[One-Shot] Nightdancer
Banner by cold_jade ♥
Title: Nightdancer
Author: Kira_Shadow
Fandom: Kis-my-Ft2
Pairings: NikaSenga
Rating: R
Warnings: Unbeta-ed...dark fantasy, vampirism AU, lime-ish...
Disclaimer: None of the characters in this fic are mine.
Comments: Dude...this is long...I wonder how I actually managed to make it this long...I hope I won't bore everyone who reads this to death...
Summary: It would be a dream he’d never be able to fulfil…Senga coughed and choked up more blood, wincing when he felt the knife that had been impaled in his lower abdomen move when he did. The pain was getting duller though…just like his whole consciousness. There were already dark corners tugging on the edge of his vision and the night sky above him was getting blurry.
Senga Kento, a boy of merely 16 years of age looked at his reflection in the mirror wall of the dance studio. He was the only one still there as everyone else from his class had left a few hours ago to shower and go home. The teacher had given him special permission to stay after if he wanted and just tell the guard downstairs to lock up after he was done.
Born and raised in a small town in Aichi-ken, close to Nagoya, Senga had worked hard to come here to Tokyo, to one of the most renowned dance academies in the whole of Japan. It wasn’t that he wanted to compete for any titles as most of the others did but to enjoy dancing and to have other people enjoy his dancing as well.
His dream was to work for musical productions or other stage programmes one day and to travel the world with those and learn more dances from different countries and different cultures.
It would be a dream he’d never be able to fulfil…Senga coughed and choked up more blood, wincing when he felt the knife that had been impaled in his lower abdomen move when he did. The pain was getting duller though…just like his whole consciousness. There were already dark corners tugging on the edge of his vision and the night sky above him was getting blurry.
A few tears fell from his eyes as he let them fall shut. At least…at least he’d be able to leave without regrets…well…without too many regrets.
He wondered if the other had known that this would happen…
“Nika-chan…daisuki…” Senga let his eyes fall shut.
Letting himself fall onto his knees, exhaustion finally taking its toll on his body, Senga closed his eyes and took a few moments to gather himself again. He still wasn’t satisfied though. His moves were still looking so…ugly. The question was why. Hadn’t he corrected all the mistakes yet?
“You may have the talent but the grace of a robot…or well, maybe a gorilla…” a voice remarked from behind him with a rather amused and teasing tone.
Senga’s head snapped around and his eyes sought the source of the voice. He hadn’t heard anyone come in…who’d be in here at this time anyway? “Who-“
The stranger - a boy who looked to be around the same age as him, with a tall-ish and slender built, deep brown eyes and jet black hair, which contrasted his rather pale complexion - interrupted him, “Want me to show you how to do that properly?”
A flick of a switch later, the music started once more and Senga’s eyes widened when he watched the other boy move. The movements were fluid and graceful as it was supposed to be…Just like his teacher wanted it to be. But even his teacher couldn’t match this. He couldn’t tear his eyes away, this was…as close to perfection a human could get.
“Come on…I’ll guide you…” the other stood behind him, pulled him up from the floor and grabbed his wrists, “Close your eyes and -feel- it…”
Doing as he was told, Senga let himself be led, trying to let his body memorize the moves, or rather, the way of moving rather than his thoughts. Somewhere along the way, he noticed that the other had let go of him and his body was moving on his own, his thoughts elsewhere and at ease. Maybe that had been what had stopped him from perfecting the moves earlier on? His body and mind not quite ‘agreeing’ on the way of moving?
“That’ll do for now…” the music died down. “Go home and rest...”
Opening his eyes again, Senga was about to thank the other but when he looked into the mirror but there was nobody there except for him. Turning around, he found himself alone once more.
Had this been a dream? A ghost?
Shaking his head, Senga cleared his head and decided to follow the other’s advice, real or not, and go home to get some rest and some sleep as well as some food. He had another day of lessons ahead of him the next day. Collecting his things, he went to shower.
“So you finally approached him, huh?” Nikaido could hear the smirk in the other’s voice.
Turning around to glare at the elder vampire he snarled, “Where the heck have you been again?”
An arm was wrapped around his shoulders, “Aw…missed me, Nika-chan?”
