Shu escaped down the hall; his fists were clenched together, and his eyes narrowed in both annoyance and simply distress. His hands were covered in ink; he debated on crushing the typewriter in his palms, but decided against it when he remembered Yuri might want to use it.

This woman was confusing; he found Yuri to be quite a perplexing girl, and couldn't exactly pin a correct antic or notion why.

Halfway downstairs, Reiji crept out of his study and crossed paths with Shu, who seemed rather tired at the moment.

"Perhaps a word with you?" Reiji narrowed his eyes at the young man, and Shu hesitantly proceeded to comply with his younger brother's wishes.

"Why should I..?" Shu's brows furrowed, seemingly scowling at his brother. He didn't have time for this, and opt to move past Reiji until the young man latched onto his arm, causing Shu to tense up. "It's not my business whatever it is,"

Then, Shu jerked his arm away and began his merry way down the hall once more; it was the day in which he was ordered by Karlheinz to report back to the Makai for an update in Yuri, and Shu didn't want another lashing so bothersome he could hardly sleep.

"It is in regards to Togo Sakamaki's wishes." Reiji explained, and, after a moment, he sighed and came back. Together, the two of them entered Reiji's study, the one Yuri had first been punished in a few weeks ago. It was there that they conversed for an hour or so until the sun came setting under the clouds and back behind the treetops, disappearing in place of a night sky.

Yuri was awake by now, she had returned to her bedroom and was sitting by the window. Her eyes roamed out into the courtyard and to the fountain, and for a moment, her memories of cleaning Yakimura's office in summertime returned to her.

"Folly am I to even think like that.." Her thoughts evoked; in her hand was the somewhat shallow and semi-informative letter Shu had typed up on the typewriter while she asleep. It still smelt like ink, and the paper still had a fresh scent to say the least. Her palms were shaky, and she tried her hardest to keep her frame of mind right.

Subsequently, Yuri slipped off the window seat and shimmied on over to bed; she laid her head into her pillow, her thoughts shaky and finding herself thinking of Shu again. Yuri was clueless to the burning feeling of love and affection and what it meant when she directed those emotions towards Shu. In an effort to dismiss these feelings and the way they made her feel, she switched on the radio.

The fresh static snow began to wholeheartedly rain down through the signals. There was a moment of loud noise as she searched through the channels for the one she and Shu had enjoyed listening to only a few nights ago. Though, she stopped on one for a moment and began to listen. After all, she lived in depressive times, and was just as miserable as everyone else...

"In spite of the local government's lack of success with economic reform, the Takahashi Economic Policy proposed by former Prime Minister Takahashi Korekiyo offers a ray of hope for the Japanese. Within a mere three months, the economic growth we have experienced is a bustling five percent. That number is expected to grow between January and May of next year."

Yuri felt her eyes grow droopy; her memories began to come back to her, ones she'd longed suppressed many years ago. Her fingers cranked the volume up, and suddenly, the name Togo Sakamaki made an appearance on the line.

"Ah yes, I've interviewed a great deal of orphans throughout Kyoto, I must admit in all my years of humanitarianism, there is a particular young woman I grew quite interested in from the start,"  His voice laughed a bit on the shortwave, and Yuri felt herself take offense to this. Being an orphan was no laughing matter...

Yuri laid there, her mouth fastened to the skin in her hand. His name caused her to feel sickish; how could any man, let alone a man so keen on assisting orphans, send her to a place like this?

"What was she like? Hm?" The interviewer questioned Togo, and Yuri could almost picture the scene playing out in her head. "What was she like in contrast to a great deal of other orphans you've met?"

Togo chuckled a bit; the static couldn't hide that, Yuri was certain. "She's a terribly troubled girl; she lived with her grandmother a good while, you see. Unfortunately after her passing, the house was claimed by the bank, foreclosed, and like many orphans, she was abandoned by the government. Who could care about someone who feeds off taxpayers' dollars, right?" Mr. Sakamaki laughed through the speaker; the man Yuri assumed to be talking to chuckled a little at this as well, and she began to feel waterfalls swelling in her eyes.

