Fire.

Wolves.

That's all you saw.

You were surrounded by fire, wolves slowly inching towards you. They snarled, saliva dripping from their fangs. Bats screeched and flew around the area, trying to get a better view of what's going on. You squeezed your eyes shut, unable to look at the wolves. "Get away from me!"

"(Y/n)!" Your eyes snapped open, hearing the familiar voice. Spinning on your heel, you spotted Subaru trying to get through the flames, cursing and hissing as they licked at his skin. You went to step towards him when a wolf snapped at you, yellow eyes blazing. You jumped back, eyes connecting with the red pair you love so much.

"(Y/n)-chan." You blinked, peering over your shoulder while Subaru widened his eyes. Standing on the other side was Kou, a smile on his face. The flames parted in front of him, the wolves shrinking back. He held out a hand. "Don't worry. I'll protect you."

You widened your eyes. "N-No! Subaru!" You turned and saw him being swarmed by bats, their screeches too loud for you to hear him yell your name. "Subaru! No, stop! Don't hurt him!"

Suddenly, everything stopped. Everything turned black. You couldn't see a thing.

"(Y/n)..." you slowly looked behind you, spotting three people. Reiji, Shu, and Subaru. They just watched you, eyes filled with worry and sadness. Shu walked slowly towards you, eyes sad. Something you've never seen before. "Why didn't you come back? They didn't care enough to keep you. Why?"

"Shu-" Reiji walked over.

"You know... mother once told me you were an accident. A mistake," his voice held no emotion. "You were never supposed to be born."

You backed away from him. "B-But-"

"I shouldn't have left you there," Subaru muttered darkly, walking over as well. "I had the chance, and left it. It's like I don't love you anymore..."

You covered your ears. "Shut up! Just shut up!"

They all tilted their heads, speaking in dull voices. "You always cause mistakes, just like what mother did with you. Maybe you shouldn't come home-"

"SHUT UP YOU DAMN DEMONS!" you screamed, squeezing your eyes shut. "YOU'RE NOT REAL! SHU WOULDN'T SAY THAT! OR REIJI! OR SUBARU! YOU'RE JUST MY IMAGINATION! JUST GO AWAY AND LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Silence.

Your eyes slowly opened, your body frozen in shock and horror. You didn't understand till now... why everything was going to Hell. It was all in your head. You almost laughed as you felt all the weight being lifted off your shoulders. You grinned lightly, finding it funny how you actually didn't try to run away at some points. How you didn't try to fight back with Ruki. How you couldn't always protect Yui. How you thought that Subaru no longer loved you.

Letting out a sigh, you lifted the blanket off of you and stood up, stretching and popping your arms. You noticed you were standing in Kou's room, one of the places that wasn't destroyed. Picking up your discarded jacket, you draped it over your shoulder an walked out of the room quietly, heading down the hall. No lights were on. Just darkness with a bit of moonlight shining in the hall. You crept towards one of the hall connecting room, hearing voices.

"To tell you the truth..." you heard Kou say, "Ruki-kun has been acting weird lately."

"It seems he was in a hurry," Yuma spoke. "All for that plan."

You peered around the corner, almost gasping when you spotted Yui. She was sitting on one of the benches, looking from boy to boy. "You mean..."

Azusa bowed his head. "The plan... Apple of Adam..."

You widened your eyes. Apple of Adam? Your mind clicked, remembering a few weeks ago when Ruki was talking about it with Kou and Azusa. Kou sighed. "One of us was to awaken to become Adam... For that, we needed the blood of Eve." He looked down at Yui. "That's why we needed your blood."

"My blood..." Yui mumbled softly. You blinked in slight surprise. Apple of Adam. Eve's blood. You covered your mouth. Reiji told you a story about this when you were all younger. Though, he said that for an Eve to awaken, the Adam must be a pure-blooded vampire. You felt your heart stop for a moment. Yuma stared at the ground.

"That's why we kept sucking your blood. To become Adam."

"However," Azusa closed his eyes, "Ruki... for the first time, he started to lose his patience when he didn't awaken..."

"So that's why..." Yui trailed off.

"But his actions indicated," Yuma paused. "His strong obsession with the Adam plan to work..."

Kou looked up at the ceiling. "Ruki-kun has always... been the one who put the most thought into the plan."

"Also, because Ruki was with us... we..." Azusa swallowed. Kou continued staring at the ceiling, a sigh escaping his lips.

"We may have went through many bad things, but... when the four of us were together..."

Yuma almost smiled. "We had fun times as well."

Kou didn't smile though. "That's true." Yui looked down, not wanting to speak. You bowed your head, slowly taking a step back before turning and walking away. Though, you didn't get far before a hand gently grabbed your shoulder. "(Y/n)-chan..." you looked over your shoulder at Kou. His blue eyes were filled with worry. "Are you alright?"

You stayed silent. Were you alright? You turned fully around and hugged him, closing your eyes. "I want to go home..." Kou smiled lightly, wrapping his arms around you and smoothing out your (h/c) hair. He leaned down to your height, taking the charm hanging from the necklace in his fingers.

"Just know this..." he smiled softly. "Even if I can't have you, I'll always be here for you. And I'm not afraid to kick Subaru's ass if he hurts you." You grinned, playfully punching his shoulder. He chuckled, his mood lighting up with yours. "Do you want to say hi to Yui before you go?"

You nodded, moving past him and back to the room. Yui looked up in shock and relief, bolting up from her seat. You smiled gently, walking over and hugging her. She buried her face in your shoulder. "I thought I'd never see you again..."

You laughed. "Nobody can kill me. I'm (Y/n)!" She giggled. "Plus, I'd never leave you alone with a whole bunch of vampires. If I die, I will dig myself out of my own grave and come back."

"I get it," she smiled. "Are you going home?"

"Yeah," you nodded slowly. "I need to see them. Plus, they probably can't live without me. I'm the only responsible one there."

"What about Reiji-san?" she raised an eyebrow, a grin on her lips.

You clicked your tongue. "Taking that back. I ain't responsible."

She pulled away finally, her pink eyes glowing. You haven't seen them like that for awhile now. "See you soon."

You smiled as well. "You bet your bottom I will."

~Timeskip~

Crash!

Ayato turned around, the wolf leaping over him to stand in front of him. To his left behind him was Laito, facing another wolf while Kanato was to his right behind him, also facing a wolf. Shu stared at the wolf in front of him, no emotion expressed on his face. Behind him was Reiji, who was facing two other wolves. By the front door was Subaru, who punched a wolf away from him. "Hey, what's with all these-" His head turned sharply and he quickly dodged the wolf jumping towards him. He let out a gasp as he almost lost his balance.

Ayato looked from one wolf to another, not knowing what to do. He turned his eyes to the moon outside the window, seeing it in a gibbous phase. Letting out a growl, a wolf jumped and spread its jaws, diving straight for a wide-eyed Ayato.

Thanks to the lunar eclipse… our power is released.

And this blade called revenge, at last… Those who inherited the first blood…

Our claws will steal all.

It's the beginning of the punishment.

It's called extinction.

~Carla & Shin Tsukinami