Canon Characters that are involved with your OC's Lore
I saw @/yuriko-mukami doing this and decided to give it my own spin. Originally, this was six characters but I have seven and I didn't want to part with anyone so... yeah, enjoy.
This is based on the events before and during Everlasting Spark.
Shuu Sakamaki:
A century old bond connects those two. Once lovers, they are now estranged. The events of the story bring them back together, allowing them to try and repair what was once lost.
Ruki Mukami:
The vampire with a gaze cold as ice immediately recognizes something within Chiyo that he aims to take advantage of. Initially acting on orders from King Karlheinz, he soon develops a twisted sense of possessiveness over the young woman, planning to use her as a means to become a version of Adam and keeping her as his own.
Yuma Mukami/Edgar:
A rival for Shuu's attention. Already during their childhood, Chiyo disliked whenever Shuu was playing with the village boy. Being excluded by vampire society made the girl prejudiced herself, thinking of humans as weaker and worth less. Chiyo is relieved by Edgar's death and shocked to see him in present day as Yuma. During her time at the Mukami Manor, she warms up to him a little, after he nurses her back to health.
Reiji Sakamaki:
From early on, Reiji reminds Chiyo about how low her standing in society actually is, despite her family being nobles. He never misses an opportunity to do damage to her sense of self-worth, tearing down her confidence until she believes that Shuu would leave her in favor of Edgar. This pushes the young girl to agree and help Reiji execute his plan on getting rid of Edgar, despite not knowing the whole extent of the plan. He strikes a deal with Chiyo, saying he will bring her home if she helps him dig out information about the mysterious Mukami family.
Yui Komori:
A human girl who is forced to live under the same roof as Chiyo. In the beginning, Chiyo resents her for her humanity and being a "goody-two-shoes". Over time, the young vampire develops a sense of protectiveness over the girl. Yui is responsible for changing Chiyo's mind about humans and helps her reconcile a little with her own human side.
King Karlheinz:
The real antagonist of the story. He uses Chiyo's parents to create a child that is "a demon with a human heart", directly as an anti-thesis to Eve. However, most of his research is abandoned when he finds out that a naturally born Lilith—or human-vampire hybrid—cannot procreate. Although, he still finds a use for the young woman.
Lady Beatrix:
The closest person resembling a mother figure to Chiyo. For some reason, Lady Beatrix looks favorably upon the friendship of the young Shuu and Chiyo, allowing the girl to partake in the lessons that are set up for her two sons. A young Chiyo looks up to her, seeing her as a role model for femininity, elegance, and grace. The twisted way she looks up to her goes as far as Chiyo trying to imitate Lady Beatrix' looks, for example in growing out her own hair to wear it in the same hairstyle.
Chiyo’s eyes fluttered open slowly. The pillow she was laying on wasn’t very soft and it felt like it was rising up and down. It was moving?
Ah.
It wasn’t a pillow. She moved her head to the left slightly and her nose brushed against the fabric of a shirt. The pillow that wasn’t a pillow stilled and its hold on her tightened a little.
“Are you awake?” A soft hand cupped her cheek and lifted her head a little so she would look up. The ocean stared at her; it was something she recognized even in the darkest room.
Putting her hand onto his chest she sat up a little, it looked like he had been holding her on his lap, letting her rest against his chest. A tattered blanket had been draped around her, and she must have looked particularly disgusted at the fabric because Shuu said:
“There was nothing better laying around here, but it’s still better than having to sleep in torn clothes, I think.”
She guessed he had a point.
“Where are we…?” she asked.
“The old house near the castle.”
Oh, that one. The place Shuu often disappeared to whenever he really wanted to be truly alone. Chiyo had only been here a handful of times, since there really was nothing to do around these parts. They had fooled around in here a few times and that was really all she remembered. She sighed and shivered a little.
“Are you cold? You’ve been sweating through your fever, so I guess your clothes are wet…” He wrapped the old blanket higher around her. His nose brushed against her ear as he moved, and she stilled at first. Then it came crashing down on her; all the things she had tried to forget since her escape. Things her mind didn’t remember clearly but her body still did. Her breathing grew ragged as her heart started to violently thump in her chest.
She flinched and gasped, drawing away from his hands. Shuu’s brows furrowed and he held her tighter, so she wouldn’t fall off the couch that he had sat them both down on.
“What–”
“No! Let go!” she shrieked. The surprise made Shuu let go of her and she scrambled to the other end of the couch, hands wrapped protectively around herself. His eyes widened; he knew this kind of reaction too well. Of course he did, he’s been through that himself, and he still went through that every time he saw a flame flicker in his vision. But why was she panicking?
It felt as if she was back in that murky cellar, her body not under her control as fangs pierced her neck again. And again and again and again. A deep voice saying something indistinguishable as lips she didn’t want on her body caressed her ear.
“Chiyo…” a different voice tried to come through, but she was too deep, too far gone. Gentle fingers pried away her own arms and wrapped themselves around her face, forcing her to look up.
“Open your eyes, look at me,” the voice said gently and when she looked up, her chest heaving and eyes full of tears, she saw the ocean again.
“Breathe.”
She took a shaky deep breath and then another, and another. Her shoulders rose and fell slowly as she kept on looking into Shuu’s warm gaze until she relaxed again.
Shuu pried away the fabric of her shirt’s collar a little and frowned. He had probably finally found all the different bitemarks Ruki had left behind. She was scared of finding out where else his fangs had gone while she was not of clear mind.
“What happened?” Shuu asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about it.” It was debasing enough as it was, he didn’t need to know.
“Why?”
“Why would I? So, you can call me a whore again…?”
“No…” Shuu frowned. “So, I can kill whoever did this to you.”
Chiyo looked at him in shock, a shaky gasp leaving her lips as hot tears started to well in her eyes again. This was the Shuu she had missed all those years. The one with the kind eyes who worried for others... for her. Seeing him like this after all these years was her undoing.
She lunged forward and into his arms, the tears falling freely as she sobbed pathetically while he held her close. He was careful to avoid touching her neck, but he rested his chin behind her shoulder, holding her in place like that.
And then she told him everything. Everything she had kept to herself ever since she left the Sakamaki mansion. About Lilith, and how Ruki and Reiji both struck a deal with her, so she was able to go home, and how in the end, none of it had been of any use, because Ruki betrayed her trust, and she had to fight her way out on her own.
Maybe knowing that Chiyo had been attracted to Ruki would hurt Shuu, but she couldn’t bring herself to keep it from him. He has had his fair share of fun with girls too anyway.
After she had no tears to shed anymore, he still held her against his chest while she sat on his lap sniffling and trembling. They sat in silence until she heard Shuu sigh deeply.
“I’ll kill them all. I’ll kill Reiji for roping you into his plans, I’ll kill Ruki for taking advantage of you, and I’ll kill my father because he is the root of all of this…”
Chiyo shook her head. “Don’t…”
“Why not?”
“It’s not worth it…” She closed her eyes.
She was not worth it.
Shuu didn’t respond.
It was light outside when Chiyo woke up. The old blanket was still draped around her, but Shuu was nowhere to be seen. Disoriented, she looked around as she sat up on the dusty couch. Her heart sank; he didn’t abandon her here, did he?
Just as she could feel her eyes dampening, she heard footsteps coming down the stairs.
“You’re awake,” he said, and she nodded.
He looked her over and she felt her cheeks flush a little. Now that it was light outside, she felt more aware of her torn and dirty clothes. It was stupid, because his night vision was infinitely better than hers, so he had probably been aware of the state she was in anyway, but it was still embarrassing.
“Where do you want to go?” he asked her.
She frowned. “Somewhere that isn’t the human world.”
Shuu almost snorted.
“The castle’s nearby, I guess we can kill some time there. Maybe we can find some sort of clue to this annoying Apple of Eden thing there as well.”
Chiyo nodded. Her home was too far away from here. It always took her at least two days on horse to get from her house to the castle whenever she used to visit. She really wanted to take a bath or even a shower would be enough, but she could persevere for a little while longer.
Shuu wrapped the blanket around her in a makeshift cape and helped her get up. Her ankle would need a few more days to heal, it needed to rest but she didn’t want him to carry her again. Because of this, the road from the abandoned house to the Sakamaki castle took longer than anticipated. They had to frequently stop their journey for Chiyo to catch her breath. By the time they made it into close proximity to the castle it was dark again.
