Komuro cautiously walked up the stairs and found the room that Mayonaka had claimed. He knocked on the door and after she gave permission, he pushed the door open.
Mayonaka had one of the smallest rooms, but she had one of the only rooms with a balcony which gave her easy access to the outside, which would be useful if they were to be surrounded by them. The walls were a pure white and they matched her hair perfectly. In the middle of the room was a grand four poster bed with black sheets and on top of each post was a silver bird in flight etched with brilliant detail.
Mayonaka lay on the centre of the bed with her hair cast about the pillow, her arms folded under her head and her legs crossed at the ankles. At the sight of Komuro, her expression took on a blank gaze. "What's up?" She tried to say lightly.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you."
"I did say I was going to sleep Komuro-San." She continued to stare at him with the blank look.
Komuro flinched at the formal use of his name. "Well, I'm sorry Ruby-San for thinking that you may still be awake. I was right after all."
Mayonaka laughed. "Ruby-San sounds absolutely ridiculous."
"About as ridiculous as you adding 'san' to my name." Komuro crossed his arms over his chest and met Mayonaka's gaze with the same blank look that she had now fixed firmly on his face.
Mayonaka sighed and closed her eyes.
"I want you to start calling me by my first name now. I especially don't want you to put 'san' at the end of my last name."
Mayonaka sighed again. "I want to go to sleep. Could you please leave now?"
"I need to talk to you." Komuro showed no sign of budging.
Mayonaka sat up and climbed off the bed. She met his gaze. "If you won't leave, then I will. I'm sure I can find somewhere else to sleep."
"Wait!" Komuro called out.
As he called out, Mayonaka reached the balcony. She held her hand on the railing and paused. She shook her head and clutched it even tighter.
Komuro cautiously walked over to her and rested his hand gently on her shoulder. "Please, can we just talk?"
Mayonaka sighed and glanced up at the night sky. "Alright. Only if I can be left in peace to sleep afterwards."
"You've got a deal." Komuro smiled.
Mayonaka met his gaze for a brief second and then made her way back over to the bed in the centre of the room. She lay back down in the same position as before and Komuro found himself hesitating at the side of the bed.
Mayonaka laughed. "Shy are you? Never shared a bed with a girl before? You're only sitting down, what's your problem?" Mayonaka gave a brief flash of a smile that Komuro was pretty sure was fake.
He sighed and lowered himself down onto the edge of the bed.
Mayonaka turned to face him and rested her head in her hand.
"Right. Straight to the point. What's your issue? You know exactly what I'm talking about so don't even think about trying to work your way out of it."
Mayonaka sighed. "It's dangerous, alright? It may be good for teamwork, but trusting each other like this isn't good for me. Let alone for you lot. I'm not even human. You can't afford to trust me and I really shouldn't be allowing myself to trust you."
Komuro kicked his legs out and lay down with his head resting in his hand as he stared Mayonaka down. "It's not just the trust thing though is it? It runs a lot deeper."
Mayonaka dropped her ruby eyes down to the black sheets. "Well, I can't afford to build too deep a bond with anyone. It's not healthy. It's fair enough for a band of humans to stick together, humans have always been a collective race, but vampires aren't like that. They go at it solo. It's very rare for two vampires to bond together no matter the gender pairing. It's why we're a race that's on the verge of extinction. But a group of humans and a vampire?"
She shook her head. "It's not right. Take the fight the other day, for example. The whole teamwork stunt that you pulled almost got you all killed and I couldn't find a strong enough point to disagree with you on. So, you ended up getting mixed up in the mess with my parents. You almost died. I almost died too, protecting you guys." She ran a hand down her face. "My parents were right, Komuro-San, I'm going soft. And I can't." She pulled her hands away from her face and the agony in her eyes was evident. It swirled around in her ruby eyes and liquefied them.
"So… You're slowly going to distance yourself from us then?"
