Chapter 4

Skylar's Pov:

I woke up with a moan as I picked my head up off the pillow. It didn't hurt at all, just felt a little heavy from sleeping. I looked around the room seeing everything right where it was before.  I sat up slowley as I rubbed my head, thinking about the dream. "What happened? What was that dream of?" I thought to myself, as I put my arm down to look out the window.  The moon wasn't above my window anymore, but I still saw it's glow, which ment it was still night.  I got up from the bed, as I noticed the bangage on my arm.  I brushed my other hand over it, as I flinched in pain a little.  I didn't see any red on the bangage, which ment it was healing. I sighed as I looked back out the window, when I heard a knock.  "Come in" I said, as I started to walk towards it.  The door open as Kou brought in a little bundle of roses, sitting in a vase.  "I wanted to give you this" he said, as he handed them in my directon.  I took them confused, as I gave a good whiff.  I smelt their sent, which stuffed my nose up a bit, but I didn't let that bother me.  "Thank you" I said, as put them down on the dresser next to me.  I turned towards Kou as I spoke again. "I'm guessing you want some blood" I said, knowing that's what that shelter did with food. Kou looked at me funny as he shook his head. "No, I just wanted to give you a welcome home gift.  Seeing that your living with us now.  So, welcome home Skylar" he said, as he stretched his arms out, and a big smile was planted on his face.  I looked at him, not knowing what to say or do. "Um, thanks?" I asked.   I turned to look out the window again, as I kept watching the moons glow.  

I slowley walked over to the window, as I looked out, seeing a dark blue sky, and a bright moon in the middle of it.  I saw how bright the moon was as it brighened up the sky, and the earth below it.  I stared at it, ignoreing Kou for a few minutes.  I silently heard footsteps comming closer as Kou spoke. "The moon is bright tonight, don't ya think?" he asked, as the question grabbed my attention.  I looked at Kou, as he stood next to me and cracked a little bit of a smile.  I nodded silently as I looked back up at the sky, looking strait at the moon. I heard Kou release a slight chuckle as he looked back up at the moon.  "Has it been a while Skylar?" he asked, breaking the silence again.  I turned to him as I studied him.  He was looking up at the moon, just like I was.  He looked so happy, just watching the moon. "What?" I asked, confused about the question.  Kou looked back at me as he spoke. "The moon.  Has it been awhile since you saw a moon like that?" he asked, as I looked back up at the glowing orb in the sky. I sat there as I watched it some more. "Yeah.  I haven't seen the moon since I was taken" I said as I looked down in sadness.  I felt like breaking down and crying, but I grew up knowing that I couldn't.  I felt Kou glare at me, but I didn't look at him.

I sighed as he spoke again.  "You can cry if you want to" he said, as the statement caught my attention.  I looked up at Kou as he was watching me.  He turned so his body completley faced me, as he held out his arms towards me. I looked at him in fear, as he started to walk up to me, his arms blocking me like a cage.  I started to shake in fear as I closed my eyes, and I let out a little yip like noise.  I felt my forhead press up to his chest, as his arms wrapped around my back, keeping me close to him.  One arm stayed at my back, as the other one reached up towards the back of my head. His arm at my head started to rub it gently.  My eyes widdened as I sniffled, more in fear than tears.  "Did he want blood?" I thought as he placed his chin on my head, and stayed there.  Finally, he broke the silence again.  "This probably never happed to you, did it?" he asked, as I looked up at him.  I didn't know what to say or do, so I just stood there puzzled.  Kou smiled as he did it again. "It's called a hug.  It's a sigh of affection" he said, as he backed up.  I looked at him still confused of what just happend. He smiled as he started to walk towards the door. "Sorry for the interuption" he said, as he left the room, shutting the door behind him.  I slowley walked up to the window, thinking of Kou's actions just a moment ago.  I thought about the hug he gave, and the warmth that it brought.  "I thought I was their slave" I thought to myself as I sat in the winow sill, watching the moon again.

I watched the moon for about an hour, just sitting in my room alone in the dark.  Nothing has changed, except for the brightness of the moon.  It seemed to enhance more through the night.  I found it intresting, so I been watching it, ever since Kou left.  I thought about the hug he gave, and how warm it felt.  I don't remember getting hugs at all, and if I did, it wasn't since I left the farm. It felt a little weird being here, without my shackles or anything holding me down on. I sighed as I looked back at my wrists, seeing the blood starting to peek in again.  It looked a little lighter, which ment that  it just started to go through the last layer.  I looked out the window again as a knock came on my door. "Come in" I said, as I looked down at the bandage.  Ruki walked in as he spoke. "I made dinner, if your hungry" he said, as I looked back at him. "Oh, ok.  I'm coming" I said, as I walked towards the door, and waited for his comand.  He looked at my bandage as he sighed.  Quickly, he grabbed my wrist, as he examined the blood peeking through.  I gasped in fear, as I started to shake, not knowing if I was getting weak again.  "Hmm, we should probably take care of this before dinner" he said, as he let go of my wrist.  "Follow me" he said, as I walked out of my room, and followed him through the mantion.

