"Yuri's in trouble again," Hikari said, flopping into the bedcovers as her roommate Eimi scrubbed the floors.

"Again? Does she ever learn? Miss Yakimura isn't gonna punish us again, is she?" Eimi scrubbed in a nonchalant manner, scraping the dust and dirt from the bedroom floor. Her hair crowded around her face as she panted at the strength it took to clean the boards.

"I don't know, she might. From what I could hear through the wall I don't think so," Hikari retorted, laying back and pulling her pillow closely to her stomach. "There's something really weird about that girl..." She murmured beneath her breath.

Eimi, a young girl who found a sense of abnormality in every individual, found Yuri quite peculiar herself. She and the others didn't especially enjoy her presence in the attic room, nor when Hikari allowed her to dine with them. Yuri's introverted nature struck a strange chord with Eimi; she wondered of the girl's mysterious past and unusual behavior.

"Weird in what way? She is quite odd. She has dreams, and she talks in them. She says things I've never heard of," Eimi began to explain. "I've heard her murmur things about a man with clear eyes, hell too I think; I also assume she has a great fear of vampires because it's like she never shuts up about them!"

Hikari sat up now and brushed her feet on the floor, shortly nearby where Eimi had been scrubbing. "I heard Yakimura once say that humans who talk while they sleep are possessed by demons," she explained. "Yuri seems too sweet to be possessed by a devil,"

"How would you know if she's sweet!" Eimi huffed, blowing strands of brown hair from her eyes. "She never talks! Or if she does it's barely a sentence!"

Hikari, for a moment, debated on kicking the bucket of water over to spill it all over the newly cleaned floor. Fortunately for Eimi, she refrained. "I don't know...it's the little things she does," she explained as easily as she could.

Eimi stuck her tongue out and sighed, shaking her head and wiping her hands off. "Little things she does?! Every time she sneaks out she gets us all in trouble! Heaven forbid none of her actions are sweet!" Annoyed, Eimi gave Hikari an immensely displeased look.

"...She's just a kid. I'll be eighteen in a few more months, and I swear to God if you do anything to hurt her, I'll kill you, Eimi." Hikari spoke in a tone reminiscent of a warning.

"Well where the hell are you when Chikai and the others cut her wrists open every time she does something wrong?"

Hikari looked at her with a widening expression, taken back by her forthcomings. "That can't be true, and even if it was I would know about it." Hikari sighed, crossing her arms. Hikari was more or less the quiet older sister of the attic group; she was one of the last girls turning eighteen that year, and subsequently she would sent away for work in exchange for another child. Sure, it bothered her a bit that Yuri and the others would essentially be left to fend for themselves, but at the end of the day, she realized there was nothing she could do about it.

"Wait until tonight. If Yakimura punishes all of us then you'll get to see for yourself. That is, if you're not off sleeping with Yamasaki again..." She teased with an intimidating smirk. Hikari was quick to protest this, gritting her teeth with a whine.

"Y-you know that isn't true! He's the one coming onto me and I can't refuse him or he'll cast me out!" Hikari quickly protested as Eimi giggled ever so slightly.

"The two of you and your devilish love affair! I always thought he loved headmistress but I guess I was wrong. I should've known a sane man couldn't resist my dear Hikari!"

Face as red as a setting sun, Hikari felt quick to dismiss the allegation and shift her attention to the entrance. Had her screeching persisted, she wouldn't have heard the murmurs of girls and the mustached man seeping their way underneath the door. Both young women fell quiet as it opened.

"Dinner will be absent from your bellies tonight! And if I find any of you in the kitchen, you will be seen an ice bath as well!" Loire called out, a few girls scattering about the attic room. Hikari was quick to catch sight of Yuri struggling to walk, wrapped up in a towel as though she'd just been pulled from a well of sorts. Her hair was dripping as the man pushed her forward, causing Yuri to fall to the freshly clean floors. A loud cry came from her lips and she laid there.

The door was then locked; the sun was setting, and one of the girls, Chikai specifically, approached Yuri with a grim look on her face.

"No dinner again? Honestly, fuck this guy!" She exclaimed, moving Yuri's arm about the boards. "And you, why do you always feel the need to get your stupid little ass in trouble, huh?" Hikari went quiet for a moment, expecting Yuri, who was shivering still from the bath, to respond.

