Tyrant fanfic: Blood, Love and Tears. Chapter 31
Hello people!
I’m determined to finish writing this story this year so you might actually see a few more chapters this month. According to my very inaccurate inner eye there are (excluding the 32th chapter that is already finished and “in the making”) about 3-4 chapters left for me to write.
I promised to write a mermaid fic with Souichi and Morinaga and I’d like to actually start writing it. >.< But first this story.
Title: Blood, love and tears
Author: yaoilovefan
Beta: elyrian
Warnings: language,
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Hiroto, Isogai, Morinaga
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 30
Chapter 31
Morinaga strode furiously down the street. He had left the Elf’s club a few moments ago, just after Silvan had divulged his information, and hadn’t paused for even a moment to wait for his two companions. He hadn’t even thanked the Elf for his help. Silvan’s revelations were too hard to swallow. He had to get moving; he couldn’t have stayed there any longer because he didn’t know how he would have reacted if he had. He wasn’t even sure what he was feeling, anger, betrayal, shock, dread, bitterness; everything was mixed up so much that he couldn’t tell even if his life depended on it. Woe unto those stupid enough to ask. They wouldn’t live to see another day.
Hiroto and Isogai caught up with him but luckily stayed quiet. It looked like even the Hunter had picked up on Morinaga’s violent mood and wasn’t making any smart, annoying comments. ‘Self-preservation. Clever guy.’
The Elf’s information in any other circumstances wouldn’t have helped anyone identify who masterminded Souichi’s kidnapping. Luckily it was enough for Morinaga. He knew exactly who had taken Souichi; he just didn’t know why. The whole thing didn’t make any sense.
“Morinaga,” Isogai started, “would you be so kind as to stop for a moment to share your findings?! I’m still in the dark here!”
Morinaga ignored him. He needed to think, to understand. And most importantly to find a way to rescue Souichi from Masaki’s clutches. The other Vampire was dangerous in so many ways. The worst was that he was very cunning and schemed many steps in advance. Not to mention his credibility. Morinaga wouldn’t be all too surprised if Masaki had arranged for the Hell Hounds to chase Souichi and then came to the rescue. He really wouldn’t put it past him.
But why? Why would he kidnap Morinaga’s human lover?
‘I thought he had already finished with me. Making me suffer by hurting Souichi is the only thing I can think of. Why would he kidnap Souichi otherwise? Is he still so full of hate?’
This really didn’t make any sense at all.
“Come on!” Isogai whined. It looked like his curiosity was greater than his sense of self preservation.
Morinaga still kept ignoring him but Hiroto sighed heavily somewhere behind Morinaga and explained.
“You’ve heard about Hell Hounds, right?” Hiroto asked.
There was no answer but Morinaga suspected Isogai nodded because Hiroto continued.
“There is normally no way to befriend them. They are just too vicious; they only have friends among their own kind, but some time ago a Vampire Lord found two abandoned puppies. The parents probably died making sure their pups would stay alive. Anyway, the Vampire looked for the parents and when it became clear that they weren’t anywhere in sight he waited hoping they went somewhere further away and would return to their babies. Soon it became clear that the parents weren’t coming back. The pups were not yet big enough to fend for themselves. Oh, they would have been fine on their own in a place where no predators were roaming the area. Unfortunately, it isn’t easy to find such a place in the Demon World, so without someone to defend the puppies they would have ended up being someone else’s meal, or rather snack or dessert. You get the picture.”
“And that Vampire took them in and they befriended him, yes?”
“Basically, yes. There were a few bumps in that road but the Vampire and the two Hell Hounds became friends and are still friends,” Hiroto ended his tale.
“And everybody knows who that Vampire Lord is. So we have our work cut out for us.”
“Yup.”
Hiroto’s voice sounded cheerful. Despite his anger and confusion, Morinaga had to agree. They should have Souichi back safe and sound very soon.
“Say.” Isogai rubbed his chin in thought. “Have the two of you taken into account the possibility that some non-vampire-friendly Hell Hounds wandered into the Human World and just -“
“Hell Hounds don’t eat Humans,” Morinaga cut in looking over his shoulder at the Hunter. “They don’t have any business in this world.”
