♧Inner Demon♧

Dear Mama,

I got into a fight with a friend, if I could still call him that...

Onii-sama is no doubt going to flip when he sees my injuries. I wonder if he's going to ground me?

If he does, I'll just bribe Jeje-san to help me.

Anyways, I decided to continue writing letters to Misono even if they would never reach him.

Yours,

M. A.

♧Inner Demon♧

I met Sakuya about one and a half year ago at a park when I was on one of my moods after an argument with my brother.

Sakuya... while I don't know his actual age and I've never bothered to asked because I thought it was a touchy subject, Sakuya's physically 15 years old. That's what I could tell the moment I first saw him.

I remembered how annoyed I was as I held my coffee on one hand while walking. Then I felt eyes on me, when I turned around, I saw this boy staring at me strangely. And he looked awestruck which made me feel even more annoyed.

He has gravity defying green hair and he also wears green clothing, a tracksuit jacket and pants. When I saw his eyes, I couldn't help but narrow my own eyes with displeasure. Why is it that no matter where I go, his kind always pops up?

The boy's eyes were red, no doubt as a result of becoming a Vampire. Strangely, I couldn't understand why he could walk under the sun unlike the others which confused me to no extent.

I didn't want to face someone like him right now and even though I was intrigued, I decided that I couldn't afford to be involved with another vampire. I left the park but not before shoving the coffee to his hand since it was his fault that it was cold now.

He got me distracted afterall. I didn't miss the look of bewilderment on his face as he stared back and forth between the coffee and my disappearing figure.

The next day, I went out for a walk again because I had another disagreement with my brother. I couldn't believe that Jeje-san took his side! What I didn't expect was to see the green haired boy once more.

And as our eyes locked, I realized that unlike the others, his red eyes don't bother me.

♧Inner Demon♧

"Interesting. So this is what you call a video game..?" Mitsuki said in a rather impressed tone.

Sakuya grinned.

"Yeah! It's a good thing to have when you're really bored!"

"I see. So how do you play this? Do I push this button?"

"W-What! No! You're going to end up deleting my game progress!"

"How about this?"

"No! Not that!"

"You mean this...?"

"Aahhh! Don't restart the whole game!!"

"Oh, it already did. It says 'welcome to the tutorial'."

"NOOO!!! "

Mitsuki tilted her head, a sly grin on her face. "You make such funny expressions on your face."

Surprised, he couldn't help but noticed how cute she looked while tilting her head.

♧Inner Demon♧

"Mitsuki, Sakuya is my friend. Please don't act so rudely towards him."Mahiru rubbed the back of his neck.

"I know you don't like him but Sakuya is trying.."

The elite made an unimpressed sound. "A Commoner will always be a commoner no matter what he wears. I won't be fooled by his poor excuse of a disguise."

"Err... Okay?" The brunette said. "So, are you going to atleast try and befriend him?"

The heterochromatic girl sighed. "Mahiru, just because he's your friend, doesn't mean we have to be friends too. The world doesn't work that way."

"B-But--"

"I don't like him."

♧Inner Demon♧

"Mi-chan!" Koyuki called, waving his hand to her.

"What?"

Ryuusei gasped at her response. "It's surprising.  The 'Mitsuki' is not calling him off for saying her first name."

"Do you have a problem with that?" Mitsuki said bluntly, placing an hand on her hip.

"Nah. I thought it was cool."

Her eyes widened.

"Why....would you say that...?"

♧Inner Demon♧

You know. "Ryuusei began. "I always thought that for a girl... Mitsuki is really cute."

"Ehh? Does Ryu-chan like Mi-chan?" Koyuki asked, surprise etched on his face.

"Nah. Mitsuki is cute but not my type." He replied. "What about you, Mahiru?"

The brunette tilted his head. "Huh?"

"What do you think of Mitsuki?"

Mahiru placed a finger under his chin. "Ah..well.. Mitsuki is cute but she acts more like a boy sometimes. She's actually really nice and caring. She's also a big softie inside..... But don't tell her I said that!" He panicked.

Sakuya grinned. "Does Lord Mahiru likes our resident crossdesser?"

"What!" The brunette turned beet red. "No! Mitsuki is my friend!"

The notion of him and the heterochromatic girl dating felt so impossible that he couldn't even imagine it.

