Tzuyu's favorite number had always been six: it reminded her of a ball-shaped devil who, in order to cling to his own tail, had turned upside down to exploit the force of gravity to succeed. She found him funny and incompetent, so she used that image she had as a child to never lose sight of the goals she set for herself.

She found it funny how, on the morning of the sixth day since she had dipped Nayeon in her demonic blood, she had been sitting up abruptly in search of the oxygen she didn't need. 

She had joined her immediately, smiling in relief "you have finally woken up"

"What happened?" Nayeon's eyes were completely black, as had her hair, and her hands were clinging to her neck "I'm hungry"

"I'll explain everything, I promise you" she had spread her arms out "now you need me or you won't be able to survive until the sun goes down in the world of humans"

Nayeon had failed to understand the tallest girl's words, but the incessant burning in had prompted her to destroy the glass case she was in, heedless of all the blood that had spilled, to sink her teeth into the neck of the one who had given her a new life.

It was already the fifth extraordinary assembly since the tournament had been canceled and the only principal remaining had sadly noticed the decrease in the numbers of his students, vampires and otherwise. He had given free choice to their stay in school, but seeing everything he and his dead brother had fought for for years go up in smoke was helping to break his now frail heart.

The classes remained intact were about three and were made up of the élite of purebloods, but what had surprised all the school staff was the desire for revenge clearly visible in the eyes of the students of Min's class, who had presented themselves to every single assembly and had even come up with ideas to eliminate the threat.

The two people who had been in contact with Tzuyu's powers were perfectly healed, even if it had taken a few more days of isolation for Dahyun, and they had allowed those who followed them to learn something new: the powers of the demon disappear if it is unable to continue to maintain contact with the subjugated person.

After the meeting they had left the school structure with Chaeyoung at the head of the line they had formed "what would you like to do? We cannot waste our lives thinking about revenge or we will go crazy"

"I have a meeting with my family and I think it will last until tonight" Sana, now out of the closet, always walked around in her Hunter belt, which included stakes of various sizes, vials of holy water and a small pouch containing medicines.

"Have they decided to collaborate with the school?" Jihyo was staring at her roommate, hopefully.

The blonde shrugged "they're still deciding. What is certain is that they'd rather take out one demon instead of a hundred vampires, so I'll leverage that"

"We are counting on you, the more help we have the better" Mina took her girlfriend's hand, squeezing it tightly to release some of the anxiety she felt "I know we had decided to be together today, but I'd rather rest a little. I feel calmer during the day and I think I can sleep"

"So I'm going with you, I don't feel like leaving you alone" Chaeyoung had matured a lot and she had promised herself to be the shield of the person she loved "what will you do?" she had started walking backwards so that she could look at her friends.

Dahyun was concentrating on one of the books that Sana had obtained for her "I want to study a little more and work out a strategy"

"I join, the two of us will read all these bricks faster" Jihyo had offered to bring some.

Momo had sighed loudly after receiving an unwelcome response from her twin "I don't want to leave you alone with that scum"

"Would you rather get yourself killed? They won't do anything to me since killing each other among Hunters is a crime punishable by a terrible death, but you would have no guarantee of getting out unscathed. Stay here, try to get some sleep and let me do my job"

"Can I at least accompany you to the statue of Dracula? I would like to be sure that there are no footprints from your boots on his face"

The blonde smiled "okay, let's go" she waved to the others before taking her sister by the arm and leaving.

Jeongyeon had been silent all the time, but in her head there was a mixture of thoughts so dense that it exasperated her and convinced her to make a decision "I have to go home, a lot of dust has accumulated and I would like to get rid of it as soon as possible"

The small group had divided in front of the usual tree that served as a divider of the roads they had to travel to get to their destinations and the pureblood had sent a message.

Reaching the apartment she threw herself on the couch with a glass of blood in her hands, letting the emotions take over and allowing herself the luxury of letting off steam a bit. Fortunately she used to cry for a few minutes or the person she asked to join her would find her in a pitiful condition.

"You were crying, am I right?" Momo had closed the door behind her very calmly.

"Nothing escapes your eyes" joked the pureblood, still wiping her cheeks.

