My cheek was pressed against a cold tiled floor in a silent room. After my vision cleared, I sat up, wincing in pain. I brought my hand up to my neck, but this time felt no relief. My skin felt raw and torn. Looking behind me, I could see a large pool and I wondered whether I was back in the castle or not. "We really gotta build up your tolerance or else I'll hafta take your blood while 'ya sleep," Ayato muttered. He was sitting in a pool chair just a few feet away. I held my pounding head in a hand, which was now stained red with blood. I could feel tears swelling in my eyes. "C'mon, let's start practicin'," Ayato smirked as he made his way to me.
"St- Stay back!" I demanded. I lifted myself up to stand, but before I could move, Ayato picked my body up into his arms, holding me sideways onto my back. "Let me down!" I kicked my feet, but held onto his shirt for support.
Ayato looked down at me with an unbothered face. "You're gonna hafta fight harder than that, idiot," he said. He walked to the edge of the pool. "Better hold on tighter or else you'll fall," he laughed.
"Why… why are you doing this?" I begged for an answer, knowing there could be no acceptable excuse for this terror. An overwhelming dread coursed through my sore and exhausted body.
"You still don't get it?" Ayato's eyes peered across the pool. "You are at the complete mercy of Yours Truly," he shouted. "So stop yammerin' and worryin' 'bout every little thing I do!" His voice echoed against the tiles as he threw me down into the pool. "Tell me I'm the greatest and I'll save you," Ayato continued shouting as the water slapped across my back and sides on impact. I began to sink quickly to the bottom, flailing my arms and legs. "Tell me that I'm better than anyone else and that 'ya belong to only me." My eyes stung from the chlorine and all they could see were waves of blue dancing around me. As I opened my mouth to scream, water quickly seeped into my throat, drowning out my voice. "Oi, idiot! It's no fun if ya' just give up and die!" His words were lost in the depths of the water as I continued kicking my legs to no avail. I gagged and coughed as I sank further down and then, finally, I lost my strength.
Do not cry.
My body was tugged upwards by a hand grasping my collar. Ayato pulled me completely out of the pool and back onto the tile. I bent over and, on my hands and knees, coughed up water onto the ground below me. "Ya' can't even swim?" Ayato asked, standing over me as he laughed. "Useless! You'd be lost without me."
"Cruel..." I heaved and steadied my breathing.
"That's no way to say thank you," Ayata chuckled as he kneeled down beside me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into his lap. Before I could yell, his fangs dug into my neck again. As if he had taken my strength with my blood, my body, now frozen, sunk into him and the blurred world around me went dark.
I awoke, again, in my new bedroom. I laid on top of the covers, wondering how or even when I had gotten there. I was still dressed in my, now slightly damp, uniform. As I turned my head to the window, I could see just a few stars sprinkled across the sky. It would be impossible and dangerous to find my way home on my own, especially at night. As I turned my head back, I felt the lingering sting of Ayato's bites. I wondered if staying here would be even more dangerous. The risks that came with either decision paralyzed me. All I could accomplish was staying alive. Whatever it took, I would persist until I found the opportunity to escape. I shuffled off of the bed to change out of the uniform that clung uncomfortably to my body. "I'm hungry again." I whipped around to look behind me as Ayato walked into the room, shutting the door behind him and locking it. He beckoned me over with a wave of his hand, "C'mere and move your hair outta the way," he said, too casually.
"I, uh," I stumbled on my words. "I can't. I, er," I looked down at my chlorine-soaked clothes. "I have to take a bath. And um, I'm still very weak… from last time."
"I didn't suggest it, idiot," he snipped while he made his way closer. "I ordered it." He paused a few feet away from me. "Come here," he reiterated with a forceful tone as he pointed to the end of the bed. "And be grateful for the attention of Yours Truly."
My hands clenched my skirt. I glanced at the window. I would persist. Just for a little while longer. "Okay," I mumbled.
"'Okay,' what?" he asked with a self-satisfied grin while I took a seat on the edge of the bed.
"Okay... sir?" I moved my hair away from my neck and wondered if I'd have to endure pandering to Ayato every time he drank my blood.
"No, idiot," Ayato chuckled. He gave me a firm push and as my back bounced against the bed, he lifted himself on top of me. "Master," he explained, his eyes now deadly serious. "Say it right," he muttered, lowering his head to my shoulder. I turned my head away. I would persist. I would survive. I would escape. I could feel tears falling across my face as I squeezed my eyes closed. Ayato paused at my neck and when he sunk his head down, I could feel, instead of fangs, his lips. And then his tongue across the kissed spot.
"Uh, um," my face reddened. "Aya- Ayato?"
Ayato licked another spot on my collarbone. He bit softly and marked my skin again before leaning up. "What?" he asked. His hand moved upwards from steadying himself against the bed to my face, now covering my tear-filled eyes. "I'm jus' markin' what's mine," he breathed. "Nothing to fuckin' cry about." Ayato leaned back down and, after lowering my shirt's collar, kissed and bit another faint, red mark into my skin. His hand moved from my eyes to grab my face. Then, slightly squishing my cheeks, he pulled my head to face his. "Idiot." He flicked my forehead with his fingers. "Don't take too long or Yours Truly will starve."
The bathtub behind me slowly filled with steaming hot water. I gazed into the mirror, my fingers brushing against Ayato's more recent marks above my uniform's collar. I caught myself wondering about them. Were they just an odd prank or had he changed his mind after seeing my tears?
