Tyrant fanfic: Blood, Love and Tears. Chapter 29
Today’s Halloween, right? Trick or treat? I have a treat for you then. Well, at least I think it's a treat and not a trick. XD Anoter chapter. Yay!
Recently I’ve been working on my chapters quite intensively and I think there might be a steady flow of them during November. I hope you’ll enjoy all of them. ^-^
I’m wishing you a pleasant read!
Title: Blood, love and tears
Author: yaoilovefan
Beta: elyrian
Warnings: language
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Hiroto, Isogai, Kurokawa, Tomoe, Morinaga, OC
Note: It's an AU fic.
Summary: Morinaga is a vampire and wants to play around. One night in a club he finds an interesting human and is mesmerized by him. Will he only use his new prey or will he fall in love? And how will the other one react on an immortal lover? What will his feelings be?
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Morinaga felt a bit out of character kneeling in front of Souichi’s younger brother but he knew it was necessary. Maybe not really necessary, since feeling responsible for Souichi’s disappearance was ridiculous, but he felt the need to reassure Tomoe that everything would be okay. When it looked like the younger man had calmed down Morinaga stood up and looked around the room. It seemed to be a normal human living room.
‘This is Souichi’s home. The place he grew up, that molded him into the person he is now.’
He felt like he was intruding. He would have liked it better if the one inviting him here had been Souichi himself. Unfortunately it was impossible under the current circumstances so he tried to dismiss the feeling and concentrate on the most pressing matter. He needed to find the human. Not only because he had promised it to Tomoe just a moment ago, but also because the thought of something bad happening to his Sou-chan drove a sudden and frighteningly intense bolt of fear through his heart.
“We need to start acting. Sitting idly won’t help,” he said loudly, breaking the peculiar mood that had come upon the room.
“True,” Isogai agreed. He looked as if he had just woken up from some internal self-berating and the conclusions he had drawn were most disturbing.
It was Morinaga’s turn to do his own interrogation and if he found out that the Hunters had been doing their job poorly he would have no mercy. If a similar incident had happened in the Demon World, those responsible for the affected party’s safety would have been punished severely.
“I’m assuming that Souichi had more or less told you about me?” he inquired. The tone of his voice was almost friendly even if he still wanted to keep some distance between the Hunters and himself.
“More or less,” Isogai confirmed, smiling crookedly from his seat.
“Can you elaborate, please?” Morinaga stared at the Hunter coolly although he made sure to make his voice sound as pleasant as possible. His opinion of the Hunter hadn’t changed. Isogai was one annoying son of a bitch.
“Souichi told me about you, and I shared that knowledge with Kurokawa and Isogai-san. Nii-san knew I’d tell them when we spoke,” Tomoe supplied helpfully.
Morinaga turned to look at Souichi’s brother and gave him a small nod of acknowledgment then he shifted his gaze back to Isogai. If he had to pick someone to attack verbally, he would rather choose Isogai to lash out at. The apparent romantic relationship between the younger Tatsumi and Kurokawa was making him more tolerant in his dealings with the other Hunter. He was sure that attacking Kurokawa would have distressed Tomoe which in turn would have upset Souichi when he found out, and upsetting Souichi was the last thing Morinaga wanted.
“So you have learned the story. What did you do then?” Morinaga asked Isogai although he was addressing both of the Hunters as well as Tomoe. His voice sounded harsher than he had intended, the worry making it very difficult to control his tone.
“What does it have to do with anything?” Kurokawa frowned behind Morinaga but the Vampire ignored him and waited for Isogai’s answer.
“Calculated the possibility of you showing up,” Isogai shrugged. “It was fairly obvious from what Tatsumi-kun said and from what he hadn’t said that you would appear on his doorstep sooner rather than later.” He looked at Morinaga smugly. “And as it seems… we were right.”
Then his expression transformed into something more grim and serious. “We didn’t take into account that there might be someone else that would want to get to Souichi. Any idea who that might be?” Isogai looked at Morinaga seriously.
