Hey guys, me and my terrible time management skills have returned with chapter 10! I hope you all enjoy! I don't know how you all put up with me!

As much as Justine liked living in Japan -she did, really- she was still prone to moments of homesickness. Sure, a lot of her memories of her early childhood in France were awful and traumatic, but there had also been good ones. Her vague memories of watching Dumbo, spending time at the old playground near her house, talking to nice old Mssr. Alphonse who ran the cornerstone she would buy candy from, meeting Akira for the first time…

It had been the worst period of her life, but even then, there were moments worth remembering. Her home country had been a place that was familiar and known to her, so of course she would miss it sometimes, especially while living in a place that was so fundamentally different.

During these times of longing, Justine liked to ease her emotions by surrounding herself with things that reminded her of home. At that moment, she relaxed in a charming, clearly Parisian-inspired café, eating a pile of delicious, multi-coloured macarons, and listening to Edith Piaf's La Vie en Rose on her phone. Perhaps she was overdoing it just a little, but she was no more stereotyping herself than her classmates had when she first arrived in Japan. The instant they learned where she was from, they hounded her with questions about what Paris was like, if she only ate baguettes at home, and if she drank wine and smoked all day.

She was quick to shut them down. No, she was not from Paris and had in fact never been there, baguettes were not the only things she liked to eat (she had been finding herself becoming very fond of oden and tamagoyaki), she hated the taste of alcohol and had never even touched a cigarette. Of course, once her classmates realized that she was not nearly as interesting as they had thought, they all began to ignore her, which suited her just fine.

She knew that they were not intentionally trying to be mean to her, of course; they were just a bit culturally insensitive, as were most people when interacting with someone from a different part the world. Justine herself was a bit embarrassed to admit that she had had a few misconceptions about Canadian and Japanese people before she had the chance to live among them. Fitting people into neat little categories was just part of the human condition, she supposed.

Still, it was one of the reasons she had decided against trying to make friends. If people only wanted to be around her because they thought she was exotic, she would rather just be alone. It would be a miserable experience for everyone involved. She remembered, with a grimace, how she had learned that lesson the hard way…

She had just wanted them to like her…

She quickly took a large bite out of a chocolate macaron, the rich flavours banishing the painful memory from her mind. Nope, no, she was not going to think about those things right now. This was her time to relax and unwind from the insane, bizarre train wreck her life had become recently. Focusing her attention back onto her music, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to relax again, humming to La Vie en Rose.

She missed France, she knew that, but she also knew that she would not be able to go back anytime soon. Not if they were still there, lurking, waiting for her to slip up.

Waiting to send her to Hell…

SLAM!

Justine let out a startled shriek, jumping out of her skin at the sudden loud noise that came from right beside her. Turning her head towards the window, her heart sank when she laid eyes on Laito, standing outside and smiling widely at her, one hand pressed against the glass and the other giving her a friendly wave. Her mouth turned downwards into a deep frown as she felt her face become hot with anger and frustration. Was there anywhere she could go where he would not show up to ruin her day? Did he really have nothing better to do with his immortal life?

And, more importantly, how the hell did he manage to get away from Mrs. Namikawa's unholy wrath? In one piece, at least. Sure, he was a vampire, but there were times that Justine honestly believed that her teacher was some kind of demonic hell beast. Even vampires had to be afraid of something, right?

Walking away from the window, Laito casually opened the door to the café, the bell at the top of the door dinging softly in response to his entrance.

"There you are, Darling! You left in such a hurry, it took me a while to figure out where you ran off to~!" he exclaimed excitedly, making his way over to her table and sitting in the chair directly across from her. Justine's scowl deepened.

Oh well, her little break had been nice while it lasted.

"You know, I'm starting to think that you keep calling me "Darling" because you actually just don't know what my name is." She grumbled, not at all happy to see him. He giggled, resting his chin on his palm.

"Oh, don't be silly, of course I know what your name is. I know almost everything about you, remember?" Justine doubtfully raised her eyebrow at his dubious claim.