“Shut up, Wataru…” he shoved the other away again. “And don’t you dare pick on me…I’m just a little more picky about them, alright? You’ve taught me to care about it, after all, so…”
Yokoo chuckled, “Well, it’s nice to see you’re following -some- of my pieces of advice…” He stretched and let go of the other, “As to where I have been…I went to meet an old friend of mine. You’d like him…but I don’t know whether this is the right time for you to meet him. He…gets a little ‘unstable’ at times and I doubt you’d be able to handle him, yet.”
“Sounds dangerous…”
“Oh, I didn’t say he was harmless, did I? After all, none of us are…” the elder grinned, showing fangs.
Nikaido nodded, “True.”
“Come on…you need to feed. The sun won’t stay down forever…”
“Pity…”
Senga did his usual stretches and started to warm up even before the teacher was even there. Most of the other dancers thought he was overly enthusiastic and regarded him with tired smiles, saying how the young ones still had too much motivation and energy. Other than that, they mostly ignored him. He wasn’t too good or too bad and fit right in most of the time.
“Alright everyone, let’s start with the part from yesterday!” everyone finished their warming up and took their positions in the dance space before the music started.
Clearing his head, Senga tried to just let his body remember the moves and let his ears lead him as they listened to the music. His head was clear and there were no unnecessary thoughts. He felt free and happy and those feelings flowed into his dancing.
“Senga-kun…that was extraordinary! I just told you yesterday that you needed to work on it and today it’s already perfect! Well done!” the dancing instructor praised him. “Your potential and skill are finally coming through fully and if you continue like this, they will soon match your talent.”
“Thank you, sensei!”
“In fact…one of the dancers for a stage show fell sick and I’ve meant to pick a replacement…it’s nothing big, just in the background…but if you can learn the choreography in such a short time to this extent, you’d be perfect…Stay here after class and I’ll tell you the details,” the man smiled.
Bowing with a happy and grateful smile, Senga replied, “Hai!”
He missed the dark looks coming his way from his fellow students. Their attitude towards him had changed from neutral to jealousy from one moment to the other.
“Why did you choose him, sensei? I thought you wanted to recommend me for that spot!” one of the elder girls had stayed after and waited until Senga had left after receiving details about the stage production and where he had to go the next day. “And I thought that show was looking for a more experienced dancer! Why did you take that…that new kid??”
“He’ll do a good job, I’m sure,” the dance instructor looked at the girl in annoyance. “Didn’t you see him today? I already knew of his ability to memorize the choreography perfectly in a short time…but he also adjusted his style according to my corrections in just one day. It takes -you- a week to do that still, even though you’re more experienced. The show…they need that speed. They don’t have a lot of time left. Senga-kun will have three days to learn everything.”
Throwing her dance shoes across the room in anger the girl stomped out of the studio.
Senga was sitting in his room and listened to the music his instructor had given him. It would be the music he’d dance to starting tomorrow. When the disc was done playing for the third time, he put his headphones away and stretched. Enough for today, sleep was important, too…
“Congratulations. Looks like you’re a step closer to fulfilling your dream?” the voice startled him so much he almost jumped against the ceiling. Whirling around, he found the teen he’d believed to be a figment of his imagination in the dance studio a day ago, sitting on the windowsill of his opened window, one leg dangling down leisurely.
“How did you get up here?” Senga blinked. He couldn’t have been immersed in the music that much…and he was sure that he’d locked the door of his room.
The other smirked, “Oh I have my ways…Senga Kento-chan…”
“…seems like it…so who are you?”
“Oh? I went from being a figment of your imagination to actually being real already? Ah well, can’t help it then…” sliding off the window sill he went to stand in front of Senga. “Nikaido Takashi.”
Nodding, Senga bowed a little, “I think I owe you a thank you, Nikaido-kun…For helping me…”
Waving it off, Nikaido flopped down on Senga’s bed, “Don’t worry about it…I did it because I wanted to. Otherwise I wouldn’t even have talked to you in the first place.”
“Why did you want to…?”
Shrugging, he answered, “Because…? Now…let’s stop playing 20 Questions…You’re so much into dancing, that you forget about the fact that you’re up here in Tokyo and should take a look around. Come on, doing something else besides dancing and thinking about dancing you should go out and have some fun.” Without waiting for a reply, he grabbed Senga’s hand and pulled the other boy along with him, stuffing wallet, keys and jacket into the boy’s arms and making him slide into his shoes.
