Blood Stained Roses Chapter 5
Name: Blood Stained Roses
Chapter: 5
Rating: M [overall]
Summary: What do you do when you're stuck in a house full of vampire's and there's no way out?
Notes: Wow... exactly a month.. *totally didn't plan this* xD Anyway, as usual this has been edited several times, but I'm not going to say that it's perfect. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Leave 'em~ Enjoy!
I'd also like to point out that the icon changed from Chuu to Ryou =DDD
Blood Stained Roses
Chapter 5
Bright lights lit up the otherwise dark streets of Tokyo late into the night where Kisaki often roamed either to find the unfortunate human he would call ‘dinner’ that night or to waste time. In this case, it was the latter. As he walked, Kisaki noticed the curious stares people had given him, he knew that some gave tentative smiles and waved, but feigned ignorance, disliking the attention. He was used to it, though… he could hardly go anywhere without it. People would see him or Ryou and automatically feel drawn to them, taking interest in their pale skin and beautiful faces. Women-as well as some men-of various ages would try to get Kisaki’s attention, only to be let down by his distant attitude. To Kisaki’s annoyance, Ryou would always talk and flirt with whoever looked his way, sometimes leading them away to somewhere to be killed or just paying them a bit of attention before declaring that he had somewhere to be.
A few hours ago, he had fed on a drunk who had stumbled into him down a dark alley, and he had disposed of the body. Now it was only a matter of time before he went back to the mansion.
When he had left Chuu, Kisaki had calculated about what time he would definitely be done with his meals, not wanting to repeat what had happened before he left. At that time it had been hours, now it was down to just another half an hour which was passing ever so slowly as wandering aimlessly had lost its amusement and he ran out of things to do. It was true that he could always go back now, but all there would be to do was sit and stare at the wall or possibly listen to music… while staring at said wall. There was always reading, but he had already been spending too much time in the library looking through Ryou's vast collection of books. He was trying to find some sort of answer to his questions -- most of which surrounded his dreams. But besides the books that showed studies of dreams or the ever so untrustworthy divination, there was nothing. The only relevant thing in any of them was something that he had already figured out: that dreams could be a result of the subconscious trying to tell him something. What he needed was a diary or something... however, the chances of finding that in the library were about the same as the chance of seeing a pig fly... then again, the chance of that could be better than people thought. After all, there were vampires; he was one. As for his questions concerning Chuu: that was even more pointless to look for and something he did not even try to find. All Kisaki would come up with was that stupid 'love at first sight' line that he was not about to believe.
The silver haired beauty sighed softly. He felt guilty about leaving Chuu alone with those girls. They must have pestered him with a million questions, wanting every little detail. Still, there was not much else Kisaki could have done even if he had stayed. He doubted Chuu would really be upset by the inquisition of two crazy fangirls anyway.
As he continued down the street, his eyes fell on a clock hanging inside a store. There were fifteen minutes left, might as well go back. He could deal with fifteen minutes in his room if need be. The thought crossed his mind to look in the library again, but there really was no point. There were no more books on dreams and not a trace of Ryou’s scheme. Then another idea found its way into his head, something far more dangerous and something he’d never actually try. If he were to break into Ryou’s room, he might find something… but in the process probably leave behind something to alert the eldest that he had been there.
So, it seemed that the only place he had to go now was his room. Having decided this, Kisaki took two steps into a dark alley and then into the circular lobby. He could hear voices from upstairs, from just outside Chuu’s room. At the sound, he hid behind Ryou's armchair, wondering the whole time what he was hiding from. It wasn’t like he was doing anything wrong or even strange. He was coming home. Nothing odd about that.
"Well, we'll see you tomorrow, Chuu-chan!" said Yuna.
"Yep, bye-bye!" added Yami.
"'bye," Kisaki could hear Chuu answer from his room.
After that, the girls shut the door and walked off, unaware of the cold blue eyes that followed them. Once they were out of sight, Kisaki came out of hiding and moved quickly and silently up the stairs more from habit than hiding anymore. He opened the door to Chuu's room only to find that he was not in there, instead he heard the soft spraying of water coming from not too far away. This could only mean one thing: he was in the bathroom, something he had not been expecting since Chuu had not been able to walk very well the last couple days. Then again, he should have expected Chuu to be mostly recovered by now, physically at least.
Not knowing what else to do now, Kisaki decided to sit at the edge of the bed. He might as well wait since leaving would mean he would have to come back, preferably without being seen. Though that wasn’t exactly too hard to do, it still seemed rather pointless. Appearing out of thin air in the middle of the room didn’t exactly seem like a good idea either considering the high chance of scaring Chuu. So he stayed.
About twenty minutes later the bathroom door swung open for Chuu to emerge from the steamy bathroom. It was obvious by the slight shaking of his legs that he was still not completely comfortable walking, but he was managing alright. He no longer needed to be bandaged either as nothing was open anymore. As he approached, Kisaki noticed that he was wearing plain black sweat pants and a blue t-shirt. His blonde and brown hair was still wet and hung in his face, dripping water on him. The first thing he noticed was Kisaki sitting on his bed.
"Gah!" he shouted in surprise, his still slightly wet foot slipping on the tile as he began to step out.
If not for Kisaki’s extremely quick reflexes, Chuu would have fallen back, his head hitting the hard floor of the bathroom. Instead, he felt Kisaki’s arm firmly around his waist and his other hand resting on his hip, holding him up and away from the floor as his slim body was in the doorway where Chuu had stood, barely fitting in the narrow space with part of the boy still there.
"Sorry I startled you," said Kisaki with a small smile.
"You could have at least warned me!" muttered Chuu; he looked up at Kisaki. "That's something I didn't expect to see."
"Yes, I know... I didn't mean make you fall over. Actually, I was trying to avoid it..." said Kisaki.