The speed of the Hunter’s mood changes was disturbing. Morinaga didn’t know if wanting to get used to it as fast as possible was a good thing or a bad one. He had hoped not to be present in Isogai’s company for longer than necessary.
Thinking about Isogai’s question made Morinaga’s shoulders slump. “No. Nothing that comes to mind,” he said, frustrated.
“You mentioned your brother. Maybe he - “ Kurokawa suggested.
“No,” Morinaga said with finality. “My brother doesn’t like to get involved with Humans. He wouldn’t waste his time kidnapping one or do something, anything like that.”
“So it looks like we’ll need to resort to our usual source of information,” Isogai sighed. He stood up laced his fingers together, and bringing his arms up over his head, stretched them.
“And that is?” Hiroto asked, curious.
It was the first time in quite a while that he had spoken and Morinaga whipped his head in his friend’s direction. Hiroto’s eyes were focused on Isogai as the Hunter stretched although Morinaga couldn’t decipher the look in his friend’s eyes even if the expression of annoyance on his face was easy for everyone to see.
Isogai finished stretching and lowered his arms. His expression remained neutral but his eyes belied that. They were full of amusement and mischief and Morinaga wasn’t too surprised when he declared merrily, “Gossip!”
Isogai’s grin nearly split his face and made Morinaga want to groan
*** ***
As much as Morinaga thought that Isogai’s words were insane it turned out that it was a very good way to find the information they needed. He himself wasn’t really a gossipy person so he didn’t know where to start. Opposed to him, Hiroto loved gossiping and knew the places that had the latest and juiciest rumors. Morinaga had seen the spark that Isogai’s idea had ignited in his friend’s eyes. Hiroto not only liked the idea but clearly admired it. Very quickly Morinaga found himself visiting a few places and asking subtle questions about odd happenings. Hiroto and Isogai accompanied him. The three of them hadn’t had much luck so far but they had just begun. He needed to stay optimistic.
Tomoe had stayed at home with Kurokawa. Isogai had sent a sly smile their way while leaving but hadn’t commented. Souichi’s brother hadn’t wanted to stay home alone and nobody wanted to risk taking him with them. If they happened to stumble upon whoever kidnapped Souichi, the situation might turn ugly, not to mention dangerous. Tomoe was the perfect target since he didn’t have any means to defend himself. Morinaga tried to suppress a shudder thinking that the same rules applied to Souichi. Neither Vampire was happy about having to go anywhere with the infuriating Hunter but no one complained. The more ears to listen to gossip the better.
Morinaga wasn’t sure how many clubs they visited, he wasn’t familiar with any of them. Finally after checking out yet another club and getting nothing useful they ended up in a place that Morinaga recognized. He had gone there in the past a few times with Hiroto and a few times alone, but from the look of it the Hunter hadn’t stumbled into this particular club yet. The place was completely wood paneled. Even though topped with plush and comfortable cushions, the furniture was made out of solid or carved wood, too. The lighting was very low and together with the live music created a very peculiar atmosphere.
There were no windows since it was situated in the basement level of an old building. The patrons sat at small two person tables or in larger booths with tables in the middle. Even with over half of the people there being smokers the smoke from their cigarettes was not disturbing the other guests but gave the place additional bonus points for creating a special atmosphere. It wasn’t really a club, more a pub intended for conversations more than anything else, but it had a small dance floor. The DJ was playing songs from the 90s and 80s whenever the live musician took a break. Morinaga liked the place. It was as if he was in the Demon World again but without its magic. In its place this pub had all the convenient inventions of the Human World.
‘I should bring Souichi here. He might like the place.’ He tried to squash the fear suddenly gripping his heart. They would find Souichi. He shouldn’t worry so much.
The three of them made their way to the bar and bought some drinks. ‘If this continues we’ll end up drunk,’ thought Morinaga.
