"Ruri-sama..."

"Yes sweet?"

"When are we going to start?"

"Soon enough." The girl reached out a hand, fondly the hair of her taller counterpart who wore a mask, dressed in the swallow-tail of a butler. "Things still need to be planned. But fear not, you'll be sent for soon."

"Yes Ruri-sama." The boy bowed his hair, turning his face towards her hand which lay on his cheek.

"Are you hungry? Here, drink up." The girl chuckled, taking her finger and making a slow, deliberate cut down her wrist. After her boy-servant had fastened his mouth onto the red life did she continue, petting his head like she would an animal. "You want the Knight don't you? And I want the Queen. You would think that he would be the King, but even he has someone who he places up there. He's far to powerful to be vulnerable."

"The Knight serves the King. The Queen protects the King. If we take the King, then the Knight would serve no one. We can't have that, we need to play on his weakness. So we take the King's weakness. We take the Bishop."

The boy raised his head, his mouth ringed with red. "When ojou-sama?"

The smile that spread over the girl's lips was not kind. "Now."

******************************

"I...er..." Ringo blushed furiously and looked down at his hands that were twisting in his blazer. How embarrassing was it that he could not force those words past his lips. Perhaps the only thing that was going his way was that Ryou hadn't noticed; but that was hardly an achievement as Ryou had made no effort to stimulate conversation in any way.

"Look, you've been really nice to me and maybe I've misunderstood but anyway---" Ringo broke off when Ryou held up a hand and his heart jumped to his throat. If he got rejected again... "What's wrong?"

"Something's not right," Ryou frowned. They were standing alone in the courtyard. The school day had just finished and the sun was shooting orange smears across the sky. Most people were already in their dorms and there was no one wandering around the building except them.

"What do you mean?" Ringo tilted his head in confusion, his gaze never leaving Ryou's face.

"Move!" Ryou suddenly shouted, lunging for Ringo and Ringo yelled out in shock as he was ungracefully pushed off his feet.

"What was that for?!" Ringo shouted once he the worlds stopped spinning but then he noticed the cracked flowerpot exactly where they had been standing. "Did someone try to kill us?! Ryou-senpai, what's happening?!"

"Get up get up," Ryou roughly yanked Ringo up, his eyes wild, his body poised and tense. Ringo stumbled to his feet, his gaze moving erratically over the school grounds.

"What's happening?" Ringo panickedly said, locking his knees to prevent himself from falling down.

"Do you think we'd be in this situation if I knew?" Ryou snarled. He suddenly stiffened and Ringo knew instantly, a cold bucket of dread washing over him what was going to happen. A group of, well thugs for lack of a better explanation emerged from the building.

"Yamasaki Ryou," one of them stepped forward from the group of five. Contrary to the other four who were wearing balaclavas, he simply wore an eye-mask, a simple silver colour with a plain design, not dissimilar to the stick-on masquerade masks. "Dispose of your...companion. We have business with you, not him."

"Ringo, leave."

"But, Ryou-senpai---!"

"Now!" Ryou barked. He turned around, the harsh lines of stress around the planes of his face softening just slightly at the sight of Ringo's face. "I don't want you to get hurt okay?"

Even though now was probably not the best time, but RIngo couldn't help but smile at the words tentatively, his heart skipping a bit (not literally, that would kill him). He considered briefly, very briefly ignoring what Ryou had said and standing his ground. But contrary to his appearence, Ringo wasn't stupid. He knew that against the thugs who were twice his build except for the 'leader', he didn't stand a chance. It would make more sense if he could rush to find help and then take down those bad guys and save the day! Ringo nodded as he came to a decision, racing away down to the dormitories because that was where he was most likely to find assistance.

Ringo didn't notice the glint in the leader's eyes as Ringo left. But Ryou certainly did, he was a sharp boy and his heart sank as he revised his decision of sending Ringo away. Perhaps, now that he thought about it, that was exactly what they expected him to do.

"What do you want?" Ryou said and he was proud to notice that his voice didn't tremble. He sunk into a defensive crouch, knees bent, back hunched, reading to fight or flight.

"Don't be like that," the leader laughed and Ryou was struck by the familiarity of that laugh. "We're not going to kill you. Maybe. Rough him up boys but remember, ojou-sama wants him alive."

