Low hissing noises awoke me.
With my eyes still closed, I could sense that people were in the room. Whoever was in my room seemed to be arguing with one another, but I didn’t know what they were fighting about.
I cracked one eye open and saw two pairs of scarlet red eyes staring at me. I screamed as I jumped up. The two boys moved away to avoid their foreheads bashing into mine.
“Who are you?” I inched towards the back of the bed.
I rubbed my eyes and finally got a better look at the intruders. Two tall identical boys were staring at me. They both had blond hair that stopped in the middle of their neck. Both had two locks of hair in a braided crown tied around their head with another braid strand dangling on one side of their face. The only way I could tell the difference between the two was which side of their head their braid was on.
The one with the braid on the right tried to speak to me. He pulled down the black cloth mask covering his mouth. “My name is Nodin! My brother’s name is Niles.”
Niles nodded eagerly and gave me what attempted to be a welcoming smile, but came off as menacing. If it weren’t for their black hooded cloaks and belts of blades on their muscular build, I wouldn’t have been so intimidated.
“Nikolas boyfriend?” Niles questioned in broken Japanese.
I nodded slowly.
The two boys glanced at each other happily and smiled.
“We older brothers!” Nodin pointed at himself and his brother. “We kill!” He lifted his arm from his cloak to reveal his sleeveless bicep and flexed.
My eyes widened in horror as I pushed my back against the wall. These giants are the last things I’ll see before I die.
The twins faced each other before looking back at me. Nodin tilted his head and blankly stared at me. Niles let out a gasp and smiled at his brother, then at me. “We kill not humans!”
Nodin nodded. “Yes! Not human!”
I laughed nervously which made both of them giggle in response. I watched as the two inched closer to me. Instinctively, I threw the bed sheets at them and jumped off the bed. I grabbed onto the chair near the desk and flung it at them. They struggled to remove the sheets at first, but with a swift movement, the twins took it off and nearly dodged the chair. I attempted to throw the nearest items towards the twins, but they merely caught it or avoided it. I beelined to the door, but I felt myself levitating. I turned my head and saw one of the brothers lift me off the ground. I punched one of them square in his jaw. He faltered slightly but quickly composed himself and giggled. My jaw dropped realizing I was powerless against them.
“PLEASE DON’T EAT ME!” I cried desperately.
“What the hell…”
The three of us turned our heads to the squeaking sound. I heard a growl and hissing noises from the doorway. The brother that was carrying me swayed me back and forth and I started panicking. The twins started laughing again.
“Niles!” Nikolas scolded. He said something aggressively which made Niles put me down softly.
The brothers quickly went up to Nikolas. Nodin ruffled his hair while Niles put his arm around his neck. They were both just as tall as Nikolas.
“Nik, they tried killing me!” I said while panting.
Nikolas clenched his jaw in response. Without a clue, Nodin spoke to Nikolas in a cheerful tone while pointing at me. Nikolas's face palmed and spoke back in an irritated tone.
“Ignore them. They're assassins, but they do not intend to kill you.” Nikolas said something to them in Vampirish while shoving them out the door.
“See you later!” The twins cheered.
Nikolas brushed his hands through his hair and let out a sigh. “This is why I dorm on campus.” It was quite amusing seeing him in this state. “Did my brothers do anything strange to you?”
“Besides what you saw, no.” I sighed. “They came in while I was sleeping. I barely slept for ten minutes.”
“Sleep? At this time?”
I scrunched my forehead. “Isn’t it nighttime?”
“It’s 4 pm.”
“4 PM!?” I shouted.
“You’re in Transylvania.” I facepalmed myself as Nikolas grabbed my hand. He motioned towards the door. “I want to show you something.”
I nodded and followed him out of the back of the castle.
-
The icy breeze brushed against my skin, but this was nothing I was not used to. I turned and saw Akio rub his hands against his arms as smoke left his nostrils. I quickly removed my cloak and placed it on him. His eyes looked up through his pink fringe as he thanked me. We passed through the walls of the castle which revealed an entire field of flowers.
He gasped as his eyes lit up. Akio crouched down and examined each flower. “I've never seen these flowers before. How do they grow in the winter?”