Shuu had said it would be best to use the old tunnel that he used to play in as a kid, to keep a low profile. She wondered why he couldn’t just teleport them inside but didn’t press the issue further. Maybe he was too tired.
They didn’t talk much as they walked, the only sound accompanying them being the clank of their shoes and the sound of water running along the path. Chiyo cringed, it reminded her of the other tunnel she had to pass the days before. Those memories were going to haunt her for a bit longer, she was sure. She silently swore to herself to never ever go underground again.
The old waterway connected to a secret tunnel to the library. Chiyo looked around the familiar room once they emerged. It felt a little as if they were breaking into their own house, well… at least Shuu’s house. As far as Chiyo was concerned she was a mere visitor.
“So, what’s the plan?” she whispered.
“I suppose I’ll have to get a hold of the head butler or something, I don’t want people to cause a scene,” Shuu said.
She guessed that made sense, she also didn’t want to be seen like this by all the people that worked here, so she was a little bit grateful, even though he probably didn’t mean for it to be out of consideration for her state. They hadn’t really made up yet, and all this time she had been absolutely confused about how to act with him.
The pain in her ankle and the situation at hand allowed her to push the thought away at least.
“Then what about—”
The question she was about to ask was cut off by her running headfirst into one of the ladders placed next to the shelves for grabbing books that were too high up to reach. She cursed as it fell down with a crash.
Now that was definitely going to draw attention to them. She turned around and looked at Shuu with wide eyes, as she heard footsteps approaching the room from the hallway.
He sighed and swiftly pressed her against one of the shelves; a few of the books falling down at the impact. Grabbing her head and tilting it a little he dipped down his head to her ear level.
“Bear with it for a minute,” he whispered, and she stilled, her hands flexing into fists around the fabric of his shirt. To anybody who would catch them it would look as if they were lovers making out in the cozy darkness of the library. It couldn’t be further from the truth but the excuse at least was believable.
It was the first time in what felt like ages that Shuu slept without being woken up by nightmares. He could feel his arm resting around the round curve of a thigh, his face pressed against a soft and supple chest. The young woman next to him was threading her delicate fingers through the messy locks of his hair. It was so nice he wanted to purr. He held himself back, however, settling for a content sigh.
She drew away her hand, and he instantly missed the feeling. Of course, she would pull away. Gestures like that were reserved for lovers, after all, and they for sure weren’t that at the moment. He should have kept quiet.
“Sorry…” she muttered. “It’s an old habit, I didn’t know you were awake.”
Shuu’s hand twitched against her hip, and he opened his eyes slowly. The temptation to just press her into the mattress again and have her forget about their situation until she sunk her hands back into his hair was strong, but he held back.
He settled for a long exhale instead.
“You’ve seen him, right? Ed— I mean Yuma,” he said quietly, his voice but a deep murmur against her. He didn’t know why exactly he brought it up now, it just kind of came to his mind. She’d been living with those four guys for a while, so she must have. Even when he didn’t haunt his dreams, he ended up haunting his mind, forever guilty.
Chiyo nodded and when she shifted, his shirt, that she had ended up wearing, moved so her neck was revealed. Oh, he would have loved to sink his teeth into it, to litter it with kisses, bruising it whole only to get rid of the evidence that someone else had come close to her like this.
“Yeah...” she whispered. “Apparently, they all met at an orphanage as humans. Ruki said that they are indebted to your father for turning them into Vampires.”
Ruki again.
He hated the way she said his name. She shouldn’t even take it into her mouth given the circumstances. Instead, her voice wrapped around the syllables in a manner way too sweet for someone that had imprisoned her, traumatized her. A growl escaped him; he just couldn’t help it.
“The gall you have to mention that bastard while you’re in bed with me...” he said. For some reason it made him unreasonably angry. She was here with him, was she not? It was him who she had clung onto as she cried her heart out, him who she had let comfort her when she ended up scared and panicked. And yet...
“What do you—” she didn’t even have a chance to back away before he pressed her into the mattress again, hands tightly wrapping around her upper arms as he restrained her like that. She could barely move. Not only was he much stronger than her, but she was also battling her own weak body. It was even easier to overpower her now.
“Are you into him?” he asked, and his grip tightened. “You better be honest.”
The girl trembled under him, and when he looked at her face, Shuu could see how the two gem-like orbs started to blur at the edges. She had always been quick to spill angry tears. If looks could kill, the glare she shot him would have made him drop dead on the spot. He found himself thinking this whenever she gave him this look. He had found himself on the receiving end of it a few times, lately.
“Are you fucking serious?” Her voice was a cold whisper, cutting the air between them like a knife. He glared back.
“You’re only here because you ended up biting off more than you could chew. Or how do you want to explain your willingness to let him carry you around and telling you what to do? Like an obedient dog.” One of his hands let go of her arm and trailed up her body, through the valley of her breasts and stopped right on her neck, tracing the nasty bruises. “Was getting fucked by him worth it?”
He couldn’t help it; it made him angry. The thought that she would ever let anybody else touch her, her who was his! It had kept him up on more than one occasion.
“Who do you think you are?” she growled at him. Her freed hand pushed him back, forcing him to get off her. Angry tears started forming in her waterline as she looked at him with such fury, he almost winced.
“Not only do you of all people have no right to judge me on who I share my body with! To think that you even considered that a possibility makes me nauseous!”
Shuu was taken aback by her outburst. All this time he had assumed that she had slept with Ruki at least once. They had seemed so... close whenever he had seen them together. His stench was all over her too.
“I am not his obedient dog,” she said. “And I am not your dog either.” Her words had a strong bite as she uttered them through gritted teeth. “Did you expect me to wait for you? To suffer in silence while you play around with random human girls?”
The answer was unfortunately yes. He’d be ecstatic if she were like a loyal dog, if she waited for him faithfully, tail wagging. But she didn’t, it felt like she was over it and it hurt. And yet the only thing he could think of asking was:
“So, you didn’t sleep with him?”
He couldn’t recognize his own voice, it was quiet, almost meek.
“I’m so sick of this! Why do you think you have a right to know?!”
Shuu wasn’t quick enough to stop the words spilling out:
“Because I still love you—”
Their eyes widened at the same time and Shuu regretted his outburst immediately. The tears which Chiyo had fought all this time finally pooled over the edge and ran down her cheeks in wet streaks. Silence engulfing the whole room, while the furrow in her brow softened just a tiny bit. He heard her swallow around nothing.
“Say it again,” she said, her voice a barely audible whisper.
“What...?” He heard her, of course, but he couldn’t believe it.
“I dare you to say it again,” she repeated. Her whole body was shaking, eyes uncertain. Shuu wasn’t sure if it was because she hated what he had said or because she was happy.
“I love you.”
And then he couldn’t hold himself back any longer. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer until she straddled his lap. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he clawed at the underside of her thigh, which was barely covered by his blue shirt. She had always looked so fucking hot wearing his clothes. They should have had their initial argument while naked in bed as well, he thought, maybe that way things would have never escalated like this.
Pulling her hips closer, he thrusted his own upwards a little. He could feel his cock throbbing for her already. Needy lips clashed with each other, his tongue invading her mouth immediately. Even when she hated him, she was so responsive.
Yes, he had fucked around with some random girls; he wasn’t particularly regretting it, he never had cared for a single one of them anyway. The sex had been mediocre at best, too.
Because on his mind had always just been her. Her, with the pretty eyes. Her, with the wild hair. Her, with world’s most sinful curves. He had caught himself moaning her name once while he was with another, earning himself a slap from that girl. Deserved? Maybe; it wasn’t like he gave a damn.
This now? He very much cared about that.
His hand dipped between their bodies, lower and lower until he found her clit and gave it a playful flick with his finger. She cried out, inching closer to him, their tongues still dancing around each other, fighting for dominance. He’d win eventually; he was sure of it. She was still the same, pretending to put up a fight, to not want it to be this way. But in the end, when she was most embarrassed and submissive was when she had always felt the most pleasure.
Memories of last night’s sex flooded his mind. It hadn’t been anything like this. It had been careful, restrained. Right now, it felt absolutely different, as if the raw feelings they carried for each other finally unraveled, even if it was mostly anger on her part.
It probably wasn’t particularly pretty or healthy, he thought, but he still wanted it, wanted her. To hear her cries of pleasure was something he thought he would never witness again. And now he hoped that the sound would carve itself into his eardrum like a scar, so that he may never lose it again.
