#pretty ray going down the stairs of his mansion has been living free in my brain since ep 10

[khaopybara]

KHAOTUNG THANAWAT as PRETTY PRINCESS RAY

[jincherie]

TEASER: sunshine riptide

genre: hybrid au, ot7, fluff, animal crossing insp wc: 2.6k

“So in exchange for three months paid stay on the island while you get back on your feet, you will work part-time at the Rabbits Den three days a week, and man the desk in the Resident Services Building on Sundays. Is that okay to you?”

You nod eagerly, the ordeal seeming too good to be true and something you’re afraid will be retracted if you don’t act with haste. Mr Bang returns your motion with a little less fervour, the same kind look never leaving his face.

“Perfect, it’s settled then! We’re glad to have you with us, y/n.”

Something lifts from your chest in that moment, as though you’d been walking beneath the cover of a lead blanket and it has finally slipped from your shoulders. You feel a little breathless, and you know the grin that slips onto your face is stupidly wide. Embarrassingly, you feel salty pricks at the corner of your eyes.

“Thank you so much,” you say, and you mean it. It hadn’t exactly been a well thought out plan, moving here with nothing to your name but your most basic possessions, but you’d just needed to escape and start anew and this… this had been the first opportunity you’d seen. The best opportunity you’d seen. “Really, thank you.”

“You’re more than welcome, young lady.” Mr Bang’s expression grows even softer, if possible. “This is a place people come to find refuge, and happiness. You’re welcome here.”

You clear your throat, turning your head to the side and pretending that you need to cough so he doesn’t see the tear that slips out. You have a feeling he knows, though, as you turn back and find him smiling at you, floppy rabbit ears framing his round face. He reaches out, patting you on the shoulder.

“Now, lets find you a room for the night. I’ll send word to the house I have in mind and make sure they have it nice and tidy before your arrival tomorrow. Sound good?”

It hits you only now how tired you are, more emotionally exhausted than anything, and nod while allowing him to lead you down the hall. That does sound good, actually. That sounds amazing.

O – O – O

You’d arrived on this island in the early hours of the morning yesterday, the late-night ferry the only one that runs to this island on the outskirts of the archipelago. It’s likely due to the fact that the captain is a nocturnal hybrid, and hence prefers to run his business under the cover of night. You hadn’t been able to sleep on the trip over, so when Mr Bang had shown you to the room he was happy to lend you for the night, despite it being barely ten o’clock in the morning you’d passed out the second your head hit the pillow. It was more of a nap than anything, but you suspect that the events of the past few months all caught up to you at once because you woke only for dinner and then fell asleep once more. Mr Bang offered no judgement, and simply left a note instructing you where the bathroom is and where you could find towels so that you could freshen up once you awoke. He also left you a coffee bun in a container, since you’d missed the afternoon tea he held the day before.

You hadn’t even been on this island a day and already the kindness of one of the residents was almost bringing you to tears.

Due to the fact that you’d slept far too early, you end up waking up at an ungodly hour the next day, the day you are meant to be moving in to the sharehouse that Mr Bang told you about. Laying in the bed, nestled in the warmth of the covers and watching as the suns rays slowly begin to stain the ceiling and the curtains in rich marigold, you do your best to get yourself together. You can breathe easy now, any anxiety you’d felt previous now nothing more than an echo in your chest. You feel refreshed, and not just from the ridiculous amount of sleep you’ve had in the past twenty-four hours. There are of course some nerves pertaining to meeting your new housemates, but it’s manageable. You have faith that everything will turn out well. It’s a good feeling.

Mr Bang is kind enough to offer you breakfast, and likely would have pushed you to stay for lunch had you not shown up down the stairs with your baggage already in tow. So begrudgingly, he allows you to head on your way, informing you that your new housemates knew of your arrival and had endeavoured to tidy up as much as possible. You thought it was a little funny he was telling you that—just how messy is the house usually?—but he simply shook his head with a smile that told you the answer would come soon enough.

The island isn’t big, but it most definitely isn’t small. The sun is warm and the air cool with a tinge of salt and sea trailing along the breeze, and the path you walk along that skirts the beach is peppered with sand and the odd shell. It makes you happier than anticipated, because just being out here makes you feel so free. Mr Bang told you that the house where you will be staying is on the other side of the island, past the little cluster of shops and small businesses and perched at the edge of the sand, backing onto a river that flows into the ocean and skirted on one side by a small cliff.

“It’s their own little alcove,” Mr Bang had snorted, a mixture of fondness and amusement evident on his features. “They get up to more trouble than I can keep track of over there, but they’re good boys.”

Ah, that’s right. You’d almost forgotten; your new housemates are a bunch of boys. You hope that Mr Bang is right about their character and you won’t be living in discomfort for the next three months.

The path wound and curved a bit, following the edge of the island, and before long you were walking through a section of light forestry. You suspected the house would be on the other side, and were in the midst of thinking just what it would look like when a small squeak! catches your attention and you halt, almost dropping your bag.

It’s silent, save for the way the breeze caresses the leaves around you. You peer around, eyes unable to spot anything in the foliage. Did you imagine it? It’s a little early in your stay to be going crazy. Hesitantly, you adjust your grip on your bag and resume your trek.

Squeak! S-squeeeak!

No, you definitely heard that. You freeze, having gotten a better sense of where the sound is coming from now and turning towards a large tree smothered in vines of varying thickness and clinginess. For a moment, you don’t see anything, eyes squinting hard—it’s like one of those I spy books you used to rave about as a kid— and just when you think you might be looking in the wrong place, you catch movement.

There, in a cluster of the vines dangling from one of the tree’s thicker limbs, is a tiny creature, all tangled up and squeaking in distress.

“Oh my goodness,” you drop your bag, immediately moving closer.  “Poor thing—hold on just a second, bub. I’ll get you out. Promise not to bite me?”

The creature offers a squeak and logically you know it isn’t answering your request, but you pretend it is anyway. Carefully stepping over plants and twigs, thanking past you for wearing more practical boots, you reach where the creature is stuck, dangling just below eye level.

The vines it has managed to get all tangled up in aren’t particularly thick, but there are a lot of them, and it has managed to get a few of its limbs stuck in place. Carefully, you snap a few of the more central ones and ease the tiny thing out, getting a better view of it the more you pull from its body. It’s squeaking all the while, though with much less distress and more of an energy that simply feels chatty. It makes you smile.

“There you go,” you murmur, cradling the tiny baby in your palms and cooing, trying to calm the heartbeat and hurried breaths you can feel racing against your skin. You stroke along its back as lightly as you can manage. “Oh, you’re a little sugar glider! You’re so pretty, such a cutie. Look at your markings, wow… so pretty.”

Almost as though it can understand your praise and is basking in it, it flicks its bushy tail and rolls in your palm, like a cat rubbing against something with its cheek except this little glider is doing it with its whole body. It’s awfully friendly, you note. Perhaps much of the wildlife here is more peacefully accustomed to human and hybrid activity.

“Okay, you’re free now. I’ll stop ogling at you and let you go,” you say, holding your hands up to a part of the tree that isn’t covered in vines lest there be a repeat of the earlier situation. The sugar glider merely blinks, eyes still on you, and doesn’t move. Brows drawn in confusion, you move your hands closer to the tree, “Well, aren’t you going to—oh!”