Blinking in confusion, Senga couldn’t even find the time to speak until they were outside. “Where are we going, Nikaido-kun? Where are you taking me?”
“You’ll see…”
The two of them went on a trip around Tokyo but it seemed a little fast-forwarded. Senga would only remember the temple in Asakusa pass by in a blur, mixing with the colourful neon lights of Akihabara, Shinjuku, Shibuya and Harajuku…the lights on the Tokyo Tower…
All the way, Nikaido never let go of his hand, pulling him along pointing to one or the other direction with his other hand from time to time. Senga felt light…and somehow free. It had indeed been a while since he’d just walked through a mass of people at a leisurely pace, paying some attention to his surroundings, instead of rushing along with them to get to point A to point B.
After some window shopping - most of the shops had already closed when they’d hit the streets - they settled down in a park, eating crêpes. “That felt good…”
Grinning, Nikaido licked some cream off his crêpe. “See? You need something else than dancing sometimes…even though…you were pretty much starting to dance out there on the street…”
Pouting, Senga replied, “I can’t help it…I just love dancing!”
“I figured that much, yes. Maybe it’s in your blood…”and unbeknownst to Senga, Nikaido wondered if one would be able to taste it. Although he had no idea what something like that was really supposed to taste like? He hadn’t really paid any attention to it so far…maybe he should from now on.
“Maybe~” Senga nodded and finished his crêpe. “Ne…Nikaido-kun?”
The other turned around and raised an eyebrow in a silent ‘Yes?’.
“The stage show…will you come and watch? After all…it’s also thanks to you that I made it in there and since each of us can get free tickets…” he let the sentence hang in the air for a while, looking at the other with pleading eyes. Senga didn’t have anyone else to give a ticket to after all, since his family couldn’t make it and he didn’t want to be all by himself when he went out into the crowd afterwards.
Seeing the emotions flicker through the other’s eyes, Nikaido threw the empty wrapper of his crêpe into a nearby garbage bin and shrugged, “Well if it’s for free I’ll come and see whether you still move like a little gorilla or not~”
“Hey!” the shorter one of them pouted a little but then smiled and whispered, “Thank you…I’ll give it to you before the show starts…? Like…maybe even tomorrow after rehearsal? Whenever that will be…”
“Don’t worry about that, I’ll be there when you come out, if it isn’t at the crack of dawn…” Nikaido brushed the problem off. He’d just go a little ‘hunting’ around the area while he waited. He’d neglected that a little bit the last few days anyway, so that was perfectly fine.
They walked back to Senga’s place and Nikaido bid the other farewell for the night. Before Senga finally stepped into his room, he turned around to watch the other’s retreating back but again, there was no trace whatsoever left of Nikaido ever being there and once again, Senga doubted the other’s existence but even if the other was just a figment of his imagination…he’d come to like him.
When Nikaido returned to his temporary home the following night he splashed his face with some water, pushing his bangs out of his face and sighed.
“Are you alright, Nika-chan? You don’t look too good…” Yokoo leant against the doorframe of the bathroom, arms crossed and with a worried expression on his face. “Did something happen?”
Shaking his head the other replied, “I guess it’s just…How do you stand it? Seeing it…feeling it…”
Features softening, Yokoo walked up to the other and ruffled Nikaido’s hair. “You should get used to it after the first few times…even though I hope you won’t have an experience like that too often…It’s just…we may be more powerful than the mortals in general but we aren’t almighty…We can cheat death if we want to…but we cannot always.”
“What do you think will hap-“
“You’re getting too attracted to him…? Please be careful…or it’ll hurt a lot…a whole lot…” the elder vampire sighed. “Go to sleep…and think about it?”
Looking down at the water disappearing down the sink, Nikaido muttered, “This sucks…”
Petting the other on the head affectionately and ruffling the soft, dark hair, Yokoo sighed, “I know Nika-chan. I know…”
Not getting too attached… Keeping his distance from now on…
Once he’d watched the other on stage and then waiting for him in the foyer afterwards…Nikaido knew that he wouldn’t be able to do it effortlessly. He’d tried to, for the past few days, to not think of the other to not go to see him…but it had been difficult, very difficult…and his heart leapt a little when the other came towards him, smiling and with a glow around him that he felt his hard and uncaring expressing melted away into a small smile.
