CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: BLOOD TRIAL.

      After handing Reiji the bat hair, Izumi marched to her room. She was so tired that she didn't even have the spirit to teleport herself there. Instead, she continued to make an effort to drag her feet up the stairs to her room.

      As she went up, she allowed herself to close her eyes, enraptured with the idea of taking a hot bath in the tub and then lying down in the soft sheets of her bed. The idea calmed her a little, and made her believe that the world wasn't so bad.

      However, before she reached the top, Ayato crossed her path. The red-haired man had a frown on his face, and his arms were crossed over his chest as he looked at her as if she had done something to upset him. Izumi sighed.

      "Ayato, I want to go to sleep. Whatever you have to say, can't it wait until tonight?"

      Ayato didn't reply, but instead reached over and grabbed her wrist, lifting it up to his face But before he managed to do anything, the girl moved it away from his grasp, "What do you think you're doing?"

      "I want to taste your blood."

      "Sucks to be you then, because you're not getting it."

      Ayato came closer, his gaze darkening, "Laito has already tasted it. It's unfair that I, Ore-sama, haven't tasted it."

      "I don't care what Ore-sama thinks," Izumi said, already moving aside to resume her way to her room.

      Ayato grabbed her by the shoulder, stopping her. But then, footsteps were heard coming from the first floor. The redhead clicked his tongue before picking Izumi up and running at superhuman speed to the second floor hallway, in a place dark enough no one would see them from the first floor.

      "Ayato, stop it," the vampiress growled, struggling against his grip.

      "Why won't you let me try? You let Shu," He insisted, and Izumi stopped fighting as soon as she recognized the emotion in his voice, "You let Shu drink your blood when you were with me. How do you think that makes me feel?"

      Izumi frowned, "You drank from Yui's blood when we were together, you can't tell me shit!"

      "It's not the same," Ayato raised his voice, though they kept the discussion in whispers knowing that, if anyone found out, it would only cause trouble for both of them, "Yui is human. We all drink from her blood, it doesn't mean anything! It's not the same!"

      Izumi hesitated at that. Hearing Ayato say that the human girl meant nothing to him was like a breath of fresh air, filling her lungs and pulling her away from the sleep she was previously enslaved to.

      This changed everything.

      "It's okay," Izumi relented, unbuttoning the first few buttons of her uniform blouse to show him her collar, "But just a little, okay? Laito took this morning and- hpm!"

      Ayato sank his teeth into her neck without warning. As soon as he received the yes, his eyes sparkled with desire and his ears stopped listening. He let out a sigh as his tongue finally made contact with her blood, and Izumi threw her head back to give him easier access.

      A gasp escaped the vampire's lips as soon as Ayato buried his fangs deeper. Now that he had tasted her, he found himself unable to stop. Her blood was delicious. It filled him with energy, and he felt like he could conquer the world. He already understood why Richter had said it could drive a vampire crazy, because he could definitely envision losing himself in a circle of addiction if he didn't have a strong will to exist.

      As he choked on the blood, the thought of having access to it every moment of the day distracted him enough to allow Izumi to push him away from her. The fangs made the noise like a plug disconnecting, and the vampiress pressed a hand against the new wound to stop the bleeding.

      Ayato blinked, snapping back to the reality around them as he met the girl's eyes. Then, his gaze strayed for a moment to the trickle of blood that ran down her neck, reaching her chest. He forced himself to look back into her scarlet eyes.

      "I told you just a little," Izumi mumbled.

      Ayato licked his lips, not wasting a drop of blood that had dared to fall on his face. At the taste of such a delicacy, he couldn't stop a smile from stretching across his face, "Sorry."

      Izumi knew he wasn't sorry in the least. And then, Reiji's voice echoed in her head.

      You probably don't want a third vampire addicted to your blood now, do you?

      Without giving time to say anything else, and trying to get that sentence out of her mind, Izumi teleported to her bathroom.

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      Once the tub was filled to the brim with water, and the bubbles were so many that she was sure she would be swallowed by them, Izumi took off her clothes and stepped into the mass of warm water. She couldn't stop a sigh of pleasure from escaping her lips as she found the perfect position, and rested her head against the edge of the tub before closing her eyes.

      She tried her best to blank her mind, trying to forget everything that had happened that day so that she could wake up at night in a good mood and ready to get on with her life. However, it was an impossible thing to do with everything that had happened.

      Just as she was about to give up and go to bed, two hands wrapped around her shoulders.