Faster than you can react, the little thing darts from your hands, leaping to your bicep and scurrying up with tiny claws in your shirt to your shoulder. Once at its apparent destination, it rushes to the crook of your neck and makes itself at home, nestling against you and securing itself with its tail partway around the back of your neck and its little paws clutching your shirt edge. You giggle, still in shock and trying not to jostle it off as you fight the ticklish sensation.

“Okay. I guess you can come with me. I’m not sure if you can stay the whole while, but I’m sure it will be okay while I walk.”

So off you go, bending and retrieving your bag carefully so you don’t dislodge your tiny new companion. You’ve seen a bit of sugar gliders, but the way this one is acting is quite peculiar. If it sticks around until you arrive at the house, you’d love to snap a quick picture because it really is so pretty, so cute.

The trip is faster than anticipated, now there is something else to occupy your thoughts. Before you know it you’re out of the forestry and approaching a large, modern three storey building that is probably just a few yards short of a mansion, nestled between the ocean, the river, and a short cliff-face just barely higher than the roof. This is the place for sure.

The little glider seems to perk up, the closer you get, something that surprises you since it was so quiet you thought it was asleep. With a soft noise, it grabs onto your hair with tiny paws and scurries to the top of your head, likely making a mess of it in the process but it’s so cute you can’t bring yourself to mind. At least it will be an interesting first impression.

As you approach the front door, you think you see movement in one of the windows on the ground floor. You almost dismiss it as you reach the eve, until you catch the hurried patter of feet against hardwood from beyond the door.

You barely manage to blink before the door is flying open, a man with raven curls and two fluffy russet ears peeking between the locks presenting you with the biggest grin you have ever seen on anyone’s face. It’s boyish and cute, a direct contrast to the mature, sculpted features of his face.

“Hello!” he says, and you catch sight of a long, fluffy russet tail whipping behind him and betraying his excitement—not that he was doing much to hide it. “You must be the new roomie! It’s nice to meet you! We’ve been waiting all morning, and one of us actually went to pick you up but… I’m not sure where he is.”

You’re a little overwhelmed but easily recover when he simply keeps looking at you so happily, returning the man’s bright smile. There’s rustling in your hair at the back of your head but you ignore it, adjusting your grasp on your bag. “Ah, thank you. I’m y/n, it’s nice to meet you…?”

The man pulls back, a sheepish look on his face that accompanies a light flush in his cheeks. “Oh, right. I’m Taehyung. Sorry. My hyungs tell me I tend to get a bit ahead of myself sometimes.”

You keep the smile on your face. “That’s okay, we got there in the end. It’s nice to meet you, Taehyung.”

Taehyung brightens, tail curling happily behind him. He opens his mouth to say something, but is interrupted from a voice to the side.

“Are you going to make our poor new housemate wait outside all day, Tae?”

The light blush colouring Taehyung’s cheeks deepens, a sheepish laugh escaping. “No. I was just about to invite her in!”

He steps back and reveals the person behind him who had spoken, a tall man with dimples and silvery hair that did little to conceal the large, rounded grey ears atop his head. He seems a little awkward in his stance, like he has more body than he knows what to do with, but still extends an arm in greeting with a kind smile. “y/n, is it? Welcome, please come in. I hope you’ll enjoy your stay here with us, however brief. We’re happy to have you.”

Don’t cry, don’t cry! If you cry now you can never show your face here again. You clear your throat, returning his smile as you step inside and out of the sun, the difference in temperature against your skin immediate. “Thank you, I really appreciate your generosity in letting me stay here.”

“Nonsense,” Taehyung snorts, “Namjoon-hyung has been saying for months we should find someone to fill the spare room, and now you show up on our doorstep! It’s perfect.”

The taller, who Taehyung had referenced as Namjoon, seems a little bashful, his cheeks heating. Does everyone in this house blush so easily? You hope it’s not contagious.

There is movement in your hair again, the glider apparently needing to breathe, and you have your mouth open ready to explain when Namjoon beats you to it.

“Oh, I see you’ve met Jimin already!”

What?

The glider leaps from your head and onto Taehyung’s outstretched arm, climbing to his head before leaping from that too and gliding through the air, all the way around the corner. There is a small clutter, the sound of a light swearword entering the air, and then the ever-familiar patter of feet against hardwood. Another boy rounds the corner, ashy-blond hair tousled and parted by two small grey ears, bushy tail curling behind him.

He skids to a stop in front of you, dipping in a brief bow before rising and shooting you a bright smile. “Hello! Thank you for helping me! I’m Jimin, welcome home!”

It takes all of your willpower to keep the happy tears at bay as you tilt your head back and laugh, already feeling lighter than you ever remember feeling before.

[beamingswift]

Meant Just For You

A/N this story takes place in the kinda early stages of their relationship, about six or seven months into it. So like, when she’s still busy writing Reputation. I felt like that was important for you to know. Enjoy. Bye. 

Joe wakes to the cold air hitting his body. Her pulls the comforter a little tighter around his frame and rolls over to the other side of the bed to cuddle up to his girlfriend. He reaches out his hand to search the mattress for her warm body, only to find that she’s not there. He sleepily lifts his head from his pillow and slowly opens his eyes. He finds that on her side of the bed the comforter is pulled back and that only the profile of her body is printed into the mattress.

Joe flicks on the nightlight on his nightstand and squints his eyes because the bright light is shining into his narrowed pupils. He reads the time off of the alarm clock, 3:49 am. He groans softly, debating whether to go look for Taylor or to just try to go back to sleep again. He decides on the first, reasoning that he probably won’t be able to sleep without her warm body next to him.

He pushes the comforter off of him, exposing his body to the chill air. He shivers as he steps out of the bed, his feet hitting the cold wooden floor. Since he’s only wearing boxershorts, he heads over to the closet and shrugs on a plain sweater and some joggers to warm him up a bit.

All covered, he walks out of the bedroom, to the hall. Taking the stairs, he goes downstairs, stepping into the living room. All the lights are off and there is no sign that Taylor is, or has been, here. He wanders further to the kitchen, thinking that maybe she just wanted a late night snack. Unfortunately, he can’t find his girlfriend there either. He saunters through the house. They’re staying at her New York flat, which is pretty big. He mentally scowls Taylor a bit for suddenly disappearing, since all he wants to do at the moment is sleep.

After having had most of the rooms of the big mansion, he suddenly thinks of the one place he hasn’t been yet. Scolding at himself for not coming up with this earlier, he wanders to her little music studio. And indeed, when he comes closer he hears some soft piano music coming out of the little room. The door is slightly open and a ray of light shines through the small crack.

Joe pushes the door a little farther open and glances inside the room. Taylor is sitting behind the piano, her hands playing some abstract notes on the black and white keys. From time to time she hums something or mumbles some words, which she quickly writes down afterward.

He leans against the doorpost, intrigued by her actions. Now and then he’s able to catch some words, but the phrases she occasionally mutters to the melody she’s playing on the piano are pretty much inaudible. He’s never seen her songwriting like this before. Sure, he’s been in her studio while she was working on some tracks, but that was usually just the music, with the lyrics already done. He has never witnessed her writing the lyrics to the song. She’s always felt that to be a little too personal. 

Then he suddenly feels something move against her leg. He gasps a little, being startled by the sudden touch. Taylor abruptly stops playing and turns around. Joe looks down and notices Olivia nuzzling against his leg.