"Yeah, sure, whatever. What are you even doing here, anyway?" she questioned, leaning backwards in her chair with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Playing hooky, just like you. School is just so dull without you, so I thought I'd come and find you. We were just about to have some fun before Sensei came along~." He purred, his eyes lighting up with excitement at the memory. Justine suppressed a shudder, a feeling of revulsion going up her spine from being reminded of the position she had been in just a few hours ago.

"Oh, shut up. I bet you wanted her to see us like that, you knew what she'd think we were doing." She took a bite out of a lemon macaron. "What even happened after I left, anyway?"

"Fufufufu, I don't want to bore you with the details, Darling, so to make a long story short, I ended up fucking her in a supply closet." He answered cheerily, his smile radiant as Justine began to choke on her lemon flavoured confection, hacking and coughing until she grabbed the glass of water she had near her plate and chugged it all down. Taking advantage of her state of bewilderment, Laito quickly snatched a macaron from her plate and bit into it, moaning at the citrus taste and smooth texture. Once she could breathe again, she looked forward to face him.

"You what?" was all she could manage to say, trying to work out how Mrs. Namikawa, of all people, went from a blind rage to allowing Laito, the one she was furious with, to have his way with her. He smirked at her reaction to his words, looking very pleased with himself.

"Well, after you left, she started screaming and crying about "us" and "that little whore," kicking up quite a fuss. But afterwards, I was able to get her all hot and bothered -which was very easy, by the way- and she led us to a supply closet to have some fun. After we were finished, I went looking for you." He explained. Justine continued to gape at him in disbelief.

"Seriously, it was that easy? She was angrier than I'd ever seen her before, and you talked her into having sex with you, just like that?" Laito chuckled.

"Never underestimate the desires of a sexually frustrated wife, Darling. Trust me, you'd be amazed at the kinds of things they're down for~." Justine felt her stomach lurch at the thought.

"Jesus Christ, is it even possible for you to go five minutes without saying something disgusting?" she said disdainfully.

"Oh, come now, don't be such a prude. Though I suppose it's not your fault; you're still an innocent little virgin. But don't worry, we'll fix that soon enough…" he leaned forward, his cold hand running down her leg under the table. She instinctively jerked her leg away from his touch, glaring heatedly at him.

"Sakamaki-san, I'd sooner wrap myself in bacon and go skinny dipping in shark-infested waters than do anything like that with you, understand?" she said in complete repugnance at the idea. Laito raised an amused eyebrow.

"So you would let a bunch of sharks see you naked, but not me? Are you trying to make me jealous~?" he teased. Before Justine could retort, a friendly-looking young woman wearing the café's uniform walked up to their table. Turning to Laito, she smiled brightly.

"Welcome back, Sakamaki-san! Do you want me to just get you the usual?" Laito gave her a friendly smile and wave.

"That would be great. You're a doll." The girl's face went beet red before she turned away from them and went to prepare whatever Laito's "usual" was.

"Hold on, you have a usual?" Justine questioned, surprised at his familiarity with the staff. Laito looked at her with knowing amusement.

"Oh course, Darling, I come here all the time. Their macarons are to die for, as I'm sure you've already learned." He replied, quickly swiping another sweet from off her plate and popping it into his mouth.

"Hey! Those are mine, you bastard! I ordered them!" she protested, pulling her plate over to her side of the table and out of his reach. Laito chuckled at her anger, resting his head in the palm of his hand.

"Relax, Darling. I'll let you have some of mine later. I'll even feed them to you if you want~." He said, his voice sultry and flirtatious. Justine scoffed at his words and leaned back in her chair.

"Ugh, never mind. I've lost my appetite anyway…" she grumbled, pushing her plate back towards the red-haired vampire, which he happily took for himself. Seeing him take a bite of a blue macaron, Justine's scowl faded and was replaced with a rather peculiar look. Laito quickly took notice of her change in mood, and swallowed before asking,

"Hm? What is it? Considering my offer~?" Justine shook her head, her strange expression not leaving her face.

"No, I just don't think I've ever seen you eat before. I didn't know if vampires did, or could..." Laito sent a funny little smirk her way before he gave his reply.

