A/N: I was just playing around a bit more with the idea of a vampire Shizuru and human Mai. This was largely inspired by two things…October stupidity and shiz/mai prompts. This is only five chapters long, and was meant as a thought experiment when it comes to their daily lives as lovers...mostly, this was just a test to see if my personal interest in this kind of thing could carry on for something beyond just 'prompt' fiction.

This fiction does not cover the actual build up to the relationship, but rather, the actual relationship itself…more or less… (like I said, thought experiment), I'll be the first to admit that the first chapter is a bit strange, but nothing is perfect, especially not something as rough as this.

First chapter is fairly short, other ones are longer…

Blood Bound Promise
Chapter 1

Night…

The time of shadows, the hesitating pulse of the darker desires that beat within every red blooded mortal...every carnal demand that seeped unwittingly from every demonic presence that fed from such ilk. Humans, they, like royalty, sat atop of the food chain. In spite of this, and their weak aptitudes, also left them as the most desirable of prey. A huntress's dream come true, in every sense of the word, from sexual promiscuity, to simply a meal.

Day…

The time of hiding and contemplation, study and absolution. It was the day, after all, the light of the sun, that many assumed killed the shadows, casting them into the richness of their own imaginations, where, in the light of day no creature could ever hurt them…only man or beast were a threat, the latter primal and near impossible…the former, unfathomable to the general population. No one thought vampires could exist, after all, but even if they did know it to be true….even if they did assume the worst, the fact was simple…humans thought vampires weak to sun, put off by garlic, and monstrous by nature.

Into night once more…

All of those things were lies or myths...how long could a creature of the night last, lonely atop the balcony, overlooking the city below, watching…waiting…desiring something more? How long, could she, like a statue, sit emotionless from her view, cold and calculating? Inhuman creature, human desire, animalistic tenacity…all of these things, kept her sitting atop her place, watching…

Just watching.

She was, without question, a blood drinker.

Hailing from a long line of them, she had no family, no place to call her own…not truly, because four walls and a roof could only be classified as a mere domain. Her place to sleep, her place to contemplate. It was hers, but she was neither attached to it, nor bothered by the idea of leaving it behind it at any time. Home, that was different. That, was where the heart was, it lingered, a feeling and little more. Home was a thing taken from her. Home, would be a thing she would always think about, consider, and, maybe even covet…but it would never be something she'd attain.

She was, after all, such a being fated to never have such a gift...

This whole sordid mess, trite as it was to admit, started several months ago…when a friend of hers, a human she'd known since the girl was a mere child, decided to be meddlesome. Shizuru did not believe in fate, but, she did believe in terrible luck, and the idea of poor karma. Perhaps it was one or the other that allowed her to take notice of a human woman.

One that she had never before had the chance to meet...the carrot top was a stranger, and if it had been under any other circumstance, the woman probably would have remained that way…

...

Her eyes, a glimmering crimson found sight of a human woman walking alone. This woman seemed to do that a lot, crossing this particular alley, walking down that dark, lonely little path of cracked concrete and broken glass. Asphalt, Shizuru had noticed from her time, glittered darkly in moonlight, and this woman who passed by the large chunks of it became like a shadow when all of the lights in the city were out of her reach.

If it had not been for that glittering dark pavement, Shizuru doubted she'd ever be able to see the woman at all…yet, gaze upon her she did, every night, more often than not.

Did that mean she should follow the woman? Likely, it was a bad idea, and fate was not forgiving.

She had to put the carrot topped woman out of her mind…forced herself to do so...it was better that way, and, if her senses were as keen as she knew they were, she had other company to see to. She turned and went back inside of her home, an apartment at the very top of the high rise building, more than happy not to have to deal with the general public.

She greeted her friend, who was busy shrugging off her leather jacket.

Then, she poured herself a meal. If anyone saw the crimson liquid she poured into her glass, she was sure that they'd think her insane. Perhaps in some ways, she was. Still, it was her desire, her craving, and she saw to it. She settled herself with the strange glances long ago. "Would you please refrain from looking at me like that?"

"Ah, sorry…Shizuru. I don't mean to stare."

And yet, because of what she was…who she was…there was no escaping her fate...nor the looks that stemmed from it. "No, don't be. I know you will never grow completely accustomed to my habits. That is why they are mine, and not yours." Shizuru said with a smile, lifting her glass to her lips.

"I do try though."

"So you do." Shizuru spared her friend the complicated explanation that would leave them bothered and confused. "Tell me, Natsuki, work leaves you well?"

"Exhausted, actually." The tired woman said with a waning smile. "You…you should get out more, Shizuru. I know you don't really like to, but cooping yourself up here all day probably doesn't do you any good." Crimson eyes caught emerald, but Natsuki wasn't dissuaded. "Stop that…it's not intimidating anymore…" A smirk, and then a sigh…the two of them reading each other without words. It was a practice they both fell into more often than not. Natsuki twisted the cap off of her soda, swigging it deeply. "You know, I'm only saying this because I'm worried about you."