Isogai and Morinaga settled by the bar. Hiroto on the other hand, after a moment of looking around, made his way to one of the booths occupied by some students. The Vampire and the Hunter each watched him the whole time, both for their own reasons. Morinaga saw Hiroto being accepted to the booth and hoped that the Humans had some useful information. He didn’t even notice when a man sat to his right until he heard a voice.
“Hello there. Haven’t seen you here for a while now,” the stranger said.
Morinaga flinched, startled, and almost made his drink topple over. He looked sharply to the side and at the person situated beside him. Bleached hair, the color of snow, long nose, pale bright blue eyes and a lean, long face with full, thin lips. He was wearing frameless glasses, and was currently watching Morinaga from under them. The Vampire’s gaze swept down, noticing long, thin limbs. The man was dressed in white linen shirt and white trousers made from the same material. He looked like a ghost with his pale skin and hair.
Morinaga tried to remember this person since the man had indicated that they had seen each other in the bar before but he couldn’t remember him, which was odd. ‘I should remember someone looking like that. I would have attempted to bed him the moment my eyes fell on him.’
The smile that the stranger sent his way was enigmatic and made Morinaga narrow his eyes in suspicion.
“Do I know you?” he asked while trying to peek into the stranger’s mind and read him at the same time.
“Not personally, but I’ve seen you come in here a few times.” The stranger shrugged. “My name’s Silvan.”
“And you are?” Morinaga had to ask. He couldn’t enter the other man’s mind. Although it wasn’t something uncommon, it was very rare among Humans. The Hunters’ minds were trained to erect protective walls making it impossible for creatures from another realm to perform any kind of mental prodding. Species from the Demon World protected their minds almost without any effort. The only way to breach the walls and enter was to be stronger than the other’s mind. Violent probing wasn’t an uncommon occurrence but it was always messy. Nobody liked uninvited guests scanning their mind so retaliation, the bloodier the better, was unavoidable.
There were of course cases when letting someone in was most welcome. The most willing participants were lovers. It spoke of their utter commitment and trust in one another. In some cases permanent links were created, connecting two people for the rest of their lives. Since it was even more dangerous than romantic, not many pairs did that. If one of the pair was weaker than the other then the death of the weaker one might cause the death of the stronger. It became an underhanded method of killing those that were inconvenient or simply for greed or power. Only the couples that were more or less equal felt secure enough coming to one another on such a high level. Others stopped linking their minds. The risk was too high and there was no way of hiding a link; it was just too obvious.
“I think he just introduced himself, Morinaga-kun,” Isogai supplied helpfully, smiling his annoying smile.
“I wasn’t asking about his name. I was asking about who he was,” he snapped at the Hunter, shifting his eyes for a moment from the stranger to Isogai. He didn’t want to leave the unknown man unobserved. There was something strange about him. Morinaga couldn’t put his finger on it and the current situation they were in was making alarm bells ring in his head.
“What do you think?” Silvan asked playfully with a smirk on his lips. His eyes were narrowed and he was observing Morinaga as if assessing him. “The answers are right before you. All you need to do is look.”
‘This is a test,’ Morinaga thought, his lips thinning. He started to think as he looked Silvan up and down again. His eyes and hair had an unnatural color, he was slim, his body was perfectly shaped. As a matter of fact, too perfect for a human.
“I’ve looked.”
Morinaga wasn’t looking any longer. He berated himself for not noticing anything earlier. Of course there might have been creatures from the Demon World still in this town. They might have flown under the Hunters’ radar if the circumstances were right. Vampires weren’t so lucky. No matter how much they tried, they made too much commotion in the Human World. An average Human wouldn’t see or sense anything out of the ordinary happening in their closest vicinity but Hunters would have noticed a Vampire presence in no time.
“And what did you see?” Silvan asked, his gaze penetrating.
