𝕯𝖎𝖆𝖇𝖔𝖑𝖎𝖐 𝕷𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖘: 𝕯𝖆𝖗𝖐 𝕱𝖆𝖙𝖊

Chapter 3

If there was something that Mukami Ruki was disgusted with, it was weaklings.

Born into an aristocratic family, he was entitled to everything a human could wish for, and more. But he had been corrupted at a young age, taking pleasure in hurting people less fortunate than him.

Ruki enjoyed torture, but he enjoyed them begging for him to stop the most. It made him feel powerful. He felt like he owned everybody.

Everybody is essentially a livestock.

His train of thoughts was broken by a shuffle of feet. He turned around and saw the shy girl come inside his room with a tray. "How are you feeling Ruki kun?"

Everybody he had tortured avoided him like a plague but this girl was something else. "Eve, I told you not to come here."

"I needed to make sure you were eating well." Yui reasoned, and saw the young man's face droop in disappointment.

"What's wrong?" Yui asked, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

"Food isn't something that can cure me," Ruki said.

Yui gulped as she tried to find words to answer Ruki. "I wish I could give it to you but at this moment-"

Ruki sighed. "I know. Ten vampires under the same roof. Anythings can go wrong. I never asked you to give me blood, Eve."

"Then what do you want?" Yui asked, setting the tray beside the bedside table. "I can get you anything you want."

"Can you?" Ruki asked, and by the way he said it, Yui knew it wasn't anything pleasant.

"Ruki kun-"

"Forget it," Ruki said, noticing her nervousness. "There's no hope for me, for I am not a pureblood."

Yui held his hand in her light grasp. Ruki considered taking away his hand but decided against it.

"Can you tell me why half blooded vampires like you cannot become Adam?" Yui asked, but Ruki stayed silent. He only picked the small book he always used to hold in his hands and flipped through its pages.

Yui got the hint. "I'll just go and-"

"In order to become Adam, I need to capture your soul, heart and mind," Ruki said, his eyes fixated on the memento his father once gave to him. "But in order to do so, I have to fall in love with you first. It has to be a strong, unbreakable bond. But nobody that has experienced human feelings before can form such a bond with Eve."

Yui stood still, expecting Ruki to flip out over asking him such strange questions. Instead he remained silent and stared into the book, his expression remaining cold and unreadable.

Yui opened her mouth to say something, but hesitates even as the question was about to roll off her tongue.

Ruki raised his head, and spoke up. "What is it?"

"Ruki kun, if-" She hesitated, as if knowing it would hurt him to answer this, "-if it is necesarry for one of the Sakamakis to become Adam, who would you prefer..."

Ruki widened his eyes. Of all questions, he did not expect that one. "Would you rather have me dictate you who you spend the rest of your life?"

Yui quickly corrected herself. "I just asked for your opinion."

Ruki seemed to reflect upon it. A warm smile spread over his face as he said, "I would like you to choose whoever treats you the best."

Yui stared at the vampire in disbelief. The cruellest of all the beasts she had once seen, was now asking her to choose the one who treated her the best. She remembered how she had been locked up in the dingy store room only to be sucked and fed. How the days blended into night until she couldn't differentiate between the two. How Ayato had risked entering his enemies territory to get her back.

Why hadn't he been sooner? Why did he wait? She remembered how Ayato hadn't come to school ever since she was with the Mukamis, how the brothers had told her about his absence to her.

What about Subaru? He was the first one to confront her at school. Even though he ultimately gave in to his blood sucking urge, he was the first brother to bother speaking to her.

And Shu. Even though Yuma had forcefully drank from Yui to make him realise that she didn't belong to them anymore, he seemed like he couldn't stand her being sucked by anybody else. Although her first impression of the lad was pretty impressive, it all changed when he said he only liked her for her warm, exotic blood.

Her world was a mess that she couldn't get free from. Her mind kept shifting from one brother to the other, measuring all the good times they had spent together combined with the pain they always seemed to force upon her.

"Ruki kun, can I ask you something?"

Ruki leaned back on his bed, and nodded.

"Is there any way I can remain with all of you and not choose any one of you?"

Ruki pondered over the question. He seemed so lost in thought that Yui thought she would eventually be told off, but Ruki admitted, "You can only stay with us forever if we kill you."

Yui remembered Laito's words. Forcing death upon a loved one is supposed to be the ultimate symbol of love for vampires.

Would the brothers be kind enough to her to stop her suffering and put her to a merciful death?

Nobody seemed to be so nice to bother to do that anyway.

"I'm not afraid of dying." Yui admitted. Her father had given her up to a house full of demons. Whether she liked it or not, it was the truth. "I have nothing to look forward to."

"Kou might disagree," Ruki smiled, and fondly held her hand in his firm grip. "He used to say that he was so fixated on living another day while he was in the manholes, that he would forget the sadness in his life and just wait for another sunrise to be as hopeful as the last one."

Yui hung her head in shame. She was only being selfish when she said that she didn't want to live anymore. But in reality, she needed them as much as they needed her. Whether as a blood bank, a girl to tease, or as a livestock, it was all deep down buried in a corner of her heart. She was too naïve to notice.

Once she falls apart, they would fall apart too.

Ruki squeezed her hand until she felt it tighten a little too hard around her wrist. "Ouch," she gasped and clutched her wrist.

Ruki didn't let go. He squeezed until she could see bluish marks form over her pale skin, and let out a painful scream.

Ruki let her hand go. "How do you feel?"

Yui stared at him in disbelief. "What do you mean? I feel hurt."

Ruki stared down at his hands and answered, "The moment you feel somebody protects you to the point he feels hurt, it would be obvious to you. Love is such a strong feeling that you can't comprehend with a sane mind."

Yui tilted her head to her side, and in came a younger Mukami, panting. "Ruki kun... Ayato..."

Ruki cast a gaze over Azuza. "What happened to him?"

Yui looked concerned, as Azuza turned towards her. "Eve, Ayato kun... injured... not well..."

"Azuza kun?" Yui held the vampire by his arm. "What do you mean? Ayato kun is hurt?"

"Blood..." Azuza muttered, "He wants... to feed..."