"Actually, I thought that two of you had a thing going on." Ryuusei said, yawning.

"Eh?!"

"Mi-chan always seems to follow Mahiru around! And she ignores the other boys too." Koyuki reasoned.

"She's just aloof and really reserved!"

"But Lord Mahiru, Mitsuki only talks to you. She doesn't even maintain eye contact with the others. And you're the only person that she doesn't call a commoner." Sakuya pointed while slinging an arm around his shoulder. His grin broadened.

"She even calls you on a first name basis."

Mahiru flushed." We don't have a thing, okay?!"

"Sure." Sakuya teased.

"WE DON'T HAVE A THING!"

♧Inner Demon♧

"Mitsuki, don't be scared. It's just a little rain and thunder." Sakuya said lightly but the petrified form of the female teen remained in place.

"Mitsuki..?"

Suddenly, lightning flashed across the sky. Sakuya's eyes widened when the elite shrieked in distress, latching onto him almost immediately.

Another beam of lightning flashed but this time, Mitsuki didn't made any sound. She was trembling and shaking uncontrollably like a frightened animal which was a huge contrast to her defiant self.

"Ah.."

It was surprising, but...

Mitsuki, the one who always calls him a commoner..

The one person who could actually tolerate him other than Mahiru. "...Mitsuki. "He began."You really are a girl."

♧Inner Demon♧

"Eh?! Sakuya!" Mahiru shouted. "Why do you have a bruise on your face?!"

The greenette chuckled nervously. "Ah..Well, it's a long story." He gave a side glance to the elite sitting across the room, her gaze looking outside the window.

As if she could feel his eyes, she snapped her head towards him.

Automatically, her eyes narrowed and Sakuya gulped.

"Hey, what happened to your face?" Ryuusei said as he approached him.

"Ryuu-chan, I think Sakuya got into a fight." Kouyuki said.

Sakuya chuckled. "Ahaha! Nope! I merely bumped into a pole when I wasn't looking straight. I almost slipped afterwards! Man, that was a close call since it was raining heavily yesterday!"

"Really?" The brunette asked, completely unconvinced by his words.

"Yeah!" On the corner of his eyes, Sakuya could see the elite frowning.

♧Inner Demon♧

"You didn't have to lie."

"But I did. And it isn't anything big so it's fine! Don't worry about it!" Sakuya said merrily as if it was truly nothing. But deep inside, he was really bothered by the elite's hidden side.

"Liar." She accused grimly.

"I--"

"Shut up." She hissed when he tried to open his mouth.

"Listen. " Mitsuki said." I don't like you."

Cringing, Sakuya forgot how blunt and direct she was.

"But for Mahiru's sake, I'll give you a chance. Whether you deserve to be called my friend, I'll decide that for myself." She stated harshly. "And one more thing.."

He barely had time to ponder what happened but he could feel the hard surface of the wall pressed against his back as Mitsuki grabbed his collar.

"Yesterday never happened." Her tone was deadly.

"Got that?''

♧Inner Demon♧

"Sakuya."

"Hih!" He gave out a surprised yelp when a voice boomed behind him. Turning around, he didn't expect to see Mitsuki, her mismatched eyes boring straight at him.

"Here." He looked to her hands, seeing a brand new set of pink headphones. And it looked the same as the one he broke too!

His eyes widened when she suddenly shoved them on his hands.

"Now we're even."

Mitsuki left after that.

Both Ryuusei and Kouyuki who witnessed the scene immediately bombarded him with questions.

"Seriously?! To think that Mitsuki actually called you by your name."

"And Mi-chan gave you a gift too!"

"I remember yesterday, she wasn't even making any effort to talk to anyone except Mahiru!"

"Does this mean..? Mi-chan likes you?"

"If only that's true." Ryuusei sighed.

"What did Mi-chan say then?"

Still stunned, Sakuya managed to recover. "Ah, let's just say that she couldn't resist my charms! Haha-- Ugh!"

"Don't speak that way about Mitsuki!"

When he turned around, he saw Mahiru.

"Thinking simply, you should've said thank you to her! "Mahiru exclaimed before sighing. "But I'm glad! Mitsuki actually gave you a chance... "

Sakuya rubbed his nape and grinned mischievously.