"Well of course I can eat, Darling. Human food doesn't do anything for me nutrition-wise, though. Blood is what sustains me. My kind tend to eat food for social gatherings, or just for the taste. My brother Ayato eats a lot more than the average vampire, even if it's usually just takoyaki." He explained, popping yet another macaron into his mouth. Justine silently nodded, taking in the new information.

Just before things got even more awkward, the girl from before strolled back up to their table, carrying a plate of assorted macarons in her hand. She set the plate down in front of Laito and gave him a cheery smile.

"Is there anything else I can get you, Sakamaki-san?" she asked. Laito gave her a sultry wink, making her face turn bright red.

"I'll let you know if I need anything else, sweetheart~." With that, the girl quickly turned around and hurried back into the kitchen, not wanting them to see her cherry coloured face. Justine turned to Laito, her lips curled downwards into a disparaging grimace.

"You know, this whole time I've known you, you've done nothing to convince me that you don't just have a second dick in your head where your brain should be." She deadpanned. He shrugged, taking a colourful confection from his plate and biting into it. Looking down at his food, she took notice of how familiar it looked. The assortment, the exact colours of the macarons…

"Wait a minute, you ordered the same thing I did?" she asked, her eyebrow raised in suspicion, wondering what he was playing at this time. Looking at her with an amused glint in his green eyes, he let out a chuckle.

"Actually, given how often I come here, I think it would be more accurate to say that you ordered the same thing that I did." He took another bite. "Isn't that funny? I guess we have more in common than you thought. It's almost as if we're made for each other~."

"I'm gonna give you one chance to take that back." Justine growled in a low voice, giving him a look that told him that she would make him regret the day he was ever born. Her remark did nothing to wipe that smug, insipid grin off his face.

"I'm just tell it like it is, Darling." He replied slyly. His disregarding remark only served to make Justine even more agitated. Taking notice of her increasingly distressed state, Laito's devious smirk widened.

How much more could he poke and prod at her until she snapped, he wondered?

"In fact, I find it amazing just how alike the two of us are…~" Justine's blue-gray eyes lit up with anger.

"We're nothing alike, you fucking creep!" She shouted, standing up from her chair so fast that she almost knocked it over. All eyes in the café fell on her, making her blush from embarrassment. She sheepishly sat back down, trying to avoid looking at anyone, all the while Laito chuckled in amusement at her humiliation. When she was sure that the staff and other patrons went back to their own business, she turned her attention back to Laito.

"L-Like I said, we're nothing alike…" she grumbled, agitated with both Laito and herself that she had made a fool of herself in front of a bunch of strangers.

"Oh, but we are, Darling. Because right here…" He reached across the table and placed his cold, pale index finger on Justine's chest, right between her breasts. Justine flinched at his sudden touch.

"… There's a darkness inside of you, the kind that I don't usually see in mortals. That cold, ruthless rage that sleeps within you, that wants to see the world burn, that's desperate to be unleashed…" he said, his cheeks becoming flushed and his green eyes burning with passionate excitement. It took Justine a moment to fully register what he has said before she violently smacked his hand away from her.

"Shut up! That's complete crap and you know it!" Laito's smirk evolved into a toothy grin, showing off his long, sharp fangs. Turning his gaze upwards, he was tickled pink at the sight of the lightbulb hanging right near their table begin to flicker on and off, which went unnoticed by Justine.

Almost there. Just one more little push.

"Oh, my poor Darling, there's no need to deny it. I'll never understand why mortals are so insistent on suppressing their deepest desires, when they could be having so much fun acting on them instead. It's okay, you know. I'm the same."

"We're not the same!" she protested. She was not like him, there was not a "darkness" inside of her. He was obviously just trying to mess with her, like he always did.

And the worst part? It was working.

"Oh, come now, don't lie. The only difference between us is that I choose to embrace it, rather than deny it's there. I can teach you, Darling…" He leaned forward and took her cheeks into his hands, brining her face closer to his, knowing that she was too emotionally distressed to resist at that moment.

"I can teach you to embrace it, too. You wouldn't have to hide your true self from the world, you could live freely, and deliciously…" his breathing became heavier, working himself up quite a bit with thoughts of them together, her submitting to him completely.

The two of them descending into Hell together.

