A MUKAMI FAMILY MEETING

"Fuck. I hate family meetings." 

The younger Mukami brothers sat anxiously in their living room. The last family meeting they had was when Yuma accidentally broke a window with Kou's help and Azusa's witness, and Ruki scolded them. Ruki had yet to enter the room, and they all contemplated on leaving the house before he came.

"I have work to do. Ruki-kun needs to hurry up and yell at one of you." Kou muttered, his legs absentmindedly swinging. 

"Us?!" Yuma retorted. "Why don't you blame yourself for once??"

" . . . Yeah." Azusa frowned. "You seem awfully suspicious, Kou . . ."

"Me?! What could I have possibly done?" Kou raked a hand through his hair. "I'm the second eldest. Therefore the rolemodel."

Yuma snickered. "And yet you're the second shortest." He stands up to stretch.

"We don't think . . . of you as a rolemodel. . ."

"You guys are ungrateful jerks!" Huffed Kou. "Just wait! When Ruki-kun comes and scolds you guys, don't expect your big brother," He gestures to himself proudly, "to come save you."

Azusa looked at him. "But . . . you were the one who broke the vase in the hallway . . ."

"Y-you saw that?! Azusa-kun!" 

Said brother shook his head. "No . . . I just assumed. And I was right."

"Pfft! Kou, I can't wait to hear what Ruki says." Yuma smirked, patting Azusa harshly on the back.

"He probably doesn't know, anyway," Kou muttered to himself, his eyes glaring at Yuma's shit-eating grin. "I threw it away when I broke it . . ."

"WE HEARD THAT."

"We're going . . . to rat you out . . ."

"YOU BACKSTABBERS."

"Don't blame us, blame your arrogance." Yuma said. "Yo, what if he won't let you go to work? Hah, what if you lose the job?"

"Ah . . . You were excited for this, ne, Kou . . .?"

"NO!" Kou shrieked. "And don't think I don't have any dirt on you, either!"

"Then tell me what I did wrong since the last family meeting." Yuma challenged.

Kou smirked at his brother. A playful, malice grin. Oh, how foolish Yuma-kun was. "Hm, if I recall, a certain book in Ruki's study is supposedly missing. I wonder what happened to it, ne, Yuma-kun~?"

". . . What're ya implyin'?"

"Oh nothing~" Waving his hands innocently in the air, Kou continued. "It's just, when that book was missing, you seemed awfully suspicious. I recall you, oh, I don't know, hiding in the garden for the whole day?"

Yuma scowled. "You can't prove anything."

"Heh~? Then how do you explain. . ." Kou dashed out of the room, leaving only Azusa and Yuma.

"Where do ya think the guy's goin'?"

"Beats me . . ."

"THIS!" The blonde raced back into the room, in his arms a tattered book. 

Yuma's eyes widened. "Where'd ya get that?!" Lunging forward, Yuma lashed out and tried to grab the battered, and dirtied volume.

"You wouldn't believe, Yuma-kun~" Kou taunted, slyly flipping through the book and examining the pages. "This old thing was buried in your garden! And look," Revealing a page, which was all smudged and stuck together, he continued, "There's a patent water stain right here!"

"Yuma . . ."

"Hey—it was an accident!"

"Eh? And my lamp incident wasn't?" Kou slammed the book shut. "If you're ratting me out, I'm taking you down with me."

"Ruki's probably . . . not going to let you into your . . . garden, Yuma," observed Azusa, who remained calm and sat on the couch.

"THAT'S WHY I HID IT."

Both Kou and Yuma glared at each other emulously, their eyes daring each other to back down. Meanwhile, the youngest remained staring at the door, waiting for Ruki.

In all honesty, Azusa was relieved that the two idiots were much too indulged in their problems to worry about his. Having Ruki mad at him meant no knives for a week. The last time had been absolutely torturous. " . . . You guys are terrible rolemodels . . ."

"Hold on!" Kou said. "Why don't you have any secrets??"

Azusa shrugged. 

"He's got a point." Yuma pointed out. "What're ya hidin' from us!? You're the only one without some suspicion. That's suspicious itself."

"I haven't done . . . anything . . ."

"Yeah, right!" Both brothers denied in unison.

"It's the truth . . ."

"CHECK HIS ROOM, YUMA-KUN!"

"YA DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME."

Both vampires ran out of the room, their shouts chorus and echo through the spacious halls. The loud, temperous thuds of their footsteps soon stopped, and was replaced with the banging of a door—Azusa's door.

"Ne, Ruki . . . " Azusa poked a head towards  the closed curtain. "You heard that, right . . .?"

The eldest, who only had a knowing smirk on his face, stepped out of the rumpled curtains. "Yeah, I did. Thanks, Azusa."

"Mm . . . no problem . . ."

Ruki sighed, before sitting beside his younger brother. "Those two . . . they're idiots."

"Yeah . . ."

"Are you going to punish them . . .?"

"Of course."

When Kou and Yuma returned, with their heaving chests and nothing in hand, they were greeted by a smiling Ruki. Uh oh, they gulped. Ruki's smiles always meant death.

"IT WAS KOU / YUMA." They both accused at the same time.

"Oh?" Ruki inquired. "Didn't I tell you both to be careful?"

The cold smile donned on his face didn't make the question any less terrifying. "Well?"

"How did you know??" Kou asked.

All eyes went to Azusa, who stared out the window. 

"YOU TRAITOR." Yuma proclaimed, his eyes narrowing at the youngest.

"I told you. . . I didn't do anything . . ."

"We'll kill you for this."

And Azusa just looked at the two, his eyes passive. "Just try me."

『 end.』