Yamato's phone was still blowing up as his friends kept scolding him, the males asking if he had apologized yet. If he had known she would have started crying, he would have gone about it in a different way. But, around the tour of the garden, he couldn't help but remain quiet. He figured saying anything else might make her feel worse, prompting a bit of stress to rise up inside. To combat it, he ended up leading her to an open area with an elaborate gate.

"Just stay here," he mumbled, closing the gate behind him, "They'll bite your hand off."

The male whistled loudly, sending four dogs to come rushing at him intensely. The largest dog got to the brunette first, smothering him with all kinds of affection and wagging his tail dramatically. The others also filed in next to him, barking and yapping about how happy they were to see him. The german shepherds were all very well groomed, clearly their owner's pride and joy.

Yamato laughed when he pet them, his stress fading away lightly. He also provided them with the affection they were begging for, petting them playfully and with so much energy their collars began to jingle. Amidst his joy, he didn't notice one of the dogs sneaking away until he began sniffing at the girl's hand. Suddenly, the brunette shouted very loudly.

"Hey, get back! He'll rip it off!"

(Y/n) listened but it didn't do much. The dog wiggled for a moment before using all of its might to jump the fence. Yamato was quick to get up and go to save her, but, to his shock, she began to giggle. When he saw Masaru licking her all over, he didn't know what to feel. His dogs were specifically meant to attack. There was a reason they were kept in the outside pen. Even to the people they knew, they could very often get carried away and harm them.

"Okay, okay!" she giggled, "Can you get him off now?! I'm going to get dirty!"

Obliging her, the male grabbed gently at his dog's collar, tugging him away from her. The dog was still jumping up on his hindlegs in excitement, barking, too. It must have triggered the other dogs, the rest of them jumping over the gate. They jumped up on her, their combined weight knocking her down into the grass. She tensed up, quick to glance over at the brunette for help before she started crying again.

"W-What's wrong now?! You were just laughing!"

"My uniform...I - "

"I'll pay! I'll pay for it! A-And you can take a shower here! And I'll give you some clothes?! So don't cry!"

That seemed to placate her enough to prevent any more waterworks. Still, the dogs continued licking her, showering her with affection. The largest of them, who had been the one to first escape, rolled onto his belly, begging for more attention from its master. In response, the boy grinned and gave it to him, being especially gentle since the girl was there. He didn't want the dog to feel scared and lash out at the girl. He knew she was physically strong, but it looked like she was emotionally fragile.

"Um," she muttered, pointing to the dog he was petting, "What's his name?"

"Masaru. That one's Genkei. The other one is Daisuke. And the one that is giving you the death glare is Raiden. He's a little full of himself."

"You must like dogs. I...I do, too. There's...this stray dog that wanders around my neighborhood. Her name is...Kiana."

"What kind?"

"A husky. Well, she acts like a mutt, but she's just a husky, I think. Though, I guess there's no real way for me to know. She's...kind of like me, actually."

"Oh," the male mumbled, a lengthy pause following before said, "If...you bring her to me sometime...I could probably help you figure it out. The dog, I mean. N-Not you. Whatever. Let's just get you cleaned up. Here."

The male extended his hand to her, offering to help her get up. She gave a gentle smile as she reached out for him. Momentarily, he jerked his hand back, his ears turning pink. When she was finally able to hold onto him, the brunette pulling her up, he gave a small grunt, feeling her pull back, too. He felt himself slam into the mud she had been sitting in, the brunette stiffening up again and resisting the urge to throw up.

"Gross, gross, gross," he murmured, each iteration getting louder until he shouted, "Fucking gross!"

He tensed up, feeling the slimy substances touch him and did his best not to move. Just then, the female began to laugh, making him turn his head and feel the mud slip down his shirt. He shivered in disgust. She felt disgusted, too, but, seeing him like that, she was greatly satisfied. It was only fair. Afterwards, she made sure to offer her hand to him. He, understandably, was wary, but when she made him get up anyway, he just scoffed.

"Yusei!" he yelled, making the ravenette reveal himself from his hiding place, "Take her to get cleaned up and give her some clothes! C-Can't stand her!"

It wasn't surprising the brunette chose to flee, practically sprinting towards the closest shower. Yusei only snickered, performing his duties. He ushered the dogs back into the fenced area before taking the (h/c) haired girl to one of many guest rooms. There, he helped her by fetching a towel and some spare clothing. Though it was traditional, she didn't have any trouble putting the kimono on, almost amazed at how soft it was. As she finished, she was then led to the dining room before Yusei set off to have her uniform cleaned.

