Blood, Unhappiness and Embarrassment
By: Honest Beauty
Disclaimer: I don't own the anime Karin, its plot or characters.
Classes were over for the day. Noda Masaru put away his books slowly, watching Maaka Karin covertly. She was near perfect in his opinion. She was cute, sexy and had an incredible figure. I'll make her my girl, will she nil she.
Masaru would have already made the buxom, maroon haired beauty his girl had it not been for one small obstacle. That obstacle had just stopped beside Karin's desk, blocking Noda's view of Karin.
Usui Kenta. Were it not for him, Karin would already be mine. The sable haired teen thought to himself. He was of average height with a blandly handsome face, brown eyes and medium length straight hair.
There was nothing much about his appearance that revealed his true personality, which was very close to the classic bullying sadist. Only his attitude and aura hinted at that aspect of him, for he was careful to hide it during school.
He rose from his seat and exited the classroom, an ugly look in his cold eyes. He had been watching Karin since the beginning of high school. She had been close to Usui then, though they hadn't started dating until a few months ago.
And it was about that time that Winner Sinclair had given up trying to win her for himself, instead slowly warming up to Tokitou Maki, Karin's friend. They were now dating, and Masaru was just as glad that he didn't have to deal with the annoying blond transfer student.
Exiting the school, Masaru looked around for his cronies. Finding them he walked over to them, a plan on how to deal with Usui forming in his twisted mind. Daiki, Arata, Hibiki, Kenichi and Ryou turned and greeted him.
Masaru nodded and gestured that they should go somewhere where they wouldn't be heard. The five boys fell in step with their leader and all six headed to Masaru's apartment, which was the closest.
Once there, Masaru promptly sat down in the living room, the others following his lead. Both his parents were out of the house so the boys could speak freely. Masaru gestured for silence and every one of the boys shut up, eager to hear if their leader had come up any plans for a good time.
"I've decided that it is time and past for me to make Maaka Karin my girl." The others grinned wolfishly. "Of course there is but one obstacle. Which is…?" Masaru looked around, for all the world a tutor with his brightest group of students.
"Usui Kenta, the freaky eyed bastard." Arata spoke up quickly. Masaru nodded like an indulgent father, but the sadistic gleam in his eyes and cruel grin on his face contrasted sharply with his motion.
"What of her family? Kenichi, did you find out anything?" Masaru asked the shortest one of the group. All of the boys were built similarly to Masaru, and each had their own specialty: Kenichi was an accomplished hacker and spy and deadly with projectiles, Arata quick witted, observant and who knew more ways to tie people up than anyone in the school, Hibiki strong and terrifying with any long blunt object in his hands, Daiki incredibly agile and skilled at street fighting and martial arts, and Ryou fast and lethal with any kind of blade.
"Couldn't find anything. I tried to follow her to her house but for some strange reason I lost track of her and was never able to find her house. I've heard her talk of her younger sister before but no one else." Kenichi reported.
"Good." Masaru purred. "Alright here's the plan…" Masaru outlined his plan as every boy in the room grinned maliciously.
About a week later Kenta was slowly walking Karin to the edge of the barrier after their date. He had surprised Karin as they both got off their shift, asking her out to dinner. She had happily accepted the invitation.
His watch told him it was 8:30 as he arrived hand in hand at the invisible edge of the barrier. Both were in street clothes as it was a Saturday. Karin turned towards him, blushing a bit. She looked really cute like that, Kenta thought. Kenta smiled and kissed her forehead fondly, folding his arms around her shoulders.
Karin sighed quietly in pleasure as Kenta softly kissed her forehead and hugged her. Shyly she stood on her tiptoes and kissed the smooth line of his jaw. Wrapping her arms more firmly around his waist, she looked up into his face.
He would never be considered handsome by the normal standards. His eyes were too strange, but Karin liked his eyes, and in her opinion the beauty of his kind heart and courageous soul lent handsomeness to his startling features.
She also loved his hair, the way it was all over the place, unwilling to conform to a proper style, just he refused to treat her any different because she was a vampire. He was strong enough and had enough endurance to carry her without tiring for a couple hours and skilled enough to defend himself or her if the need ever arose.
Karin thought he was perfect. And she hoped that her dream of marrying him came true one day, which was likelier to happen by the day. They were friends as well as in love with each other. They did have fights and arguments occasionally, but their relationship was strong enough to withstand them and it actually strengthened their love like tempering a sword strengthened the steel and made it less brittle.
They stood in each other's embrace for a minute or so, just enjoying the contact and comfortable silence. Then Kenta's cell phone rang. He and his mother had recently got them, and Karin was so glad that she could now contact Kenta when she needed him.
"Sorry, Karin." Kenta said quickly and grabbed the small object from his pants pocket. Opening it, Kenta stepped away a little from Karin. "Oh, hi Mom. Yes I'll be home in a little while…I'm dropping off Karin…yes we had a good time…"Kenta blushed at his mother's curiosity, then… "Mother! Of course not! I'll be home in about fifteen minutes, talk to you later, bye."
Kenta just barely waited for his mom to say bye before snapping the phone shut, his face beet red with embarrassment. Karin giggled, blushing as well. She could just imagine what Fumio-san had been asking her son.
"I love you Kenta." She said softly. His eyes lit up and he smiled warmly.
"I love you too Karin." He replied and hugged her as she returned the favor. They kissed each other's cheek and Kenta started walking towards the park and his house.
"Ja ne, Kenta!" Karin called back as she started walking up the path to her huge house.
"Ja ne, Karin!" she heard Kenta reply as she raced giddily up the twisting path.
Kenta was on cloud nine as he walked down the hill and entered the park. He didn't shout his joy to the heavens as some men did; rather he held it close, quietly savoring and enjoying it. Even though the romantic side of him floated in bliss, the more practical side kept his ears open and scanned the path and trees alertly on the lookout for muggers or other unsavory types.
Because he was on his guard, Kenta heard the soft rustling several people moving through the underbrush. Feeling eyes on him, the fine hairs on the back of Kenta's neck rose and adrenaline flooded his system.
The dark park seemed to grow brighter as his pupils dilated. His heart began to race, his breathing grew quicker and he felt a light sweat break out across his face. Kenta kept walking normally as he strained his ears to try and identify how many people were following him and where they were.
He guessed that there were at least five, maybe more. Hearing footsteps behind him, Kenta guessed that at least one was directly behind him, the others in the brush and behind him. He heard the rustling advance to either side of him and Kenta knew that they were trying to encircle him.
Breaking abruptly into a sprint, Kenta ran down the path, trying to outrace his stalkers. As he ran at his top speed and kept a close eye on the path in front of him, Kenta briefly considered trying to call the police with his cell phone.
He quickly discarded the idea though. His cell was in his back pocket now and trying to get it out, keep an eye on the path and run was just not a good idea. Nor was calling vocally for help. He needed to save the breath it would take to shout for running.
Looking ahead, Kenta saw too late the almost invisible wire strung across the path at mid shin height. He tried to jump the trap, but his right ankle caught the wire, throwing him off balance. He landed badly on his left foot, twisting it as he put his full weight on that leg.
Kenta went down with a cry of pain. His ankle felt as though flaming daggers were stabbing into him, but Kenta forced himself to his feet again, his eyes conveying his fear, anger and the white-hot aguish that every step brought him. Looking up he saw that he was surrounded by the previously assumed number of five guys his age.
A sixth was behind him, taking down the trap that he had obviously set up. Panting with exertion and pain, Kenta looked at the faces of his attackers. He recognized the sneering face of Noda Masaru, who sat a couple seats away from him in class and who seemed to have a grudge against him.
The other five Kenta recognized as Masaru's lackeys. He had heard about this group before, and none of it was remotely good. Kenta straightened as much as he could and glared coldly at Masaru, who was directly in front of him
People say all the time that my eyes are scary and I always look like I'm glaring at them. Well maybe it's about time I put my real glare to use; there may be a small chance that they'll back off. Kenta thought, grasping at straws, knowing it was pointless to try and intimate the six young men surrounding him; regardless he had to give it a try.
