♧Inner Demon♧

Dear Mama,

Fire works are indeed flowers in the sky that shines bright.

The festival was also quite  enjoyable even though an accident happened.

Mahiru's been doing his best and as expected, he overworked himself again.

I hope he realizes just how stupid he is at times.

Yours,

M. A.

♧Inner Demon♧

The fireworks began and just as the blonde said, the coffin never broke even though the bomb was inside. Was this person an Eve?

Then the coffin must've been his Lead!

On the lid of the coffin, it read "Visit Shiranoba Hot Springs", both Mahiru and Kuro confused beyond belief. Mitsuki took a picture unconsciously, more mesmerized at the fireworks than what was happening infront.

"So pretty..." She muttered under her breath, eyes focused on the sky.

"I found it. Thanks again." The guy said, holding the coffin as it stood on the ground.

"Who the heck are you?!" Mahiru's exasperated shout snapped Mitsuki out of her trance and she was just in time to hear the blonde's introduction.

Apparently, he was the Eve of Pride, Sendagaya Tetsu and the heir to a hot spring inn.

A spring? Mitsuki has never been to a hot spring before! She looked on with excitement while Mahiru gawked at the coffin.

Suddenly, it began to open, a voice coming from inside. Whoever it was, they also sounded hurt. "You…idiot…how dare you leave me…soooo rude."

Then a little bat flew down on the ground, looking like it was burned as smoke emitted from it.

Mitsuki's face suddenly scrunched up, absolutely hating that there was a bat infront of them.

"Damn…forgot about him." Tetsu said as he scratched the back of his head. "Relax. He's okay…"

"Long time no see…" Kuro said, bending down towards the crispy bat. "Meet Old Child, The Servamp of Pride. Hope he's alive…"

♧Inner Demon♧

In the hospital, Misono sat in bed, a book open. "Yeah, I get out next week…no complications. Just here to rest. Sounds good…thank you for calling, Father."

There was a pause before Misono spoke up again.

"And about my sister.." He trailed off, the other line was instantly quiet which made him hesitate. "Nevermind.. "

He ended the call on his end, Misono gripping the device as he gave a hard gaze at it. "I won't let myself fall behind!"

♧Inner Demon♧

After the little bomb scare, Mahiru and the others decided to go to his apartment. His uncle was away once more. If he were there, well…the coffin would be hard to explain.

Anyways, Mahiru cooks some food, Tetsu looking at Mitsuki, who just keeps staring at him. After a few minutes of this Mitsuki has enough of this and opens her mouth to speak.

"You really are the heir to a hot spring inn?"

Tetsu tilted his head. "Yes. "

"How much does one night cost?" She asked, a determined look on her face and Mahiru could practically see it in her eyes, words of intent and 'hot spring' being chanted repeatedly on her head.

"It's 6980 yen a night. We have a lot of rooms but a young girl booking alone would be suspicious. You need a chaperone or a guardian." The blonde said with a straight face.

Mitsuki's jaw dropped at that statement.

"W-What...I... "She said, at lost for words before her eyes narrowed and she straightened. "I don't need a chaperone---it isn't l-like I haven't been to a hot spring inn before, the experience would be nice! Although if you insist then I'll have to bring MahiMahi and Kuro with me!"

Kuro frowned, not looking up from his game.

"What a pain. "

"Mitsuki hasn't been to a hot springs before so you'll have to excuse her enthusiasm. Well, the food's done. Mitsuki. Sendagaya." Mahiru stated, spooning out plates of rice and curry.

Mitsuki's face flushed. "What! Mahiru!"

"Great…" Tetsu replied. "But call me Tetsu. By the way…"

As Mahiru got the plates ready for everyone, Mitsuki began speaking to Tetsu, "So, you said it was 6980 yen a night, is there a discount if I stayed for a week becau--"

"You aren't staying at anywhere but your home." Mahiru said, slapping her hand when she attempted to grab his plate.

"And go grab your own food, Mitsuki!"

"Mahiru-sama~" She whined. "Why are you being awfully mean to me~?"

"So, Tetsu, you said something about a vampire planning a hit? Where did you learn such info?"

"Beats me." Tetsu replied. "I don't really know so better ask Hugh."

"Hugh?" Mahiru repeated.

Tetsu looked to the coffin. "After drinking my blood, you should be fine, right?...Hugh?"

Unexpectedly, it turns out that the Servamp of Pride, Old Child, was a little boy who barely reached 4ft tall. Mitsuki was trying to stiffle a laugh just by looking at him while Mahiru looked downright confused.