There was no way that Ryou could take on four men with relatively the same build as him, some build like a brick wall. "Who are you?" Ryou shouted in panic as the thugs started to close in. Just before his view of the stranger was completely blocked off, he removed his mask ever so slightly, but enough that his eyes gazed over the top. "A-Akito?!'

The Akito lookalike simply laughed, putting his mask back into place.

******************************

"Ryou, Ryou, Ryou, don't be dead!" Kei muttered anxiously like a mantra. He had instantly rushed out of his room when Ringo had burst in and after realising the situation, they were joined by Akito.

"I swear, these guys just came out of nowhere! I didn't know them, I don't even think that they even went to this school! I don't think Ryou-senpai knew them either but he was so brave." Perhaps it was not the best of times but Ringo valiantly tried to hide the dreamy look that came across his face. It barely worked and Kei and Akito exchanged a glance over the top of Ringo's short stature, Kei's expression ridiculously sappy, screaming 'isn't that cute'.

"Oh my god Ryou-chan!" Kei exclaimed the moment they entered the courtyard. The school's top student lay on the ground, beaten and bloodied and Ringo noticed with a sick feeling that his face had no bruises or swelling but simply cuts. Cuts that were too precise to be the raking of nails or the debris.

"They had a knife with them," Akito observed. There was a feeling of vindictiveness to notice that apart from Ryou's unconcious and battered body, thankfully not dead, there were four other bodies that were dead. Two of them were beaten up but the other two were completely clean, simply lying on their stomach. As Akito went to nudge one over with his foot, he had to cover his mouth from the stench of the blood.

"That's disgusting..." Ringo looked green and he too covered his mouth to stop himself from fainting. He did not want to be painted as the damsel in distress at this moment, despite his full-blown terror of blood.

You see, the throats of the all the men, not just the untouched ones had been slashed violently. The heads lolled back at an unnatural angle and the gash on their neck was wide, a gaping hole of muscle and sinew, all drowing in red blood that was still staining the pavement.

"We need to get the headmaster." Kei stood up with a forced 'business' expression on his face. "Ringo, come with me. Akito stay here, watch over Ryou, if any of them men come back to life send them back to their deaths okay?" Kei's voice shook and even though he tried to hide it, he was scared, for his life, for Ryou's life. Akito nodded an agreement, not even complaining like he usually would if Kei tried to boss him around.

Akito waited patiently, checking Ryou's pulse every so often to make sure that his friend didn't just die on him. He tried to ignore the tantalising smell of blood and perhaps the only thing stopping him from ripping into the corpses was his pride. If he was going to drink, which he was NOT, he would not degrade himself to drinking from the dead. He was not a scavenger. He was not a vampire, but however much he seemed to deny it, the growing fangs in his mouth said otherwise. The blood tablets weren't working.

Then he noticed something on the ground, right next to Ryou. It wasn't something that one would find often and Akito picked up the chess piece warily. It was a pawn, a black pawn that had been painted silver from the base up but only half of the sphere had been painted in, making it clear that this was a black pawn painted grey. He in a breath sharply, staring at the piece again. If that wasn't a clue, then he didn't know what was. He dropped the piece into his pocket. Ringo and Kei didn't need to know, as much as he disliked keeping secrets from his adopted brother.

A few minutes later, the headmaster came panting up, followed by Kei and Kin but not Ringo. It was well known that Ringo had a phobia of blood and the gruesome sight before them hardly helped in abetting that fear.

"Oh dear oh dear," the headmaster muttered. He was clever enough to have brought a stretcher along and after a moment of heaving, Ryou was tumbled onto it gently with minimal exacerbation to his injury. "Akito, Kei, take Yamasaki-kun to the infirmary and call for a doctor." There was always a nurse in the infirmary but she would not have the expertise to deal with Ryou and also, she only worked during the daytime and work hours were over now. However there were always doctors to call when it was needed which was rare.

"Headmaster," Kin said after Akito and Kei had left. He had been examining the bodies by himself, forcing himself to look past the carnage. "This people seem...unusual."

"How so Yasuhiro-kun?" The headmaster replied tiredly, rubbing his brow with a hand. He could feel a headache coming on.

"Well, not that I tried to see or anything but their canine teeth are elongated...almost like fangs." Kin shuddered at that thought. "Like they were vampires. But that's ridiculous. Vampires don't exist."

