Author's Notes: (12-01-08; 8.00pm -- 9.00pm) A while ago, my mother called me and told me to take a picture of the moon in the sky, as seen from the third floor of our house. I immediately recognized it as the moon that I saw as I walked back home earlier this evening, a 'smiling face' as it seemed. I was not able to capture its image, at least not in the way I would've wanted you to see, but the memory remains. :D And then the story spat itself out, onto WordPad and MWord.
Internal War: To write or not to write--- a Kiryuucest one-shot?...... ok, I know, that's a pathetic battle. T^T of course I will. Soon. Just, not right now.
Disclaimers: If I owned the moon, I would've given it to Kain a long time ago. I do not, and obviously cannot, own the moon. What makes you think I can own VK then?
Characters: Kain, Ichijou, Aidou, Kaname--- Zero, at the very end. Shiki? ....in hibernation. Or in another fic, deep in the back of my mind, just waiting for the right chance to pop out. Yeah, you hope it comes out soon.
Rating: T, boy-on-boy kissing, a very subtle mention of the forbidden drinking done by our favorite pure blood, and that's about it. This one's a bit gentler, I guess. :D
Randomnity: To me, the 'smiling face' looked as if it were silently mocking me. Either that, or it was loony. :D
"I made a vow upon the moon."
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Moon Gazing
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Akatsuki Kain x Takuma Ichijou
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"Ah, Akatsuki, look! Look!"
Aidou tugs energetically on his cousin's arm, and with his free hand he points towards the vast night sky. Sunset eyes do his bidding, and they alight on a precious sight--- the sky was empty then, save for two stars and the crescent moon. These astrological deities formed a sort of smiling face, its 'left eye' the star a bit too far away, the 'right eye' shining brighter and looking much closer than its brother, the smile itself the tilted crescent.
"The sky's smiling!"
The blue eyed blonde exclaimed, letting out a small giggle afterwards. It was rare that Kain saw his cousin act so childishly (well, in this context), but it was nothing he didn't expect. He gave him a small smile for his efforts and playfully ruffled his hair with the hand that was not held prisoner by Aidou's enthusiastic grip.
"Probably thinks you look funny, pointing up at it like that."
A pout for his troubles and a painless bonk on the back of his head.
"Akatsuki!"
"Let's go back now. Kuran-senpai might worry." this was groundless thoough, Kain was sure their president was worrying about something else entirely. A certain silver-haired, lilac-eyed something else.
Aidou nods and as they start to walk back towards the Night Class building, he adds as an afterthought,
"Ichijou-sama probably knows we left."
Kain nods, this was obvious enough. "I'll handle it."
His cousin hm's in reply, straining to get one last look at the heavenly coincidence before it was chased away by the sun.
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When they arrive at the classroom, the vice-president is waiting for them, his smile wide and a bit strained. His voice belied this, as it was as smooth and gentle as ever.
"Aidou-kun, Kain-kun, glad to see you've come back."
Discreetly, his cousin hides behind him, a slight smile on his face as well. He whispers, "You said you'd handle it..."
Sunset meets ocean green, and he notices the distracted glaze in them. "Is Kuran-senpai missing again?" that was about the only thing that could faze their vice-president, and with his reaction, Kain knows he guessed right.
The Ichijou heir is startled, but he nods quickly, hands coming together in a nervous jerk that is hidden from the shorter blonde but not to him. "He left just a while ago..."
"He does that often, doesn't he?" Aidou ventures, sensing the worry emanating from the ocean eyed vampire.
"Yes, he does but..." his eyes are troubled, and the silence that follows his short statement makes them seem even more so. He swallows before continuing, "I suppose I don't have to hide this, the thing is... He looked... hungry."
The implications of that simple statement had the desired effect on the shorter blonde.
Aidou blinks widely, then narrows his ice blue orbs, asking, "What do you want me to do, Ichijou-sama?"
"Go and find him, but don't call his attention. Just... make sure no one sees them, alright?" the blonde instructs, and Kain can hear the tiredness layered in his words, see all to clearly the slight sag of his shoulders as he stands.
"Understood. Akatsuki, you can stay here. I'll just call you if ever." Aidou says, already walking away from them, waving his cell phone in the air. "Oh, and I'll try to take a picture of the face if I can." the grin on his face is childish, and contagious by the looks of it, as Ichijou is already smiling in the same way when Kain turns to look at him again.
"The face?" he asks, tilting his head to the right.
"The moon and the stars." realizing that his description was not enough, the fire starter holds his hand out towards the Ichijou heir, silently gazing at him with an unreadable expression on his face.
"Do you want to see it?"
The Ichijou heir looks at him, confused and surprised, but hardly resisting. He places his hand in Kain's, muttering an almost inaudible "Yes."
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"You're pushing yourself too far again, Takuma."
Without the Night Class, or anyone else, nearby, they are free to shed the honorifics that bound them to levels neither really cared for. It was an act of sorts, though certainly not an enjoyable one, for the two vampires, as it tended to get tiring after a few months.
They sit atop the school building, the taller of two seated on the floor and leaning against the ledge, and the blonde vampire's head resting on his lap, both pairs of eyes turned towards the sky.
