364 days without you - chapter 10
KoKame
mrs_koki's request
Multichapter!
Rating: PG
Warning: Some blood (not a lot... yet)
Summary: Every year a secret masked halloween ball takes place underground. Little do people know that this is actually the hunting grounds for a few creatures of the underworld. On Kame's first time there he meets Koki, who is not what he seems...
Notes: Unbeted, I suck at summaries.... for the Trick or Treat challenge. A tiny bit longer than the usual updates, but here you go. Would have posted this earlier, but the NEWS album came out and I got sucked into laughing at the DVD for it and translating some song lyrics. Hope you enjoy this chapter
Koki groaned as Junno practically bounced past him. How could someone so hyper and bouncy be so dark and mysterious to his prey? Koki shuddered at the thought of the gap between the two personalities he showed; sometimes he wondered how he even ended up like that.
“So you got any plans this year?” Junno asked, seemingly uncaring about what he was insinuating.
“None… Might eat a bit, but then go straight home” Junno turned and stared at him… then narrowed his eyes.
“Are you still hung up on him? This is so unlike you”
“Junno, just drop it”
“No, I’ve dropped it for the last year and I am tired of seeing you like this. So you got one rejection, who cares, we get one chance each year to have contact with humans and you really want to spend it moping over someone you think you loved. May I remind you that we are demons.” Junno snapped, Koki stared at the rarity of such an event and gently thought over the words.
“I do love him” Koki murmured in reply. It was the only reason behind everything, the only reality behind why he couldn’t take Kame’s life, but instead wanted to protect it. Junno just stared at him; he couldn’t believe that Koki thought this.
“Yeah, beautiful love” Junno said in a mocking tone, “Why don’t you just go, sweep him off his feet and run into the dawn, hold hands and have stupid flowers floating around your smiles” Koki rolled his eyes, someone had been reading stupid girly manga again.
“How can love be so beautiful?” Koki asked, “How can it be praised by angels, envied by demons and taken advantage of by humans? When it hurts this much… the first and probably only time I ever find it?”
Junno rolled his eyes, this guy was beyond hope.
“Come on, get ready, we’re leaving in a few hours. Get someone to eat and then go mope or whatever. But I’m sure you’ll feel better after eating… or are all these human souls getting to you” Junno raised an eyebrow before bounding off to his own room.
Koki stared after him before moving back towards his room. If only eating could heal the pain in his heart. Every time he blinked he could see the shock and fear that showed up on Kame’s face. He could still feel the disgust that leaked from his skin and the he could hear Kame’s heart beat in panic.
There was no way he could take all that fear away, or change the look on Kame’s face. For decades it had been a rule to not let humans find out their real identity, it was one of the conditions that lead to the establishment of the ball, it was a chance to control the demons that could cause harm, and at the same time, protect the humans. But now Kame knew, and there was nothing that Koki could do to make this situation better.
So he decided to let Kame go, to set him free and pray that he did the wise thing and never came back to the ball. After being tainted by Koki, and year by year, his contaminated scent became stronger, he would attract every demon in that hall if he stepped in and if he didn’t have someone with him to keep the rest away, he would be torn to shreds. Koki shuddered at the thought of it. As long as Kame stayed away, it would be fine.
-☯-
The plan was simple. Various groups of police and helpers would go into the ball while some stayed outside in order to wait until the right moment.
At around 1am it was planned that the police would come in and stop the ball, starting by slowly covering all the exits then interrupt the music in order to calmly break the party apart and to move through the procedures in order to shut the party down, during which they would attempt to find and arrest Koyama. They should be done by 4am.
Kame had until 1am to escape Ueda’s watch and to find Koki, fix things, warn him and hopefully walk out of all this together.
Even that plan was simple on paper… but over a hundred things could go wrong. But Kame didn’t even have an idea of how wrong it could go until Tegoshi caught his arm before they were going to enter.
