[Multi-chapter] Where the shadows reign - Chapter 2
Title: Where shadows reign. Chapter 2
Pairing: Nishikido Ryo/Ueda Tatsuya, Uchi Hiroki/Ueda Tatsuya - Onesided
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, drama, angst
Summary: For centuries vampires and werewolves have been enemies and although the two clans have reached a truce it hangs by a thread and even one mistake could mean war once again.
Length: 4010 words
Disclaimer: I wish I could say I owned them *wipes tears*
X-posed at: jent_fanfics, kattun_fanfics, ryoda_love and ramadiii
Chapter 1
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Tatsuya had never liked Nishikido Ryo. Not according to his father anyways.
All of his life he had been told that Ryo was the son of the man that had killed his family and that it was his duty as a man to get revenge against him.
You see, unlike all other vampires in his family, Tatsuya was special.
He had been born a vampire and since it had never been heard of before Tatsuya had been treated like a prince once he had been taken into the family.
The death of his real family when he was five was still just a blurry mess, he only had one solid memory from that time and that was his mother kneeling down before a man, praying quietly with a rosary in her hands. Next to her laid her already dead husband, the bloody knife still stuck in his heart. His mother looked calm and continued praying while the man changed into a big, gray wolf that in the next second had slit her throat open, covering the silver fur in bright red, warm blood.
That was all Tatsuya remembered from the incident, he had never seen the man's face but he remembered the wolf's yellow eyes that stared right at him before the young boy had fainted.
He had woken up a week later in a room that wasn't his own, it smelled different from home and it scared him. A man had entered the room, slowly in order not to scare the boy, and had introduced himself as Yamashita Tomohisa: The head of the house and of all the vampires in the town.
He had explained what had happened after he had found the poor boy wandering the streets of Tokyo with tears running down his face and his entire body shaking.
Yamashita had brought him home and for years he cared for Tatsuya like he was his own child and when he was seventeen he had found out about how special he really was. Unlike all of his comrades he had been born a vampire and that had never been heard of before, and finally Tatsuya understood why everybody treated him with such respect and manners.
But despite the warmth that Tatsuya had felt from his adoptive father growing up, he had always felt like he had to earn the kind words that over the years had gotten fewer and fewer the older he had gotten. He had felt that his father no longer loved him as a son but as an object.
He had ordered the young prince to study, more than what was natural for a seventeen year old boy, be it a vampire or not, and wanting to earn his father's approval Tatsuya had spent every single night studying only to fall asleep during the most important exam that he was ever going to get.
He had actually received a punishment for it, Tatsuya could still remember the sharp pain of the boiling water being poured onto his body, making him scream as it burned off most of his skin. The face had been the worst and as soon as the second bucket of the burning water was slowly poured over his sensitive face he had collapsed. But being unconscious was not a relief, the sights the drugs they had given him before, made him pant hard in panic as the pain in his mind was a thousand times worse than the physical pain he had already sustained.
Since then Tatsuya had never disobeyed his father again, he had started acting like the prince he was even though it meant for him to leave school and all of his friends, even though it meant for him to turn his heart to ice and to ignore the humanity that still resided inside of him.
All that he had done and still he was not happy.
He had never been happy since the day he fell asleep on the exam, not once.... Until he met Ryo.
Although they were always bickering and cursing at each other Tatsuya somehow felt alive while doing it. Ryo wasn't the devil that Yamashita had painted him out to be and although Tatsuya would never admit it to the man himself, he really thought that the other was attractive and he couldn't help but feel his heart flutter when the younger showed that unguarded smile to him.
“Ueda?” The gentle hand stroking his hair stopped for a second, causing the older to whimper softly.
For some reason Tatsuya had started feeling sleepy because of the beautiful sounds of the guitar, which was very strange since his transformation into a complete vampire was almost finished causing his need for sleeping to decrease rapidly but for unknown reasons the beautiful man in front of him and the music had made his eyelids heavy and without noticing it he had fallen asleep.
Once Ryo noticed that his guest was sleeping he stopped playing, put the guitar away and moved closer to the sleeping vampire.
Ryo had never seen such a beautiful man before: The delicate features, the plump lips, those dark eyes that looked deep enough to drown in. He was perfect but despite that he never smiled.
Every time Ryo had seen him the man had never smiled. Ever.
Among the lower-class vampires he was known as “the stone-faced prince” because of his inability to curl his plump lips up into a smile. He wasn't mocked, no one would dare to mock the great prince, but according to most Ryo's sources the slightly older man was neither liked or disliked by his “people”.
“Ueda, it's getting pretty late. Shouldn't you eat something?” Ryo asked softly as the man on his lap showed no sign of wanting to get up.