"Of course not..." the headmaster said slowly, suddenly seeing the crime scene from a whole new perspective. If vampires were involved, then it would be impossible that Ryou would be their target as he had no links to the race of bloodthirsty beings. However Ryou was close to Akito and Kei but Kei was close to Yorukage and kind of close to Busujima, of course Busujima was Yorukage's best friend and then there was also Sugiyama not to mention the first year that Kei had brought up who had taken an interest in Ryou...Tsukimori was it?

The headmaster shook his head in frustration. There were simply too many branches from the problem; it was not going to help him achieve his goal. He could not do anything as of yet if he didn't know who they were targetting in the first place.

******************************

The party was in full-swing by the time the trio from the Day Class that had been invited to a Night Class party shuffled awkwardly in. It was not like Akito and Kei had never been to the Moon Dormitory but the times they went was during the daytime. Kin on the other hand, had never set foot in the Night Class territory and he looked absolutely petrified and was completely regretting his decision to come.

When they entered, the chatter did not stop, it continued on after a pause but the Night Class students regarded them with open curiosity and suspicion. In the sunlight, the grounds of the Moon Dormitory had looked inviting, warm and regal. But in the darkness only illuminated by gothic lanterns lined along the pebbled pathway...the shadows seemed longer and parts that weren't bathed in the orange glow seemed blacker.

"Kei-chan!" A bright voice came as a duo stepped out to greet the three Day Class Students, still dressed in their black uniforms. For the Day Class, school was Monday to Saturday where on weekdays, it went from morning to evening however on Saturday it was only a half-day. For the Night Class, they did not have school on Saturday as many of them would have plans on weekends. Many were part of vampire aristocracy and the headmaster understood the abundance of balls and parties they threw. Today was a Saturday.

"I hope you haven't been waiting too long," Komuro continued, a warm smile on his face. Kei smiled back and even Kin felt more relaxed at the sight of the (less intimidating) Moon Dormitory vice-president. "Hello to you to Akito-kun and...I do believe we have not met."

"I'm Yasuhiro Kin. I'm a third year," Kin hurriedly introduced himself, instantly red and flustered.

"It's lovely to meet you Kin-kun...may I call you that?" After a nod from Kin who turned even more red he continued. "I do believe that you have met Eiji-chan before?" Komoro indicated the other male standing next to him who was wearing a sullen expression.

"Eiji-chan? I thought I told you not to call me that in public," Eiji frowned, his expression getting even darker.

"Oh did you? It must have slipped my mind," Komuro said with a laugh. "But regardless, Suhou-sama has sent us to you to him. It wouldn't be right if our guests were not greeted by our president would it not?"

"N-No it wouldn't," Kei agreed with a stutter. In his head all he heard was that Suhou-senpai had asked to see him personally! And well, Akito and Kin too but they don't really count.

While Kei was off in dreamland, Kin looked completely puzzled. He hadn't missed the way that the vice-president had addressed the president...Suhou-sama? He met Akito's eye, mouthing the words again to which Akito's expression darkened and he turned away without a response. From the looks of it, Eiji and Akito were almost having a competition on whose mood was the worst today.

Well, Kin mentally shrugged off his worries. If anything, he was going to enjoy himself at least. He spotted a tray of toffee apples, toffee green apples which were his favourite and he took one, biting through the hard sugar layer and into the crisp white flesh beneath.

Green apples, Kin decided are the best. Even if they are covered in sugar. Not that he has anything against the substance but green apples have this uncanny ability to taste fabulous in absolutely anything. He then realises that a)they've stopped walking, b)they've stopped talking (somewhere in the back of Kin's mind he realises that his internal monlogue just rhymed) and c)they all seem to be staring at him expectantly.

"...hurr?" Kin managed to say. Where was the brain-mouth connection when you needed it? He could feel himself start to turn completely red for what was it, the third time that day? Thankfully, no one scolds him or anything, they laugh which only makes it worse.

"We've arrived at our destination. Suhou-sama hasn't met you personally before so please, introduce yourself," Eiji said and Kin feels pleased that he at least has managed to lift the dark look on Eiji's face, if only temporarily.

"A-ah, yes, I'm Yasuhiro Kin," Kin said and he looked at the 'Suhou-sama' which the other two Night Class students have been referring so reverently to. Kin caught sight of him just as he's finishing and he instantly feels the need to do a 90 degree bow even though they're in the same year. And so he did. Somehow, he felt that that was the right thing to do.