Mayonaka nodded. "That's probably for the best. That way, I won't be blinded by emotions and I can focus firmly on my goals. Then if anything happens, I can leave and it will be a whole lot less painful on everyone."
Komuro took a hold of Mayonaka's chin and lifted it up so that her eyes met his. She simply blinked.
"So you're going to allow yourself to just become a killing machine? Without ever feeling anything? That sounds suspiciously like your parents. I'm sure you don't want to become like them. Your emotions are what marks your…" Komuro trailed off and dropped his eyes; he still maintained his hold on her chin though.
"Emotions mark out my humanity? Is that what you were going to say?" From the look on Komuro's face, Mayonaka was able to deduce it was a yes. "Well you're forgetting one tiny thing Komuro-San." Komuro flinched and she went on to mark how 'little' this piece of information was with her fingers. "I'm not human!" She exploded.
Komuro flinched yet again but his grip on her chin didn't falter. He let out an exasperated sigh. He then shocked Mayonaka as he began to stroke her cheek delicately with his thumb. "You're not human. I get that. In fact, I accept that." He locked his eyes with hers again. Hazel met ruby. "You still have humanity though Mayonaka. Your parents don't and that marks one of the main differences between you and them. Ever since I met you, you've been pretty close to being human in terms of your humanity. Aside from the strength and speed of course."
Mayonaka slapped his hand away. "That's the point! Me being with you and everyone else is bad for me! I've begun caring in ways that aren't good for me!"
"Does that mean you regret it?"
Mayonaka looked away. Komuro took her chin again and pulled her closer to him. "Are you honestly trying to tell me that you regret this change?"
She sighed. "You don't understand. Before I met you, I had been isolated and rejected so many times by people just like you and everyone else in this gang. It's been difficult adjusting to being around people again. These kinds of feelings aren't normal for me. They're alien…"
"You can't tell me you dislike these feelings that are so alien to you."
Mayonaka ripped her head free from his hand and turned over onto her back. She closed her eyes, put her hands underneath her head and crossed her legs at the ankles again. She felt the weight shifting in the bed and was relieved that he was leaving. Relief then turned to surprise when the area behind her eyelids darkened. She opened her eyes to see Komuro hovering above her. His knees were on either sides of her hips and his hands either side of her chest.
She just stared up at him with a blank look on her face.
"What about us then?" His voice was calm but he put emphasis on the word 'us.'
"What 'us?' There's no 'us' Komuro-San." Mayonaka's eyes and face darkened notably.
Komuro leaned in closer. "Your mother mentioned that I had feelings for you. I didn't try to deny it. And when you're dad said that you felt the same, you didn't deny it."
Mayonaka sighed. "There's a time and place for everything. The situation that we were in didn't really allow me to turn around and say 'oh yeah, before you kill me dad, you have to know that you're wrong about how I feel.' Come on, have some sense, Komuro-San."
Komuro gritted his teeth. "I wish you'd stop addressing me like that." He shook his head. "Are you trying to tell me that everything we've been through means nothing to you?"
Mayonaka's voice was devoid of emotion as she spoke. "I'm not trying to tell you, I am telling you."
A low growl ripped free from Komuro's mouth and he lifted up his right hand and grabbed a handful of Mayonaka's chest. Mayonaka cried out and her cheeks turned a distinct crimson.
"Are you seriously going to just flat out deny everything?! Everything?! Are you going to tell me that I've been reading into all of it completely wrong?!" Komuro gripped tighter and Mayonaka cried out as her back arched underneath him.
"Let go Komuro-San." Her gaze was deadly and her cheeks were as red as her eyes.
"Fine." He released his grip on her before he dropped his body down on hers. Without any hesitation he crashed his lips into hers.
Her body froze as still as stone instantly. He continued on, even though she was giving back nothing, for a full minute before he finally lifted his head to glance at her eyes. Her face was still red, but apart from that, there was nothing there.
Komuro sighed. "I guess I was wrong then." He lifted himself off of her and stood up.