“Nikaido-kun! You really did come! I…After not hearing anything from you I thought that…that maybe something had happened or that you didn’t want to come after all…” Senga looked at him.
Closing his eyes briefly and composing himself, Nikaido answered, “I’m sorry…I…had things to take care of…You were lonely without me…?”
Looking down, Senga gave a little ‘Nh…’ sound which sounded like a hesitant agreement. “I noticed how much fun it was to have a friend and do things aside from dancing after that night you took me out and…I guess…I wanted to do it again…”
“Having fun is a good thing…you should do it more often…and as to doing that with me…are you really tired or do you want to go and have a coffee or something?” he looked at the boy.
Smiling at him, the other replied, “I’m not that tired…after all…I wasn’t on stage for that long…and…I don’t think I could feel sleepy right now anyway…I feel so happy…and…it was so nice to be up there.”
Senga’s eyes took in the other’s face and he thought for a second, how mature the other seemed despite his appearance. All of a sudden Nikaido seemed a lot older than he appeared with a depth to his eyes that intrigued Senga. He wondered if he’d really seen sadness in them a moment ago…
They went to a café not too far from the place where Senga was living and had a cup of hot chocolate in Senga’s case and tea in Nikaido’s, as the night had gotten rather chilly around them.
“Say Sen-chan…why didn’t your family come up here to see you? I mean…this was something really special for you, right? And…” Nikaido asked, after taking a few sips of the hot beverage.
A small and a little wistful and sad smile ghosted over Senga’s lips. “They…weren’t so happy about me coming here and wanting to become a dancer…but my teacher convinced them to let me come and…I don’t know…it feels awkward. I…I rarely call them and when I do…sometimes they start complaining about the school fees they have to pay since the scholarship only applies to the dancing part of my education…and since the private school connected to the dancing school isn’t exactly cheap…” He sighed and leant back, looking up to the ceiling.
“They may be my family…but somehow I feel really detached from them…I…I’m dancing out of line I guess…” he laughed a little at his own bad pun. “It must sound stupid…my story…”
Nikaido shook his head, “It doesn’t to me…” He kept his gaze on Senga. “Being related by blood doesn’t mean that those bonds are unbreakable. My family abandoned me…they got rid of me because they didn’t want me. I was orphaned.”
“I’m so-“
“Don’t be…that’s just how life works…” the darker haired boy shrugged. “Let’s drop this matter and change the topic, alright?”
After doing just that, the two of them ended up talking until it was almost down, moving from the café to Senga’s room when the owner kicked them out when it got too late for ‘kids to be out here’. Just an hour before sunrise, Nikaido excused himself, declining Senga’s offer to stay over.
“Sorry, can’t do that…I really have to get back to my place…but I’ll…try to see you around? Good luck with your next performance tonight…and…enjoy it to the fullest!”
“I will! I always do!”
“Good night, Sen-chan…”
“Good night or…well…good morning, Nika-chan…”
Smirking a little Nikaido asked, “I’ve become ‘Nika-chan’ now, huh?” Not waiting for an answer he closed the door and left the other standing there, blinking in confusion and slight embarrassment.
When he’d gotten ready for bed, a few hours had to be enough to keep him on his feet for the show, Senga walked over to the window and watched the sunrise before crawling under his blankets and closing his eyes. In his dreams he saw a pair of eyes…dark eyes framed by even darker hair…watching over him…a pair of lips caressing his in a soft kiss…and-
Bolting up from his sheets, panting heavily and blushing furiously, Senga reached for his clock. He could’ve slept for another hour but he didn’t think he’d be able to go back to sleep after THAT…and…maybe he should go and take a shower…a cold one…
On his way there he wondered where those images had come from…he hadn’t really thought about things like that before…but somehow the topic had come up among the dancers before the show the day before when some of the girls had talked about how they had worked for the Takarazuka shows before and how this production now was different and yet similar.
It had made him curious… Senga had always been somewhat of a late bloomer. He knew that most people his age had already thought about things like this or even had girlfriends and lost their virginity... People had called him ‘innocent’ before when he hadn’t gotten any of the dirty jokes until they had explained them to him - which had very effectively made him blush a deep scarlet, which only lead to more laughter. Maybe…his time had come now…?