“I love you…” he whispered, and his finger slid into her. So wet and warm; she could lie about hating it, but her body didn’t. Though… she was not protesting either. Maybe she was too busy moaning and riding his digit to do so. He added another one; fuck she was so tight. He wanted to be inside her, claim her, leave his mark on her, in the deepest parts of her. Parts nobody would be able to reach, not Ruki, not anybody else.
His fangs were pulsating with the need to bury themselves in her just as much as his cock, but he couldn’t. He didn’t want to hurt her or have her associate this with what she had been through in that cold cell. Shuu didn’t think he could ever forgive himself if he gave her a panic attack while she was supposed to feel good. And he had a bunch of things on that pile of shame already, no need to add yet another horrible deed to it.
Instead, he started kissing her face, her chin, her jawline. The small wet gestures soon had her shiver in his arms, had her convulse around his fingers as she fucked herself on them while she came. Always so quick to melt for him. But that wasn’t enough. If she didn’t want to be loyal to him, maybe she’d be loyal to the fact that he could bring her to ecstasy as many times as she wanted until she lost count and consciousness.
A satisfied smirk appeared on his lips when she leaned her head in the crook of his neck, her body shivering and her juices spilling onto his hand and thigh. God, he loved her.
The hand that had been buried inside her now wrapped around his hard dick. He ran the tip along her folds, gently tapping it on the sensitive bundle of nerves at the apex of her thighs, kissing her temple gently as if to ask permission.
Soft whimpers escaped the woman in his arms, and he slid the tip inside her. It was as if he was feeling her for the first time, even though it hadn’t even been three months since they ran into each other in that forest on a full moon night. Truth be told, he didn’t remember all too much about it, only that he actually had never wanted to take this from her by force. He had acted like such an idiot, and he was going to make sure to make it up to her in every way he could.
Shuu let out a low groan when her pussy tightened around him, he wasn’t even fully in yet and felt like he was going to burst already. Holding onto her hip with his right hand he pushed further into her, the wet warmth welcoming him as if greeting an old friend.
Chiyo whined at the intrusion, her pelvis moving in small and quick pulses. He grazed his lips against hers, his left hand now moving down to her butt, squeezing it gently to soothe her. His kisses ghosted over her nose, browbone and the top of her ear.
When she stilled, he thought he had fucked it up for a second, but she only exhaled shakily and relaxed again. Maybe he could be a little bolder?
He dipped his head mere millimeters lower, his lips soft against the shell of her ear as he whispered.
“Ride me? Sweetheart?”
Her body arched at the nickname, almost melting in his embrace, leaving him pleased with himself. Shuu had never been one for cute nicknames, using her name or resorting to something dirtier almost every time they did this. He had called her sweetheart a few times before, but he usually reserved it for very special occasions. She had always claimed to hate nicknames, but this one? She could not lie about disliking it, he knew from the way she inhaled so sharply, from the way she gushed around his cock merely from hearing him say that one word.
She put her arms onto his shoulders for more balance before her hips slowly started moving up and down. It was already too much for him, only now did he realize just for how long he had been yearning to have her back in his arms like this. To feel her skin against his, to be inside her in the most intimate way possible.
“I love you,” he breathed and placed a wet, open-mouthed kiss on her exposed shoulder. She didn’t say it back, and maybe she really stopped loving him along the way, but it was fine. It was fine if he still could have even a little bit of her; he’d take whatever he could get.
As she moved her body, Shuu couldn’t help but dip his hand beneath the shirt she was still wearing, gently placing it on her lower belly, pressing down a little.
“You can feel me all the way up here, can’t you?” he breathed.
“Aah—” Her head fell forwards, her forehead resting against his. “Y…yeah…”
He wrapped his left arm tighter around her, lifting her and thrusting into her at a different angle, making her cry out louder. How loud could she get, he wondered. Time had made his memory fuzzy and while he knew that she had the tendency to be unashamed with her voice like that, he didn’t quite remember just how loud she was willing to be. If it was for Shuu, he’d gladly have her scream so that the whole of Makai heard them. Everyone should know that Sakamaki Shuu finally got his woman back.
He pressed her belly a little harder and she mewled, her second orgasm coming in a shallow and relaxed wave of pleasure, wetness pooling around his aching length. She was out of breath, chest heaving as she tried to hold herself up with her arms behind her. Shuu felt himself twitch inside her.
“I need to see more of you…” he said as he grabbed the fabric of the shirt, ripping it apart, too impatient to take care of the buttons. Who cared if it was his shirt, he’d figure something out afterwards. “Get this off.”
Chiyo gasped in surprise, her nipples hardening against the sudden cold air that hit her now naked body. Still so beautiful. Her breasts were as wonderful as he remembered them. So soft and supple despite what she had been through since she came to the human world. He grabbed her hips tighter, pulling her towards him.
His mouth found the point just under her collarbone, where the bruises were fading already; where he would create better, more beautiful marks, showcasing his affection for her. His licks and bites soon had her trembling again.
“Sh…Shuu, I can’t, I—”
He pinched her right nipple gently, making her throw her head back and cry out again. It was the first time that he heard her moan his name in what felt like centuries.
“You can, I know you can… please…”
He needed her to come at least once more for him, needed to make up to her for so much lost time. She was not one to touch herself on her own frequently; he knew that. How lonely must she have been in all those years? He knew he had been.
He flicked his tongue against the other nipple. It was so pretty and pink, simply irresistible. His thrusts grew shallower as he sucked on her tits and placed hickeys all over them, before sinking his fangs into the soft mound.
Her blood felt different, richer than he remembered, but he simply assumed that it was his arousal playing tricks on him. He was sure her blood was something that stayed the same over the years.
Propping himself up with his right arm allowed him to use his left hand to play with her clit again as he laid Chiyo down on the mattress, hovering above her. His lips found hers again, her fingers tangling in his locks just like he had wished for earlier. It was nearly his undoing, that’s how good it felt.
He moaned into her mouth desperately when her legs wrapped around his waist, his thumb and index finger pinching the sensitive nub between them, making her cry out for him as well.
“I need you to come with me,” he growled and thrusted even deeper into her. He was hanging by a thread, barely able to hold back his own orgasm.
“Just a little, I— Aaah!” her voice cracked.
She clenched so tightly around his cock he saw stars for a second before he came as well, his cum reaching the deepest parts of her, hot and thick. His hands found hers, fingers interlocking with each other while they kissed again and again until they were out of breath and spent as they came down from their high.
He looked at her, her lips were forming a very soft smile, barely there, as if she didn’t want to allow herself to smile at him. It was gone as fast as it appeared. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him. She didn’t love him, and it made his heart ache, but he guessed he deserved that.
They said vampires only fell in love once in their life and well… Shuu had fallen in love a long time ago already. If only he hadn’t been such a fool before.
A/N: him using sweetheart sounds kind of ooc, but I don't know... it called to me anyway
Content Warning: This story deals with dark themes of various kinds. If you are sensitive to content of sexual nature, unhealthy relationships/abuse, blood, and eating disorders, please proceed with caution and mute the respective tags if you need to. Thank you and happy reading!
Masterpost here
「 You were always a ray of light in this dull world that was filled with all these expectations and burdens laid upon me.
Always shining so bright when I needed you.
Smiling at me with those sparkling eyes.
Little did I know, it was no coincidence we had met that day. But a carefully crafted scheme.
Those bright eyes.
They are deceitful. 」
She means well. Is what Shuu kept telling himself. She means well. She means well. She means well.
But then why, why did it bother him so much that she was here?
<<Shuu, let’s go outside.>>
<<Shuu, I brought your favorite food.>>
<<Shuu, I love you.>>
He cringed when he heard the approaching footsteps and the knock on the door. Why did she waste her time with someone like him anyway?
It’s been years since his friend had died, decades even.
At first, he tried to get over Edgar’s death. Then he pretended to try to get over it and then he completely gave up doing anything.
This was useless. He was useless.
An excuse of a person, really. Someone who lets their friend run headfirst into death’s maw deserved nothing.
Nothing at all.
The knock on the door repeated. Maybe if he pretended that he was asleep she would give up. He shut his eyes tighter and turned on his bed, back facing the door.
The knocking faded but was replaced with a clank somewhere on the nightstand and a dip in the mattress behind him.
“Are you sleeping again?”