“No need.” Tatsuya shifted a little so that he laid with his back towards the couch and his dark eyes looking into the other's. “I ate last week so don't worry.” He simply said, catching Ryo's attention.
“'Last week?' That's insane, Ueda!” He exclaimed but the man in his lap just chuckled and looked deeper into his eyes with something very close to sadness in them.
“Yeah... But that's part of turning into a vampire and besides: I drink blood only when I have to. I never really liked the whole idea of feeding off a living human so I always get blood from the nearest bloodbank.” Tatsuya started observing his highly interesting fingernails.
“But have you ever...” Ryo curiously started but was cut off by Tatsuya's stern voice.
“No, I have never sucked the life from a human. I don't believe in taking life for such a simple reason.”
“Um.... I see.” Ryo said feeling slightly uncomfortable as the atmosphere in the room had gotten serious and somewhat gloomy.
“Ne, Nishikido...” Ryo looked down at the nightcrawler with a small smile.
“Nani?”
Tatsuya opened his eyes and looked straight into the other's eyes.
“What are we doing?”
The question wasn't something he had thought he would hear but after thinking for a few seconds he answered.
“I don't really know.” He moved his hand to the other's hair and started stroking it again causing Tatsuya to shiver at the pleasant feeling and satisfied as he was he closed his eyes again and drew in the other's scent with a deep breath.
“I don't know why but for some reason I just can't bring myself to hate you, Nishikido. All my life I have been told that I should but seeing you like this.... Even if I know that what we're doing is a crime and that if we get caught we will both receive harsh punishment I can't help but feel safe around you. Like the messed up forces in this world can't harm me anymore.” Tatsuya mumbled with his eyes still closed but Ryo caught every single word.
It was the first time he had heard Tatsuya's true thoughts. His feelings.
“... Ryo?” The man whom the name belonged to snatched out off his thoughts and looked at the older one with surprise from his firstname being used.
“Um...”
“Kiss me again....” Tatsuya looked up at the wolf with sparkling eyes and something in the older man's tone of voice made it impossible for Ryo to ignore the request.... Not that he would ever want to.
He leaned down and caught the other's lips in a deep yet slow kiss. Tatsuya's hand searched its way up to Ryo's jawline and stroked his fingertips oh-so-gently and featherlight over the soft skin, Ryo moaned softly into the kiss and Tatsuya smiled slightly as he felt the vibrations through the other's lips.
He loved the thought of being able to make Ryo react like that when he touched him, no matter how small it was. And not to mention he loved the way the other man made him feel when his hands slowly started exploring the older man's chest.
They were not rushing things unlike in the alley earlier that day. They were both taking their time, enjoying every single moment of it while they could. They wanted to feel the other's hands graze their skin as much as possible, they wanted to hear the other's heart beat faster than ever and more than anything they wanted to look into the other's eyes until the end of time.
But since they were supposed to be enemies the times they would be able to meet each other would be very irregular.
To others they might have seemed like they hated each other for real but once they were alone they were able to fall into their true characters. Being seen by others was something they were both used to and so they had to act according their family-rules although they never wanted to.
Tatsuya couldn't stand being cold to Ryo when he met him on the street in the company of another family member.
Ryo hated the way he had to look at the other when the latter was with his father. He hated the distance between them and although it was just pretend, both of them hurt when shooting an insult to the other.
Ryo moved his warm lips from Tatsuya's to allow the other to breath. He was breathing rather hard and looked at the older's gorgeous face once again, hoping for a miracle to turn them both back into humans thus allowing them to be together without having to hide or feeling like they were betraying their families.
“Tatsuya...” Ryo let the name roll across his lips, like he was tasting it to see what it was like.
“Hai?” Tatsuya's voice was once again nothing more than a mumble but Ryo didn't mind. His hearing was excellent so he never missed anything.
“It's almost midnight...” Tatsuya shivered.
He hated that time. The time that he had to return to his cold and dark home, up for another night alone, hearing the moans coming from the other rooms as his family members fed themselves.
“I don't want to leave.” He snuggled closer into Ryo's lap and the other chuckled softly, still stroking his hair.
“But you have to. I don't want you to get into unnecessary trouble with that sadist that your father calls his right hand-man.”
“You mean Tegoshi-san?” Tatsuya laughed and Ryo nodded. “Don't worry about him, he won't do anything unless my father orders him to. But you're right about him being a sadist.” Tatsuya grabbed a soft hold around one of Ryo's hands and studied it closely, following every single vein with a long index finger.
Ryo traced an arm around the other's waist and pulled him up so that he was sitting in Ryo's lap, back facing him and hugged him hard from behind.
“I would never forgive myself if you got hurt because of me.” He mumbled into Tatsuya's neck causing the other to giggle softly.