“For how long have you been standing there?” Taylor questions. She looks a little alarmed. “Just got here,” Joe smiles lightly, “What are you working on?” “Oh, nothing, just some rough drafts.” She quickly closes the notebook she was scribbling in just a few moments ago. “I got some inspiration while laying in bed. I just had to get some things out of my head.”

He walks towards her, lifts her up from the piano bench, sits down himself and places her on his lap. He wraps his arms around her body and hugs her tightly, while she nestles her face in his neck. 

“What got you inspired?” Joe wonders out loud and Taylor lifts her head up to look at him. He smiles at her and places a light kiss on her forehead. “You,” She simply states, “as always.” He frowns a little, “I didn’t know that I was so inspirational when I’m sleeping.” She chuckles softly. “Babe, no matter what you do, there’s always something about you that inspires me.”

Taylor buries her face in his chest again. She inhales the scent of his shirt, that smells like a mix of cologne, his own body odor and a little bit of her own perfume. In the meantime, Joe powders her head with light kisses, each one landing on a different place of her scalp. Her mouth curls into a shy smile. Then he just places his chin on the top of her head. She closes her eyes, enjoying the warmth of his body against her own.

They sit like that in silence for a while, until Joe decides to speak up. “Do you want to go back to bed, baby?” Taylor hums softly in agreement. She had almost fallen asleep within the comfort of his arms. “Do you think you can walk or should I lift you up myself?” He questions after she doesn’t show any intention of moving. “I can walk, I just don’t want to get up yet.” She mumbles into his shirt. He laughs softly, his chest rumbling. She lifts her face to look at him. Her face creeps into a smile when her gaze is met with his.

Then he gently grabs her chin and lifts it up. He tenderly places his lips against hers. Taylor lets out a peaceful sigh and parts her lips slightly. She gladly reciprocates the kiss almost immediately. Their lips move perfectly together in sync. He moves his hand from her chin to her cheeks and cups it lovingly with his palm. As she slowly breaks away from the kiss, she rests her forehead against his. He uses his free hand to put a strand of loose hair behind her ear.

“I love you.” He murmurs softly yet sincerely. “I love you too.” She beams at him before climbing off his lap and standing onto her own feet. She grabs his hand to imply that he has to get up as well. As he does her grabs his phone that was lying on top of the piano. Then he turns around and hurries towards Taylor, who already started walking towards the stairs. When he reaches her, he grabs her by her waist and knees and picks her up with ease. She shrieks as her feet leave the ground. He carries her upstairs bridal style. She rolls her eyes at the smirk appearing on his face but gives him a quick peck on the lips anyway.

When they reach the bedroom, Joe lays her down onto the soft mattress. Taylor pulls off one of Joe’s oversized hoodies that she had used to keep her warm when going downstairs and kicks the fluffy slippers off her feet. After that she grabs one of his shirts to wear to bed. Meanwhile, Joe strips down of the clothes he had previously put on when he went to look for her. Left in only his boxers he climbs into bed next to her. Taylor pulls the comforter over their bodies and cuddles up to his warm body. He wraps his arms tightly around her small frame and she places her head on his chest.

Delicately stroking her hair with his fingers, he watches her drift off to sleep. Then he kisses her head one more time before falling asleep himself.

[ayahinanetwork]

Sicilian Defense (Chapter 2)

Tokyo Ghoul Vampire AU

Summary: Unexpectedly changed into a vampire, Fueguchi Hinami finds herself thrown into a completely different world. Now enrolled into the prestigious Anteiku Academy as a member of the elite Night Class, Hinami slowly steps deeper into the realm of these monsters. Dealing with her ever-changing world and state, she becomes dependant on those around her, yet at the same time, poses them a danger greater than any of them could expect. As her thirst reaches closer to the point of no return, Hinami finds herself becoming increasingly drawn to the blood of her dorm leader, the sheltered Prince of an ancient pureblood vampire clan, Kirishima Ayato. As a former enemy resurfaces, will Hinami be able to protect her world from their interference?

Chapters: 1

A/N: Hello again everyone! Me (Mod Alice) and Mod Far finally finished chapter two! First of all I’d like to say thank you for the positive response to chapter 1! We were both very glad to see it, and you got us very motivated with your comments. This chapter is will still introduce a lot of things, but I hope some parts of it will have your interest piqued! Also, enjoy Ayato’s introduction~ Please do reblog this and feel free to leave some comments!

Chapter 2

Brought into Anteiku Academy, Hinami is facing the start of her new life - gaining a new family, discovering more about vampires, as well as meeting people from the Night Class she’ll be joining, already facing new hurdles with them. (8k)

She’s never really been bothered by the sun too much. In fact, Hinami really loves the sun. She spent the whole of her childhood playing in the small garden in her backyard, chasing butterflies amidst the flowers as she basks in the sunshine. But it feels different now. She’s a creature of the night— or soon to be one. Her body has changed. Walking behind Kaneki and Touka, Hinami winces as the rays burn into her skin and she’s tempted to run into the shades of the trees nearby to cool herself down.

“Won’t you turn to dust if you’re out in the sun?” Hinami had asked Touka earlier on, horrified as she watched the vampire throw open the doors of her mansion in broad daylight. Touka had laughed and stepped out and more so out of instinct, Hinami had cried out in distress, reaching forward towards her. Touka’s laugh continued and she twirled herself around outside, completely whole, completely solid and completely alive.

“Don’t trust those stupid vampire stories, silly. Most of them are untrue,” Touka had said as Kaneki ushered her out as well.

Apparently it seems that vampires do not die under the sun, but they’re still not so fond of it. Touka had explained that once one had lived for as long as she has, the sun doesn’t really bother them anymore. On the other hand, younger vampires like her brother still struggle to get used to it and would hole themselves up indoors during the day.

Hinami had wondered how old Touka is. She looked to be in her twenties, but at the same time she gave off a much more mature and powerful air. There was also something about her conversation with Kaneki that made Hinami believe that this woman is a powerful and influential person among the vampires— someone like that, especially among immortal creatures, can’t possibly be so young, right? While curious, Hinami swallowed her question. It’s rude to ask a woman her age and besides, Hinami wondered if she’d be able to continue seeing Touka in the same light if she ended up being much older than Hinami had expected her to be. Instead, Hinami focused her attention on something else.

“Your brother?”

“Yes, my brother, Ayato. You’ll meet him later. He’s really young— practically a baby,” Touka had chuckled.

“Is he a pureblood too?”

“Yes, he is.”

“I’m sure he’s cute.”

“Sure he is. He looks just like me.” Touka’s eyes were glinting as she spoke of her brother and Hinami was sure she adored him more than anything. She imagined a smaller version of Touka, maybe a chubby baby boy, and she agreed— indeed, he must be very cute if he had inherited from their parents the same looks Touka had. Kaneki had watched them with a cheeky look, though he remained silent as they headed towards the academy.

————

Situated past deep woods, Anteiku Academy is an isolated, yet sophisticated campus. Standing outside the gate, Hinami’s mouth falls open. This is no school— it’s practically a castle. The buildings stand taller than any school she’s seen before, with the school’s emblem intricately carved onto it. The brown brick walls and pointed blue roofs reminds her of the pictures of ancient, medieval palaces she’s seen in her mother’s books.

She follows behind Kaneki and Touka as they walk through the hallways. The place was eerily silent, sending chills up her spine. She reminds herself that it’s all in her mind, that she’s too caught up in thinking about the fact that this is a school for vampires. The hallways are quiet, but it’s because classes are ongoing and there is no one walking about on campus, not because that it’s haunted or something after being inhabited like monsters like vampires.

