"Huh? What is it?" Eiko questioned, suspiciously acknowledging the man's actions. He said nothing and shook his head towards her question.
"That will be answered when you meet her. I will escort you both now, just follow me."
And Eiko and Riki looked at each other, searching for the same amount of confusion in themselves in one another. Then they nodded, like a small nonverbal conversation shared and understood between the both of them. Eiko locked her arm with Riki's, not catching the flustered look on his face nor the fond look sent her way, but just walked behind the man to see where they would be led.
===
Koroi. Long silky charcoal shaded hair, but this time pinned into a bun with a lustrous hair clip, the beads of diamonds along the design of the clover. Her moles are distinct and stark against the complexion of her airbrushed skin, a remnant of the beauty in old oil or watercolor paintings from dynasties ago. "I see you did it," she elegantly spoke in her orotund voice. "You fixed the routine."
Eiko clutched the book in her hand, getting tense at Koroi's overwhelming presence. Riki held her wrist and caressed the skin of her forearm with his thumb. He suddenly recalled the bite mark from days ago, but to his silent shock, the wounds were healed completely.
"I...I did. I suppose, but I have questions."
He squeezed her wrist, a small sign that she was doing good so far.
"And those are?" Koroi questioned, being guided by the man Eiko had seen last time over to a seat across from them. They were in the dining hall, the lengthy table stretching far enough to hold two to three families depending on how big or small they were.
Eiko set the book on the table with a soft thud. She could see Koroi's eyes immediately shoot to the cover and slightly widen but it was left at that. "A friend of mine had mentioned that I may be a vampire. I want to ask if that is true?"
"Hmm." Koroi shifted forward and perched her elbows on the surface of the table, a knowing smile creeping to her rouge-tinted lips. "And why do you think that?"
"The routine ended without me knowingly turning. I didn't do anything to stop it, it just stopped on its own," said Eiko.
"What makes you think that you haven't been possibly turned in your sleep?" Koroi questioned.
"I would've felt it, no? I don't think turning is easy on the body," Eiko answered.
"Did you take something? Like anything from a vampire?" Koroi added, casually glancing at her nails and somewhat reassuring her appearance based on what she felt.
"Um. I...I did, but Riki told me that it wasn't from any of his major areas that would make me turn," responded Eiko.
"And how do you know that you can take his word?"
"But I wouldn't...I wouldn't do something like that unless I was asked to," Riki justified.
Eiko caught the corner of Koroi's lips twitching into something akin to a satisfied smirk, but not entirely. It only served to make Eiko curious about what Koroi knew about their situation. Who was Koroi? What was this place? And what does Koroi know?
Eiko glanced at Riki, the look in his eyes searching for solace within Eiko, and she was there, as his fated lover, to comfort him. "I know, Riki. I know what he has shown me whether it has been all of him or not. Riki wouldn't do that, I know for sure."
"Hmm," Koroi hummed. She pointed a slender finger towards the book, her nails manicured finely, and the blank nail paint was glossy and fresh. "It's unlocked," she stated, somewhat surprised. She then intertwined her hands and used them to hold her chin up. "Open it and read it to me."
Eiko could feel that Riki was intrigued as well, seeing as he didn't know anything about the book yet. Koroi seemed to know, and that made Eiko's heart sprint. Her hand was almost shaking, like how her body would in cold weather, as she opened the front cover. Come to think of it, she didn't know where the lock went after it came off.
She gave an uncertain glance at Koroi. "Go on," she said.
Eiko took an oddly placed breath and began to read the first paragraph. "And there was Eiko Rin, born out of a relationship between a sanguine father and an intrepid mother. That very day marking her date of birth December 31, 2005; the day the third descendant was delivered on the New Moon. And fate would write her story."
When Eiko paused, Koroi gestured for her to keep going. It would be Eiko's first time reading it as well. "Her role would then become the most vital for the Rin family, as from birth her life would forever be tied with that of the third descendant from the Nishimura family."