"No... well, yeah, that too, I guess... but that wasn't what I meant when I said whatever about not expecting to see that... It's just... you smiled. It just doesn't seem like something that you do very often," explained Chuu, stumbling over his words.
Flustered, he looked up at Kisaki, seeing the hesitation in his expression as he seemed to consider the statement, thinking both about the question itself and how to answer. His pale blue eyes looked troubled, but only a little as he appeared to be carefully choosing his words. He tended to do this when asked something about himself as it was not a subject he was used to.
"I guess you're right. There just hasn't been much to smile about in awhile," he finally said.
The answer was not a surprise, though that didn’t make it any better. With a small frown, Chuu nodded to show he understood before looking at Kisaki’s arm that was over him, nibbling at his lower lip.
"Um, Kisaki-san?" asked Chuu.
"Yes?"
"This isn't very comfortable," he said referring to how Kisaki was still holding him up.
"Oh, sorry," said Kisaki, picking him up instead of just helping him to his feet.
A faint blush appeared on Chuu's slightly tanned face and he looked down, away from Kisaki hoping that he would not notice. One of his arms rested on his stomach as the other dangled at his side and he leaned slightly, almost awkwardly into the other man. He wasn’t used to this at all.
"You.. you don't have to carry me..." he stammered.
"But I wanted to," Kisaki said simply, "though I guess your legs must be feeling better since you seemed to be walking pretty well before you fell."
"Yeah, I can walk much better now."
"That's good."
When he sat on the bed, he still had Chuu in his arms, keeping him on his lap. Twisting himself until the vampire’s arms loosened for a moment, Chuu turned so he was facing him and Kisaki tried pointlessly to brush the wet strands of blond hair from his face. After finally giving up, chuckling softly, he pulled the dripping face closer for a kiss. As their mouths melted together, Chuu wrapped his arms around the other man’s neck, nestling himself as close as possible.
After a long kiss, he broke away and rested his head on Kisaki's shoulder. The arms around his waist had tightened again in an embrace that was both gentle and unbreakable. Secretly, Chuu wished that he could hold onto the other man like this. He wanted a hold that could stop him from leaving. One of the things he feared most was being left alone in this hell again.
"Are you tired?" Kisaki asked eventually.
"No," answered Chuu; he picked at Kisaki's jacket. "This doesn't seem like it would be comfortable to sleep in, anyway."
"No, it wouldn't be... but you just said you weren't tired."
"I'm not now, but I will be."
Kisaki sighed. "Fine... Would it scare you if I disappeared. Not as in disappear forever. I won't be gone for long."
"Then disappear how? As in go poof?" asked Chuu, raising an eyebrow.
"Sort of poof..." answered Kisaki, slightly amused by Chuu's choice of words, "just without the actual poof part."
"I guess it wouldn't scare me," Chuu said with a shrug.
It was true. As long as he was given a warning, it wouldn’t bother him. He had already seen enough strange things, to the point that they did not really affect him anymore. Disappearing into thin air or appearing out of thin air, was nothing compared to Miku's fires... or even Yuna's random glomping. Though, if Kisaki were to just disappear right then without a word, Chuu thought he would have lost his mind.
"Well, then you're going to have to get off of me," Kisaki pointed out.
His arms unwrapped themselves from Chuu who blushed and slid himself from Kisaki’s lap to settle on the bed beside him.
"I'll be back," Kisaki said, giving Chuu a quick kiss on the cheek.
Once he saw Chuu’s head nod, he was gone and before Chuu had really comprehended his absence, he was back. It had felt almost as though he’d never left and if it weren’t for the change of clothes, the boy might not have believed he had. He was silent for a moment, his eyes blinking wildly as he looked at Kisaki standing just in front of the spot he’d been sitting.
"That was fast," he said.
"Seemed longer to me," Kisaki said, shrugging.
Once he sat down, he pulled Chuu back into his arms so his smaller body was gently pressed to his own with Chuu’s body resting against his chest. He could feel the warmth on his cool skin; it was warmth that Kisaki had not felt in a long time. Slowly, one arm moved up Chuu’s back and curved its way to his chin, tilting it up so he could kiss his lips. The kiss was soft, almost hesitant at first, but as it became more and more passionate, he gently pushed Chuu onto his back. He moved to kiss Chuu's neck and heard a moan escaped the smaller man's lips in response. It was a pleasurable moan, unlike the scared sounds Kisaki had heard in the nights before.
When the kiss returned to Chuu's lips, he entangled one of his hands in Kisaki's long, silvery hair as the other felt his shoulders and upper back. Stray locks of Kisaki's soft hair tickled Chuu's face as their lips and tongues moved with each other. He could feel a hand gently stroke the side of his face and his chest.
It seemed like a dream to both of them. If it were real, someone would barge in and stop this. They would tear them away from one another. Something would be wrong. It was too perfect. But if this was a dream, they did not want to know; they did not want it to end. Because if it ended, they would have to feel how harsh reality was.
They fell asleep in each other's arms that night. The things they dreamed seemed more like reality.
***
Kisaki always had the same dream. It was that dream that had started after meeting Chuu. It began with darkness and voices. There was the urgent voice that told him to leave, then his own which refused. Ryou's evil laughter would surround him. Finally, a picture would begin to come into focus, but before Kisaki could get a good look, he woke up. There was, however, one thing that had changed since the dreams had begun; the scene was becoming more and more focused. He had begun to be able to identify himself -- though only by the blur of silver that was his hair-- and two other blurs, both of which had much darker hair than Kisaki did. He was sure that one was Ryou.
Somewhere between asleep and awake, Kisaki could feel Chuu's arm around him and his head against his chest. When he finally decided to pull himself out of his sleep-like state, he looked down to see blonde and brown hair inches below his chin. It was Chuu's hair. Absently, Kisaki brushed his fingers through the locks and barely a moment later, was he surprised to be looking down into Chuu’s turquoise eyes.
"Isn't it a bit early for you?" asked Kisaki.
"Meh."