Looking at Masaru with his fiercest icy glare, Kenta had the satisfaction of seeing the shorter boy blanch and involuntarily take a step back, fear flitting across his features for a brief second.
The moment passed quickly and Masaru grinned nastily at Kenta, crossing his arms and standing up as straight as he could, attempting to get a level advantage with Kenta.
"Alright Usui, your little escape attempt is up. You're coming with us." Masaru said, his tone dripping with malice and superiority. Kenta bristled and drew himself to his full height, though it hurt his ankle to do so, and glared pointedly down at the dark haired bully.
"What if I don't want to come with you?" he asked archly, raising an eyebrow as adrenaline sang trough his veins. From the corner of his eye, Kenta saw one boy move, pulling something from his person.
Kenta half turned to the boy, Hibiki he remembered now, and saw what the youth was holding in his hands a split second before it impacted. The obviously lead weighted baton drove the air from his lungs as it hit his stomach lengthwise.
Kenta gagged and doubled over the baton in pain. He slumped to his knees and wrapped his hands around his stomach protectively as Hibiki slid the baton out from under him.
"You don't have a choice." Masaru hissed as two boys hauled him upright and started dragging him off the path into a more isolated region of the park. Kenta was opening his mouthing to shout for help when the cold metal of a blade was suddenly pressing against his neck hard enough to draw blood.
"I wouldn't even think of calling for help if I were you, Usui." One boy, Ryou, hissed in his ear as they continued to head deeper into the wooded landscape. They were not gentle in the least as they man handled Kenta's resisting body.
They reached a clearing hedged in by trees and large bushes. The floor of it was littered sparsely with natural trash, like leaves and small broken branches. There was also a cozy bench and a small path leading to it, clearly indicating what this clearing had been designed as.
As the moved him towards the center of the clearing, Kenta acted. Wrenching his arms out of the two youths' hands with a gasp, Kenta threw himself to the ground at the nearest large branch. Grabbing it quickly he scrabbled ungracefully to his feet while the boys exclaimed in surprise and annoyance as they circled him.
Ignoring the shooting pain from his ankle, Kenta let out a shout and recklessly charged the nearest boy, swinging the branch as quickly as he could. He made contact, though the youth managed to evade the full blow, grunting in mild pain.
Kenta shoved his elbows back to meet the kidneys of the teen who had been about to tackle him, who gasped and staggered back. Seeing two others coming at him, Kenta let his knees go weak and dropped, hearing the sharp crack of two foreheads hitting each other, and the resulting curses of pain.
Kenta lunged painfully to his feet favoring his left foot heavily to face Hibiki. He swung his baton at Kenta, who raised his makeshift weapon in both hands. Several things then happened simultaneously: Hibiki struck Kenta's wrists, sending the branch flying; the youth he had elbow-struck, Kenichi, who had been creeping towards Kenta's feet on his belly, grabbed Kenta's left foot and twisted viciously, making Kenta scream in agony; finally a third boy, Daiki, drove the air from Kenta's lungs with a punishing right uppercut.
Kenta's scream was cut off with a strangled gasp as he folded over Daiki's fist. Daiki then used his other hand to punch Kenta's exposed lower back, while removing his right. Kenta collapsed onto the ground, tears of pain and humiliation burning tracks down his dirty cheeks.
As Kenta finally got his breath back and the pain coming from his maltreated ankle subsided enough for him to be able to think, Kenta heard footsteps approaching. He readied himself for more abuse, knowing it was coming.
He wasn't disappointed; pain blossomed in Kenta's side as a foot slammed into his body, flipping him over onto his back. Looking up through his tears and the gloom, Kenta saw that it was Masaru who kicked him and was now standing above him. Masaru smiled cruelly and knelt beside the supine young man.
"That was stupid Usui. I was going to just have Ryou slit your throat, let you die quickly, but now I've decided not to. Instead I'm going to let these five gentlemen join me in a game of 'Catch Usui'." Masaru said conversationally, with almost a cheerful and friendly tone. His eyes promised anything but mercy.
Kenta grunted in pain as Masaru abruptly grabbed his shirt and hauled him to his feet. Kenta saw and heard the other youths eagerly form a circle around him. Kenta's heart was in his shoes by this point, and he was not too proud to admit to himself that he was terrified.
"Let's start the game!" Masaru called out gleefully and shoved Kenta backwards. He hit a tree and was grabbed and sent tumbling into someone's fist. This 'game' continued, with the boys alternately catching him, sending him into tree trunks or bushes, and beating him with fists, knees, feet, weapons or cutting him with blades.
By now, Kenta had lost count of where he had been hurt; his whole body was one solid block of pain. He could barely see through his left eye, due to a forming black eye. The tall, beaten young man had not idea of how long it had been since the 'game' started, but it felt like an eternity.
Anger, fear, despair, and confusion chased each other in his mind. Only one thought really stuck with him through all the pain: Why the hell are they doing this to me?! Kenta knew that he hadn't done anything to any of these boys, in fact he stayed away from them due to their reputations. Finally, Kenta heard Masaru's voice ring out.
"That's enough, I suppose." His tone was slightly regretful as the boy who currently had a hold of Kenta growled in annoyance and shoved him face first onto the ground in the middle of the circle. Kenta panted, groaned, and hissed in pain as he lay there, trying to recover.
"Arata, your turn. Nothing fancy though. Daiki help him." Before Kenta could wonder over what Masaru meant, he felt hands grab his shoulder and pull him up onto his knees then made him sit on his heels, causing Kenta to moan hoarsely in pain.
Kenta felt someone, he assumed Arata, grab his wrists and pull them behind his back, tying them together with a thin, coarse rope of some kind. Unable to summon any energy to fight them, Kenta just slumped where he was as his ankles were tied together next and then his wrists and ankles together tightly, preventing almost all movement.
The ropes bit into the soft skin of Kenta's wrists and the rope binding his ankles together was making his left ankle send shoots of pain up his leg. Wearily and painfully, Kenta slowly raised his head to look into the eyes of his tormentors.
"Why?!" Kenta asked angrily, spitting the blood from his mouth onto the ground in front of him. There were numerous cuts on the inside of his mouth where the skin had been ground up against his teeth by fists, and a few of his teeth felt loose in their sockets.
"Well I suppose you do deserve to know the reason why we did this to you." Masaru said thoughtfully. "Two words: Maaka Karin." Kenta blinked in confusion.
"What does Karin have to do with this?" Kenta asked, his words slurred due to swelling.
"Because I decided to make her my girl. And the only thing stopping me was you, Usui. My friends graciously volunteered to help me take care of the obstacle you presented." Masaru clarified as Kenta's eyes widened in shock and horror. The last thing that he wanted was Karin in the grasp of this sadistic bastard.
"Don't worry, I'll take good care of her, as long as she willingly spreads her legs for me." Masaru chuckled nastily. "Just imagine it: Karin mourning the tragic loss of her boyfriend who died mysteriously. Me approaching and comforting her, then becoming her man." Kenta felt bile rise in the back of his throat at the mental picture Masaru's words called up.
But he doesn't know about Karin's family. They'll keep her safe and out of this psycho's grip, even if, no, when they kill me. Kenta thought with a sinking heart. Karin, I'm sorry. I know this is going to break your heart, and the last thing that I wanted to cause you is grief.
Kenta clenched his bound fists and gritted his teeth against the tears that welled up behind his tightly shut eyelids. He thought of his mother and how devastated she would be to find out that she had lost her only son, her only family left, but then his thoughts and heart returned to Karin.
By strength of will alone, Kenta managed to swallow his sobs and clear his eyes as he raised his head once more to glare defiantly into Masaru's cold ones. He was trembling from fatigue, pain and fear, but his lips didn't quiver nor did he break down and beg for mercy.
"She will never be yours, Noda. Even if you kill me, you'll never be able to fool her or her family." Kenta chuckled hollowly. "I can just imagine her older brother's and father's reaction to your plans." Kenta smirked up at the fuming teen, bad idea.