The other girl had joined her on the couch to give her a hand to get rid of the tears that had wet her face "you shouldn't hold back, crying is good even if the headache that follows is nothing short of terrible"

"The expert is here" she rolled her eyes but she wasn't really bothered "I didn't ask you to come here to give me crying lessons"

"What a pity, I had hoped to be able to gain something from your suffering" she leaned towards the glass table to take the glass still half full "I hope you don't mind"

"You can finish it"

The hybrid didn't have it repeated twice before drinking all the leftover blood "it's not fair that purebloods have blood distribution privileges, what they give to me isn't that good. Dahyun's bags are also better than mine"

Jeongyeon smiled "that's right, a miserable hybrid like you doesn't deserve to drink the blood destined for nobles"

The look Momo gave her was anything but kind "go yourself"

"I could really do it, but only with the person I want"

"Right, sometimes I forget that you are a softie"

They remained silent, both immersed in their thoughts and fears. Momo dared not look at the girl sitting next to her, too scared of something that not even she could identify.

Those minutes of tranquility were interrupted by a sudden jerk of Jeongyeon, who had pushed the brunette to lie down "I can't take it anymore"

"Did something happen?" Momo felt helpless in front of that serious look, but she couldn't deny that she felt butterflies in her stomach as Jeongyeon's lips stopped on her forehead.

"I beg your pardon, I did not behave well with you and I also took the luxury of ignoring you" those words were followed by a short kiss on the nose "I promised myself to just talk, but apparently I don't know how to stay on my own place"

"I don't mind being so close" she smiled "but I would like to talk to you before doing other things"

The pureblood had given her another kiss on her forehead before standing up "I don't know if you remember, but when I saved you from certain death I told you something important"

"Are you referring to your claim to have saved the person you love? No offense, but you failed in your intent" she felt jealous and she had not been able to hide it.

"Exactly, I want to clarify that matter once and for all" Jeongyeon had started walking from one part of the living room to the other to keep herself busy "I was talking about you, in that moment I saved the person I love. I know it might seem absurd, but I believe that the manipulation of Tzuyu started a long time ago"

Momo had to make a huge effort not to jump for joy, turning serious after hearing the last sentence "I think so too, it's all clouded long before she arrived at school. She herself claimed to have observed us  for a long time and to have studied all our weaknesses, so it makes sense to feel disoriented"

"This explains why I never wanted Nayeon to blame you in her moments of anger. I don't approve of the things she did, but I'd be a liar if I said I'm sorry for the people she bullied except for you and Dahyun" 

"Her ways were certainly wrong, but I know for a fact that she had good intentions and I don't feel like pointing the finger at her. We talked a lot before we reached her room and I was able to understand a lot of things"

"Don't remind me of that night" she had stopped looking at her, turning away and staring at the wall.

"I beg your pardon, I always forget the bond that existed between you two and I tend to speak out of turn"

Jeongyeon had laughed falsely "there are two things: either you pretend to be stupid or you are incredibly stupid"

The hybrid was massaging her temples "I thought I fell in love with Jihyo and that she was crazy about me when it was all part of Tzuyu's plan"

"What does this have to do with what I said?"

"I'm not sure of anything anymore, I mean this. The influence of Tzuyu's powers on me is gone and I don't feel confused anymore, but I can't be sure it's the same for others. I don't know if I can trust your words, not after seeing the love you had and still have for Nayeon"

"What can I do to prove to you that I'm not lying?"

Momo's back had adhered completely to the back of the couch and her eyes conveyed determination "you could kiss me, to begin with"

"And then?" Jeongyeon had approached quickly and her hands had gripped the hips of the hybrid to force her to stand up and hold her close.

"I may have a couple of ideas, but it'll depend on you" she lifted the left corner of upward, displaying a mischief the pureblood wasn't used to.

"I think this is not the most appropriate room if we are thinking about the same thing"

"What could possibly happen during a kiss?" she whispered.

Jeongyeon had moved even closer to kiss her briefly, experiencing a completely new and overwhelming feeling "anything could happen" she had whispered before pressing her lips to hers with all the passion and desire she felt for her. 

Nayeon, after feeding her fill and recovering from the shock of death, asked for clarification about her situation.

"It was part of my plan, but I realized I made a mistake and please believe me when I tell you I'm happy to be able to get you back to life"

"I can't understand, my head hurts"

"You have to avoid making useless efforts for now, don't worry" Tzuyu had held her close, using her power to relieve the pain of the person she was inextricably linked to "is that better?"

The pureblood nodded "I never felt such relief, how did you do it? You said you were a demon and you shouldn't be able to help others"

"I can use my powers in any way I like to have every situation in my favor and, considering my feelings for you, your well-being is a priority which, as such, pushes me to put my skills at your service"

"I'll pretend I understand, thanks and sorry for my stupidity"

"It would be weird if your brain worked perfectly after six days of inactivity, you don't have to apologize" she couldn't help but have even the slightest physical contact with her, afraid of being hallucinated "we need time to take you back"

Tzuyu had decided to let her explore the palace they would live in together from that day forward, not denying her access to any of the rooms and warning her of possible dangers.