Squeak. Swwshhhh.
In the reflection of the mirror, I could see water noisily splash over the sides of the tub. "E- eh," I turned to look at the commotion. "Sh- Shu?" The man's arm, which clearly wore a sleeve, dangled from outside of the bathtub. "Shu, are you, um... are you hurt?" I approached him cautiously. Shu hadn't done anything to me personally, but I had strong reasoning to distrust any of the brothers in general. I stood from a distance. "Shu, should I er, get help?" His body remained unmoving in the water. His face held no emotion and his eyes were closed. I could now see that he was, indeed, fully clothed. Even his earbuds were still in his ears.
"Fell," Shu grumbled.
"Um- uh, y- you..." I waited for further explanation and received nothing. "Fell?"
"I slipped," he continued. "Could be hurt. But you're just standing there."
"I- I asked-"
"Staring like..." he interrupted, while he waved his hand as if shooing me away, "some sort of pervert."
"Me?" I gasped. I marched closer. "Shu, this is my bath!" I shouted, astonished at the accusation. "Why were you even in here?"
"Louuuuud," he groaned as he sank deeper into the bath. "Annoying." He tilted his head back, the ends of his hair now getting wet as well.
"I may be annoying, but you're the one ruining your clothes," I huffed. "Now, if you could, please get out."
"Huh?" He tilted his head slightly in my direction. "So... I'm supposed to be naked, then?"
My face heated. "That's not what I-"
"Ugh, shut up. Leave me to die," he sighed. "Ya' went through all the trouble..." he mumbled after a pause, "of setting a trap." He sunk deeper into the water and started talking again, but quieter. I inched forward, straining to hear him. "Just wanted..." he began, and then turned his head to look at me. "If you wanted to share a bath," I gripped the sides of the tub as he continued, "you could've just asked."
I began to shout, "You're wrong, please get-"
"You're so," Shu's hand gripped my wrist, "boring." He pulled me up and into the tub, positioning me on top of himself with my legs straddling his hips. My hands reached for his shoulders to steady myself. "So... this is what the boring girl wanted," he chuckled.
My hands clenched his shirt as he wriggled under me, causing small waves in the water. "St- stop!" I yelped.
Shu placed his hand on my thigh and pushed my skirt up. "Wearin' such a lewd uniform in public... You're disgusting," he mocked.
I held back tears. "I don't," I shouldn't have been shocked, really. "I didn't," I sniffled, "I didn't do anything wr- wrong," I stuttered.
"Ugh, quiet down," Shu groaned. He leaned forward and grasped the side of my head with my hair, pulling it to reveal Ayato's, now somewhat healing, bite marks. "Like this is your first time," Shu sneered.
"Y- you're wrong!" I shouted.
"Your body's begging for i-" Shu began, but my hand covered his mouth, effectively silencing him. For a second, only the ripples of water could be heard. And then my eyes widened as I felt his hands grab the hem of my shirt and tug upward. The world vanished around me for just a moment as the shirt lifted over my head and when the world came back, I could see Shu's entire face, now unobstructed by my hand, as he inspected my chest. "All this's Ayato's doing?" he gestured to the marks on my collarbone and below.
"Hy- hyahhh," I yelped. I started covering myself with my arms, but Shu grabbed my wrists with his hands.
"He's such a possessive freak," Shu sighed. He leaned in and gave a tender kiss to the other side of my neck. "But I guess I can see why," he continued after leaving a broad lick on my skin.
"A- ah," I attempted to lean away, but Shu pulled me in closer by my wrists.
"Your heartbeat is deafening," Shu muttered. His hands traveled up from my wrists to my shoulders, purposely only barely brushing the skin to give me goosebumps. "What a slutty girl. Getting excited over just some touching."
"I'm," I started, "I'm not," I tried to defend myself, but Shu's hands on me did quicken my heart.
"Not very convincing," he chuckled. "I'll give you what you're pleading for, spoiled girl." Shu brought his fangs down into my skin, causing at first, a jolt of pain that made me wince, but then fizzled out to just a dull ache. Shu let the blood drip down my body and licked it up only every few seconds. The loss of blood, the steam of the water, my temperature rising and maybe, just maybe something else caused me to sit with no resistance, completely hypnotized, staring out in front of me. "Good girl," Shu mumbled, "You're so compliant." I flinched as I felt his hand cup my breast. "What a good, obedient meal," he continued.
"Uhh, hah," I breathed, feeling my body heat up as he felt me.
"Your body is so demanding," Shu whispered. "What are you begging me for now, spoiled girl?" I didn't know how to respond. My brain completely fogged over and my body, on its own, leaned into Shu's hand. "You're such a tease," he chuckled. He reached his unoccupied hand, between us, to my skirt. "Getting so close..." his hand gripped my thigh, "to a man you don't even know. Letting him bite," Shu licked the still wet blood from my neck, "and feel you." His hand moved from my breasts to the back of my head and pulled me tightly against his chest.
"Uw- Uwah!" I grunted against his wet clothes. After the water quieted down, I whispered, "That's not fair."
I heard Shu take a quick gasp of air before I felt him, once again, dig his fangs into my neck. I squeezed my eyes shut and could feel him lift back, letting my blood drip down my shoulder, down my arm and float off into the water. "I'm full," he muttered with a wide yawn. Then Shu lifted me off of himself and stood, stepping out of the tub and letting the water messily spill out of the side. "Careful of the wet floor," he chuckled as he walked out of the room, leaving a trail of water dripping off behind him.