“What do you think I saw?” Without waiting for Silvan’s answer Morinaga continued, “And what would you like me to do with that knowledge?”
Silvan nodded his head once with approbation.
‘Don’t tell me, I’ve actually managed to impress this Elf?’ Morinaga stared at Silvan with disbelief. He had had previous experience with Elves before and knew that they were not easy to impress. His tutor had been an Elf and he would have given Morinaga quite an earful for not realizing who, or rather what, Silvan was.
‘Maybe it’s about me not blurting it out? A Hunter is sitting right beside me listening intently to every spoken word. I don’t believe he has managed to work it out yet. Answering Silvan’s question would have blown his cover. Is that it? Have I gained some points for keeping my mouth shut?’
“Knowledge is our greatest asset.”
Morinaga winced. That one sentence reminded him of his lessons and the way his Elfish tutor had been teaching him what an advantage it was to be knowledgeable. Morinaga had not appreciated all of those lessons and the way his tutor had scolded him on those occasions brought a bad taste to Morinaga’s mouth even now. He was still immersed in his memories when the Elf giggled.
“You’re funny,” Silvan smiled.
“I’m searching for someone.” They didn’t have time for idle chat. Getting information from an Elf if said Elf wasn’t in the mood to help was as painful as pulling teeth, but Morinaga had to try. Silvan might be their only reliable source of information. Elves, being obsessed with gathering knowledge, had their own ways of collecting information from sources that no other species could possibly imagine using. They were also terribly bad at sharing their sources with others. If Morinaga wasn’t able to get Silvan to answer his questions then they might end up leaving with nothing.
“And who might that be?” the Elf asked curiously.
Curiosity was a good thing. It meant they had the Elf’s full attention and might actually have a chance to interest him enough to help them. Unfortunately nothing was for free. In exchange for the information he would need to give Silvan all the information the Elf asked for. Morinaga was sure that not all of the answers were wise to give away and some of them might actually be quite embarrassing to share. The best case scenario was to give Silvan very little information while making it seem like it was a lot they were sharing and take as much from the Elf as possible. It was a hard goal to achieve but Morinaga had a damn good motivation to do his best to achieve it.
“The name won’t tell you anything, I’m assuming, but he is called Souichi Tatsumi and he has gone missing a few hours ago.”
“And why are you interested in finding him?”
Morinaga wasn’t surprised that the Elf asked things that Morinaga wanted to avoid telling him.
“That’s… a loaded question,” he answered evasively. He had little hope that Silvan would give up just like that but he tried anyway.
“Oh?” the Elf inquired politely. He kept looking at Morinaga, waiting for the Vampire, but after that remained silent clearly wanting Morinaga to elaborate.
Morinaga sighed. “He might be in serious danger. It looks like someone kidnapped him and took him away from here… to there. I don’t know who, but I’m afraid it’s not a friend.” That was more information than he should have given to the Elf and Morinaga hoped that it would be enough. He wouldn’t know how to evade answering more questions. Answering the Elf’s questions was also tricky because of the Hunter sitting nearby. He doubted that Isogai would remain oblivious to Silvan’s real nature for much longer. The Elf had to know that Morinaga was there with a Hunter and that exposing who he was was a very bad idea. Unless he was planning on ending the Hunter’s life before he acted against him. Having Isogai out of the way wouldn’t be such a bad thing but Morinaga was still averse to it. The Hunter was trying to help find Souichi and it had been his idea to search the night life in the clubs and pubs. If Silvan had any useful information then Morinaga would owe not only an odd Elf but also an annoying Hunter.
The Elf remained silent, though.
Morinaga waited, not shifting his gaze from the palest blue eyes.
Finally Silvan sighed.
“I have the information that will lead you to the person that took your lover,” he said seriously. “But I won’t give it to you for free.”
“Name your price,” the Vampire demanded.
The Elf’s gaze shifted to the Hunter.