“I know I may be breaking protocol to tell you this, but Massu left out a key piece of information that I think you should know.” Tegoshi waved the others in their group on with a bright smile before turning serious eyes back to Kame. “The police searched this hall right after the Halloween Party last year; however the entrance that you showed Massu and Yuichi didn’t exist anymore.” Kame stared at Tegoshi… why was he being told this now? With everything he’s heard and seen recently he could slowly realise what this meant… “The others don’t know yet” Tegoshi said again before Kame could voice his fear.
Kame stared at Tegoshi a little harder this time; the other oblivious to his suspicious glare while he quickly glanced around the area again. Tegoshi turned his eyes back to Kame, his hand was digging in his pocket, “I know that you know the real reasons behind the murders, but you mustn’t say anything careless, it can land you in a lot of trouble. So I’m going to ask you to not ask questions and just listen to what I say next.” Kame couldn’t help but nod under Tegoshi’s intense gaze. How had this guy become so intense all of a sudden?
“You are going to be in a lot of danger in there, especially with your scent, but you might be the key to trying to control the chaos that will erupt. At 1am the protection I’m putting on you will break, hopefully the demons will be distracted enough in that moment for us to gain control. At that moment, try and be somewhere where I can find you easily, if not… I can’t guarantee what will happen.” Kame opened his mouth about to ask how on earth Tegoshi knew this and what it meant…
“I said no questions,” Tegoshi cut in, frowning, “Now I’m going to put this in your ear, if you desperately need help, pull the feather off and I will find you immediately.” Before Kame could protest, Tegoshi had pushed the hair away from his left ear… but then he paused…
“Where did you get this?” Tegoshi stared at him confused, indicating towards the dragon piercing that was currently in his left ear. Kame had found it coincidently this year amongst his stuff, and he instantly remembered where it was from when he picked it up. It belonged to Koki, and he dropped it the first year they met. Back then Kame had no idea why he picked it up, but he was happy he did. Now he didn’t know why he wore it, maybe in some small way he wished it would bring him closer to the other. Now that Tegoshi seemed concerned about it, he started to wonder if there was something special behind it.
“This belongs to a demon, how on earth did you end up with it?” Tegoshi asked again, quickly moving to the other ear as he couldn’t seem to touch it.
“It belongs to someone I know” Kame supplied as Tegoshi put the feathered earring in his right ear. It was more Ueda’s style to wear earrings like this, so he wasn’t sure how it suited him. He could feel the feather tickling his chin. Tegoshi just raised an eyebrow at him.
“I see… now be careful in there… and keep an eye on the time” With that, the bright smile was back on Tegoshi’s face as he started to drag Kame towards the entrance of the ball.
“Tegoshi… what are you?” Kame asked as they got passed the ticket checker and walked down the short corridor leading to the hall. Tegoshi just smiled back at him.
“Now that’s a weird question Kame-tan” Kame rolled his eyes at the nickname. Clearly he wasn’t going to get an answer. Instead he made his way to the bar. It was the best place to start looking for Koki after all.
“Okura” Kame called as he reached the bar, carefully leaning forwards, when Okura suddenly popped up from behind the bar. Kame jumped backwards a little in fright.
“Ah Kame” his eyes narrowed a little, “I didn’t sense you there… I still don’t sense you there”
“Apparently I have a block on me, don’t ask, I don’t understand it myself, anyway, I’m looking for Koki, any idea where I can find him.” The bartender just stared at him for a moment.
“He said you weren’t coming anymore” Okura sounded a little surprised, “I’m glad you did actually” He smiled a little, but he wasn’t going to let anything else slip from his tongue. Kame couldn’t help but smile slightly at Okura; sounds like they have a supporter.
“Sadly, I haven’t seen him yet. But he should be here soon. If I see him, I’ll let him know that you are looking for him.” Kame smiled at him in thanks, and just before he turned away to search the dance floor, Okura passed him a colourful drink… Kame laughed as Okura winked at him. He always seemed to be making the nicest drinks for Kame for free (or on Koki’s tab… sometimes he wasn’t sure).
Kame ventured into the dance floor, carefully avoiding people. It was nice to walk through the crowd again and not draw any attention, whatever Tegoshi had done to him really helped. Kame quickly found himself in the middle of the dance floor, people moving to the beat around him. A few moments passed as he glanced around, before he felt someone taking his empty glass from his hand.