With angry tears stinging her eyes, Justine grabbed hold of his wrists and wrenched them away from her face.

"Will you just shut up?!"

SHATTER!

Justine almost felt her heart stop, startled by the sound of a lightbulb bursting not far from them, her rage practically scared out of her as though they were hiccups. She looked to her right to see the ceiling lamp that hung above them was swaying lightly, the small, clear shards of the lightbulb that was once screwed into it lay scattered on the ground.

Justine felt her throat get tight.

'I… I did it again…' she thought morosely. The same waitress that had brought Laito his macarons rushed over to them, broom and dust handle in hand.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! Are you both alright?" she asked them alarmedly as she began to sweep up the shards of glass.

"Oh yes, we're fine. None of it got on us." Laito spoke up on their behalf, wearing a smug, triumphant smirk. Seeing how immensely pleased with himself he was reignited Justine's previously forgotten anger.

'This… he planned for this to happen! He wanted me to lose control, and I played right into his stupid game!' she realized, becoming just as mad at herself as she was the red-haired vampire. Angrily getting up from her seat, she grabbed her bag and marched over towards the glass door.

"Oh wait, miss! Your bill!" The waitress called out to her.

"He'll take care of it!" Justine did not even look back at the girl or Laito as she left the café, the bell attached to the door ringing to signal her exit. Feeling awkward, the waitress turned to the red-haired vampire, who was still watching the girl through the window as she stomped down the street.

"Uh, so, Sakamaki-san…?"

"Oh, don't worry, I'll pay for the both of us. In fact, I'll just take the rest to go; my Darling really shouldn't be out all alone at night. Who knows what might happen to her?" he said, his sly, fox like green eyes not leaving Justine until she was completely out of his line of sight. After he handed her the money, she quickly boxed up the remaining macarons and handed them to him. He gave her another wink as he left, making her heart flutter.

"Wow, he's so considerate… that girl's so lucky to have such a nice guy…" the waitress sighed before going back to work.

As he left the café and was about to turn the corner to begin his pursuit, he caught a glimpse of something that made him pause. There, parked on the curb right next to the café, was a dark green sedan that he could have sworn had been there the entire time he and Justine had been inside. Taking a closer look, he was able to see the driver, a middle-aged, surly looking Caucasian man that took a swig from his flask every 15 seconds. The red-haired vampire decided to pay him no mind; why bother pondering on a worthless, drunken human, anyway? He didn't spare the man another thought and continued his search for his beloved prey.

Laito knew that it would not take long to catch up to her. His Darling had some very interesting abilities, but she was still only mortal, and a mortal could never hope to outrun a vampire. Sure enough, he found her in no time, making her way down the street towards the shopping district.

"Darling~! Where are you going?" he called out to her merrily. When she turned her head to face him, he was greeted with a deep, angry scowl, one that told him that she should love nothing more than for him to jump into an active volcano.

She said nothing as she glowered at the red-haired vampire, with him cheerily smiling back at her in return. When she turned back to the road and resumed walking, he kept pace beside her.

"Oh, don't be like that, Darling-"

"You know, I told myself that I was going to take a break tonight, check out some shops and maybe grab some food later. I'm doing that no matter what, so leave me the hell alone." She cut him off, her eyes still straight ahead. Laito's cruel smirk widened.

"But it's so dark and scary out; it's not safe for a girl to be out by herself at night." He said, not put off by her harsh tone.

"I can take care of myself." She replied sharply.

"Maybe so, but I'd still be worried sick about you." He quickly snaked his arms around her waist, pulling her back up against his chest. Justine instinctively began to thrash and struggle in his arms, but he did not budge.

"God damn it, let go of me!" she loudly protested. Laito flashed her a knowing grin that made her blood boil.

"If I do that, you'll just run away from me again. Besides, I had been planning to go into town myself. It'll be so much fun, just the two of us~." He leaned down so that his mouth was right beside her ear.

"There's no point in struggling, Darling. I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you~…" he whispered, and then proceeded to sensually lick the shell of her ear, much to her absolute disgust.