He didn’t feel like answering.
With a sigh the girl wrapped her arms around him from behind. “I got some iced tea that I thought would lift your spirits…”
The only thing that would lift his spirits would be if there was a possibility to go back in time and die in Edgar’s place instead, he thought. It’s not like he’d be missed by anybody.
The girl pressed her forehead into his back and kissed his shoulder. He didn’t feel anything.
Chiyo would be better off without him. She should get with Reiji or whatever; they already have been whispering about something in secret. Probably how useless he was to anybody. She wouldn’t need him around. Reiji definitely didn’t.
If he was honest, not even his mother’s death had registered properly in his mind when it had happened. He really just wanted to stop existing. Life had no meaning like this.
The girl behind him wrapped her arms tighter around him as she spoke again:
“Please, Shuu… you have to get over it… He was just a human; they are better off dead…”
That’s when he stirred.
Shuu pushed her off him and turned around, visible shock on his face.
“What did you just say?”
The girl’s face contorted in shock for a split second before she frowned at him.
“Oh, so that makes you react.”
He glared back at her. She’s been bitter about this for a while, he’d noticed that, but this was a new low. Chiyo saw his reaction and her expression softened, trying to scoot closer again.
“I’m just saying… he would have died anyway, he’d be dead by now even if he had lived that day...”
Shuu drew away. He just couldn’t wrap his head around her way of thinking. Wasn’t she half human as well? They never talked about these things, but did she really feel nothing when thinking about what had happened in the forest? She had been there with him; how could she just shrug this off? To this day, he remembered the scene vividly, the memory of burning corpses giving him nausea. He’d started to eat his meat basically raw since that day.
“It’s better this way…” she said to him, climbing off the bed and following him.
“Stop! You’re just like Reiji! I can see how happy he is about all of this; don’t tell me you are too?!”
His brother was forward in his distaste for everything and anything that had ever mattered to Shuu, that much was apparent! But he had never thought it possible for Chiyo to be this way as well.
Chiyo stopped in her tracks and chewed on her bottom lip. She didn’t say anything for a while. He’d stare her down forever if he had to, to make her answer.
“You know what? Fine! Yes, I am happy that he’s gone!” she finally burst out.
Shuu’s eyes widened about as much as hers when they realized what she had said just now.
“I—”
“Get out.”
“What…?”
“I said, get out. Get out of my fucking sight. I don’t want to see you.”
He saw her glare at him. Her once bright green eyes, dim and watery and full of rage.
She pressed her lips into a thin line. If looks could kill he would have dropped dead minutes ago.
“Whatever!” Her voice was trembling, but it was loud. She hardly raised her voice, if ever. “If you want to rot like this for the rest of your life, be my guest! It’s not going to change anything! Suffocate on your self-loathing for all I care! I hate you!”
Her shrill voice rang in his ears loudly as she threw all those hurtful words at him, her figure blurred as his own eyes filled with moisture.
Chiyo was out the door with a loud bang before he even could shout anything back at her. He took a few steps and leaned against his bed’s footboard before sliding down against it until he was sitting on the floor.
Now she was gone too…
And he had lost everything.
Shuu was laying on his bed, one arm under his head, eyes closed. Lately he has had lots of trouble even taking something as simple as a nap. He rolled onto his side and closed his eyes tighter. Vivaldi’s La Folia was playing in the earbuds of his MP3 player — how ironic. He did feel like he was going insane, actually.
The last few days all Mukamis had been missing from school, Chiyo included. She had been in a miserable state the last time he had really seen her, and he couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling he got from that. He shouldn’t have cared about her, but he did. At this point maybe he should just accept that he wasn’t ready to let her go. Seeing her with that other guy only made his chest burn with anger.
A slight knock on his window tore him from his thoughts and he jerked his head around. A bat was waiting outside. Because having those five people missing at the same time had felt so suspicious, he ended up sending a familiar to spy on the household. He opened the window to listen to their findings.
His eyes widened in shock at first, then he frowned in anger. That son of a bitch! How dare he keep her locked up in the dungeon, sucking her blood day in and day out. Was that why she had been so poorly? Did she willingly let him do that to her?! Shuu growled and clenched his fists, knuckles turning white.
But the familiar was not done with their report yet. It seemed he was unable to detect Chiyo’s presence anymore for a while. Shuu frowned again. She either had managed to escape or… or she was dead.
It felt as if his heart stopped completely during that small second that he considered this a realistic possibility. But no, he shook his head, if she had been dead the familiar would have caught onto the others discussing it or getting rid of the body, which meant she made it out — she must have! The only question was: where did she escape to?
Shuu paced around the room for a while, thinking of the possible scenarios. There was no way she escaped through their front door. So then did she escape to the demon world? He was sure the Mukami manor connected to a portal too.
“Dammit, Chiyo!”
Without much further thought he rushed out of his room.
Chiyo huffed as she pushed past through thick vines and roots. Why did the demon world have to have such annoying greenery? She finally had made it through that tunnel! Looking down on her body she took in the miserable state she was in. Her tights had ripped while she was escaping, her skirt and shirt were both full of dirt and dust, some blood too, not to mention that she has been wearing the same underwear for days now. It all felt so disgusting, but she couldn’t help it, being held captive did not often mean luxury, after all.
She sighed. Her torch went out shortly prior to her making it out too; just like her luck would have it, it was in the middle of the night in the demon world currently and, given that she had very poor night vision, she couldn’t see a thing. Her foot was throbbing uncomfortably in her shoe. The injury hadn’t even begun to heal, and she had been forced to put too much pressure on it too soon. She didn’t want to get caught, after all.
She should try and make it out of the woods, everything else could come after. There was hope this portal had been placed in a convenient spot to reach… well… something. Chiyo hoped this something would be a city or village or house. Preferably home to someone who did not want to take advantage of a disheveled half-blood in obvious need of help. Yep. Things were looking real hopeful right now. She sighed.
There was no other way than forward, she could not afford lingering around this entrance either, since the Mukami could be noticing her absence at any time, coming after her for sure. She started walking slowly, her ankle still hurting from overuse. There was a small dirt path that she followed for a while until she reached a bit of an impasse. She could either turn left or turn right; both paths looked pretty similar, so she wasn’t sure.
Suddenly, she heard something rustle between some bushes. Holding her breath, she picked up a nearby tree branch and slowly made her way towards the source of the sound.
Was it a wild animal? A banshee? Whatever it was, she needed to use the power of surprise to her advantage.
She took a swing at the bush but instead of an anticipated collision, something took hold of the branch instead, making her sway.
“Aaaaah!” she screamed.
“Your voice is as loud as ever… my ears…”
Chiyo’s eyes widened as the man in front of her tightened his grip on the branch and yanked it out of her hands, throwing it away. It fell into the shrubs with a dry thud.
“Shuu…?”
“What are you thinking, wandering around demon infested woods at night? Did you think that stick would have helped you if it was something other than me?”
She pressed her lips into a thin line, unsure of what to answer. Somehow, she was… relieved? Even though it was probably a bad idea, her body instantly relaxed, exhaustion taking over her almost immediately. It was hard to stand without swaying and she tried to reach towards a tree for support, missing her target, falling forwards.
“Hey—”
Shuu quickly stepped forward, wrapping his arm around her and helping her stand back down on her feet. He held her close to his chest, his body cold as ever, but in this moment, it felt so nice and soothing. Her own skin on the opposite seemed to be on fire; of course, Shuu noticed that.
“Look up at me, are you okay?”
He used his other hand to tilt her head upwards. Cool fingers placed themselves against her forehead and she let out a sigh of relief.
“I sprained my ankle… or maybe I broke it? I don’t know…” she muttered.
She could hear Shuu sigh in frustration above her.
“There’s obviously more that happened to you. You have a whole fever.”
He let go of her and crouched down, frowning at her when all she did was react with a confused look on her face.
“Hurry up and get on, I want to get out of here.”
Reluctantly, Chiyo limped behind him. Once she was settled on his back, Shuu stood back up again, adjusting their position a little. “Hold onto me, alright?”
Chiyo nodded and rested her head against his back. Why was he helping her? Didn’t he hate her? She was too tired to actually protest or think about this any further. And he felt so cool and nice against her hot skin.
“Thank you…” she whispered, barely registering the soft hum of acknowledgement Shuu let out before she allowed her eyes to shut, while she drifted towards a pleasant nothingness.