“My father uses magic.”
Akio was in so much awe that he forgot how intimidating my father acted towards him.
“This is a daisy,” I pointed to the white blossom in the grass. “That one is a bellflower, this orange flower is a hawkweed, and this is a cornflower.”
“Aw, they're getting snowed on.”Akio's fingers brushed off the snow on the flowers.
“My father is the one who primarily takes care of the garden.”
“This is a garden?” Akio asked in surprise.
I nodded. “He enjoys growing wildflowers around the castle.” I pointed at the ground near the wall which was covered in different hues of pink, purple, orange, and yellow.
Akio picked a blue flower, a cornflower, from a bunch and lifted it above his face. He moved it around in the sunlight, his dark orbs staring at the iridescent petals. He glanced at me and flashed a smile.
A flower is not immortal, but its beauty is everlasting.
I watched silently as he grabbed another cornflower. I walked to where he was crouched. I picked a cornflower too and tucked the flower behind his ear, a few petals flying off of its bud in the winter breeze.
A smile appeared on his face again. He continued to pick flowers, occasionally sniffing their aroma.
Without him noticing, I grabbed my phone and aimed my camera at the scenery in front of me. His rosy cheeks were the same shade as his hair. His hands delicately felt the petals of the hawkweed. A smile was plastered on his face as he lifted a flower to his nose. I snapped a photo, a loud clicking sound echoing in the air.
Akio swiftly turned his head. “Are you taking pictures of me?”
I covered my mouth and averted my gaze, hiding my grin.
He scrunched his nose. “I want to see!”
I shook my head as I put my phone away.
“That's not fair! Show me!” He shuffled towards me and I moved back. Akio tried to reach for my pocket, but I spun around before he had the chance to. He hopped to my left, but I jumped back, causing him to fall face flat into the snowy grass.
I quickly went to his side to see if he was alright. He turned on his back and let out a laugh. I decided to lie close beside him, lying down on my left side. I couldn't help but stare at his facial features.
“I've only seen Japanese flowers so these are all new to me.”
I eagerly watched his lips as he began talking about the different flowers in his hands. My hand moved its way to his arm, but I hesitated. I desperately wanted to touch him, but I'd been restraining myself so I wouldn't get carried away.
Akio's eyes moved to the right to meet mine. Our gaze was locked with one another for a few seconds before he put the bunch of flowers down. He placed his hands on my face and sat up with closed eyes. I slowly closed mine and let it happen. The soft sensation of his snow-kissed lips didn't last long as he quickly moved away and covered his face with his arms.
“What's wrong?”
His face was still covered. “I've never kissed anyone.”
“...Yes you have.”
He vigorously shook his head. “Those don't count! It was my first time initiating the kiss.”
I struggled not to pull his face into another kiss and pin him to the floor, but I thought otherwise since we were in the snow. Instead, I helped him off the ground. Before I could do anything else, there was the sound of crunching snow. I turned and saw my sister.
“Dinner is ready,” she glanced at Akio, “Akio, feel free to join us.”
The two of us nodded.
“Before I forget, take this.” I took out a cylindrical vial from my pants pocket.
“What is it?” Akio held the bottle with his pincher fingers.
“Ryunosuke helped me make a translation potion. You’ll be able to understand any language my family speaks. The taste is a little unpleasant, however.”
Akio popped the cork and gulped the purple iridescent liquid. He smacked his lips and frowned. “Not too bad.” His eyes suddenly lit up. “Oh! That reminds me.” Akio started to reach into his pockets. “I'm not sure if you celebrate Christmas, but I got something for you.” He put a tiny pouch in my palm.
I pulled the string which revealed two silver hoops.
He took the flower behind his ear and twirled it between his fingers. “You mentioned that you had to change your wardrobe because of the change in your hair and eyes, so I got silver earrings for you.”
I became content with his attention to detail. I placed the earrings through my earlobes.
“Do you like it?” Akio said earnestly.
I nodded. “I've been wanting to get silver hoops. Thank you.”
Akio gasped. “Did you speak in Vampirish just now?”
“The potion works I see.”
Akio smiled brightly while reaching for my hand. “Let's go eat!”
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