ALBEIT

“WHERE IS SHIZUKA?” Keito asked as the hunters stepped on the dojo.

“Gomen…” Kota apologized. “We couldn’t find her.”

Keito gritted his teeth in anger.

“A-anou…” Yuto started looking at his best friend. “I-I burned the whole building.” He said rather apologetic.

“You what?!”

“Gomenasai… I just thought it would be for the better. I wanted to make sure that most vampires, if not all will not survive. I just got carried away. I didn’t think…”

Keito was now pacing the wall opposite them. He was so angry, he could hit Yuto at the time being but his sense was telling him to hold on.

The vampires and the hunters avoided each others eyes. Neither one knew what to say.

“A-anou…” Yuto stammered. He bowed to them, “Gomenasai. Hontou ni gomenasai.”

“Iie.” It was Jhenie. “Don’t worry, we will find Shizuka.” She told him in a very soft voice. “For now, we have to take care of Natsu.” She said and looked at the prisoner.

Natsu was blind-folded. They made sure that she wouldn’t be able to see the way towards the village. Though, Yuto had a hold on her, they still couldn’t be relaxed. She is a very powerful vampire after all.

Jhenie nodded. Yuki and Sandhie took the vampire in the arms.

Natsu felt the powerful hands on her arms. “Where are you bringing me?” she asked while struggling against their hold. “Let me go!” She exclaimed as they dragged her away. “Yuto!”

Yuto just stared as they brought her away.

Jhenie sighed. Her usual calm features seemed to aged a lot. “They will ask her for an answer. I hope she can help us look for Shizuka.”

Yuto nodded.

“Aya, will you start looking for her?” Jhenie asked the metaphysicist.

Aya stared at Yuto before she nodded and went away.

Without looking back, Keito followed Aya.

“Ah, anou…” Yuri started. “Jhenie-sama, can I talk to you?” he asked.

Jhenie looked around her before tilting her head.

“In private.” He said.

Jhenie eyed both the hunters and vampires who was as shock as she was at Yuri’s request.

She nodded then walked away. Yuri followed, aware of the questioning gaze that he was getting from the people around him.

They stopped on an empty veranda.

It was a peaceful night, probably one to be enjoyed after a long while. Crickets were buzzing from trees to trees. The wind was calm and it smelled of freshly pines. The sky was full of sparkling little stars. Though, summer solstice was quite near, the night air was still so calming. And the moon, the moon was yellow and crescent. It was not too overpowering but it was a beautiful sight.

“It was the most beautiful night I have ever seen.” She commented smiling as she watched the moon.

“Hai.” Yuri agreed.

“Do you think they could see the same night? Those people outside the mountains?” she asked.

Yuri stared at the yellow crescent moon. “I don’t know.”

“I think people here see different things than what we see outside.” Jhenie commented.

Yuri chuckled. “I think so, too.”

“You will tell me something, right?” she asked

Yuri nodded.

“Does it have something to do with that beautiful moon?” she asked.

Yuri was taken aback. He stared at the pretty face of the vampire beside him. She seemed to be glowing, taking in the light of the moon and gleaming from it.

She looked back at her. Her gleaming eyes suggested knowledge beyond comprehension. She smiled lovingly at him.

“H-how did you know?” he asked.

Jhenie smiled. “It’s just a guess.”

Yuri looked away from her. “A-anou.” He stammered. “Yuya-nii…” he let his voice trail. “He had a mark, here…” he said and pointed on his shoulder.

“A mark?”

“It’s a cross and a crescent moon. I think I’ve seen it on him before demo…”

“Hmm…”

“The moon… it’s gleaming.” He stopped and looked at her. “And it is the same one that I saw on Sir Vermelli’s back.”

Jhenie stared back at him. “The original rio-bios?” she asked.

Yuri nodded.

“So… you mean…”

“There is a possibility but I am not sure.” Yuri answered. “Yuya-nii is my guardian. He never even told me that he is a rio-bios. That is something he would tell us if he knows. He wouldn’t want Kei to suffer.”

Jhenie looked at the moon. “Yuri-kun, do you realize how powerful the moon is?” she started. “He could push and pull the water of the sea yet we don’t know how he does it. Do we?” she asked.

“No…”

“That is still a mystery. We say that moon’s gravitational force bestows this effect but do we know how that happens? Where did he get it?” She stated. “That is how mysterious the moon is. But to know its real power is beyond human knowledge. We only know that it’s powerful enough to bend the water of the Earth which is bigger than it is.

“There are so many mysterious things that we deny, Yuri-kun.” She looked at him. “It is up to us to acknowledge it and use it well.”  

Yuri smiled at her and nodded. “I will tell Yuya and Kei.” He said. “Maybe this will help us solve one of our problems.”

Jhenie smiled and nodded. She was left staring at the moon. “It may… but not all, neh?” She told the moon.

YUTO STARED AT HIS BEST FRIEND WHO WAS SULKING ON A CHAIR. “Hontou ni gomenasai.”

Keito shook his head. “It’s not your fault, though I admit, I want to hit you right now.” He said not looking at Yuto.

Yuto sighed and stood beside a wall.

“Why did you bring her with you?” Keito asked after a while gaining the attention of both Yuto and Aya.

Yuto chuckled and pouted. “I guess I grew a little fond of her. Besides, we can use her.”

“Not typical of you.” Keito answered. “To grow just a little fond, that is new. If your girlfriend knows about you getting fond of a vampire you’ll surely break up.”

Yuto laughed at that comment. “Yeah, right. The only vampires she approves of are Jump.”

Keito smirked. “Boku wa vampire… kimi wa target.”

“Will you two shut-up!” Aya commented. “I can’t concentrate.”

“Probably it’s better for you to sing that song.” Yuto commented at her. “And then we’ll sing, ‘Kimi wa vampire… Bokutachi wa target’. It would look real.”

Aya let her pangs drop and gritted it on Yuto.

“See.” He pointed at her. “That would look great on a concert.” He commented.

Aya gave him a sullen look  before going back to tracing Shizuka’s where-about. “By the way, where did you get your power?” she asked.

“I don’t know.”

“As a matter of fact…” Aya looked back at him. “I haven’t seen anybody who was able to wake up from that kind of magic unless one is really powerful enough to break that mind controlling spell.” She mumbled. “I really don’t understand.”

“Maybe she transferred her powers to me?”

Aya was absent-mindedly staring at a map of Tokyo in front of her. She let a stone in the string dangle at her hands, frequently brushing on the areas of the map.

“Iie…” she said after a while of consideration. “That kind of power is non-transferable. If it is, I could have transferred mine to whoever want, a long long time ago.”

The stone suddenly stopped moving and fell on the map. She looked at where it fell. It was not within the map itself, it was in some katakana letters. “Ehhh, Tokyo underground?!” she exclaimed.

Keito and Yuto rushed behind her. They looked at each other.

“What do you mean by that?” Yuto asked.

“Demo… Tokyo has a lot of underground, right?” Aya asked. “I mean, like nightclubs, or Yakuza village, or underground drug dealing… what?”

Keito stared at the two of them then shrugged.