Sweet Temptations [DiaLovers FanFic] - Part 31: Energy
Lillia woke up feeling refreshed. She gingerly stepped out of her bed and paced around the room. She felt energised and…right. It was the first time she woke up without any trouble since a few months before, which was before her headache started to bother her and her daily life activities. But it was the feeling that felt as if everything’s right that bothered her.
In actuality, before her headache saga started, Lillia never really had any trouble waking up in the morning, although that does not mean she was a morning person. She just had no trouble, is all. But this morning, she felt like she could do anything.
Lillia took a glance at her clock, and saw that it was only 3 in the morning. Well, that is strange she knitted her eyebrows at her clock, thinking that there must be a mistake and that maybe the clock had stopped working. However, the minute hand was ticking away, the ticking being the only sound in her silent bedroom.
Which occurred to her how strange for it to be silent. True, the mansion’s residents would start to go to bed by 1 AM, right after returning from school, in which their session ends by midnight. Even so, Lillia knew for a fact that the others wouldn’t tuck in at the same time as her. There would be Reiji, who would still fussing over something in the kitchen or is in his room concocting some kind of ‘medicine’ as he call it, Laito moseying in and out of the house saying he had some ‘business’ outside and the other employees of the house, although there aren’t many, they were still doing some of their duties at such late hours, presumably to cater to their masters that were still awake.
Lillia waited for another minute and tried to listen in the house, assuming that she might have mistaken as to the silence in the house. She heard nothing. Alarmed, Lillia stood up from her bed and paced around her room, contemplating whether she should go out of the corridor to evaluate the situation in the mansion. She might have been wrong; maybe everyone has fallen asleep, after all, she was always the first one to fall asleep, how would she know that it’s abnormal for the mansion to be so quiet?
But Lillia knew better. She could feel something was wrong in the mansion, contrary to how she felt about herself when she woke up earlier. While she was pondering this, she heard a loud bang that came from the room beside her. Once again, Lillia was alarmed by this; as far as she knew, the room beside her was not resided by anyone else.
What if…it’s the same person who has been sending letters to the mansion? Lillia thought in panic, unsure of what to do. She listened in again, trying to make sure she did not in fact imagine the sound. Instead of another bang, she heard something alike of furniture crashing and Lillia felt her mouth turning dry. What if her fears were answered?
Lillia paced around the room again and noticed the baseball bat that she kept at the side of her bed. Although most of the times she had always stumbled upon such situations, Lillia had taken some security measures to protect herself lest she gets pounced on by any of the Sakamaki siblings (read: Laito).
She grabbed her baseball bat and strengthened her resolve; she may be living with the Sakamakis, that did not mean she’s completely safe. She needs to depend on herself if she wants to survive. And such act means she has to face whatever that is inside the room beside hers. Lillia needs to take the initiative; she can’t just wait around all the time.
Lillia gingerly stepped out of the corridor right after she had surveyed the corridor for any signs of life, she may not be the only who had heard the loud noise, after all. As Lillia quickly but silently walked over to the next room’s door, Lillia had the time to wonder to herself that the rest of the residents of the house slept like logs. Or maybe some were not at home.
Lillia knew that such thoughts were actually only a buffer for her in order to gain her courage to open the door. She may have strengthened her resolve, but it did not stop her from thinking of terrible thoughts: what if the person inside the room will attack her once she opened the door? What if the person is not a person, but some kind of animal that is strong enough to crash into the room from the window, despite the fact that it’s the second floor?
Lillia shook her head in an attempt to push away such thoughts in her head. She was in front of the door, in which whatever behind it has turned completely silent. Silently praying that she may have been paranoid to the point that she was hearing things, she turned the doorknob.
Lillia did not immediately open the door wide enough for her to enter into the room; she slowly opened it and tried to discern any signs of movement or any form of a human or animal amidst the darkness enveloping the room. Knowing that she won’t get any progress from doing this, Lillia stepped inside the room, not before she tried to flip the light switch which was placed right beside the door. Lillia was surprised that the room remained dark, even though she had flipped the light switch.
Silently cursing her luck that the lights were out of order of all times, she surveyed the room which was in pitch black darkness. She swallowed a lump in her throat and tightened her grip on the baseball bat. She took out her phone and managed to say a short prayer under her breath before switching on the torchlight button which was built in her phone.
Lillia’s breath hitched when raised her phone and saw a figure sprawled across the floor a steps in front of her. Heart in her throat, Lillia froze in place before she silently and slowly walked over to the figure. Her grip on her baseball bat was so tight, she bet her knuckles had turned white if she took a glance at them at that moment.
