Hello and welcome to Up in Flames! For continuing readers, hi! Kat and I are glad that you have followed us over to this story as well. For new readers, hi as well! This story is the product of two girls with too much time on their hands.

Regardless of if you're new or continuing, we hope you enjoy, nonetheless. This fic will be updated every Sunday, and you needn't worry about us missing days. This may only be roughly 4,000 words, but we already have over 100,000 words written.

I'll stop holding you up now. Read and enjoy!

-Laci

August 18, 2010

The doorbell went off, and Riku was immediately suspicious-he had lived in the house in Hollow Bastion for two whole months, and this was the first time anyone had come by. He peeked out the window to see who it was. The person there did not appear to be armed.

He would check it out.

Riku checked to make sure there was a stake in his pocket and opened the door.

On the doorstep stood a rather short, brunette boy. He smiled as the door opened. "Hi!"

"Hello." Riku looked at the boy. He did not scream 'threat', but Riku was not letting his guard down.

"I just moved in next door and I thought, 'Hey, maybe I should go let people know who I am.' That way I'm not just this stranger."

"Okay," Riku said, folding his arms. "Who exactly ARE you?"

"I'm Sora."

"Well, then, hello Sora." Riku moved his hand to the door. "Nice meeting you."

"You too, even though I still don't know your name, which is rude, you know," the brunette said.

"Riku. I live here with a friend of mine. He's not around right now. I don't mean to be rude-we just tend to stick to ourselves."

Sora nodded. "Some people are like that. They make me sad."

Riku looked at Sora oddly. "That's nice."

Grinning slightly, Sora laughed. "Sorry. I'm weird sometimes."

"That's okay."

The grin disappeared. "And you want me to leave."

"Er..." Riku did not want to be rude, but he did not really want to talk to his overly friendly neighbor.

"I can tell, because you don't seem very engaged in the conversation and you said you stick to yourself a lot. It's okay."

"I really am sorry. I don't mean to be rude. I'm just in the middle of something important."

"Like I said, it's okay."

Riku sighed. The little brunette had not killed him yet. As long as he kept in sight of the street, he should be okay. He could have a short conversation, so he did not draw too much attention to himself. "You have a tiny bit of an accent. You're not from around here, are you?"

"Guilty as charged," Sora said.

"Where are you from?"

"Well, I was born in Destiny Islands, but we moved when I was little."

Riku looked at Sora. "You're from Destiny Islands?"

"I guess," Sora said. "I mean, we weren't there long."

"That explains why I don't know you."

"You're from there?"

Riku nodded. "Yup. I moved around a lot, but I spent most of my early childhood there."

"That's kind of awesome. I don't remember it much. We left when I was like two."

"It was really nice there," Riku said, smiling slightly.

"You seem fond of it."

"I am."

Sora smiled. "That sounds nice. Why did you leave? If you don't mind me asking that is. You don't have to answer."

"Dad's work."

"Oh."

Shrugging, Riku said, "Yup. Like I said, we moved around a lot."

"That's sad."

"It is what it is."

Sora shrugged. "Still."

"I'm happy wherever."

"I guess you'd have to be, moving around a lot..."

Riku decided it was time to turn the attention away from him. "Did you stay in one place after leaving Destiny Islands?"

"I was in Neverland for a long time, but then we moved again."

"That explains the accent."

Sora laughed. "Yeah. Where all have you lived?"

"It would be easier to list places I haven't lived," Riku said honestly. "How about you?"

"Yikes. Um, you know two and then there was Radiant Garden, Wonderland, and that one place with the weird name. Agara... Agra- something." Sora was leaving out a few places, but Riku didn't need to know that.

"Agrabah?" Riku asked. "I liked it there, but we didn't stay long."

"Yeah, that place! I've always had trouble with the name."

Riku smiled. "How long were you there?"

"Only about a year or so."

"Not long enough to learn how to say its name?"

"Apparently not," Sora said sheepishly.

"Why did you move around?"

"My brother. He's really good at pissing people off, and so we'd move to start over."

"That sucks," Riku said.

"Yeah, but it's life."

"What kind of people was he pissing off that made you have to move?"