      "Princess," Laito purred in her ear.

      "I was just about to go to bed," she excused herself.

      "No, not yet," he begged, "I'm thirsty, Princess."

      "Laito, no. I'm tired. You had enough in the morning. Besides..."

      "Ayato bit you," the brunette muttered, the playful, light tone no longer anywhere. Instead, his emotions were gone, and Izumi tensed up, "You know," he whispered, resuming his usual tone, "What you did today turned me on like you can't imagine."

      Izumi rolled her eyes, "Of course, what doesn't turn you on, Laito?"

      The man laughed, "That's why I need your blood, Princess."

      "I told you, no," she urged, "Maybe tomorrow, but not today. I want to go to sleep."

      "But I have something to tell you, Princess."

      "What?"

      "I love you, Izumi."

      The vampiress' eyes widened but, before she could answer, fangs sank into her neck. A gasp was to escape her lips, but Laito placed a hand over her mouth and muffled it. And so, he kept sucking.

      "Laito," Izumi tried to struggle, but her body no longer responded. She felt much weaker than usual, and her control over her voice had vanished as all that escaped her lips were sighs and gasps, "Laito, nn-"

      "Princess, you moaning my name only makes me hotter," Laito murmured against her ear, biting her lobe, before biting the other side of her neck, "I want to mark you... so no one else will ever bite you again. My brothers will know that you are mine, and neither Ayato nor Shu will ever look at you again when they see that you are covered with my marks," he continued, biting his shoulders, the back of her neck....

      "Laito," Izumi exclaimed, drawing strength from a place she didn't know, and she walked away from him, skidding to the other side of the tub, "Stop it."

      The brunette blinked, "Oh, princess. I got carried away. I'm so sorry, it's just that your blood is so captivating... I'm really sorry. Do you want me to take you to bed?"

      "No, it's okay," the girl denied, "I want to... uh- I want to stay in the tub a little longer. Just... can you leave me alone?"

      Laito nodded, "If that's what you really want," he gave in, and disappeared in an instant.

      Izumi noticed the lump that had formed in her throat, at the same time she realized that the feeling of helplessness grew and grew. She felt her strength slipping out of her hands with every bite her body received, and it was so similar to humans that it made her want to sleep forever.

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      Well after midnight, while Izumi was on her way to one of her classes, she recognized Yui's scent. Without hesitation, she followed the scent, on the way meeting Kanato so that the two of them ended up catching up with the girl together. She couldn't help but be surprised when the human was at school as if she hadn't been missing for days.

      "You left us for them? So that's what was going on," Laito accused. Izumi breathed in again, and realized she reeked of the Mukamis.

      "And what's worse, you had to choose those who are not even known to be vampires," said Kanato with disdain. He covered half of his face with Teddy, looking at Yui with disgust.

      "Kanato."

      "How disgusting."

      "I'm so sorry," Yui stammered.

      "Well, someone was looking for bitch-chan all this time," Laito smiled.

      "Are you talking about Ayato or Izumi?", Kanato inquired, to which Yui's head turned to the aforementioned in surprise, her mouth slightly open.

      The vampiress clicked her tongue, averting her gaze to the side before looking back at the human, "Don't be stupid, you can't stay with them," she blurted out quickly, but only got a look of confusion from the blonde. Izumi rolled her eyes, "Look, I know living with us isn't exactly the best, but you're still alive. If you stay with those idiots, you'll most likely die."

      "Uuh, Princess? Since when do you care about Bitch-chan? I didn't know you two were best friends," Laito commented, Izumi ignored him.

      Yui slightly lowered her head, "Uh, Izumi-chan, I appreciate your concern. But I'm fine, really. I-"

      "You're not listening to me," Izumi interrupted, "The Mukamis were transformed into vampires, which means they don't have the same control over their thirst as we do. They can kill you even if they don't want to."

      Yui's face showed that she was taking her warning seriously. But, before she could respond, Reiji approached them.

      "Too bad Ayato didn't come to school today," he said as he joined the group, looking at Yui, "It would have calmed him to see that you're safe."

      "Ah, he skipped. Lucky, isn't it, bitch-chan?

      "Ayato didn't come today?" Yui asked, but the Sakamaki disappeared in the blink of an eye. She looked around, still not used to their teleportation power. Then, she noticed that Izumi was still there, and couldn't help but ask the question that was bouncing around in her mind, "Why did you look for me?"

      Izumi averted her gaze, sighing, "Does it matter?"