My breathing was rapid and raspy. Legs were trying to carry me through the dark forest as fast as I could possibly run, despite the random branches, stumps and big roots, poking from the ground. All of them were covered in snow, so it was even harder to avoid tripping and slamming face first into the cold ground.
I could hear my persecutor's steps right behind me. He wasn't tired, he wasn't panting or showing any signs of exhaustion. No, he was as energetic as always. But he was still teasingly running right behind me, to make sure to create a feeling of a predator and its victim. That's what we actually were - food and a consumer. A victim and an attacker. A human and a vampire.
"Hurry up, or I'll suck you dry." Ayato threateningly whispered right into my left ear.
"I'm trying... my best." I wheezed out. Just as I thought - I was still not fit enough to call myself physically strong. I was still too weak to run away from them or to fight them off.
I heard Ayato's sigh of annoyance.
"Seriously, I will suck you dry if you don't move faster."
"Oh cut me some slack - I'm just a human! And besides - we went for a simple jog. I don't have to run from you for real, right?"
"Do you want me to catch you for real?" Even though he was behind me, I could still sense his sadistic smirk on my neck. "I got pretty thirsty, you know."
"I see water all over the place. Just chew some snow." I said before even thinking about the consequences of my words. But when I realized my mistake - it was too late. Ayato has heard it and now he was going to strike any second now. I gathered some more strength in me and tried to run away from him, but in vain. I could still hear his footsteps no matter how hard I was trying.
"You're finally picking up speed to be at least a little bit interesting for Ore-sama." Usually, I don't run longer than an hour, but not with Ayato. He has practically forced me to run for more than an hour with a half. I know - it was my mistake, because I was the one who offered this exercise after all.
A few weeks have passed since the... Mysterious incident with Reiji. But he still hadn't told me anything about that night. I couldn't bring myself to face him no matter what. Not knowing what happened on that night was the worst torture - painful blood sucking was better.
But since that night, I started to get a little bit more comfortable with a few brothers. Surprisingly - Ayato was one of them. He once barged into my room, demanding for takoyaki and because I didn't know how to make them - he had my blood instead.
But the very next day - Ayato rushed into my room once again, but this time he had a plate of octopus balls. I didn't want to eat them, because they were the reason I was fatherless, but Ayato just shoved one into my mouth, saying how honored I should be to be fed by him. And I had to admit it - takoyaki are frickin' delicious.
Also, I found out that Ayato was participating in sports (quite unfair for the human kids without vampire strength who have to play against this competitive guy). And since the forest is stuffed with wolves, I somehow got Ayato to go for a run with me.
At first he didn't want to do anything, but a few simple phrases like 'I didn't know, that Ayato-sama wouldn't be able to run for a few minutes' got me a running partner. I couldn't have asked anyone else.
Subaru was not in the mood at the time and I valued my life. Kanato was out of the option list, because I didn't want race the death itself in the woods. Literally.
Laito is no, just no. I mean - alone? In the deepness of the forest? With that pervert? There are so many ways that things can go wrong with him and I don't want to experience neither of them.
Reiji doesn't really look like a guy, who likes to sweat (also, I still couldn't face him) and asking Shuu would be hilarious.
So that's why I was running with Ayato - mister stamina of steel. And I guess he was enjoying himself so much that he didn't notice my suggestion to eat snow.
"Let's take a break."
"Why? I'm far from tired."
"You are never tired!" I slowed down a bit, trying to catch my breath. "Why can't you turn into Shuu for at least five minutes?"
"Okay, fine. But you will have to pay for it." Ayato stopped and turned me around to face him. "With your blood."
"Can I at least pay you when we are back to the mansion?" I heard a growl.
"But I'm thirsty now." He pulled down the white scarf I was wearing, exposing my neck.
"Oh come on, I will make you takoyaki. Takoyaki sounds nice, right?" He was leaning closer to my neck.
"Not as nice as your blood flowing through your veins." I heard a growl much closer and right behind me. Ayato's lips touched my neck.
"Ayato, if you are right here in front of me, why can I hear your stomach growling right behind me?"
"It's not my stomach, you moron. Now shut up - I'm trying to drink." He was about to bite me.
"Ayato, if it's not your stomach, then whose?"
"How should I know! Here! Your useless blabbering ruined my appetite. Happy now?!"
"I would be if you also removed your hand from my butt."
"Are you crazy? I'm not touching you right now - see." He waved his both hands in front of my face. But something was still touching me.
"Now apologize for the false... accusations... Lauren, don't move." A change in Ayato's tone immediately raised my nervousness level.
"Why? What's behind me?" He was slowly backing away. "Ayato, what is behind me?"
"It was nice knowing you, Lauren." He smirked and started running away from me.
I slowly turned my head around to meet a big hairy head with two small black eyes. It was a head of a huge bear. I knew that it's impossible to outrun this creature, but my legs started to work on their own.
"You bastard! How dare you!" I screamed at Ayato. Now, he was purposely running right in front of me, close enough for him to hear my curses, but far enough to be out of danger if the bear was to attack me.