“Waah, I need that shower…” he walked in, pulled off his clothes and stepped into the stall. The jet of freezing cold water hit him a few seconds later and he yelped.
On the other side of the quarter another person was falling out of the bed with a yelp when he was kicked out of it. “Damn it, Wataru what the hell did I do to deserve that??”
“You were drooling and moaning in your sleep, you perv~” Yokoo teased him with a grin.
“Shut the fuck up…” Nikaido grumbled and crawled back onto the bed, running a hand through his hair before looking at the clock. “It’s still so early…”
Shrugging the other commented, “You’ll have more time like this. It may be early in that aspect but remember one thing…even if you do have all the time in the world…you also don’t…”
“Have I ever told you to stop speaking so cryptically?”
When Senga left the show venue he didn’t expect to see a familiar figure leaning against a lamppost outside, obviously waiting. “Ni-Nika-chan!”
“Yo! Otsukare on the second day of the show?” Nikaido smiled.
“Thank you!” Senga smiled shyly. “Ne…did you…did you wait for me?”
“I thought you might want some company on your way home?”
Senga’s smile brightened, “Sure! I always enjoy being with you!” He blinked and covered his lips when he realized what he’d just said. A small blush tinged his cheeks.
Smile turning into a smirk, Nikaido pushed himself off the lamppost and walked over to the other, leaning forward and whispering, “I enjoy being with you, too, Sen-chan~”
Of course that only resulted in making the other blush even deeper scarlet.
They walked to a nearby park, taking a small detour on their way back to Senga’s place. Looking around and seeing that they were alone, the younger boy started, “Ne, Nika-chan…can I ask you something? It…It might sound really cheesy and I guess you’ll laugh at me but please try to give an honest answer? I…I’ve put some thought into it today…”
Raising an eyebrow Nikaido replied, “Give it away then…?”
“If…If you knew that you didn’t have much time to live left…what would be the thing you’d want to do most?” Senga looked at the other, eyes serious.
He’d gone through some of the things his teacher had sent him. One of them had included the description of a stage play dealing with this kind of topic. Trying to keep his thoughts from straying into the weird directions where it had gone before his shower, he’d become really immersed in it…
Nikaido’s eyes widened and he looked at the other. Did he know? How could he?
Closing his eyes and then opening them again slowly, he tried to come up with an answer, “That’s a difficult question you’re asking there…” - especially to someone like him - “I don’t know if I could come up with an answer immediately…as in right now…do you need to know now or can you give me a little bit more time to think about it?” He looked at Senga then. “Have you thought about it?”
Worrying his lips a bit, Senga stopped in his tracks. “I…I did…”
“So what is i-“ Nikaido never got around to finish his sentence. The hands on his shoulders and soft lips on his effectively kept him from uttering any other word.
The kiss felt weird…not because it was inexperienced on Senga’s part but because of the whole situation, the moment… “Sen…Sen-chan…”
“Gomen…I…I just thought that…I wouldn’t want to die without ever having my first kiss…and…I… I wanted it to be with you…I’m sorry if that freaks you out…” the boy apologized and kept his eyes down.
“I’m…honoured…but you know…it should be a proper kiss…that one was horrid…”
Just before Senga could reply to that, he found himself in a second kiss, this time with Nikaido leading and his eyes widened at how different it felt from the first one. Lifting his hands, he held onto the slightly taller teen’s dark jacket at first and then hesitantly lifted a hand to run it through the soft jet-black hair.
Around them, the world moved on but for them…time seemed to have stopped, trapping them in a seemingly eternal moment. But eventually it had to come to and end as well and they were slammed back into reality, full force.
Breathless, Senga looked up at the other and whispered, “Nika-chan…”
“Shush…” Nikaido put a finger onto the other’s lips. “Let’s not try to explain any complicated feelings, alright? Not now…that can wait for later…” And after those words had left his lips, he kissed the other once more, pushing his tongue past Senga’s lips and making them forget about their surroundings for the second time that night.
How they made it back to Senga’s room was beyond them. Neither of them was thinking about that anyway as they started to shed their clothes, helping each other with doing so occasionally, until both of them were clad in just their boxers.
In the orange light of Senga’s bedside lamp, Nikaido’s skin seemed to be less pale than it really was and the younger boy hesitantly ran his hands over the smooth expanse of it. There wasn’t even a single flaw. Even in the other’s face…Senga had thought at first that the other was wearing make up to hide the acne and pimples, as so many others their age did but the other’s skin really was flawless. It was almost otherworldly…too good to be true.