Masaru's fist connected with his jaw painfully and Kenta tumbled sideways only to be hauled back upright by another boy. Kenta spat out more blood, feeling a thin stream of it leaking from one corner of his mouth.
"You won't live to see how wrong you are Usui. Ryou, lend me your knife." Masaru accepted the switch blade from other boy and flipped it open. He knelt down in front of Kenta and reached forward.
He carved a long, deep line of fire down Kenta's right thigh, forcing a cry of pain to escape Kenta's clenched teeth. He then did the same to Kenta's left thigh and each of his upper arms. Crimson liquid spilled freely from the four wounds as Kenta swayed, feeling the effects of the blood loss almost immediately.
"Have fun dying alone Usui Kenta. Good riddance." Masaru said coldly, wiping the knife on Kenta's torn and shredded shirt. They started walking away without a single glance at the dying youth kneeling in the clearing.
"Damn you Noda Masaru! And damn the rest of you. I swear I'll come back as a ghost and bring you six to justice!" Kenta put as much feeling, volume and sincerity into the promise as he could. All he received as an answer was derisive laughter.
A few seconds later their rustlings fell silent and Kenta knew they were gone. He then let himself moan in pain and allowed the locked tears to fall. Sobs shook him as Kenta twisted his hands, trying to untie himself before he fell into unconsciousness.
The ropes bit painfully into his wrists and Kenta only succeeded in rubbing himself raw to the point where rivulets of blood tricked between his fingers in a steady stream. When that approach proved impossible, Kenta tried a different route. Remembering that his cell phone was still in his back pocket, Kenta struggled to reach it.
But just as the ropes had been too tight and the knots too well tied for Kenta to free himself, Kenta wasn't able to twist his hands around nor bring them up and back far enough to dig the phone from his pants. As the clearing blurred and spun in front of his eyes, Kenta gave up. Feeling like he was floating, Kenta felt his body fall to thump against the hard ground. The cuts in his right arm and leg burned as twigs and dirt were pushed into the wounds.
Dying isn't so bad Kenta thought, as his mind wandered and his vision blurred more and started fading. The pain was fading too, leaving him feeling only cold. He shivered weakly, thinking only of Karin's beautiful, tearstained face and his mother's white and devastated one.
Karin, Okaa-san, gomen nasai. I tried, I really did. his gut knotted painfully at the thought of never seeing them again, never seeing his mother's smiling face, never holding Karin in his arms or kissing her soft lips…of his entire life it would be Karin he'd miss most and all the time they spend together. I love you both so much. Kenta thought fuzzily as his world faded to black. Just as his mind started slipping into unconsciousness, Kenta thought he heard two startled and horrified exclamations. Then all was consumed by the black and Kenta was lost in it.
Kawashima Yuji had his arm around his girlfriend Takeshi Miho as he led her to a small clearing he knew of. He had a small box in his pocket and a question burning in his mind, and he knew that the clearing they were about to enter would be the best place to propose to the young woman he loved.
Miho snuggled up against her boyfriend as they continued on the narrow, winding path they were on. She sensed that he had something planned, and something big. She couldn't wait to find out.
"It's just beyond these bushes, Miho." Yuji said quietly as the couple followed the path between two large bushes.
"Oh, good. I was wondering when we would… Oh my God!" Miho exclaimed, appalled by what her eyes saw. Beside her she heard Yuji gasp and saw him turn pale from the corner of her eye.
"W-who is it?" Miho asked as they both approached the bleeding, unconscious teen. Miho grabbed her cell from her purse as Yuji bent down. He checked the pale young man's pulse and found one.
"Dial 911, Miho, he's still alive. And I think he goes to our school. I saw him at the culture festival, dancing with a girl. He looks about the right age to be an underclassman." Yuji mused. Miho nodded and moved away from the two men as she made the call.
As Miho spoke with the operator, Yuji attempted to wake the teen up. Miho shut her cell, telling him that the ambulance would be here in five minutes. Yuji nodded as he processed that information and heard the young man moan in pain.
"Hey, wake up." Yuji patted the guy's face lightly. The light brown haired youth opened his eyes slowly. His intimidating gaze made the couple back away momentarily before Miho started questioning him as Yuji noticed the ropes binding the wounded teen. Yuji used his pocket knife to start hacking away at the ropes as the guy told Miho his name.
"Okay, Usui-san, the ambulance is on their way. Just hang on okay?" Surprisingly, the teen, Kenta, Yuji told himself, looked worried at that.
"Don't let them do a transfusion. Don't ask why, just tell them." He said weakly, his eyes unfocused and threatening to close. "My cell's in my back pocket and it has my mom's number programmed in there. Call her… she'll explain…" Kenta's weak voice faded completely as he lost consciousness again.
Shortly after, the ambulance arrived; the couple relayed Usui-san's instructions and handed over his cell phone. They then decided to go to Miho's apartment, which was closer, and calm down.
Usui Fumio was getting worried. Her son had said that he'd be home in fifteen minutes; that was half an hour ago. She had just pick up her cell phone to call him when it trilled that she had an incoming call. Startled she looked at the caller ID and saw it was Kenta. With a sigh of relief, she flipped open the phone.
"Kenta, you had me worried. Where are you?" Fumio demanded, relief flooding her. There was a pause before a foreign voice spoke.
"Are you Usui Kenta-san's mother?" the voice asked neutrally, but quickly. Fumio's heart promptly dropped back into her shoes.
"H-hai, who are you and why are you using my son's cell phone?" Fumio asked, anxiety spiking. There was a sigh from the other line, half of relief, half of something else.
"I'm an ambulance medic for Hayasho Hospital. Your son was apparently attacked and is currently unconscious." Fumio gasped and choked back a sob, her eyes widening in horror. "He has lost a dangerously large amount of blood, but according to the couple who found him, Usui-san woke long enough to give his name and to tell the couple not to allow us to do a transfusion. He told them the location of his cellular phone and told them for us to call you to explain." The man finished, obviously waiting for Fumio to explain.
"Oh thank God you listened to him. I don't know for sure, but his father had a slightly mutated form of AB- blood. In the past Kenta's father almost died when they gave him a transfusion. I was never able to have Kenta's blood tested to see if was mutated like his father's, but I do know that his blood-type is AB-." Fumio explained in a rush. She heard the medic curse softly on the other end.
"We are pulling up to the ER as I speak, Usui-san. We will test a sample of your son's blood to see if he has the mutation his father has. If not, we will do a transfusion; if he does… we'll do our best for him. Please contact his father and have him come to Hayasho Hospital in case your son's blood-type is mutated like his. We'll be able to do a direct transfusion then"
"…Kenta's father abandoned us years ago. I have no contact with him and no idea where he could be." Fumio said after a painful pause. It still hurt her to talk of her husband, but she spoke anyway for Kenta's sake. Again the medic cursed softly.
"I see. Please come down to the hospital ASAP." The man said as the background noise abruptly increased, and Fumio heard door hinges squeaking.
"I left my house as soon as you gave me the name of the hospital. I'll be there in a few minutes." Fumio replied and hung up, running to catch the city bus. She climbed and sat down, trying not to cry.
Fumio literally ran from the bus stop to the ER entrance for patients. She skidded to a stop in front of the front desk, panting. The secretary, who was a nurse as well, looked up in slight alarm.
"My name is Usui Fumio. My son, Kenta, was admitted in here a little while ago. Where is he?" Fumio asked as she straightened and composed herself. The nurse consulted her computer and told the anxious mother to wait while she paged the doctor responsible for Kenta's case.
Fumio nodded and moved out of the way, standing against a wall to wait. Two minutes later the doctor arrived and approached Fumio.
"Usui Fumio-san?" Fumio nodded. "I'm Dr. Hoshida. Please follow me." Fumio nodded as the doctor turned and started walking away. He led her into an ICU recovery room. As he stepped aside for her to enter, Fumio finally saw her son.