“Then I won't.” He turned around and kissed his love before standing up. “If you really want me to leave then I will.”
Ryo sprang up from the couch and hugged him closely making Tatsuya's attempts to breath a little harder.
“I don't want to you to leave.” His shoulders were shaking and Tatsuya could feel the tears of the other dropping down the crock of his neck.
“I know sweetheart.” He brought a hand up and stroked Ryo's black hair before freeing himself from the tight hug. “I promise I will make it up to you.” Tatsuya whispered into his ear before giving him a peck on the lips and walked out the door.
Ryo stood there and watched the back of his love as he walked down the corridor and it wasn't until Tatsuya had walked down the stairs that Ryo noticed that he wasn't alone.
“What are you doing here, Jin?” He sighed a little and ruffled his hair trying to get rid of the tears in his eyes before his friend notices them.
“Was that Ueda Tatsuya?” Jin asked in a serious voice, making Ryo turn his face away from him. “It was Ueda Tatsuya.” Jin concluded from Ryo's non-existing reply and pushed his friend back into the apartment before closing the door behind them.
“Don't start with me, Jin....” Ryo threw himself down on the couch and looked at Jin with tired eyes.
“Have you lost your mind, Ryo?” Jin crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Do you have any idea what happened to the last werewolf that fell in love with a vampire in this town?!” He scolded and Ryo couldn't help but feel guilty, he didn't know why but the feeling was there. That was something he did know.
“Yeah, you've told me already.”
“Then why don't you listen to me?!” Jin was almost screaming now and for a moment Ryo thought that his neighbors would soon start banging the walls to make him keep it down. “You are risking your life for this guy that you don't even know!”
“Don't tell me I don't know Tatsuya!” Ryo screamed back and it caught Jin by surprise. Ryo was not the type of person to raise his voice like that.
“How long have you known him then? A year? Six months? No, because you have only known him for a month and you guys haven't even gone all the way yet!” Jin was almost tearing his hair out but Ryo just sighed and slumped back on the couch and massaged his temples.
“It doesn't matter, Jin. Tatsuya isn't the type that would act as a bait in order to start a war.”
Jin looked at his old friend, sighed and slumped down next to him on the couch.
“I hope you're right, Ryo. I sure hope you're right.”
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“Young master, where have you been?” Tegoshi greeted the prince with a stern face, arms crossed over his chest and with a voice so cold Tatsuya wouldn't have been surprised to see ice-sickles coming out off his mouth.
“Out.” He simply answered but the answer did not satisfy the much older vampire.
“Your sister came back without you hours ago.” Tatsuya tried to walk past Tegoshi but the latter blocked his path.
“Let me pass.” Tatsuya's voice was almost as cold as the other's but on the inside he was terrified of this man.
“Not until you tell me where you've been hiding all day.” Tegoshi took a step closer and ended up so close Tatsuya could feel his cold breath on his face.
“That is not any of your business. Now let me pass.”
“I don't really think you understand your situation here, young master.” Tegoshi took another step towards him so that Tatsuya had to take a step back in order not to crash into the other man.
This continued until Tatsuya was caught between the older man and one of the doors in the long, empty corridor. “You will tell me where you were even if I have to drag it out off you.” Tatsuya felt himself shiver from the cold voice and he felt how his stomach turned as the other man's cold hand cupped his face and stared into Tatsuya's eyes with his scary ones.
“Tegoshi-san, isn't it time for your dinner as well?” Tatsuya stuttered trying to slip out of the situation in the safest way possible but it was a failure. Tegoshi just smirked and leaned closer until his lips brushed against Tatsuya's ear.
“Oh, I'm sure you would suffice.” He purred into the younger's ear making the latter's heart beat faster in panic.
Without warning Tegoshi reached an arm out and turned the doorknob, opening the door thus making Tatsuya fall down hard on the floor.
“Oww....” Tatsuya whimpered but realized too late that Tegoshi had closed and locked the door behind them.
The older walked up to him and grabbed Tatsuya's hand in a tight grip, causing the younger to hiss from the pain. He was determined not to make any sounds since Tegoshi was a major sadist after all but his body was very sensitive and Tegoshi had not been late in finding all of his weak spots during his first punishment.
Tatsuya saw and felt how his hand was brought to the other's mouth. The cold breath on it made him shiver again, knowing what the other had planned.
A sharp pain was felt from his wrist and as a reflex Tatsuya closed his eyes but when he opened them he saw how the other was licking the blood that was now running freely from his pale wrist. Tegoshi's strong tongue kept licking the same spot over and over until it actually started hurting but when Tatsuya tired to fight him the older easily turned him over so that he was laying face down against the cold floor with both of his hands held in place on his back.