The dining room was not actually in the traditional house in the center of the area. In fact, it was a large, large area that could have easily seated more than five hundred people. There were tables and bench seating set up along most of the area with an elevated platform at the head of the room. Four seats were there, probably for Yamato and his family. It seemed so empty without other people there.

Luckily and before long, the brunette came into the room, clean and in a new kimono. He glared at the girl, probably still upset about her pushing him into the mud, but he still sat down next to her without any complaints. People came in to set down quite a few plates of sweets, Yamato wasting no time grabbing a slice of cake. He very happily indulged himself, chewing slowly and thoroughly.

"Is it...really okay to eat?"

"What else would it be for?"

He scoffed at her for the question but he found her staring wistfully at the food. She hadn't made any attempt to grab something since the food had been brought to them. On the contrary, now that it was in front of her, she seemed hesitant. It was like he thought she would hurt her or something. And when her stomach started growling, she even turned away from him, completely humiliated.

For the longest time, she kept on like that. Refusing to eat, trying her best not to look at the food, and remaining silent, she was immensely stubborn. He tried to ignore it, thinking that she would cave in sooner or later. Or, perhaps, like he had originally thought, she was just trying to limit her food intake. But, when he grabbed her a slice of cake, too, pushing it in front of her, she flinched. Her reaction to food was weird.

"Look, just eat it," he huffed.

"I'm fine."

"You are not! If you don't eat anything, it's just gonna get thrown out. I don't know what's wrong with you, but can't you just eat one thing? Really! Anything! If you don't, I'm gonna be beating myself up!"

The (h/c) haired girl finally glanced over, raising his hopes just a bit. He was quick to offer the slice of cake again. A conflicted look flashed through her eyes before she took, instead, a small chocolate from the table. It was just a tiny one, the smallest thing on the table but she took her sweet time eating it. Nibble after nibble, she savored the taste, and, suddenly, the brunette found her crying once more.

"Sorry," she murmured, wiping away her tears.

"I-It's fine. Just...stop making a habit of it, okay? And eat some more."

It might have taken him a lot of convincing, but, eventually, she did take more. The girl never stopped being shy about it, taking tiny portions for herself and eating as slowly as she could. On the other hand, Yamato had already scoffed down four slices of cake, reaching for a fifth. Still, she paced herself, always looking to him for permission for the next thing she wanted. Each time, he felt himself warm up because of it.

Before long, he had made himself full. He figured she might stop eating if she realized that, so he made himself look busy. Fascinated by its strange tint, he focused on her hair. It didn't look particularly cared for or anything past standard fare, but it was still beautiful. And, as he discovered, it was also surprisingly soft. Bothered by the way she kept having to push her hair back just to eat, he took matters into his own hands.

"Relax. I'm not going to do anything bad," he scoffed, feeling her flinch when he touched her.

To be frank, Yamato was a very motherly person. Perhaps that was just his nature, considering he had to care for his yakuza group, but he was like that everywhere. With his friends, and, especially, with Haru and Akari, he found himself repeatedly nagging them for poor behavior and rewarding them for good behavior. On multiple accounts, he had stopped Haru from running out into traffic and been the one to drag Akari out of whatever dangerous thing he was trying to stand on. Most recently, it had been trees, but the brunette also caught him scaling roofs, too.

So, it probably came natural to him to deal with (Y/n) like she was a child. He didn't really feel like her fear of him was warranted, but, if it made her feel safer to keep her guard up, he guessed he didn't really mind. Either way, he felt the intense need to care for her. For starters, he wanted her to actually eat something. It was good to know she loved sweets. There were other things that he wanted to help with, too, such as stopping her from making that conflicted face. The best he could do at the moment was tie her hair back.

If had a brush, he would have done a better job. But, all things considered, it ended up looking fairly nice. The simple braid didn't do her hair justice, but it did help her eat a bit more. He sat there for a while, just to encourage her to keep eating, and, when she finally seemed to have had her fill, he had all the sweets packed up. Yusei returned her freshly cleaned uniform to her, but Yamato insisted he would pay the cost for a new one, too.

"I'll take you home," he sighed, leading her out of the estate.