“Then why were they found wandering this world before?” Isogai asked smartly.
“Sometimes when they hunt, their prey escapes here and they just follow since they’re so damn fast,” Hiroto explained.
“And I should believe that?” Isogai asked.
Morinaga was about to turn and give the Hunter what he deserved but Hiroto spoke before he had the chance to.
“Nobody will cry if you don’t. See if I care,” the other Vampire sneered.
Despite himself, the corner of Morinaga’s mouth lifted for a brief moment. He could picture the face Hiroto had made while saying those words. The banter those two behind him were indulging in was both amusing and distracting but Morinaga’s thoughts soon returned to his missing human and the person who took him. It erased the faint smile from his lips very efficiently.
‘I won’t let him hurt Souichi. He has hurt me but he won’t hurt my love.‘ Morinaga stopped in his tracks, shocked. His brother had been right. He was in love with a human. There was no denying it, not any longer.
“Morinaga?” Hiroto asked carefully. “Is everything all right?”
“No, but it doesn’t matter. We need to rescue Souichi. Now.” Morinaga tried to dismiss the flood of emotions accompanying his realization. He would deal with them later.
“How will we go about it?” Isogai asked. He was acting dead serious again. There was no trace of light humor or playfulness. Morinaga briefly wondered if perhaps there was something wrong with the Hunter. The ease with which he jumped from one mood to a totally different one in mere seconds couldn’t be normal.
“We’ll confront him,” Morinaga said darkly.
Isogai grimaced. “Are you sure he won’t deny it?”
Morinaga wondered how high the chances of something like that happening were. A long time ago he thought he knew Masaki, but he had been proven wrong. Now he couldn’t depend on what he knew about the Vampire Lord. He wasn’t sure what was only an illusion and what was something he could take for a given when dealing with Masaki. He couldn’t see why the Vampire might want to deny taking Souichi, but he didn’t understand why he took the Human in the first place, either.
“I don’t know, but he took Souichi for a reason and we need to figure out his motivations.” That was at least a start. Morinaga wasn’t sure how easy figuring this out would end up being, but he needed to do something.
“Any ideas?” Isogai asked.
“None yet.” It was very difficult for Morinaga to admit that. He should have had vast knowledge of the Vampire Lord. He was both frustrated and ashamed that he had almost nothing to go on, nothing he could trust.
They stayed silent for a while, everyone buried in their own thoughts. Finally it was Isogai who broke the silence.
“Well, I suggest we inform Kurokawa and Tomoe what we found and then we should go to your world.”
Morinaga’s eyes widened but before he could utter a word Hiroto beat him to it.
“Yeah, we- WHAT?!” Hiroto yelled.
“You heard me. We’re going to your world and rescuing Souichi,” Isogai said patiently.
“You - you…. Want to go with us?!” Hiroto asked, appalled.
Isogai just nodded, his face stony and serious.
Hiroto opened and closed his mouth clearly not believing his own ears. Morinaga didn’t want to believe his, either. ‘At least my mouth didn’t drop open.’
“You’re not needed!” Hiroto grumbled finally regaining his ability to speak.
“I want to help!” Isogai’s eyes were narrowed and he looked stubbornly from one Vampire to the other.
“Then stay here!” Hiroto yelled absolutely furious although Morinaga was puzzled by why his friend had become so angry.
“In your dreams.” Isogai smirked. “I have the one and only possibility to go into the Demon World. Only an idiot would let such opportunity pass him by,” Isogai winked at Hiroto making the Vampire roll his eyes and shake his head.
“The Demon World is no place for Humans, especially not Hunters,” Morinaga tried to reason.
He didn’t think that taking Isogai into the Demon World was such a good idea. Isogai should know that. There was nothing for him to do there; he wouldn’t be useful at all if he came with them. But it looked like Isogai thought otherwise. There must be a reason why the Hunter wanted to go with them even if Morinaga didn’t see it.
“What if you end up being a hindrance more than an asset in finding Souichi?” he asked the Hunter.