But Lillia was determined to find out as to the ‘intruder’ in front of her. Now that she knows that it was indeed a human that was making the noise, Lillia was prepared to hit this person with a baseball bat if they tried to pounce on her or do anything similar of the sort.
The body stirred with a groan and Lillia almost jumped in fear. So much for being prepared for anything, Lillia, Lillia admonished herself, readjusting her grip on the baseball bat. The body stirred again and Lillia, with newfound courage, shone the light at the body and she almost dropped her phone now that she could see the body clearer.
The body belonged to Reiji, the most dignified and proper Sakamaki sibling and Lillia never thought she would see the day that Reiji would be sprawled on the floor in such undignified manner. Unsure of what to do, Lillia called out to him softly and Reiji stirred again, this time he turned his head towards the direction of her voice.
“Oh, it’s you” he said simply. If it weren’t for the fact that he had sounded hoarse when he said those words, in which on normal days was dripping with sarcasm, Lillia would have just answered “Yes, it’s me” in her usual curt manner and turn around and leave him be.
Not this time, however. Not only was Reiji sprawled across the floor, but he was sweating buckets. The room wasn’t really that warm in the first place, but the way Reiji was sweating it was like as if the room was as hot as a sauna. Lillia may not be close with the Sakamaki siblings, but Reiji was the only Sakamaki who had treated her well, in which when she meant ‘well’, it meant he acknowledged her presence and did not try to bite her neck every time they bumped into each other.
Besides, Lillia was a human being with blood running in her veins. She did have some sense of humanity and despite her questionable relationship with Reiji, she couldn’t just leave a sweating man who was also breathing heavily to his own device.
“Reiji-san, what’s wrong? Is there any way for me to help?” Lillia inwardly cringed at her last words. The reason was simple: she knew better than to say such things to Reiji; the worst he could do was to coldly reject her offer and maybe add a bit of snarky remark of his own. However, what’s done is done. She could only wait for his response, which was something she was not looking forward to at the moment.
To her surprise, Reiji grunted again and swallowed before responding to her, “Get the vial tucked in my left trouser pocket”.
Lillia blinked several times, not believing her ears. Reiji Sakamaki had asked for my help? She thought in bewilderment, but when Reiji groaned again before he faced down to the floor once again, Lillia relented. Reiji was not himself after all; it was only natural he won’t respond to her in his usual manner.
Muttering an apology for intruding on his personal space under her breath, Lillia carefully tried to extract the ‘vial’ from Reiji’s left trouser pocket, praying that Reiji won’t suddenly jolt at her sudden touch and admonish her for touching him. But when Lillia successfully retrieved the vial, which was a small, cylindrical glass (how did Reiji manage to not break it as he was sprawled across the floor?) container in which Lillia could tell with the use of her torchlight that it contained some kind of light blue liquid inside it.
Lillia then called out to Reiji once again and when he looked at her, she handed him the vial. Contrary to his lethargic state, Reiji swiped the vial out of her hands and frantically opened the cap and drank the liquid with such vigor. Lillia could only watch him as he wiped some liquid that had dribbled down his chin.
“Is that all?” Lillia braved herself to ask another question after Reiji had sat up. Reiji looked at her with a weird look, in which Lillia failed to interpret: was he mad or relieved?
Lillia could not tell at all, so she only waited. She wanted to make sure that Reiji was in fact all right before she return to her bedroom and continue her sleep, in which she really looked forward at that exact moment, since she could feel her energy draining what with her state of alarm before discovering Reiji and mentally being careful with her words in communicating with Reiji.
What Lillia did not expect was Reiji having a coughing fit. Lillia immediately went towards his side, trying to relieve him, but Reiji simply pushed her away. It was not a rough push, but it was enough to make her land on her butt. Bewildered, Lillia watched as Reiji took out another vial in his other pocket and drank the contents.
“Get out” Reiji said after he drank the last of the contents of the vial.
Lillia blinked. What did he just say?
Apparently Lillia had said that out loud, as Reiji looked at her with narrowed eyes and growled, “Get. Out”
Lillia could have just scolded him for treating her that way since he was such a stickler of manners, but the look in his eyes had made her shake in fear. His red eyes were redder than usual. As red as Shuu’s eyes when he was about to drink her blood.
With the realisation in her mind, Lillia immediately backed away and ran out of the room, leaving Reiji who was still staring at her with those eyes.