Tatsuya felt how a tear slowly made its way down his cheek and he hated himself for it.
He hated this and he hated the fact that he had even left Ryo's apartment to begin with. He was afraid of Tegoshi when he acted like this because he knew that he wouldn't stop until he made him cry out in pain and he would do anything to make his victim cry.
Without realizing it Tatsuya's hands had been tied together behind his back, leaving Tegoshi able to use both of his hands to make his young master squirm.
He stood up and walked around so that he was standing right in front of the other man's face, crouched down, grabbed a painfully strong hold around Tatsuya's hair and forced his head up until the younger thought his neck would break.
“Now...” A smug look appeared on Tegoshi's face, making Tatsuya feel sick. ”You will tell me where you have been spending the entire day....”
Suddenly a hard knock on the door was heard and the familiar voice belonging to one Uchi Hiroki spoke.
“Tegoshi-san! Yamashita-sama needs to see you right now. He says it's very urgent.”
Tegoshi looked from the door to his prisoner and sighed before letting go off Tatsuya's hair making the other's face drop onto the hard floor and walked out the door telling Hiroki not to go inside the room until he came back.
Tatsuya heard the two men's footsteps walking away from him and that's when he started breathing again. He really was terrified of that man, he had been ever since his first punishment when he saw how much the older man enjoyed hearing him scream, enjoyed seeing him trying to avoid getting hurt but without success....
Tatsuya's entire body shivered as he remembered that time and a that moment all he wanted was to get back to Ryo but he knew that that was not an option so he tried to focus all of his remaining strength to free himself.
The rope that Tegoshi had used was tied so hard that it had cut off the blood circulation to his hands and no matter how much he struggled he couldn't escape from it.
He must have worked on his escape for almost 30 minutes already when he heard hurried footsteps closing in fast and although Tatsuya didn't believe in the existence of God (after all why should he when the oh-so-mighty Lord had allowed him to be born into a vampire?) he closed his eyes and prayed that it wasn't Tegoshi, or if it was that he would just continue past the door.
But the steps stopped right outside the door and only a second later Tatsuya was blinded by the light from the hallway, a slim figure moved towards him and stopped right next to him, almost as if he was evaluating the situation before he kneeled down and whispered into his ear.
“Don't worry, Ueda. It's Hiroki.” And with those few words Tatsuya felt his entire body relax again.
Hiroki quickly cut the rope and helped the young prince get to his feet before moving one of Tatsuya's arms over his shoulder and while supporting his young master as much as he could, he looked around to make sure that Tegoshi hadn't come back from his meeting with Yamashita.
Hiroki walked with the prince to his room where he helped him sit down on the bed, before tending to the wound on his wrist where the blood was still coming out off the two deep cuts that Tegoshi's had made with his teeth. Although the look in Hiroki's eyes when he saw and smelled the blood worried Tatsuya a bit, he still knew that Hiroki was too low in rank to dare to attack him.
“Are you okay?” Hiroki looked at him worriedly and it made Tatsuya smile a little, although slightly sad.
“Yeah. Thanks to you, Uchi.” Tatsuya massaged the bandage around his sore wrist but he kept his eyes locked in Hiroki's, causing the other's pale face to turn into a soft pinkish color.
“W...we're a family, right? That's what's expected of us. After all: If you can't even trust your family, then who should you trust?” Hiroki stood up and with a bow he exited the room, leaving Tatsuya alone but since Tegoshi was not allowed to enter the prince's bedroom without his boss's permission Tatsuya was safe inside so Hiroki was not too worried when he met the older vampire in the corridor, mad beyond his senses from having returned to an empty room without any prince inside.
“Do you happen to know where Ueda-sama is, Hiroki?” Tegoshi's voice was so cold it gave the younger vampire goosebumps but in spite of that he just smiled and walked past the other, totally ignoring the glaring eyes.
Hiroki knew that Tegoshi could have just killed him right then if he felt like it, but Hiroki was not afraid to die for the man he loved.
Yes, Hiroki loved the young prince. He had for a long time, ever since the first time he had laid eyes on him. Tatsuya didn't know though, Hiroki had been too afraid that the other would reject him if he knew so therefore his feelings had remained a secret. Although he was no longer afraid anymore he still hadn't told him. The right moment just hadn't come yet but one of these days he would tell Tatsuya about his love for him.
“One of these days, Tatsuya...” Hiroki smiled to himself as he felt Tegoshi's burning eyes on his back knowing that the other had understood the hint about the prince having returned to his bedroom, and thereby having returned to safety.
A/N: First of all I'd like to thank all of you who read the first chapter, made me so thrilled to see a bunch of comments xD I truly hope you like the second chapter as well and that you can find the time to comment, if only just a tini, tiny little one :P