"You know, Mahiru....Mitsuki is actually a girl. I tend to forget that a lot."

"Eh?! Of course she's a girl!"

"I know. I just realized that now."

"What!"

He grinned. "Now... How much of that was a lie?"

"Sakuya!!!"

♧Inner Demon♧

The door slammed open and along with that came the voice of a male. "Mahiru!" Sakuya said with a grin, his right hand raised as if to call the brunette.

"Mahiru isn't here, dumbass."

Sakuya's grin fell as soon as he saw the heterochromatic elite and not the brunette.

Mitsuki smirked, noticing the sour look on his face. "What? Don't be so disappointed. It's not like its the end of the world. "

"Mitsuki! Where's Mahiru?"

"He went home early. "She replied while making a move to grab her bag.

Feeling even more disappointed that the brunette is gone, he instead hopped over towards Mitsuki.

Smiling, he went infront of her. He was about to open his mouth but she shot him a look.

"No."

Whining, he folded his arms. "I haven't even asked!"

She rolled her eyes. "No matter what it is, the answer is no. I'm busy." Mitsuki grabbed her bag and stood up.

"No!" He said. "Don't leave yet!" He went to hold her free arm but Mitsuki scowled angrily at him.

"No touching. "

He raised his hands in surrender. "Fine. Fine! But please go to the arcade with me!"

She stared at him blankly for what felt like ages before slowly shaking her head.

"I'm....busy."

Knowing the heterochromatic elite for months and always being on the receiving end of the jokes has allowed him to know that Mitsuki is actually a tsundere.

So she was really, really kind deep down and it was a great opposite to her usual put off attitude. Of course, there was no way in hell that Mitsuki would admit that to his face.

She was too prideful to even say thank you or sorry. Not that he minded, Mitsuki was less hostile towards him compared to before. And he found himself actually enjoying her company despite only receiving insults and verbal attacks for the most part.

Because of this, Sakuya found out that although it was quite harmless, Mitsuki has a habit of lying when things get too personal or intimate.

She would always make the most ridiculous excuses and he found himself not hating her for it since he also discovered that it was her defense mechanism when things get too sappy or uncomfortable for her taste.

"Lies! I know you want to go to the arcade with me! Come on, Mitsuki! I'm so bored from listening to class all day so let's unwind for just a little bit!" Sakuya said, trying to convince her.

"It'll be fun!"

She shook her head and he noticed that her hands tightly gripped her bag.

"I said I'm busy. And why would I even want to go with you of all people? Wake up, will you? It won't happen."

Sakuya felt a little miffed at her comment. "That's not true! We had fun at the arcade last month! And as for your question, it's because I'm too charming that you can't resist me and will come with me!"

She raised a brow.

"Dumbass."

Sakuya grinned, holding his hand out.

♧Inner Demon♧

"Mahiru! Didn't I tell you that I dislike being in the same room as this commoner?!"

The brunette awkwardly laughed.

"But I thought it'd be fun if everyone comes! Besides, this is a chance for the two of you to erase your animosity towards each other! Thinking simply, you should use this chance, Mitsuki."

"Mahiru, you...." Ryuusei said.

"M-Mi-chan...  you're not mad, are you?" Koyuki asked, looking at both of his friends, specially the heterochromatic girl, who looked less than pleased to know of her unfortunate encounter with Sakuya.

"Don't be like that, Mitsuki! You make me sound so bad!" The greenette said, trying to shake the tension away but ended up failing miserably when Mitsuki shot him a glare.

"Don't act so chummy with me. We're not even close!" She snapped, gritting her teeth before stomping away.

Mahiru, much to his dismay, immediately went after his friend.

Sakuya sighed. "I guess Mitsuki really doesn't like me at all."

"You're saying that now?" Ryuusei asked, looking weirdly at him.

Koyuki spoke. "I wonder why Mi-chan doesn't like you. She's really nice to us and some of the others. Mi-chan might appear cold and aloof but she's actually very sweet and shy."

"Huhhh?! Mistuki? Sweet and shy?"

Ryuusei nodded. "Yeah. Maybe she just doesn't like your guts. That's why out of all the four of us, she hates you most. I mean, you obviously have a crush on her and I think she's annoyed about it."

Sakuya blushed furiously. "W-What! I don't have a crush on Mitsuki!"