"If someone were to try to attack you it would become ashes even before touching you, so I ask you to never be afraid"

"I've never been afraid, not by your side" Nayeon was smiling and it was she who took refuge in the arms of the queen of the Underworld "I love you, you know?"

"Now that you are telling me without being under the control of my manipulation yes, I can say I know" she smiled too before kissing her "I want to be honest with you: I was afraid of receiving hatred from you and I was very anxious waiting for your awakening"

The vampire was sad "you acted horribly and that makes me angry, but now that we are connected and I can feel how you feel I can be objective towards you. You are not a bad person, not entirely at least, because it's not your fault that you haven't been taught what love is. All I need to know is that you won't be ruthless anymore"

"I very much appreciate your words and your eyes have never been more sincere towards me, but I fear that the quiet life we ​​want will have to wait a little longer"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I have a job to finish, in that school they know what my face looks like and I can't leave people alive who know my true identity" all the sweetness she had directed towards her girlfriend had been replaced by seriousness. 

Nayeon had freed herself from Tzuyu's grip and stepped back a little "you can't do it, I thought you wanted to change. There are our friends among those people, if you don't want to be good with strangers you could at least be good with them"

"They want to kill me and I intend to do the same to them. I will not let myself be caught unprepared and will attack when they least expect it" she was turning a lock of the pureblood's hair in her fingers "you will come with me, my powers will weaken if we don't stay together and I will need your help"

"I refuse and I will do everything possible to stop you"

Tzuyu had smiled halfway between amused and sad "it's not you who decides Nay, you belong to me and you will do what I say" it was enough for her to snap her fingers to make her pass out "we will tear that school apart and then I will change your memories, I won't let you hate me"

After taking her to bed she had started to work out a plan, smiling satisfied "I'm ready to make a lot of mess"

It had gotten dark and Dahyun had just returned from accompanying Jihyo to the dorm, ready to jump into bed to put an end to that day as well. She had stopped on the threshold of her room with her gaze fixed on the figure sitting on the windowsill "how did you get in?" she hadn't the light, she knew neither of them needed it to see.

"It's not hard to break into an apartment when the windows are open" Sana looked even more beautiful in the moonlight.

"Now you can leave, Momo is with Jeongyeon and she won't be back for the night"

"You know very well that I'm not here for her, but I thank you for giving me this wonderful news. Finally she will stop feeling sad and stealing the show from me, I'm the one who needs to be consoled"

The brunette had rolled her eyes "are you going alone or do I have to kick you?"

The other girl had deliberately ignored that question "my family will help us, they will arrive tomorrow with all the weapons we have available and this only means one thing" she had got up from the windowsill.

"What does that mean? Enlighten me"

The belt Sana was wearing had made a sound similar to that of two marbles colliding before being placed on the desk by its owner "that the final battle is upon us and I have no intention of wasting my possible last night of life"

Dahyun had followed her every move with a detached look "I don't think I understand, are you saying that tomorrow we will be attacked?"

"Most likely" the blonde had taken off her leather jacket soaked in holy water, doing the same with her boots.

"Why are you undressing?"

"I'm getting rid of all the objects that could hurt you, I want you to undress me. It could be our last night and I want to use every single minute to love you"

"What makes you think I'd agree to spend the night with you?"

"The way you are looking at me, this is what gives me the certainty of your feelings for me" she had cautiously taken a step forward "you have every reason in the world to be angry with me, but it would be a shame to waste an opportunity like this, don't you think?"

Dahyun looked torn and closed her eyes to concentrate "don't get involved, she's trying to manipulate you to make you do what she wants. Ignore her"

Two delicate hands were placed on her face "look me in the eyes and you will see yourself that the only thing I want to instill in you is the love I feel for you"

"I can't trust you"

"Then trust yourself and your feelings and if you don't want me even then I'll leave you alone, I promise"

The vampire had opened her eyes, not hesitating even a second after realizing how close she was to the person she loved and giving her a desperate kiss "don't fool me anymore, please"

"I won't do it again, the only thing I can make fun of is your miserable height" she smiled before kissing her, preventing her from retorting and enjoying the feeling of completeness that she hadn't felt for a long time.

Neither of them, as well as all of their friends, was aware of what would happen the next day, but each of them had done their best to make use of every single second of that possible last night.

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