"Kin-san...may I call you that?" Suhou asked and Kin nodded. He felt the urge to find a rock to hide behind and he doesn't exactly know why. Suhou seems...perfect. In a way, Kin thinks too perfect. He has the body of a god, all tight muscles and the clothes he wear are like another skin and do nothing to hide it. Suhou's face is finely sculpted and his bangs throw shadows that makes his already midnight eyes seem even darker and is Kin waxing poetic about this guy's looks? Good lord what is wrong with him.

"It is lovely to meet the president of the Sun dormitory," Suhou continued with a polite smile.

"L-likewise. No one there respects me as much as they you," Kin said, his voice steadily losing its stutter.

"No...Eiji-kun, why don't you show Kin-san around? Enjoy the party." Eiji nodded at the subtle order underneath and gestured for Kin to follow him.

Komuro suddenly snapped his fingers and has a 'lightbulb' moment. "Oh I completely forgot! The point of this party is for the new girl, Ayanokoji Megumi-san, to get used to life here. You must meet her. She is an absolute...doll." The slight pause during the description of the student is enough to get the attention of Akito who had been, until that point, crossing his arms and glaring at everyone he can see.

"That's lovely," Kei gushed with a smile. "I wish we were allowed to do things like that at the Sun Dormitory."

"Indeed, it seems that we are given more leeway here," Suhou smiled. He gestured at the empty spot next to him on the lounge that he has been, with no other word, posing on. "Come sit with me Kei-chan."

Kei went almost as red as Kin usually does and he looked helpless for a moment as he looked at Komuro, who gives no indication of anything other than another one of his smiles, then at Akito who simply glared, in other words it's all pretty normal. Kei probably stood there for three seconds like an idiot as he contemplated the decision which takes an embarrasingly long time but he finally decided to sit.

If one can call that sitting and not stiffly plonking one's rear on pillows and not moving. Suhou clearly noticed and he chuckled softly which makes Kei's heartrate increase to much that he's sure that everyone can hear it. "Relax," Suhou whispered. "I'm just asking you to sit with me. Nothing more."

Kei simply nodded because he doesn't think his voice actually functions now. He's saved from having to make any other further comment when a very pretty girl approaches and Komuro's eyes light up because clearly he has been waiting for her.

"Megumi-san!" Komuro smiled before he turned to the two Day Class students. "This is the new student, but I'd hardly say that she's that new anymore!"

The girl bows with a small smile. All Kei can think is wow, she is absolutely gorgeous and he'd probably fall for her if he wasn't completely gay. Megumi has a sort of flawless beauty that everyone in the Night Class seems to possess.

"Izumi-senpai, Kurosawa-senpai," Megumi bowed with another smile and Kei didn't stop to question how on earth she knows their names because he could feel himself smiling back.

"It's lovely to meet you Ayanokoji-kun," Kei beamed back and that made Megumi's grin even wider.

"I have a present for you Izumi-senpai. I have heard a lot about you," Megumi shyly held out a small baby blue gift-wrapped box with a gaudy white ribbon tied around it. Kei looked surprised before he became inexplicably pleased and delighted that someone would give a gift to him. He turned to look at Suhou but he is staring at Megumi with a neutral expression and Kei realised that most likely, he wouldn't be the only one to realise how beautiful she was.

"I would advise against opening that Kei-chan," Suhou said softly, laying a hand over Kei's whose was poised to undo the ribbon. Kei could feel his skin heat up at the contact but blinked  in confusion at his words.

"Why can't I open it?" Kei said, continuing the undo the ribbon nonetheless until it falls gently into his lap.

"Exactly Yorukage-sama, why can't he open it?" Megumi mimicked Kei's expression and tone, her eyes wide and her lips jutting our slightly. She stood with her hands clasped in front of her and her head bowed down slightly and Kei didn't see anything except for a perfect picture of innocence.

"It could be unsafe," Suhou continued, frowning when Kei disobeyed his orders. No one has ever really done that before.