"Huh? Wake up!" She shouted and momentarily, Hikari sprung from the bed. Two other girls attempted to grab hold of Chikai, the girl who usually carried out these punishments. Eimi stayed quiet and on the floor.

"Chikai! Shut up! You wanna get in even more trouble than we already are?!" Hikari protested; she pulled the dark haired girl away from Yuri, gripping tightly to her arm.

Chikai bit her lip tightly; her eyes glanced back at Yuri as she fell in silence for a moment. Sure, she was troubled, and Hikari saw it. It must've been five seconds before she whacked Hikari across the face, instantly knocking the girl off.

Yuri wasn't the only girl Chikai found herself engraving cruel things into their flesh; there were a series of girls who had been victim to her at least once. This would be the seventh lash she would receive from her over the past few months.

"Keep her still!" Chikai called out to Hikari, who gritted her teeth together as the other girls staying in the room caught hold of her arms.

"Are you stupid Hikari? Yuri's gotta pay, she's gotta pay for our food, I'm gonna go to bed hungry. If she keeps getting her way without any punishment, she'll just keep sneaking out!" Chikai bursted out. Maybe it was the words of the attic's dictator that persuaded Hikari to stop resisting, or maybe it was just the "not my problem" persona she started to feel as she looked at Yuri.

"Fine, do whatever you want, but if you really hurt her, and I mean really! I'll bash your brains in!" Hikari replied, yanking her arms away. Chikai and the punishers turned Yuri on her stomach, watching her shiver from the cold.

Sure, it was all good discipline. Chikai only wanted Yuri to stop starting futile nonsense and having her and the others' rights stripped away from them. Yuri's arms were already ridden with six meddlesome scabs, and now Chikai would give her a seventh.

All of the girls, though there were only seven or eight cloistered up in the tiny room together, learned to keep quiet during this time. Yuri, who'd gone over this at least once a month since she arrived, slowly drew quieter and quieter each time Chikai dug the small little kitchen knife into her skin. It seemed like her pain tolerance grew higher; truthfully, every time the blade pierced through her veins, Yuri would let out a cry.

"One, two, three, four, Satan's knocking at your door; five, six, seven, eight, get down on your knees and pray," Chikai hummed devilishly. She began drawing back her sleeve and revealing up the dirty scabs tied up with gauze, slowly pulling them apart.

Yuri remained as still as time; her other hand was placed beneath her mouth, her teeth digging lightly into it in preparation for the searing pain.

Eimi, who had stayed still in her place near the bed frame, was a little annoyed that Chikai had decided to do it on the floor. Of course, she didn't say much, rather she joined two other girls in folding paper dolls in the corner of the room. A dozen thoughts began racing through Yuri's mind as Chikai began cutting deep into her skin; her flesh was as soft as silk, and as smooth as a vase. It was easy to pierce, and, swelling up in tears, Yuri bit roughly into her skin.

"Now this is what happens to immature little brats who get everyone in trouble," Chikai stated. Hikari, who was sitting on her bed buried in a book, gritted her teeth together in an attempt to ignore the entire fiasco.

Despite her pain, Yuri continued staying silent, aside from the occasional whimper as Chikai was sure to go over it again in an effort to make it deep, though not so much vital. This is what caused Yuri to cry buckets of tears; she could've filled up a pond, or a river, maybe a lake, or even an ocean.

They tasted salty in contrast to the sweet blood drizzling down her arm and into her shoulder. Then came Chikai's favorite part. She enjoyed to rub in the pain of her victims, pinching the nerve and stuffing her thumb into it. It was harsh and sadistic, and what seemed to keep Yuri half awake was her dreams.

The ocean eyes came back; they were as sad and as sorrowful as her's. Yet, somehow, they were the clearest, most loveliest shade of blue. However, they were not her mother's, for they had a sense of love in them. These were able to sympathize with Yuri's loneliness and suffering in a different way. As she let a loud cry escape her lips in a sense of cruelty, they comforted her.

"Quit your crying you pansy, get off the floor." Chikai scoffed, standing and retracting her kitchen knife into her underwear drawer. "You get what you deserve; maybe if you didn't be so lazy you wouldn't have to get punished!"