"It was under my humble impression that I took her in my care. I'll be showcasing this particular young woman along with the recent success of the Takahashi Economic Policy at my gala next month," Yuri could hear Togo remark over the radio waves.

"My, my, my, my, she must be something special huh?" The interviewer replied before continuing on. "Someone of her reputation must have a lot to say about life as an orphan, especially from the Kyo Household. Those murders, Mr. Sakamaki! What have you got to say about Miss Hikari—!!"

The radio fell off the nightstand with a loud scream; it shattered into the floor as Yuri buried her face into pillow in her bed. The tears came back, and for a moment, Yuri seemed to lose herself in those same depressive thoughts. She'd tried so hard to forgive herself for Hikari's death, but the pain never seemed to part from her.

Thoughts of Shu came back; she laid there with tears streaming down her cheeks, and felt as though she might pass out. Her fingers laced the fabric on her pillow, then the sheets beneath her. Who were those men in her field earlier? Why had Shu become so...protective? She wasn't sure, and couldn't observe this any longer since Subaru'd opened the door wide.

"Reiji's going to kick your ass if you don't wake up for school," he groaned, his eyes rolling at Yuri, who was laying there sobbing waterfalls of tears.

Subaru felt his chest firm up, and he slammed the door closed. "I said wake the fuck up!" He shouted again, and Yuri covered her ears; it truly hurt, for she had been remimded

Shu made her feel a little better, most days at least. Her breakdown lasted until Reiji came to get her up for school by vigorously tearing the covers off of her and grabbing her by the hair. Yuri of course, screamed at this and sank into the floor and carpet bellow; when their eyes met, he wore a smug expression.

"You're such a stupid girl, you didn't think you'd honestly get to stay home today, did you?" Reiji sneered; abruptly, moments later, Yuri's voice released a high pitched cry. His fangs were enveloped deep into the skin surrounding her neck. Was this a punishment? Yes, and Yuri felt like she deserved it in some sense.

"R-Reiji..!" Yuri cried aloud, her nails piercing his neck in a similar way as his fangs. Tears began falling, they fell like a waterfall. Her thoughts wandered, scattered like cherry blossoms in the spring. She could hardly fight him now; or, maybe she just didn't want to. Whatever the case, her momenta was gone, and Yuri decided it was in her best interest for him to just suck her blood and leave.

Thus, when they departed for school, Yuri didn't want to make the car ride very awkward for herself or others, so there was a gap between her and Shu, filled by Subaru. Her thoughts ran astray as she looked out the window whilst they drove, watching the clouds above cascading over the moon as though to say it was shielding it from the stars and the reeks of mankind. Subaru himself was a little shy, a little rough around the edges. He was just fifteen and a first year, and was eagerly exchanging glances with a sixteen year old Hatori.

Yuri hadn't found a reason to be afraid of Subaru yet; sure, he was a vampire, but unlike Shu, he didn't seem to carry interest in her blood, at least, not at the moment. Rather, he was exceptionally shy and introverted.

"It's sort of cute..." Yuri thought to herself. She felt like she was betraying her growing feelings towards Shu, but shook it off.

By the time they arrived, the others flocked from the car. Yuri was the usual last again. She scurried out like a duckling following its row of kin to find its mother. However, she was merely following Shu and Subaru instead.

"Ah! Red ribbon! Red ribbon!" Yuri's head sprung around, pausing as Subaru and Shu departed inside with a great many students. She recalled the voice, and the dimpled girl was waving at her as she ran up the sidewalk.

"O-oh!" Yuri squeaked shyly in embarrassment as she approached her with a grin.

"There you are!" She beamed in excitement, pulling Yuri aside with a small grin. "Let's walk in together!" She beamed, taking Yuri by the arm and pulling her inside. She felt her cheeks heat up a little, and caught the glare of Reiji as she headed inside.