"Unsafe? It's just a present Suhou-senpai and someone like Megumi would be incapable of---" Kei broke off his speech with a muffled hiss followed by a pained whimper. It's almost as if things go in slow motion because of one small action. Behind him, Akito who had been standing so silently and being as well-behaved as he could suddenly stiffened, in a sharp breath and reaching an unsteady hand up to his throat to loosen his tie. Suhou shot a calculating look at Megumi who is smiling with her lips stretched too wide before he turns his head and pinned Akito a...look in which the dictionary does not have a word for an adjective to be tacked in front of it. But Akito glared back with twice as much venom before he whirled around and left the party with hurried and uneven steps.

"Paper cut," Kei said with a smile but it still hurts because Kei ahd always had a low pain tolerence and in the past he would have burst into tears at anything breaking his skin. He likes his skin unmarred. "Akito...hey where's Akito? Akito! Where are you going?!" And then he ran off too, following his adopted brother's retreating form.

Komuro picked up the box after the two humans leave, carefully undoing the sticky tape and letting the paper fall onto the ground without a rip. Inside it's a plain white box and when Komuro lifted the lid, inside was a plain silver mask.

"Suhou-san," Komuro said, dropping the 'sama' honorific when they weren't in the vicinity of other vampires. "Is this of any significance to you?" Because contraty to popular belief, Komuro isn't exactly as much as Suhou's best friend but rather the closest thing the pureblood has to a friend. Suhou has always been a solitary person and while he knew everything about everyone, it wasn't a two-way road.

Suhou says nothing when he catches the mask that Komuro throws at him but simply turns it over. They realise then that Megumi is gone.

******************************

"Akito! Akito, wait! Oi! AKITO DON'T YOU DARE IGNORE ME!" Kei screamed as he chased his brother across the grounds. At first he thought that Akito was going to the stables again, his usual 'cool-down' place but he veered down a different fork, heading to, Kei realised, the pool which hadn't been used recently because winter had just finished.

He finally caught up to Akito but only because he's stopped, slumped over with his back to Kei, his left hand gripping the fence of the pool to hold himself upright on his knees. "Akito...what's wrong?" Kei asked, walking over until he is standing right behind him.

"It is unwise to be near me now Kei," Akito said, panting heavily and his speech coming out broken and distorted. Kei frowned in concern and ignoring what Akito said, moved so that he was in front of him and crouched down to be on eye-level.

"Hey hey," Kei said softly, placing his hand under Akito's chin and for once his adopted brother does not bother to swat him away and he took that as acceptance and tilted Akito's face upwards so that he could see better if he was sick.

Akito's face was flushed and covered with a sheen of sweat and he was panting like he'd run a marathon. But what made Kei's blood run cold was  that Akito's normally golden brown eyes are a startingly bright red and that he could see the tips of fangs when Akito opens his mouth to draw a breath.

Kei remembered one of the first lessons that his adopted father had ever told him. About how a human could be turned into a vampire.

"Now Kei-chan," Takashi said seriously but gently as he talks to a small child, no bigger than ten. "There is only one way that a human can be turned into a vampire. Do you know it?"

"If they get bitten by a vampire?" A little Kei said as he sat on a brightly colorued plastic chair behind a table with a toy dog on the table.

Takashi smiled at that. "Very close. Not every vampire has the ability to turn humans into more of their kind. Only purebloods can. You remember what a pureblood is don't you? Back in the day, before the Vampire Council, which honestly is not much better, there was one pureblood family that was royalty. And while they no longer are king of vampires, they still comandeer a lot of respect.

Hunters killed many purebloods because they were dangerous. They could create armies at their command. Now, I can could on two hands, the number of purebloods left in Japan and in other countries, it is much the same. Now, these vampires that purebloods created, we call them Level D. They are especially bloodthirsty and 50% of them can control their thirst with blood tablets which they essentially gorge on.

For the other 50%, their bodies would reject blood tablets and they would go so mad with bloodthirst that they would degenerate into mere beasts controlled by their thirst. They've become Level E and when they reach that level, there is no hope left to turn them back into sane beings. They have to be killed. Even if this 50% of Level Ds were given willing donars of blood... think about it as teasing a starving, famished man with tiny bits of steak. They become even hungrier so that is why the degeneration is inevitable.

There is only one way to...not cure a Level D but to delay the degeneration into Level E. And that is if they drink the blood of a pureblood. A pureblood is not simply a status, a caste system. Their blood itself is different and it can keep a Level D sane and sated. However no pureblood would ever let any vampire touch their blood, it is sacred and certainly not for a Level D.