Yuri gritted her teeth at the remark; she pulled herself up to her arms. "...M-maybe I wouldn't be crying if you didn't feel the need to senselessly hurt people..!" She found herself shouting in return.

Chikai, who was definitely surprised to see Yuri talking, more or less yelling for a change, was about to counterattack when Yuri spoke up again.

"Y-you don't have to keep doing this! Stop hurting us! Just stop it! Stop it!" She cried, shaking her head repeatedly. Chikai growled a bit as Eimi and a few others began to senselessly stare at what was about to take place. They were right, because less than fifty seconds later, Chikai cursed Yuri beneath her breath and pushed her down into the floor again.

"You wanna fight me? Stupid ass bitch get up! Get up!" She shouted, aggressively kicking Yuri repeatedly. Hikari quickly caught sight and fled over; Yuri implored her help as she attempted to pull her away from the girl.

"D-damn you Chikai! Stop!" Hikari screeched in a frightening tone. "You're gonna get us all in trouble!" Hikari's voice cracked as Yuri struggled to get up. The blows had taken her breath away, and she knew it all too well when she wheezily breathed.

"F-fuck off!" Chikai hollered back; this time, she pushed Hikari straight into the floor and began senselessly hitting her. Yuri, who was struggling to overcome her shock, jumped on her back and began yanking on Chikai's clothes.

"Stop! Stop hurting her!" Yuri screamed. None of the other girls wanted to involve themselves in this risky behavior; rather, they spectated nervously at the sight.

"I said quit it!" Yuri's screech reached almost infinite levels it seemed. Chikai was greatly annoyed at Yuri, and subsequently knocked her off her back and into the floor. Hitting her head, Yuri yelped loudly and laid there for a moment. Hikari repeatedly smacked Chikai, the two of them engaging in a struggle before Yuri rose to her feet again.

"Worthless! Little! Arrogant! Bitch!" Chikai screamed as Hikari slammed her head into the bed. The two clawed and scratched at one another as Yuri desperately tried yanking them apart.

"Y-you're gonna get us in trouble!" Yuri screamed, pleading at the others to help her. What seemed like hours only seemed like a few moments; footsteps could be heard making their way up the steps and towards the door. This, of course, meant nothing for Chikai or Hikari. They continued hurling at one another in an attempt to best each other. Within moments, the door was unlocked; Yamasaki, the mustached man, and another fellow appeared.

In a matter of seconds they pried Yuri from Chikai's back, throwing her into Loire's arms; Chikai was next, and she was victim to the strange fellow. Then was Hikari, who, suffering a bloody nose, was gifted to none another than Yamasaki.

"You three will be punished for this foolery at once!" Yamasaki shouted, and, gripping firmly to Hikari, he turned to face the four remaining girls. "If any of you had any involvement in any of this, speak now! If I find any of you lying, you will be punished indefinitely!"

Eimi and the two girls sitting beside her all fumbled nervously with their paper dolls. None of them said a word, and, with that, the three men began dragging off Yuri, Chikai, and Hikari for unspeakable punishments.

When news reached Yakimura, who, at the moment, was speaking with two young women in her office, she was greatly displeased. In retaliation for their actions, the mustached man took all three of them to separate closets throughout the house; each room was barely a foot and a half wide, and scarcely two feet long. Each man shoved the girls in their own closet to stand in for the remaining hours.

The time in the darkness caused Yuri great fear; all she was capable of doing was crying, both in fear and in pain. Her anemia had gotten worse in the past few months, standing for long periods of time usually resulted in unconsciousness. Her arm was bleeding still, the cut felt worse than usual. Left with no other choice, she began to feel as though she was suffocating.

Thus, Yuri began pounding on the door. She began screaming, began sobbing, and began acting hysteric. Her claustrophobia had taken the best of her; she felt terrified, confused, scared, and lonely.

Loire cared nothing of these things; he continued to walk the halls as Yuri's screaming dripped through the cracks of the door. The knob was turning, desperately and helplessly. Maybe it was her imagination, or perhaps something Chikai had done.

Her screams were loud as she desperately pounded on the door. Loire smoked his pipe and went along as she screeched at the top of her lungs.

"No!! No no no!! St-stop!! N-no no no!! H-help me! Help me!" She screamed, pounding desperately on the door.

Then, it stopped.