“From what I gathered you can’t get help from your brother in finding Souichi so you can count only on your own and Hitoro’s strength. Although you might actually be strong enough, I have my doubts if Hitoro’s strong enough to help you. I know how to fight a vast selection of Demons. I am an asset.”
Morinaga refrained from rolling his eyes and asked instead, “And what about Kurokawa?”
Isogai winced. “I know he will want to go and help too, but I’d rather he stayed here in this world and did the job that we both were supposed to be doing. At least one of us should,” he added the last sentence under his breath bitterly.
After a few seconds Morinaga slid his gaze from Isogai to Hiroto and noticed the look his friend was giving the oblivious Hunter. Fear seized his heart when he thought of all the complications if his suspicions were confirmed.
“You can come with us,” he finally complied, ignoring Hiroto’s appalled gasp. “But I am not responsible for your fate.” He wasn’t sure he had made the right decision, but finding out about Masaki’s involvement made it clear to him that he would need all the help he could get in getting Souichi back.
“Understood.”
*** ***
‘It could have gone worse,’ thought Morinaga while waiting for Isogai to stop heaving. The Hunter was pale and puking his guts out but it looked like those were the only side effects of going through the Portal. ‘He could have lost consciousness.’ He remembered Souichi coming into the Demon World and cursed himself for treating the Human the way he had. ‘But my feelings for him weren’t so strong back then.’
He curtailed those thoughts. They wouldn’t help him rescue Souichi although he promised himself that he would apologize to his Sou-chan as soon as possible.
“Feeling better?” Hiroto asked politely. He looked like someone who couldn’t decide whether to sympathize with or laugh at Isogai’s pathetic state.
Isogai remained silent for a long moment, still bent over with his hands on his thighs, clearly fearing a return bout of nausea. Luckily for all of them it looked like his stomach was settling already and they would be able to move very soon.
Morinaga wasn’t feeling all that great himself, either. Opening a Portal was always tough work and burned a lot of recourses. He really shouldn’t have opened the Portal a second time so soon but he had felt strong enough and wanted to hide Hiroto’s ability to open Portals from the Hunter. Morinaga had weakened himself and should eat something to restore at least some of his powers, but he was reluctant to go on a hunt. It would have meant leaving Isogai with Hiroto, and seeing the way those two were interacting with each other Morinaga wasn’t sure what kind of disaster he would return to. He also wasn’t all that keen on finding out. The problem remained then, he needed to feed, preferably soon.
He had opened the Portal close to his brother’s keep and going there for a snack would have been the best course of action. There was only one problem - he might run into his brother and he might involve him in something time consuming. And there was no way he would tell Kunihiro about Souichi’s kidnapping!
For a moment Morinaga thought about involving his brother in the matter but dismissed the possibility very quickly. Kunihiro wouldn’t give a damn about the Human’s fate. Especially when he was previously set on killing said Human. Morinaga couldn’t count on his brother. Furthermore he hadn’t involved Kunihiro when Masaki had played with his heart, so why should he involve him now?
‘Souichi.’ The answer was so simple, so short, and yet so meaningful. And worth taking any risk.
There was also the possibility that Masaki wanted Morinaga to do exactly that, to involve Kunihiro, to finally tell him about Masaki’s actions towards his ex-best friend’s younger brother. ‘Is that Masaki’s reason for taking Souichi from the Human World?’ Morinaga frowned. He had not informed Kunihiro how hideous Masaki had behaved with Morinaga. He wanted to spare his brother the pain and not let Masaki win since Morinaga was fairly certain that telling Kunihiro was part of Masaki’s cruel plan.
“You’ll both wait here,” Morinaga instructed. He turned in the direction of the castle. It would take only a few minutes to get there. Eluding his brother might be a bit more difficult, but Morinaga knew him well enough to know which places to avoid. He was also forming a backup plan if he happened to bump into Kunihiro. Morinaga hoped that involving the older Vampire Lord would not be necessary but for Souichi - everything was worth doing.
“What do you mean? You’re going to leave us here and do what? Go alone? No way! I’m going to help rescue Tatsumi-kun and if you think - “ Isogai had regained his composure and as if to compensate for his previous silence, his mouth started running a mile a minute.