Lillia went inside her bedroom, locked her door and bundled herself up in her blanket. She was shaking in fear, but there was another feeling that was so out of place at that moment. She felt exhilaration.
Before Lillia could comprehend such feelings, she felt her eyelids becoming heavy and closed her eyes. She realised that she had fallen asleep when she opened her eyes and heard birds chirping outside. She glanced at the clock in her phone and saw it was 7.30 AM. Once again, she woke up feeling energised.
Lillia sat up and once again she realised that the mansion was silent aside from the sounds outside that was full of activity. Feeling a sense of déjà vu, Lillia gathered her toiletries before stepping out to the corridor, looking around her, thinking that may be the other residents had already woken up, but were silent. Then again, in the mornings, the ones who would be up and about aside from her would be Reiji and the very few of the house staffs.
After living in the mansion for more than half a year, Lillia knew that the house staffs only started their activities at the same time as when Reiji wakes up, since the man himself always wakes up early to ensure the cleanliness of the house were at tip top shape. Although Lillia was brought to the mansion as ‘caretaker’, Lillia’s duties were only to make food for when Reiji was too busy to cater to the other siblings, in which they like to ask for food at odd times. Once, Lillia had to make pancakes for Kanato because he wanted some for his teatime.
Since the house were silent, Lillia assumed that Reiji had yet to awaken from his slumber, which would be considered a very rare occurrence, but as Lillia remembered the events from a few hours ago, Lillia thought that he may still not be in a good condition.
Which brought her to the door of the room beside her, where Reiji was in such a questionable state and where she had left him. This time, for some unknown reason, Lillia did not feel scared at all. She simply turned the doorknob, bracing to see Reiji inside, but was instead greeted with an empty room. She may have heard furniture crashing, but the state of the room was spotless. Knowing Reiji, he might have cleaned up after his mess, although it struck her as strange, since she had left him in his state of disarray.
Thinking that she may be thinking into this too much, Lillia went to the bathroom at the end of the corridor for her morning shower.
And she continued with her daily activities just like usual that day. Only, the unusual part in her daily routine was that there were no signs of the Sakamakis, and same goes to the house staff. Lillia was used to preparing food for herself, so she simply did that whenever it was mealtime. She had tried going to the rooms of each Sakamaki siblings, but they were all locked and Lillia just simply shrugged and continued on with her day.
Some part of her was actually glad and relieved by this situation. Although she felt that something was amiss, those thoughts were outweighed by her sense of relief for not interacting with the Sakamakis.
No insults from Ayato.
No Laito to ambush her and try to get handsy with her.
No tantrum of Kanato’s for her to deal with.
No flinching at the violent outbreak of Subaru’s which happens from time to time.
No walking on eggshells when she’s around Reiji.
And finally, no Shuu for her to feel wary of whenever she sees him lying somewhere in the house.
However, Lillia felt worried when none of the Sakamakis showed up at the front when it was time to go to school. Thankfully, the chauffeur was there to bring her to school. The chauffeur usually treat her like air, only abiding the orders of Reiji, just like the other house staffs.
Lillia didn’t mind walking to school, but lately she was being cautious of being outside alone for too long. After all, she encountered a vampire for the first time when she was walking back home alone.
However, the unusual day did not dampen her good mood at all. The fact that she woke up without a bad headache and feeling energised, with the addition of not encountering with the Sakamakis, was such a rare occurrence that she felt the need to appreciate this. She won’t know that it will ever happen again, so she felt that she could at least have this moment to herself for the time being.
Her good spirit was short-lived when she arrived to school.
When she stepped out of the limousine, she felt all eyes were on her. Now, Lillia was used to being the center of attention, what with cohabiting with the Sakamakis and her new appearance, but this time she felt as if she was being scrutinised from all angles. Her skin felt prickly and most of the gazes were from the male students.
Lillia wasn’t a stranger to this situation. This had happened when she was in middle school, where she got bullied by some girls in her grade.
But this time was different. Back then, she had only received admiring and dreamy gazes from her male peers, but now, she felt that she might as well had walked naked in the school.
Some had looked at her with a leer and some had tried to near themselves towards her. Lillia was used to this, so she knew how to avoid these men who had tried to even come as close as breathing down her neck. But the last straw was when she sensed someone sniffing her behind her and she felt that she should whirl around and give whoever that sniffed her a death glare.
But her gut told her that she shouldn’t, that she would regret it. So, instead of putting up a fight, she broke into a run and she heard a few footsteps behind her following suit.