A smile spread over Chuu’s lips. It was a sleepy smile that suggested that he had not been awake for long and soon his eyes were closed and he affectionately nuzzled Kisaki’s chest so, once again, all the vampire could see was Chuu’s messy hair.
"Were you having a bad dream?" he asked, finally looking up again.
The only reply he got was a puzzled look on Kisaki's face as he wondered how Chuu could’ve figured that out. Had he been sleep talking? The thought of saying things without his knowledge made him self-conscious and almost afraid to sleep.
"You sort of went rigid," explained Chuu, "You did the same thing yesterday, too."
"Oh..."
"Kisaki-san...?"
"You don't have to be so formal with me," said Kisaki, before Chuu could finish w
hatever it was he was going to say.
"Huh?"
"'Kisaki' is fine," he clarified.
"O...kay... Kisaki?" Chuu corrected, somewhat awkwardly, "Um... do you want to talk about it? Your dream, I mean."
"It's nothing important," answered Kisaki.
Before Chuu had a chance to rebut this statement, Kisaki kissed him and for that moment, he totally forgot that there had been something he’d wanted to say. Instead, he focused on giving Kisaki a seductive look to tell him that he wanted more.
"I have to go," said Kisaki, ignoring the expression, but not without difficulty.
That same expression on Chuu's face basically fell off. It was quickly replaced with a pout as Chuu clung tightly to him. Sighing softly, Kisaki kissed the boy’s forehead and gently slipped out of his arms so he could sit up. He shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but I hear them coming."
"Yami and Yuna? Why don't you like them?" asked Chuu.
"It's not that I don't like them, it's just that they saw me leave yesterday and I wouldn't like to repeat that so I should be going. I'll see you later."
"But..." Kisaki did not hear a word that Chuu said after that because he was already gone.
Noticing this, Chuu sat up, crossed his arms and legs, and continued his pout. Why did he have to leave now if he hadn’t even been planning to use the door? It wasn’t as though he had to avoid anybody if he left like that. Then Chuu remembered what he was going to say before. He was avoiding my questions, he thought. Fine, be that way!
About a minute later, Yuna and a new girl came in with a tray of Chuu’s breakfast. They found him glaring at the ceiling, still sitting with his arms and legs crossed. The girls laughed.
"Aw, what's with that face, Chuu-chan?" asked Yuna, "Did Kisaki-san forget to give you a good-bye kiss?"
The scowl moved to her and when it did, Chuu noticed that there was someone new. His head tilted slightly as he tried to get a better look at the addition. She was short, even compared to Yuna and Yami who weren’t exactly tall either, and her expression was shy. Her violet hair was cut to her chin with really short, choppy layers and she was dressed in all black like everyone else. However, she was much more plainly dressed than the others, her skirt long and straight, reaching her ankles and her shirt a simple black t-shirt. The main similarity between her and the other vampires, besides the black clothes, were the eyes, though hers were a jade green color unlike anyone else's he’d seen; they seemed as they could tell everything about someone from just a glace.
"Ah, yes, I brought someone new to meet you! Chuu-chan, this is Noriko-chan," introduced Yuna.
"Hello, Chuu-san," said Noriko, her voice was quiet almost to the point that Chuu couldn’t hear her.
"Hi."
"She doesn't talk much. Usually she doesn't even leave her room, but I persuaded her to come with me to meet you," said Yuna.
She went back to close the door, but Chuu still stared at it. Someone was missing.
"No Yami-chan or Miku-kun today? he asked.
"Yami-san is out and Miku-san is probably going to sleep for a few more hours," said Noriko in a small voice, shocking both Chuu (who had just met her) and Yuna.
She seemed to notice that they were staring at her because she looked down. A faint pink blush appeared on her cheeks. Staring down at her hands, Noriko fidgeted nervously almost like an actor who was waiting to be evaluated on his or her performance for a play or a student who really wanted to see his or her test score.
"I'm sorry if I said something strange..." she muttered.
"No!" Chuu said, perhaps a little too enthusiastically, "It's just that Yuna-chan said that you hardly talked and you just talked and...
"What he's trying to say is that it's a good thing," interjected Yuna.
"Right!"
Slowly, Noriko looked up. She looked from Chuu to Yuna and smiled softly. It was obvious that she didn't have much of a social life. Had she always been like this? Though the questions formed in Chuu’s mind, he decided not to voice them. After all, it really was none of his business.
Once the food was gone from his plate, Noriko offered to take the tray for him. When he gave it to her, she left, probably to take it to the kitchen, wherever that was. Yuna stayed behind to talk.
"I think this was good for her," she said, half to herself, "Like I said, she almost never talks. She hardly sees anything outside of her room, except to feed..."
"Do you know why she's like that?" asked Chuu.
Yuna looked at the ground, a bemused expression on her face. It was strange to see her so serious.
"No one really knows for sure why she's how she is... Though, I think I remember Ryou saying once that she was abandoned by her family... then again it could have been because of what Ryou himself did to her... in the end, I really have no idea why she's like this," she said.
"It must be horrible," muttered Chuu, "If her family did abandon her... and Ryou... If he hadn't done anything it might not be so bad, but..."
"You're right..."
It was quiet for a minute as they seemed to become engulfed in their own thoughts. To Chuu as well as everyone else, it seemed impossible that Ryou could ever be the ‘good guy.’ It was much easier to believe that the reason for Noriko’s silence was because of Ryou. Yet, if what the eldest vampire had said was true, and if he hadn’t hurt Noriko in any way, didn’t that mean that there was, in fact, something good about him? No… That couldn’t be right…
It was Yuna who finally broke the silence. She turned to Chuu and smiled.
