Kei/Sho - Moon Child - #19 - Humility
"Title: Going it Alone
Fandom: Moon Child
Characters: Kei and Sho
Theme: #19 - Humility
Rating: PG-13 for violence, mention of prostitution
Summary: Kei has to rescue Sho when Sho tries to handle things on his own.
Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warning: I do not own these characters. This is an uchikake. This is a naga-juban. Proofed by mitsuchan and uranus_sama. Thanks for the encouragement. ♥
~*~
Kei kicked in the old-fashioned sliding door in just in time to see Sho, clad in a short wig and several layers of ornate kimono, twist free from a tall man’s grasp. He lunged for the brute in front of him, grabbing him by the torso and pushing him roughly to the tatami-covered floor. The man Sho tackled placed a meaty hand over Sho’s forehead and tried to push him away but Sho grabbed the fingers over his face and wrenched them backwards, earning a scream from his attacker. Sho followed it up seizing the man’s other hand and wrenching it in an awkward twist, further disabling him.
The man that had been holding Sho down was recovering from being knocked over by Sho’s momentum. As he stood up, snarling at Sho with sadistic intent, Kei dashed in with speed the human eye could barely register and kicked in his kneecap. The man collapsed with a howl.
“Kei!” Sho exclaimed, suddenly grinning between his battering of the man he had tackled. Black hair framed his face in short, androgynous pageboy.
Kei was too focused on his target, though. The man he had kicked was crying and distracted from the agony of his sudden knee injury. Kei planted a well-aimed kick to the man’s ribs and he collapsed onto his side. The man was in no position to protest or escape as Kei pressed his foot on the side of his throat, applying just the right amount of pressure to render him unconscious without choking him.
He was watching his prey’s eyelids flutter closed when he realized Sho was staring at him. He looked over at Sho’s target and saw he too had been knocked out -- evidently by a bonsai planter, which remained intact but had scattered soil around his assailant’s head.
Kei realized Sho’s lip was swollen and bruises were forming on his face and neck. He was draped in a flowing uchikake, a vividly-colored wedding kimono, and his face was still pale with left-over white powder. There was a smear of blood on his face from where he had wiped his bloody nose. His lips were tinted red with the remnants of lipstick, which showed on his teeth as he smiled sheepishly and tried to stand but accidentally stepped on some of the excess fabric, yanking himself to his hands and knees.
Kei would have laughed if the sight hadn’t roused less-than-happy memories of the distant past.
“Are you okay?” He asked, going around Sho to help him slip off the layers of kimono.
“I’m fine.” Sho raised his arms compliantly and Kei tugged the first one off and Sho set to work untying the numerous sashes that held everything beneath the outermost layer in place. It was brilliant, gradated red and orange silk brocade with intricate embroidery and painted-on dye forming cheerful nosegays, cranes, and traditional hand-drums. It must have made someone a radiant bride.
As Kei was about to toss it aside, he noticed a large, narrow gash by the shoulder.
“Are you sure?” Kei said, peeling two more less decorative layers off of Sho’s shoulders until he reached the red and white under-kimono, a naga-juban. A flower of maroon bloomed on one of the sleeves. “What happened?”
“It’s just a cut...” Sho said, petulance creeping into his voice. “Forget about it, help me find my clothes, please?”
“In a minute,” Kei pursed his lips and ripped up the hem of one of the chintzy kimono Sho had worn beneath the colorful uchikake.
Sho shrugged the naga-juban off, revealing a deep horizontal gash on his bicep.
“Shit, that’s pretty deep,” Kei frowned and tied the fabric tightly over the wound and then yanked the wig off; hopefully then he would stop reminding Kei of the alluring girls and young men kept in barred storefronts that he saw when he lived in the Taishou era.
“I’m okay.” Sho was nonchalant but Kei knew it had to hurt.
“Where are your cl--” The vampire started to ask but was interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway.
Kei was ready for them when they appeared in the doorway where the sliding screen had been. Sho had already covered his ears as Kei fired off two shots, each hitting a man in the face. The third jumped out of view, and Kei pushed Sho to the floor and made sure he was blocking the boy’s body just as the man ducked back in to take a shot.