"It's necessary..." Ichijou replies wearily, the same excuse he's been giving him since he was first questioned, even before all this came to be. He looks a little to the left, and he sees it, that face-- that smiling face. How quaint, he thinks, a smile tugging at his lips.
Kain gives a small sound of disgust, and places one of his too-warm hands on Ichijou's forehead. He didn't have a fever, for which he was thankful, but he seemed to be colder than usual. "How many times have I told you? He can take care of himself."
A hand over his, the smile from moments ago unwavering, and his words a breathless reply, "I know."
"Sometimes I doubt you do."
Ichijou could only smile at his lover's reply. He knew Akatsuki disliked his continued service to the pure blood, not because he was jealous but because of the effects it had on him--- physically and mentally. He knew he was concerned, and he loved him for it, but there was always that unspoken promise between him and Kaname. A pure blood's promise, he thought wryly, and as such it was difficult to disentangle one's self from it.
"Still, you'll always look after me, won't you?"
He asks this as he removes the hand from his forehead, as he bats his eyelashes at the orange haired vampire, lips pulling into a pout that few found easy to resist and to which his lover had no defense against. Kain sighs and cups his cheek, looking down at him with amusement in sunset depths.
"After that little stunt you pulled before, how can I not?"
Ichijou winces at the reminder, but he covers Kain's hand with his own and leans in to the touch, feeling inexplicably warmed just by this slight contact. "Akatsuki?"
"Yes, Takuma?"
He licks his lips and parts them, his breathing slow and heavy. He didn't need blood tonight.
"Kiss me."
Kain looks at him, tearing his gaze from the dark canopy overhead, and wordlessly pulls the Ichijou heir into a sitting position on his lap, so that his breath whispers over his neck, and his parted lips graze his cheek.
With a hand cradling the back of Ichijou's head, Kain lets their lips touch in a chaste kiss, a mere press of the lips that steals what remained of the blonde's breath when he pulls away. Their gazes meet, and this time, it's Ichijou who places his hands on either side of Kain's face, looking deep into his eyes before kissing him again. An arm around his waist and a skillful tongue in his mouth, fingers in his hair, tilting his head backwards until he realizes that the orange haired vampire is astride him.
The kiss is broken once again, as Kain's mouth opts to travel lower, leaving butterfly kisses on his jaw, his neck. Ichijou gasps as he feels sharp fangs dig into his skin, though not deep enough to draw blood, they are quick to leave a bright red mark that not even his excessively high-necked shirts would be able to cover.
"Akatsuki..." they still had class, he wanted to say, but he is silence by another kiss, by fingers pressing low against his back, by his lover's breathless reply, "Takuma".
They do not notice it--- the 'smiling face' had faded from the sky.
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At dawn, Zero Kiryuu comes to watch over them as they return to the Moon Dorms, looking suspiciously drawn and pale. The scent of blood did not escape the more observant members of the group, though they chose not to comment on this, sleepy as they were.
Even Aidou had hardly enough energy to tease the ex-human, simply yawning as he passed by him, giving him a wan quirk of his lips in the end. Kaname Kuran gave the boy a smile, and was even seen hanging back, presumably to talk with him. Compared to the other vampires, the pure blood seemed a bit livelier, a bit more energized.
As for Kain and Ichijou, they didn't return to class until the wee hours of the morning, and when they did, it seemed the vice-president's weariness had gone away, to be replaced by a somewhat sated visage. There was no obvious change in the fire starter's demeanor, save for the minute smile on his lips whenever he and the blonde vampire happened to glance at each other.
"Ah, it's gone..." comes Aidou's observation when he looks up to the sky that was no longer dark.
Ichijou looks up as well, "You're right."
"Ichijou-sama saw the face as well?"
Sunset and ocean green meet for a brief moment, and Kain speaks, "I showed it to him."
"Really? That's nice... What did you think about it, Ichijou-sama?" Aidou asks, not noticing the way his cousin and the vice-president were walking together, hands invariably close to one another's.
Ichijou thinks for a moment, and when a warm hand slips into his, he smiles and replies,
"It was beautiful, but I'm sure there are others that are even more so. Kain-kun's promised me that he'd go moon-gazing with me again."
Aidou looks quizzically at his cousin, unwittingly pouting as he asked, "I'm not invited?"
The taller blonde laughs and this time Kain is the one to speak, smiling lightly at the younger vampire.
"Maybe some other time, Hanabusa."
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FIN
Author's Notes: :D Anyone caught the 'family'-vibes there? It would be cute, wouldn't it? But anyway, the quote above is from Sebastian, the Butler of Phantomhive, he who serves under the awful nobleman, Ciel. Shamelessly, I tell you that the manga is refreshing, with a bit of Count Cain-ish-ness, but only just so. :D Check it out. :D
Another KaTaku fic from me, when will I learn? ;D Probably never, as this one's bound to have a prequel of sorts. I've always wanted to write about Takuma over exerting himself, and add to that Kain's reaction? Well, well, well. I'm also thinking of a ShiIchi one. XD yeah, I bleed, I moan about it, and bleed some more. Bleeding. It's wonderful. XD
EDIT as of 12-03-08 : pardon these (---) lines. T^T bloody doc. manager won't accept my spaces. also, pardon any typographical errors I may have failed to correct. T^T Haven't eaten yet.
Review? Even if it's just to tell me that I should stop.