“I just need to make a short stop at the castle,” Morinaga ignored Hiroto’s horrified expression and continued, “and then we will be going to confront Masaki.”
“But, Angel-kun! If your brother - “ Hiroto started.
“I’m perfectly aware what my brother might do if I run into him, Hiroto. But I need to feed and the keep is the easiest place to find food quickly.”
“I would offer my own neck but it would be foolish of me to do that,” Isogai said flatly.
“Of course,” Hiroto hissed distastefully. “Wouldn’t want to aid a Vampire to such an extent, right?”
Isogai narrowed his eyes and pressed his lips firmly together but after a few seconds he actually composed himself and answered coldly. “The outcome would have been the same in the end. Two people with full strength and one weakened. I don’t think it’s what we are all aiming for. Don’t you agree, Hiroto?”
“Okay! That’s enough! We don’t have time for your hissy fits! Just try not to kill each other while I’m gone.” After saying that, Morinaga spun on his heels and marched out of the clearing and into the surrounding forest, following the path to the hill the castle stood on. He didn’t dare glance back, too afraid to see those two already at each other’s throats.
Morinaga had other things on his mind that were a lot more important and he had to think about them before he reached the keep. His actions inside would depend on the conclusions he would make right now. He knew that fighting Masaki alone was a very foolish thing. Even the surprise factor from the Hunter’s presence might not be enough to save Souichi from serious harm. That the Human might have already suffered some serious injury was something Morinaga didn’t want to think about. There was no time to waste, no sacrifice too large to bring Sou-chan to safety. That thought was enough for Morinaga to come to his decision. The only thing he could do now was find his brother.
With a determined stride Morinaga walked to the steadily looming castle.
Chapter 32
Note: I’m going to disappoint those that wanted to see more of Silvan. We won’t be seeing him in this story again (expect for maybe the epilogue but since I’m not sure what I’ll be writing there, don’t have high hope).
Are you missing Souichi? I sure as hell am! At least I have a very nice and emotion laden scene with him to write this week. ^-^ You’ll need to wait for the next chapter to be presentable to see him again.
I’m determined to finish writing this story this year so you might actually see a few more chapters this month. According to my very inaccurate inner eye there are (excluding the 32th chapter that is already finished and “in the making”) about 3-4 chapters left for me to write.
I promised to write a mermaid fic with Souichi and Morinaga and I’d like to actually start writing it. >.< But first this story.
Title: Blood, love and tears
Author: yaoilovefan
Beta: elyrian
Warnings: language,
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Hiroto, Isogai, Morinaga
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 30
Chapter 31
Morinaga strode furiously down the street. He had left the Elf’s club a few moments ago, just after Silvan had divulged his information, and hadn’t paused for even a moment to wait for his two companions. He hadn’t even thanked the Elf for his help. Silvan’s revelations were too hard to swallow. He had to get moving; he couldn’t have stayed there any longer because he didn’t know how he would have reacted if he had. He wasn’t even sure what he was feeling, anger, betrayal, shock, dread, bitterness; everything was mixed up so much that he couldn’t tell even if his life depended on it. Woe unto those stupid enough to ask. They wouldn’t live to see another day.
Hiroto and Isogai caught up with him but luckily stayed quiet. It looked like even the Hunter had picked up on Morinaga’s violent mood and wasn’t making any smart, annoying comments. ‘Self-preservation. Clever guy.’
The Elf’s information in any other circumstances wouldn’t have helped anyone identify who masterminded Souichi’s kidnapping. Luckily it was enough for Morinaga. He knew exactly who had taken Souichi; he just didn’t know why. The whole thing didn’t make any sense.
“Morinaga,” Isogai started, “would you be so kind as to stop for a moment to share your findings?! I’m still in the dark here!”
Morinaga ignored him. He needed to think, to understand. And most importantly to find a way to rescue Souichi from Masaki’s clutches. The other Vampire was dangerous in so many ways. The worst was that he was very cunning and schemed many steps in advance. Not to mention his credibility. Morinaga wouldn’t be all too surprised if Masaki had arranged for the Hell Hounds to chase Souichi and then came to the rescue. He really wouldn’t put it past him.