Kei grunted through gritted teeth as the bullet ripped into his chest, just below his right clavicle.
The man lowered his gun, thinking Kei was down for the count. He couldn’t mask his surprise when Kei fired off another shot, hitting him in the shoulder, then the head.
Kei winced as he stood, allowing Sho to sit up. His blue eyes widened as he saw the ugly wound just below Kei’s shoulder.
“Are you okay?” He asked, tugging his naga-juban back on.
Kei coughed and nodded. “Where are your clothes?” He scratched the ragged hole in his shirt, pointlessly scratching his healing flesh.
“Some other room, they made me change fi--”
“We better just leave them then,” Kei said as he moved to open the window. He didn’t see Sho’s mortified expression as he looked for some method of unlocking it.
“I can’t run around in this!” Sho protested, gesturing to his state of undress; all he had left on was the naga-juban and white tabi socks.
“We don’t have a choice.” Kei looked around for a moment before picking up the bonsai Sho had used to knock one of the first men out. “I only brought one extra clip and we only have one gun. Unless those were the only guys here, we don’t have a choice.” With that, he threw it forcefully at the window.
It shattered, as did the bonsai’s pot once it hit the alley outside. Kei broke off the glass that remained on the bottom half of the frame so Sho could slip out without hurting himself.
“Go,” He commanded as he stepped aside, relieved the Asian-style building only had one floor. Sho looked around with a wince before cautiously stepping out the window.
The knee-length hem of the naga-juban caught on a stray piece of glass and as Sho brought his second leg over the wall, he inadvertently exposed himself to the empty alley and ripping the fragile garment.
Kei snickered and unhooked the fabric from the glass shard so that Sho was free.
Sho cursed as he fought to re-gather the naga-juban around himself. Kei started to climb out the window when Sho stopped him.
“Wait. Get the other kimono, the big one.”
“Why?” Kei asked with a shake of his head, “Yeah it’s worth money but it’s not worth going to the trouble of trying to s--”
“Please?!” Sho asked, surprising Kei with his desperation. “I don’t care about selling it right now, I need something to wearnow will you explain how you ended up in drag evidently in a brothel?”
Sho covered his face with his free hand as Kei poured some disinfectant over the gash on his arm; they had stopped to buy a fresh stock of first-aid supplies as the only disinfectant they had left had at home was some expensive rum that Sho’s brother Shinji had conned someone into buying.
“I didn’t know they were dressing me up in drag, I thought they just wanted to make me look more traditional.” He dropped his hand and turned to glare at Kei but all Kei saw was a pouting teenage boy. “And I didn’t know it was a brothel! I thought they were going to make me serve tea or dance with a fan or something.”
Kei paused, closed his eyes for a second, and opened them once he had a controlled smile on his face.
“What?!” Sho demanded, thoroughly embarrassed.
“Nothing,” Kei shook his head, not wanting to get into any discussion that might involve dancing. “I hate to say it,” he said grimly, changing the subject, “But this is going to need some stitches.”
“Shit,” Sho muttered; he’d gotten himself into a lot of sticky situations before but he’d always managed to get away mostly unscathed so far. “How bad is this gonna hurt?” He looked Kei in the eye, nervousness pinching his features.
Kei was silent for a moment as he looked at nothing in particular.
“Mm... well, it usually hurts a lot, but...” he trailed off uncomfortably, but Sho was feeling bold this time.
“But what?”
“I can make it hurt less...”
“What, turn me into a vampire?” Sho was genuinely curious.
“No!” Kei shouted. Sho paled and the vampire realized he said it far more harshly than he intended. “No, not that.” He said with a calmer, quieter voice. “Just... my saliva instead.”
“...your spit?” Sho repeated, his expression innocently curious. Kei still could not meet his gaze.
“Yeah.”
“Well, okay,” he shrugged and looked straight ahead. “It’s not like we can afford going to the hospital. I hate shots anyway.”
Kei’s heart beat faster; this didn’t seem right...
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” he nodded, a vision of practicality and calm.
“Okay.” Kei rinsed the pungent disinfectant with warm water and lifted Sho’s arm while leaning down a little.
