CHAPTER TWENTY: THE FIRST LITTLE ACT OF REBELLION.

      Izumi couldn't stop her lips from curving into a smile when Ruki turned and looked at her and Ayato through the window. She waved at him, and the redhead hissed to let the rest of the Mukami know of their presence.

      Ayato looked at her for a moment and she nodded, giving him permission to disappear. While he was inside the mansion in search of the human, Izumi remained outside, in case he needed assistance. The vampire sighed, crossing her arms and leaning her back against a tree as she relaxed. She was sure that Ayato could take on those vampires with ease.

      In the blink of an eye, Yuma appeared. She just stared at him in silence, and he approached her and grabbed her by the shoulders, "What are you doing here?" he asked, and although his grip on her was firm, he was careful enough not to hurt her.

      "Taking back what's ours," she replied with a smile, and removed his grip from her shoulders, "If you're interested in keeping Yui, you should be inside, not here."

      Yuma shook his head, "I asked what are you doing here, you."

      "And I told you," Izumi replied in a bored tone.

      "You have to leave those brothers."

      At that, Izumi straightened up, "What?" she sneered.

      "You can't stay with them, it's too much of a risk," he turned his head towards the mansion, before looking back at her, "You can hide with us if you want, for a while. But the best thing is for you to go as far away as you can. You need to get away from KarlHeinz."

      Izumi raised a hand in front of the vampire's face, stopping his speech, "I don't know who you think you are to tell me what to do but, I don't care, I'm not going to do anything you tell to."

      "You're not listening-"

      "Yes, I am listening," the girl growled, her mood changing to a deadly one, "And no matter what you say, I'm not going to leave them. They are my family. I know I can't trust KarlHeinz and, believe me, no one in that house trusts him. So, that's probably where I'm safest, in that house. All the people who hate him the most are there."

      Yuma clenched his jaw, "Izumi, you can't," he cut himself off, hearing that Ayato had already met Yui. He looked back at her, who raised her eyebrows in his direction, and then disappeared with a grimace of annoyance on his face.

      When Ayato finally appeared, it didn't even take him two seconds to sink his fangs into the human, "You are my prey, stop leaving without my permission!"

      "Ayato," the blonde stammered weakly before the vampire bit her again. Her face contorted in pain though she made no sound before the clouds began to cry.

      "So they can't bite you, I'll damage your body," Ayato warned as the human's gaze was lost in the darkening sky.

      Izumi snorted and, after making sure that no other Mukami appeared out of nowhere, she approached Ayato and grabbed him by the shoulder to push him back. The red-haired man fell on his butt, and looked up to meet Izumi's gaze and growled as he licked his lips to taste the spilled blood.

      "What are you doing?"

      "We just got her back, you don't need to be making her suffer already."

      Ayato laughed, "Don't worry about it. Chichinashi likes it when I suck her blood, don't you, Chichinashi?"

      Yui didn't answer. She just watched the two vampires as she pressed the wound on her neck with both of her hands.

      "I'm pretty sure that's just from the venom of your fangs," Izumi mused, picking Yui up from the ground and holding her in her arms. The blonde looked at her in surprise, and she didn't blame her for it. After all, it was the first time she'd ever gotten this close to her. Besides, she was pretty sure it must look kind of comical that she could pick her up when they were almost the same height, "And we don't know what they did to her in there, she might be very weak."

      "Ah, I get it," Ayato clicked his tongue, approaching Izumi with a sly smile, "You're jealous because you think I won't drink from your blood anymore, aren't you? Don't worry, I'll continue."

      "You'll keep drinking if I let you," Izumi declared, to which Ayato grimaced in disgust.

      Izumi turned around, ready to return to the mansion she called home. However, she felt Ayato pounce behind her back. Well knowing that if he caught her it would be a battle of strength and he would win, Izumi used her speed to her advantage and dodged him, jumping up to a tree branch.

      She looked down, meeting the redhead's frustration-filled gaze. Meanwhile, Yui was clinging to her neck, hiding her head on her chest and closing her eyes tightly.

      "Izumi-chan, where are we?" she stammered.

      "Sorry, I just had to dodge a fly," the vampiress smiled, still looking at Ayato, before teleporting back to the mansion. Maybe she wasn't as powerless as she had thought.

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      Izumi went down to the living room when she heard the brothers arguing. Reiji had texted her to come, but she made sure to be about ten minutes late because she knew that by that point everyone would be there and she wouldn't have to wait for anyone. Honestly, she just wanted to keep reading.

      Eyes fell on her as she appeared next to Laito. The brunette smiled, and took her by the arm and then hugged her from behind, wrapping his arms around her body.

      "Finally we are all reunited," Reiji began to speak, clasping his hands together while his gaze betrayed that his mind was somewhere else.

      "The real question is: why do you need us to meet?" Izumi pressed. She wanted to keep it short.

      "It's weird, it's not even a banquet," Laito commented as his head rested on Izumi's head, "What are you up to?"

      "It's not time to be relaxed," Reiji denied, answering without satisfying the doubts of those present and only increasing their curiosity.

      "What are you talking about?"

      "Until the next full moon, there will be no sun."

      "So what about that?" Kanato shrugged his shoulders.

      "I think the next one will be waning," Laito added.

      "It's not just a waning moon," Shu clarified.

      "Will something happen?" Yui asked while Izumi chose to remain silent. If they kept barging in, they would only extend the time they would get no response from Reiji. Damn her weakness for drama.

      "It will be a special waning moon that will unite the demonic world with this one. Our strength has been falling little by little," Reiji recounted.

      "That's no big deal," Ayato interrupted, playing it down as he kept his eyes closed. But that relaxed position changed as soon as Shu got up from the sofa.

      "We shouldn't underestimate it," Shu denied. At that, everyone tensed noticeably. And they were right to do so: if Shu was taking it seriously, there was a reason.

      "Although I hope nothing happens," muttered Reiji, looking at the moon through the window.

      Izumi scoffed, "After all your talk, you can't mean to cheer us up."

      Her comment was met by Reiji's death stare, but she didn't care. She wasn't sure if it was because she still felt powerful from her little rebellion with Ayato, but she felt she could do whatever she wanted. And from one second to the next, she appeared on the second floor, in front of the door to her room. She waved her hand at them before entering and closing the door behind her.