"Well, I better be going, anyway," she said before a look of complete urgency appeared on her face, "And, Chuu-chan, umm… be careful today, alright? Try not to…ehh… think of Kisaki too much… as strange and impossible as that sounds. I got a message... Ryou-sama will be coming back later. You may not know, but he can read minds. A few of us can, myself not included, but he can read them the best. And this is strange for him. It's only been about three days since he left, usually he's gone for at least a week. He must know that something's going on. Or at least have a pretty good idea."
He also usually doesn't send warning, thought Yuna.
"How am I supposed to watch what I think?" asked Chuu; he was beginning to panic. She was right, it did sound strange and impossible. Especially impossible.
"Just... Try not to think about Kisaki-san. If he finds out that you've been spending so much time together, he'll cause problems for both of you," warned Yuna. "Although he may already know... I really don't know what to tell you, but he will go through your thoughts and try to get confirmation for what are most likely no more than suspicions."
"I'm so confused... but I'll try not to think about him," muttered Chuu, seriously doubting that that what she suggested was even possible.
She nodded, said, "Well, I'll see you later, Chuu-chan," and left the room.
It didn't take long for Chuu's panic to overwhelm him. He couldn’t sit still no matter how hard he tried and wound up pacing his spacious room. What was he going to do? Knowing that he wasn’t supposed to think of Kisaki only made him think about him more. It was the reverse effect that so often happened in situations like these. It was obvious that nothing good would come from this.
***
"What is it that you're not telling me," Kisaki whispered.
He stood in a dark cemetery where the only light was that of the moon and a couple street lamps from the nearest road. Still, his vampire eyes saw everything just as easily as a normal human could see in the daylight. Everything was clear, including a grave that read:
Itsuo Kisaki
18XX-18XX
Of course, there was no body actually buried there. When his family was found dead, it was just assumed that he was probably dead and maybe he had already been buried somewhere without a headstone or just kidnapped in which case they thought they would never find him again alive... So even though they had no evidence of his death, they figured he was as good as dead anyway.
It had been so long since this Itsuo Kisaki had been alive. True, he was still technically the same person... his appearance hadn’t changed in any way since then. From what he could remember, nothing had really changed… though he was definitely less happy, more pessimistic now because of his time with Ryou. Other than that, he had just lost some memories... memories that now seemed pretty important.
"Damn it!" Kisaki cursed, "Why can't I remember?! Did I really make myself forget? Do really not want to remember? This is ridiculous! These are my memories and I want to remember them!"
Then he sighed and shook his head. This was stupid… why did he care so much about something that happened nearly two hundred years ago? What was the point? It was not like it would change anything now. But there was that nagging voice in the back of his head… that curiosity inside of him… that made him want to know anyway.
"I knew you'd be here, Kisaki-san," said someone right behind him.
"Great, it's you..." muttered Kisaki without turning, instantly recognizing the voice.
"That's nice! Fine, I see how it is!" joked Yami.
"Well, what do you want? You don't come here unless it's important," said Kisaki, ignoring her last statement.
She nodded and sighed, her expression suddenly turning serious. It was almost eerie to see her like this. That was when Kisaki knew that something was very wrong.
"Ryou's coming back," she said. She left off the "-sama". Nobody called him that unless he was around or they were around one of his "guests".
"That's strange." muttered Kisaki, "it hasn't even been a week."
"It is strange... but you know he's going to want you there."
"I can't. If I'm there... I can't just sit there in that place as he..." Kisaki looked down, "I couldn't just sit there. I have to get as far away as possible."
The words sounded stupid and desperate even to Kisaki’s own ears. He felt like a coward for running away like this, but what else could he do? Trying to fight Ryou would be a pointless battle. There was no chance of winning. And that was exactly what he would want to do if he were to go back.
"Just make an appearance and leave before anything happens. Then come here and I'll find you when it's over, okay? I have freedom to leave all night and if you need to go out tomorrow because of him, I'll switch with someone. Anyway, you know it'll be worse for him if you're not there at all. After all, the whole reason behind Ryou's visit is probably to check on the two of you."
Reluctantly, he nodded in agreement. It was obvious that he really didn't have a choice. If he didn’t show up, Ryou might just decide to come find him and drag him back. Or, like Yami had said, take it out on Chuu just to provoke him.
"When's he going to show up?" he asked.
Yami shrugged. "Who knows? He could be there now for all I know. Hopefully that isn't the case."
"Then we should get back," said Kisaki.
"Yeah, I'm sure you wanna see your Chuu-chan," Yami teased with a huge grin.
"Idiot," muttered Kisaki before he left.
Still, Yami smiled. All she had wanted to do was lighten the mood. After a second she, too, disappeared.
***
"Kisaki-sa- uh..." gasped Chuu, stopping mid step as the mentioned appeared in his room, "What are you doing back... in here, I mean... Ryou is-"
"I heard," said Kisaki, cutting him off.
As he spoke, he pulled Chuu into his arms, hugging him tightly. With Kisaki’s arms around him, he couldn’t move so he buried his face in his dark shirt and let his hopeless tears fall. He was so scared and confused.
"What am I going to do?" sobbed Chuu, "How can I make myself not think of you?"
"I don't really know... It is possible to block your mind -- make a kind of veil so no one can read it -- but you don't have enough time to figure that out..."
"How can I do that?"
"It can take a lot of energy and will power, especially when someone first does it. First you have to... make your mind go blank... and... I'm sorry, I can't explain it and I doubt you would get it in the short amount of time we have left... I'm so sorry, Chuu, this is all my fault. Just... try to think of random things. I don't want you getting hurt because of me."
"It's not your fault. I want you here, remember?"
Kisaki shook his head, "I still should have stayed away."
He stroked Chuu's hair softly. The next day was going to be hell for the both of them and there was nothing he could do about it. Kisaki felt so helpless... more than he ever remembered feeling. The arms that held Chuu loosened very slowly. It was obvious how reluctant he was to let the smaller body go, but he had to.
"I have to go now... he'll be here soon," said Kisaki.
Chuu nodded and Kisaki retreated to his room. They both anxiously awaited Ryou's arrival.
