The next evening, (Y/N) grew self-conscious about herself as she walked by the halls. She could see the whispers and looks she received from her fellow students, when she looked at some of them, they would look away or immediately stayed quiet.

Why is everyone acting strange? Is there something on my face?

One of the students approached her and whispered,
"Is it true Kaichou?"

(Y/N) raised one of her brows, at the student. "What are you talking about?"

Boy 1 gulped and hesitantly said,
"That Vice confessed his love to you and you harshly rejected him."

She widened her eyes, how could this person know about Haru's confession and why did he said that she harshly rejected Haru? Where did he get that false information from?

"I-" she was cut off when someone marched up to her.

"How could you?!"

Ayumi stood in front of her and glared at the (H/C)-haired female. She was the girl who confessed to Haru a few months ago.

"You had no idea how much he loves you, but you just threw his feelings aside!" She had tears brimming her sapphire eyes. "I thought you would understand him since you were with him for years, but I guess I was wrong, you treated him like the other boys who had confessed to you. Well you know what, I hope you would feel the pain of being rejected by the person you love!"

(Y/N) stiffened at Ayumi's words, she was speechless. The brunette's glare hardened at her, she raised her hand, ready to slap (Y/N) when a hand grabbed her arm, stopping Ayumi from hurting (Y/N).

"That's enough."

Ayumi widened her eyes, Ruki was holding her arm while shooting her an intimidating glare. The brunette froze, she grew scared at the look Ruki was giving her.

Everyone was staring at the scene in front of them, they didn't know when Ruki appeared, he just mysteriously appeared out of nowhere. They focused on the fact that their eyes had probably missed him since they were focused on
(Y/N) and Ayumi.

"I don't care where you heard those silly rumors from, but if you try to lay a finger on (Y/N) again, you will deal with me." His voice was harsh and his glare at Ayumi hardened.

Ayumi gulped, she was loss for words and her legs shook out of fear at the oldest Mukami. Ruki clicked his tongue at her.

"How pathetic." He let go of her arm and turned to the students who were watching the scene the whole time.
"If I ever hear those rumors about (Y/N) one more time, I won't hesitate to crush all of you." His threat and his intimidating nature caused the students to obey him immediately. They knew not to mess with Ruki, his glare could make a grown man run away in fear.

Ruki turned to (Y/N) and grabbed her by the arm. "Let's go (Y/N)." He pulled her away from the halls and from the crowd who irritated him. The girl stayed quiet, allowing Ruki to pull her to wherever they're headed to.

The Mukami stopped walking and faced (Y/N), they were in another hall of the school which there were no students around.

"Where did those damn rumors came from?" He demanded, his face looked stoic but his intimidating glare says otherwise. His arms were on each side of (Y/N)'s head, caging her like a caged animal.

(Y/N) shrugged, she ignored the fact that Ruki is invading her own personal bubble. "I don't know...but-" she shot him a kind smile. "-thank you for what you did back there, I didn't expect that you would do that for me."

Ruki kept his gaze on (Y/N) for awhile till he pulled away. He crossed his arms and scoffed,
"You think I did that for you?" His mouth turned to a huge frown.
"You shouldn't thank me, I did it for the sake of my brothers."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

He sighed annoyingly and said,
"Kou and Yuma has taken a liking to you. That means I must look out for your well-being, if they ever found out about the incident before, I have to deal with their aggressive outbursts. I wouldn't want to deal with that."

(Y/N) blinked at him, she thought about the words he said before.

'He stopped Ayumi from hurting me because Kou-san and Yuma-san has taken a liking to me...?'

She laughed sheepishly at him,
"Ruki-san, you're joking right?"

The ebony-haired Mukami scowled,
"You think this is all a joke to you? If Yuma and Kou hadn't taken a liking to you, I would've crushed your throat by now." His hands were bawled into fists, suppressing his irritation at the girl.

He turned away from her and muttered,
"Women are all the same, they think that love is a joke to them."

Ruki started walking away from her, (Y/N) heard the male's mutter and she immediately felt guilty for her actions. She didn't know what to say when he had said that Kou and Yuma has taken a liking to her.

"Ruki-san, I'm sorry."

The male stopped and turned to her with narrowed eyes,
"Why are you sorry?"

"I didn't take your statement seriously about Kou-san and Yuma-san. I apologize for my rude behavior." She bowed apologetically at him.

Ruki clicked his tongue,
"You don't need to apologize for it." He turned away from her and resumed walking again while holding a book in his one hand.

(Y/N) spotted a familiar key-chain dangling at the side of his pocket, it was the black horse key-chain she had given to him at the night festival.
She smiled softly to herself, even though Ruki have his intimidating nature, he still has a soft side towards his brothers.