He walked into a bathroom, which was yellow and it had white appliances in it.  The room gave off a nice glow, when the light was turned on.  I stood at the doorway as he opened the mirror, revieling shelves  packed with medical products on it.  He started to pull out bangages and different things, as he turned to me. "Come in, and sit on the toilet" he said, as he went back to what he was doing. I gulped as I walked into the room, and sat on the toilet lid next to the sink.  I looked around the bathroom, then at him, as he finished collecting things.  He shut the mirror as he turned to go into a closet, and grab a small square towel. He filled the sink with water as he put the rag in it.  "Alright, let's see here" he said, as he sat on a stool, a little highter than the toilet.  He didn't ask for me to do anything, as he grabbed my wrist, and unravel the red gause.  The red bangage was pulled off, revieling my wrist.  Once the gause was off, I didn't see what was wrong. Just a bunch of dried, blackish red blood was stuck to my arm.   Ruki sighed as he took the rag, and ringed it out.  Once that wasn't dripping of water so much, he balled it up, and dabbed my wrist, freeing it from the blood.  I whinced in pain, as I leaned over and closed my eyes.  I didn't know what was making it hurt, but it stung extremely.  I felt tears, drip down my cheek as I opened my eyes again.

"Just take deep breaths.  I need to clean the blood off" he said, as he continued to do what he was doing.  He dabbed at the blood in the middle, while the skin started to flip over with the cloth.  I screamed like he was killing me, as a tear streamed down my face.  "Focus on your breathing, and not what i'm doing.  It's bad, so it's going to hurt" he said, as he continued.  I closed my eyes, feeling the tears continue to fall down.  "Ok, the rag must be reopening it more" he said, as he put the rag down.  I looked up as he pulled my sleeve up even more.  "Ok, look down at the floor and" he said, but was interupted by a knock. "Ruki, what's taking so long?" Yuma asked, as his voiced echoed through the door.  "Yuma, can you please help me with something?" he said, as the door opened and Yuma came in.  He shut the door as he sighed.  "That's a lot" he said, as he walked over.  Ruki nooded as he sighed. "Can you stand of this side of her, and keep talking to her while I do this?" he asked, as footsteps entured the room.  I heard Yuma sigh as he sat by me. I turned to him as he wrapped an arm around me, blocking the view from what Ruki was going.  "Ok, i'm going to be as fast as I can" Ruki said, as a pain shot through my arm, as I felt skin starting to peel up. I flinched as Yuma pulled me closer to him, as he rubbed my back. "It's ok .  Keep taking deep breaths and focus on my voice" he said, as he started talking to me.  I felt another pull of the rag, as I yelled again. This time it was like a scream.  Yuma continued to calm me but it didn't work.

I went to look but Yuma pulled my face into his chest again.  At this point all I could see was black. Yuma kept asking me something, but I didn't know what he was saying.  I felt tears drip down my cheek as I sobbed. "It..hurts" I said, with a whimper in my voice.  Yuma shushed me as he spoke. "It's going to hurt, but we're making it feel better" he explaned as everything continued.  Another whipe of the rag, another flinch and scream.  I heard Ruki huff as the rag dropped on something, but I couldn't see what.  My head was still pressed into Yuma's chest, just seeing black. "Alright, I'm going to rinse it out. This might sting" Ruki said, as water was rushed in and out of it.  I flinched again, as a scream echoed through the bathroom, and probably thought the house.  "Shh, he's almost done" Yuma said, as he still kept me up against his chest.  I started to breath lighter, as I felt weaker. I opened and closed my eyes, trying to stay awake.  Yuma shifted as I stayed up. "Hey, don't fall asleep on us.  Try to stay awake" he said, as I looked up at him. He was looking at me like he was the one in pain.  I felt anoter swipe of the rag, as I pressed my face into his chest, as I cried.  I heard Yuma sigh as he turned towards Ruki. "Hey you almost done? It's hurting her majorly" he said, as Ruki's voice replied instantly. "Almost" Ruki said with one last swipe of the soapy rag.

"There, I think we're all set" he said, as Yuma moved out of the way, and Ruki put the rag on the counter.  "Ok Skylar, I need you to come to the sink" he said as he guided my arm up there, and held it over the bowl of the sink.  He turned on the faucet as he pulled my arm under the running water.  I flinched as another scream entured the room. I felt the stinging of the soap, as it left the cut and ran into the sink.  Ruki put his hand over the cut, as he rubbed it, getting the rest of the soap out  of it.  This only took a couple of minutes, then the water shut off.  I looked up as I tried to steady my breath from the screams.  Ruki was rubbing it, through a wrapped up towel. He sighed as he looked at me, while cracking a smile. "We're almost done Skylar. Just need to finish wrapping it, then we'll be done" he said, as he stopped patting the towel on it.  "Good thing is that it's not really bleeding anymore" he said, as he reached for the bandage.  Yuma sighed as he looked at Ruki. "Are you all set or do I need to stay here with you?" he asked, as Ruki looked over.  "I think I'll be all set.  Thanks" he said, as Yuma nodded and left.  Ruki sighed as he took the bangage and wrapped it a little tightly around my wrist.  "It's tight" I said, as I tried not to whince again.  Ruki continued to wrap it as he spoke. "I want it tight.  That's how we are getting it to stop bleeding" he said, as he pulled it tightly, then ripped it off the roll. Finally, he finished with a piece of tape and started to put the stuff away.  "Alright, you want to try eating?" he said, as  I nodded.  He gestured me towards the door, as he went first.  "Follow me, I'll show you to the diningroom" he said as we left the bathroom.