"All kinds." Sora shrugged. "He just doesn't do well with people."

"Is he here with you, then?"

"He's somewhere around here. I'm old enough to be on my own now, though, so I don't have to put up with him."

Riku narrowed his eyes slightly. "How old ARE you?"

"Nineteen. Why?"

"You don't look that old," Riku said, shrugging. "You look about 12."

"Well, that's kind of insulting."

Riku grinned. "Just telling it like it is. Your parents really let you run around at 19? How old is your brother?"

"Yeah, they do. My brother's 21."

"But he doesn't live with you."

"He doesn't live with me," Sora confirmed.

"Huh."

Sora frowned. "What?"

"It just seems a bit odd, I guess," Riku said, shrugging. "I would get it if you two traveled together, but it seems like you two, at 19 and 21, respectively, are rich enough to both buy your own houses. Is your family loaded?"

"Basically, yeah."

"Lucky bastards," Riku said, affectionately. He did not want to admit to having a good deal of money saved up in a trust fund, himself.

Sora grinned and laughed. "Our parents like to spoil us."

"Obviously."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No. It's just a thing." Riku shrugged.

"Weirdo."

"Says the nineteen-year-old midget living by himself in a house in the middle of the city," Riku countered.

"I've already admitted to being weird."

"You must be, if you've roped me into a conversation."

"What's the supposed to mean?" Sora asked, slightly confused.

Riku shrugged. "I don't tend to pick up many friends along my travels, I'll put it that way."

"Oh. That's sad."

"It works just fine for me." Riku had never been the most overly social person.

"It sounds horribly lonely. I make friends wherever I go."

"I said it before. I stick to myself. I have me and I have Leon, and that's all I really need."

"Is Leon the friend you live with?" Sora asked.

"Yeah."

Sora nodded. "Okay. Maybe I'll meet him eventually, too."

"Probably. One of us is usually home."

"Okay."

"It was nice meeting you," Riku said.

"Is that my cue to leave?"

Riku grinned. "If you want to take it that way. I'd invite you in, but our home is a bit empty at the moment." And he still did not trust Sora.

"Mine's just full of boxes."

"We've had enough time to unpack. We just didn't bring much with us."

"Unpack? Have you not been here long, then?"

Riku shook his head. "Only About two months."

"Oh wow."

"Yup. We haven't been here very long, either."

"It's still longer than me. I've really only been here like two hours at most," Sora said.

"Wow. Your priority was to come visit the neighbors?"

Sora shrugged. "Unpacking is boring. People are not."

"Unpacking doesn't take long, though."

"It does when you're alone."

Riku's manners told him to volunteer to help. His survival instincts, on the other hand, said to let it go. "Your brother is not even welcoming you and helping you unpack?"

Sora laughed. "The day he does that, the sun will freeze over."

Riku blinked. "Do you two not get along or something?"

"Not usually. I mean, we care about each other, but our personalities are so different that they clash a lot."

"What's he like?" Riku asked.

"Not very nice. And that's being nice about it."

"People to avoid? Sora's brother. Check."

"Basically." Sora smiled.

Riku looked outside. The sun was starting to set, and Leon would be home soon. "You might want to go back to your house soon. The sun is setting, and although this place is supposedly safe, I've heard about attacks in the area recently."

Sora blinked. "Attacks?"

"Yeah. It's not safe out after dark anywhere these days."

"Well, that's lame. I like going for walks at night sometimes."

"You can go on your walks, still. Just be careful," Riku said.

"I'm always careful," Sora said.

Riku did not know how much to tell Sora. If he told him to carry a stake and Sora was a vampire, Riku would be in deep trouble. Most people still did not know about them in that part of the world. If he was not a vamp, though, Riku did not want him to get hurt because he wasn't prepared.

"Then be extra careful."

"Don't worry about me."

"Didn't say I was worried. I just don't want a crime scene investigation right next to my house," Riku said, making a face.

Sora laughed. "That's not likely to happen."

"Good. The police are more trouble than they're worth."

"I'm not fond of them either."

"Well, that's one thing we've got." Riku was pretty sure a shared dislike of police officers was not normally the first sign of a budding friendship.