Lillia looked behind her and saw that she was faster than them since the distance between her and the crowd behind her, but seeing the huge crowd alarmed her even more. The crowd was so big, they couldn’t fit the school’s huge corridor. She may had a headstart, but Lillia wondered how much longer would this last.
In her state of panic, she bumped into someone and when she fell on her butt, she might as well had thrown herself over to the eager crowd that were hot at her heels. She looked up with a glare and gripped her backpack, preparing to use it as a weapon. She may be in a panicked state, but she was still collected enough to be prepared to defend herself when the occasion asks for it.
She was greeted by a smile from a man wearing a white doctor coat, a lit cigarette in his hand.
Seeing that cigarette, without thinking Lillia said, “You’re not supposed to be smoking inside school grounds”.
Hazuki laughed at her words and stretched her hand towards her, in which she took so she could get herself off the floor.
“I was expecting you to look at me with a tear-stained face and meekly say ‘help’. To think that you would lecture me when you’re being chased by a bunch of your rabid fans, you got spunk young lady” Hazuki said, still chuckling.
Hazuki’s words made Lillia realise as to the situation she was in and she looked behind her and saw that the crowd was closing in. Her face may not have been tear-stained as Hazuki put it, but she was close to that when she saw the look in their faces as they came nearer.
Without thinking, Lillia went to Hazuki’s side with the intention to hide behind him, but Hazuki seemed to have a better plan.
Hazuki pulled her close to him and hid her inside his white coat. Surprised, Lillia looked up at him, wanting to protest, but her voice was muffled by the sweater he was wearing inside the coat.
She thought that Hazuki may not be able to hear her protest, but she could feel the rumble in his chest. Obviously, he knew that she was going to protest at the position they were in. She looked up at him with a glare, but Hazuki wasn’t looking at her.
Hazuki was looking at the crowd that had followed her, who, from what Lillia could discern with the sound of their footsteps, their pace had slowed when Hazuki hid her inside his coat.
“Now, now. Good students are supposed to be in class and study. Why are you all chasing one single girl?” Hazuk said good naturedly. Lillia could see him smirking from inside the coat.
She heard some muttering, and strangely enough, some growling and hissing at Hazuki.
“Tut, tut. What naughty students I have here. I guess it’s time for you to take a nap” Hazuki said. Lillia frowned at Hazuki’s choice of words. Why would you want them to sleep? Aren’t you supposed to scold them or something? She thought to herself. Hazuki’s really strange, Lillia concluded.
What Hazuki did next was something that even Lillia could not think of that will happen, but it happened.
Hazuki took a puff from the lit cigarette that caused Lillia to lecture him on, and he blew out the smoke. The strange thing was, the smoke that he had exhaled was very large, despite the fact that Hazuki had only taken a short puff from the cigarette.
Instead of hearing fits of coughing, what Lillia heard was the sound of bodies dropping to the ground, one by one. When the sound stopped, Lillia immediately distanced herself from Hazuki, trying to determine what had happened when she was inside his coat.
Just as the sounds she heard had suggested, there were a pile of bodies in front of her. The sight could be alarming, if only it weren’t for the fact that all the male students looked like they were fast asleep, and they had looked content, too.
As Lillia gaped at the sight before her, Hazuki had simply said “Sweet dreams”.
The sound of Hazuki’s voice had snapped Lillia out of her reverie and when she turned to look at Hazuki, he was already walking away from her. Lillia followed suit, still reeling at the sight of piling bodies.
“What did you do? Why are they like that? Won’t that be a problem to the school? What did you do?” Lillia asked and Hazuki merely raised his hand at her, a gesture for her to stop.
“So many questions from the lady that I saved. Don’t you think that I deserve a thank you?” Hazuki said, looking at her with a twinkle in his eyes.
Lillia stopped herself. Realising that she had been rude, she looked at Hazuki and said, “Thank you”.
Once again, Hazuki laughed at her words, only this time it was almost a guffaw to the point that he had tears in his eyes. What was so funny? He was the one who asked for it, Lillia thought in annoyance and Hazuki tried to compose himself.
“Don’t worry, the school will handle those kids” he said, wiping a tear in his eye.
“But what did you do?” Lillia asked, following Hazuki, who was walking towards the infirmary, she realised.
“Wouldn’t you want to know” Hazuki said coyly, once they entered the infirmary and he had sat on his swivel chair. Lillia gave him an irate look in which he responded by raising both his hands up in the air in surrender.
“Hey, I’m only trying to lighten the mood here. Thought you needed that since you had gone through something that could traumatise anyone” Hazuki said simply.