She gasped and moved closer to Kenta as the doctor quietly shut the door behind her. He looked terrible; Kenta's face was white where bruises didn't color the skin, and he was sporting an impressive black eye. Both of his arms were lying on the blankets covering him, and each forearm held an IV while his wrists were wrapped in gauze. Fumio could also see bandages wrapping her son's upper arms.
"We did what we could, Usui-san. We are currently giving him a saline/plasma solution laced with the nutrients he needs to form new blood cells. We're also giving him a light dose of pain killers to him." Dr. Hoshida said from beside her.
"How badly did he get hurt?" Fumio asked, brushing the bangs out of her son's eyes tenderly. There was gauze wrapping his head and band aids dotting his visible skin.
"Let me give the good news first. He wasn't bleeding internally, which, for the amount of abuse he obviously went through, is a miracle. Nor does he have any broken or fractured bones, though he has bone deep bone bruising all over. A couple of his teeth are loose, but we can't fix that until the swelling goes down.
"He has numerous shallow abrasions caused by a blade or blades, at the moment with the swelling it is hard to discern if they came from the same one or if there were others, in any case stitches were applied to most of those wounds. The majority of his injuries occurred here and here." The doctor pointed first to both of Kenta's upper arms then gently pulled back the covers to reveal Kenta's legs, which were only covered by a pair of hospital boxers.
His thighs were wrapped with gauze from the knee to past where his boxers covered. Fumio inhaled sharply as the doctor tucked the covers back up to Kenta's armpits.
"W-what happened?"
"On those four places someone slashed him deeply. These wounds were what caused the severe hemorrhaging. He has lost 2.8 liters of blood." At Fumio's confused look, the doctor explained further: "your son's body has about 5.5 liters of blood, losing more than 40% or 2.2 liters is life-threatening." Tears slipped down Fumio's cheeks. She turned to the doctor and looked him in the eye.
"Is he going to d-die? Please tell me frankly." She asked fearfully, her lips quivered and eyes shined with fear. Dr Hoshida sighed and ran a hand through his hair before looking at her squarely.
"He has less than a 1% chance of living through the night with his mind intact if he stays unconscious. If we wake him and manage to make him stay conscious, he'll have about a 2% chance."
"What do you mean by 'mind intact'?"
"It's highly likely that even if his body survives the night, his remaining blood will not be able to deliver enough blood to his brain to keep all of it alive. His memory would be affected first, then speech, motor control and so on. If we keep him conscious, he's less likely to have sections of his brain die." The doctor explained as Fumio nodded numbly in horrified understanding.
"Then why don't you have him awake right now?"
"We had to have him unconscious for dressing his wounds and a small amount of rest now will be beneficial for his system to recover from the shock. We were planning to wake him once you and the police got here."
"So the police could get his statement right?" at his nod she continued. "How do you plan to keep him awake?"
"I was hoping you could help with that Usui-san. You would be able to think of way for your son to wish to stay awake, for he'll want to fall asleep. That's his body's natural instinct."
"Ah. I will try to think of a way then. Maybe…" Fumio's eyes lit with an idea. A month or so ago Karin's parents had met with her and told her their secret, Karin's unique secret and her son's role in that secret.
"If we brought Maaka Karin, my son's girlfriend here, I'm sure he will try harder to stay awake. They truly love each other, and I believe my son intends to propose to her eventually." Fumio said, hoping that he would allow her to bring Karin here.
"That's a good idea. Please get a hold of Maaka-san and have her come here, please." There was a knock at the door then. It opened to reveal a pair of police officers. They entered and Fumio decided to take the seat provided next to the bed that held her son.
As the doctor set about waking Kenta up, Fumio recalled how Kenta had told her of the first time Karin had bit him. She remembered how Kenta said it felt to have Karin inject blood into him. But her mind stayed on the fact that Kenta's body hadn't rejected or fought Karin's blood, precisely because it was vampiric blood.
And the blood would give him an energy boost as well if Karin were to bite him right now! Fumio thought as Kenta groaned and stirred. Fumio quickly took out her cell and called Karin, explaining the predicament without giving away what she wanted Karin to do.
"…I thought you would be able to help him Karin-chan. Can you be here ASAP?" Fumio finished, her words loaded with double meaning.
"I understand completely, Fumio-san I'll be there in a few minutes. Anju can give me a lift." Karin responded in kind but couldn't keep the fear from her voice.
"Thank you Karin-chan. Ja ne." Fumio hung up as Kenta opened his eyes slowly.
"W-where am I?" his voice was hoarse and thin. He then turned his head slowly to look at his mom. "Kaa-san."
"Kenta." Fumio replied, holding back a sob as she gently hugged her son. Dr. Hoshida then explained everything to him, and introduced the police officers. Kenta nodded a weak greeting and started to tell his story as one officer took notes and recorded everything on a tape while the other questioned him.
Fumio was shocked and furious with this Noda Masaru and horrified by what her precious son had to go through. Finally he was finished, by now looking even more drained and exhausted. The doctor explained the importance of Kenta staying awake to the teen as the police officers left to go arrest the six teens Kenta had spoken of.
"Karin-chan is coming, Kenta. She should be here in a few minutes. Anju's giving her a ride." Fumio put in. Kenta's eyes brightened at that and his face took on a hopeful expression. Fumio knew what he was thinking: Karin, and her being a reverse vampire.
Just then, a flurry of knocks sounded from the door and a panting Karin was admitted into the room by Dr. Hoshida.
"I'll give the three of you some privacy. Hit that red button there if you need assistance or there is an emergency." The doctor said, pointing out the mentioned button before exiting the room and closed the door behind him.
For a whole minute, all Karin could do was stare in shocked horror at the man she loved. He was terribly pale and battered, and his eyes were dull with pain and fatigue.
"Hey Karin." Kenta finally said, Karin having to strain to catch what he said. She tried to smile, but her lips were trembling. Fumio then came over to her.
"Karin you know what I'm thinking of doing right?" she asked quietly. The young woman nodded as Fumio quietly locked the door.
"You want me to bite him and inject as much of my blood into him as I safely can." Fumio nodded. "Okay, here's what I need you to do…" Karin outlined what Fumio had to do and what would happen.
"All right, I understand."
"Make sure you clean up all the blood and use my head to cover the bite marks. They can't suspect a thing." Fumio nodded and walked over to her son to explained Karin's plan. Karin herself stayed as far away from Kenta as possible.
Kenta watched his mother and girlfriend talk as the room blurred around him. They were talking too low for him to understand what they were saying, but he had an idea of what there they were planning. So when his mom came over to explain, Kenta wasn't surprised at all.
"So all Karin needs me to do is focus on my unhappiness?" Kenta confirmed. Fumio nodded, dabbing the sweat from his forehead. "Okay, but Kaa-san, I want you to do something for me. When Karin bites me wrap my arms around her in a hug okay? I don't have enough strength to right now."
"Okay, Kenta. I'll do that. Now, concentrate." His mom said as she tilted his chin up and over to expose his neck. He focused with all of his being on his feelings of unhappiness while his mother backed away, out of Karin's way.
Karin felt Kenta's aura of unhappiness abruptly quadruple, and bent over in pain. Her blood increased just as rapidly and she felt her fangs lengthen. But she didn't go to him, not yet. Karin waited until she was just shy of a nosebleed and the pain was blinding before she moved.
Running forward, Karin lowered the hand that had traveled up to unconsciously cover her nose and mouth. She vaguely heard Fumio gasp when the older woman caught sight of her elongated fangs.
Well she's never seen them before. Karin thought before centering all of her attention on Kenta. Or rather, Kenta's neck. She threw herself as gently and quickly as possible onto him and sank her fangs into him.
He flinched and gasped at the sudden pain of her fangs piercing him, but was still other than that. Karin felt the blood rush from her fangs into Kenta, as she wrapped her arms around him in her customary blood injecting hug. Karin felt Kenta's arms come up to encircle her waist and smiled to herself.
He must've asked his mom to do that. My Kenta's always so thoughtful, that's one of the reasons I love him so.