"Could it be? He's not fully recovered yet?" Mahiru asked innocently referring to the vampire's height and size.

Mitsuki burst out laughing at the brunette's question while the little servamp complained and yelled indignantly.

"Fool! I said I have fully recovered!" Hugh shouted, swinging his cane.

He turned his attention to Kuro. "Sleepy Ash! I've looked for you!"

"Oh?" Kuro just looked disinterested. "That's nice."

"Hahiiiihahaah!" Mitsuki wheezed, still laughing. "HAHAHAHAA!!"

"I am the Servamp of Pride! "Hugh said to Mitsuki who only laughed even harder.

"We know! Hahaha!"

"Mitsuki, hey! Stop laughing before you choke!" Mahiru said as he gave her a scolding look.

The albino calmed down a little before grinning.

"There is a crisis afoot! The countdown to the world's end has…" Hugh began, only to trail off as he smelled the food. "Oh my! I smell dinner! Let's eat before it gets cold!"

"Hugh, you're always right." Tetsu said, sitting down on the chair beside his servamp.

"Finish your sentence!" Mahiru, a miffed expression on his face.

"Ittadakimasu~" Mitsuki said, pressing her hands together before digging in.

"So can I call you Hugh?" Mahiru asked, joining her while looking at the servamp.

"My name ends with III!"

"That's too long!" The brunette complained.

Then the servamp proceeded to complain one thing after another as he states what a 'true vampire' is while munching on this food and demanding in his small childish voice.

"A true vampire detests garlic! A true vampire drinks red wine at dinner! This chair is too low!" Hugh pointed continuously. "A true vampire eats…"

After dinner has finished, finally, as Mahiru's been itching to ask the servamp a lot of things. But Hugh instead, launches on a tale about how he met Tetsu and how he proudly says that in terms of muscle and brawn as well as blood, the hot spring heir was high quality and befitting to be his Eve.

Mitsuki just stared at the coffin in boredom, her mind occupied at the idea of going on a hot spring inn. The little vampire was wearing too much black and too much red in her opinion that he looked like a mini dracula.

Frankly, it was an eyesore and she did not trust his childish demeanor.

There was a reason why servamps are dangerous and from what Jeje had told her, Pride has the most number of subclasses. He probably knows a lot with how much area he could cover with his many subclasses.

♧Inner Demon♧

Kuro was busy buying the groceries on the list that Mahiru made for him. To tell you the truth, Kuro never planned on going outside today or tonight for that matter but his Eve forcefully coerced him into buying all the things listed on the piece of paper he was holding.

He was even more bothered when Mitsuki merely flashed him a smile or grin while bidding him goodbye and telling him to take care on the way.. She looked as though she was enjoying his misery which greatly bothered him a lot and he couldn't seem to forget what happened during the festival.

Mitsuki, suddenly appearing out of nowhere with her comical smile and an outstretched hand was something you got used to everyday and yet there was one thing that bothered him the most.

It was the piece of object she was carrying that caused him to feel uneasy .

It was a letter. And no ordinary letter at that.

It was a letter from the neutral organization, C3.

Thinking deeply, he couldn't believe that this girl had some sort of connection with them.

Oh well. That explains a lot of things. Kuro thought.

In all honesty, he feels a little wary of Mitsuki. As a person, he could tolerate her however, she spends way too much time with his Eve and she was so obnoxiously loud and clingy.

She was also very demanding when it comes to certain things so he isn't really surprised that she's related to 'you-bastard-chan'.

Thankfully, Mitsuki only acts that way towards other people with the exemption of 'you-bastard-chan', Kuro and the person that she calls 'Onii-sama'. Mahiru was no exemption for a reason.

Mahiru, his Eve, is always on the receiving end of Mitsuki's orders and ridiculous demands. And Kuro wasn't even surprised to know that despite how much his Eve nags, Mahiru would always comply with her demands as if he was set on following her orders even though they were strangely unreasonable and just plain stupid.

What a Mother hen.

Mahiru was stupidly kind, Kuro thought. He couldn't even began to imagine how his Eve and Mitsuki started forming their strange friendship. Especially when Mitsuki was actually a snobbish elite with her ass so high in the ropes.

The fact that she smelled so strange during their first encounter was enough for him to feel wary of her presence but nooooo. Kuro felt it was quite bothersome to be too overly cautious so he decided to ignore it.

He was actually really weirded out by her personality and randomness. In his opinion, Mitsuki acts way too childish and selfish at times. It's as though she has her own little world and no one was allowed to boss her around.

He felt strange when she didn't even flinched during the incident with the magician and she acted as though seeing someone bleeding all over the floor was normal.