Monsters… Hinami wonders if she should really stop referring to them as that that. Touka is clearly far from a monster; she’s kind, friendly and really warm. No one who’s been so patient and helpful can be a monster, after all.

Eventually, what about Hinami herself? She too will turn into a vampire. Does that mean she’ll become a monster too? She gulps at the thought, wondering what kind of person she’ll change into, if she even changes into a different kind of person. She’s only known two vampires and they’re both completely different people.

They walk out of campus though the back exit, only for Hinami to be further surprised by the sight before her. The walkway out of the school leads to a split right ahead, entering deeper into a bunch of trees. Touka and Kaneki took the path heading right and Hinami merely follows like a puppy after its owner. It seems like the trees are really just a small clump, rather than another set off woods and going past them, she’s greeted with the sight of a glittering blue lake that stretches out as far beyond the horizon, merely impeded by an island in the middle which seemed to be mainly covered by more woods.

Crossing the bridge, Hinami’s able to see right across to the other side. There’s a similar bridge a short distance away, which she assumes is where the other path from the split earlier leads to. The two bridges were practically alike. The mere difference laid in the gates at the end. While the gate right in front of her had a huge crescent-shaped emblem on it, the other one had a sun.

“We’re headed towards the Moon Dorms,” Kaneki explained as they walked through the gates. “Here’s where the vampires stay in the day before their lessons at night. Hinami-chan, you’ll be living here as well.”

“So you’re gonna take me to my room?” Hinami asks.

“Not, exactly…” Kaneki says. “For now, let’s go to my residence. We have some paper work for you to settle and I’ll explain the school a little better.”

There is a building right ahead of them, but Touka and Kaneki turned to a small path and walked away from it before Hinami can even take a good look at it. At quick glance, it did seem as illustrious as the rest of the school, but she didn’t have enough time to really study it.

She’s led to another building and Hinami’s head swims in the number of buildings she’s seen just that day itself. The campus is far bigger than she had expected it, even from the moment she first stepped into the main building. She wonders how much it had cost for the school to be set up and maintained, but after realizing how wealthy Touka seemed to have been based on  her house, she assumes it’s probably not too impossible a feat for Kaneki and Touka to achieve this.

The new building she’s led to is thankfully smaller and less intimidating. Still, it’s nowhere near the size of her former home. Her house feels like a gardening shed beside all these structures. She’s never really thought of herself as poor or underprivileged. Instead, she’s always thought that her family had been pretty well-to-do. She knows now that she was wrong and that there’s far more wealth in the world in the hands of people who were far above her.

Then again, this is the vampire society, isn’t it? Things are surely different.

“Welcome to my humble home,” Kaneki says as they step in. After Touka’s mansion, Hinami nods in agreement at the statement. Kaneki’s house is cozy and comfortable, much more homely than the extravagant Kirishima mansion was.

Kaneki leads her up the flight of stairs and down a corridor. He pushes open the door at the end, and she’s led into a room that seems to resemble a study. Despite the fact that the lights are turned off, the place is still bright, thanks to the full-length glass windows that line the wall in front of them, letting sunlight stream in to brighten every corner of the room. Kaneki takes a seat at the desk in front of her, reaching below as he rummages through something.

“Hinami-chan, don’t be shy, please take a seat!” he calls out, voice muffled a little from him looking away from her. Touka pushes her forward lightly and she goes to take a seat in one of the two chairs in front of the chair. Kaneki raises his head and pulls out a couple of papers, laying them out in front of her.

“We’ve already filled out the stuff based on what you told us. I hope it’s all correct,” he says. Hinami’s eyes scan the pages, running quickly through familiar words and date. She tries not to think too much as she reads her parents’ names out silently to herself, merely looking up and forcing out a smile, nodding at Kaneki. Kaneki smiles at her. “Great! Well, since you technically need a guardian, I took it upon myself to list myself as it.”

“Huh? Why?” Hinami asks.

“Ah… because Touka-chan told me to,” Kaneki says, looking at the vampires standing right beside Hinami. Hinami turns to her, only to see her scowl at Kaneki before she looks down at Hinami and smiles.

“Well, Hinami, you’re technically still a minor and you’ve been orphaned. The government would see to it that you’ll taken care of normally, but there’s a little problem with your case,” she explains. “You were attacked by a pureblood, not a normal vampire, so the humans can’t hope to deal with it and we rather the news about purebloods not get out as well… Since we don’t want them interfering, we decided to present ourselves as friends of your family and take you in. I hope that’s fine with you?”

Touka’s eyes soften as she spoke. The explanation is vague and Hinami knows that she isn’t being given the full picture here, but she feels she can trust Touka and Kaneki despite not even knowing them. Maybe she’s being naive, but Hinami’s always been a little too easy when it comes to trusting people. Kaneki and Touka were nice to her when she woke up and they were beside her as she cried for her parents. Such nice people can’t possibly have any ulterior motive, can they?

“I’m fine with it. I guess we’re some kind of family now,” Hinami laughs, scratching the back of her head.

“I guess we are. Go ahead and call me your father if you want,” Kaneki jokes, smirking playfully.

“Father…? Aren’t you a little too young for that? You’re more like a big brother,” Hinami points out. Touka and Kaneki exchanged mischievous glances at her statement, before Kaneki chuckles in response.

“I suppose so.”  

“Then… is it okay if I call you Onii-chan?” Hinami asks slowly. She ignores the cheeky looks that continue to hang on Touka and Kaneki’s faces, trying her best not to let them bother her too much.

“You can call me whatever you want that makes you comfortable,” Kaneki says, getting up and walking to a corner, where there seems to be a pantry. “Do you want a drink, Hinami?”

She realises her throat is dry and she nods. As Kaneki pours her a drink, she watches his back, silently repeating their conversation in her head. Onii-chan… Onii-chan… The thought of having a brother beside her seems to make her feel a little lighter, though it makes her think of her previous family a lot more as well. But all she’s ever had were her family and now they’re gone. She’s never had too many friends and she’s never known anyone else. Touka and Kaneki are strangers, but even then, she finds herself wanting to be with them; not wanting to be alone.

“Then… Touka-san… Can I call you Onee-chan as well?” she asks softly, hesitating a little. She doesn’t turn to look at Touka. Instead, her eyes drop from Kaneki’s back to her hands, watching as her fingers fiddle with one another. She hears Touka shuffle slightly and she feels a hand being placed on her shoulder, squeezing it lightly.

“You can call me whatever you want,” she murmurs. “As long as it makes you feel better, I’m fine with it.”

Kaneki returns with a glass of water, bringing it to her and placing it down in front of her. She takes it, thanks him and starts to drink. It hadn’t hit her how thirsty she had been until she starts drinking, but even after she downs the glass, she feels that the thirst had yet to quench and her throat still aches somewhat from wanting more to drink. She swallows her saliva instead, forcing herself to smile at Kaneki.

“Thank you!” She places the glass on the table and Kaneki nods at her, clasping his hands together after he takes his seat back in his place.

“Now, more to serious stuff,” he says. “Hinami-chan, you’re going to be enrolled here, in Anteiku Academy, as a Night Class student, so you’ll be with the vampires. The human students are in the Day Class instead. Your lessons will be at night, so you’ll have to get used to sleeping in the day. Eventually, you’ll prefer this arrangement as well.”