Chapter 30
Note: Dramatic ending. What will Silvan ask for? Won’t tell you! Hate me now, and love me in a moment in your comments. :D Next chapter should be finished in a week or so.
Recently I’ve been working on my chapters quite intensively and I think there might be a steady flow of them during November. I hope you’ll enjoy all of them. ^-^
I’m wishing you a pleasant read!
Title: Blood, love and tears
Author: yaoilovefan
Beta: elyrian
Warnings: language
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Hiroto, Isogai, Kurokawa, Tomoe, Morinaga, OC
Note: It's an AU fic.
Summary: Morinaga is a vampire and wants to play around. One night in a club he finds an interesting human and is mesmerized by him. Will he only use his new prey or will he fall in love? And how will the other one react on an immortal lover? What will his feelings be?
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Morinaga felt a bit out of character kneeling in front of Souichi’s younger brother but he knew it was necessary. Maybe not really necessary, since feeling responsible for Souichi’s disappearance was ridiculous, but he felt the need to reassure Tomoe that everything would be okay. When it looked like the younger man had calmed down Morinaga stood up and looked around the room. It seemed to be a normal human living room.
‘This is Souichi’s home. The place he grew up, that molded him into the person he is now.’
He felt like he was intruding. He would have liked it better if the one inviting him here had been Souichi himself. Unfortunately it was impossible under the current circumstances so he tried to dismiss the feeling and concentrate on the most pressing matter. He needed to find the human. Not only because he had promised it to Tomoe just a moment ago, but also because the thought of something bad happening to his Sou-chan drove a sudden and frighteningly intense bolt of fear through his heart.
“We need to start acting. Sitting idly won’t help,” he said loudly, breaking the peculiar mood that had come upon the room.
“True,” Isogai agreed. He looked as if he had just woken up from some internal self-berating and the conclusions he had drawn were most disturbing.
It was Morinaga’s turn to do his own interrogation and if he found out that the Hunters had been doing their job poorly he would have no mercy. If a similar incident had happened in the Demon World, those responsible for the affected party’s safety would have been punished severely.
“I’m assuming that Souichi had more or less told you about me?” he inquired. The tone of his voice was almost friendly even if he still wanted to keep some distance between the Hunters and himself.
“More or less,” Isogai confirmed, smiling crookedly from his seat.
“Can you elaborate, please?” Morinaga stared at the Hunter coolly although he made sure to make his voice sound as pleasant as possible. His opinion of the Hunter hadn’t changed. Isogai was one annoying son of a bitch.
“Souichi told me about you, and I shared that knowledge with Kurokawa and Isogai-san. Nii-san knew I’d tell them when we spoke,” Tomoe supplied helpfully.
Morinaga turned to look at Souichi’s brother and gave him a small nod of acknowledgment then he shifted his gaze back to Isogai. If he had to pick someone to attack verbally, he would rather choose Isogai to lash out at. The apparent romantic relationship between the younger Tatsumi and Kurokawa was making him more tolerant in his dealings with the other Hunter. He was sure that attacking Kurokawa would have distressed Tomoe which in turn would have upset Souichi when he found out, and upsetting Souichi was the last thing Morinaga wanted.
“So you have learned the story. What did you do then?” Morinaga asked Isogai although he was addressing both of the Hunters as well as Tomoe. His voice sounded harsher than he had intended, the worry making it very difficult to control his tone.
“What does it have to do with anything?” Kurokawa frowned behind Morinaga but the Vampire ignored him and waited for Isogai’s answer.
“Calculated the possibility of you showing up,” Isogai shrugged. “It was fairly obvious from what Tatsumi-kun said and from what he hadn’t said that you would appear on his doorstep sooner rather than later.” He looked at Morinaga smugly. “And as it seems… we were right.”
Then his expression transformed into something more grim and serious. “We didn’t take into account that there might be someone else that would want to get to Souichi. Any idea who that might be?” Isogai looked at Morinaga seriously.
