Title: Recollection

Author: Sanyu-Kumiko

Anime: Nightwalker, Midnight Detective

Genre: Drama Shounen-Ai

Pairing: CainxShido

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A crumbling stone wall lined with dead rosebushes.

Cain gazed upon the new night through the picture window from his room. Down below was the garden, the only place he could relieve his undying memories. The garden was unkempt and the soil neglected. The weeds had begun to take over the stepping stones and choke off what was left of the bushes and flowers. No colors existed in the decrepit garden graveyard. Many times he had considered calling forth a gardener to pluck the weeds that sucked the life from the soil, and to have professionals revive the roses that had once blushed beneath the moonlight, but those thoughts were immediately dismissed. Why should he? The garden served no purpose now. The once breathtaking classroom had no pupil to educate. The former brilliantly blossoming flowers now had no spectator to please but himself. He began to resent flowers. They had life, something he no longer possessed. They would have no companion, just as he had none.

They would suffer together.

Part One:

Another night filled with complete and utter boredome, Shido thought as he crawled out of his coffin and slumped over to his dresser to find some clothes. Every night for the past three months Tatsuhiko Shido had done the same exact thing. He got up, got dressed, sat on his duff in his desk and listened to complaints from his female companions. There were no breeds left to destroy. The breed problem had been solved, it seemed, and there were no cases to be investigated. The cesspool of evil and darkness was dry, leaving Shido workless and restless.

"Did you see that episode of Muffy the Vampire Slayer when they found out Oak was a lesbian?"

"No way! You're kidding!"

"Nuh-uh! And I can't wait to see the Muffy the Vampire Slayer musical, can you?"

"Musical? That is gonna be great!"

Shido could hear Guni and Riho discussing their latest TV favorites in the office. There had been nothing else to do lately, so Shido had invested some of his saved money to buy a small TV to entertain everyone. Now he couldn't get Riho and Guni off of the thing. After cleaning up he stepped out into his office and saw Guni and Riho sitting on the couch, eyes glued to the television screen, channel surfing. Yayoi wasn't there. More than likely she was busy. There seemed to be plenty of homicide in the city but obviously nothing suspicious enough to be brought to Shido. She had not stopped by in days and Shido was beginning to feel the strain of his feeding abstinence. If she didn't show up sometime soon he would have to lock himself in his coffin for a while. Riho didn't seem to have a problem. Apparently she stopped by Yayoi's office often, or Guni would arrange for her to be fed.

Nobody cares if I go hungry, Shido thought with a frown.

"Good evening, you two." Shido said softly as he padded over to his desk. Riho tore her eyes from the TV and let the exaggerated orbs rest on Shido.

"Oh! Hello, Mr. Shido. You slept in late tonight." She chirped in her usual friendly voice.

"Yeah, you lazy bum." Guni scolded loudly, though she never took her eyes from the screen. "You slept like a log. We kept yellin' at you to get up, but you wouldn't budge. We thought you were dead - like the final death."

Shido's lips perked slightly at the thought. "Thank you for your concern." Then he checked his new case folder, hoping that perhaps there was something hidden within that he may have missed the day before. There was nothing. The folder was bare, as it had been for the past three months. With a sigh he shoved the folder into his desk and leaned back in his chair. Riho and Guni had stopped channel surfing to watch a movie. A drama.

"Wow, look at her hair. Isn't it pretty?" Riho whispered, eyeing the main character's long, blond curls with admiration.

"Blond are twits." Guni hissed in response. Shido looked up from his desk to the television and saw the actress's hair. Indeed, it was quite breathtaking. Long, thick golden curls spiraled down her back and along her shoulders. A curtain of yellow draped across her cheekbones and shielded her bright blue eyes. Her skin was pale like porcelain and her lips were smooth, thin lines that moved gracefully as she spoke.

And then there were fangs. The fangs flashed like little daggers hidden beneath her silky lips. Her blue eyes transformed to become golden yellow, the pupils pressing into small, cat-like slits. These predatory eyes locked onto Shido through the screen. Her face began to change. Her cheekbones began to grow more defined and her chin began to strengthen and taper down to a point.

"Shido..." She whispered. "Shido...."

Shido blinked and stared at the screen. Riho and Guni were talking to one another and did not seem to see the transformation he had just witnessed.

"Shido... my ... love." The woman's voice began to grow low. A foreign accent became the aftertaste of this sensually low voice. Shido's body began to grow tense and his fangs began to descend into his mouth.