But why? Why would he kidnap Morinaga’s human lover?
‘I thought he had already finished with me. Making me suffer by hurting Souichi is the only thing I can think of. Why would he kidnap Souichi otherwise? Is he still so full of hate?’
This really didn’t make any sense at all.
“Come on!” Isogai whined. It looked like his curiosity was greater than his sense of self preservation.
Morinaga still kept ignoring him but Hiroto sighed heavily somewhere behind Morinaga and explained.
“You’ve heard about Hell Hounds, right?” Hiroto asked.
There was no answer but Morinaga suspected Isogai nodded because Hiroto continued.
“There is normally no way to befriend them. They are just too vicious; they only have friends among their own kind, but some time ago a Vampire Lord found two abandoned puppies. The parents probably died making sure their pups would stay alive. Anyway, the Vampire looked for the parents and when it became clear that they weren’t anywhere in sight he waited hoping they went somewhere further away and would return to their babies. Soon it became clear that the parents weren’t coming back. The pups were not yet big enough to fend for themselves. Oh, they would have been fine on their own in a place where no predators were roaming the area. Unfortunately, it isn’t easy to find such a place in the Demon World, so without someone to defend the puppies they would have ended up being someone else’s meal, or rather snack or dessert. You get the picture.”
“And that Vampire took them in and they befriended him, yes?”
“Basically, yes. There were a few bumps in that road but the Vampire and the two Hell Hounds became friends and are still friends,” Hiroto ended his tale.
“And everybody knows who that Vampire Lord is. So we have our work cut out for us.”
“Yup.”
Hiroto’s voice sounded cheerful. Despite his anger and confusion, Morinaga had to agree. They should have Souichi back safe and sound very soon.
“Say.” Isogai rubbed his chin in thought. “Have the two of you taken into account the possibility that some non-vampire-friendly Hell Hounds wandered into the Human World and just -“
“Hell Hounds don’t eat Humans,” Morinaga cut in looking over his shoulder at the Hunter. “They don’t have any business in this world.”
“Then why were they found wandering this world before?” Isogai asked smartly.
“Sometimes when they hunt, their prey escapes here and they just follow since they’re so damn fast,” Hiroto explained.
“And I should believe that?” Isogai asked.
Morinaga was about to turn and give the Hunter what he deserved but Hiroto spoke before he had the chance to.
“Nobody will cry if you don’t. See if I care,” the other Vampire sneered.
Despite himself, the corner of Morinaga’s mouth lifted for a brief moment. He could picture the face Hiroto had made while saying those words. The banter those two behind him were indulging in was both amusing and distracting but Morinaga’s thoughts soon returned to his missing human and the person who took him. It erased the faint smile from his lips very efficiently.
‘I won’t let him hurt Souichi. He has hurt me but he won’t hurt my love.‘ Morinaga stopped in his tracks, shocked. His brother had been right. He was in love with a human. There was no denying it, not any longer.
“Morinaga?” Hiroto asked carefully. “Is everything all right?”
“No, but it doesn’t matter. We need to rescue Souichi. Now.” Morinaga tried to dismiss the flood of emotions accompanying his realization. He would deal with them later.
“How will we go about it?” Isogai asked. He was acting dead serious again. There was no trace of light humor or playfulness. Morinaga briefly wondered if perhaps there was something wrong with the Hunter. The ease with which he jumped from one mood to a totally different one in mere seconds couldn’t be normal.
“We’ll confront him,” Morinaga said darkly.
Isogai grimaced. “Are you sure he won’t deny it?”
Morinaga wondered how high the chances of something like that happening were. A long time ago he thought he knew Masaki, but he had been proven wrong. Now he couldn’t depend on what he knew about the Vampire Lord. He wasn’t sure what was only an illusion and what was something he could take for a given when dealing with Masaki. He couldn’t see why the Vampire might want to deny taking Souichi, but he didn’t understand why he took the Human in the first place, either.
“I don’t know, but he took Souichi for a reason and we need to figure out his motivations.” That was at least a start. Morinaga wasn’t sure how easy figuring this out would end up being, but he needed to do something.