~Previous Chapters~
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter: 5
Rating: M [overall]
Summary: What do you do when you're stuck in a house full of vampire's and there's no way out?
Notes: Wow... exactly a month.. *totally didn't plan this* xD Anyway, as usual this has been edited several times, but I'm not going to say that it's perfect. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Leave 'em~ Enjoy!
I'd also like to point out that the icon changed from Chuu to Ryou =DDD
Blood Stained Roses
Chapter 5
Bright lights lit up the otherwise dark streets of Tokyo late into the night where Kisaki often roamed either to find the unfortunate human he would call ‘dinner’ that night or to waste time. In this case, it was the latter. As he walked, Kisaki noticed the curious stares people had given him, he knew that some gave tentative smiles and waved, but feigned ignorance, disliking the attention. He was used to it, though… he could hardly go anywhere without it. People would see him or Ryou and automatically feel drawn to them, taking interest in their pale skin and beautiful faces. Women-as well as some men-of various ages would try to get Kisaki’s attention, only to be let down by his distant attitude. To Kisaki’s annoyance, Ryou would always talk and flirt with whoever looked his way, sometimes leading them away to somewhere to be killed or just paying them a bit of attention before declaring that he had somewhere to be.
A few hours ago, he had fed on a drunk who had stumbled into him down a dark alley, and he had disposed of the body. Now it was only a matter of time before he went back to the mansion.
When he had left Chuu, Kisaki had calculated about what time he would definitely be done with his meals, not wanting to repeat what had happened before he left. At that time it had been hours, now it was down to just another half an hour which was passing ever so slowly as wandering aimlessly had lost its amusement and he ran out of things to do. It was true that he could always go back now, but all there would be to do was sit and stare at the wall or possibly listen to music… while staring at said wall. There was always reading, but he had already been spending too much time in the library looking through Ryou's vast collection of books. He was trying to find some sort of answer to his questions -- most of which surrounded his dreams. But besides the books that showed studies of dreams or the ever so untrustworthy divination, there was nothing. The only relevant thing in any of them was something that he had already figured out: that dreams could be a result of the subconscious trying to tell him something. What he needed was a diary or something... however, the chances of finding that in the library were about the same as the chance of seeing a pig fly... then again, the chance of that could be better than people thought. After all, there were vampires; he was one. As for his questions concerning Chuu: that was even more pointless to look for and something he did not even try to find. All Kisaki would come up with was that stupid 'love at first sight' line that he was not about to believe.
The silver haired beauty sighed softly. He felt guilty about leaving Chuu alone with those girls. They must have pestered him with a million questions, wanting every little detail. Still, there was not much else Kisaki could have done even if he had stayed. He doubted Chuu would really be upset by the inquisition of two crazy fangirls anyway.
As he continued down the street, his eyes fell on a clock hanging inside a store. There were fifteen minutes left, might as well go back. He could deal with fifteen minutes in his room if need be. The thought crossed his mind to look in the library again, but there really was no point. There were no more books on dreams and not a trace of Ryou’s scheme. Then another idea found its way into his head, something far more dangerous and something he’d never actually try. If he were to break into Ryou’s room, he might find something… but in the process probably leave behind something to alert the eldest that he had been there.
So, it seemed that the only place he had to go now was his room. Having decided this, Kisaki took two steps into a dark alley and then into the circular lobby. He could hear voices from upstairs, from just outside Chuu’s room. At the sound, he hid behind Ryou's armchair, wondering the whole time what he was hiding from. It wasn’t like he was doing anything wrong or even strange. He was coming home. Nothing odd about that.
"Well, we'll see you tomorrow, Chuu-chan!" said Yuna.
"Yep, bye-bye!" added Yami.
"'bye," Kisaki could hear Chuu answer from his room.
After that, the girls shut the door and walked off, unaware of the cold blue eyes that followed them. Once they were out of sight, Kisaki came out of hiding and moved quickly and silently up the stairs more from habit than hiding anymore. He opened the door to Chuu's room only to find that he was not in there, instead he heard the soft spraying of water coming from not too far away. This could only mean one thing: he was in the bathroom, something he had not been expecting since Chuu had not been able to walk very well the last couple days. Then again, he should have expected Chuu to be mostly recovered by now, physically at least.
Not knowing what else to do now, Kisaki decided to sit at the edge of the bed. He might as well wait since leaving would mean he would have to come back, preferably without being seen. Though that wasn’t exactly too hard to do, it still seemed rather pointless. Appearing out of thin air in the middle of the room didn’t exactly seem like a good idea either considering the high chance of scaring Chuu. So he stayed.
About twenty minutes later the bathroom door swung open for Chuu to emerge from the steamy bathroom. It was obvious by the slight shaking of his legs that he was still not completely comfortable walking, but he was managing alright. He no longer needed to be bandaged either as nothing was open anymore. As he approached, Kisaki noticed that he was wearing plain black sweat pants and a blue t-shirt. His blonde and brown hair was still wet and hung in his face, dripping water on him. The first thing he noticed was Kisaki sitting on his bed.
"Gah!" he shouted in surprise, his still slightly wet foot slipping on the tile as he began to step out.
If not for Kisaki’s extremely quick reflexes, Chuu would have fallen back, his head hitting the hard floor of the bathroom. Instead, he felt Kisaki’s arm firmly around his waist and his other hand resting on his hip, holding him up and away from the floor as his slim body was in the doorway where Chuu had stood, barely fitting in the narrow space with part of the boy still there.
"Sorry I startled you," said Kisaki with a small smile.
"You could have at least warned me!" muttered Chuu; he looked up at Kisaki. "That's something I didn't expect to see."
"Yes, I know... I didn't mean make you fall over. Actually, I was trying to avoid it..." said Kisaki.
"No... well, yeah, that too, I guess... but that wasn't what I meant when I said whatever about not expecting to see that... It's just... you smiled. It just doesn't seem like something that you do very often," explained Chuu, stumbling over his words.