I'm glad he still kept it.

Ruki's mind wandered at the events that had happened. When he saw
(Y/N) being shouted by Ayumi, his body just moved on its own and stopped Ayumi from hurting the
(H/C)-haired female. He didn't know why his body reacted that way but it just did. He only used Kou and Yuma as an excuse, (Y/N) don't need to know the truth about it.

What's wrong with me? He clenched his fists then he saw the horse key-chain dangling in his pocket, his mind argued whether he should get rid of it or not. He clutched the chain on his hand, this is the only thing that was given to him out of kindness and he never felt that feeling for a long time.

The male recalled the words (Y/N) had said when she gave him the key-chain.

It's for you Ruki-san. She smiled.

Why are you giving me this?

(Y/N) sheepishly smiled at him,
You were standing there not looking around, so I thought I'd buy you this key-chain.

Ruki slightly chuckled at that memory, he shook his head with a small smile etched on his face.

That silly woman.

-------------------------------------------

Class was dismissed, the rumors about (Y/N) quickly quieted down thanks to Ruki. She silently thanked the male, she don't want to be bothered by that stupid rumor.

Suddenly, she felt a light tap on her shoulder, she turned around to see Reiji with a blank look on his face.

"Ms. (Y/N), have you seen Ayato?" He asked.

(Y/N) blinked at him, now that Reiji had mentioned the red-head, she haven't seen Ayato this whole evening. Usually she would see him every night due to the fact he kept appearing out of nowhere.

"The last time I saw him was yesterday. But this evening I didn't see him at all, I concluded that he had decided to skip school for tonight."

Reiji pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed,
"I see..."

(Y/N) could tell he's annoyed,
"What's wrong Reiji-san?" She asked politely.

"I haven't seen Ayato since yesterday evening, when I checked his room, it was empty. That brat, he still acts like a child, he should act mature for his age, when he comes back, I have to discipline him once more." He said, his voice didn't hint any worry for Ayato. More like, he's irritated with the red-head.

"I'm sure Ayato-san can handle himself, but I have a feeling that he won't be coming back soon. I could help you look for him, Reiji-san." She offered, a smile etched on her face.

"If you insist, then I have no problem for more eyes to look for that immature brat."

"But Reiji-san, I thought vampires could smell different kinds of scents, you could look for Ayato's scent." She said, fortunately no one was nearby since class has ended and most of the students have headed home.

Reiji looked at her in disgust,
"Why would I remember the scent of that brat? There's no need for it, since like you said, he can handle himself. I only use my sense of smell if they're my prey Ms.(Y/N). But that brat should come back this instant, he should focus more on his studies, not goof around."

(Y/N) sweat-dropped,
Reiji is sure picky when it come to scents. She was snapped out of her thoughts when Reiji said,
"Let's not waste anymore time, that brat deserves a severe punishment for leaving the household without my permission."

Wherever you are Ayato-san, I hope you're alright. (Y/N) knew Ayato is strong, but she still prayed for the red-head's safety.

-------------------------------------------

"Tch. What kind of place is this?" Ayato looked up at the huge castle in front of him. The castle looked old and abandoned, but he could sense two beings inside.

"I'm barging in!" He shouted, then he kicked the door, breaking it open. When the door have been demolished, the red head swiftly moved to the side, dodging the attack that had came to him.

Ayato turned around to see a huge wolf growling at him. "Heh. Is that all you have, wolfy?" He taunted.

The wolf growled at him, preparing to pounce at him, when someone spoke. "What do you want vampire?"
Ayato faced to the voice, it was Carla with an unpleasant look on his face.

"Are you the one who had hurt Mochi-chan?!" The red-head glared at the first-blood in front of him.

Carla smirked at the red-head,
"If I said yes, what will you do about it, vampire?" He immediately came to a conclusion that Ayato was talking about (Y/N).

Ayato clenched his fists,
"Why you-" Shin found an open spot to attack Ayato, then he was shocked that the red-head knew his motives, a sickening crack was heard and Shin, in his wolf form, slammed harshly to a tree.

A whimpered was heard from the wolf male, Shin turned back to his original self. "I'll make you pay for that you annoying pest!" He shouted.

Ayato ignored him and hardened his gaze at Carla,
"I'll kill you for hurting my
Mochi-chan."

"I doubt you can kill a first-blood, vampire. Empty words remain empty if you prove-" Carla was cut off when Ayato had punched him right in the face.

Carla was sent a few feet back, the red-head laughed,
"Same goes for you, whoever you are, Ore-sama will not give you any mercy."

"We'll see about that, vampire." He had finally launched an attack at Ayato. Shin stayed at the sidelines, whimpering at the punch Ayato had given to him and remained ignored by the two clashing males.