"Yep."

"Well, I wasn't lying earlier when I said I was in the middle of something. I hate to be TOO rude, but... well..."

Sora's eyes widened a little. "Crap. I forgot that you'd said that. I'm sorry."

"It's all good. It was nice meeting you."

"You, too." Sora grinned.

Riku waved, slightly relieved when the small boy returned to his house.

Something was off about that kid.

There were three knocks on the door, and the key unlocked. Riku had the stake in his pocket from earlier, but he knew he didn't need it.

"Hey Leon."

"Hey," Leon replied as he walked in and sat down.

"How were the rounds?"

"Boring, for once. It was quiet all around. How were things here?"

"We have a new neighbor. I don't trust him."

"You don't trust anyone," Leon pointed out.

"With good reason."

Leon nodded in agreement. "Did he give you a reason not to trust him?"

Riku nodded. "He's a 19-year-old kid who looks like a 12-year-old kid. He's living alone in the house, and, from the sound of it, he has traveled a lot. He came here following an older brother, but the older brother is living in a completely separate house, because apparently they don't get along. They can apparently afford both of these houses and all of the traveling. Their parents do not seem to care." Riku thought for a second. "And he likes going on walks at night. It's sketchy as hell."

"Some families are just like that. You've traveled a lot, too." Leon shrugged. "The walk thing is a little sketchy, yes."

"There's just something off about him, Leon. Something doesn't feel right."

"Maybe he knows something or maybe you're just really paranoid. Even I'm not that paranoid."

Scowling slightly, Riku said, "You haven't met the kid. He's way too... happy? Friendly? Sociable? He's lived in a bunch of places, almost all of them places we've visited because of vampire infestations, but he doesn't seem concerned in the slightest about being out after dark. It's not natural."

"That just makes it sound like he knows something and could defend himself," Leon said.

"I think he knows something. I just don't know which side he's seeing things from."

"So find out."

"How do I do that without blowing our cover?" Riku asked.

"Make a new friend, Riku. God knows you need some."

Riku made a face. "Like you have a ton of friends."

"I'm old. You're still young. Live a little."

"Leon, you're two years older than me. You're not exactly old."

Leon shrugged. "Consider it some sort of mission. Would you rather live next door to someone that knows or someone that is one of them? Find out which he is, if either, and act accordingly."

"Great," Riku grumbled. "I move here and my first Leon-assigned mission is to become friends with a brat who could kill me at any time."

"You know how to protect yourself."

"I know, I know. I just have to gripe. Can't let you think you can boss me around." Riku poked Leon. "Are you hungry? I saved some dinner for you."

"Oh, but I can." Leon got up and headed to the kitchen.

"That's bullshit."

"Just keep thinking that, Riku."

"I will, because it's true."

"Sure, sure."

Riku rolled his eyes. "Shut up and stuff your face."

"Don't tell me what to do, kiddo."

Riku ignored him. "That reminds me, there was another attack. It was in this morning's paper."

Leon's head popped out around the doorway to the kitchen. "Where?"

"College campus."

"Details."

"Two girls, both sophomores. Drunk off their asses. They were both covered in bite marks, both had cracked spines. One was raped."

Leon frowned. "That's brutal. Most of the time they heal the bite marks."

"Whoever attacked this time clearly didn't feel like covering their tracks." Riku grimaced.

"This is bad."

"Now you see why I don't exactly feel like making pals with the kid next door is a priority?" Riku asked. "I can blend in better on a college campus. I can start doing rounds there. See if I can get a lead."

Sighing, Leon thought for a second. "Do both. I'd feel safer knowing what we have going on not even fifty feet away from us."

Riku sighed as well. "I would argue with you, but you're right, once again. What are you going to do?"

"I'll keep watching out in the city and around the campus."

"You should probably meet Sora, too."

Leon nodded. "Yeah, that too."

There was a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Riku started to laugh.

Leon, who had ducked back into the kitchen to finish eating, stuck his head out again, giving Riku a look that said he thought the boy had gone crazy.

"It looks like we're in for a rough one here."

"Why are you laughing about that?" Leon asked.

"I was worried about being bored."