"Let go, damn it!" she cried angrily before she sharply dug her heel into his foot. She doubted that it hurt him too badly, if at all, but it distracted him long enough for his hold on her to loosen. She escaped from his grasp and made a run for it, sprinting down the various streets as fast as she could. After a few moments, she felt that she was far away from Laito enough to slow her pace, her chest beginning to burn as she fought to catch her breath. Coming to a complete stop at a corner, she leaned against a concrete call and took deep breaths.

"… Well… the only good thing… about all this… is that I'm… finally getting some exercise…" she wheezed to herself. After she could breathe normally again, she turned the corner to head back in the direction of the shopping district, only to bump face first into someone's chest.

She did not have to look up at their face to know who it was.

"Well, you're just a ball of energy tonight, aren't you, Darling?" he teased, looking down at her smugly. Justine decided to silently glare, having nothing to say to him, since she knew her words would not make a difference. When she turned around and tried to walk away in the other direction, she felt his cold hand grab hold of her wrist, squeezing it tightly enough so that she would not be able to get away.

"Where are you going, Darling? The shopping district is this way~!" he began to drag her off in the opposite direction she had been going, his supernaturally strong grip on her wrist leaving her unable to run away from him, not that she did not still try. After a few moments of struggling to free herself and him smilingly amusedly at her attempts, the grim realization that she was not getting out of this anytime soon washed over her. With a mix of pragmatism and being too shaken up from the café to gather up enough focus to use her powers, Justine grit her teeth and begrudgingly allowed him to drag her to the shopping district, while making a mental note to make a break for it as soon as she got the chance.

When they arrived, Justine was surprised at just how many places were still open so late at night. She saw restaurants, boutiques, clothing stores, salons, all operating at what was an ungodly hour to most people. She was not sure if this was because of Ryoutei Academy's unusual hours, or if all shopping districts in Japan stayed open 24/7, but it was definitely convenient for someone with a more nocturnal lifestyle, which she supposed she was now.

"So, Darling, where do you want to go first?" Laito asked her cheerfully, breaking the tense silence between them. Justine said nothing and continued to glare at him, not wanting to dignify him with a response.

"Hm, not feeling very chatty right now? That's alright, I'll just pick a place for us~!" he said, more to himself than to her. His scanned the surrounding shops, looking for the perfect place to take his beloved prey, and when his gaze fell upon a particular upscale women's clothing store, he knew that he had found it. Steering them both in the direction of the store, Laito confidently waltzed right in, with an irritated Justine unwillingly tagging along.

"Hi, welcome in! Can I help you two find anything today?" an impeccably dressed saleswoman greeted them as they came in.

"No right now, thank you. We'll call you if we need anything." Laito replied, flashing the woman a million-dollar smile that made her blush just a bit. Before Justine could get a word in edgeways, Laito dragged the both of them away from the sales associate and deeper into the store. Looking around at the absurdly priced clothes, Justine broke her silence.

"Why did you bring us here? I don't need new clothes."

"I'd beg to differ, Darling. You always wear such ugly, baggy clothes. Our school uniform is the cutest outfit I've ever seen you in. I just thought you could wear something nice for a change." He replied, not even looking at her as he combed through several short, colourful dresses on a nearby rack.

"My clothes are comfortable!" she protested. He just smiled knowingly at her.

"I'm doing you a favour, trust me. You'll look so much better in something that shows off that body of yours." He said, grabbing a sky-blue dress from off the rack and holding it up in front of her. Looking at it, Justine did notice that the colour was actually very nice, though it was far too short for her liking. Noticing the price listed on the tag, however, almost gave her an aneurysm.

"Sixteen thousand yen? Are you high or something? I can't afford that!" she gasped.

Yes, Justine did attend a very wealthy private school, but even with Akira's well-paying job, you had better believe that a good chunk of his salary went to paying her tuition. Then on top of bills, groceries, and other necessities, the two had to be very tightfisted with how they spent their remaining funds. They only bought what they needed, and Justine did not need an outrageously expensive new dress.

She did, however, need books and movies. Those were extremely important. Honest.

"Oh, don't worry, Darling. I'll buy it for you, and you can just pay me back later~…" he said, his tone lowering into a sultry baritone as his green eyes roamed over her body. Justine could feel her skin crawl at what he said about her "paying him back," having a pretty good idea of what he would want from her.