Hinami’s hand finds its place on her neck, lightly rubbing the two holes that is now long gone. She swallows again, mind reeling at the thought of her becoming them again. How many times has she thought about it? Yet she’s still far from accepting it. All these-- it’s too surreal.

“We’re trying to test for co-existence here, but everything is still too early and too new. The vampire’s identity is still a secret. No one knows that the Night Class is made out of vampires as we’ll like to keep it that way. The Day Class is forbidden from wandering into school grounds while the Night Class has their lessons and this extends to the Night Class in daytime as well. It’s absolutely forbidden for you to drink their blood as well,” Kaneki explains.

Drink… Hinami nods as his words but she feels a chill run down her spine. Blood-- it will soon be her nutrient. What is she going to do about that? She can never imagine herself sinking her teeth into the neck of a human. Besides, what do the vampires in the Night Class drink anyway? Since they’re forbidden from drinking the blood of the Day Class students, do they have an alternate source of blood? Maybe they had a vault of human bodies somewhere for them to go to to drink the blood of. Hinami shudders at the thought.

A knock sounds on the door and Hinami jumps slightly, before she turns her head to look backwards.

“Ah, seems like he’s here,” Kaneki says.

Touka raises her eyebrow at him. “Why’d you call my brother here?”

“I thought the Dorm Leader could help her get used to some stuff as well.” Kaneki gets up and heads to the door.

Meanwhile, Hinami is confused. Kaneki had called Touka’s brother a dorm leader and it probably meant that he was in charge of the dorms, but Touka had called him a baby. Hinami arcs her neck, looking behind as she watches Kaneki open the door.

“Ayato-kun! Glad you could come,” Kaneki says. He steps aside for the newcomer to step in and Hinami’s eyes widens. The boy standing by the door is no baby. In fact, he seems to be taller than Kaneki, though his body is leaner and less broad. Even then, Hinami just knew he is well-built.

It’s impossible to deny the resemblance between him and Touka. Touka was right in that sense; he did look just like her. Save for more defined jaws, he looks like a carbon copy of his sister-- the same blue hair, the same dark eyes and the same intense, yet alluring aura that makes it impossible for her to tear her gaze away from him.

“Ayato-kun, this is Hinami-chan, the girl we were telling you about,” Kaneki introduces, gesturing over to her. Ayato eyes her for a moment, before he gives her a slight nod. “Hinami-chan, this is Kirishima Ayato-kun. He’s the Dorm Leader for the Moon Dorm, so you’ll be in his care.”

“Oh… Nice to… meet you,” she says slowly, stammering a little as her voice catches in her throat. She realises she sounds embarrassing and that realisation is enough to turn her attention away from him as she turns around and plops herself back properly onto the chair. Touka lets out a slight chuckle at her reaction and Hinami glances up to her.

“What? Have you fallen in love with him already?” Touka teases and Hinami’s sure her face was bursting into millions of different shades of red.

“No… No… I--”

“I don’t blame you. He has that effect, as expected from a Prince, don’t you think?” Touka chuckles.

“P-Prince?”

“Oh, didn’t we tell you?” Kaneki asks, walking up to her, now holding a paper bag in his hand. Hinami hadn’t seen the bag before so she assumes Ayato must have brought it along with him. Ayato follows behind Kaneki, walking over to stand by the table as Kaneki takes a seat again. “Touka is the Queen of vampires and Ayato’s the Prince. The Kirishimas are the royalty of their society.”

Hinami blinks, staring at Kaneki, then at Touka, Ayato and then back at Kaneki again. Knowing that she’s been associating with vampires is one thing, but realising that vampires aren’t loose monsters running about the darkness of society is another thing; they have their own society, with enough organization and hierarchy that there’s even a monarchy among them.

Is that why the Kirishima mansion is so big? It’s a castle.

“Onee-chan… you--”

“Don’t think too much about it! Here, time to change!” Kaneki cuts in, holding out the bag towards Hinami. She takes it from him and looks in, noticing that there was a set of clothes in there, purely white aside from occasional black lines, which initially looked like stripes but seems to be some other kind of pattern after she had stared at them for a short while. “It’s your uniform. You’re allowed to wear anything you want at your dorms of course, but for class, you’ll be wearing that.”

“Come on, let’s go change,” Touka says. She takes Hinami by the hand and starts pulling her away, leaving Kaneki and Ayato in that room as they leave it and head to another room down the hallway. The room Touka had pulled her into looks like a normal bedroom and while it is a little bigger that her room back at home, it felt more homely than the one back at the Kirishima mansion.

Touka helps her take out the clothes from the bag and lays them down on the bed. The design of the uniform takes her completely by surprised. Now unfolded and smoothened out, the intricate patterns and the distinct color choices were striking. She didn’t need other evidences to show that this really is the uniform of an elite school.

The uniform consisted of a long-sleeved white blouse, a skirt that fans outwards a little more than the usual school skirt does and a heavy-looking jacket. While it did look uncomfortable at first glance, it takes her by surprise when she pulls it on and finds that it actually is really snug to wear. It’s not as stuffy as it looks and the outfit as a whole feels really light and easy to move in. The jacket isn’t as bulky at it had seemed as well. In fact it hugs the midsection of her torso in a manner, not in a sexually appealing manner, but in a manner that is still nice to look at. Touka pulls out a pair of boots and a stockings out of the bag as well and Hinami pulls them on immediately. As she stands to admire herself in the mirror, Touka walks over behind her and reaches forward.

“The final touch,” she says as she pulls on a necklace. The necklace seems to be ordained with the rose-patterned emblem she had seen all over the school-- what she had assumed to be the school’s logo. With that on, Touka shifts a little to admire Hinami’s reflection and a wide smile appears on her face. “You look beautiful.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I think you’ll make a nice bride for Ayato…” As she speaks, she raises her hand to rub her chin playfully, watching as Hinami chokes in response.

“Onee-chan! That is--”

“You were staring at him so much!”

“That’s because I was so surprised. You had said he’s a baby!” Hinami insists. Her eyes fix on Touka’s through the mirror. Touka still has her amused expression on, clearly enjoying Hinami’s reactions.

“He’s only seventeen. We’re purebloods so we’re immortal and we can live for thousands of years,” Touka explains. “Even I am fairly young. If we assume an average pureblood lives up to ten thousand years before they’re killed off somehow, even I’m still a kid. Ayato’s like a human fetus still in its mother’s womb.”

Hinami’s reminded once again what very different kind of creatures they are and once again it hits her that she’s going to be stepping into that world and become just like them. Ayato’s the same age as her, but Hinami’s always been regarded as a young lady on the brink of stepping into adulthood, but Ayato, despite living for the same length as her, is barely even a child.

More questions burn in Hinami’s mind as she thinks about them, but she’s too scared to ask. How old is Touka? Is she far too old for Hinami’s comprehension? Is she at an age Hinami can never accept? She claimed to be young, but she’s old enough to think that a seventeen-year-old is a baby. What’ll happen when Hinami turns? Will she become immortal as well? Is she also doomed to eternal life? Does she have to continue bearing that emptiness in her heart that her parents’ death had left her? She can’t imagine living for no ends.

------

Ayato watches his sister drag out the girl who’s clearly far too confused and has definitely only been fed with half-truths about the whole situation. No, maybe even less than that. He knows his sister and the Headmaster feed him with half-truths, so he bets they had given her half of that-- quarter truths.