“Kento…you’re sure about this, right?”
Shivering slightly upon hearing the other call him by his first name, he nodded. Senga felt high…He was floating and not thinking. His mind was just a blur…and it continued to stay like that. It was almost like in his dream…The other’s tongue on his skin…lips…Nikaido’s voice in his ear…
Everything seemed like a déjà-vu but it felt better…it felt real…because it was real this time.
Wrapping his legs around the other, he pressed himself against Nikaido’s body, which somehow seemed a little colder than he had expected it to be…it was so much colder than his own body, which seemed to be close to burning with heat…with…what he supposed was passion.
“Please…” he whimpered softly and nuzzled the crook of the other’s neck a bit, as he pressed himself even closer against the other, waiting for …for what?
A moan fell from his lips when his question was answered, when the other moved inside of him once more and then he felt how even more heat seemed to start filling him…heat that sprung over from Nikaido that was seeping into him…
When the clouds in his mind started to clear away a little, Senga opened his eyes to see how Nikaido put away a washcloth and a small bowl with water. The other was completely dressed again and probably about to leave for the morning…
“Nika-chan…Stay…?” he croaked weakly, his throat felt raw, probably from screaming earlier…
“I’m sorry but I can’t…” crouching down next to Senga and pulling the blanket to cover the younger boy properly, Nikaido blew a soft kiss onto the other’s lips. “Sleep well…”
“Nika…I…I love you…”
“You do…?”
“Nh…”
“Think of me then...and I’ll…I’ll see you…soon…”
“Nnhh~…”
And with that, Senga had fallen asleep, missing the look of sadness and pain in the other’s eyes.
When Nikaido left the room, he let the tears fall from his eyes. He hadn’t cried in so long…he had even forgotten how it felt to do so almost…
He didn’t flinch when he was pulled into a hug. “It’s time to sleep for you, too. Everything…will be over by this time tomorrow. You should prepare yourself for it…I don’t want you to fall apart over it…”
“It’s easy for you to say that…”
“You didn’t care before…”
“I didn’t LOVE before!” Nikaido would have screamed at the other but he was too weak to do so and thus he ended up being carried back ‘home’ by Yokoo, sobbing into the older vampire’s shoulder.
Senga woke up basket in warm sunlight and he smiled as he sat up slightly and slowly - his lower body was aching - to pull the curtains back a bit more. “Good morning world…”
He went about to get dressed and then tried to do some simple stretches and moves, testing whether or not he’d be able to perform later on. When that turned out to be sufficient, he packed his bag and went to eat before leaving for the night’s show even though he still had a lot of time. Senga was feeling like being out and about for a bit before going on stage.
There was a feeling of happiness inside him that drove him on today and he couldn’t stop smiling. His colleagues and fellow dancers noticed immediately and were infected by the contagious smile.
“Something good happened to you?”
“Nh~” Senga nodded, still smiling brightly.”
“Man, Senga-chan’s happiness is rubbing off on me! And here I was feeling de-motivated before tonight’s show…You can do magic with that smile!”
Laughter filled the room and Senga found himself relishing in it. His life had changed so much for the better ever since Nikaido had entered it so suddenly. One day, he’d have to thank the other for it or he’d feel bad for the rest of his life…
He left the building with some of the other dancers that night, chatting and laughing. When he didn’t see anyone outside, his face fell for a few seconds but he didn’t stay gloomy for long. He shouldn’t get too spoiled. And the other had promised to see him again soon. Somehow he wished to have more control over it but the other was so enigmatic in that aspect…secretive to a point to where Senga thought that it seemed strange…as if the other was hiding something bad from him.
On his way home, after splitting up from the others again, he took the detour through the park again, remembering the events of the previous night until a voice interrupted him.
“Congratulations, Senga-kun…”
Turning around he spotted a girl from his dancing class. “Arigat-“a searing pain shot through his leg and with a cry of pain he fell to the ground. Blood was soaking his jeans.
“I hate you so much…you took everything from me…sensei’s admiration…the show…why did you get everything and I nothing?” she screeched, holding the knife in one hand. “I’ll make sure you’ll never dance again!!” the expression in her eyes was that of a madwoman.