"E-excuse me but I don't think I should..." Yuri was interrupted, the dimpled girl pulling her into the bathroom. All in a moment Yuri's trauma came back; her palms became sweaty, her chest tightened itself up, and she began to feel nauseous.

"Have you got that bow? Your hair looks awfully dreary without it." She remarked, Yuri sort of slipping into oblivion.

After a moment with no response, she snapped her fingers, furrowing her eyebrows. "Hey! Hey c'mon!" She remarked until Yuri flat out fell over, hitting the bathroom floor unconscious.

This of course, caused great dismay in the bathroom, and a scurry of girls rushed over to try and wake her up. Eventually, somehow, they managed to lift her up with the help of three girls (especially since she was so light, though Yuri'd gained a little weight eating at the Sakamaki estate, which most certainly caught Shu's eyes) and carried her to the nurse's office.

By the time word spread across the school about the mysterious girl who'd fainted in the girls' bathroom, it reached Reiji, who was discreet in keeping his brothers naive to the situation in hopes they wouldn't bribe her by taking her home. When Yuri awoke she was obviously perplexed, and there was a bruise on her head from falling over. The school nurse, who was a woman with black hair and loving eyes, seemed to lighten up when she saw Yuri had awaken.

"Miss Hatori! You're awake!" She beamed. "Now don't go too hard on yourself, you had a fainting spell in the bathroom. Fortunately those girls were in there to see it! God knows what might have happened to you if they weren't," the woman sighed, and Yuri looked about the room. The sight of even the smallest medical instruments made here immensely uneasy.

"I-I fainted..? I'm sorry, I felt nauseous I think..." Her voice murmured in reply, and the nurse shook her head.

"No need to apologize, though I'm sure you should be heading back to your studies," She retorted; Yuri sighed shakily, in all her time at school, which was around two months or so, Yuri hadn't attended a single class. She'd managed to just roam the empty halls and courtyards as she pleased. After all, she was too stupid and naive to actually understand the content they were teaching.

"I-I see...yes ma'am, I'll just be going then," Yuri's confidence shriveled like a dead leaf. She brushed herself upwards from bed, the nurse sighing in response.

"Don't be so folly, allow me to escort you to your proper classroom without the influence of outsiders," Reiji stood in the doorway, his arms folded against his chest and scolding her as though she were a child. Yuri nearly vomited in her mouth; hate was a strong word, and Yuri could never find the courage to truly hate anyone. All her life though, she held contempt for death, and later, fear. Death was the only person she could ever really hate. However, in her tier list, Reiji was growing closer and closer to someone she disliked, someone she conclusively decided hated her, so subsequently, she would have to learn to hate him the same.

When she learnt of this, Yuri adamantly refused. "N-no thank you Reiji, I can find my way back on my own," she responded in a sure reply. However, Reiji sensed her tactics; he couldn't pressure himself on her in front of the nurse, so he merely apologized and departed from the room.

After a moment or two, the nurse carried on a little small talk with Yuri as she slipped her shoes back on in an effort to leave. "Hm, Hatori, hm? I heard you're a new student, where have you come from? Not a lot of youth can afford schooling these days," she laughed slightly.

Yuri felt her cheeks turn pink; she hugged her arms sheepishly in humiliation before shyly responding. "Kyoto..." Her voice nervously croaked out, and the nurse perked up at this.

"Kyoto, huh? I heard Mr. Sakamaki took in some kind of orphan from Kyoto recently. There was a whole interview about it last night."

Yuri wanted to excuse herself, but the questions began spilling, and she began panicking. The nurse certainly wasn't allowing her room to escape her office at the moment.

"Have you heard about that incident last year..? Is it true those five children were murdered?" She explained rather curiously, and Yuri simply didn't want to give a response to her. She felt uncomfortable, and after a moment, began to stutter her feet towards the exit.

"I'm...not sure." Yuri bit her lips nervously as she tried her best to try and change the subject matter, or, better yet, leave the room. However, the nurse had different plans to say the least.