The speed of the Hunter’s mood changes was disturbing. Morinaga didn’t know if wanting to get used to it as fast as possible was a good thing or a bad one. He had hoped not to be present in Isogai’s company for longer than necessary.
Thinking about Isogai’s question made Morinaga’s shoulders slump. “No. Nothing that comes to mind,” he said, frustrated.
“You mentioned your brother. Maybe he - “ Kurokawa suggested.
“No,” Morinaga said with finality. “My brother doesn’t like to get involved with Humans. He wouldn’t waste his time kidnapping one or do something, anything like that.”
“So it looks like we’ll need to resort to our usual source of information,” Isogai sighed. He stood up laced his fingers together, and bringing his arms up over his head, stretched them.
“And that is?” Hiroto asked, curious.
It was the first time in quite a while that he had spoken and Morinaga whipped his head in his friend’s direction. Hiroto’s eyes were focused on Isogai as the Hunter stretched although Morinaga couldn’t decipher the look in his friend’s eyes even if the expression of annoyance on his face was easy for everyone to see.
Isogai finished stretching and lowered his arms. His expression remained neutral but his eyes belied that. They were full of amusement and mischief and Morinaga wasn’t too surprised when he declared merrily, “Gossip!”
Isogai’s grin nearly split his face and made Morinaga want to groan
*** ***
As much as Morinaga thought that Isogai’s words were insane it turned out that it was a very good way to find the information they needed. He himself wasn’t really a gossipy person so he didn’t know where to start. Opposed to him, Hiroto loved gossiping and knew the places that had the latest and juiciest rumors. Morinaga had seen the spark that Isogai’s idea had ignited in his friend’s eyes. Hiroto not only liked the idea but clearly admired it. Very quickly Morinaga found himself visiting a few places and asking subtle questions about odd happenings. Hiroto and Isogai accompanied him. The three of them hadn’t had much luck so far but they had just begun. He needed to stay optimistic.
Tomoe had stayed at home with Kurokawa. Isogai had sent a sly smile their way while leaving but hadn’t commented. Souichi’s brother hadn’t wanted to stay home alone and nobody wanted to risk taking him with them. If they happened to stumble upon whoever kidnapped Souichi, the situation might turn ugly, not to mention dangerous. Tomoe was the perfect target since he didn’t have any means to defend himself. Morinaga tried to suppress a shudder thinking that the same rules applied to Souichi. Neither Vampire was happy about having to go anywhere with the infuriating Hunter but no one complained. The more ears to listen to gossip the better.
Morinaga wasn’t sure how many clubs they visited, he wasn’t familiar with any of them. Finally after checking out yet another club and getting nothing useful they ended up in a place that Morinaga recognized. He had gone there in the past a few times with Hiroto and a few times alone, but from the look of it the Hunter hadn’t stumbled into this particular club yet. The place was completely wood paneled. Even though topped with plush and comfortable cushions, the furniture was made out of solid or carved wood, too. The lighting was very low and together with the live music created a very peculiar atmosphere.
There were no windows since it was situated in the basement level of an old building. The patrons sat at small two person tables or in larger booths with tables in the middle. Even with over half of the people there being smokers the smoke from their cigarettes was not disturbing the other guests but gave the place additional bonus points for creating a special atmosphere. It wasn’t really a club, more a pub intended for conversations more than anything else, but it had a small dance floor. The DJ was playing songs from the 90s and 80s whenever the live musician took a break. Morinaga liked the place. It was as if he was in the Demon World again but without its magic. In its place this pub had all the convenient inventions of the Human World.
‘I should bring Souichi here. He might like the place.’ He tried to squash the fear suddenly gripping his heart. They would find Souichi. He shouldn’t worry so much.
The three of them made their way to the bar and bought some drinks. ‘If this continues we’ll end up drunk,’ thought Morinaga.