「As I walk through the forest, I feel the warmth of your body pressing against my back.
It’s unfamiliar, too hot.
Your body is still soft, but it doesn’t feel the same.
「Once the sudden warmth engulfed me, I knew it was over.
The loud cries of the baby girl — my baby girl — filled the room, but my vision was too blurry to see where she was.
My baby. All I wanted was to hold her in my arms.
My baby. That I shared my body with and carried for nine months.
My baby. That I loved so much.
Her cries would not stop. Why? Oh, why would they not let me hold her?
I reached out to her with trembling hands. There was blood on them.
I tried saying something. Anything. But no words came out of my mouth. Where was Edith?
Ah.
So this was the end.
The cries of the infant still filled the room as my hands fell to my sides, fingers growing cold.
I should have felt despair, but all I was able to feel was an odd, painless warmth.
My baby.
Klara.
I love you.」
Ruki swallowed as he stood in front of the dark and heavy door. There was no way around this, he had to face his failure in front of the King.
As he stood there, he heard faint voices from inside the eerie looking room. This was the first time he had been to this part of the castle, too. The wallpaper was old, torn in some places. Clearly, nobody was really taking care of making this place look very inviting. There was also a faint clinical smell hanging in the air.
Bracing himself for whatever was about to come, Ruki pressed down the handle and opened the door.
“Ah, Ruki. We have been waiting...”
Karlheinz-sama was standing tall before him, surrounded by all kinds of medical equipment, some of it appearing more dated than others. He would never get used to this, he thought. The King of Demons had an aura that demanded respect and obedience – it sent shivers down Ruki’s spine, and he straightened his back subconsciously.
“Where is she?”
The presence of the King had been so overwhelming for his senses that he only now noticed the other man next to him. He was a tall vampire, his elegant dark green suit suggesting that it was an aristocrat. His short ashy blond hair was just long enough to hint at the subtle wave in it and his warm brown eyes a complete opposite to the cold manner in which he regarded him.
Ruki averted his gaze.
“I am afraid I have failed,” he said. “She has escaped the dungeon cell, and I did not manage to find her since.”
He was met with silence. Horrible deafening silence.
“In nature... stupidity is punished by death.” The dark dress shoes of the aristocrat made a loud clacking sound on the stone floor as he stepped closer to him. Yes. He had been careless and stupid.
“I have failed, I will not deny this, however...” he said as he fell onto his knee, “If my failure truly is punishable by death then the King should be the one to cut me down, for I have failed him first and foremost.”
His gaze bore angrily into the aristocrat’s brown eyes before softening and settling on the Vampire King. Ruki could make out the faint trace of a twitch on the other man’s face. His life belonged to Karlheinz-sama, and only he was allowed to do with it as he saw fit.
“You–”
The aristocrat was cut off and stopped from moving a step further by the King’s outstretched hand. A dark, rich chuckle filled the room.
“Let us not get too ahead of ourselves,” Karlheinz said, “You may stand, Ruki.”
He did as asked but did not once let the other vampire out of his sight. It was clear that man had some sort of issue with him, although Ruki was not entirely convinced that it was purely because of his failed attempt at bringing Lilith to the demon world.
The longer he looked at that man, the more familiar he seemed to him. He quickly shook the thought from his head; he should not get sidetracked now of all times.
“There is no reason to fret, my dear friend,” the King said towards the tawny-haired man who had been chewing on the insides of his lips, out of frustration most likely. Ruki wondered if that’s really how close those two were.
“In fact, a little bird has told me that the girl has found her way home.”
Ruki frowned. Chiyo was here?
“That can’t– she’s back at home?” the aristocrat asked.
“It seems she is currently enjoying the company of my dear son quite a bit.”
Ruki had no idea whether this was good or bad news for the King. His own heart, however, felt as if someone took what was left of it and wrung it, bleeding it out till the last drop. Not only did she manage to escape from him, but she also reunited with that good for nothing of an heir. And after all this effort to keep them away from each other, too. He clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. This woman vexed him even when she was not present.
“Ruki.” Karlheinz's deep voice brought him back to reality. “I want you to accompany Leonhard to his home.”
The young vampire bowed his head slightly in understanding.
“Yes, Karlheinz-sama.”
Soft white light seeped through the dark curtains of the room and landed on the messy sheets. Chiyo could only speak for herself, but something felt different after last night.
Ririe.
She had said his name, soft on her tongue like lilies, over and over again, just as he had said hers, the syllables slipping past his lips in gasps of ecstasy like a record stuck on repeat. With tired eyes she looked at Shuu’s naked form next to her, his arms loosely wrapped around her. There were so many pink and purple marks on him, littering his skin like fresh flowers. His breathing was even as he slept.
The young woman turned a little, careful not to disturb the man next to her. As much as she’d love to just lay in bed all day, they had come here with a set goal. She bit her lip in thought. Her thoughts regarding this matter were a bit of a mess. Working in the pharmaceutical department made her father a figure close to King Karlheinz... could it be true that he’d been in on the whole plan? Maybe he’d want to get rid of her, but... God, she was spinning circles in her head once again. She’d been over this already!
She sighed. Nothing really made sense to her at this point. If there was anything worth searching for in this house, it probably would be inside the study. Getting in would prove to be a challenge, since it was always locked. She wondered if Shuu could teleport inside.
Her gaze wandered towards the curtains again. If it was this bright out, everybody in the house would be asleep. Maybe they could use this to their advantage.
With a bit too much force, she sat up in bed, hauling her legs over the mattress and opening the wardrobe. She needed at least some semblance of proper clothing. As she skimmed through the insides of the closet, her eyes landed on a white nightrobe and a fitting baby blue morning gown she could put on top. That should be good enough, for now.
“Shuu...” she shook his shoulder gently, but his body didn’t budge.
“Shuuuuu...” her hands dug more into his skin, shaking him with more force. This man could sleep like a rock, especially after sex. She groaned.
For a few seconds she looked at him in frustration, before chomping down on his shoulder, fangs sinking into the flesh in an attempt to somehow cause enough pain to make him stir.
“Ow... what the hell...” Shuu’s voice was gruff with sleep as he swatted at her face, trying to get rid of the uncomfortable sensation.
“Get up, you have to help me with something,” she said, her voice laced with exasperation.
Groaning, he sat up slowly on the mattress, his eyes darting towards the window. “It’s not even...” he stopped in thought, “What time is it?”
Chiyo shrugged. “Early enough so nobody will catch us if we snoop around.”
Shuu looked at her with skepticism in his eyes. Could it even be called snooping around if it was her own house? Since their aim was to dig up dirt, maybe snooping around was the right word after all. And since he didn’t start moving on his own, Chiyo started to throw his clothes at him, not so silently urging him to “get up already”.
“You’re in high spirits,” he muttered with a smirk, as he slowly got dressed. There was some underlying meaning in those words that made the girl’s face flush with embarrassment. It had been the first time she hadn’t felt sad after having given herself to him. Maybe that was something to go by.
Once Shuu was dressed enough to go out into the hallway, Chiyo dragged him down the corridor by the arm. Her father’s study was on the other end of the floor, so it wasn’t far, yet the whole endeavor still made her nervous. Checking the door handle, it was indeed locked, but that didn’t surprise her. She had never been allowed to enter, not even as a little kid when her father would frequently spend days inside that room.
Shaking away the unpleasant thoughts, Chiyo turned to Shuu.
“Can you teleport us inside?” she asked.
“Probably,” he shrugged, snaking his arms around her and pulling her closer. Chiyo wrapped her arms around his neck when he told her to hold on tight. She hadn’t teleported much in her life, and she honestly could do without the experience usually. It often left her feeling unsteady on her feet and nauseous. It also made her ears ring. Shutting her eyes and tightening her hold on the blonde man, she braced herself for the uncomfortable sensations.
But they never came.
She cautiously opened one of her eyes and looked up at Shuu. “Did... did it work...?” she asked. When she looked around, they were still standing in the same hallway.
“No...” Shuu muttered and let go of her. A frown formed on his face as he examined the oak door. She stepped closer, watching him as he let his hand roam over the wood. Something wasn’t right here...
“This door is locked by some other force,” he said almost as if to himself. Other force? Chiyo had no idea what that even meant. What other forces were there here? Vampires couldn’t create barriers on doors as far as she knew.