"Sure, whatever you say. If it's not Mahiru. It's Mitsuki this and Mitsuki that. You couldn't be anymore obvious."

"Seriously?!"

"And Mi-chan always looks uncomfortable when you're around."

"Huh?!"

"You two always did act weird when you're together..."

"Not you too, Mahiru!"

♧Inner Demon♧

"Huh? Misono!?" Mahiru asked, surprised.

"Out of my way, Shirota." Misono said, determined. "I'll take care of this!"

"Wait, Misono! Sakuya is my friend!" Mahiru said, fearful.

Both Misono and I looked surprised at this. Misono, because he didn't seem to like Sakuya while I was surprised because despite the circumstances Mahiru could still safely say that Sakuya is his friend.

I looked down at my hands blankly. I was different. I couldn't even decide if Sakuya was still my friend or not. All those things we've been through together..

It's making me so confused.

Sakuya then spoke as he pointed to himself, "Right! I'm Mahiru's best friend! What are you going to do with me?"

Misono spoke, "Oh, so you're the bastard. Interesting. I doubt we'll get along."

Lily, holding the swords that had pinned Kuro to the floor, spoke, the swords he held disappearing into pink particles, "I'm not very good at fighting, but I guess I'll help myself then."

Lily.. Fighting isn't his forte. I still have no idea how he's going to fight with Misono. If things really get drastic, then I won't have any choice but to use that.

Onii-sama would probably get mad but my friends are in trouble and so is Misono.

I can't just stand by and watch helplessly.

Immediately, Lily's gigantic scythe came out and he fought head-on with the magician, who was wielding two new swords. I really need to know that bastard's name because calling him magician is beginning to sound irksome.

"Stupid cowlick? An Eve planning to fight alone? Don't get so cocky, rich little brat." Sakuya said, threatening Misono.

My eyes twitched at what he just said and before I knew it, I was now screaming.

"Sakuya, you bastard! I dare you to say that again! Don't insult Mikkun!!" Misono blushed at the statement and he placed a hand on his face as if embarrassed but I kept my gaze on Sakuya.

"Mikkun?" Sakuya repeated, frowning. "What a stupid nickname. Are you also friends with this brat, Mitsuki? Don't tell me you're worried? That makes me really jealous. You did say that you were worried about me just a few hours ago and now you move on so easily."

My face heated up at his mocking while he smirked, enjoying my reaction.

"HE'S MY BROTHER, YOU UTTER BASTARD. OF COURSE I'M WORRIED!"I shouted at the top of my lungs before letting out a string of profanities. Everyone turned to stop at my loud voice.

Sakuya looked taken aback but recovered soon. "What a foul mouth."

"That is very surprising coming from the young miss." Lily chuckled, though he also looked taken aback by what he heard. His reaction didn't last long as a pair of swords swung against him and he met it with his scythe.

"But Mitsuki, I thought your b-brother was.." Mahiru trailed off.

"So 'you-bastard-chan' and Mitsuki is related. That isn't surprising. She also called Sakuya, 'you bastard' just now."

"Kuro?!"

Unlike the others' reaction, I could really care less. I was instead watching Misono's face as he stared at me with disbelief. He looked bothered as if he wanted to ask me questions but then he looked away, remembering that there was an enemy infront of him.

"As much as I want to ask more questions, this isn't really the time." Misono decided, unfazed as he talked to Sakuya. "When and for what reason did you get near Shirota Mahiru?"

I grabbed my necklace as my hands shook.

Sakuya stepped back. "Why are you talking like a husband who was just cheated on by his wife? Why are you so stuck on Mahiru when you just met him?"

Oh he did not just insult him aga--

"Time doesn't matter." Misono said all of a sudden, cutting off any words I might had wanted to say to Sakuya. "Shirota called me his friend!"

That.. That made me smile a bit and I felt myself slowly letting go of my hold on my necklace. But then Sakuya's reaction made me stiffen.

"A friend?" Sakuya asked, busting out laughing moments after he heard what Misono said. "You'd believe such a convenient lie?! It's the lie most often used in the world! A brat who can't even tell when someone is trying to be polite, should just stay in their safe garden and read a book!"

Misono raised his right hand to the left, a purple glow appearing "It seems there's no use arguing against you."