“Now this is unexpected, I didn’t think you were here, and now I see you in the middle of the floor.” The smooth voice interrupted his searching; Kame spun around and came face to face with Koyama’s grin. This was not good.
“Sorry Koyama, I’m looking for someone” Kame tried to dismiss him, quickly moving away from Koyama, determined to get some space between them. But Koyama wouldn’t leave him alone, and started to follow him.
“How about I keep you company until you find your friend?” Koyama chimed in happily, clearly having no intention of leaving his side. Kame needed to get rid of him, quickly.
“KAME!” Kame froze as he heard the slightly angry voice, Ueda soon appearing in front of him, “I told you not to disappear from my sight, what if you were…” Ueda’s eyes soon drifted over towards Koyama, who gently smiled back. Ueda quickly silenced himself with a squeak, his hand grabbing onto Kame’s sleeve, ready to pull him and run.
“Hello, I think Kame was just looking for you” Koyama smiled at Ueda, “I see you aren’t afraid of the ‘danger’ that is here this year” Koyama laughed gently, his voice soft. Kame turned away from him, looking Ueda in the eyes in hope the other would calm down. But Ueda was already calm… It was the same thing that happened two years ago, Ueda seemed to be hypnotised by Koyama… no… Koyama was enchanting Ueda in order to make dealing with him easier… how did he not see this before? Kame turned back to Koyama, a seductive smile on his face.
“Nee, why don’t you get Ueda and me a drink and we’ll meet you over by the seating area… the same table as last year?” Kame suggested. Koyama returned his smile.
“Sure, I’ll be right back” He leaned forwards and gently pushed Kame’s hair behind his right ear, running his hand over the feather in Kame’s ear. Koyama stared at him, an intensity behind his eyes, but whatever Koyama was trying, it didn’t work this time. Kame just smiled back before Koyama slowly slipped into the crowd towards the bar.
“Ueda” Kame shook him gently as the other slowly seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was put in.
“Oh god, is he gone?” Ueda glanced around in panic.
“Just for the moment, we need to get away from the seating area, he things we are going to meet him there.” Just as Kame was about to move, Ueda’s hand held him back.
“What happened? Why don’t I know what happened for a moment and you’re fine?” Ueda seemed worried, the fact that Ueda knew for sure now that demons existed, and that he voluntarily wandered into their most popular gathering just to protect Kame, but then find out that he was useless. Kame protected him from the one demon they had marked as the most dangerous.
“I think he hypnotised you, I don’t know why but it doesn’t seem to affect me.” Kame supplied as he pulled on Ueda’s arm, leading the two of them over towards the DJ desk on the other side of the room. Hopefully Koyama won’t spot them from over here.
While they stood near the speakers, they could feel the vibration of the beat. One guy at the edge of the dance crowd winked at them, Kame quickly recognised him as the guy in charge of taking control of the music at 1am. Kame glanced at his watch… it just got to midnight, so he had about an hour left. Ueda moved next to him, causing Kame to turn to see where he was going. He saw Ueda lean into a hug with Ryo, Kame decided to look away before they decided to get a little more intimate. Walking in on them making out on the couch was enough.
Kame scanned his eyes out over the crowd; he couldn’t see Koyama anymore which was good. Instead he spotted Junno, dancing smoothly to the beat. Kame quickly moved forwards, not taking his eyes off of him in hopes that he would know where Koki would be.
Junno stared at him wide-eyed when he grabbed his wrist. He stared at Kame, back at his wrist and then opened his mouth to say something, but before he could Kame chipped in.
“I know, you can’t sense me, some protection thing. It’s unimportant now. Have you seen Koki?” Kame asked before Junno could ask him anything else. Junno was giving him an odd look now, one that Kame couldn’t quite read.
“Interesting” He said quietly, but Kame still heard him. “He should be near the VIP section. But I should tell you, I think he’s hunting. He didn’t eat last year, so he must be pretty hungry by now” Junno added, he smirked slightly at Kame, if Kame hadn’t seen his face, he would have thought it was a warning, but instead it sounded more like encouragement…?