I followed him down the stairs and into the livingroom, which was empty at this point.  We walked through the room and into the next, which was the dining room.  It had a somewhat long table, which each of the Mukami's sat at.  A buffet was behind where Ruki took a seat in.  He gestured towards the seat next to him. "Please join us" he said, as I nodded.  "Oh, yeah. Sorry" I said, as I walked over to the seat and sat down.  I filled my plate of food, as I started to  eat slowly.  "I can blend it up or something, if you can't take it" he said, as I just ate at a slow speed.  "No, this is ok" I said, silently as I ate slowly.  I looked over at Kou as spoke like he remembered something.  "Oh, Reiji called. They want to bring Yui over and see how Skylar's doing. I told him that it'll be up to you when you want people to" he said, but Ruki cutted him off. "I don't want people over until I know Skylar's going to be all set.  Right now she's still bleeding, so I don't want anyone to feed of her" he said, as the room fell silent, except for the clanking of the dishes.  I continued to eat from my plate, as I ate slower, taking it all in.  Everything tasted good, and warm within every bite.  I looked at Ruki as I spoke.  "This is good" I said, as Kou, Yuma and Azusa looked at me.   I kept eating as Ruki spoke.

"Has it been a while since you had a home cooked meal?" he asked, as I nodded. "Yeah. Back at the shelter, I didn't get food a lot" I said as I continued to eat. Ruki looked back down at his plate as he spoke again. "Well, I'm glad to see that your not being bothered by it. The shelter said they didn't feed you enough."  I shook my head, even though he wasn't looking. "No, just a piece of bread every once in a while, and that was probably once a week.  If you did everything you were told to." Yuma was the one that spoke next.  He sighed before he said anything. "That place treated you humans like dogs with an expiration date" he said, as I looked over at him.   I sighed, as I went to eating slower. "Yeah. It wasn't the funnest place to be"  Ruki cutted in before anyone said anything. "Well, we're not going to talk about it anymore.  You won't be going back there, and I'll make sure of it" he said to end the conversation.

We ate in silence for a while, until everyone started to finish.  I placed my fork on my plate when I was finally done of my meal.  "That was good. Thanks" I said.  Ruki looked up at  me as he sighed. "No need to thank me. I'm just looking out for you" he said as the room fell silent again.  Kou got up as he grabbed his plate. "That was good Ruki. But I'm going to branch off from this point" he said, as he walked away from the table.  Azusa didn't say anything, but he followed right after him, which left me with Ruki and Yuma. "How you feeling tonight Skylar?" Ruki asked, as the question grabbed my attention.  "A little better. It's been a while since I had a meal like that."  Ruki looked up at  me as he sighed. "Do you think you could help Yuma with the guarden starting tomowor?" he asked, as I nodded.  "Yeah. I can help with that and I wouldn't mind that either" I said, which brought a smile onto Ruki's face. "That's good. But take your time with it. We don't want you to pass out on us.  That being said, if your still feeling better. The Sakamaki's want to bring Yui over to see you.  Plus, Yui will be sharing a room with you for a while. She'll be staying over here to give the Sakamaki's a break. Is that alright?" he asked, as he looked back at me.  I nodded again to answer him back. "That's fine with me" I said, as he cracked a smile. "Alright. I think we're about done here unless Yuma has something to add." I looked over at Yuma as he shook his head. "No. What about school?" he asked, as I looked back at Ruki. "If you can work and move around here, for a week without feeling sick or weak, I'll put you through school. That reminds me" he said, as he looked at Yuma this time. "It'll just be you two tomorrow. Class is tomorrow, so you'll have her to yourself. Remember, no taking blood until she can work for a while."  Yuma nodded but stayed silent. Ruki turned to me as he spoke. "Skylar, your free to go. I need to talk with Yuma alone for a while."  I nodded as I got up and walked off. "Thanks again for the meal" I said, as I left the dining room.

Once I left, Ruki looked at Yuma.  "Do you want to start yet?" Yuma asked his older brother.  Ruki shook his head as he looked back at the door. "For now, continue to keep fangs off of her.  She's still too weak and I want to make sure she's going to handle it. That's why I'm putting the guarden and school first.  I'll let you three know when I think we should see if she is really Eve.  For now just keep feeding off Yui, but not in front of Skylar.  I don't want her to feel like a pet again" he said, as he got up from the table.  Ruki started to walk out of the room as he stopped in the doorway. "Yuma. Please help me pass the news to Kou and Azusa.  They need to be informed as well" he said, as he started to walk out again. "Will do" Yuma replied while taking a stretch, and left himself.