"Stop there," Koroi told her. The way Riki froze was only noticeable to her and not to Eiko. "You say that you know Riki. So tell me his surname."
Eiko paused. Did she really not know that? Riki never told her.
"Well, I suppose this is where I start to explain," Koroi took her breath, noting that she'd be explaining for a long while. Then without Eiko touching it, the book snapped shut with the simple wave of Koroi's finger in the air.
"The Rin family started two generations before me. It started with the love between a human and a vampire, which was where the family name Rin was stretched onto them, creating the main family. But in order to live as a family, the human had to turn, so that's what happened. They married and had their first child, the first descendant before a tragic divorce later on.
The wife returned to her old name, but the child was still with the family name of Rin. Because vampirism was especially new to the Rin family–and there were fewer facts about vampirism as a whole since that was the age when it was first discovered–it was a struggle for both the mother and the child. The only family that came around to help at that time...was the Nishimura family.
The Nishimura family became the prime benefactor, so in return, the Rin family vowed to return the favor in any way they possibly could. And that way was to ensure that the third descendants of both families would be fated to meet on the day of the red moon, inscribing their love in stone. Both families had entered royal titles later on, and marriage was the only way the Rin family could return the favor and both parties would retain their power."
There were so many words to take in at once but Eiko was slowly getting drawn to the conclusion Koroi was leading her too. Alas, she couldn't get to it herself before Koroi spoke; "Riki, here, is the third descendant of the Nishimura family. And you, Eiko Rin, are the third descendant of the Rin family."
Dot.
Dot.
Dot.
It was so silent like the room was set on mute. Eiko couldn't even hear her heartbeat. The realization made her skin run cold like snow. The information made her so lightheaded that she had to put her hand against her forehead to keep it still. No way. There's just no way.
"But that doesn't explain why I ruined the routine or why I was a human. It doesn't make sense."
Koroi sighed, seemingly unsure of how to approach the topic. "You setting off the routine was like an alarm. Nobody was able to keep track of you and the only way that we could was if you were able to ruin the routine. So before your mother left you, she made you still possess human qualities despite you being a pure vampire, so that the routine would be set off."
"But how do you know about my mother?"
Koroi shrugged her shoulders, a vague answer that made Eiko further perplexed. "If you need further proof of the royal situation. The Nishimura family always used a ring to symbolize their royal background, using the birthstone of whoever with their name on the ring band, the gems would be from thousands of years ago, making it impossible to make a replica to try to come off as part of the family."
The moment Koroi stopped, it allowed Eiko to think back to the ring she had found in Riki's dresser that one time. It was making sense.
"For the Rin family," Koroi trailed off as she picked the diamond hairpin from her hair, her hair falling down to her back, healthy and thick. "They passed down this very hairpin."
And she handed it to Eiko.
Eiko held the hairpin in her hands like it was fragile. She admired how pretty it looked, the gems brilliant and bright, it felt wrong to touch. But why did Koroi have it?
"Who are you?" Eiko questioned.
Koroi smiled. "I'm Koroi. Koroi Rin."
Eiko clutched the hairpin and instantly fired questions, "Why didn't you do anything when I was a kid? Why did you leave me and Dad?"
"Now, now," said Koroi, "I have people to take care of. All of Block A, and the people in this palace, you being involved in this at an early age would strip you of your childhood. I discussed this with your father. I knew what I was doing."
Eiko sighed. She looked at Riki and only then became aware of how his grip on her wrist changed to hold her hand.
"The belief of one falling in love on the day of the blood moon does not affect royals. Love at first sight wasn't something we aimed for, just for you two to meet and fall in love eventually. If there was any ounce of love at first sight, that was all you...Now do you have any more questions?"
"I...no, I don't have any."
"You, Riki?"
He shook his head, "No."
"Then I will have you both escorted out. I want the both of you to fully understand what I mean by this, So take it and leave. When you're ready for anything else, come back to me."