"Nice try, pervert. I told you I don't need new clothes. Even if you buy that thing for me, I'm not gonna wear it." She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh, trust me Darling, I can be very persuasive~." He purred, giving her a suggestive wink.

Justine rolled her eyes and turned her back on him, taking only a few steps towards the store's entrance before she felt his cold hand tightly grab her wrist and pull her back towards him. Before she could protest, a different item of clothing on a hanger was shoved in her face.

"How about this little number, then? It would look so cute on you~!" he suggested. Getting a better look at the garment, Justine laid her eyes on a dark blue pleated skirt that was so, so short that it would make Sailor Moon blush. She whirled around to face the red-haired, grinning vampire, her cheeks turning the colour of a cherry.

"Are you serious? I've seen belts that are longer than this goddamn skirt! And really?" she held the price tag up to his face, "Twenty-two thousand yen?! That's more than the dress! Why do you have to pay more money for less fabric? What kind of sense does that make?"

Laito could not suppress his laughter as Justine continued her rant, seeming to have forgotten he was there at all. She was focused on trying to work out the logic behind the boutique's absurd pricings (honestly, the prices of this store were bargain bin-tier by his standards) that she did not even lash out at him for laughing at her.

Wiping away a tear, his eyes glanced at the windows outside for only a second before he caught a glimpse of that same, dark green sedan, now parked outside of the boutique, the haggard-looking driver taking another swig from his flask. All mirth left Laito's face as his green eyes narrowed at the car that seemed to be following them. After all, what exactly were the chances of a middle-aged man who did not look like the type to enjoy cafés or women's clothing ending up parked outside of both places, glaring at them as though they spit in his coffee?

Sure, it could somehow all just be a coincidence, but Laito needed to be sure about these things.

"… I mean, if it were some kind of lucky magic skirt that could get me to win the lottery or a lifetime supply of rock candy than sure, but-" Her ramblings were cut short by Laito quickly putting the skirt back on the rack and grabbing her by the shoulders.

"Let's go somewhere else, Darling! I've just thought of three other places in this district alone that would suit you much better!" he said with a smile, forcefully pushing her towards the exit. His sudden change of mind did not go unnoticed by Justine, who raised her eyebrow in confusion and suspicion. Once they were outside, she turned around to face him directly.

"Um, did you shoplift from there once or something? Why do you want to go somewhere else all of a sudden?" she questioned, placing her arm on her hip. Her suspicion did not make Laito's smile fall, of course, who proceeded to grab her wrist and drag her down the street, despite her protests.

"Don't be silly, Darling. I just realized how tacky that store was. Besides, weren't you just complaining about how overpriced everything was in there? Don't worry, we're going somewhere much nicer!" Justine narrowed her eyes at him, totally unconvinced, but decided to say nothing, knowing that he would not be telling her the truth either way. She relented and allowed herself to be dragged to wherever he wanted them to go, all the while oblivious to the green sedan that was slowly trailing them and Laito making sure to keep it in his peripheral vision.

The next store they went to was one that sold makeup and cosmetics. Unfortunately, not only Justine did not wear -or even know how to apply- makeup, she ran out of there the second she saw a makeup chair that looked like something straight out of A Clockwork Orange, a laughing Laito following her close behind. She was then brought to another clothing store, then place that sold scented candles that she actually found to be nice before being abruptly dragged out of by Laito once again, and a shoe boutique that sold footwear that looked like they were made for black tie galas rather than everyday teenagers. Every single time they would browse for about five minutes and then suddenly leave without buying anything, much to Justine's utter confusion.

By the time they had exited the shoe store, Laito was absolutely positive that they were being followed by the green sedan and its angry-looking driver. He thought that perhaps he had done something to anger that man, he wondered, before quickly dismissing the idea. Nothing he could have done recently to draw his father's ire came to mind, and if he were having one of his sons followed, he would almost certainly use a familiar to do the job, rather than some drunken human in a beat-up old car. He looked over at the vehicle and its driver, the man looking almost completely hammered. His body was swaying in his seat and he looked like he was about to throw up, but his gaze was still focused on them, the fury and contempt in his eyes even stronger than the last time Laito had looked.