“What do you—”
Her sentence was cut short as Shuu’s head snapped in the direction of the staircase.
“Someone’s coming,” he said and pushed her against the wall, picking her up by the thighs and wrapping them around his hips. There was no way for them to pass by the stairs without being seen. “Act like you really want it.”
The way she could feel him against her made her think that she wouldn’t even have to act, but apparently this was their MO when it came to creating a believable story as to why they were roaming weird spots at weird times of day. One could only hope that it worked against whoever was coming.
Shuu’s fangs grazed the pulse point on her neck. The sensation still made her still at first, reminding her too much of past pain, but it quickly ceased, a familiar fire coursing through her, centering in her most sensitive parts. The moan she let out was real, and Shuu knew it.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” the voice came from the stairs. From between the blond locks in front of her, Chiyo could make out the older figure. It was Edith.
It was hard to act like she was surprised; they did anticipate someone catching them, after all. With a fake gasp, she pulled away, pretending to be embarrassed to be seen in such a state.
“If you already refuse to use the extra room prepared for you, I suggest you keep these kinds of endeavors behind closed doors,” the housekeeper said. Shuu did not seem fazed much about the comment.
“The door was locked...” he said.
“As it should, now chop chop, back to your chambers you go. Breakfast is served at the usual time.”
Edith ushered them along, back towards Chiyo’s room. As they walked past the elderly woman, Shuu couldn’t help but regard her with a thoughtful expression.
Chiyo slumped onto the bed with a frustrated sigh. This was not how she thought this would go. Who in their right mind locks a door with magic?! And how did her father even own this kind of magic anyway? He wasn’t a wizard.
When Shuu didn’t join her on the bed, but instead kept leaning against the door, she looked at him with confusion.
“That woman...” he said slowly, “I don’t think she is as harmless as you think.”
Chiyo frowned. “She’s just old and odd.”
Shuu’s eyes narrowed as if in thought, before he pressed himself away from the door and sauntered over to her. The mattress dipped under his weight and Chiyo was forced to lean against him when he snaked his arm around her. They needed to open this door; if it was protected this badly, there must be something very important inside.
“I’m sure she knows how to open the door…” Shuu muttered and Chiyo sighed. Her head was starting to reel again, her thoughts spiraling in directions that were anything but good.
Before she could drown in her own fears though, she felt the hand around her waist tug her down, so she ended up sprawled on Shuu’s chest.
“Talk.” That was all he said.
“Huh?”
“You look like your head is going to explode. If you have thoughts, I want you to tell me.”
“It’s a lot…” she admitted. Lilith, her father, this stupid magic door; nothing made sense to her!
Shuu’s lips curved slightly into a smirk, his eyes briefly darting towards the curtains. “I think you have all day.
A/N: It's the admin's birthday! And this is my gift to you~
Chiyo closed the door behind them and sighed. A small specter bumped against her window, and she drew the curtain in annoyance; these specter plagues were becoming a handful. Every time they had a plague it seemed to her like more of them appeared each time.
“So… what is Edith exactly?” Shuu asked while he sauntered around the room, looking at all the little details. It was just like she left it: the dark mahogany canopy bed standing neatly made to the right, with the lamps at the bedside table dimly lit on both sides. The drawn curtains made the room look kind of gloomy, but she was used to it by now.
“She says she’s a human… although she has lived far longer than an actual human should,” she shrugged. The air in the demon world was supposedly bad for humans too, so it could be that it messed with her aging. She had practically raised her; not that she felt like a mother, more like a grandmother, if anything. One that sometimes was too overbearing. Or maybe not even that; she didn’t feel like they were particularly close.
“In any case... she’s not a threat,” she said.
Chiyo moved from the door and sat down on the chaise longue by the window, watching Shuu scout the room, his shoes making a clacking sound on the hardwood floor. Saying it wasn’t embarrassing would be a lie.
“So, Miss Klara...” he purred as he sat next to her, his body turned towards her form, “... nice room.”
Chiyo blushed and leaned a little into the piece of furniture; she used to really enjoy sitting by the window while reading her favorite books or letters from Shuu. That name always used to sound foreign to her, though the way he said it, she felt a little more at ease hearing it. “Are you mad? That I never said anything?”
Shuu chuckled.
“No,” he shook his head, and his eyes flickered to her face, as if taking in a new person.
“I don’t like it very much,” she repeated. As soon as she said it, she wanted to hit herself on her own head. Obviously, he probably figured as much, with how unhappy she was before. Demons used fake names all the time; some of them simply forgetting their given names after living for so long. In some cultures, given names were only shared amongst lovers or family members.
When she had introduced herself not as Klara, but Chiyo, she had hoped that she could be someone else. Someone that wasn’t plagued by a dead mother’s shadow, someone more... likeable.
“I think it suits you, Klara.”
When she looked up at him, she couldn’t help but be surprised. Shuu’s gaze was soft and intimate, although there was still that teasing glint in his eyes that had her know how he enjoyed her embarrassed reaction to him using this name.
“It doesn’t. It’s dull...” she said tearing her own gaze away from the perfect blue and training it to the dusty brown floor.
“Someone should brush up on their Latin, I guess…” he chuckled. “Bright one…”
Chiyo just pouted. “You know that’s not what I mean,” she spat back and stood from the chaise longue. She barely managed to take a step before Shuu pulled her back by the wrist.
“Don’t hide…” he said quietly, his grip on her wrist tightening subtly. She would have almost sworn she heard a pleading undertone, if it weren’t for the smirk that followed right after.
“Besides… there is something I need to find out.” He pulled her closer, in between his legs. His hands now held her firmly by the waist, but she still looked away, almost ashamed.
“What…?” she asked, biting her lip.
Shuu’s hands slowly traveled from her waist to her hips and all the way to her backside, squeezing a little and bringing her even closer. It was slightly scary how easy it was for her to accept these sorts of touches as something casual. She’d seen some couples on the streets do this sort of thing sometimes and always found it quite indecent. But for some reason now it just made her feel warm inside.
Shuu’s hand dipped lazily just below the hem of her dress. Admittedly, it was shorter than she was used to, and it gave him easier access. When his fingers snaked upwards, she gasped. She hadn’t actually changed out of the torn tights and was still missing underwear.
“I know Chiyo can be a bit of a slut…” Shuu murmured, “I wonder if Klara might be too…”
Chiyo rolled her eyes; he was being so ridiculous. His fingers had barely grazed the locks between her thighs before they retreated and he stood, towering over her.
“I’ve always wanted to fuck you in your childhood room…” he whispered into her ear teasingly.
“Ew!” she swatted him along the chest, but he only laughed.
“I guess Klara is more sensitive.”
“Yes. She’s incredibly dull and no fun in bed.”
Shuu hummed, his gaze dropping to her hand before he took it into his again. He squeezed it once and pressed a kiss soft as a feather onto her cheekbone.
“So what do I have to do to earn her favor? Court her?”
She trembled. God… why did he always know what to say? Her eyes fluttered shut almost as if on instinct, her body leaning in like it was the most natural thing to do. There was no denying it, she did love doing this… doing this with him. The closeness, the warmth, even though she could not understand where it came from when his body was cold to the touch.
She exhaled. “Yeah…”
He hummed again while slowly kissing down her jaw, his arms circling around her again, pulling her closer. “There’s not much I can offer right now… except this…”
His palm ran up her torso and pressed in between her breasts, where the pendant nestled underneath her dress. The first gift she had ever gotten in her life. Suddenly, she felt bad for chucking it away for so long.
“Regifting an old gift?” she retorted.
His lips quirked upwards. “Sharp tongue… Klara has that in common with Chiyo…” He paused for a while before he let his hand reach upward, to play with a lock of her hair.
“Then what do you want? Matching earrings? A new bracelet? A ring?”
Chiyo gasped when he whispered that last part. Heat crept up her neck and painted her cheeks red, much to Shuu’s amusement.
“You liked that, didn’t you, Klara?” he murmured into her ear before kissing it.
By now she was clinging onto the fabric on his back, legs a little unsteady.
“You’re so unfair…” she whispered quietly. “I never used your real name against you, yet you do this easily with mine…”
His arms tightened around her when he answered, his voice quiet and soft. “Never said you couldn’t use it…”
Chiyo pulled away a little to see his face. To search for some sort of tell that he was messing with her again. But there was nothing like that in his eyes; he was being honest.