The moment Touka and Hinami were out of the room and the door had slammed in their faces, the air takes an immediate change. Ayato turns to Kaneki, who now has his attention on the papers in front of him.

“Do you still want to see Naki and I later?” he asks.

Kaneki doesn’t look up. “Yes, I would like to give you an official briefing as Dorm Leader and his assistant, but for now, Ayato-kun, let me discuss this with you as a former member of the Hunter’s Association with you, the Pureblood Prince.”

Their official places in society-- this must be serious.

Ayato takes a seat in the chair Hinami had just been sitting on, though allowing himself to relax far more than she had. Between the two of them, he’s in a position above Kaneki anyway. He doesn’t have to worry too much about appearances. He leans back into the chair, crosses his legs and rests his arms on the sides. Kaneki looks up at him, staring at him intently, before sighing.

“The Association is to never know of what happened with Hinami. It is a crime for a Pureblood to turn unwilling humans into vampires and such an act can be seen as an act of war against the humankind, especially considering the particular pureblood that did it… though unfortunately, I can’t tell you who it is--”

“Someone from the Yoshimura household?” Ayato cuts in with a random guess. “I don’t know anything about them, but the Old Man left behind some people after he died or something, right?”

“I didn’t say it’s them…”

“You did say an act of war… The only families influential enough for that are the Kirishimas, Yomos and the Yoshimuras. I doubt it’s my uncle who did it. He’s barely left the house,” Ayato points out.

Kaneki grimaces at Ayato’s words, rubbing his temples lightly. “Touka-chan’s gonna kill me.”

“The only person I know from that family is the Old Man though… but he was one for peace so why would his family even do this?”

“Ayato-kun, just because one person thinks in one way, it doesn’t mean everyone agrees with that person. For instance, just because your sister is helping me out in this and she believes wholeheartedly in our cause, do you agree that humans and vampires can live in permanent peace?”  

The case with Hinami is evident enough to prove his own thoughts about the situation. Ayato had never actually thought that way-- there’s too much of a power imbalance for there to be permanent coexistence. He just went with the flow when Touka told him to take on the role as Dorm Leader. In fact, he did it partly because it was the only reason he could use to get out of his house. Touka wouldn’t let him out otherwise, especially after the incident with their parents, Touka’s been too insistent that a Pureblood Prince who’s still learning his powers was probably safer at home.

He’s been a sheltered prince all his life. Even though his parents had been a little more open with him than Touka was subsequently, they had never formally introduced him to the vampire society as well. Of course, it made sense since he was too young when they were killed-- pureblood kids are only introduced when they’re a little older. Even now, he hasn’t had an official introduction to most of the society, though he’s pretty much of age already. Touka had mentioned him to everyone else, but mainly to strengthen the Kirishimas’ hold on power to prevent the society from falling into a power vacuum. She has a younger brother, much younger than her. She doesn’t have her own children or anything, but the Kirishima family line at least has one heir to the throne. That, and the backing of the Yomo clan and the patriarch of the Yoshimura clan back in those days, had managed to reassert Touka’s dominance over the vampires as the Queen.

But while his sister is the lynchpin of their society, one who knows every single dirty bit of gossip and rumor floating about, Ayato’s own world is built upon secrecy and half-truths. He knows nothing about their world aside from the walls of the Kirishima mansion, and now the walls of Anteiku Academy. He’s never met a hunter before, aside from Kaneki who had retired some time back to take the place of Old Man Yoshimura as the Academy’s Headmaster. The only time he’s seen a Level E is when a mob of them were sent to attack their mansion back when he was five. The only aristocrats he know are those in the Night Class. There’s still thousands more out there. He doesn’t even know the family members of those in his class.

It’s likely that even if Kaneki is to tell him the identity of the vampire who bit Hinami, he’ll probably have never heard of the name.

Kaneki tosses something at him and he catches it. The box he had thrown is something Ayato’s seen a thousand times already and as he expected, opening it unveils tons of pills.

“Pass that to Hinami later on. Touka-chan and I need to discuss something so you can take that time to show Hinami around the Moon Dorm. Bring Naki here after you’re done and we’ll talk more,” Kaneki instructs. “I don’t expect Hinami to last really long. In fact, I think she’s already quite thirsty now. She might be turning soon so keep an eye on her.”

“Is that why she’s being admitted into the Night Class directly?”

“Yes. Please take good care of her,” Kaneki instructs. They’ve taken in ex-humans before but even then, this is way too suspicious. Kaneki continues staring at him with an authoritative look and Ayato finds himself narrowing his eyes in challenge.

“Is there something else that I should know about this?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Ayato-kun, if you’re trying to use you pureblood magic on me, it won’t work. I might be almost like a vampire, but I am still essentially human,” Kaneki says, dropping his formality with a more playful disposition that almost resembles Touka herself. It might seem cheeky, but Ayato notes a trend between these two-- the tendency to hide their secrecy under such fronts. There’s more to Hinami’s case than a mere fear of the vampire hunters and humans seeing this as an act of war-- something strong enough to drive Kaneki and Touka, especially the vampire Queen Touka, into direct action.

But unfortunately, before he can question anything else, a knock sounds on the door.

“Ah, that must be Touka and Hinami,” Kaneki chuckles, making it far too obvious that he’s relieved from the their appearance. “I guess this brings our conversation to an  end, Ayato-kun. Do show Hinami to the Moon Dorms and help her familiarise herself with the place. Keep an eye on her as well. I’ll see you and Naki in about an hour and a half.”

-----

He leads her through the Moon Dorms’ garden, the trees around them shivering under the soft breeze passing through them while both of them walked on the brick tiles leading up to something that looks more like a mansion than any dormitory she has ever had the luck to lay eyes on. The blue roof is pointed and tall, looming over those who dare enter the building. Its walls were made of pure grey stone, looking as if it was carved, carefully made so that there will be no roughness detectable.

It reminded Hinami of a simpler version of a Cathedral, those buildings who towered the believers that came to worship God, all in the mindset that God is above those believers, and that they should be scared of him just as much as adore him when they’re under his wing. She wondered if this building had the same purpose, almost. It would be immensely hypocritical of a school that promotes balance but in the end… Isn’t it right, that humans are under the vampires’ mercy?

Holding the edges of her pure white skirt nervously, Hinami glanced up at Ayato. He didn’t seem like a bad person, from what she saw and currently seeing. His sister was very nice to her as well, and their blood relation was clear from their facial features. Maybe she could hope it was the same case with him. He didn’t speak with her much while they walked, but she barely spoke a word herself, so she couldn’t judge him for that.

Still… He was a vampire prince, a pureblood much like the one that bit her. Sometimes the wound area stings, brings her memories of that night. She can almost remember the feeling of those fangs plunging beyond her skin, tearing through the vein that held her blood. She brought her fingers to the wound, touching the rough patch of skin that only lately recovered fully as if to block the outside world from it.

“We are here.” Ayato tells her, snapping her out of her thoughts. They were standing in front of two visible pillars that were a few of the base foundations of the building itself, and were the start of an outside hall that led to a big wooden door in its ending, the main entrance of the building itself. “The others are more than likely sleeping, some might be roaming around the dorm… It’s been a while, since somebody new joined. Don’t mind them if they seem too closed off.”