This time, Leon had to laugh, too. "Well, looks like you worried for nothing."

"We might have to stay here longer than a year to straighten this one out."

"It's a nice place, at least. Aside from the parasite problem."

"Which we'll fix for it," Riku said confidently.

"Yep."

"Do you ever wish sometimes that you could stick around and enjoy the benefits from the work you've done?"

Leon shook his head. "As long as there's still work to be done, I'd hate myself if I sat around and let bad stuff happen to unsuspecting people."

"I agree, I guess," Riku said. "I wouldn't want to stick around at the expense of the lives of innocent people. I do wish we could, though, sometimes."

"You know you're free to leave anytime you want."

Riku raised an eyebrow. "And let you take off alone? You'd either be dead or arrested for stalking college campuses within a month or two."

"Hey now! I can take care of myself and I don't look that old. I could easily pass as a grad student."

Laughing, Riku said, "You know this is my life as much as it is yours. I wouldn't leave it for the world."

"Yeah, I know," Leon agreed.

"Good. With that, I am going to declare myself the mature adult and say it is bedtime."

"You can say whatever you like. Doesn't mean it'll happen," Leon said.

"Spoilsport. Do you have any work to do tonight? I didn't do much today, so I can take over."

"I was going to go back out, yeah."

"Get some rest. I'll take the night shift," Riku volunteered. "I need to get out, anyway."

Leon nodded. "Okay. Be careful."

"I know, I know. You sleep."

"Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow, I guess." Leon headed to his room.

Riku put a jacket on, shoved a second stake in his pocket, grabbed a lighter, and headed out.

Vanitas walked in Sora's house, foregoing ringing the doorbell or knocking.

"Sora."

"Vanitas." Sora wasn't even surprised to find his brother in his house.

"You've arrived."

"Congratulations on your observation skills," Sora said dryly.

"Have you fed?"

"No."

"How long has it been? I could get you a few locals as a welcoming gift."

"I'm fine, and you know I don't bite people, Van."

Vanitas rolled his eyes. "It's perfect pickings here, though. Lots of young people. You didn't answer me, though. How long?"

"You're going to attract attention again." Sora avoided the question.

"How long, Sora?" Vanitas asked again.

"Only a few days."

"If you start getting weak because you aren't feeding, I'm only giving you blood straight from the source."

"I'll be fine as soon as I set up a way to get it otherwise."

"Until then, my statement stands," Vanitas said firmly.

"I know."

"You haven't TALKED to any of the food here, have you?" Vanitas asked, his tone suspicious.

"I don't like it when you call them that."

"It's what they are."

"What they are is people," Sora said.

"Whose blood we consume," Vanitas said, rolling his eyes. "They are food, or toys, if you want to be polite."

"It's sickening."

"You've talked to one," Vanitas said, sighing.

"So what if I have?"

"You're already getting attached."

"It was one person, for like twenty minutes," Sora said. "That's hardly attached."

"It's enough for you."

"It won't last."

"Why's that?"

Sora shrugged. "Never does."

Vanitas nodded. "Promise you won't try and date any of the food this time?"

"It could work someday."

"If you try again, I will snap his measly little human neck."

"And I will kill you. Don't interfere with my life."

"Quit acting like you're one of them. You know I am in charge here." Vanitas folded his arms in front of his chest.

"I can act however I want to."

"As can I."

"Don't interfere," Sora said, glaring at Vanitas.

"Food is to be eaten. Toys are to be used. You do not treat them like us."

"They have lives. They don't deserve to be treated like anything less than something alive."

"Plants are alive, and they eat them. Other animals are alive, and they eat them. Why should I treat them any better than they treat their food?" Vanitas yawned. This was an argument he had Sora had had more times than he could count.

"They are capable of expression. The looks on their faces..."

Vanitas rolled his eyes. "One of these days you'll come to your senses. It never works."

"Maybe I already have. Maybe it's you who needs to come to his senses. We don't have to kill to survive. There are alternatives."

"Killing the pests off works quite well for me."

"And it draws unwanted attention," Sora said pointedly.

"I've been here for two years, and no one suspects a thing."

