After the incident, Mitzu had encouraged [Y/n] to lie down on his bed and rest for a while. She was shaking terribly and her eyes were squeezed shut. She'd much rather be in her own bed, but at this point in time she was grateful that Mitzu seemed to care a little bit about the effects of his actions.

"Hello!" a happy voice (Aytsa's no doubt) called from the doorway; the door slammed into Mitzu's wall causing the male to turn around and glare. "[Y/n]?" Aytsa called out, the jubilance fading from his tone and being replaced with concern. "The fuck did you do, Mitzu?"

"I just told her not to leave," Mitzu spat, holding his hands in front of him like he'd done nothing wrong. Aytsa raised an eyebrow.

"Sure you did. [Y/n], come on, let's go," Aytsa said softly, walking over to [Y/n] and placing a hand on her shoulder. Mitzu glared poisonously over at him but he ignored it. [Y/n] tensed at the feeling of Aytsa's hand, now slightly rough and calloused from his hobby of making things. "Please?" he added quietly, his voice almost pleading. "I've made a little present for you— it's a bit shoddy, it was the first time I'd tried to make one, but I think you might like it?"

"I want to go home," [Y/n] muttered quietly. Aytsa sighed, turned to glare at Mitzu again, before lifting [Y/n] into his arms. Despite being pretty short and frail looking, Aytsa was bloody strong, holding [Y/n] with no effort.

"Well why don't you shut your eyes and pretend my room's home?" he said softly. [Y/n] gritted her teeth, not liking being spoken to like a child, though she figured there wasn't much she could say about it. Aytsa began to walk, carefully making sure he didn't bump her on any walls or doors, before reaching his room and - as his hands were occupied - opening his door with his foot.

He placed her down and shut his door. He then raised his index finger to indicate that he wanted her to wait for a moment, before he moved over to his messy workbench and picked up a small wooden box. He brought it back over to [Y/n], blowing the dust off it, before passing it to her.

[Y/n] stared at it in confusion and concern for a second. She could only hope that when she opened it, it wouldn't send her spiralling into another one of those visions. Hesitantly, she did so.

It was a necklace - a pretty necklace with a silver chain and a glistening shaped pendant on the end. The shape? A kitten. How adorable yet oddly concerning.

"Do you remember this?" he asked, an amused smile on his face as he held up the drawing of a cat he'd done on the same day that he'd declared she was a 'kitten'. She nodded, though stayed quiet. "Well, I remember that night I established that this was a portrait of you," he chuckled, shaking his head at his childishness. [Y/n] couldn't find the same amusement, however, the vivid images of her dismembered friends playing in her mind over and over like a broken record. Aytsa's smile turned slightly sad.

"When I was with Rayne, I managed to work out where to get my hands on some uncut diamonds. They're much less expensive if you have to cut them yourself, and you wouldn't believe that he actually funded me getting them for you!" he laughed. "That little charm is made of pure diamond, well— with some platinum backing to hold it to the necklace," he smiled.

[Y/n] couldn't work out what was more shocking - the fact that she was wearing an expertly crafted diamond necklace, or the fact that Rayne of all people had been the philanthropist who'd allowed it to happen.

"Th-thank you very much Aytsa, but I can't accept this," she said quietly, pushing the box towards him. Aytsa raised an eyebrow.

"I mean I knew you'd say that but could you at least try the necklace on first?" he questioned, a small frown on his face. He then took her hand and pulled her over to the mirror in his room, before delicately removing the box from her hands and standing behind her. He placed the necklace around her neck and [Y/n] noticed how his breath hitched a little when he saw the bite mark from Seishin, however he managed to ignore it and did the clasp.

The necklace fell into place and an overwhelming sense of... pleasantness, strangely, came with it. It was gorgeous and glistened beautifully. Still, she couldn't accept it. She moved her hands behind her neck in order to remove the necklace, before feeling those abrasive hands gently take hold of her wrists.

"Ah ah," he shook his head, staring into [Y/n]'s eyes through the mirror. "Keep it on for a bit longer. Please," he said softly.

"I'm starting to think you've cursed it," [Y/n] muttered.