“Any ideas?” Isogai asked.
“None yet.” It was very difficult for Morinaga to admit that. He should have had vast knowledge of the Vampire Lord. He was both frustrated and ashamed that he had almost nothing to go on, nothing he could trust.
They stayed silent for a while, everyone buried in their own thoughts. Finally it was Isogai who broke the silence.
“Well, I suggest we inform Kurokawa and Tomoe what we found and then we should go to your world.”
Morinaga’s eyes widened but before he could utter a word Hiroto beat him to it.
“Yeah, we- WHAT?!” Hiroto yelled.
“You heard me. We’re going to your world and rescuing Souichi,” Isogai said patiently.
“You - you…. Want to go with us?!” Hiroto asked, appalled.
Isogai just nodded, his face stony and serious.
Hiroto opened and closed his mouth clearly not believing his own ears. Morinaga didn’t want to believe his, either. ‘At least my mouth didn’t drop open.’
“You’re not needed!” Hiroto grumbled finally regaining his ability to speak.
“I want to help!” Isogai’s eyes were narrowed and he looked stubbornly from one Vampire to the other.
“Then stay here!” Hiroto yelled absolutely furious although Morinaga was puzzled by why his friend had become so angry.
“In your dreams.” Isogai smirked. “I have the one and only possibility to go into the Demon World. Only an idiot would let such opportunity pass him by,” Isogai winked at Hiroto making the Vampire roll his eyes and shake his head.
“The Demon World is no place for Humans, especially not Hunters,” Morinaga tried to reason.
He didn’t think that taking Isogai into the Demon World was such a good idea. Isogai should know that. There was nothing for him to do there; he wouldn’t be useful at all if he came with them. But it looked like Isogai thought otherwise. There must be a reason why the Hunter wanted to go with them even if Morinaga didn’t see it.
“What if you end up being a hindrance more than an asset in finding Souichi?” he asked the Hunter.
“From what I gathered you can’t get help from your brother in finding Souichi so you can count only on your own and Hitoro’s strength. Although you might actually be strong enough, I have my doubts if Hitoro’s strong enough to help you. I know how to fight a vast selection of Demons. I am an asset.”
Morinaga refrained from rolling his eyes and asked instead, “And what about Kurokawa?”
Isogai winced. “I know he will want to go and help too, but I’d rather he stayed here in this world and did the job that we both were supposed to be doing. At least one of us should,” he added the last sentence under his breath bitterly.
After a few seconds Morinaga slid his gaze from Isogai to Hiroto and noticed the look his friend was giving the oblivious Hunter. Fear seized his heart when he thought of all the complications if his suspicions were confirmed.
“You can come with us,” he finally complied, ignoring Hiroto’s appalled gasp. “But I am not responsible for your fate.” He wasn’t sure he had made the right decision, but finding out about Masaki’s involvement made it clear to him that he would need all the help he could get in getting Souichi back.
“Understood.”
*** ***
‘It could have gone worse,’ thought Morinaga while waiting for Isogai to stop heaving. The Hunter was pale and puking his guts out but it looked like those were the only side effects of going through the Portal. ‘He could have lost consciousness.’ He remembered Souichi coming into the Demon World and cursed himself for treating the Human the way he had. ‘But my feelings for him weren’t so strong back then.’
He curtailed those thoughts. They wouldn’t help him rescue Souichi although he promised himself that he would apologize to his Sou-chan as soon as possible.
“Feeling better?” Hiroto asked politely. He looked like someone who couldn’t decide whether to sympathize with or laugh at Isogai’s pathetic state.
Isogai remained silent for a long moment, still bent over with his hands on his thighs, clearly fearing a return bout of nausea. Luckily for all of them it looked like his stomach was settling already and they would be able to move very soon.
Morinaga wasn’t feeling all that great himself, either. Opening a Portal was always tough work and burned a lot of recourses. He really shouldn’t have opened the Portal a second time so soon but he had felt strong enough and wanted to hide Hiroto’s ability to open Portals from the Hunter. Morinaga had weakened himself and should eat something to restore at least some of his powers, but he was reluctant to go on a hunt. It would have meant leaving Isogai with Hiroto, and seeing the way those two were interacting with each other Morinaga wasn’t sure what kind of disaster he would return to. He also wasn’t all that keen on finding out. The problem remained then, he needed to feed, preferably soon.
