongue over her upper teeth. No fangs. Just flat useless blocks where her fangs should be. She collapsed into the chair. "No. N- no. No."

"So, what are you?"

"I- I- I- I don't kno-"

Suddenly the desk and the headmaster flickered, just for an instant.

What was that?

She breathed in. It happened again. Kokoa closed her eyes and ears and focused on her breathing and she became aware of… something. Something at the edge of her consciousness. A scent. She took inhaled deeply through her nose and and the scent flooded her mind as all her worries seemed to fall away, replaced by a primal hunger.

Blood.

Rumiko couldn't believe her eyes. How… How can this happen? The body of the girl on the road, right as she was finishing her meal, it had jolted. At first she had thought her eyes were playing tricks on her, but it happened again. And again. Then the girl started moving towards her.

"Stay away!" she shouted. "Stay away!"

Kokoa let the smell take over all of her faculties. She reached a hand out and started pulling herself towards it, inching along. The smell got stronger. Soon she was pulling herself along with both hands. As she got closer she felt her vampiric strength return to her, little by little. Her tongue could feel her fangs in her mouth once more as she got onto all fours, charging towards the source.

Her sight began to return to her, little by little. First just light but soon she could see blobs before her. The scent seemed to direct her towards one blob in specific. She rushed towards it. Panicked shouts filled the air but she ignored them. Finally her hand made contact with something other than rock or dirt. Cloth carrying the warmth of the flesh inside of it. The scent became more specific, more familiar.

Vlad.

The girl had crawled all the way over to them and Rumiko was paralyzed with fear. "Go away! Go away or I'll… I'll… I'll kill him!" She tried to tighten her grip on the idiots neck even more but she couldn't.

The girl put her hand on the idiot's leg and her head began moving upwards. From the corner of Rumiko's eye she could see a patch of red coming up at her. The idiot had bitten deep into his arm, and blood was flowing from it like a river. He held his arm up, right in front of her face, and the girl's hands reached up towards it. She tried to move away but the idiot dodged his head to the side and left her without cover. The girl reached out to Rumiko's face.

Kokoa felt a nose. Lips. Cheeks.

"Get her."

She struck.

Her knuckles slammed into one of those cheeks and what was left of the illusion shattered as the caster fell backwards. Her arms loosened from around Vlad's neck and he fell to the side, coughing and hacking and rubbing his throat. But Kokoa paid him no attention. Her focus was firmly on the girl. An illusion! Of course.

The girl had just enough time to look up after the blow to see another fist rocketing towards her. And then another. And then another. To say nothing of the kicks.

Kokoa attacked her again and again, until she could not muster even a token attempt at defense. But the barrage did not stop. Bones broke under her fists and she took aim at the black-haired girls throat, ready to end it all for good. But something stopped her.

Her father's words rang out in her mind: "To kill your opponent is to grant them a compliment. To admit to them that there was no other way to end the fight."

Her fist buried itself into the dirt. Kokoa looked down at the illusioner. "You don't deserve it. You aren't worthy."

For several seconds she stayed over the illusioner, her anger slowly fading but bringing nothing to replace it. A loud hack got her attention and she stood up, walking over to Vlad.

She crouched down next to him, silent.

"Thank you," Vlad eventually said when he stopped wheezing. He sat up and looked at the girl. "So, what should we do with her?"

"I don't care," Kokoa mumbled.

Vlad nodded and tried to stand up, wincing when he pushed himself up with his bleeding arm. "Ugh, definitely too deep."

Kokoa had no response as she stood with him.

Vlad looked at her. Their eyes met just long enough for her to register the fact they held an amount of concern for her. It was enough for her to turn her whole body away from him. Don't pity me, she thought. But she couldn't find it within herself to give voice to the thought.

"Are you okay?" Vlad asked.

I'm fine, Kokoa wanted to say. She knew it would be too obvious of a lie. "I'm tired," she said instead.

"...Okay."

Kokoa started to leave but something stopped her. The scent that had pulled her out of the illusion was still present, still flooding her olfactory facilities. "You're bleeding," she said as she turned back around.

"Really, I hadn't noticed," Vlad drily said. "I'll get it patched up, don't worry." He tried to wave her off.

"I can help it," Kokoa said as she reached for his wrist.

Vlad pulled his wrist away from her, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Give me your arm. My saliva has healing powers, that's why you don't keep bleeding after I bite you." Kokoa didn't know why she was explaining this to him. She had made the offer and he seemed to refuse.

Vlad hesitated, but nodded. "Okay." He gave Kokoa his wrist.

She turned his arm outwards up and leaned in towards it. As she got closer to the source to his blood she wanted to dive for it, to latch onto the wound and drink until she felt full again. But she kept her greed in check. When she got close enough she spat onto the wound. Almost immediately the holes punctured in the flesh by Vlad's teeth started to narrow. Without a thought Kokoa used her other hand to rub in the saliva, helping the mending go faster.

The pair stood in silence as the healing took place. It wasn't until the holes has been reduced to almost invisible scars that Kokoa stopped rubbing.

"Thanks," Vlad said, breaking the silence. "It feels better now." He started to go away, but Kokoa didn't let go of his wrist. Vlad turned back.

"...Thank you," Kokoa said in a small voice, her head still low and her bangs covering her eyes.

"You're welcome. Look, I'll deal with this piece of shit. You can go get some sleep."

Kokoa nodded and let go of him. With all debts settled, she picked up her bag from the middle of the road and started walking back to her dorm.

"Good night, Kokoa," Vlad called after her. "See you tomorrow."

Kokoa waved at him in response as she left. For the entire trip back her phone remained in her bag, unopened.

A/N: Sorry for there not being an update for so long. College is hard. It hasn't gotten easier, so I can't promise when the next update will come. Probably not soon.

When Kokoa said faceless, the word she was looking for was emotionless.