"So you are…"

"Do you have to be like that?" Natsuki sucked in a breath, this tension, it was getting worse as of late. "She's a nice person, hell, if she can be friends with a person like me, I'm sure she can deal with a person like you…"

"We're different." Shizuru said quietly. "Besides, Natsuki, you only know of what I am because it suited me to be honest with you upfront. I usually don't bother with humans, I have no need to do so."

"Her name's Mai…" Natsuki said pointedly. "We share our social sciences class. Besides, actually talking to her has got to be better than this weird stalker crap you keep pulling."

Shizuru nearly choked on her next sip of blood. "Excuse me? Where on earth did you get that idea?"

"She goes out to the karaoke bar a few blocks down, and every time she does, I come here…" Natsuki had long since seen the bad habit, the way it formed, the way it fell between them. "Fact is the bar closes early on weeknights, and, just so happens, tonight's a weeknight. She probably was rounding the corner of the alley when you came in."

"I don't believe I'm that conspicuous…"

"You're not." Natsuki said then with a small laugh. "She always texts me to let me know she's back."

…

It was that strange exchange that had led her to come in contact with the human woman, take a fancy to her, and eventually decide that she was worth more than just a passing glance. There was a problem though, romance was different than friendship. The truth of the matter was something deeper, more complicated than Shizuru herself knew what to do with.

Matters of the heart, as she willingly admitted to herself, could be far more…should be far more…than a simple fact of life.

It was after their first heated kiss that Shizuru realized she could no longer hide what she was. Mai deserved better than a lie. Part of her wanted to be honest, but the aggressive side of herself wanted an excuse to be controlling, and perhaps a little whimsical. If she could at least admit she was such a baser, carnal creature, she could begin to teach Mai about what that nature entailed…

Provided, of courses…that the woman didn't run fleeing in fear of her life…

So she's said it… messily, and ill planned…that she was, indeed, a vampire. At first, Mai had laughed, so Shizuru carried the burden of proof with grim determination, wondering yet still, if she was doing the right thing.

"This is what I am…" Fangs bared, eyes aglow with desire, she wondered if Mai would flinch away from her, cower in fear at the sight of her. "I'm no human woman, Mai. You should know this, and of the desire I have for you, because this desire is not something to which you'll be accustomed." How could Shizuru explain the possessive nature of her kin, the sexual desire that thrummed within her every hope and wish…how could she explain the facts of her world? Expect for Mai to live along side of her?

Furthermore, and much more troubling; how could she keep her nature at bay?

"Your fangs, they're pretty sharp." It was such a simple response.

Unfathomable, if Shizuru were being honest with herself, and her darkest fears. She gave the human woman a searching look. Yes, indeed they were sharp. "More aptly, they're deadly."

"Only if you use them to kill." Mai said quietly. "You don't kill people, Shizuru…do you?"

Crimson eyes darkened at that. "It depends I suppose. I don't want to…I don't seek to…" She reached forward, wondering, fearing that Mai might pull away. "Sometimes though, my desires aren't what rule me, and my actions become no more than vivid nightmares I fail to wake up from."

"Don't bite me." Mai said quietly, her thumb toying along Shizuru's lips. "I like being a human. I want to stay that way."

"Hmm." A soft noise of agreement.

"I want to get a closer look at your fangs..." It was a question, shy and yet brave...far too brave, for any mere human. "Can I do that, Shizuru...will you let me?"

Crimson eyes carried worry before falling behind closed lids. A kiss planted on Mai's thumb sealed the deal before Shizuru pulled away. "Don't press hard on the tips of my fangs, ever. Not even with your tongue when we kiss. I normally keep them retracted, but, instinct can take over. I may accidentally lose control the moment I taste your blood."

Mai's finger slipped past Shizuru's lips, hey were so soft, so unlike the fangs that she saw glinting dangerously every time Shizuru opened her mouth to speak. They'd always been retracted, hidden, and Mai didn't know that teeth could be that long, nor that sharp…even while still perfectly white. Even as her finger trailed the line of one of them, moving ever so slowly, she realized she was playing with fire, and pulled her hands away. "We'll go slow…and…figure this out…somehow…"

"Truly?" Shizuru had asked, noticing that Mai's heart was racing.

"I hope." Mai said quietly, her voice shaking in-between each breath. Terror, curiosity, were what carried her words, still there was something more. Resolve. She swallowed hard. There was no trace of deception in Shizuru's eyes, the woman cared for her, and in that capacity, she deserved a chance...they both did. "For both our sakes, I hope we can…"