He dragged his tongue along the open flesh; it still tasted strongly of chemicals but the heady flavor of blood was still present, as the wound was a deep one.
Thankfully he had fed on one of the men at the entrance to the brothel so his hunger was mostly satiated... but that didn’t stop the uncontrollable longing brought on by the temptation of available blood.
Sho was stiff, unmoving, and silent, but Kei could sense the pounding of his heart. He wasn’t sure when he started to enjoy it but at some point he found himself alternating the pressure and speed of his tongue as he lapped at Sho’s arm, secretly hoping to urge some sound of pleasure from him instead of just increased heart rate and slightly heavier breathing.
It was then that Kei realized that he had to stop. When it stopped being about the analgesic effect of his saliva making it easier for him to suture Sho’s wound and more about some illicit, elusive pleasure, Kei blanched and abruptly tore himself away.
“Uh, that should be enough,” Kei wiped his mouth and sat up. Sho said nothing, only nodded.
An awkward silence reigned as Kei prepared the rest of the necessary articles. He held the tiny needle he gotten just for this over the flame of his lighter before threading it, wiped some more disinfectant on Sho’s arm, and then pricked him with the needle.
“Can you feel that?”
“Not really,” Sho said, his voice a little unsteady.
Kei took that as a good sign. He set to work on the stitches and worked in silence for a while, uncertain of what to say. He wanted to say something like, ‘And what lesson did we learn today?’ but he couldn’t talk down to Sho like that.
Thankfully, Sho spoke first: “I guess I’ll do a little more research before jumping into a job next time...”
“Contrary to popular belief, there’s no shame in asking us for help, you know,” Kei teased the boy, smiling fondly.
Sho looked away, and Kei was pretty sure he was pouting a little. He started to flinch as the needle went through his skin. The vampire pretended not to hear his sniffles. Sho never said a word about the pain, though.
As time passed, the deep incision healed fine, albeit in a less uniform scar than the initial injury indicated; Kei had never had to sew up someone’s flesh before.
“You could always use it as bragging rights to impress girls, right?” Kei would tease him when Sho complained about it. It was especially funny when he sometimes heard him do just that.
~*~
Fandom: Moon Child
Characters: Kei and Sho
Theme: #19 - Humility
Rating: PG-13 for violence, mention of prostitution
Summary: Kei has to rescue Sho when Sho tries to handle things on his own.
Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warning: I do not own these characters. This is an uchikake. This is a naga-juban. Proofed by mitsuchan and uranus_sama. Thanks for the encouragement. ♥
~*~
Kei kicked in the old-fashioned sliding door in just in time to see Sho, clad in a short wig and several layers of ornate kimono, twist free from a tall man’s grasp. He lunged for the brute in front of him, grabbing him by the torso and pushing him roughly to the tatami-covered floor. The man Sho tackled placed a meaty hand over Sho’s forehead and tried to push him away but Sho grabbed the fingers over his face and wrenched them backwards, earning a scream from his attacker. Sho followed it up seizing the man’s other hand and wrenching it in an awkward twist, further disabling him.
The man that had been holding Sho down was recovering from being knocked over by Sho’s momentum. As he stood up, snarling at Sho with sadistic intent, Kei dashed in with speed the human eye could barely register and kicked in his kneecap. The man collapsed with a howl.
“Kei!” Sho exclaimed, suddenly grinning between his battering of the man he had tackled. Black hair framed his face in short, androgynous pageboy.
Kei was too focused on his target, though. The man he had kicked was crying and distracted from the agony of his sudden knee injury. Kei planted a well-aimed kick to the man’s ribs and he collapsed onto his side. The man was in no position to protest or escape as Kei pressed his foot on the side of his throat, applying just the right amount of pressure to render him unconscious without choking him.
He was watching his prey’s eyelids flutter closed when he realized Sho was staring at him. He looked over at Sho’s target and saw he too had been knocked out -- evidently by a bonsai planter, which remained intact but had scattered soil around his assailant’s head.