“Yeah yeah Mr blood sucker, I’ll go see what type of dish he wants” Kame answered, he turned away after noticing the look of shock cross Junno’s face. Looks like his guess was right, he was a vampire.
But despite what Junno said, Koki was not by the VIP booths, Kame bit his lip a little worried, Koki wouldn’t already have… Kame shook himself at the thought… he has to eat somehow. He then meandered around the people in the crowd slowing making his way back to the bar, constantly glancing around in hopes of seeing Koki.
Okura waved at him briefly by the bar, busy with a few orders. Kame stood there for a while, his back on the bar, scanning the crowd. The ball seemed to have a lot more people in this year, Kame briefly noted; sadly the night will be ruined soon as 1am was slowly approaching.
“He’s on the dance floor” Okura said behind him, “He hasn’t come up to the bar yet but I saw him dancing a little while ago. And since he wasn’t at the bar, he hasn’t found anyone so he should still be there.” Okura then waved at him before heading to some new customers that turned up at the bar.
Kame set off back to the middle of the floor. All these years Koki had found him, but this year without him able to sense him he had no idea. So this year Kame would search until he dropped, until he could loop his arms around Koki’s neck again and hug him to show him that it was ok. It didn’t matter what Koki was, Kame just wanted him regardless.
Time was running out, but finally Kame spotted him. He was dancing with a young lady, but Kame wasn’t fazed at all. He stepped towards them, ready to call out Koki’s name, when an arm wrapped around his waist.
“Where on earth did you slip off to? I couldn’t find you for ages and here I find you reaching for someone else, alone in the middle of the dance floor?” Koyama’s voice whispered smoothly in his left ear. Kame struggled in Koyama’s grasp as the other slowly lifted his head to look at who Kame was heading towards.
“Fucking Koki, what the hell do you see in him?” Koyama’s voice dropped and nearly dripped in poison. Kame froze, this wasn’t good, Koyama seemed to hate Koki for reasons that he possibly couldn’t understand.
“Let go of me Koyama, I want to go talk to him.”
“No” Sweet seductive tones didn’t linger in Koyama’s voice anymore, “so you are his… well this will make things a lot more interesting then” The danger was growing and Kame tried his best to struggle and break Koyama’s grasp on him.
“Come on, why don’t we have some fun, Koki isn’t worth your time” Koyama started to drag him backwards, away from Koki and towards the VIP booths.
“KOKI” Kame shouted in a last ditch attempt to not have Koyama drag him off. He wasn’t too sure if he would be heard over the music. But the further he got for Koki, and the closer he got to the VIP booths, the more frantic his shouting became. People around them weren’t even paying attention, it was hopeless.
At that moment Kame suddenly remembered the earring Tegoshi gave him. He didn’t know what Tegoshi could do, but if it could delay Koyama he would take the chance. He reached up and grasped his left ear… Koyama froze for a moment and then suddenly let go of Kame as if he was shocked. Kame stood there in shock for a moment. Slowly raising his other hand to his right ear where the feather was hanging. How could he have made the mistake?
“What did you do?” Koyama growled at him before grabbing Kame’s wrist and yanking it away from his left ear, glaring at the dragon earring that was in Kame’s ear.
“You bitch; you really are marked by him.” Koyama raised his hand to the earring, wrapping his fingers around it. His face contorted in pain, but he didn’t stop.
“Kame?” Koki’s voice called from behind Koyama.
“Koki! Help!” Kame shouted back. Thank god he knew he was here and found him… how did he find him?
“Koyama, let him go.” Koyama slowly turned around, fingers playing with Kame’s ear.
“No, you left him, so I’m going to take him” Koyama muttered fiercely.
“Koyama, I’m warning you, if you touch him…”
“Nice threat, but still no” and with that Koyama ripped the dragon earring that he had been toying with right out of Kame’s ear.
Kame fell to the ground in shock at the sudden pain, a couple of drops of blood dripped down on his hand. Kame chocked back any tears from pain that threatened to spill, he had to see Koki, had to get to him. Just as the dragon earring fell in front of him from where Koyama dropped it, his watch started to beep.
1am.