"They made headlines everywhere, I'm sure it must've been popular in Kyoto far more that it is here. It's strange, they're still rather popular with the youth to this very day. Kids enjoy a good mystery!" She laughed a bit.

Yuri began to take offense after a moment; this sort of thing made her self conscious, and thus, she began backing near the door. "W-with all do respect, ma'am...t-this is extremely uncomfortable..." She murmured in distressed tone, and, moments later, she heard the bell; Yuri quickly fled from the room and out the door. In sorts, Togo Sakamaki had transformed Yuri into a mini-celebrity, though she despised every moment of it. She felt like crawling from her skin as the girls laid their eyes on her. When a young man looked her way, Yuri felt sickish; she needed space to cry, room to weep, but there was none.

Then came a terrible feeling; Reiji's eyes shot the most unsettling glares down the hall at her, and Yuri held her bag firmly against her chest. She felt as though everyone else were looking at her as they passed by, and Reiji was simply the king of uneasy glares.

Yuri was paused there, in the middle of the hallway, for a long time. Before too long it was practically empty and a great deal of students had departed off for class. However, Reiji and Yuri remained, and kept their distance from one another. Before long, however, Reiji began walking down the way towards her place in the center end of the hallway; Yuri counted his footsteps and dare not make a move.

"You're not in class," He remarked bluntly. Yuri felt herself beginning to tense up. Oh how she wished it were Shu approaching her that way...

"O-of course not, I fainted in the bathroom..." Yuri replied; Reiji crossed his arms, and his mannerisms morphed into a serious undertone. "Y-you're not going to bite me again...a-are you?" Yuri's voice stuttered rather nervously, and he stopped at the tips of her toes.

"Don't be stupid and full of self centered sympathy for yourself," He growled beneath his breath, and Yuri squeaked; her cheeks went red, and her chest began beating rapidly. "There's no reason to suspect I would do that kind of thing in a public place. Activities such as though are restrained to private places and private places alone. I've come to see you for something else,"

Yuri shifted her eyesight away from Reiji; she had no desire to look at him when he got like this, he was scary, almost as scary as Yuzuru. However, at the moment, Reiji disregarded that usual persona and wore a different mask. Though his arms were crossed and his face was frowned in its usual serious manner, he still desired to see her for reasons other than merely punishing her.

"Oh...then tell me, before I walk elsewhere..." Yuri felt awfully depressed at the moment, and she didn't have the time nor composure to deal with Reiji at the moment.

"My father as you know is a very successful politician," Reiji began to monologue until Yuri stopped him halfway into the very first sentence.

"Mr. Togo Sakamaki is a liar." She said firmly, causing Reiji to frown and nearly smack her where she stood. "I used to believe all of this good stuff about him..the things he did for people like me..but I don't believe a single word that comes out of that man's mouth!" Yuri stomped her foot and attempted to head the other direction, however Reiji grabbed her forearm firmly; she wasn't going anywhere...

"Don't act this way, you disgusting child," Reiji growled before pulling her down the hallway; remembering his words, she began to attempt to cause a ruckus. Yuri would not be subjecting herself to another moment of his fangs in her neck, at least, for now.

However, her perception changed when Reiji instead took her to the courtyard outside where all of the morning dew cloistered up on the plant life growing about.

"Whether your opinion of him is good or bad, my father ultimately saved you from the wretched hole, didn't he?" Reiji remarked, causing Yuri to feel a tad bit guilty for her outburst.

"...That doesn't obligate me to favor his presence anymore..." She sighed; after hearing his words on the radio, she undoubtedly had changed her opinion on Togo Sakamaki. He was no longer a good man, rather, he was far from that. Yuri suspected he too might be a vampire, the same as his sons.

"Your duties in this house have alas come time to fulfill. My father is hosting a gala, a popular event with many high ranking officials in the government, in a few short few weeks time. It will have many popular senators and humanitarians all throughout the surrounding prefectures. Your job is to simply make an appearance and partake in an interview and presentation by reporters, do you understand?" Reiji explained, and thus, Yuri began to feel anxious at the thought of hundreds of people crowding her at once.

