Block A 「Nishimura Riki」

33

"Huh? What is it?" Eiko questioned, suspiciously acknowledging the man's actions. He said nothing and shook his head towards her question.

"That will be answered when you meet her. I will escort you both now, just follow me."

And Eiko and Riki looked at each other, searching for the same amount of confusion in themselves in one another. Then they nodded, like a small nonverbal conversation shared and understood between the both of them. Eiko locked her arm with Riki's, not catching the flustered look on his face nor the fond look sent her way, but just walked behind the man to see where they would be led.

===

Koroi. Long silky charcoal shaded hair, but this time pinned into a bun with a lustrous hair clip, the beads of diamonds along the design of the clover. Her moles are distinct and stark against the complexion of her airbrushed skin, a remnant of the beauty in old oil or watercolor paintings from dynasties ago. "I see you did it," she elegantly spoke in her orotund voice. "You fixed the routine."

Eiko clutched the book in her hand, getting tense at Koroi's overwhelming presence. Riki held her wrist and caressed the skin of her forearm with his thumb. He suddenly recalled the bite mark from days ago, but to his silent shock, the wounds were healed completely.

"I...I did. I suppose, but I have questions."

He squeezed her wrist, a small sign that she was doing good so far.

"And those are?" Koroi questioned, being guided by the man Eiko had seen last time over to a seat across from them. They were in the dining hall, the lengthy table stretching far enough to hold two to three families depending on how big or small they were.

Eiko set the book on the table with a soft thud. She could see Koroi's eyes immediately shoot to the cover and slightly widen but it was left at that. "A friend of mine had mentioned that I may be a vampire. I want to ask if that is true?"

"Hmm." Koroi shifted forward and perched her elbows on the surface of the table, a knowing smile creeping to her rouge-tinted lips. "And why do you think that?"

"The routine ended without me knowingly turning. I didn't do anything to stop it, it just stopped on its own," said Eiko.

"What makes you think that you haven't been possibly turned in your sleep?" Koroi questioned.

"I would've felt it, no? I don't think turning is easy on the body," Eiko answered.

"Did you take something? Like anything from a vampire?" Koroi added, casually glancing at her nails and somewhat reassuring her appearance based on what she felt.

"Um. I...I did, but Riki told me that it wasn't from any of his major areas that would make me turn," responded Eiko.

"And how do you know that you can take his word?"

"But I wouldn't...I wouldn't do something like that unless I was asked to," Riki justified.

Eiko caught the corner of Koroi's lips twitching into something akin to a satisfied smirk, but not entirely. It only served to make Eiko curious about what Koroi knew about their situation. Who was Koroi? What was this place? And what does Koroi know?

Eiko glanced at Riki, the look in his eyes searching for solace within Eiko, and she was there, as his fated lover, to comfort him. "I know, Riki. I know what he has shown me whether it has been all of him or not. Riki wouldn't do that, I know for sure."

"Hmm," Koroi hummed. She pointed a slender finger towards the book, her nails manicured finely, and the blank nail paint was glossy and fresh. "It's unlocked," she stated, somewhat surprised. She then intertwined her hands and used them to hold her chin up. "Open it and read it to me."