Kenta gasped then moaned as Karin started injecting her blood into him. It was slightly painful, but nothing in comparison to his other wounds. He had closed his eyes automatically when Karin's fangs sank into his neck, but now opened them to see his mom approach and gently grab his arms.
Kenta smiled as she placed the leaden limbs around the young woman sprawled on top of him. Fumio nodded and backed up, a rag in her hand.
After about a minute, Kenta felt Karin pull her fangs out and toss her head back. He saw her fangs retract and her head fall forward onto his chest. The room spun crazily around him as a wave of dizziness consumed him.
Kenta felt himself fade as Karin's blood rushed through his system, along with the surge of energy that accompanied the vampiric blood. He let himself fall asleep, a smile on his lips.
Fumio was shocked and scared when she first saw Karin's fully elongated fangs, but only for a moment. She quietly wrapped her son's arms around the slim girl and received a smile in return.
She then readied a rag to clean up with. About a minute later Karin pulled away then fainted, followed shortly by a smiling Kenta. Fumio quickly wiped her son's neck clean of any stray blood drops then Karin's face.
Karin was smiling as well, the older woman noticed as she carefully placed the maroon haired teen's head on her son's shoulder to cover up the marks left by her teeth. She inspected the bedding to find that none of the blood got on them, then turned Kenta's head just a little before stowing the cloth in her purse and quickly unlocking the door.
She had just enough time to get into position and a properly shocked and wondrous expression on her face as Dr. Hoshida and two other doctors burst in.
"Usui-san, we saw on the hall monitor that your son's heart rate suddenly increased and…" Dr. Hoshida trailed off as he took in the sight. Karin was still on top of Kenta, who was passed out with a smile on his face.
"My God, what happened?!" he asked, taking in Kenta's flushed face and the position of the girl. He turned to Fumio who, being a very good actress, was slowly shaking her head.
"I honestly don't know, doctor. I had been turned around to give them a little privacy when I heard both them gasp. When I turned around, I found them like this." Fumio said in a faint voice, hesitantly walking over to her son.
She brushed his bangs away, a happy smile transforming her face. She listened closely as the doctors broke into excited and confused babble. She stayed silent until she heard talk of tests and investigating how this happened.
"No!" Fumio didn't raise her voice much, but her tone was intense as she rounded on the startled men.
"What do you mean Usui-san?" one asked.
"Your talk of tests. Can't you see that what happened was a miracle? You don't question or analyze miracles. You should just be thankful for them and marvel at the power of God and love, for that, obviously, was what brought this about!" Fumio scolded, waving her hand at the sleeping couple.
"V-very well, Usui-san. I guess you're right." Dr. Hoshida agreed reluctantly. They didn't even insist that Karin be moved to a separate bed, only that she be moved from on top of Kenta to beside him.
Once that was done, they left. Fumio looked over at the couple, smiled then settled down into the chair beside the bed to wait. Half an hour later both woke. They spent about a minute fussing over each other, assuring themselves that their significant other didn't suffer from any lasting damage. Then Kenta told Karin what had happened to him.
"Oh God, Kenta! I'm so sorry!" Kenta could see where this was headed and nipped it in the bud. He shook his head despite the dizziness that the action caused. The young man was still suffering from blood loss, but was no longer in danger of losing life or mind.
"No, don't you even dare think about blaming yourself, Karin. It wasn't your fault. Masaru was the one who was obsessed with you and willing to do anything to have his way with you." At that last part Kenta shuddered and held Karin closer, remembering the mental image Masaru's words called up. Karin shivered as well.
"I guess you're right. But I've got to admit, it would have been kind of funny to see him try to carry out his plan and how Papa and Nii-san would react. But that would have happened only if you had actually died…" Karin sniffed and a few tears slipped down her face as she realized just how close she had come to losing Kenta.
"Shh, it's okay. I'm fine now, thanks to you. I'm not leaving you, Karin." With that promise both gradually fell asleep as Fumio called Karin's family to explain things. After that the older woman left quietly for home.
Karin was released from the hospital the next afternoon, though she basically stayed there to be with Kenta. The reverse vampire bit him twice more, being careful to do so after the nurses had checked on him. The doctors were puzzled by his body's apparent ability to produce new blood twice as fast as a normal human, but Fumio made a comment about how Kenta's father was like that too. Dr. Hoshida accepted her explanation reluctantly, since both she and her son refused to let him run any tests on why he was producing blood so quick.
The police came in once to tell Kenta that his six attackers had been arrested and were going to be on trial in two weeks. Kenta agreed to stand trial against them when the time came. However that was in the future; right now he was merely looking forward to leaving the damn hospital.
The food wasn't anything to write home about, and he couldn't cuddle with his little vampire without prying eyes observing the two of them. That and he was bored stupid from just sitting in bed all day.
Two days later Kenta was discharged and Fumio and Karin celebrated by making a fancy dinner for Kenta. When they went back to school, the couple found that they were the topic of all the latest gossip.
Everyone knew what happened to Kenta and wanted to know what it had been like and how he had survived. Kenta just told them that he didn't want to think of what happened, nor did he really know how he survived. He did thank the couple that found him profusely, as did Karin.
Although the worst was over, Karin did keep a fairly close eye on Kenta, though. She wanted to make sure that when the effects of her blood wore off, Kenta wouldn't relapse.
Because she was keeping an eye on him, and keeping in contact with Fumio, who was just as vigilant, Karin noticed the changes happening to her boyfriend. She first observed it a few days before the trial, something odd that happened too frequently to be just coincidence.
Almost every lunch Kenta would end up biting his lip, tongue or cheek at least once. And every so often, he would flush beet red for no real reason and appear to be dizzy as well. She asked him about it, but shrugged it off, saying that he just had a headache and was a little dizzy.
Karin met with Fumio the day after the trial to discuss her observations. Fumio had noticed the same things as well, and she added that his teeth had gotten a bit sharper as well. Karin said that she would keep an eye on him, Fumio nodded and said she would as well.
A couple days later, Karin and Kenta were eating lunch in one of the windowed corners of their classroom when one of their fellow classmates walked over.
"Hey you two lovebirds." Both blushed slightly, though Kenta flushed a deeper red than Karin for some odd reason. Normally it was she that went beet red, and him only pink.
"Konnichi wa, Naoki-kun." Karin said as the couple regained their composure. She hadn't missed how red Kenta's face had been.
Man, why am I so dizzy all the time now? Kenta thought as his face cooled finally. He saw that Karin's blushes had cooled as well and looked at their fellow classmate, wondering what the teen wished to talk to them about.
"What's up, Naoki-kun?" the tall teen asked as the bout of light headedness faded away.
"Oh nothing much. Just a little question me and my friends have for the two of you." Kenta tensed slightly. Naoki-kun was the decent sort, but him and his friends could be rather perverted and childish at time when the topic of girls, sex or couples came up.
"What kind of question?" Karin asked, wariness creeping ever so slightly into her light brown eyes. Naoki-kun leaned closer, beckoning the couple to bend forward towards him. They complied, putting their ears closer to the teen's lips, facing each other.
"We were just wondering how many ways you two have done the dirty." He whispered. Karin and Kenta shot their heads away, both going red in an instant.
"WHAT?!" Karin squeaked as Kenta's mouth worked but no words came out.
"You know, regular, doggie style, s & m—"
"Shut up! We aren't doing anything like that!" Kenta managed to grind out forcefully, cutting the shorter boy's lewd list off. He glared at the youth, who flinched and backed up, as a blinding headache build behind Kenta's eyes.
It felt like all the blood was rushing to his head, as if he were upside down. The headache, which felt more like a sinus ache more than anything, continued to build, making it hard for Kenta to concentrate on anything but the pain, let alone the conversation.
He brought his hands up to apply pressure to his face as he closed his eyes, hoping that it would decrease the pain. As his fingers touched his skin, Kenta discovered that his face was very hot, like he had a fever.
Am I sick? I'm certainly dizzy enough to be having a fever. And how the heck did this migraine come up so quickly? Kenta thought as his world spun around him from far off he thought he heard Karin's worried voice and felt her hands on his arms.