She nods at him, though her eyes fall back to the floor quickly afterwards. Her stomach is churning and she feels slightly sick. Ever since she was young she was more on the shy side, but right now, she’s facing her fears at the same time she dives into a new beginning. It’s terrifying, and she tries not to be stiff, especially not in front of Ayato who didn’t do anything to offend her, but it’s hard to think that behind those two giant doors there are vampires lurking, vampires that she’d have to live with, vampires that will in the end of the day, are the same as what she’s going to become.

Ayato’s lips stay in a tight line. Her muscles were tense and her heartbeat quickened its pace. It wasn’t hard to tell that she was scared, if not terrified at the thought of entering this dorm. Touka told him it was a traumatic experience for her, when that pureblood tore through her house. It would be for the better, if he helps her with the rest. “I’ll introduce you to all of them, alright? They need to start waking up soon, anyway.”

Hinami’s still nervous, but her eyes crinkle as she smiles at the gesture. “Alright. Thank you, Ayato-kun.” She says. She hopes it's okay to call him by his first name, all she wants is to try and be friendly. She watches his expression carefully, and though his eyes widen a little for a few short seconds, he doesn’t say anything about it.

“No problem… Let’s get in.” He turns his back to her, walking towards the door. She’s a few steps behind him, still hesitant but aware of the fact that right now, she has no choice. Ayato grabs the metallic, rectangle shaped handles in front of him, and the doors opened with a creak that echoed across the main hall.

Hinami is a bit awestruck. If from the outside the place looks like a mansion, the inside looks like a castle, something out of a movie. There were two staircases, both wide and heavily decorated at each side of the room, reflecting each other as if one were a mirror of the other. In the middle of it, expensive looking sofas stood, surrounding a wooden short table. Rugs and hand crafted clocks were carefully placed, and the entire huge hall was giving the feeling of a fancy living room.

It was almost saddening to think this hall alone was bigger than her former house even when it wasn’t shredded to pieces, like it is now. But no mind to the sad thoughts that still lingered, she was slack-jawed. There was an eerie beauty to the building, all the lights dimmed except those of the sun, trying to peek through the curtains, and its extravagant entrance didn’t leave room to doubt why a vampire prince resides here.

A while passes before Hinami realizes that Ayato has been staring at her, a small grin on his face. She averts her eyes from him, biting her lips at the stupid display she had put on. She eased up a little after seeing nobody new in her range of vision, but she should have known to control her expressions near people she just met.

“Hooguro, Shousei, I know you are there. Come out already.” Ayato suddenly says, and Hinami practically whips her head to where he directed his head to. Two blond men, one rugged with visible scar on his eye and another with an oddly similar haircut to the one Touka is sporting appeared, coming out of left hallway. Their eyes were squinted at her, examining and judging.

“Ayato-kun…?” She looks at him, a bit unsure of how to approach either of them – one seemed awfully intimidating, tall with sharp facial features. His arms were crossed and he didn’t look welcoming at all. The other had a bit of a wicked smirk on his face, his eyes fixated on her as if trying to stare her down. Well, until she talked at least, and he decided to frown. Hinami felt anxiety spreading down her body.

“Hinami, these two are Hooguro and Shousei Idera. They’re a part of the Night Class. Shousei, Hooguro, this is Fueguchi Hinami and she’s going to join the class.” He said, frank in his words. The two men looked between each other, exchanging unsure, and may she say, slightly dismayed looks.

Hinami swallowed as she felt Ayato looking at her back, expecting her to say something. She wringed her hands together and stepped forward. “Uh… Hello, Hooguro-san, Shousei-san.” She offered, bowing slightly. Both men tilted their head. She wondered if had done something wrong. Did she come across as weird?

“Ayato-sama, isn’t she being a bit too ru-“ One of them, Hooguro, tries to talk, but Ayato cuts him midway through.  

“No. Go wake up Naki, he knows he needs to be up earlier today. Tell him to come see me.” He says, authority present in his voice. He’s definitely the dorm’s leader, Hinami thinks. To think how both of them just scurry away under his command…

Both of them are out of the room, and Ayato sighs to himself. Hinami is unsure of the situation at hand, but she doesn’t ask. If she did something wrong, he would have probably pointed it out anyway. He certainly showed the confidence to call someone out moments ago. “Let’s move on. I’ll show you the other parts of the dorm.” They start moving through the building, and Hinami leans in as he basically maps the spacious dorm for her.

“The left side is the boys’ rooms area. The right one is the girls’.” He gestures to each hallway with his hands, and she looks both sides. “Your room will be upstairs to the right side. Most people have roommates, but you lucked out. I’ll take you there in a bit. But first there are more general places you need to see.” He then starts walking towards one of the staircases, and Hinami quickly follows his lead.

Behind the first large door they come across, Hinami finds out there is a library, big and filled from floor to ceiling with bookshelves that seemed so packed there were barely any spaces between the books they were holding. Hinami could at least see herself confide in this area, although it was a quite dusty compared to the other rooms. As if less used.

Despite wanting to stay a bit more, to look through all the sections and see what she can find, she reminds herself Ayato isn’t here to watch her admire their library. He’s here to show her the place she’s going to live in for a very long time. She follows him out, though her head still turn to look back, before the door closes. She doesn’t know it, but Ayato saw her excited gaze. In his heart, he’s glad that she at least found something nice in here.

They walk near a window, framed with silver metal. He stops near it, and she almost bumps into him, but she steps back in time. “Look out of the window.” He tells her, knocking on the glass lightly with the back of his fingers. She turns her head, looking at the outside. There is a back garden there, and Hinami could recognize so many beautiful flowers there. Amaryllises, anemones, carnations, roses, even gardenias.

Her hands and face stick to the glass, trying take a better glimpse, and Ayato snorts. “That’s the actual flower garden we have here. We have a staff that takes care of it. It’s usually a free spot, if you want to go there. The rest don’t really like to be outside when you can actually see the flowers.” He added factually.

“Thank you for letting me know, Ayato-kun!” She gushed. She always liked gardens – both her and her mother had their own little garden in the backyard, at the time. Even if she isn’t the one planting the seeds, it would still be nice, to have her own little greenhouse here as well. After her eyes lingered a bit more on the beautifully organized garden, she turned, her skirt twirling with her, looking at him a bit more lightheartedly than before. “Let’s go!”

“Uh, alright.” He replied, unsure of how to approach the situation. She had seemed to have calmed down almost completely by now. Her heart pace was stable, from what he could hear, and instead of walking slumped and withdrawn, she stood tall in joy.

If it’ll help her introduction to go smoothly, he guessed it’s only for the better.

He started walking, and with no time they both found themselves in the dorm’s kitchen. Hinami was puzzled. Ever since she was a child, she had heard vampire feed on blood, blood, and well… blood. Maybe she could recall a few novels that included them eating human flesh, but… there is no need of a kitchen filled with caviar or roast beef or whatever types those seven jars of ice cream were in the freezer. She turned her head to Ayato, tilting it, and he could have sworn he had seen question marks in her eyes.

“We can eat things that aren’t blood. It doesn’t satisfy the thirst, but we are still able to eat them, anyway.” He explained, and she released an almost inaudible ‘oh’. He could catch from the corner of his eye how her lips tightened. Not a lot of turned vampires can process the thought of food not satisfying them at first, so it’s hardly surprising to see her distraught at the thought of a meal. Of what she’ll have to actually feed on.

There is silence between them. It fills up the room, making them both feel slightly uncomfortable. There’s a question lingering on her mind that is insistent on bothering her, making her feel guilt for crimes she did not commit. There’s a question lingering on his mind that makes him worry for what will happen to both her and the dorm, the people she can accidentally hurt.