"I'm not like Mitzu or Seishin," Aytsa sighed, "I just want you to realise how much it suits you," he laughed softly, before releasing her wrists. Her arms fell by her sides and she let out a sigh of defeat.

"Okay, fine, I'll keep it on," she sighed, turning back to look at Aytsa. Unexpectedly (and why it was unexpected was anyone's guess, because she definitely should have anticipated this), a pair of arms wrapped tight around her and she was pulled into Aytsa's chest. Only momentarily, however, because his excitement that she'd accepted her gift made her then pull away from her and gaze at her happily.

"Thank you," he grinned, tilting his head to the side as though it was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

"N-no, I should thank you— this looks like it took ages to make," [Y/n] said quietly. "A-and thanks for not- um- cursing it or whatever," she hummed. Aytsa laughed at this, shaking his head in a 'don't mention it' sort of way. There was a small pause before [Y/n] furrowed her brow. Aytsa noticed this and gestured for her to speak.

"Um..." she began hesitantly, "how the hell did you get Rayne to pay for the diamonds?"

"Whatcha mean? Rayne's a pretty nice guy," Aytsa laughed. [Y/n] winced at this. Just when she was starting to think Aytsa was one of the more sane individuals in this group. "How do you know him, anyway?"

"We've had a few... encounters," [Y/n] mumbled quietly.

"Not good ones, then?" Aytsa hummed, his tone curious, though also almost accusatory. He'd have to find out what the hell Rayne had done to make [Y/n] dislike him.

"Not particularly," she sighed, before rubbing the back of her neck.

"Well now you're with us, you shouldn't have to see him again," Aytsa smiled. For some reason, no idea why, [Y/n] felt that Aytsa's words weren't much of a reassurance. After a moment, Aytsa took [Y/n]'s hand and dragged her over to his workbench. She looked a little confused, especially when he took a piece of wood and a saw and placed both in front of her.

"Don't get any ideas with that saw, okay? I'm putting a lot of trust in you," he chuckled. [Y/n] could tell his words were just to tease her. Even if she wanted to pull a stunt with the possible weapon she'd just been given, she knew he wouldn't let her. He then grabbed a pencil and drew a perfectly straight line across the wood. "You ever used a saw before?"

"No," [Y/n] said quietly, picking up the strangely flimsy object and wondering how the hell it was supposed to cut through wood. Aytsa stood close beside her and took her hands in his - usually she'd be bothered by this, but he was giving her a task and she had no idea how to do it so she supposed it only made sense.

"You place your hands here," he said, positioning her hands, "and you put the pressure here - if you put it anywhere the saw will just bend," he said, before showing her how it simply bent to the side when pressure was put elsewhere. "See?" She nodded. Aytsa took his hands off hers and gestured for her to have a go. "Press down and move forwards and backwards," he explained.

Well, she made her best attempt and she sort of began to saw into the wood, so Aytsa was satisfied. He gave her a thumbs up and walked over to a different part of the workbench, grabbing some items of his own.

"What's this for?" [Y/n] asked curiously, tilting her head to the side as she continued trying to saw through the wood. It wasn't easy and, with her strength, it took quite a bit of time to even see that it was doing anything.

"Just a nice easy project that you can do," he smiled. "Those are gonna be casts." She nodded and continued trying to saw. "So, why'd you look like you'd seen a ghost when I went to rescue you from Mitzu?" Aytsa asked, tinkering with some metal clamp.

"He did something weird with his music," [Y/n] said vaguely. Aytsa narrowed his eyes at this.

"What did he show you?" he asked, though his tone was more demanding this time. [Y/n] hadn't known whether Aytsa knew about his strange ability or not; she wished she'd just pretended he'd said something weird or something.

"Oh, nothing much— just made me think of home. I got overly sentimental," she shrugged.

"Don't lie," Aytsa said, his tone relatively dull, a massive contrast to what it was before. It sent shivers down her spine. He paused what he was doing and looked over at her. "What did he show you?" he asked again.

"It doesn't matter, Aytsa, really—"

"Yes, it does," Aytsa huffed, before taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly to calm his temper. [Y/n] had almost forgotten how unpredictable Aytsa could be - he'd been so calm and chill before. "I'm sorry [Y/n]. Don't say if you don't want to," he muttered. She hung her head before going back to trying to saw the piece of wood.