Kei realized Sho’s lip was swollen and bruises were forming on his face and neck. He was draped in a flowing uchikake, a vividly-colored wedding kimono, and his face was still pale with left-over white powder. There was a smear of blood on his face from where he had wiped his bloody nose. His lips were tinted red with the remnants of lipstick, which showed on his teeth as he smiled sheepishly and tried to stand but accidentally stepped on some of the excess fabric, yanking himself to his hands and knees.
Kei would have laughed if the sight hadn’t roused less-than-happy memories of the distant past.
“Are you okay?” He asked, going around Sho to help him slip off the layers of kimono.
“I’m fine.” Sho raised his arms compliantly and Kei tugged the first one off and Sho set to work untying the numerous sashes that held everything beneath the outermost layer in place. It was brilliant, gradated red and orange silk brocade with intricate embroidery and painted-on dye forming cheerful nosegays, cranes, and traditional hand-drums. It must have made someone a radiant bride.
As Kei was about to toss it aside, he noticed a large, narrow gash by the shoulder.
“Are you sure?” Kei said, peeling two more less decorative layers off of Sho’s shoulders until he reached the red and white under-kimono, a naga-juban. A flower of maroon bloomed on one of the sleeves. “What happened?”
“It’s just a cut...” Sho said, petulance creeping into his voice. “Forget about it, help me find my clothes, please?”
“In a minute,” Kei pursed his lips and ripped up the hem of one of the chintzy kimono Sho had worn beneath the colorful uchikake.
Sho shrugged the naga-juban off, revealing a deep horizontal gash on his bicep.
“Shit, that’s pretty deep,” Kei frowned and tied the fabric tightly over the wound and then yanked the wig off; hopefully then he would stop reminding Kei of the alluring girls and young men kept in barred storefronts that he saw when he lived in the Taishou era.
“I’m okay.” Sho was nonchalant but Kei knew it had to hurt.
“Where are your cl--” The vampire started to ask but was interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway.
Kei was ready for them when they appeared in the doorway where the sliding screen had been. Sho had already covered his ears as Kei fired off two shots, each hitting a man in the face. The third jumped out of view, and Kei pushed Sho to the floor and made sure he was blocking the boy’s body just as the man ducked back in to take a shot.
Kei grunted through gritted teeth as the bullet ripped into his chest, just below his right clavicle.
The man lowered his gun, thinking Kei was down for the count. He couldn’t mask his surprise when Kei fired off another shot, hitting him in the shoulder, then the head.
Kei winced as he stood, allowing Sho to sit up. His blue eyes widened as he saw the ugly wound just below Kei’s shoulder.
“Are you okay?” He asked, tugging his naga-juban back on.
Kei coughed and nodded. “Where are your clothes?” He scratched the ragged hole in his shirt, pointlessly scratching his healing flesh.
“Some other room, they made me change fi--”
“We better just leave them then,” Kei said as he moved to open the window. He didn’t see Sho’s mortified expression as he looked for some method of unlocking it.
“I can’t run around in this!” Sho protested, gesturing to his state of undress; all he had left on was the naga-juban and white tabi socks.
“We don’t have a choice.” Kei looked around for a moment before picking up the bonsai Sho had used to knock one of the first men out. “I only brought one extra clip and we only have one gun. Unless those were the only guys here, we don’t have a choice.” With that, he threw it forcefully at the window.
It shattered, as did the bonsai’s pot once it hit the alley outside. Kei broke off the glass that remained on the bottom half of the frame so Sho could slip out without hurting himself.
“Go,” He commanded as he stepped aside, relieved the Asian-style building only had one floor. Sho looked around with a wince before cautiously stepping out the window.
The knee-length hem of the naga-juban caught on a stray piece of glass and as Sho brought his second leg over the wall, he inadvertently exposed himself to the empty alley and ripping the fragile garment.
Kei snickered and unhooked the fabric from the glass shard so that Sho was free.
Sho cursed as he fought to re-gather the naga-juban around himself. Kei started to climb out the window when Sho stopped him.
“Wait. Get the other kimono, the big one.”
“Why?” Kei asked with a shake of his head, “Yeah it’s worth money but it’s not worth going to the trouble of trying to s--”
“Please?!” Sho asked, surprising Kei with his desperation. “I don’t care about selling it right now, I need something to wearnow will you explain how you ended up in drag evidently in a brothel?”