Sakuya didn't look impressed or startled by this. "Like I said…what can a guy like you do? When fighting a servamp, isn't it normal to aim for the Eve who is human? It's stupid for the Servamp to separate from their Eve."

So Sakuya is overlooking me. Does he think I'm a defenseless little girl who can't take on a vampire? There's a reason why facing vampire doesn't scare me.

I've been involved with them ever since I was two. The first person who sang to me was a vampire.

Misono was unfazed by Sakuya's reasoning. "Lily would never leave me without a reason."

"☆Applause! Applause! I am Belkia, the Skewer! My specialty are skewing techniques! I will show you!☆" Belkia said, pulling out a huge box from his hat. I didn't question how something so big could fit inside.

Besides, he has a weird name...

"Shirota, I'll show you the power of my Lead." Misono said as Lily landed behind Belkia, the three of them forming a straight line together.

"The Execution Block of the Red Queen."

Suddenly, Belkia was trapped in a chair that was very similar to Misono's throne.

"☆What is happening?!☆"

"Good night and sweet dreams," A voice said out of nowhere but I know who's voice it was, it was Lily's. He was behind Belkia as he placed his scythe under the magician's chin, pulling it through Belkia and the chair.

Belkia landed with a thud on the ground, much to my surprise.

Mahiru was shocked. "Huh? His head wasn't chopped off?" I was just about to ask the same thing but Mahiru beat me to it.

Lily turned to the brunette. "I do not destroy the body but the mind. It was worth practicing this attack again. Misono really wanted to show you, Mahiru."

A relieved sigh left me. He was safe...

"Be quiet, Lily!" Misono shouted, him looking to Sakuya. "It's too bad. Shirota wanted to introduce me to you most of all."

Sakuya instantly looked bothered, even saddened, by this. "Mahiru wanted to introduce me?"

"Pity. Even though Shirota called you his bestfriend and this annoying woman even thought highly of you." Misono's words all made us pause. How true that was.

"I see. I wish we could have stayed friends at least another week. It would have been great. " Sakuya continued, a sad smile coming to him. "I was pumped up for the festival next week, too."

I bit my lip before gaining a bit of courage and speaking.

"Dumbass, you can still attend the festival!" I told him, fists clenched together. His mouth parted before he shook his head.

"Ah Mitsuki.. If only things were just a little different…maybe you wouldn't be in danger of being Tsubaki's subclass in the near future. I really did want to attend the festival with everyone. You promised you'd wear a dress for once just to surprise the others."

I placed the back of my hand over my mouth, trying to keep my expression under control. I didn't want to feel happy to hear that but I suppose that some part of me really did consider him a friend even if he lied.

"And Alicein Misono, you and I might have been friends."

Misono's inner will broke at those words, his face clearly showing how affected he was. I noticed that Lily looked back. "Misono! Don't listen to him!"

At this, I snapped back to reality and immediately realized what Sakuya was doing. I sprinted forward with haste.

There is no way that--

Sakuya, however, just continued, making it worse. "Do you really think Mahiru wishes the two of us to fight?"

Lily's connection with Misono broke.

"MISONO!"

Lily's scythe disappeared and he reached out to Misono, trying to get his Eve to remain focused, but what he did not see was Belkia's body moving behind him, Lily noticed it too late. His leg had been chopped off by Belkia's sword.

"Strings?" Lily asked, tracing them to a nearby rooftop just as I was running to Misono.

Sakuya rushed forward with his blades but I was already infront of Misono, shielding him from the attack with my hands outstretched.

For a moment, I didn't feel anything and saw nothing but red.

Red. Red blood that sprayed everywhere again and in slow motion, I connected my eyes with Sakuya once. His red eyes has never bothered me and it used to make me question why. As I stared, I wondered if my eyes were playing tricks on me because he looked downright horrified, his mouth trembling.

"Young miss!" I heard Lily shouted and he sounded in a rush.

"MITSUKI!!" Was that Mahiru?

It was then that my body fell backward as I lost my balance to stay upright. I landed on something soft, the pain slowly kicking in from my wounds.

"Y-You idiot!"

Misono?

I smiled shakily, breathing a sigh of relief but it only made me cough. He's okay.

"I did say that I would protect you from him, right?"