"CAN'T YOU FIGHT HIM OFF?! You're a vampire for goodness sake!"
"I'm not Shuu!" Ayato laughed. "Oh shit!" He cursed, as he saw me increase my speed and almost outrun him. He ran even faster than before now.
"CAN'T YOU TELEPORT OR SOMETHING?!"
"Do you know where we are?! Because I don't!" Ayato wasn't laughing anymore and this fact scared the living hell out of me.
"But why is it here?! Aren't bears supposed to be hibernating?!"
"How should I know?! Go and ask HIM - not me!" We were close to flying - that's how fast we were running through the woods. This time, I didn't care about the branches or the bushes - all I could hear were heavy steps of a huge death machine that was getting closer.
When another wave of adrenaline kicked in - my speed increased drastically, leaving red haired vampire behind. But he once again left me behind after a few seconds.
"You bastard!"
"Our brown Winnie the Pooh looks really hungry! He wants honey! And I can promise that your blood tastes close to it! My blood tastes like shit! HE'S AFTER YOU, NOT ME!" Another wave of adrenaline crashed me, sending me right in front of the red scum.
"THAT'S NOT FAIR!"
"That's what you get, you freaking blood sucking inhuman bastard!" It felt like we were running all night, but miraculously - we could finally see the mansion.
"We're saved!" Ayato outran me once again. Bear had been really close to him and now that brown monster was right behind me. If it wasn't my imagination - I could feel its breath on my back.
"We're doomed!"
"Correction - you are!" Ayato disappeared, making me panic and give away the last drops of energy I had.
I finally reached the Sakamaki territory and their big wooden doors. I slammed the doors open and literally dived through the opening. Then, I ran to the doors, closing and locking them.
My legs could no longer hold me up, so I fell down on all four, wheezing like a choking dog.
"You look like a dog," Ayato laughed, appearing out out of nowhere.
"I will... Kill you... I swear! I think I'm getting sick..." I was trying to catch my breath. Almost two hours of intense running from two predators left me exhausted.
"Why are you so loud?" Reiji, who just walked in, asked.
"We met Winnie the Pooh!" Said Ayato cheerfully.
"We almost... Fed one... With my flesh you damn bastard!" I was too angry and too tired to care about the consequences of screaming at Ayato.
Facing the bear was much worse than facing an angry vampire... As long as that vampire is not Kanato.
"Clean up, you two - we are having dinner tonight."
I was in a need of a very long and hot shower, but only one out of two demands could be fulfilled. I was living with perverts after all.
Perverts represent a very interesting type of species, you see. When they sense a possibility of their natural habitat appearing (girls, preferably nude), they try to get as close as possible to fulfill their needs. I came across with two types of perverts so far:
1) The shower pervert - an active type of pervert, who's out in the field, looking for girls himself;
2) The bathtub pervert - he hides in the favourite places of his prey (girls), to surprise them and try to make them believe that they came to the pervert themselves, a.k.a, wanted to be harassed.
And, unfortunately for me, I had to endure three attacks of the bathtub pervert. Shu didn't mind me with a swimming suit, maybe even the opposite - he promised to come back again and again... And I tried to promise him to shave him bald the moment he falls asleep (which wouldn't be that hard). I'll repeat myself - tried. I was too freaked out to say a word. But I will shave him one day though.
I also had to endure four shower pervert appearances. Laito was not happy to see me in a two piece swimming suit, but took little to no action to change that.
Perverts also fight for dominance. Their fight is not a physical one thought - it's verbal. Sometimes, shower pervert is doing so much, that it feels like he's overdoing it. Bathtub pervert always teases the shower pervert for it, calling him a fake one.
In conclusion - that's why I can't take a long shower - only a hot one, because shower pervert might appear.
"Nfu, Bitch-chan~ I have a surprise for you~" Speaking of the pervert. I wrapped around a huge, slightly yellow towel around my body. I was finished showering anyway. But what could that surprise be? Another blood sucking session? Will he drag me to the torture room? Maybe even worse...
"I have a gift for you~" He kept on singing out his words.
"Get out! I'm still not finished." Lie. I was, in fact, finished, but he didn't need to know about it.
"Oh come on, Bitch-chan. Don't be shy." He walked to the shower and ripped the doors wide open.
"Oh... You actually are." He frowned, but the cheerful smile came back right away.
"I noticed how you like swimming suits, so I bought you one!" I suspiciously eyed the bag Laito was holding.
"Thank you, but I don't need another one."
"Aww, but I spent over an hour just picking it out and add some time waisted on the fantasies I had with you wearing it." I clutched the towel closer to my body. My heart was once again picking up its speed.
If I refuse it - he might attack me, but if I accept the gift - he might force me to change right in front of him (you can never know what to expect from a shower pervert). Either way is bad, so I did what I had to - I tried to lie my way out of this hellish situation.
"What colour is it?" Laito pulled out a small black lace bikini from the bag. I should have expected something as small and revealing as this, but I was still mortified. The top of the bikini was obviously too small for me and the bottom of the garment was something from the wet dreams of a pervert. It was crotchless, for goodness sake.
