𝕯𝖎𝖆𝖇𝖔𝖑𝖎𝖐 𝕷𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖘: 𝕯𝖆𝖗𝖐 𝕱𝖆𝖙𝖊

Chapter 22

Ayato looked at Ruki, his expression cold. "I'm going to wash her up. You stay here and keep watch of the others."

Ruki reluctantly nodded, as Ayato walked towards the bathroom, pushing the door with his elbow, and closing it behind them. He walked into the bathroom, a thin shower curtain dividing the bathroom. Still holding Yui in his arms, he turned the tap in the bath, the tub filling up with lukewarm water. He made her stand on her feet, testing whether it hurt her a bit or not. He then reluctantly let go of her, as she turned towards him, her hands on her hips. "Are you going to give me some privacy and leave?"

He crossed his arms in response. "You believe me to trust your stupid self to be safe by yourself?"

Yui couldn't believe this. He acted like a child sometimes. "Yeah, if you are going to be juvenile about it-" she raised her hands above her shoulders.

Ayato slit his eyes, not believing her. "You do know I have no sense of shame, don't you."

Without wasting her time, she seized the ends of her dress and raised her dress over her head. Ayato's jaw fell slack, as his cheeks were tinted a deep shade of pink. Cursing, he pulled the shower curtain between them, hissing audibly. Yui's laughter filled the bathroom, as she settled into the warm water, grabbing her soap, giggling to herself. Ayato was silent for a long time, until Yui asked, her voice pinched and questioning, "Ayato kun?"

"Hmm..." Ayato's voice came out, yawning. She scrubbed herself carefully, avoiding bite marks and scratches. "How long had I been out?"

For some time, the silence between them was the loudest. She knew he was being uncomfortable admitting to the fact that he had been careless, but she failed to recount what it was that made her end up in such a state. She could see beneath her, on her thighs, two long stitch marks ran on either sides. Her legs felt like they had been on fire, a dull pain erupting from beneath her skin every few seconds. She didn't want to press his buttons or enrage him, more out of concern for him rather than her own self preservation instincts.

"It's been around three days." Ayato's voice was tender, slow and soft. She rested in the tub. thinking about whatever he must have had in mind whilst she slept. Had he snatched at her skirt, felt her frail body with his calloused hands, did he press his lips to hers? She did remember the fateful kiss at the lake. She remembered it in vivid detail, how his hands raked up her bdy, exploring places where nobody had been, eliciting reactions and sounds from her, digging his nails and fangs into her skin. She raised her hand above the surface of water, looking at scratches and patterns of the straps she had been bound with, as a dark image popped into her head. Laito was in between her legs, his head bobbing, her pleas ignored by him as she begged him to stop-

She jumped up, away from the bath tub, spilling water around the shower area. An exclamation left Ayato, as he asked, "Pancake? What happened? Are you alright?"

She buried her scream into her throat, as she grabbed her towels, wrapping her hair up and tying another under her arms. "Yeah, I'm fine." She managed to sound convincing, as she pulled the covers peeking at him. "You mind getting my dress from the drawer?"

Ayato was sitting on the sink, his palms on the isle, as he whipped his face towards her. "Why can't you get it for yourself?"

"Ayato kun?" She pouted. "Please?"

He huffed, climbing down from the isle, shutting the door behind him. Yui held her breath, her knees buckling up as the memories rushed to her as Ayato's presence left her, her mind creating mental walls, keeping her sanity locked in a corner. Her strength seemed to slip through her hands, as she relived all that torture, the embarrassment, the pain that seeped through the pores of her skin.

Ayato dropped in inside the bathroom, peeking in through the door. "Are you decent?"

Yui clutched her towel tight in her hands. "Yes."

He looked at her, a slight smile on his face, as he places her clothes over the isle, before leaving her to her own. She quickly locked the bathroom, shimmying out of her towels. Her pale body had been worn out with exhaustion and torture, scratches, bites and bruises appearing everywhere, but the most peculiar was right above her heart. A huge blue bruise flowered on top of her breast, marked with the fangs of Laito.

***

Kanato grabbed the jar beneath his bed, patting Julie on the head as he lifted the doll onto his bed. He usually kept his dolls on the shelf on the wall, and wondered why this one had strayed into his bed. Pulling the jar out, he asked Reiji, who was standing beside him, tapping his foot impatiently, "But why do you want ingredients for this ritual?"

Kanato had agreed to give Reiji an ingredient for an accessory rite. Usually you didn't allow other rituals to be performed on the same altar, for the fear of displeasing the spirits, but Reiji insisted, and Kanato was getting his own pony collection now, so he mostly didn't care. The last time he had done a body swap, it had been painful and a bit of a harrowing experience, but as long as you had the stomach to digest such anomalies, you'd do fine. And Kanato had had far mre experiences that didn't even match up in comparison.

Reiji smiled knowingly. "I have planned a special surprise for all of you," he said, and Kanato smiled back, knowing if it was Reiji, he would make it ten times more dramatic.

"You do know how to summon the body, right?" Kanato said, his head tilting towards Julie, who now started to scream. Good thing Reiji couldn't hear the ghost cry and hurl insults at him. He had bound Julie's spirit to her mummified corpse, that he maintained inside the figurine covered with wax. They were children rescued by the Sakamaki family, although being rescued by the Sakamakis was the worst fate a mortal could endure.

"I do, you taught me well, Kanato." Reiji tossed him a sweet, that he caught happily. Grinning widely, showing off his fangs, Kanato tossed the diary Laito had left in his room a few days ago towards Reiji. Reiji caught the diary swiftly in one hand, and picked up the jar, suspiciously filled with blood red sludge, as he exited the room, while Kanato was left wondering why Reiji would go to lengths to perform another ritual. He knew that he was the nerdy type, not supposed  to bother others while he experimented on humans and vampires alike. But if what Kanato was expecting was true, Reiji had planned it perfectly well. There was little in which the second eldest could put his faith in, but Kanato had realised, surely, that reiji had at least a basic level of trust within him.

Kanato looked at Julie, who now whimpered as he grabbed a brush from the dresser, pulling her by her hair. The fact that she had been bound to her own body made sure that she felt every touch, every tug, every pain he inflicted on her. Most of the times this was the only thing that kept him sane during the time when Yui was unconscious and he couldn't vent his anger over someone. He tugged lightly at the girl's plaits, earning a whimper from her, her ghost shriekinng in agony as he drove a pin into her hand. What musical voice she had! Kanato smiled widely as he drove it further, and the cries of the ghost were only confined to Kanato's room. He got up, and found his bow of instruments, determined to reward the doll the most excrutiating pain of her life.