Sho covered his face with his free hand as Kei poured some disinfectant over the gash on his arm; they had stopped to buy a fresh stock of first-aid supplies as the only disinfectant they had left had at home was some expensive rum that Sho’s brother Shinji had conned someone into buying.
“I didn’t know they were dressing me up in drag, I thought they just wanted to make me look more traditional.” He dropped his hand and turned to glare at Kei but all Kei saw was a pouting teenage boy. “And I didn’t know it was a brothel! I thought they were going to make me serve tea or dance with a fan or something.”
Kei paused, closed his eyes for a second, and opened them once he had a controlled smile on his face.
“What?!” Sho demanded, thoroughly embarrassed.
“Nothing,” Kei shook his head, not wanting to get into any discussion that might involve dancing. “I hate to say it,” he said grimly, changing the subject, “But this is going to need some stitches.”
“Shit,” Sho muttered; he’d gotten himself into a lot of sticky situations before but he’d always managed to get away mostly unscathed so far. “How bad is this gonna hurt?” He looked Kei in the eye, nervousness pinching his features.
Kei was silent for a moment as he looked at nothing in particular.
“Mm... well, it usually hurts a lot, but...” he trailed off uncomfortably, but Sho was feeling bold this time.
“But what?”
“I can make it hurt less...”
“What, turn me into a vampire?” Sho was genuinely curious.
“No!” Kei shouted. Sho paled and the vampire realized he said it far more harshly than he intended. “No, not that.” He said with a calmer, quieter voice. “Just... my saliva instead.”
“...your spit?” Sho repeated, his expression innocently curious. Kei still could not meet his gaze.
“Yeah.”
“Well, okay,” he shrugged and looked straight ahead. “It’s not like we can afford going to the hospital. I hate shots anyway.”
Kei’s heart beat faster; this didn’t seem right...
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” he nodded, a vision of practicality and calm.
“Okay.” Kei rinsed the pungent disinfectant with warm water and lifted Sho’s arm while leaning down a little.
He dragged his tongue along the open flesh; it still tasted strongly of chemicals but the heady flavor of blood was still present, as the wound was a deep one.
Thankfully he had fed on one of the men at the entrance to the brothel so his hunger was mostly satiated... but that didn’t stop the uncontrollable longing brought on by the temptation of available blood.
Sho was stiff, unmoving, and silent, but Kei could sense the pounding of his heart. He wasn’t sure when he started to enjoy it but at some point he found himself alternating the pressure and speed of his tongue as he lapped at Sho’s arm, secretly hoping to urge some sound of pleasure from him instead of just increased heart rate and slightly heavier breathing.
It was then that Kei realized that he had to stop. When it stopped being about the analgesic effect of his saliva making it easier for him to suture Sho’s wound and more about some illicit, elusive pleasure, Kei blanched and abruptly tore himself away.
“Uh, that should be enough,” Kei wiped his mouth and sat up. Sho said nothing, only nodded.
An awkward silence reigned as Kei prepared the rest of the necessary articles. He held the tiny needle he gotten just for this over the flame of his lighter before threading it, wiped some more disinfectant on Sho’s arm, and then pricked him with the needle.
“Can you feel that?”
“Not really,” Sho said, his voice a little unsteady.
Kei took that as a good sign. He set to work on the stitches and worked in silence for a while, uncertain of what to say. He wanted to say something like, ‘And what lesson did we learn today?’ but he couldn’t talk down to Sho like that.
Thankfully, Sho spoke first: “I guess I’ll do a little more research before jumping into a job next time...”
“Contrary to popular belief, there’s no shame in asking us for help, you know,” Kei teased the boy, smiling fondly.
Sho looked away, and Kei was pretty sure he was pouting a little. He started to flinch as the needle went through his skin. The vampire pretended not to hear his sniffles. Sho never said a word about the pain, though.
As time passed, the deep incision healed fine, albeit in a less uniform scar than the initial injury indicated; Kei had never had to sew up someone’s flesh before.
“You could always use it as bragging rights to impress girls, right?” Kei would tease him when Sho complained about it. It was especially funny when he sometimes heard him do just that.
~*~