"It's black. Do you like it? Would you like to put it on and show me how it looks on you?"
"I... appreciate your... gift," It was really hard to talk without laughing, crying and screaming at the same time. "but I don't really like black colour, you see, so..."
"Are you sure? You are wearing a black one right now." He smirked, seeing right through me and my towel. Now I fell into the hole I dug myself.
"Now, put it on." He stepped closer to me, ignoring the water on my bathroom piles. "I won't ask you again~" He won't do it. He won't. Who was I trying to fool? He was already forcing me to strip with his glare. All he had to do was lift a hand and rip away my thin cover. I backed away from him, but he pressed me against a wall.
"Recalcitrant girls should be punished," Laito purred out. My heart sank to my heels nd then came back full speed. I was running from the bear like a gold medal winning Olympic's runner so why couldn't I even raise my hands to push him away? I was too weak. Too pathetic. I kept on allowing them to do whatever they liked. I couldn't even protect myself, not even once. My body was ready to fight or flight, but for some reason, it just froze in spot.
"Just kidding~" What? "This is not a gift for you," Laito laughed and stepped back a bit, giving me some space to relax.
"This is for you." He pulled out a box of big and shiny strawberries. It was so unexpected it made my mouth hang open. Literally. Laito chuckled and pushed one berry into my mouth, bringing me back to reality.
"Iz it dugged?" I asked, impatiently waiting for the answer. I wanted to chew that berry so bad.
"Don't worry, they are clean this time." Laito said with a giggle.
"Oh.." I bit down into the juicy strawberry once, then stopped.
"Did you wash them?" I didn't want to get any ridiculous diseases from unclean strawberries.
"One berry won't hurt."
"But what if this exact berry was holding some kind of deadly bacteria?"
"There's no bacteria that that Unpleasant Person couldn't handle, now eat up." I slowly finished eating it, despite my urge to spit it out.
"I'll finish them later."
"As you wish, Bitch-chan~. Now hurry up - dinner's waiting. You wouldn't want to collapse from starvation, now would you?"
I hurriedly finished getting ready and walked downstairs.
Guys were already waiting for me at the dinner table. There were lots of tasty food I couldn't wait to eat. Delicious smell was increasing my hunger by seconds. I could feel my stomach getting ready to perform at the whale glee as a soloist.
I sat down, got a nice amount of food and was about to dig in, when the peaceful silence was destroyed by Ayato's voice.
"You should thank me." I 'accidentally' stabbed my roasted chicken thigh. How dare he?!
"Why? For almost feeding me to the bear?"
"Because of me and the bear, you had an amazing jogging experience." Ayato smirked, his face glowing with pride.
"Reiji-san, can I give him a piece of my mind?"
"Only with proper language."
"Oh, then I have nothing to tell him."
"If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have gotten any better. It was my idea to use that bear, after all." After hearing this, food I had in my mouth got stuck in my throat.
"What?"
"I heard it approaching us way before you did," Ayato smirked. "So I thought it would be great exercise for you. Running for your life is the most effective motivation after all." Laito started laughing and so did Subaru. Reiji just rubbed his temple and I heard Shuu snore. Kanato continued on doing whatever he was doing with that knife and a potato.
Ayato said it as if almost feeding me to the livid bear was a favor.
"I'm speechless..." Lie. I had so much to say that I could've written a book, named '1001 way to say screw you' but I still valued my life
"I know right! Isn't it a genius idea? Only Ore-sama could think of something as smart as this," Ayato boasted about his 'genius' idea. "Don't worry - Ore-sama would have protected you if you really needed it." How can I not worry knowing that I was a bear bait!?
I found out two things today: bears that don't hibernate are very hangry and hanging out with Ayato is life threatening. Mashing these situations into one is the fastest way to die.
But I couldn't allow myself to not go for a jog at least once a week and I didn't want to get eaten by some wild animals. In this case - Ayato was the worst choice. All I had left was the boxing boy.
"Subaru, what do you think about exercise?"
Surprisingly, he agreed to be my jogging partner. But guys were acting a bit strange towards me. I just couldn't figure what was so strange about them.
"Lauren-san, Teddy would like to give you this big piece of cake. You will accept it, won't you?" Refusing this should be a piece of cake, right? Wrong.
If I want to survive until my birthday I have to hurry with Reiji. But how do I get him to like me?
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Don't ask me why Ayato knows Whinnie the Pooh - ask Ayato.
It was a fun chapter to write (two writer blocks were pretty easy thing to overcome).
In English, you use a phrase 'Out of the frying pan, into the fire', and the equivalent of this phrase in my native language is 'Running from the wolf, running into the bear'. That's why I thought this name of the chapter would be nice ^^.
Question for the readers: Who should try to have a nice bonding experience with Lauren in the next chapter?
If I get no answer, I will make a lottery and the lucky guy will have his chance to win Lauren's company... heart! To win her heart.
Enormous THANK YOU for reading this story and showing love to it!
Please stay tuned for the fang-gang! Next chapter is... You guessed it! Someone's going to be punished.