She parted her lips, but nothing came out at first. Shuu remained there though, patiently waiting for her to make a decision. It was more than the mere decision to call him by his true name… she knew it would mean more than that.
“Ririe,” she mouthed quietly, the word feeling foreign on her tongue. But there was a flicker of warmth in his eyes when she said it and the atmosphere in the whole room shifted.
“Klara…” he breathed, his hands cupping her face as he pressed his lips desperately onto hers.
There was no fight for dominance, for the upper hand; she simply… gave in. With a sigh, she took a step backwards, letting him steer her towards the bed. Shuu’s fingers traced the collar of her dress, hooking into the buttons. His lips ghosted over the corner of her lips, down to her jawline again.
“Ririe–”
She could barely whimper before she was pushed onto the mattress of her bed. Soft bed sheets dipped and creased under their combined weight, her fingers slightly curling into the stitched throw. Chartreuse eyes searched blue ones as a means for reassurance. Blond locks pooled over them… familiar and yet somehow new. Her heart skipped a beat.
Emboldened by whatever outside force it was that drew her, she pushed upwards a little, letting her nose trail a line up from the sharp jaw to his ear. His eyes fluttered shut while he let out a shaky breath. Was he just as nervous as her?
Her body was tugged closer and the buttons at the front of her dress were tugged open in a familiar way, but the usually expert fingers were trembling just the slightest bit. Supported only by delicate brown lace, her chest pooled out, the amber stone shining slightly between them.
“You’re so beautiful,” the raspy voice caressed her ear before she felt a kiss right underneath, soft and slightly wet.
A shiver left her body involuntarily at his actions, before she shrugged off the upper part of her dress. Long fingers pushed the hem of it upwards, until it was pulled over her head, leaving her in only her lacy bra and the damaged pantyhose. Proof that this was not the first time they had done this by far. But then why did it feel so different?
Her back arched when she felt the relief of the metal clasps between her shoulder blades getting unhooked and goosebumps littered her skin when the silky straps slid down her shoulders.
“Lift your hips…” he whispered against her lips and then she was completely bare. She watched him roll the nylon together with utmost care and place them to the side, as if there wasn’t a gaping hole in them already, making them a candidate for the trash bin. Her cheeks felt so hot as if she was going to cry.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, she sat up on her knees, moving towards him. Her lips brushed the hair on his forehead, and his hands placed themselves securely on her naked hip. Her own hands roamed over his broad shoulders, tracing his collar bone, where he had left his shirt unbuttoned. Manicured fingers hooked into the button below and slowly undid one after the other, the grey fabric soon sliding down his shoulders.
“Ririe…” she whispered again, and he hummed, the sound vibrating in his chest. His hands gently roamed upwards, cupping and squeezing her breasts while she undid the buckle of his belt with hands equally as trembling as his. No matter who she was, this still felt good.
“Klara–”
The name slipped from his lips as a gasp when she slowly started rubbing his hard shaft. He inhaled sharply, blinking fast to reign in the feelings of pleasure. Despite this situation feeling new, her body knew the motions by heart, had done this countless times before. She knew his body, and he knew hers.
Their lips met slowly, their hands exploring each other thoroughly, exactly as if they were mapping each other out for the first time. They exchanged soft sounds and quiet breaths, letting their fingers squeeze and caress every single inch of one another.
Once his hands came to a halt at her waist, he gently guided her back down, laying her slowly against the frilly pillows of her bed. Without breaking eye contact with her, he dragged his fingers slowly through her folds. He was met with no resistance.
Her lip quivered and she let out a broken whine. It felt pleasant, slow… just right, and when she looked up, she gasped. On his face was the most beautiful soft smile she had seen on him in a while. She opened her mouth to say something, but any thought she had caught short when he dipped his finger inside her.
He let out a breath with her moan, curling his digit just right to elicit soft hums and whines. Her hips begged for more on their own and she was wordlessly rewarded with another finger inside her tight heat. Her eyes fought against the pull that wanted them to close, to let her feel everything even more. But she didn’t want to stop looking at him. His eyes were trained on hers, looking for every expression and every little shiver she would react with.
But when his thumb pressed into the sensitive spot right above, she lost it. With a sob she threw back her head and squeezed her eyes shut tightly. The movements of his fingers were agonizingly slow, making her shiver. Even now he enjoyed teasing her.
“Does this feel good… Klara?” He dipped his head right next to her ear, his forearm flexing into the mattress to keep himself above her, while his other hand didn’t stop.
A small, shaky sound left her.
“Hm?” His nose brushed her temple, and she sobbed again.
“Y-yes… it feels… really good. Ririe, don’t stop… please…”
The fingers inside of her curled once more, slowly but sure of themselves. It made her tighten around them in return, as if letting go of them was the biggest sin in the world. She grabbed his bicep, nails digging into the pale skin beneath.
“I’m falling apart–”
But he just shook his head, his blond locks tickling her already sweaty face. And then he pulled his fingers out and she felt empty and incomplete. Panicked, wide eyes searched his, for any form of answers to questions she was not in the right mind to speak.
“Not yet… not like this…” he whispered. His hand trailed upwards, wet fingers treading through damp curls, to her navel and between her breasts, before it cupped her cheek. His thumb stroked the corner of her eye, wiping away the little traces of tears.
She watched silently as he shifted above her, the tip of his arousal pressing against her, his face impossibly close to hers. She brought up her hands to hold his face, to make him come closer. He did. As he pushed in slowly, he kissed her hungrily, both their moans swallowed by their tongues exploring each other once again.
He guided her arms up, fingers interlocking while he was rocking into her at the slowest but also most delicious pace. Their bodies moved together, chests pressed so close to each other like nothing could come between them. Every part of them was tangled together, becoming one.
Their gasps and moans were punctuated by whispers of their names; a secret shared between lovers. She could feel his thrusts becoming more irregular. She herself has been teetering on this dangerous edge of release.
“Ririe, please…” she sobbed, and he just nodded his head. His left hand left her right one and searched for the place their bodies were connected.
She dug her nails into his back when he loved her harder, faster, while his fingers caressed her clit in a way that had her starting to see stars.
“Klara…” he moaned into the crook of her neck. “Hold on… just a little longer. Almost… there…”
Her thighs trembled, she could barely hold herself together at this point, muscles clenching around the warm and pulsating need inside of her.
“I can’t!”
“You can…” he gasped, his movements becoming more erratic as he tried to catch up to her.
But the sensation that was building up inside of her could barely be contained any longer. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t help her muscles fluttering around him. She cried out, a broken ‘I’m sorry’ leaving her when she spasmed around him and the tension inside her released like an explosion.
She heard him curse, before he kissed her again with a needy moan on his own. His hips snapped into her overly sensitive pussy at such a fast pace she had to cry out louder until he stilled and groaned into their shared kiss, filling her up with his hot release.
Gasping, they lay there, his lips moving against hers in small kisses, as his thrusts grew slower and slower until he stopped completely. Her arms were draped limply over his broad, slightly sweaty back, all strength gone from her body.
“I’m sorry…” she rasped. Her fingernails drew slight patterns on his skin, making him shiver, before he pressed himself up shakily on both his arms, sliding out of her.
“What for…?”
His own voice sounded just as messed up as hers when he murmured against her hair. He pulled her into his chest, and she felt the faint heartbeat between them. Was it hers or his? She wasn’t sure.
“I couldn’t wait up for you…” she said, eyes downcast and trained on a random small mole under his collarbone.
A low rumble went through his chest when he chuckled. “Don’t worry about it.”
Chiyo had no idea for how long they stayed like this, but the way Shuu caressed her head, his fingers gently untangling the unruly locks at the back, made her feel drowsy. Before she could doze off, however, she decided to say something.
“You know…” she started. Shuu hummed in return, showing her he was listening, never stopping patting her head all the while.
“I think… ever since she met him… Klara always wanted to be loved by Ririe.”
Shuu’s hand stopped abruptly, his fingers slowly curling into her hair after a while.
“Can Klara keep a secret?” he eventually asked quietly. She nodded, her palm resting against his chest as she looked up at him with big, almost childish eyes.
“I think Ririe already does…”
A/N: The infamous ECSTASY 08, you will forever be famous. I wasn't sure whether this idea would be too sappy and all with the usage of the secret names... but my Instagram poll back then showed people found it cute, so I kept it. It grew on me as a cathartic moment in the story, actually.