What am I going to do?

What are you going to do?

Ayato shakes his head. The tablets would have to be enough. If she can take them, it’ll be fine. She won’t turn to a Level E.

“Ayato-sama!” Both of them turn around to look at two people entering the kitchen. One blond man, just like the two other men before, and the other a short woman, with a rather strange reddish-brown hairstyle. The man struts into the kitchen, with some sort of a gangster walk. His back was slumped and his feet pointing outwardly as he stepped. Against him, the woman walked in a perfect line, her back straightened with her hands behind her back.

“Naki, you remember we two have to go out earlier to talk with Kaneki, right?” He reminded. Naki nodded excitedly, his white, toothy smile appearing on his face. Hinami almost giggles, but stops herself. Nonetheless, Naki’s eyes still shift to her.

“Who’s the girl?” He asks, as if she wasn’t there since the beginning.

“Naki, Miza, this is Fueguchi Hinami and she’s going to join the night class.” He answers, and they looked at her curiously, the woman – Miza, apparently, has her eyes narrowed, but both of them don’t look too malicious. Actually, even despite the squinted eyes, Miza is very pretty, just like how Naki’s features are incredibly charming.

Already bowed down, Hinami attempts to be as polite as possible, so what happened before half an hour or so won’t repeat itself. “It’s nice to meet you, Miza-san, Naki-san.” She said, only to lift her head and see they seemed more embarrassed than anything about it all. Naki scratched his head while Miza looked at her as if she’s trying to figure her out.

She bit the inside of her cheek, shifting her eyes to Ayato instead. “Ayato-kun, should I apologize or….?” She asked, worried that she may have done something idiotic. Naki suddenly grimaced, and Miza pressed her lips together. The tension was thick in the air.

Ayato was close to tell them off before one more person appeared.

“You know, it’s pretty rude to lower the status of a pureblood like that. ‘Kun’? You want to get slapped, or something?” A man with white, messy hair that matched his ill-fitting white uniform. He skipped towards her, stopping when his face is inches from hers. She trips back, and he laughs, almost manically.

“Takizawa, fuck off.” Ayato hissed, stepping in front of him. Takizawa Seidou was a human turned vampire, just like Hinami was, or at least, going to be – however, he was never fully sane after he was bitten. There was little that he hadn’t experienced in terms of torturing, and his hatred grew to insanity long before he was able to reclaim his life by biting the pureblood who changed him. Despite being C Level vampire, he was usually worse than an E Level.

Especially when it came to Ayato, or any other pureblood, for that matter. He was a survivor made out of spite – and that caused him to more than often lash out on Ayato, as the closest pureblood he could reach to.

“What now, little Prince? You all have us calling you Ayato-sama, but the moment a pretty girl walks in you’d give her extra privileges? A bit unfair, if you ask me.” He teased, with his nicest shit eating grin. Within seconds Ayato’s hand clutched Takizawa’s face, nails digging through his scalp, ready to break it on a nearby wall. Naki came and interfered, breaking the fight off.

Hinami could barely breathe as she watched the scene unfolding in front of her. She heard Naki trying to calm Ayato down and Takizawa laughing out loud as if he had just heard the funniest joke in his life, and it occurred to her – she knows nothing about how to deal with things like that. She didn’t even know there was a problem with the suffix, she was just trying to be friendly. How could she handle situations like these? I won’t be able to…

“We’ll talk about this later. Kaneki will handle you.” Ayato announced, his hand covering his eyes, avoiding Takizawa’s face that he knew oh so well was still in the same smirk it was before, still gloating happily as if he won the lottery.

Takizawa sighed in exaggeration, acting like he was upset before bursting into laughter again. “Whatever. I see him every other day anyway, I’m sure he already got used to it. Bye missy! Hope you are ready to when he shows his real fangs!” He yelled towards Hinami, skipping away from the kitchen.

Hinami was beyond appalled. You could even say she was shaken, from how she was frozen in her spot.

Ayato sighed. So much for the introduction to go smoothly. He couldn’t even stay, he already had to go to the meeting with Kaneki, which he would have to report Takizawa on as well… His mind was a mess. “Miza, take Hinami to that one free room and the girl’s section. Naki and I need to go already.”

Miza looked like she wanted to complain, but she sucked it up. “Fine.” She took a hold of Hinami’s wrist, shaking her a little, so she would wake up from her trance. “Let’s go already. I still have stuff to do before school starts.”

Hinami glanced at Ayato. Miza still didn’t seem to like her much. He nodded at her, before finally leaving the room with Naki. Miza rolled her eyes and simply started walking, Hinami following behind in small but quick steps.

Her eyes were at the ground – she knew she wouldn’t fit here. She wanted to break down and cry and go back to her parents, but she had nowhere to go. She bit her lips, trying to concentrate on anything else but the events, to avoid any more embarrassment and failure that wish to follow her.

Miza, looking back at her, almost felt like she was watching a kicked puppy. She noticed her touching her neck, covering it... She’d even say shielding it, in a way. It wasn’t that hard to figure out why she’s here now. She was clearly at loss here. A lost child that was forced into a life they didn’t want.

Maybe she could spare her some wise words, while they’re still walking.

“Listen up.” Miza began, grabbing Hinami’s attention.

“In the vampire world, there is a hierarchy. You have to follow it. This is non-negotiable, if you want to stay on good terms with all of us. Ayato-sama, as you should call him, is at the top. He’s a prince. The suffix is important, you cannot leave it out.” She lectures her, and Hinami takes mental notes, even as she’s sniffling a little.

“The next in line are people like me and Naki. Aristocrats. Calling us how you did is fine. We have considerably pure blood, but not fully pure like purebloods. If we tell you that you can call us otherwise, then it’s okay to call us that in public too. Again, this does not extend to purebloods.” She continues, and Hinami is already grasping the concept. She gets it.

“And then we get to turned vampires. Yes, like you. Level C to E. Takizawa is one too. He’s level C. You are the bottom of the chain, so don’t expect much from higher ups – they don’t like messing with you bunch much. You will usually simply be called by whatever name the higher ranked vampire wants to call you. I’m calling you Fueguchi, from now on, as an example.” Hinami nodded at the name. Fueguchi is fine. Better than what she could have expected after what happened.

“Now, there’s more to all of it, but I don’t have the time to explain it. If you have any questions, you are free to come and ask me. Also, here’s your room.” Miza finishes, and gestures towards the door they now stood beside.

Hinami opens the door, to reveal a beautiful, spacious room, with silk curtains hanged and silk sheets on a big, fancy bed she could only dream the princesses she reads about in fairytales have. She has everything she needs here, a closet, a work table, nightstands and bookshelves. The wallpaper was dark royal blue and Hinami gawked at how prettily all the things in front of her combined.

“Glad you at least like your room.” She offers, letting the corner of her mouth twitch up, even if only slightly. “I’ll be going now.” Miza is already ready to leave, but Hinami holds onto the edge of her white jacket.

“What?” She asks, a bit shocked Hinami actually had the courage to pull on her jacket.

“Thank you, Miza-san.” She answers, letting go of Miza’s clothes, her hand shyly falling back to it’s place.

Miza let’s herself stare at her, for a few moments longer, her eyes traveling to her neck – to the wound. “No problem, I guess. But just so you know, it’ll only get harder from here on.”