"Cain..." He whispered.

"What was that, Shido?"

Immediately it stopped. The woman's face was back to normal, her voice as silky and sweet as it had been before. Shido turned to his left to see Yayoi standing beside his desk, eyeing him with concern.

"Oh... nothing. How are you, Yayoi?" Shido asked, his fangs still in the descended position. He tried to hide it, but could not.

"Oh, same as always." She said with a smile, stepping closer to sit on the desk in front of him. "Sorry, I don't have any work today. But, I brought something to eat..." She reached up to her neck and pulled down the choker she always wore to hide the small marks left by these little feedings. Shido's chest tightened. He stood up and wrapped his arms around Yayoi, trying to take his time as he did so. He didn't want to frighten her or rush into this in fear that he would seem ungrateful.

"Thank you, Yayoi..." He whispered softly to her before kissing his chosen spot on her neck. She trembled as he did. She let Shido feed from him all the time, but despite the frequency of these charity feedings she still always shuddered at his touch. His hunger drove him to rush and did not let him reflect on the matter further. With a quick bite he broke the skin of her neck. The fresh, hot rush of her blood met his tongue.

He couldn't help but groan. She tensed at the sound of his pleasure, having not expected it. Apologetically he stroked the side of her face, took what little he could from her and then retracted his fangs and stepped away.

"I'm sorry... "He said with a frown. "I got a little carried away."

"Oh, it is okay." She said with a bright smile, replacing her choker. "Jake won't mind."

"Jake?" Shido echoed. Riho turned from her movie and watched them looking rather worried.

"Jake is Yayoi's limp cocked lover." Guni wailed from her spot on the couch. Yayoi turned to shoot an icy glare at the little green sprite before looking back at Shido.

"Jake is a guy I'm seeing." Yayoi explained. "He is the son of the police chief."

"And he can't get it up!" Guni cackled.

"Would you stop that, you vulgar little imp!" Yayoi wailed. Guni laughed louder and flew away to hide in Shido's room.

"So- impotent, is he?" Shido asked with a taunting grin. Yayoi glared at him.

"No, and that really isn't any of your business." She hissed.

"I am your friend. You can tell me anything." Shido said with a smirk. "Oh well, at least you got a good man who is okay with some hot vampire, like myself, biting all over his woman."

"He doesn't know about you." Yayoi replied sternly. "How would that look for me? 'Oh by the way, I let this vampire suck my neck twice a week. You don't mind, do you?' I don't think that would go over well."

"So, he's possessive?" Shido asked with a smile.

"Maybe."

"Hmn, sounds like your type."

"He is... God... tall, dark and handsome. My sort of man." Yayoi said with a laugh before poking Shido's nose. "I'm sorry, honey, but you are just too pretty for me."

Shido laughed lightly and nodded. "Yeah, that is what everyone tells me."

"It is okay, Mr. Shido. I like you." Riho interjected from the couch. Shido smiled softly at her.

"I know, Riho, and thank you." He replied before turning to look up at Yayoi. "So, that must have been where you were all week. And here I thought you were working, slaving over some desk somewhere."

"She was working over something, all right, but not on a desk!" Guni said from the bedroom door. Yayoi hopped up from the desk and scowled.

"Well, I have work too, don't get me wrong. I should go now. I have to meet Jake for a dinner date." She said quickly, walking towards the door.

"What? You cut my dinner date short for some guy who doesn't work HARD enough for you?" Shido said with a laugh. With an elegant flick of her wrist Yayoi gave Shido a one-fingered salute before vanishing through the front door.

Guni flew out from her hiding spot and landed on Riho's shoulder. "So, wanna go rent a movie?"

"Sure!" Riho exclaimed. She looked over her shoulder at Shido with a grin. "Want to come, Mr. Shido? I hear they have the new Terminator III movie out..."

"No thanks, you two go on without me." Shido replied, pushing some blank forms around on his desk.

After Riho and Guni left to rent a movie Shido put his head down on the desk. What had that been on the television screen? Could it be Cain messing around with his thoughts again? That was a very probable scenario. It wouldn't be the first time that Cain toyed with his mind. What did that guy want from him? He knew very little about the mysterious blond, only that he was the one who turned him into a vampire and the one who had taken his memories. All he knew was that his name was Tatsuhiko Shido and that he was a vampire. He did not know why Cain took his memories and assumed that it was a way to punish him. The last thing Shido could remember was a gray stone wall lined with dark red, flourishing rose bushes.