He had opened the Portal close to his brother’s keep and going there for a snack would have been the best course of action. There was only one problem - he might run into his brother and he might involve him in something time consuming. And there was no way he would tell Kunihiro about Souichi’s kidnapping!
For a moment Morinaga thought about involving his brother in the matter but dismissed the possibility very quickly. Kunihiro wouldn’t give a damn about the Human’s fate. Especially when he was previously set on killing said Human. Morinaga couldn’t count on his brother. Furthermore he hadn’t involved Kunihiro when Masaki had played with his heart, so why should he involve him now?
‘Souichi.’ The answer was so simple, so short, and yet so meaningful. And worth taking any risk.
There was also the possibility that Masaki wanted Morinaga to do exactly that, to involve Kunihiro, to finally tell him about Masaki’s actions towards his ex-best friend’s younger brother. ‘Is that Masaki’s reason for taking Souichi from the Human World?’ Morinaga frowned. He had not informed Kunihiro how hideous Masaki had behaved with Morinaga. He wanted to spare his brother the pain and not let Masaki win since Morinaga was fairly certain that telling Kunihiro was part of Masaki’s cruel plan.
“You’ll both wait here,” Morinaga instructed. He turned in the direction of the castle. It would take only a few minutes to get there. Eluding his brother might be a bit more difficult, but Morinaga knew him well enough to know which places to avoid. He was also forming a backup plan if he happened to bump into Kunihiro. Morinaga hoped that involving the older Vampire Lord would not be necessary but for Souichi - everything was worth doing.
“What do you mean? You’re going to leave us here and do what? Go alone? No way! I’m going to help rescue Tatsumi-kun and if you think - “ Isogai had regained his composure and as if to compensate for his previous silence, his mouth started running a mile a minute.
“I just need to make a short stop at the castle,” Morinaga ignored Hiroto’s horrified expression and continued, “and then we will be going to confront Masaki.”
“But, Angel-kun! If your brother - “ Hiroto started.
“I’m perfectly aware what my brother might do if I run into him, Hiroto. But I need to feed and the keep is the easiest place to find food quickly.”
“I would offer my own neck but it would be foolish of me to do that,” Isogai said flatly.
“Of course,” Hiroto hissed distastefully. “Wouldn’t want to aid a Vampire to such an extent, right?”
Isogai narrowed his eyes and pressed his lips firmly together but after a few seconds he actually composed himself and answered coldly. “The outcome would have been the same in the end. Two people with full strength and one weakened. I don’t think it’s what we are all aiming for. Don’t you agree, Hiroto?”
“Okay! That’s enough! We don’t have time for your hissy fits! Just try not to kill each other while I’m gone.” After saying that, Morinaga spun on his heels and marched out of the clearing and into the surrounding forest, following the path to the hill the castle stood on. He didn’t dare glance back, too afraid to see those two already at each other’s throats.
Morinaga had other things on his mind that were a lot more important and he had to think about them before he reached the keep. His actions inside would depend on the conclusions he would make right now. He knew that fighting Masaki alone was a very foolish thing. Even the surprise factor from the Hunter’s presence might not be enough to save Souichi from serious harm. That the Human might have already suffered some serious injury was something Morinaga didn’t want to think about. There was no time to waste, no sacrifice too large to bring Sou-chan to safety. That thought was enough for Morinaga to come to his decision. The only thing he could do now was find his brother.
With a determined stride Morinaga walked to the steadily looming castle.
Chapter 32
Note: I’m going to disappoint those that wanted to see more of Silvan. We won’t be seeing him in this story again (expect for maybe the epilogue but since I’m not sure what I’ll be writing there, don’t have high hope).
Are you missing Souichi? I sure as hell am! At least I have a very nice and emotion laden scene with him to write this week. ^-^ You’ll need to wait for the next chapter to be presentable to see him again.