Not to mention the fact that she wasn't surprised to know that he was a servamp, or a vampire for that matter.

Her knowledge about Servamps were quite questionable because how does she know that stuff? Mitsuki knew about weapons being granted to Eves and Lily, his brother, has a strange affiliation with her.

He even calls her young miss, Kuro thought.

Though she never showed it to others, Kuro could see the small amount of hostility radiating off of her like waves whenever Lily was in the vicinity. She smelled really funny too whenever she was near 'you-bastard-chan'.

He could smell something off and he was quite disturbed at her sudden shift of moods when 'you-bastard-chan' was around. She looked giddy and happy for some strange reason but he could also feel something malicious that makes his skin crawl at times.

Who was Mitsuki? Why does he make him feel so uneasy?

Her blood, it smelled strangely sweet and quite off... for a human.

Though he really doubted if a vicious woman like her was actually a mortal. With that ridiculously strong grip and smack speed, she is anything but normal.

Come to think of it, he remembered so many weird things when they were at 'you-bastard-chan's house.

"No way! I'm normal!"

Kuro inadvertently stopped walking and his grip tightened around the groceries.

♧Inner Demon♧

Mahiru has never been jealous before, excluding the fact that he was a little envious of people who have their parents, other than that, there was really nothing to be jealous about.

So the moment he sees the Servamp of Sloth and the heterochromatic elite having a heated conversation about ramen while playing video games, he doesn't know how to react.

He feels something inside his chest, it's ugly and he can't seem to explain this feeling. But Mahiru knew that he would only feel this ugly feeling whenever the servamp would spare a glance at the heterochromatic elite. Those glances were few and short yet there was something about the way the vampire stared at the elite that had him feeling uneasy.

Mahiru couldn't quite explain it but he wasn't happy about it, whatever it was. Not when Mitsuki, who was so clueless, would merely laugh or spare the servamp a grin as though he did or said something really funny.

He noticed that her eyes seemed more brighter than before as if those pair of mispaired eyes were shining. Her shoulders doesn't seem tensed at all, her lips curved in a more natural smile and her expression more genuine than ever.

Mahiru isn't even sure if it was okay to watch them from afar like this, he felt like a total creep for spying but they weren't really doing anything wrong and he wasn't planning anything so why did he felt so utterly frustrated at that moment?

His eyes almost squinted when Kuro slowly turned his head towards the elite. Mahiru saw that he wasn't even being subtle about staring and Mitsuki, the oblivious girl, doesn't even seem to mind how creepy that was. Kuro wasn't just staring at her, it was a look that was trying to look at someone's soul.

He gulped nervously even though there was no need to be since he wasn't the one being stared at but there was just something about that stare that made him uncomfortable.

"Damn it! I want a rematch! Why do I always lose?!" Mitsuki whined, groaning lowly while the servamp lazily turned his head back to the screen.

"You losing at this game, isn't really my fault. But a rematch is fine too." Kuro said in a lackadaisical way, he kept a firm grip in his game controller.

Mitsuki turned to him, eyes narrowing slightly. "Ohoho, don't be so cocky now! I'll kick your ass, cat! The same way I did to Sakuya!" She spat in a challenging manner. Mahiru sighed, knowing how much she gets competitive over a simple game. He knows because their daily trip to the arcade when things were still normal left a lasting impression on him.

Mahiru isn't even the least bit shocked when she started getting loud and vocal. Mitsuki always wounds up showing her temperamental side when things get heated. Mahiru is a bit thankful that Kuro isn't egging her on.

If it was Sakuya....

Mahiru shivered, remembering the last time the three of them went to the arcade.

♧Inner Demon♧

"Watanuki! I'll destroy you!"

'WHAM!'

"Take that!"

'Ding! Ding! Ding!'

"Agh!! How is that even possible?!"

Mahiru gaped at the score that was flashing in bright neon colors, ignoring Sakuya who was mirroring his baffled expression.

"Highscore?!"

He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Was this some kind of joke? He knew that Mitsuki was strong but to think that she was this strong...?!

Sure, she runs fast and is part of the karate club but isn't this taking it a little too far?! Who was this girl?!

"Hmph. Don't look so shock now. That'll teach you a lesson, you sexist pig!" Mitsuki spat, looking quite smug as she stared at Sakuya (who was still standing motionless, unable to believe what he saw).

After a few seconds, he finally spoke, eyes wide with disbelief."How!?"

Mahiru sweatdropped, eyeing his male friend and wondering why he was even asking her. He of all people should know why...

"But...but...YOU'RE A GIRL!"