He opened his eyes in time to see his girlfriend's concerned face and see her mouth move like she was speaking, but he couldn't hear anything above the roar of blood in his head. A moment later the room spun, blurred then darkened to black as Kenta dimly felt his knees buckle.
Karin was mortified by what Naoki-kun was saying and she felt her face go beet red. She was grateful when Kenta, who was behind her, shut the obnoxious boy up. She turned to smile thankfully up at her boyfriend… only to frown once she got a look at Kenta's contorted face.
He was glaring heatedly at the youth that was now apologizing hurriedly and retreating away from the couple. No surprise; Kenta's glares tended to have that effect. No what had her frowning was the fact that Kenta's face was redder than hers felt, and that was saying something. That and he looked to be in pain.
The moment her guess was somewhat confirmed as Kenta hung his head and covered his face with his hands, closing his eyes at the same time. It looked like he was sick, or had a major headache. As she watched nervously, the tall teen swayed where he stood.
"Kenta?" when she received no response, Karin tried again, placing her small hands on his wiry muscled arms. "Kenta? Are you alright?" Again she received no verbal response, though Kenta seemed to vaguely register her worried voice. As his eyes opened and looked at her Karin tried again.
"Kenta, what's wrong? Are you si—Kenta!" Karin cut herself off, gasping her boyfriend's name as his eyes looked blankly at her before rolling up into his head as his knees buckled and he collapsed, falling backward.
Karin, who still had her hands on his arms, tightened her grip, trying to keep him from hitting the ground with his head. She started to lose her balance, causing her to shriek, as she struggled to slow the decent of his dead weight.
Her arms felt like they were being wrenched from their sockets as she managed to slow his descent enough that his head only touched the floor, instead of hitting it. With a sigh of relief, Karin let the rest of her unconscious boyfriend's body be lowered to the floor as she sank to the tiled ground as well.
Her teacher and fellow classmates swarmed around her, attracted by the noise she was making and the sight of Kenta's limp body falling to the floor. Ignoring them for a moment, Karin looked at Kenta's face.
He was still flushed and his face was scrunched up in a grimace of pain, his lips slightly parted to show clenched teeth. The teacher then gently pushed her aside to assess the situation. Maki hauled Karin to her feet.
"Karin-chan, what happened?" the green haired girl asked her best friend, who had the beginnings of tears in her eyes. Even Winner, who had his arm slung around his anxious girlfriend, looked worried for the well-being of his former rival.
"I-I'm not sure, he was fine a minute ago until he suddenly went red, swayed like he was dizzy and looked like he had a horrible headache before fainting." The maroon haired girl explained tremulously, as the teacher looked up to better hear her story.
"Well, I'm not quite sure what wrong, but his forehead is very hot and he's flushed. He may have a fever of some sorts." She finally concluded, looking at Karin. "I think the best bet would be for someone to carry him to the nurse's office." She continued.
"I'll do it! Kenta-kun is a good friend of mine." Winner piped up. The blond teen moved forward as various others moved desks and chairs out of the way. Showing good sense, Winner picked Kenta up bridal style in an effort not to make blood rush to the unconscious young man's head.
"May I go as well, sensei?" Karin asked as Kenta's head lolled back, opening the teen's mouth further.
"I suppose so, Maaka-san. Get the notes from Tokitou-san later." Karin nodded and swiftly followed Winner out the door and shut it behind them.
The walk to the nurse's office was quiet and quick. Karin looked down at her boyfriend's face and noticed something odd. His nostrils look unusually dark and Karin had a tentative idea to what might be causing it.
But she didn't do anything until Winner had laid the long teen's body on a cot and went back to the classroom, as Karin said she would fetch the nurse and explain everything. Karin quickly looked around the office and saw that the nurse was gone for the moment.
So she sat beside Kenta's cot to wait for the nurse to reappear. In the meantime, Karin reached forward and managed to wrestle Kenta's torso into a sitting position. Looking at his face she saw with only a little surprise that blood was dribbling slowly down Kenta's face from each nostril.
Thought so. Karin thought as she laid him back down and fetched the tissues. As she blotted the blood and propped Kenta's head up so the red fluid would drain from the teen's airway, Karin frowned in thought.
But why did Kenta get a nosebleed and faint? Isn't that my job? The reverse vampire thought with amusement, then paused as what she just joked about hit her.
"What the heck?" she exclaimed. What if Kenta's turning into a reverse vampire?! Is that even possible? How could it have happened? Questions chased each other through her mind as Karin took a good look at Kenta's now slack face. Noticing his open mouth and remembering how much Kenta had been biting himself lately, the young woman leaned forward.
Using her fingers, Karin pushed his upper lip up and away from his teeth, much like he had done so when he had first discovered that she was a vampire. Sure enough Karin saw that Kenta's eyeteeth were noticeably larger and sharper than they had been a few weeks ago.
They're almost as large as a vampire's! When they aren't about to bite that is. Karin added absently as she examined the two bones from all angles. She then pushed his lip back down to gently cover his teeth again. On an impulse she hid all the bloody used tissues in her pocket and made sure that none of the red fluid remained on his face or clothes.
The nurse then came in and Karin explained what happened, omitting the nosebleed. She didn't want to call attention to it, not before she confirmed or disproved her suspicions. Better to make it look like he had gotten a sudden and vicious headache that caused him to faint.
"Well, from your description, Maaka-san, I believe Usui-kun must have been inflicted with an unusually fast and painful migraine. They do happen occasionally, and have been known to make people faint from the pain and dizziness." The nurse concluded, tapping her chin thoughtfully.
"Ma'am, may I stay with him until he wakes up, please? I've already made arrangements to get the notes I missed in class from my friend." Karin asked, doing her best to act the concerned girlfriend.
"I suppose so. Just don't disturb him. And tell me when he wakes up." The older woman said before heading to her office. Karin sighed in relief and flopped back onto her chair. She then pulled out her cell phone and sent a text to her sister explaining the situation and her suspicions.
'Can you look in the library to see if there're any leads? –love Karin.' Karin finished and pressed send, settling down to wait for Kenta to wake up. She knew that Anju wouldn't get to it until the evening, but Karin was planning to walk Kenta home after she got the notes from Maki, and she wasn't sure when she'd get home.
Kenta groaned under his breath as he came to. His nose felt like someone had punched it squarely, it was throbbing and extremely tender. His head wasn't faring much better, though most of his headache was gone and almost all the dizziness as well.
Opening his eyes, Kenta was relieved to find that the world didn't spin around him when he did so. Turning his head Kenta saw Karin's worried amber brown eyes looking at him.
"Karin." Kenta croaked and cleared his voice. Trying again, Kenta was thankful to hear that his voice returned to normal. "Where am I? What happened?"
"Well, officially the nurse said that you got a sudden migraine and fainted because of it." Kenta saw something his girlfriend's eyes as she spoke.
"And unofficially?" he prompted. But she shook her head.
"Not while we're in the nurse's office. Later." Kenta woke completely upon hearing her response and his brain started racing. It almost immediately stopped on the fact that his collapse had something to do with vampires, since Karin wasn't willing to talk about it where someone could hear.
"Okay. How long was I out?" she told him about two hours or so as the nurse came walking up, attracted by his voice. She was happy that he woke up and Kenta, sensing it was what Karin wanted him to do, agreed with the nurse that it had been a migraine when the woman explained what she suspected happened.
They were eventually let out of the office, by which time school was out. Karin and Kenta both grabbed their bags and tracked down Maki to get the notes and homework. They then both had their shifts at Julian, so Karin quietly explained about the nosebleed, her theory and how she had asked her family to do a bit of research as they walked from the school to Julian.
By the time both were off work, night had fallen. They walked out the back door in their school uniforms again. They had just entered the nature park when Anju suddenly showed herself, making it seem like she teleported. She startled the couple, of course.
"Onii-san has found a passage that he thinks will explain things, Onee-san, Usui-kun. Papa and Mama asked for me to transport the both of you to the mansion." She said in her quiet, monotone voice. The couple nodded.