The possibility of the man being with a member of the Church crossed his mind when he noticed the intricately carved wooden crucifix dangling from the car's rearview mirror, but that idea went away just as quickly as the first. He had never known the Church to behave in such a way, especially since his esteemed father had had them in his pocket since a time long before Laito had been born. Even if they were planning to betray their pact, they had no chance of victory against Karlheinz by himself, let alone the combined might of the entire Demon World.

Unfortunately, this still left him not knowing why they were being stalked, which put him in edge much more than he would like to admit. Life as a son of the Vampire King had taught him that knowledge was indeed power and knowing more than your enemies always kept you one step ahead of them. Laito was not used to being out of the loop, and it was irritating him to say the least.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" Justine's voice brought him back to reality, looking down to see her staring at him with a perplexed expression.

"Oh come now, nothing's wrong, Darling! Aw, are you worried about me~?" He was quick to put on a cheery face to deflect her question, a feeling of satisfaction welling up in his chest when the confused look on her face morphed into a scowl.

"Oh, please, you could jump off Mt. Everest for all I care. You were just making a weird face." She said derisively, Laito noting that she did not seemed to have noticed the car following them. Her expression telling him that she still thought something was wrong, so he looked around the street in search of a distraction. When his eyes fell upon a store that sold women's evening wear, a deliciously wonderful idea came to him. Letting go of Justine's wrist, he gave her a big smile.

"Wait out here, I'm just going to get something really quick." As he walked up to the store's entrance, he turned back to give her a wink.

"And don't bother running away, my Darling! You know I'll just find you again~!" he said cheerily before waltzing through the entrance, leaving Justine outside by herself.

Don't bother running away, he said…?

"Yeah, no." Justine said to herself before she marched down the street, trying to put as much distance between them as she could before he realized she was gone. Passing by store after store, she contemplated simply giving up on her night out and going back to school. An image of Mrs. Namikawa's livid, beet-red face flashing in her mind scared the idea right out of her, however. She was not going back to face that madwoman's wrath, not matter what Laito said.

She did not feel like going home, though. The reason she had skipped the rest of school in the first place was so that she could have a night out for a change, rather than be cooped up in her room like usual. She unknowingly began gnawing on her fingernails at the thought of Akira. She knew that he was going to find out that she had ditched, the school would almost certainly call him once they realized what had happened.

She stopped walking, her thoughts turning melancholy and contemplative. She hated keeping secrets from her father, she really did, but it was all to protect him, she reasoned. Even if he did know about the Laito situation, what could he realistically do about it? Everyone knew that the Sakamakis' were wealthy and connected; Laito was virtually untouchable by conventional means, and that was on top of him being a literal supernatural creature. If Akira tried to stop the red-haired vampire's harassment of her -which he definitely would- she knew that it would only make things worse for him.

She held her schoolbag up against her chest, squeezing it tightly. It was all for the best, she told herself, this was the only thing she could do to protect him.

(Then why did she need to keep reminding herself of that?)

She was so busy contemplating her guilt that she failed to see a green sedan slowly drive closer towards her.

"It is my pleasure to introduce today's guest, Mr. Tougo Sakamaki." A smooth female voice announced from above her.

'Wait, Sakamaki?' she thought, turning her head upwards to look a large screen that was installed into a nearby building.

"Mr. Sakamaki is one of the many politicians who are very enthusiastic in regards to Japan's new strategic foreign policy. And today, I would like to ask him about his concrete measures." The newscaster continued before the image of a handsome, impeccably dressed man was shown. His smile was measured and calculating, his hair was perfectly styled, and he seemed to give off an air of power and authority, even from the television screen.

"Tougo Sakamaki…" Justine mumbled, taking in the man's presence, "He's Laito's… father…" Her blue-gray eyes widened as a sudden, terrible realization hit her.

There wasn't a soul in all of Japan who had not heard of Statesman Tougo Sakamaki. Noted politician and philanthropist, the man had a spotlessly clean reputation, routinely giving generous donations to various charities, hospitals, and of course, schools. Especially Ryoutei Academy, where his own sons attended.

