Soon, the classes had ended and it was time for us to leave. Well not really yet since we had to wait for the rest of the course to leave so that we could stay back and leave when it was our time to go. Natsumi-san had already let us off the hook for this one but I am pretty sure she will be taking the punishment during the training. I just hope she goes easy for us.
We stayed back a little longer with Ai taking a seat right in front of me. We chat a little and complain about classes until it was finally time for us to leave. I got off my seat and so did Ai. Getting to the VEO from here would take time so I already scheduled a taxi for us. We got out of the main school gate and saw the taxi standing right there waiting for us. We got in, confirmed it was us, and started our journey.
Ai placed her head on my shoulder resting and breathing slowly with her eyes closed. I wouldn’t really want her to be sleeping since it will only take us half an hour. My eyes were fixed on the road but it was kind of difficult to see because of the tinted windows. This is weird though; I’ve never seen tinted windows in a car before. Why would someone want to put these?
"Sir, why are the windows in your car tinted?" I asked the man and he laughed and turned towards me. I could immediately recognize his face. We didn’t put much thought into it before but he was the same man who we found in the Sakura taxi. "Wait, why are you riding this taxi? Don’t you have another car?"
"Oh, that one? Well the thing was young man, this poor man here got in a little accident and the car has gone to repair but we still need to earn to put food on the plate so this is the car of a friend of mine who lent me," he explained and my eyes widened.
"Oh, I’m so sorry about that. But why are the windows tinted though?" I asked him and he chuckled a little.
"If you remember it properly young man, even my old car had tinted windows," he said much to my surprise.
No, there was no way that was true. I remember the windows not being tinted and being completely transparent. I don’t remember a lot about the old man back then apart from the fact that it was really fun talking to him but as far as I remember, I could feel the rays of the blazing sun right on my delicate skin.
Let’s…not phrase it that, way. It’s cringe.
Getting back on track, my eyes were set on the man and he did not take off his glasses. Even so, I could feel his gaze piercing through me instead of it being focused on the road which he should be doing because there was a truck right in front of us!
WHOOM
Without even a sweat dripping down his forehead, he just maneuvered the car in such an elegant and easy way right when it felt like we would crash into that big vehicle weighing tons at a time.
"So, how were you talking with your sister Shiba Kazuki?" the man said and my eyes widened with the sudden mention of her.
"Why do you think I have a sister?" I asked trying to act unhinged by the comment even though on the inside my mind was hyper analyzing everything and only one thing was coming to my mind about this man. If he is who I think he is, both Ai and I would not be able to get out of this car unless he wants to.
"Come on now, don’t play dumb with me," he said and took off his glasses.
Red, pure red eyes were what I could see in the rear-view mirror of the car.
He really was the person I thought he would be.
Dominic.
I looked to my side but saw that Ai was sound asleep slowly breathing on my shoulder which made me even more concerned. If Ai is sleeping…does that mean he did the same thing he did to me yesterday to Ai now? No, this is not good at all.
My hand moved to my pocket trying to give a missed call to Natsumi-san since she was on speed dial.
"Move another inch closer to your device and I will make sure the girl will not make out of this conversation alive," he threatened me in a serious tone and I gulped hard.
"Oh, yea? And what will you do?" I asked him but he stayed silent and chuckled. "Go on, tell m- "
"Preys are not supposed to know how a predator is going to hunt them. That is the mistake many vampires these days make. They have big mouths and speak a lot about what they will do with their target and how they will achieve it. A little message to you younglings. Learn when to shut up," he said and kept driving without even a care in the world. I could feel that feeling again, that chilling feeling down my spine.
"What do you want from us? Already planned on kidnapping us?" I asked him trying to keep my composure. The issue right now was that I was scared. Really scared and the worst part was that he knew it. He had the entire situation in the palm of his hands. No matter what I say or do, how this entire encounter will end will solely depends on him and him alone. We were mere pawns on the chess board and he was playing from both sides controlling the pieces.
"Today is not the day for me to do anything more active than what I had done yesterday," he said and I had to take his word for it while still being on the guard. I thought about calling Akira but I really have to think about when to do it. I think asking her to take us to the VEO would have been the best bet.
Note to self, don’t go anywhere without Akira taking you there. Even if it is in the day.
"If you want to call Tatara, you can. I won’t stop you for that," Dominic said as if completely reading my mind. "That poor little girl has already seen me in battle a couple of times and the most she will do is to take you both out of here which I don’t really mind. I wanted to talk to you for your own benefit."
"Hmm?" I raised my eyebrow confused and also having my interest piqued by what he said. This might very well be a trap honestly but I was ready to listen. "Okay, but I want to ask you something first."
"I don’t think you are in any place to make demands here Kazuki," the man said confidently and he was right. He was the one in power right now, if he wanted, I and Ai would be dead by this point. "But since I am in a good mood and here to casually chat with you, I will allow this one."
"First, do you know something about…Yuna?" I asked him openly since that was something I really had to know.
"The girl is alive," he said and stopped the car due to traffic. His eyes fell on Ai and then right back at me and he chuckled. "Feel like you haven’t really told her about your sister’s death. Have you now?"
"Um…"
"The girl is alive and is a vampire now working for me. She is quite a nice pawn honestly. It’s rare to see such abnormalities in today’s time such as herself. Skill full and also quick-witted, she surely has a long future ahead of her given that she does not betray me. If so then I won’t wait a single moment before I- "
"Fine, fine, I get it," I said interrupting Dominic much to his amusement. Even though I felt the fear of death having to interrupt the man who was speaking to me, I had to do it. I could not even bear hearing what he was about to say.
Updated from freewёbnoνel.com.
"After so many years, you are one of the few who had the audacity to interrupt me. I will respect it though Kazuki but this is the only time I will let it slide. Another time and you will be good as dead," he threatened. "Now, what I wanted to talk to you about."
I gulped a little and heard intently what the man was about to tell me.
"I want to leave Yuna in your hands for some time."
"What?!"
I shouted out at the top of my lungs almost jumping from my seat. Ai mumbled in her sleep but did not wake up like that which was a relief but I looked back at the man who stopped the car right before the VEO building. He unlocked the doors of the car and Ai started waking up a little.
"Well then, don’t forget to check your front door tonight, Shiba Kazuki."
What even is this guy thinking?
Ai woke up and looked at me with a smile on her face but I did not move. She looked at me confused and then immediately felt the presence of someone similar. Her nails started to come out but I stopped her on the spot.
"No Ai, we cannot do that here," I told her holding her back.
"What do you mean Kazu-kun?! There are two of us! And just this asshole we can kill him!" Ai said and Dominic chuckled and I reached for my pocket.
"There is no need for that Shiba Kazuki. Just make sure your little lover here doesn’t cause any problems for me. We are right before the VEO but as much as I would love to kill every single one of you insects as I please, it would be nice if I don’t have to go through all that now," he told making Ai even angrier.
"Ai, stop," I said to Ai in a commanding voice and her face dropped.
Was I scared?
Yes.
If it were just me, would I act like Ai and not worry about my life?
Not sure about it but I know if Ai were to attack him, the chances of him just killing her on the spot were really high and I didn’t want that. That was the last thing that I wanted. I opened the door of the car noticing that he parked in the shade and took Ai by her hand.
"Well then Shiba Kazuki," Dominic said nodding his head and I slammed the door close and walked away.
I walked with Ai’s hand in mine and I was holding it tightly. My entire body was shaking.
Was I scared?
Yes, I was terrified.
I couldn’t even think straight anymore feeling my entire energy completely drained from the conversation I had with Dominic.
He truly is a fearsome man.
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