Take away from this lesson, Kei-chan that even though degeneration from a Level D to a Level E is a slow process usually, you must recognise the signs and kill a Level D before it has the opportunity to become a Level E and kill hundreds of innocent civillians for their neverending bloodthirst. It cannot be stopped."

"Akito..." Kei breathed, staring at his brother...a vampire. He knew what he was supposed to do and his anti-vampire weapon, a staff of shorts felt heavy on his back where it was concealed but he could easily reach it. But this was his brother, not some mindless vampire. He couldn't, wouldn't kill his brother like he was an animal waiting to be put down.

He swallowed nervously as he came to a decision. Akito hadn't moved, simply watching him and gauging his reaction. He tilted his head to one side, exposing the length of his neck and brushing the hair away from it. "Here. Drink."

That clearly wasn't the reaction that Akito had been waiting for and he recoiled. "Kei...don't do this."

"It's what you want isn't it? I'm offering, drink."

"Damnit Kei, I'm a monster! You're supposed to kill me! Kill me damnit!"

"You are my brother." When Akito still didn't move, almost shaking from the effort to restrain himself, Kei sighed and braced himself. He took a deep breath before raking his nails over his neck, hard enough to break the skin and let the blood flow freely. That did the trick aas Akito's eyes were instantly drawn to the red rivulets staining the collar of his white shirt. "Just...don't drink too much okay?"

"Kei..." Akito looked like he wanted to laugh and cry at the same time but he swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mind. "I'm sorry." Akito lunged forward, knocking Kei onto his back and sinking his fangs into Kei's neck, lapping hungrily at the blood that messily overflowed. Kei winced at the sharp pain that did not go away after the initial breaking of the skin and he wondered how on earth there could be willing donors for this.

"Argh, Akito, Akito that's enough. Akito! Stop!" Kei pushed at said person's but his attempts were weak and his head started to feel light. He still struggled attempting to dislodge Akito, more like rip him away from his neck but somehow ended up tumbling both of them into the pool.

Well at least Akito did let go after that.

Kei spluttered, inhaling a mouthful of chlorinated water as he took an infinitely long time to reach the surface, in his opinion. Not too far away, Akito also surfaced, shaking the water from his hair almost like a dog. The red was starting to fade from his eyes but not fast enough for Kei's liking and he could feel a cold pit of fear settle in his stomach.

Then there was a loud, sudden burst of sound, of a gun being fired. Akito hissed, grabbing onto his shoulder where the bullet had grazed him, that is, taken a chunk out of it. That certainly, knocked all the bloodthirsty haze out and he turned to glare at the person who'd fired the shot.

"And I thought I'd never have to pull an anti-vampire weapon on my own student, huh Akito?" The man drawled, cockning his gun again and pointing it at Akito again.

"Honda-sensei..." Akito growled out through the pain of the bullet wound.

"Oh, the kid even remembers me!" Honda Ren, the current teacher of the Night Class said.

ANNA: I kind of tweaked Kin's character a bit. So now he's not only class president of 3-C (was that the letter I'd assigned to his class before?) but he's also the president of the Sun Dormitory. Still no one respects him XD. I'm so sorry that the tense of all over the place. I kind of wrote half of it ages ago and then I started writing it again and voila! It suddenly changed to present tense! I tried to change most of it back to past tense but if you see a sudden tense change...that's completely my fauly I'm so sorry.

Wow I'm so sorry I haven't updated in that long (has it really been a month and a half?). I really don't have an excuse. The last two weeks, I could have updated seeing as I was on holidays but I had no inspiration for the story. Fear not, it is back! But a month ago, I was swamped with exams. But now...I really don't want to be in my final year of high school. I have to take my university entrance exams in half a year! Good lord I am so not really to be at the top of the high school food chain...I wish I could stay 15 forever. Gosh, I liked year 10. Last year, year 11 was fine as well but year 12...not looking forward to that.

I'll stop blabbering about myself now then. I hope you like the poster I did (even though it's more like a character list). I will make a better poster eventually though so fear not! Check out the second chapter for a list of minor characters! This chapter is basically divided into two parts, the next one is in the next chapter. Stay tuned for an update on Ryou's status, what Eiji and Kin got up to alone and who Megumi really is.