"You're wrong," Sora said quietly.

"I am?"

Sora nodded.

"How do you know? You've been here a day."

"I talk to people."

"What person knows about us?" Vanitas growled. "I'll get rid of them."

Sora shook his head. "I'm not positive if they do for sure or not. They just sounded like they know something. I've been warned not to go out at night because it's not safe to anymore. Something about attacks."

"They know something. Kill them."

"Why should I? They're just protecting themselves and the other people. If there were less vampires like you, we wouldn't even have to worry about them." Sora sounded angry.

"If there is someone here who knows about us, they need to be eliminated."

"I disagree."

"So you want us to be discovered?" Vanitas' voice was rising quickly. "You would rather protect your precious food than your own kind?"

"If they didn't have a reason to hurt us, then it wouldn't matter."

"You are infuriating."

"So are you."

Vanitas glared. "Are you joining me here as part of our group, or are you becoming a human rights activist?"

"Can't I do both?"

"I do not want you spreading propaganda to our younger members. Many of them are soft enough already."

"Good for them, sucks for you," Sora said bluntly.

"Isa followed me here. It is nice to have at least one of my fellow traditional vampires."

"The world is changing, Van. Tradition isn't the same anymore. It's not safe."

"The new ways are not respectable."

Sora shook his head. "You have to adjust with the time. You know that."

"There are some changes that should not stick around. Regardless, you dodged my question earlier. Who is this human who knows who we are?"

"It is none of your concern," Sora said. "I... I can handle it if it becomes a problem."

"Is it a him?"

"Yes."

"I thought so. If you do not take care of him, I will for you," Vanitas threatened.

"Don't worry about it."

"I have to, Sora."

"No, you don't."

"I am in charge. If my kind are at risk because you were too weak to kill off a human..."

"By relation, I'm second in charge. I can handle this."

"If you don't, you will regret it," Vanitas promised.

"What would you do, Van?"

"I would toss you out into the sun for a while, quit getting your blood for you... the possibilities are endless."

"So, essentially, you would kill me?" Sora asked.

"I never said that. You're too valuable to kill."

"Fine, nearly kill me then. That's just as bad."

Vanitas ignored Sora's tone. "Make sure you take care of your fucktoy."

"You can leave now."

"Awe, are you sensitive when it comes to your boys?"

"No, you're just pissing me off."

Vanitas looked at Sora. "You haven't fed."

"I already told you that."

"It is a bigger problem than you pretended. You're already getting irritable. You need to feed."

"I'm fine."

Vanitas looked at Sora. "Because you just got here, I'll give you a break. I'll have Zexion get you a few blood bags."

"I don't need it yet," Sora insisted.

"You will by tomorrow."

"No I won't."

Vanitas sighed. "How many days has it been?"

"Six," Sora admitted quietly.

"So you have two days, at best."

"I can easily go longer. You know that."

"You CAN go longer, but it isn't good. You start getting tired and weak. If there is someone who you know who knows about us, you can't afford to be weak and tired. You don't know whose side he is on," Vanitas warned.

"I wouldn't be around him if I were like that. I don't leave the house."

"Where did you meet him?"

"I'm not telling you that. I don't trust you with that information," Sora said.

"Is he close enough that you not running into him would send up red flags?"

"We don't know each other's schedules. I could easily be busy or he could be busy."

Vanitas thought for a second. "Do you have a job for cover here?"

"It's called lying."

"No, I mean are you employed," Vanitas said testily.

"No. But I can lie, and then if he decides to check, all I'd have to do is compel the people there to say I do work there."

"Or you could compel him."

"Too big a risk," Sora said. "He doesn't live alone."

"How do you know? That could be a lie."

"He said, and I'm taking his word for it. It's safer than assuming otherwise and being made a fool of. That could be deadly."

Vanitas paused. "Compelling multiple people to cover for you will be messy."

"I'll deal with it when the time comes. It's fine as is for now."

"You have three days before I'm forcing blood down your throat," Vanitas said.

"Fine."

"I am leaving now. I just wanted to ensure that you arrived safely."

"I'm obviously fine. Bye now."

Vanitas left without saying goodbye.

[TBC]

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