Flustered, he looked up at Kisaki, seeing the hesitation in his expression as he seemed to consider the statement, thinking both about the question itself and how to answer. His pale blue eyes looked troubled, but only a little as he appeared to be carefully choosing his words. He tended to do this when asked something about himself as it was not a subject he was used to.
"I guess you're right. There just hasn't been much to smile about in awhile," he finally said.
The answer was not a surprise, though that didn’t make it any better. With a small frown, Chuu nodded to show he understood before looking at Kisaki’s arm that was over him, nibbling at his lower lip.
"Um, Kisaki-san?" asked Chuu.
"Yes?"
"This isn't very comfortable," he said referring to how Kisaki was still holding him up.
"Oh, sorry," said Kisaki, picking him up instead of just helping him to his feet.
A faint blush appeared on Chuu's slightly tanned face and he looked down, away from Kisaki hoping that he would not notice. One of his arms rested on his stomach as the other dangled at his side and he leaned slightly, almost awkwardly into the other man. He wasn’t used to this at all.
"You.. you don't have to carry me..." he stammered.
"But I wanted to," Kisaki said simply, "though I guess your legs must be feeling better since you seemed to be walking pretty well before you fell."
"Yeah, I can walk much better now."
"That's good."
When he sat on the bed, he still had Chuu in his arms, keeping him on his lap. Twisting himself until the vampire’s arms loosened for a moment, Chuu turned so he was facing him and Kisaki tried pointlessly to brush the wet strands of blond hair from his face. After finally giving up, chuckling softly, he pulled the dripping face closer for a kiss. As their mouths melted together, Chuu wrapped his arms around the other man’s neck, nestling himself as close as possible.
After a long kiss, he broke away and rested his head on Kisaki's shoulder. The arms around his waist had tightened again in an embrace that was both gentle and unbreakable. Secretly, Chuu wished that he could hold onto the other man like this. He wanted a hold that could stop him from leaving. One of the things he feared most was being left alone in this hell again.
"Are you tired?" Kisaki asked eventually.
"No," answered Chuu; he picked at Kisaki's jacket. "This doesn't seem like it would be comfortable to sleep in, anyway."
"No, it wouldn't be... but you just said you weren't tired."
"I'm not now, but I will be."
Kisaki sighed. "Fine... Would it scare you if I disappeared. Not as in disappear forever. I won't be gone for long."
"Then disappear how? As in go poof?" asked Chuu, raising an eyebrow.
"Sort of poof..." answered Kisaki, slightly amused by Chuu's choice of words, "just without the actual poof part."
"I guess it wouldn't scare me," Chuu said with a shrug.
It was true. As long as he was given a warning, it wouldn’t bother him. He had already seen enough strange things, to the point that they did not really affect him anymore. Disappearing into thin air or appearing out of thin air, was nothing compared to Miku's fires... or even Yuna's random glomping. Though, if Kisaki were to just disappear right then without a word, Chuu thought he would have lost his mind.
"Well, then you're going to have to get off of me," Kisaki pointed out.
His arms unwrapped themselves from Chuu who blushed and slid himself from Kisaki’s lap to settle on the bed beside him.
"I'll be back," Kisaki said, giving Chuu a quick kiss on the cheek.
Once he saw Chuu’s head nod, he was gone and before Chuu had really comprehended his absence, he was back. It had felt almost as though he’d never left and if it weren’t for the change of clothes, the boy might not have believed he had. He was silent for a moment, his eyes blinking wildly as he looked at Kisaki standing just in front of the spot he’d been sitting.
"That was fast," he said.
"Seemed longer to me," Kisaki said, shrugging.
Once he sat down, he pulled Chuu back into his arms so his smaller body was gently pressed to his own with Chuu’s body resting against his chest. He could feel the warmth on his cool skin; it was warmth that Kisaki had not felt in a long time. Slowly, one arm moved up Chuu’s back and curved its way to his chin, tilting it up so he could kiss his lips. The kiss was soft, almost hesitant at first, but as it became more and more passionate, he gently pushed Chuu onto his back. He moved to kiss Chuu's neck and heard a moan escaped the smaller man's lips in response. It was a pleasurable moan, unlike the scared sounds Kisaki had heard in the nights before.
When the kiss returned to Chuu's lips, he entangled one of his hands in Kisaki's long, silvery hair as the other felt his shoulders and upper back. Stray locks of Kisaki's soft hair tickled Chuu's face as their lips and tongues moved with each other. He could feel a hand gently stroke the side of his face and his chest.
It seemed like a dream to both of them. If it were real, someone would barge in and stop this. They would tear them away from one another. Something would be wrong. It was too perfect. But if this was a dream, they did not want to know; they did not want it to end. Because if it ended, they would have to feel how harsh reality was.
They fell asleep in each other's arms that night. The things they dreamed seemed more like reality.
***
Kisaki always had the same dream. It was that dream that had started after meeting Chuu. It began with darkness and voices. There was the urgent voice that told him to leave, then his own which refused. Ryou's evil laughter would surround him. Finally, a picture would begin to come into focus, but before Kisaki could get a good look, he woke up. There was, however, one thing that had changed since the dreams had begun; the scene was becoming more and more focused. He had begun to be able to identify himself -- though only by the blur of silver that was his hair-- and two other blurs, both of which had much darker hair than Kisaki did. He was sure that one was Ryou.
Somewhere between asleep and awake, Kisaki could feel Chuu's arm around him and his head against his chest. When he finally decided to pull himself out of his sleep-like state, he looked down to see blonde and brown hair inches below his chin. It was Chuu's hair. Absently, Kisaki brushed his fingers through the locks and barely a moment later, was he surprised to be looking down into Chuu’s turquoise eyes.
"Isn't it a bit early for you?" asked Kisaki.
"Meh."