Senga tried to scramble away but he was in an unfavourable position. Soon, she had trapped him on the ground and even before he could try and speak to get her to see reason - his whole body lurched when the knife sunk into his lower body. “You’ll never dance again…never…ever…” she laughed and pushed the knife even deeper, making Senga scream in pain. It was in vain because the park was deserted at this time of the day. There was nobody around to witness this…
His thoughts drifted off and he didn’t register her getting off of him again. Senga’s tear-filled eyes fell shut with a quiet “Nika-chan…daisuki…”
“Baka…ore mo daisuki da yo...” Nikaido lifted Senga’s head from the ground, cradling the other in his arms carefully. “Senga…Sen-chan, open your eyes!” he wasn’t too late wasn’t he? He couldn’t be!
When Nikaido had risen from sleep a few hours ago, the dread had made him vomit up blood into the sink violently and it had taken Yokoo a while to calm him down again. The elder had tried to get him to feed before running off but Nikaido knew that if he did so, he’d be too late. So he’d jus run out on the other in his weakened state, his mind only knowing one direction, one place…
“Ni---Nika-chan?” Senga’s voice sounded weak but it was there. He opened his eyes a little as well but could only make out a blurry shape above him. “You…You came…to see me off?”
Running a hand through the other’s dark brown locks gently, he whispered, “No, Sen-chan no…I…you…” Nikaido was about to lean down and sink his teeth into the other’s neck, grief and hunger driving him insane. But a hard slap onto his cheek kept him from doing so.
“Idiot…he has to be willing…if you force it onto him he’ll go mad…” a voice growled at him before another screech came from the side, which Nikaido ignored as he pulled himself together again, following the ‘instructions’ he’d just been given. He couldn’t fuck up now.
Guiding his hand to where the knife was sticking, he whispered, “Kento-“
“Nika-chan…I’ll never dance again…please…let me go…”
His eyes widened in shock. “Kento!”
“A world…A world without dancing…I can’t…I’m so sorry…”
“No! Don’t go please! You will dance again…I promise…there…there is a way…but…you’ll…you’ll have to make some sacrifices…” he tried desperately not to stumble over his words. He was talking fast because he knew that time was working against him tonight.
Senga furrowed his brows weakly, “Sacrifices?”
“You can’t go back to how you used to live…you’ll have to leave friends and family behind…but I promise you’ll be able to dance…and we can go and see the world…I’ll…I’ll be there…”
Lifting a hand weakly, Senga touched Nikaido’s cheek, frowning when he left a blurry dark stain on it…and feeling another kind of wetness there. Was the other crying? He couldn’t really imagine it…couldn’t even imagine Nikaido in this situation…the other usually seemed calm and collected, witty and haughty even…He wasn’t like this…
…but well…this wasn’t an every day situation either, right? And did the other really have a way to cheat death? Senga wasn’t stupid. He knew he was lying here between life and death.
“I…” he coughed again, tasting copper in his mouth, “Promise…we’ll dance together?”
“We will…” Nikaido breathed softly.
Closing his eyes again, he was getting really tired and his strength was leaving him quickly, Senga gave the other a barely visible nod, “Alright…”
And all of a sudden, the world jerked back into place. He felt something sharp pierce the skin of his neck and how the knife was pulled out of his abdomen again. Death came closer and closer…and yet he wasn’t afraid…he could feel Nikaido there with him…he…was Nikaido drinking his blood?
Before he could turn his head to look, his world vanished into darkness.
When Senga went limp in his arms, Nikaido let go and was about to complete his tasks when he was interrupted by a stabbing pain in his back. Looking to his side he noticed that the knife he’d pulled out of the other’s body was gone. Or well…it was most likely sticking in his back now.
“Shit…stupid woman…” he heard a voice curse not too far away from him. He didn’t register anything else that happened because he was close to passing out himself after pulling the knife out of his back and letting the wound heal.
Turning back, he was about to use the knife to cut open his wrist a little but faltered.
“No…” Nikaido’s body slumped over Senga’s still, dead one.
“…we may be more powerful than the mortals in general but we aren’t almighty…We can cheat death if we want to…but we cannot always...” Wataru’s words echoed in his mind before he lost consciousness completely.
Blinking his eyes open slowly, his vampire eyes took a few moments to adjust to the little light the lamp on the nightstand emitted. “Where…?” he croaked weakly.