"R-Reiji, please don't make me do this..." Her voice faded in and out of wariness; she didn't want to explain her conditions to anyone, and most especially all of Japan. That made her truly uneasy to say the least.

"Don't be stupid, you're already perfectly set to host an interview with reporters and dozens of officials November 17th, do you understand?" Reiji truly had already set this in stone, and Yuri shook her head once again.

"But I don't—!!" Her voice cracked; Reiji snapped like a twig, he simply wouldn't be partaking in her games any longer.

"You're going to do it, and that's final. Your only requirement is to dress appropriately, I suppose I will have to take you to a shop of sorts to replace this drab attire. We will have to mend your wardrobe with a western dress of sorts, those are quite popular these days instead of any old kimono," Reiji sighed as he took a step back to look at Yuri, who had a bit of dead leaves in her curls.

He simply sighed and instead turned away to push his glasses up once again. Yuri already felt embarrassed enough with herself, and she didn't need an interview or a fancy dress to make her feel this way even more.

"Will Shu be there..." Yuri's voice began to murmur as Reiji took a moment for himself. Then, he slowly began to raise both his head and brow in suspicion. Yuri turned away and rubbed her arms at this. His glare caused her to feel uneasy and immensely wary of her appearance.

"Yes, why wouldn't he...he is the eldest son of our Father, he holds certain duties himself, though he is far too weak and stupid to carry them out." Reiji's words, while directed at Shu, seemed to have a sinister effect on Yuri, too. She was already frustrated enough, and this certainly wasn't helping her maintain a cool aura.

"That isn't true, and you know it.." Yuri's hands began to clench into a fist. "Shu is a very capable young man, you know..or, maybe you don't. You never bother to pay any attention to him so you wouldn't know these things..." Yuri remarked in a low tone, and Reiji, who was already frustrated enough with her, frowned and began backing her away into a corner of plants.

"Excuse you, but I am quite positive I know my brother far better than you do, wench. After all, I've only spent eighteen years with the man, so I'm far more educated in the subject than you are. He is a lazy dog, the kind that has fleas! He couldn't give a damn for anything or anyone, you're just too disillusioned in your pathetic dream world to see it!" Reiji's tone escalated into a shout now, and Yuri stomped her foot on his shoe momentarily.

"Maybe if you weren't so stuck up you'd bother to pay attention to him!" She shouted, oh how she could almost lay her fist across his face after a moment. However, Reiji grit his teeth; this fight began to escalate.

"I see how it is, so then you must be sexually attracted to him, yes? You must be sleeping with him, after all, why else would you dare come to his defense, hm?! If you weren't obliged to keep that secret of sorts, why in the hell would you otherwise give a damn about him!" Reiji's voice shouted in repose; this was the first time Yuri had heard him formerly holler, and despite the fact that she was scared, she continued on.

"That isn't true!" She hastily retorted, her face red in both frustration and embarrassment.

However, when he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her into the vinery behind her, the kind that slithered up the walls curved into beautiful shaped, Yuri began to cry to say the least.

"It's perfectly true and you know it. Vampires would never convince themselves into caring for their food, it's like a human beginning to feel remorse for eating a cabbage. Get over yourself you stupid girl."

His words felt like needles pricking into her skin; Yuri could almost feel herself bleed, though. She felt immense guilt beginning to fill her heart, and it was at the moment when she decided to suppress her feelings. After all, Reiji was right in some sense. In the end, she was like a cabbage. She was just a meal, and though Shu had yet to feast off of her, she knew that in time, he would indefinitely.

"Are you going to cry?" Reiji mocked with a smirk as Yuri sank to the stone beneath her, tears running down her cheeks the way rain ran down her window. "Pathetic. Truly pathetic."

Reiji shook his head and began to walk away; Yuri had been defeated, and she felt terrible as she watched him disappear into the doorway of the first floor's hallway. For now, she decided she would just stay there and enjoy the plants. She really wanted to go home, but neither time nor any god would permit her to.