A smile spread over Chuu’s lips. It was a sleepy smile that suggested that he had not been awake for long and soon his eyes were closed and he affectionately nuzzled Kisaki’s chest so, once again, all the vampire could see was Chuu’s messy hair.
"Were you having a bad dream?" he asked, finally looking up again.
The only reply he got was a puzzled look on Kisaki's face as he wondered how Chuu could’ve figured that out. Had he been sleep talking? The thought of saying things without his knowledge made him self-conscious and almost afraid to sleep.
"You sort of went rigid," explained Chuu, "You did the same thing yesterday, too."
"Oh..."
"Kisaki-san...?"
"You don't have to be so formal with me," said Kisaki, before Chuu could finish w
hatever it was he was going to say.
"Huh?"
"'Kisaki' is fine," he clarified.
"O...kay... Kisaki?" Chuu corrected, somewhat awkwardly, "Um... do you want to talk about it? Your dream, I mean."
"It's nothing important," answered Kisaki.
Before Chuu had a chance to rebut this statement, Kisaki kissed him and for that moment, he totally forgot that there had been something he’d wanted to say. Instead, he focused on giving Kisaki a seductive look to tell him that he wanted more.
"I have to go," said Kisaki, ignoring the expression, but not without difficulty.
That same expression on Chuu's face basically fell off. It was quickly replaced with a pout as Chuu clung tightly to him. Sighing softly, Kisaki kissed the boy’s forehead and gently slipped out of his arms so he could sit up. He shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but I hear them coming."
"Yami and Yuna? Why don't you like them?" asked Chuu.
"It's not that I don't like them, it's just that they saw me leave yesterday and I wouldn't like to repeat that so I should be going. I'll see you later."
"But..." Kisaki did not hear a word that Chuu said after that because he was already gone.
Noticing this, Chuu sat up, crossed his arms and legs, and continued his pout. Why did he have to leave now if he hadn’t even been planning to use the door? It wasn’t as though he had to avoid anybody if he left like that. Then Chuu remembered what he was going to say before. He was avoiding my questions, he thought. Fine, be that way!
About a minute later, Yuna and a new girl came in with a tray of Chuu’s breakfast. They found him glaring at the ceiling, still sitting with his arms and legs crossed. The girls laughed.
"Aw, what's with that face, Chuu-chan?" asked Yuna, "Did Kisaki-san forget to give you a good-bye kiss?"
The scowl moved to her and when it did, Chuu noticed that there was someone new. His head tilted slightly as he tried to get a better look at the addition. She was short, even compared to Yuna and Yami who weren’t exactly tall either, and her expression was shy. Her violet hair was cut to her chin with really short, choppy layers and she was dressed in all black like everyone else. However, she was much more plainly dressed than the others, her skirt long and straight, reaching her ankles and her shirt a simple black t-shirt. The main similarity between her and the other vampires, besides the black clothes, were the eyes, though hers were a jade green color unlike anyone else's he’d seen; they seemed as they could tell everything about someone from just a glace.
"Ah, yes, I brought someone new to meet you! Chuu-chan, this is Noriko-chan," introduced Yuna.
"Hello, Chuu-san," said Noriko, her voice was quiet almost to the point that Chuu couldn’t hear her.
"Hi."
"She doesn't talk much. Usually she doesn't even leave her room, but I persuaded her to come with me to meet you," said Yuna.
She went back to close the door, but Chuu still stared at it. Someone was missing.
"No Yami-chan or Miku-kun today? he asked.
"Yami-san is out and Miku-san is probably going to sleep for a few more hours," said Noriko in a small voice, shocking both Chuu (who had just met her) and Yuna.
She seemed to notice that they were staring at her because she looked down. A faint pink blush appeared on her cheeks. Staring down at her hands, Noriko fidgeted nervously almost like an actor who was waiting to be evaluated on his or her performance for a play or a student who really wanted to see his or her test score.
"I'm sorry if I said something strange..." she muttered.
"No!" Chuu said, perhaps a little too enthusiastically, "It's just that Yuna-chan said that you hardly talked and you just talked and...
"What he's trying to say is that it's a good thing," interjected Yuna.
"Right!"
Slowly, Noriko looked up. She looked from Chuu to Yuna and smiled softly. It was obvious that she didn't have much of a social life. Had she always been like this? Though the questions formed in Chuu’s mind, he decided not to voice them. After all, it really was none of his business.
Once the food was gone from his plate, Noriko offered to take the tray for him. When he gave it to her, she left, probably to take it to the kitchen, wherever that was. Yuna stayed behind to talk.
"I think this was good for her," she said, half to herself, "Like I said, she almost never talks. She hardly sees anything outside of her room, except to feed..."
"Do you know why she's like that?" asked Chuu.
Yuna looked at the ground, a bemused expression on her face. It was strange to see her so serious.
"No one really knows for sure why she's how she is... Though, I think I remember Ryou saying once that she was abandoned by her family... then again it could have been because of what Ryou himself did to her... in the end, I really have no idea why she's like this," she said.
"It must be horrible," muttered Chuu, "If her family did abandon her... and Ryou... If he hadn't done anything it might not be so bad, but..."
"You're right..."
It was quiet for a minute as they seemed to become engulfed in their own thoughts. To Chuu as well as everyone else, it seemed impossible that Ryou could ever be the ‘good guy.’ It was much easier to believe that the reason for Noriko’s silence was because of Ryou. Yet, if what the eldest vampire had said was true, and if he hadn’t hurt Noriko in any way, didn’t that mean that there was, in fact, something good about him? No… That couldn’t be right…
It was Yuna who finally broke the silence. She turned to Chuu and smiled.
"Well, I better be going, anyway," she said before a look of complete urgency appeared on her face, "And, Chuu-chan, umm… be careful today, alright? Try not to…ehh… think of Kisaki too much… as strange and impossible as that sounds. I got a message... Ryou-sama will be coming back later. You may not know, but he can read minds. A few of us can, myself not included, but he can read them the best. And this is strange for him. It's only been about three days since he left, usually he's gone for at least a week. He must know that something's going on. Or at least have a pretty good idea."