Isogai and Morinaga settled by the bar. Hiroto on the other hand, after a moment of looking around, made his way to one of the booths occupied by some students. The Vampire and the Hunter each watched him the whole time, both for their own reasons. Morinaga saw Hiroto being accepted to the booth and hoped that the Humans had some useful information. He didn’t even notice when a man sat to his right until he heard a voice.
“Hello there. Haven’t seen you here for a while now,” the stranger said.
Morinaga flinched, startled, and almost made his drink topple over. He looked sharply to the side and at the person situated beside him. Bleached hair, the color of snow, long nose, pale bright blue eyes and a lean, long face with full, thin lips. He was wearing frameless glasses, and was currently watching Morinaga from under them. The Vampire’s gaze swept down, noticing long, thin limbs. The man was dressed in white linen shirt and white trousers made from the same material. He looked like a ghost with his pale skin and hair.
Morinaga tried to remember this person since the man had indicated that they had seen each other in the bar before but he couldn’t remember him, which was odd. ‘I should remember someone looking like that. I would have attempted to bed him the moment my eyes fell on him.’
The smile that the stranger sent his way was enigmatic and made Morinaga narrow his eyes in suspicion.
“Do I know you?” he asked while trying to peek into the stranger’s mind and read him at the same time.
“Not personally, but I’ve seen you come in here a few times.” The stranger shrugged. “My name’s Silvan.”
“And you are?” Morinaga had to ask. He couldn’t enter the other man’s mind. Although it wasn’t something uncommon, it was very rare among Humans. The Hunters’ minds were trained to erect protective walls making it impossible for creatures from another realm to perform any kind of mental prodding. Species from the Demon World protected their minds almost without any effort. The only way to breach the walls and enter was to be stronger than the other’s mind. Violent probing wasn’t an uncommon occurrence but it was always messy. Nobody liked uninvited guests scanning their mind so retaliation, the bloodier the better, was unavoidable.
There were of course cases when letting someone in was most welcome. The most willing participants were lovers. It spoke of their utter commitment and trust in one another. In some cases permanent links were created, connecting two people for the rest of their lives. Since it was even more dangerous than romantic, not many pairs did that. If one of the pair was weaker than the other then the death of the weaker one might cause the death of the stronger. It became an underhanded method of killing those that were inconvenient or simply for greed or power. Only the couples that were more or less equal felt secure enough coming to one another on such a high level. Others stopped linking their minds. The risk was too high and there was no way of hiding a link; it was just too obvious.
“I think he just introduced himself, Morinaga-kun,” Isogai supplied helpfully, smiling his annoying smile.
“I wasn’t asking about his name. I was asking about who he was,” he snapped at the Hunter, shifting his eyes for a moment from the stranger to Isogai. He didn’t want to leave the unknown man unobserved. There was something strange about him. Morinaga couldn’t put his finger on it and the current situation they were in was making alarm bells ring in his head.
“What do you think?” Silvan asked playfully with a smirk on his lips. His eyes were narrowed and he was observing Morinaga as if assessing him. “The answers are right before you. All you need to do is look.”
‘This is a test,’ Morinaga thought, his lips thinning. He started to think as he looked Silvan up and down again. His eyes and hair had an unnatural color, he was slim, his body was perfectly shaped. As a matter of fact, too perfect for a human.
“I’ve looked.”
Morinaga wasn’t looking any longer. He berated himself for not noticing anything earlier. Of course there might have been creatures from the Demon World still in this town. They might have flown under the Hunters’ radar if the circumstances were right. Vampires weren’t so lucky. No matter how much they tried, they made too much commotion in the Human World. An average Human wouldn’t see or sense anything out of the ordinary happening in their closest vicinity but Hunters would have noticed a Vampire presence in no time.
“And what did you see?” Silvan asked, his gaze penetrating.
“What do you think I saw?” Without waiting for Silvan’s answer Morinaga continued, “And what would you like me to do with that knowledge?”
Silvan nodded his head once with approbation.