The two men gasped when their lamps illuminated the couple.
“It’s the young master Shuu,” one of them said.
“Apologies, we weren’t aware of your presence here,” the other said.
Chiyo felt Shuu detach himself from her and say something to them that she didn’t pay attention to. She was too preoccupied trying to stop the ringing in her ears that came from having him near her neck again. Breathe, she needed to breathe, she reminded herself.
Once she had calmed down and turned towards the conversation the guards gave her a weird look. Probably because she looked like a beggar, with how her clothes were torn and she was wrapped in a filthy old blanket.
“Wild animals outside the castle,” Shuu simply said, and the guards shifted their attention towards him again.
“Would you like for us to prepare rooms for you?”
“Just my room, and a hot bath. Make sure to bring a fresh dress too.”
She looked at him with big eyes. Shuu knew how to act like a Prince even if he most of the time couldn’t be bothered. A faint blush spread on her face.
A while later she was looking at herself in the mirror of Shuu’s ensuite bathroom. It was a bit fogged up from the hot water in the tub, but she already could make out her features. She sighed as her eyes roamed over her neck and collarbone.
It was worse than she had thought; most of the punctured wounds were caused so violently that purple spots had started forming around them. They littered her body down to the valley of her breasts. Some of those spots didn’t even have any fang marks, which pained her even more. She hoped they would heal soon.
Sighing, she put on the fresh underwear, a pretty pair of silky panties and a chemise she could put under the dress. She wondered who picked those out.
Then she slipped into the dark dress that had been left there along with the underwear. She thanked whatever higher force it was that caused the dress to be one with a high button neck. Her other clothes had been beyond saving, so she just tossed them into the trash.
There was still a dull pain in her left ankle, she wondered if she should treat it with something, or have it looked at by some sort of professional. She didn’t even know if it was sprained or broken, but she could still walk, so she guessed it wasn’t the latter. It wasn’t as if there was an abundance of doctors in this world either, most demons had high self-regenerating powers after all.
After she was done, she slowly opened the door and went back into Shuu’s room. Once she closed the bathroom door, she took in the sight. This room looked unchanged, just the way it used to look a long time ago. Evidently, nobody in the castle cared for renovations.
Shuu was sitting on the edge of his bed, a look on his face that she couldn’t quite place.
“I still can’t believe you had them prepare only one room…” Chiyo said eventually.
“Why are you being so annoying about it? I told you before that it would be suspicious and a hassle to explain if we used separate rooms.”
She wanted to argue with him, but he did have a point. Even though she hadn’t visited the castle in years, most of the people there still believed the two of them to be together. If she wanted to find out more about Lilith here, she could do without the extra suspicion of servants.
“What are you doing?” she asked as she watched him reach over to the bedside table and turn on the light of one of the lamps.
“What does it look like to you? I am turning on the light.”
“I can see that. Why are you doing it?”
Ever since they ran into each other he had been acting strange. She would be lying if she said it didn’t feel awkward. Now he was... kinder than back in the human world. The way he suddenly started to look out for her was equally flattering as it was creepy. And she had absolutely no idea how to deal with it.
Shuu let out a frustrated sigh.
“You don’t like complete darkness. If you are bothered by it turn it off again, I don’t care…” he said a bit too sharply and made his way to the window, staring ahead pointedly.
Ugh, this was frustrating! Why did he always misunderstand her and had to pick a fight?
“No, I mean…” she sighed, “…thank you.”
Thank you for letting me bathe and feel like myself again… for carrying me and holding me through my fever. For staying with me... was what she actually wanted to say, but something stopped her.
She looked at him while she still was basically stood in the doorframe of the bathroom. His words were always so mean, trying to cut her as if he was keeping her at bay with a knife. Yet he still remembered this little detail about her. It was a little surprising. He had also held her through her panic attack and gave her back some dignity as best as he could. It was… she didn’t know what it was. But her chest felt warm and fluttery.
Chiyo looked around the room once again, her eyes setting on the queen-sized bed on the left side. No doubt neither of them was particularly keen on sleeping next to the other… right? Well, she imagined it would be strange. They had shared this room when they were younger, still together. Curled up in the middle of it like two cats taking a nap. Every possible limb entwined.
Now the thought of it felt strange. She found herself longing for it on one side, but the thought of accidentally embracing in their sleep also made her uncomfortable. Would they wake up and say good morning to each other with a smile? It was a ridiculous thought.
“Umm… so… about the sleeping situation…” she started eventually. No matter her feelings, she was starting to feel the exhaustion of the past days. Having a warm roof over her head certainly helped in making her feel safer than any ruin or muddy waterway ever could. The memory of the damp tunnels still had her shivering.
“You can have the bed for all I care. I don’t plan on going to sleep anyway,” Shuu said while still staring into the darkness outside. Many things could be said about Shuu, but he definitely was not someone who let go easily. And right now, he seemed to stubbornly want to cling to that nonchalant attitude as if he hadn’t just dragged her through the forest and all the way to his royal doorstep, where he made her have a bubble bath.
A frown appeared on the girl’s face. And now he did not want to sleep? This has been his prominent trait ever since he decided that there is nothing worth to actively live for in this world. The moon was not weird either so something must have been wrong.
She decided to step closer.
“Are you okay?” she asked, timidly standing next to him, unsure of what to do. She fidgeted a little with her fingers, stopping herself from digging her fingernails into the skin; it had just healed, after all.
He looked unwell. When she looked at his face, she noticed his skin was even paler than usual, dark shadows were visible under his eyes, rivaling those of his most unhinged half-brother. She hadn’t noticed it before, because of being so preoccupied with her own situation.
Shuu frowned at her expression and huffed, turning back to the window.
“I don’t need you to pity me.”
“I am not pitying you; I am expressing my concern for you!”
His eyes widened at her sudden outburst, and he flinched. Chiyo frowned.
The silence that followed seemed endless before he spoke up again.
“I can’t sleep… because of nightmares,” he said.
So, he had been having bad dreams too, just like her. She wondered whether there was a connection, but she didn’t want to pry too much right now. This was not the time to discuss that matter.
Without thinking, her hand reached out to him, cupping his cheek. His expression softened at the touch, blinking slowly. Her thumb caressed his cheek, and his hand found hers, keeping it securely in place.
When she looked into his eyes she could see the familiar deep blue. The dark color that held so many emotions he would never talk of. A gaze full of unspoken words.
Her breath hitched in her throat and Shuu swallowed audibly before his eyes darted to her parted lips. Slowly, he moved his head down. She would have all the time in the world to pull away if she wanted.
Yet she didn’t.
His cold lips found hers in a soft — one could even say timid — kiss and his hands held her gently by the hips. He drew away for a second before kissing her again. And again. And then some more.
It was strange… didn’t they hate each other? On further thought… she didn’t really hate him; did he hate her? But if he hated her, why was his touch so gentle? Why did his kisses taste like a heartfelt apology, softly whispering ‘I’m sorry’?
Shuu’s tongue slid against her bottom lip, almost shyly. When she pressed her lips further onto his he did it again, this time with more fervor, running along the traces of where she used to hurt herself.
His hands squeezed her hips, and he pushed her backwards until her legs hit the hardwood of the bed frame, and they fell backwards onto the mattress. All the while their lips didn’t part for even one second.
This feeling right there, it felt like coming home.
When their lips finally parted for air, Chiyo pushed herself up with her arms. Shuu’s arm snaked around her waist, and he pulled her into his lap, leaning back against the pillows. Her own hands rested on either one of his shoulders, she was getting carried away. A groan escaped the man under her when she ran the tip of her nose against his temple and then placed a gentle kiss on that spot.
Shuu drew away, studying her face for a while.
“This doesn’t mean I forgive you…” he said, his eyes an inscrutable blue.
“I know,” she breathed, “I don’t forgive you either.”
He pulled her hips against his and she kissed him again.
There was no forgiveness for what they had done to each other.
Everlasting Spark is going into its final round starting this Sunday October 5th 2025 at 10 AM CET!!
If you ask me, it is the perfect time to catch up on all the other chapters, so you will be ready to dive into the last third~
・❥・Masterpost here
❗Content Warning: This is a Diabolik Lovers OC x Canon story. Please keep in mind, that it can and will feature dark topics and canon typical violence, as well as sexual content. If you are uncomfortable with any of the aforementioned topics, mute the respective tags and do not read. ❗