Kenta called his mom and said that he was going to Karin and he wasn't sure when he'd get back. After he hung up, Kenta braced himself for the curious way of travel Anju provided.
All three were lifted on a 'carpet' of bats and were then 'flown' to Karin's house. They arrived in a few minutes. Anju set them down on the doorstep. They all stepped inside the foreboding house.
Kenta was rather nervous for several reasons: obviously, what was happening to him, but also how Karin's family, mainly Ren and Henry, would treat him this time. The last time he had visited which had been a week after he had been attacked, the two men had taken him aside to talk to him.
Kenta held back a shudder, remembering how the two vampires had guilt-tripped him initially. Ren and Henry were both pissed at how close Kenta had inadvertently had come to breaking Karin's heart.
Kenta had been able to calm them down, or at least get them pissed at Masaru instead of him. So hopefully they would be on at least civil terms with him this evening.
The trio walked into the living room, where all family meetings were held. The other three were sitting in their usual seats, looking up at Kenta with masked expressions. Growing nervous, Kenta sat down next to Karin on the couch, Anju sitting on Karin's other side.
"Well, let's get straight to the point." Carrera said, calling everyone's attention to her. "First off, we need to confirm a few things." Karin and Kenta looked slightly confused and apprehensive.
"Don't worry, you two. We just need to double check a few things in order to know whether or not what we think is happening, is happening." Henry said, waving a hand at Ren.
"Kenta," Ren began, making Kenta tense. Ren never calls me 'Kenta'. Something is definitely up. The teen thought to himself as the vampire in front of him continued. "You've been growing dizzy and flushed at seemingly random, but frequent, moments ever since that night, have you not?"
"Yeah." Kenta said, wondering where this was going.
"Think back, is there any common element in each time it happened?" Ren asked. Kenta tilted his head and closed his eyes in thought.
"Now that I think about it, each time it was almost always around Karin, when she got embarrassed. There were a few times that someone around me got very embarrassed and I felt dizzy and flushed, but normally it only happened when I was with Karin." Speculation gleamed in his unique eyes as he saw Ren nod like he had been expecting that answer.
"Here, read this passage. I translated it into Japanese so you two can read it." Ren said, handing his sister a piece of paper. Kenta murmured a warning before turning on a lamp and then he and Karin bent over the paper to read it.
"Despite the common vampiric knowledge that biting a human does not turn them into a vampire, in the case of a reverse vampire this is not necessarily true. There have been about two or three known cases of humans becoming blood making vampires after being bitten by a reverse vampire.
The conditions for such a transformation are thus: the human victim must have been near death due to blood loss, he/she must possess the type of blood the reverse vampire prefers, and the human must have willingly let the reverse vampire bite him/her. Least to say, this combination doesn't happen very often.
The human must have lost at least half of his/her blood in order for the transformation to occur. Additionally the vampire must inject enough of his/her blood into the human so that half or more of the blood in the victim's system is vampiric.
Over the course of several weeks, the vampiric blood in the human's body will begin to overtake their remaining human blood, and causing the body to produce vampiric blood cells instead of human. When this process has reached the point where roughly two thirds of the human's blood is now vampiric, the soon to be reverse vampire's body will forcibly eject its remaining human blood.
As the human's blood is being converted, his/her canines will grow larger, into the size of dormant vampire fangs. Unfortunately, until all of the remaining human blood in the person's system is gone, the almost vampire will be unable to elongate his/her fangs to inject the blood into someone.
Thus the final transition of human to reverse vampire is rather painful and a little dangerous."
"I didn't bother to translate why the process is painful; I assumed you two would be able to figure that out on your own." Ren said when the couple looked up from their reading. Kenta met Karin's eyes and they said in unison:
"Nosebleed." Kenta groaned slightly and politely turned off the lamp as Karin sighed and flopped back onto the couch, Kenta sitting down next to her.
"Well, at least we know." Karin said, thinking about she unknowingly did. But Kenta after a moment of thought looked up at Ren.
"Ren, when the passage said that the human victim would become a reverse vampire, will they totally become one? Or will there be any remaining human traits?" Kenta asked, hoping the answer was no.
"Not a single one." Ren raised an eyebrow at the younger man. "Why do you ask?" Kenta's answer was accompanied by a huge grin.
"Because that means that I'll now be able to live as long as Karin! She won't have to watch me grow old and die while she remains young." Ren and Karin's parents looked surprised, as if they hadn't thought of this bonus, while Anju remained her normal stoic self. Kenta thought he caught a small smile lurking at the tips of her lips though.
"You're right, Kenta." Ren said slowly then smiled, which startled Kenta and Karin. "How did you think of that though?"
"I remembered that day you talked with me in the parking garage, about how I would only hurt Karin if I stayed with her, for I would age like a human and die, while she wouldn't." Kenta replied, wrapping one arm around Karin's shoulders and hugging her to him. Ren looked genuinely relieved and happy.
Kenta knew that Ren truly loved his sister and wished for her to remain happy. The two young men nodded, a nonverbal acceptance passing between the two.
"That's wonderful, Kenta! But what about his taste in blood?" Karin asked, pointing at her boyfriend.
"Look at the bottom of the page. The explanation's there." Ren replied, pointing to the paper still in Karin's hand. The four vampires in the room shaded their eyes as Kenta turned the lamp back on and joined Karin in reading the passage.
"Due to the role the reverse vampire's blood plays in the transformation of the human, the now reverse vampire's taste in blood will be an emotion or trait that the original reverse vampire feels or displayed often."
"Logical." Kenta said as he once again turned off the lamp. Karin handed the passage back to her brother as the couple settled back into the couch.
"So, what do you plan to do?" Anju asked quietly. She stared at Kenta, who looked up to see everyone staring at him. After a second, Kenta spoke:
"Well, first off, I'm going to tell my mother. I think she'll be glad, I know she was worried about the fact that Karin would live much longer than I would. After that…" Kenta trailed off, looking at Karin, then her family.
"Well, I think we should make a plan as to what to do when the final transition starts." Karin said.
"Even though we don't know the exact time?" Henry asked. Karin nodded.
"Yeah, we can be pretty sure that it's going to be within a few weeks, a month max. That means we'll still be in school. So it'll be either at work, school or someplace we can leave easily." Karin mused.
"I think I've got a plan." Kenta said, as everyone turned to him. He outlined the basic gist of it, and everyone approved. They talked a little longer then Kenta said he was going to go tell his mom. Karin volunteered to go with him.
Fumio was glad, as Kenta predicted. She said that she was happy that her son would be able to be with the one he loved for life now, and that he would outlive her.
Over the course of the next few weeks, Kenta was careful not to get too close to people that were embarrassed and Karin tried to not get embarrassed. They were mostly successful, but Kenta fainted a few more times and had minor nosebleeds about half a dozen times. A couple of the guys from their class tried to make fun of him, calling him a fainting maiden and nosebleed man, but all but one were quickly silenced by Kenta's icy glare.
The one that didn't, Kenta challenged him to a fencing duel. Kenta won, but the youth was a sore loser and punched Kenta in the face, making Karin, who had come to support Kenta, gasp and start to rush over.
Kenta held up a hand to stop her however, and grabbed the foolish teen. He glared at him then swiftly knocked the wind out of the taller boy and broke his nose. Kenta left him there bleeding, telling him to next time not be such a poor loser. After that, nobody openly made fun of Kenta again.
Other than that one episode, things were fairly quiet until a little under a month after Kenta's initial fainting had passed.
"Okay, everyone please open your textbooks to chapter 8, section 5." The biology teachers said. As Kenta turned to the page, he felt him stomach drop into his shoes with dread. They had been going over human anatomy and yesterday they had finished the internal organs. But section 5 was on the human reproductive system.
Already he could sense embarrassment radiating from the people nearest to him. Glancing to his left and trying to ignore the slowly rising pressure of his blood, Kenta was unsurprised to see his girlfriend blushing.