‘Don’t tell me, I’ve actually managed to impress this Elf?’ Morinaga stared at Silvan with disbelief. He had had previous experience with Elves before and knew that they were not easy to impress. His tutor had been an Elf and he would have given Morinaga quite an earful for not realizing who, or rather what, Silvan was.
‘Maybe it’s about me not blurting it out? A Hunter is sitting right beside me listening intently to every spoken word. I don’t believe he has managed to work it out yet. Answering Silvan’s question would have blown his cover. Is that it? Have I gained some points for keeping my mouth shut?’
“Knowledge is our greatest asset.”
Morinaga winced. That one sentence reminded him of his lessons and the way his Elfish tutor had been teaching him what an advantage it was to be knowledgeable. Morinaga had not appreciated all of those lessons and the way his tutor had scolded him on those occasions brought a bad taste to Morinaga’s mouth even now. He was still immersed in his memories when the Elf giggled.
“You’re funny,” Silvan smiled.
“I’m searching for someone.” They didn’t have time for idle chat. Getting information from an Elf if said Elf wasn’t in the mood to help was as painful as pulling teeth, but Morinaga had to try. Silvan might be their only reliable source of information. Elves, being obsessed with gathering knowledge, had their own ways of collecting information from sources that no other species could possibly imagine using. They were also terribly bad at sharing their sources with others. If Morinaga wasn’t able to get Silvan to answer his questions then they might end up leaving with nothing.
“And who might that be?” the Elf asked curiously.
Curiosity was a good thing. It meant they had the Elf’s full attention and might actually have a chance to interest him enough to help them. Unfortunately nothing was for free. In exchange for the information he would need to give Silvan all the information the Elf asked for. Morinaga was sure that not all of the answers were wise to give away and some of them might actually be quite embarrassing to share. The best case scenario was to give Silvan very little information while making it seem like it was a lot they were sharing and take as much from the Elf as possible. It was a hard goal to achieve but Morinaga had a damn good motivation to do his best to achieve it.
“The name won’t tell you anything, I’m assuming, but he is called Souichi Tatsumi and he has gone missing a few hours ago.”
“And why are you interested in finding him?”
Morinaga wasn’t surprised that the Elf asked things that Morinaga wanted to avoid telling him.
“That’s… a loaded question,” he answered evasively. He had little hope that Silvan would give up just like that but he tried anyway.
“Oh?” the Elf inquired politely. He kept looking at Morinaga, waiting for the Vampire, but after that remained silent clearly wanting Morinaga to elaborate.
Morinaga sighed. “He might be in serious danger. It looks like someone kidnapped him and took him away from here… to there. I don’t know who, but I’m afraid it’s not a friend.” That was more information than he should have given to the Elf and Morinaga hoped that it would be enough. He wouldn’t know how to evade answering more questions. Answering the Elf’s questions was also tricky because of the Hunter sitting nearby. He doubted that Isogai would remain oblivious to Silvan’s real nature for much longer. The Elf had to know that Morinaga was there with a Hunter and that exposing who he was was a very bad idea. Unless he was planning on ending the Hunter’s life before he acted against him. Having Isogai out of the way wouldn’t be such a bad thing but Morinaga was still averse to it. The Hunter was trying to help find Souichi and it had been his idea to search the night life in the clubs and pubs. If Silvan had any useful information then Morinaga would owe not only an odd Elf but also an annoying Hunter.
The Elf remained silent, though.
Morinaga waited, not shifting his gaze from the palest blue eyes.
Finally Silvan sighed.
“I have the information that will lead you to the person that took your lover,” he said seriously. “But I won’t give it to you for free.”
“Name your price,” the Vampire demanded.
The Elf’s gaze shifted to the Hunter.
Chapter 30
Note: Dramatic ending. What will Silvan ask for? Won’t tell you! Hate me now, and love me in a moment in your comments. :D Next chapter should be finished in a week or so.