'WHAM!'

'Ding! Ding! Ding!'

"Tch! I missed." Mitsuki said.

Sakuya almost shrieked. "Why were you aiming at my face?! "

Mitsuki merely blinked at him. "Oh, the punching bag was behind you. It's not my fault that you're blocking the way."

Sakuya gulped, not believing what she said as he nervously looked at the punching bag and to the heterochromatic girl.

He noticed that there was a small dent on it. He gulped again, more nervously this time and he couldn't help but eye the girl with more caution this time.

That could've been his face...

♧Inner Demon♧

Mahiru internally shivered as he reminisced about those days. Though he was happy at the memory of the three of them being together like that, everything is different right now.

Sakuya is a vampire...

And Mitsuki is acting weird and strange. It felt odd without Sakuya.

The three of them used to be so closed back then. But then the vampire incident occured and he met Kuro who was a servamp. Mitsuki started acting like her past self and Sakuya turned out to be a vampire as well as a subclass of Tsubaki. There's also the fact that he finally met Mitsuki's brother... Though Mitsuki probably never wanted him to meet her brother, Mahiru was glad he did.

It gave him a small insight about Mitsuki and the reasons behind her actions. And though it did not gave him a good impression on her family background, he understood that things are complicated. Mitsuki has never liked talking about her family. The only thing that Mahiru was surprised about was the fact that Mitsuki and Misono are related..

Though Misono didn't seem like he knows that...

There's also the matter about Mitsuki's awareness towards Sakuya's identity. She knew he was a vampire but did she also knew that Sakuya is Tsubaki's subclass? How did she even knew that Sakuya was a vampire?

Questions kept flooding his mind and he kept grasping for answers that will only be given if he waited patiently. Mahiru wanted answers but he knew that they will only be given if he patiently waited.

Waiting is hard but losing a friend is even harder.

To think his boring yet simple life turned upside down in an instant the moment he met Kuro in that alleyway.

He frowned. A lot of things has happened but he has never regret doing any of them. Regretting things after deciding about them is what he hated most.

Things were more simple if you accept them.

And thinking simply, he needed to work things out instead of moping around.

♧Inner Demon♧

Mahiru did not like where this was going. He had made the mistake of inviting Mitsuki with him when he fully knew that he was going to train with her brother, Mikuni. The chaos that soon followed couldn't even be described by mere words.

"Is that a doll?" Tetsu asked.

"Don't look at my Abel with those lewd eyes, you ruffian!!"

"But I don't. It's a doll, right?"

"An annoying doll... grr." Mitsuki mumbled, killer intent radiating from around her.

"I knew it! You were seeing Mahiru behind my back! How could you, Onii-sama?!"

"Ah, but Miki-chan, we were going to train. It's not like Onii-chan plans to scare him or something!"

"Oh my god! You're trying to scare him off.. ?! "

"Ahaha.. Onii-chan only wants the best for Miki-chan. Right, Abel dear?"

"Nooo! Mahiru is my friend and I won't let you take him from me! Screw you, Nii-sama!! We're going!"

"*gasps* Such language!! How could you curse your own brother, Miki-chan!!? I'm so deeply hurt! Whatever will I do, Abel? Miki-chan is at her rebellious age!"

Mitsuki ignored her brother as she grabbed ahold of Mahiru and Tetsu, pulling them away from Mikuni as fast as her feet could take.

"Uhh..  M-Mitsuki..?" Mahiru called nervously.

"What?!" She snapped angrily, eyes drilling on his person as he nervously gulped.

"We're here to train so you don't have to worry about anything. Mikuni-san seems like a nice person!"

The heterochromatic elite looked at him, brows furrowing.

"And it's not like we're going to stop being friends just because someone told us to. It doesn't work like that! We're always be friends, okay?" He assured her as he chuckled, trying not to sound fearful.

He kinda forgot how protective Mitsuki can get over her friends. He was actually surprised that she didn't punched the Eve of Envy in the face. Normally, she would act all violent and emotional if something like this happened but he guessed that she was holding back because Mikuni was her brother.

"Are you.. seriously trusting Onii-sama...?" She whispered under her breath.

"I don't really get what's going on.."Tetsu said. "But the blonde one is your brother, right?"

Mitsuki didn't answer and her eyes bored holes on Mahiru.

"Mitsuki?"

She suddenly pulled away and turned her back. Without a word, she began stomping away.

Mahiru couldn't help but panic so he started running after her but ended failing since she suddenly disappeared in an alleyway.

So with a heavy heart, he went back to train with the Eve of Pride and the Eve of Envy.