"Uh, no need. I can walk."

Once again, the girl made a strange face. This one, he was able to recognize as fear more easily, prompting him to frown. He guessed Shota must have been right. Her situation really wasn't great. The brunette suddenly felt like an asshole for assuming things about her. Still, he felt strange just letting her waltz back to a place she was scared of. He took a quick look back at the estate.

"Then, do you wanna stay here for the night? And I can take you to school in the morning?"

"I can't. Sorry."

"What? You can't? Or you don't want to?"

"...can't. So - "

"Well, then I can take you part of the way! You can't just expect any decent guy to leave a girl alone after dark! If you don't want me to know where you live, that's fine! Just tell me where to drop you off. Okay?"

(Y/n) still seemed apprehensive about that, too, considering her options. It was just lucky that she chose to go along with him. He felt a weird sort of pride because of it, eager to show her to his car. The male stopped himself from bragging about it, remaining silent and humble instead, but he did grin when she complimented him on how clean it was. He ended up dropping her off at Mari park, stopping her before she got out.

"Let me give you my number," he offered, holding out his hand for her phone, "In case anyone gives you trouble."

"That's okay. If I need someone, I'll call Narahashi."

"What's he gonna do? Just - ," the brunette huffed, leaning over to grab her phone from her and inputting his number in a rush, "There. And don't forget the box."

The (h/c) haired girl picked up the box of sweets he had prepared for her, her uniform resting on top of it. She then gave a shy smile, thanking him for his care. He waved dismissively, pouting as she walked in the other direction. The brunette sat there for a bit, completely confused about her. And what made him more confused was when a small flash of light temporarily blinded him. Angrily, he turned back, but no one was there. Huffing, he drove back, glancing down at his phone every now and then. Who knew if she would need him to save her from danger?

. . .

Rushing to the scene, the chief shoved lingering observers away. He didn't know what he was hoping for, but the scene was the same as it always was. People were already there, finding and collecting any evidence they could get their hands on. As always, the amount of clues was staggeringly low. But, at the very least, the victim did not appear to change. He didn't know what he would say if it turned out to be that the killer's M.O. changed all of a sudden.

"Sir," one of his investigators greeted him, quick to explain, "This girl's friend came looking for her. She tracked her phone's location only to find her dead ten minutes ago. They're over there, telling details to Officer Konishi."

"No sign of him?"

"No, sir. It's the same as always."

The chief gritted his teeth. There had never been a serial killer so proficient. No other killer with bodies over a dozen had gone unfound, but their "vampire" was special, it seemed. The more victims were found, the more the chief really thought it was a vampire. He couldn't explain it any other way. How else could someone be practically invisible to city security? Only a supernatural entity could leave so little evidence. At least, that was the majority of the population's thought-process, especially those that saw the bodies.

"Name?"

"They're not an Athainian citizen, so we couldn't get a blood match. But that is how the witness identified them. She's an Afruan student who came here for a field trip. 16 years old."

"Same profile?"

"Yes, sir. Same age, same hair, same eyes. Although...the murder was more brutal than usual."

The chief raised a brow, storming over to the corpse. The girl was flipped on her back, allowing him to see the trademark puncture wounds in her neck. There were two, resembling a wound that a vampire could hypothetically inflict. Along with that, a pointed weapon, made of scrap metal was found stuffed in her trachea. And, in the back, was what they presumed to be the calling card. It was in the shape of a six-sided star, but the reason for it was widely debated.

In addition to the typical M.O., the victim was very badly bruised. She had deep purplish splotches all over her, indicating a vicious beating. At some parts, blood had leaked from them. The assailant likely hit them so much in the same area that the skin tore apart. The amount of force that took was incredible. But, even worse, her face was torn to shreds, multiple claw-like wounds marring her features. On the ground next to her was the word "copycat".

"What do you think is the reason for this?"

"We're not sure, but it might be her hair. It's not a natural (h/c). It's dyed. It's an early assumption, but considering what we know about them...He was probably mad she wasn't who he was looking for."

The chief gave a strained expression as they put the tarp over the girl. The amount of deaths that had piled up were too great, and, yet, no matter what they did, it wasn't enough. They kept coming back. No witnesses. No evidence. No survivors. What could they do anymore? The "Vampire of Keisetsu" would just keep going. It wouldn't stop until the killer found that person. But, who on earth was it?