“Don’t worry…you’re safe here,” a voice answered from his side. Looking over he spotted someone sitting in a chair. It was an attractive young man clothed almost completely in black.
“Who are you?” he thought he recognized the voice from somewhere but he didn’t quite know from where…His mind was still swimming…
Rising from the chair and stepping into the light a bit more, the other answered, “My name is Kitayama Hiromitsu. That was a close call back there…that woman sure was persistent…” He grimaced at the memory a little. “But don’t worry…she’s in good hands now.”
“Did you kill her?”
“No…but she almost killed you…stupid bitch…” Kitayama huffed and then his features softened again. “Go back to sleep…you had a rough night…and the sun is still out now anyways…”
He did as he was told, feeling rather tired.
When the other vampire had closed his eyes again, Kitayama walked out of the room into the adjacent one, sitting down on the couch next to another seemingly sleeping form.
“At least make some room for me…seeing that my bed is occupied, Yokoo…”
“Hai, hai…” Yokoo stuck out his tongue a little and adjusted his position, making room for Kitayama to crawl in alongside of him, wrapping his arms around the shorter vampire afterwards. “I owe you at least a ‘thank you’ for this, right…?”
Kitayama huffed and closed his eyes, “He means a lot to you…that foundling of yours…”
“Don’t speak so badly of him…I’m sure you’ll like him once you get to know him…I know you’ll get along with each other. I’ve meant to introduce him to you…” Yokoo whispered into the other’s ear.
“Sleep.”
“Yes, Kitayama-sama~”
“How he can stand you is beyond me…”
The next time he woke up, he woke up to a feeling of craving and hunger. He wanted blood. No, not quite. He -needed- blood.
“We’ll go out to hunt soon…” it was Kitayama’s voice again, he recognized. “I think Yokoo organized some clothes for you. Get ready and while you’re at it, kick him out of bed…” The elder vampire left the room again, giving him some privacy.
Him…?
Looking next to him on the bed, his heart almost skipped a beat with happiness. Reaching out he touched the other’s shoulder gently at first, making sure that what he was seeing was indeed real and not a dream. “Nika-chan! Nika-chan, wake up!”
“Mmh…nrgh…huh??!”
“Nika-chan!” Senga launched himself at the other, kissing him.
That woke Nikaido up. “Sen-Senga…!” He stared at the other in disbelief before wrapping his arms around the other vampire, holding him close. “I thought…I thought I fucked up…”
“You did…it was Hiro who turned him…” he heard Yokoo’s voice from somewhere and turned over to the door. It was then that he noticed that they were lying in an unfamiliar room.
Spotting his elder by the door, he also spotted an unfamiliar vampire next to the other. “If Yokoo hadn’t told me about it you and your little friend would’ve gone to hell last night…seriously…”
Nikaido recognized the other’s voice from the previous night. “I owe you…a lot…”
“Kitayama Hiromitsu…I’m an old acquaintance of Yokoo here…”
“Aw…so cold, Hiro~” Yokoo wrapped an arm around the other, who tried to shake him off again. “I already apologized for stealing some of your precious sleeping time?”
“Shut up…and get off me!”
He left the two elders to bicker among themselves and looked at the newly ‘made’ vampire in his arms, brushing his fingers through the other’s hair. “I promised you, didn’t I?”
“Nhh~”
“We can dance after we’ve fed…alright?” he kissed the other softly.
Smiling, Senga nodded happily, “Nnh~~”
Senga Kento’s body was never found. The girl who’d ambushed him was caught by police officers patrolling the district about half an hour away from the park near Senga’s residence. In between mad giggles, she confessed to have killed the boy and burned his corpse somewhere. She didn’t specify where and even the psychiatrist in charge couldn’t get her to tell where. The only thing that the investigators found were the boy’s bag and fading traces of his blood on the ground of the park.
The death was reported to the Senga family about three days after and when the funeral had been held at the local temple, the case was closed as solved, as the culprit had been arrested. The grave on the cemetery of the small town in Aichi-ken remains empty to this day. Villagers have reported though that even after the last members of the family had moved or passed away, there’d always be a single white flower resting on the tombstone. Some people said that a lone young man would come every so often to put it there. Who it was also remained a mystery.
Nnnh~~!OWARI