Thankfully, most the class' embarrassment faded after a few minutes. But when they turned the page and their teacher started to go into an in-depth explanation of the male reproductive organs, Kenta felt Karin's aura of embarrassment suddenly increase exponentially.
Kenta slowly doubled over in his seat, his hands cupping his nose, futilely trying to disperse the extremely painful pressure of his blood as it rushed to his still not-quite-fully-developed fangs. The tall youth tried not to groan in pain as his eyes watered and his head pounded.
Kuso, this pain is worse than any of the others by a long shot. I think this may be the final transition. Kenta thought fuzzily, his heartbeat racing and his chest heaving with the exertion of having to hold back a nosebleed.
Karin was sure her face was beet red by the heat radiating off of it and she tried take notes and not think about what she was writing down. It didn't help much. She refused to look at the pictures in her textbook or on the overhead, instead keeping her eyes trained on her notebook.
She was so intent upon studying the line in her notebook that she almost missed the movement out of the corner of her right eye. She turned her head slowly as to not attract the teacher's attention and was barely able to restrain her gasp.
Kenta was hunched over his desk with both hands covering his nose. His face was flushed and twisted in acute pain.
Oh no, my embarrassment must be overloading his system! He looks dangerously close to a nosebleed. I need to get him out of here, quickly. Karin thought as she shoved her stuff in her bag in under five seconds. Standing up abruptly, she cleared her throat as the teacher looked up in annoyance.
"Sensei, Usui-kun is ill. May I take him down to the nurse's office?" Karin said in a rush, gesturing to her right. The teacher looked worried when he caught sight of Kenta's face.
"You may Maaka-san." He said and Karin wasted no time in gathering up Kenta's stuff into his bag, slinging both onto her shoulders and helping Kenta up from his seat. Throughout this Kenta kept his eyes tightly shut and his hands on his nose.
Karin started guiding her boyfriend out of the classroom as quickly as possible, trying to dispel her embarrassment. She saw that Kenta had finally opened his watering eyes to see where he was going and he had slung one arm around her shoulders for balance. As Karin shut the classroom door behind them and started down the hall, she heard Kenta muffled, pain filled voice.
"T-thanks, Karin." He looked down at her and she tried to smile, but her worried frown won.
"How bad is it?" she asked quickly as she headed not to the nurse's office, but to the exit.
"I think it's the final stage." At Kenta's words, Karin looked up at him in alarm, then she remembered their plan and nodded.
"Okay, I'll get us to someplace safe. Just hang on okay?" Kenta nodded minutely as Karin sped up, stumbling slightly alongside her. A few minutes later they snuck off the school grounds and into the nature park where Kenta had been attacked.
A week earlier, Karin and Kenta had scouted out several secluded locations in the park where a puddle of dried blood would be unnoticed. Karin headed to the nearest one as Kenta groaned.
"It's definitely the last stage, Karin." He said from behind his hand. "The pressure keeps building even though I can't sense your embarrassment at all." Karin glance briefly up to meet his unique gaze.
"We're almost there, love. Just hold on for a few more seconds." Kenta nodded tightly. Karin finally spotted the large clump of tall thick bushes that was their destination. Pushing through the branches Karin dumped their bags just inside the miniature clearing and guided Kenta to roughly the center of it.
"I'm sorry you have to go through all this pain, Kenta." Karin whispered, looking up at his screwed up face. He opened his eyes once more and finally dropped his hand from his nose.
"It's alright, Karin. Just concentrate on your embarrassment like we planned so I can get this ordeal over with." He gasped as tears of pain leaked from his eyes. Karin nodded and stepped to the side of her boyfriend hunched and rigid form.
She recalled the images the teacher had been showing, and concentrated on it. She then called up every embarrassing moment in her life that she could remember to heighten those emotions to trigger Kenta's final transition.
Kenta felt Karin's aura abruptly spring back into existence, more intense than he had ever sensed before. A microsecond later, the pressure of his blood increasing skyrocketed and he yelled in pain, sinking to his knees and clasping his hands over his nose.
Blood flooded from each nostril to cover his hands and spill down his front. Realizing that he would choke on the blood if he kept his hands up, Kenta fell forward onto his hands and knees and allowed the blood to fall in two crimson streams to the now blood-soaked ground.
His head spun and his vision blurred as blood continued to painfully flow from his nose. He felt his arms and legs give way and dimly he felt Karin grab his shoulders to prevent him from falling to the ground and drowning in his own blood.
Karin sobbed as she held her boyfriend's shoulders up as the feeling of helplessness and guilt overwhelmed her. After about a minute, the blood started to slow, finally stopping a few seconds later.
Kenta groaned as the blood stopped and the world started to fade before his eyes. Then he felt small hands wrestling him upright and the concerned voice of his girlfriend telling him to remember the plan and concentrate on his unhappiness. He nodded wearily and obeyed her, focusing on his misery.
Karin felt his aura of unhappiness slowly strengthen then peak. She felt her fangs lengthen as she gently angled his head up and bit into the soft flesh of Kenta's neck. She felt her blood flow into his body. When she felt her head start to spin, Karin pulled her fangs out and took a moment to recover leaning her head against a blood free spot on Kenta's shoulder.
Kenta felt Karin's blood rush though his system, bringing peace and energy with it. After a minute he felt well enough to raise his head and survey the damage. No blood had gotten on their bags but both his and Karin's uniforms were soaked down the front. He saw Karin raise her head and look at her uniform and heard her sigh.
"These are going to be fun to clean." She said wryly as they helped each other to their feet. Kenta nodded in agreement as he grabbed their bags. Karin checked to make sure the coast was clear. She nodded to Kenta and they stumbled out onto the path.
"My place is closer. Let's go there. My mom has today off." Kenta's voice was tired and slurred, but Karin understood him fine. She nodded and hummed in agreement. Together they slowly made their way to Kenta's house.
Halfway there Kenta thought to use his cell phone to call his mother. She was both happy and worried sick when she heard what happened. She told Kenta that she would meet them just inside the park with some blankets to cover them.
Once all three were inside, Fumio took over, ordering both to lay down on the two futons she had hastily set up for them. They obeyed after stripping off their blood soaked uniforms. Both were too exhausted to care overly much about their lack of dress.
Fumio set about cleaning their uniforms while the now vampire couple slept. They slept the rest of the day and night, so Fumio called Karin's parents to inform them as to what had happened.
She got a hold of Ren, who was actually home for once. He told Fumio that he would come and pick up his sister. When he arrived, Fumio was surprised to see the arrogant and cool vampire actually smiling. She had turned off most of the lights for his comfort and he even thanked her for her consideration as he picked up his slumbering sister and left.
It took a remarkably small amount of time for Kenta to adjust to being a reverse vampire. The only thing that was shocking to him was the sensation of his fangs lengthening and injecting blood into someone else.
That someone else was almost always Karin. And she would simultaneously bite him so neither suffered any blood loss. They got so good at it that they could do it during lunch in a private corner and if someone happened to spot them, it looked like they were only kissing each other's necks.
To be continued…
Bea here: okay this story has been 'done' since about mid-June/ early July. But Iggy, my muse and beta, has finally finished going over it and has declared to me that the ending is a disgrace to my talents. So the end will become the epilogue, maybe several. And this first part the first chapter.
Preview of what's ahead: graduating high school and Kenta's proposal ^.^, college life (lemons ahoy), their wedding (at night of course), honey moon and the happily ever after. So let's see most of those will be individual chapters, since the time gape is too large to include them in the same chapie, so that's about five more short chapters, more snippets than anything else.
In other news, I'm starting another year of college the 19th of this month (September) and I'll be 19 on the 18th! Scary huh?
Well, as far as upcoming stories from me… I do have a few plot skeletons rattling around for Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne (I've started writing one of them), one for Treasure Planet and of course my barely started Legend of Zelda OoT fic.
Oh and I reread my story 'Taking Charge' and found it an eyesore. So I'm rewriting that one with Iggy's help. ^.^ first few chapies are up on that one.
No promises on when any of those will be complete and or posted.
Can't think of anything else, so until next time…
Ja ne!