He also usually doesn't send warning, thought Yuna.
"How am I supposed to watch what I think?" asked Chuu; he was beginning to panic. She was right, it did sound strange and impossible. Especially impossible.
"Just... Try not to think about Kisaki-san. If he finds out that you've been spending so much time together, he'll cause problems for both of you," warned Yuna. "Although he may already know... I really don't know what to tell you, but he will go through your thoughts and try to get confirmation for what are most likely no more than suspicions."
"I'm so confused... but I'll try not to think about him," muttered Chuu, seriously doubting that that what she suggested was even possible.
She nodded, said, "Well, I'll see you later, Chuu-chan," and left the room.
It didn't take long for Chuu's panic to overwhelm him. He couldn’t sit still no matter how hard he tried and wound up pacing his spacious room. What was he going to do? Knowing that he wasn’t supposed to think of Kisaki only made him think about him more. It was the reverse effect that so often happened in situations like these. It was obvious that nothing good would come from this.
***
"What is it that you're not telling me," Kisaki whispered.
He stood in a dark cemetery where the only light was that of the moon and a couple street lamps from the nearest road. Still, his vampire eyes saw everything just as easily as a normal human could see in the daylight. Everything was clear, including a grave that read:
Itsuo Kisaki
18XX-18XX
Of course, there was no body actually buried there. When his family was found dead, it was just assumed that he was probably dead and maybe he had already been buried somewhere without a headstone or just kidnapped in which case they thought they would never find him again alive... So even though they had no evidence of his death, they figured he was as good as dead anyway.
It had been so long since this Itsuo Kisaki had been alive. True, he was still technically the same person... his appearance hadn’t changed in any way since then. From what he could remember, nothing had really changed… though he was definitely less happy, more pessimistic now because of his time with Ryou. Other than that, he had just lost some memories... memories that now seemed pretty important.
"Damn it!" Kisaki cursed, "Why can't I remember?! Did I really make myself forget? Do really not want to remember? This is ridiculous! These are my memories and I want to remember them!"
Then he sighed and shook his head. This was stupid… why did he care so much about something that happened nearly two hundred years ago? What was the point? It was not like it would change anything now. But there was that nagging voice in the back of his head… that curiosity inside of him… that made him want to know anyway.
"I knew you'd be here, Kisaki-san," said someone right behind him.
"Great, it's you..." muttered Kisaki without turning, instantly recognizing the voice.
"That's nice! Fine, I see how it is!" joked Yami.
"Well, what do you want? You don't come here unless it's important," said Kisaki, ignoring her last statement.
She nodded and sighed, her expression suddenly turning serious. It was almost eerie to see her like this. That was when Kisaki knew that something was very wrong.
"Ryou's coming back," she said. She left off the "-sama". Nobody called him that unless he was around or they were around one of his "guests".
"That's strange." muttered Kisaki, "it hasn't even been a week."
"It is strange... but you know he's going to want you there."
"I can't. If I'm there... I can't just sit there in that place as he..." Kisaki looked down, "I couldn't just sit there. I have to get as far away as possible."
The words sounded stupid and desperate even to Kisaki’s own ears. He felt like a coward for running away like this, but what else could he do? Trying to fight Ryou would be a pointless battle. There was no chance of winning. And that was exactly what he would want to do if he were to go back.
"Just make an appearance and leave before anything happens. Then come here and I'll find you when it's over, okay? I have freedom to leave all night and if you need to go out tomorrow because of him, I'll switch with someone. Anyway, you know it'll be worse for him if you're not there at all. After all, the whole reason behind Ryou's visit is probably to check on the two of you."
Reluctantly, he nodded in agreement. It was obvious that he really didn't have a choice. If he didn’t show up, Ryou might just decide to come find him and drag him back. Or, like Yami had said, take it out on Chuu just to provoke him.
"When's he going to show up?" he asked.
Yami shrugged. "Who knows? He could be there now for all I know. Hopefully that isn't the case."
"Then we should get back," said Kisaki.
"Yeah, I'm sure you wanna see your Chuu-chan," Yami teased with a huge grin.
"Idiot," muttered Kisaki before he left.
Still, Yami smiled. All she had wanted to do was lighten the mood. After a second she, too, disappeared.
***
"Kisaki-sa- uh..." gasped Chuu, stopping mid step as the mentioned appeared in his room, "What are you doing back... in here, I mean... Ryou is-"
"I heard," said Kisaki, cutting him off.
As he spoke, he pulled Chuu into his arms, hugging him tightly. With Kisaki’s arms around him, he couldn’t move so he buried his face in his dark shirt and let his hopeless tears fall. He was so scared and confused.
"What am I going to do?" sobbed Chuu, "How can I make myself not think of you?"
"I don't really know... It is possible to block your mind -- make a kind of veil so no one can read it -- but you don't have enough time to figure that out..."
"How can I do that?"
"It can take a lot of energy and will power, especially when someone first does it. First you have to... make your mind go blank... and... I'm sorry, I can't explain it and I doubt you would get it in the short amount of time we have left... I'm so sorry, Chuu, this is all my fault. Just... try to think of random things. I don't want you getting hurt because of me."
"It's not your fault. I want you here, remember?"
Kisaki shook his head, "I still should have stayed away."
He stroked Chuu's hair softly. The next day was going to be hell for the both of them and there was nothing he could do about it. Kisaki felt so helpless... more than he ever remembered feeling. The arms that held Chuu loosened very slowly. It was obvious how reluctant he was to let the smaller body go, but he had to.
"I have to go now... he'll be here soon," said Kisaki.
Chuu nodded and Kisaki retreated to his room. They both anxiously awaited Ryou's arrival.
~Previous Chapters~
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4