His sons, who were vampires.

Tougo Sakamaki, one of the most powerful and influential people in the country, was a vampire.

"Mon Dieu… C'est fou…" Justine had to calm herself down consciously and steady her breathing, lest she end up making something explode for the second time that night.

Alright. Okay. Tougo Sakamaki, who had power and control over the lives of pretty much the entire country of Japan, was actually an inhuman monster who fed on the blood of mortals. He was probably hundreds of years old, was passing himself off as human, and, Justine realized, there was a chance that he was just one of many powerful vampires doing the same.

Oh, yeah. The idea of the world being secretly controlled by vampires wasn't terrifying at all.

Steadying herself against a wall, Justine took about 30 seconds of deep breaths to sufficiently calm down.

"O-Okay, it's okay. So… vampires might be trying to take over the world. I mean, they might. I guess if they really wanted to, they would have done it already, right? But wait, maybe they already have taken over the world, and they've just lulled us all into a false sense of security. Hell, I heard of those weirdos who think that lizard people secretly control the world and called them crazy, but maybe they were onto something? Holy god, what if the vampires and the lizard people are working together? What if they met thousands of years ago, plotting to enslave humanity, and have been secretly working towards world domination all of this time?"

The vehicle drew closer…

As Justine's train of thought was becoming more and more outlandish, her ideas about the thousand-year-old vampire-reptile plot for world domination working her up into a panic. While yes, she had not freaked out when she learned that Laito was a vampire, that was before the realization that vampires were in positions of major political power while passing themselves off as humans fully set in.

Closer…

Lizard people aside, she found the idea of vampiric puppet masters manipulating humanity from the shadows to be genuinely terrifying.

Like she didn't already have enough to be afraid of…

SCREEEE!

The sudden sound of tires screeching against the road was almost deafening. In an instant, Justine whirled around to face the green car, gunning towards her at full speed, the front lights almost blinding her and preventing her from getting a good look at the driver. Her eyes went as wide as saucers, paralyzed in shock as she could not get her body listen to her. She must have looked so helpless in that moment, literally having the face of a deer in headlights.

Then, just as the car was about to crush her, she felt a pair of familiar arms encircle her, lifting her off the ground and away from the vehicle's path, causing it to instead crash through the store window she had been standing in front of. The people inside the store screamed and scrambled to get to safety, pushing past each other to get through the doorway.

Justine barely registered anything going on around her, however, as she was still coming down from her state of shock. People's voices sounded faint and muffled, as though they were trying to speak underwater. In fact, the entire world around her seemed to swim, becoming disoriented and jumbled. There was one voice, however, that rang loud and clear.

"Now what happened here?"

What… what was he doing here…?

His voice helping her get a hold of herself and snap back to reality, she finally realized the position she was in, and whose chest she was resting against. Not even bothering to try and break away from him, she slowly turned her head upwards to look at his face, still trying to wrap her head around what had just happened. She could now hear people screaming into their phones for an ambulance, smell the pungent stench of leaking gasoline and the air-bag propellant filling her nostrils, making her eyes water a bit. She was now especially aware of how tightly his arms were encased around her, holding her against his body like a child would hold a favourite doll. As he looked back down at her with his familiar green eyes and knowing smirk, he lightly took hold of her chin and lifted her head to meet his gaze.

"Didn't I tell you to not run away from me, Darling?"

Okay, that's the next chapter done! We've made it to the 10 chapter mark, and it only took… 4 years… *sigh*

Again, I'm sorry it's been so long since I updated, and to be honest, I'm not 100% satisfied with how this chapter ended, but I needed to get it out eventually, so here we are! I really like how most of the chapter turned out, and I hope you do too.

Now, as I'm sure you all know, the world is currently in the middle of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, and everyone, myself definitely included, are scared and unsure about what the future will hold. Thankfully, I and all of my loved ones are healthy and safe, and I hope all of you are as well. Remember to practice social distancing, try to wear a mask while outdoors, and CONSTANTLY wash your hands with warm water and soap.

We will get through this!

Thank you, MA.