Awkward silence. [Y/n] thought long and hard about how to break it.

"Um... so what did you and Laion do when you left the house?" [Y/n] asked finally, her eyes fixed on the piece of wood.

"Rayne taught us about illnesses, diseases and wounds for both humans and vampires. Told us how to treat them and stuff," Aytsa began, seemingly glad the awkward silence was over. "Well, he focused that side of things more on Laion. He told me more about his experiments and projects because Laion didn't really want to touch them," Aytsa tailed off.

"Experiments?" [Y/n] questioned, goosebumps rising on her skin. Just what sort of stuff had Aytsa been exposed to?

"I can't tell you about them," he sighed, "but they were pretty interesting. If not a bit... out there," he laughed. "I can see why lots of people don't like Rayne but I think he's trying his hardest to better society and understand science more, you know? I mean, vampires don't know all that much about it. He's our only reliable source."

"He's also a psychotic sadist, Aytsa," [Y/n] muttered, pausing what she was doing again.

"Then maybe I am, too," Aytsa said simply, glancing over at her and gesturing for her to continue cutting the wood. She hesitated this time, her thoughts solely on his words, though he gave her a small glare and she dipped her head and continued what she was doing. She was almost half way there now.

"Don't be like him," [Y/n] said quietly. Aytsa chuckled at this and shook his head.

"A bit too late for that. He's deemed me his apprentice," he said proudly. A sudden heat came from Aytsa's direction and [Y/n] glanced over - he was using a blowtorch to melt some bits of metal together. It took her back to her time with Kori. She shuddered.

A little bit of awkward silence and sawing later, the wood finally split in two.

"Aytsa, I cut the wood," [Y/n] called, looking over to him. She tried to keep the triumph from her voice, not wanting to seem like she enjoyed her time with him, despite the fact that she was quite proud of herself for actually managing to cut it.

"Excellent," Aytsa grinned, placing down a strange plier-looking device and walking back over to [Y/n], picking up his pencil. He passed it to her. She stared at him in confusion as though saying 'the hell am I supposed to do with this?'

"Draw a couple shapes on the pieces of wood - anything you want, could be an animal or a plant or just a plain shape. Whatever it is, it's got to be easy enough to engrave into the wood," he hummed.

"Engrave the lines or the whole shape?"

"The whole shape," Aytsa clarified, and [Y/n] slowly nodded her head.

"Just to warn you, my drawing skills are nonexistent," she hummed. Aytsa shrugged, shaking his head to propose that he didn't believe her. She then made an attempt at drawing the shape of a tulip on the first block of wood. Aytsa then passed her the second block of wood and she thought for a moment before drawing a cloud. Nice and easy. She couldn't help but notice Aytsa's eyes sparkle with an idea when she drew the cloud.

"Brilliant! For now, we're done. However, there's one last thing I—" Aytsa was cut off by the creaking open of his door. His arms immediately crossed over his chest in an annoyed fashion as he glared at the intruder.

"You're back early!" Aytsa huffed. Laion shrugged.

"We only needed to make some— something for burns? I can't remember what he called it," he shrugged. Aytsa sighed. "He wants you to help him with that Henry guy." Laion's nose scrunched up as he spoke. He could still smell the rotting flesh.

"Now?" Aytsa questioned. Laion nodded. "Wait just one moment—" he said, walking over to his bed and grabbing what first looked like a goose feather. Upon further inspection, it was a quill. He passed it to [Y/n].

"This is also for you. If ever you need ink, just come to me and we can draw together or something. Okay?" he smiled sweetly. The action clearly made Laion jealous and [Y/n] could see this. She, to save the situation, simply dipped her head and quietly thanked Aytsa for his kindness. Aytsa kept up the happy facade, though she could tell just by looking at his eyes that inside he was seething.

"Well, wish me luck," he laughed dryly, picking up a strangely heavy looking bag from beside his workbench and slinging it over his shoulder. He pushed open his door and walked out without another word, leaving it open for Laion and [Y/n].

The dirty blonde male looked down at [Y/n] and took her hand in his. "Come on, then."

Two full chapters in the course of two days?? Impossible! It's a bit bad though, oops :(