Lillia paused. True, she could be breaking down, crying or shaking in fear by now, but what Hazuki had done practically erased such feelings. What was it? She felt his actions seemed familiar, it seemed so right.
As Lillia was battling with her inner thoughts, Hazuki looked at her with a small smile on his lips.
“You felt familiar with my gesture, didn’t you?” he said, in which Lillia jolted at his words.
“How…did you know that?” she asked carefully. Was she easy to read?
“I know a lot of things, princess” Hazuki leaned forward to look at her in the eye “What if I told you that I know that you’ve been having bad headaches and know the cause of it?”
That piqued Lillia’s interest and she looked at him with a sense of eagerness, wanting to know the answer. Hazuki smiled at her reaction and gestured at the chair beside her, indicating for her to sit down.
She obliged and waited for him to continued. Hazuki chuckled at the sight of her obedience and decided to light another cigarette. Lillia waited patiently as he lit it and took a puff of the smoke. One part of her was expecting him to do what he had done to those male students out there, one part of did not want him to do that to her. She wanted answers, but she was also afraid of them.
Hazuki watched her fidget in her seat and gave her a warm smile. For the first time since they met that day, his smile seemed genuine, and Lillia may have imagined it, but his eyes seemed to reflect concern. But why?
“I think…it’s time for you to know the truth. Sei may not like this, but you deserve to know. Because I know what it feels like to be in the position you’re in” he said slowly, stubbing the cigarette butt in his ashtray.
“What do you mean?” Lillia couldn’t help but ask him that question.
“We are the same, you and I” Hazuki said, looking at her with a grim expression. Lillia blinked. Okay?
Hazuki scratched his head, looking distressed.
“Man, I’ve always imagined myself telling you this, but when it’s finally the time, it’s so difficult to tell you this. Why is it so?” Hazuki rubbed his temples and Lillia could only watch him. Hazuki looked at her with a questioning gaze.
“You really don’t know what I mean?” Hazuki asked, and Lillia simply shook her head.
“Seriously? You’re living with vampires and you don’t think that there are other demons out there?” Hazuki asked in disbelief. Lillia blinked and cocked her head to one side. Hazuki sighed and leaned back on his chair.
“You know, I’m starting to think that calling you ‘princess’ was the right decision. You know nothing at all, do you?” Hazuki said, chuckling a little, although it sounded a bit more the sound of surrender.
“Can’t blame you, I guess. Sei wanted to protect you, but I think that he’s just trying to put the wool in front of your eyes. Let me ask you, do you think you’re human?” Hazuki asked her with a serious look.
Lillia gazed at him and thought to herself. It was a no brainer. She shook her head.
“Good. That means you’re smart and not empty headed like the others” Hazuki said thoughtfully.
“Others?” Hazuki smiled when Lillia said that without thinking.
“Oh, there are plenty of others, Princess. It’s just that they think they’re better than anyone else here”
“Here?” Lillia felt her head was starting to spin.
“Okay, I think I’ve beat around the bush too much” Hazuki clapped his hands once and look at her with a serious look once again.
“Think about it. You’re attractive. So attractive to the point that men will follow you and will look at you with dreamy eyes. You have a – excuse me for sounding like I’m being a pervert, but I’m stating the truth here – but you have a very good figure. Despite the fact that you tried to hide your looks, people are still interested in you, although maybe not because of your looks, but you still have that pull”
“How did you kno-“
“Ah, ah. I’m not finished. Questions later. I’m going for a big reveal here. Now, why is that so? Why are people are so insistent in chasing you?”
Lillia was silent. She had no answer to that.
“Why were the Sakamakis MIA that they did not come to school?” Lillia’s eyes widened at Hazuki’s words. How did he know that? Then she stopped herself. Maybe Hazuki knew she had come alone to school today.
If what Lillia had thought were clear in her face, Hazuki had chosen to ignore that. “Why did you feel so right when you woke up today?” This time, Lillia felt the air leave in her lungs. Now how did he know that?
Hazuki smiled, satisfied by the look of shock on Lillia’s face.
“It’s simple. You had sucked the energy out of them” Hazuki said with a smile.
Lillia stared at him. She what now?
Hazuki sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes, all seriousness in him had disappeared.
“Princess, you’re a demon of sex”
Lillia was about to respond when the door to the infirmary was slammed open. Lillia jumped off her seat while Hazuki remained in his seat. Lillia turned around to look at whoever that had slammed open the door with such anger.
Hazuki gave a sweet smile at that person while Lillia looked at that person in bewilderment.
TO BE CONTINUED
