Disclaimer: No own. Never owned. Go away.

Author's Note: Okay, yes, this is a vampire AU fic. Yes, I HATE these types of fics because characters are usually so OOC it sickens me. However, these are so popular I decided to try my hand at it and see what all the fuss is. I tried very, very hard to keep everyone true to their nature, while still evolving them just enough to fit into a modified world. In other words, my Kaiba is still Kaiba, but he's just a little bit more. At least, that was my goal, since I didn't want to fall into the trap of having an original fic with Yugioh character names thrown in. So, please, review, critique, tell me what you like or don't like.

The night was unusually cold for September, causing Shizuka to huddle into her thin sleeveless shirt and think fondly of hot cocoa with marshmallows. Her step was brisk, and not only because of the weather; if her brother found out she was walking by herself so late at night, he would blow his gasket.

A completely understandable reaction, of course, but Shizuka would still prefer to avoid the inevitable lecture if she could. Besides, it wasn't her fault the last bus stopping at the library had been cancelled without any notification. She had a rather tiresome biology exam coming up in less than a week and she was spending almost every evening pouring over books and studying as hard as she could. With any luck, she'd get a good enough score to pull up her overall grade. She definitely needed it, considering she was on the brink of being placed on academic probation.

Jounouchi certainly hadn't been pleased to hear that. He'd ranted and raged like she'd never seen, accusing her of horrendous things. He'd apologized later, of course, but hearing that she never would have started getting bad grades if their parents were still alive had hurt worse than she allowed him to see. He often said such things when he lost his temper, which was becoming more and more often lately. The stress was getting to him.

It was getting to almost everybody. Shizuka could remember, just before her big brother had graduated high school, how all of his friends had used to go out almost every night, sometimes inviting her along as well. They'd laughed and joked around and picked on one another as if they'd be friends forever. Now, they rarely spoke outside of the occasional get-together, the infrequent phone calls and e-mails. Everything had changed.

She shivered, briskly rubbing her arms, and forced her mind away from such thoughts. She did not want to reflect about the darkness that had descended over Domino City and taken away her parents. They had finally begun to reconcile and repair their marriage, attending weekly therapy and her father going to classes to help cope with his alcohol problem. Then, on the night of their anniversary, the first they'd spent out together in years…

Tears burned in her eyes and she shied away from that train of thought as well. Shizuka found herself doing that more often than not lately. There was much she did not wish to think about, such as the burden she'd become to her brother after their parents were gone, with the rebellion she'd thrown initially and then the sickness that was steadily stealing her eyesight. Jounouchi was, despite his sister's protests, working three jobs in an attempt not only to ensure they kept a roof over their heads and food on the table, but to save up for the expensive surgery that was apparently the only way she would ever be cured. She insisted it wasn't necessary, that she would adapt, but her brother was stubborn. He was convinced he could single-handedly take care of anything and everything, and he didn't want his little sister worrying.

Thus, she hadn't even told him she'd picked up a part-time job on the side. After she'd received permission from her school – forging her brother's signature to get it – she'd immediately rushed out and gotten a less-than-glamorous job bussing tables at a local diner. It didn't bring in much, but it helped. It'd caused her grades to fall, between that and her general disinterest in academic studies, but her brother had sacrificed his college education in order to support them; could she do no less?

A nearby stray began barking wildly. Startled, the redhead flinched and looked over her shoulder, fully expecting to see slavering fangs and a furry muzzle headed straight for her face. She tensed, ready to leap away.

Emptiness greeted her. While it was better than the alternative, Shizuka didn't like being reminded of how alone she was on the streets. Not even the lamps were working properly; lights flickered intermittently as if on some sort of timer. It made her quicken her pace, nearly jogging to the nearest intersection and crossing the road.

She'd just turned down a side street when a cold hand closed on her upper arm. Reacting purely on instinct, Shizuka shrieked and lashed out, her hand connecting but feeling as if she'd just struck a brick wall, clearly hurting her far more than her assailant. Struggling, she was dragged into an alleyway and pressed to the wall firmly. Expecting the worst, the girl closed her eyes, tensing.

When nothing happened, she slowly opened first one eye, then the other, staring up in surprise.

"Kaiba-san?" She barely recognized him save for the telltale deep blue eyes and the cinnamon hair. He was paler than the boy she remembered from the tournament, even though he'd had the pasty complexion of a computer nerd who rarely went outside anyway and, if possible, thinner, almost on the verge of emaciated.

He was also ice cold. Had this been a normal meeting, she'd have thought some glib joke about how it matched his personality, but it would have been uncharacteristically mean of her. After all, she'd barely spoken to him during the tournament, and afterwards just as rarely. He'd tolerated her the way he'd tolerated all of his little brother's friends, but when Mokuba disappeared, so had the CEO, becoming more of a recluse than normal. He barely left Kaiba Corp., and only then to return to his desolate mansion. He'd fired almost all of his servants and rumor had it he did all the cleaning himself.

Shizuka hardly believed that.

Still, this was the first she'd glimpsed of him in what had to be years. Why was he out so late at night? And why didn't he answer her? He simply continued staring at her, his expression unreadable.

Shizuka squirmed slightly. "You're hurting me," she said earnestly, hoping he would let go.

Kaiba grunted.

The silence stretched for a few more minutes before he spoke.

"You shouldn't be out by yourself." It wasn't an admonition, and there was barely any interest in his tone of voice; it was simply a statement of the obvious. His voice still held that quiet confidence and surety that she remembered, and it was pleasant to find something familiar.

"I know," she murmured, relaxing in his grip. Kaiba was many things, but he wasn't a rapist. "The last bus was cancelled, and I missed the one before it cause I didn't know." He probably didn't care, but she felt the need to offer up some form of explanation.

"Don't you know the things wandering around out here?" He glanced off to the side as if to cement his words in her mind, making her begin to panic again. "Such terrible things, lurking, waiting for little girls like you to wander into their clutches." Kaiba found her eyes again and held them, gaze piercing.

If Shizuka didn't know better, she'd think he was talking about himself.

"I live not far from here." She was growing defensive, at once not appreciating his words and feeling a thrill that he cared enough to even speak with her. Despite having more or less vanished from public view, he was still adored by most of the female population, and Shizuka was no exception. He was a decidedly pretty creature despite his sickly pallor.

"Bad things often happen close to home."

His words made her want to look towards the street again but try as she might, she couldn't tear her gaze away. She began noticing minute changes in his eyes, watching as they dilated, the black nearly overwhelming the brilliant color. She could feel him tighten his grip on her, fingers bruising her skin, and then he smiled.

Normally, a rare smile from Seto Kaiba would have set her heart on fire. Now, when she saw the two fangs protruding, she understood why he looked and felt so different. He, too, had fallen, but harder than her parents.

At least they hadn't survived the attacks.

"Oh god." Her voice was choked. "You…"

His smile widened a fraction. "Boo."

Now, Seto Kaiba had never been known for his sense of humor, but somehow, he got an immense amount of glee over saying that one word. He went so far as to throw back his head and laugh, exposing his throat and the two pale red marks that marred it.

Panic wrapped around Shizuka's mind, leaving her almost pleasantly numb.

"I remember you," he said finally, tracing her cheek with one slender finger. His touch left a trail of ice on her skin that burned almost painfully, and she fully expected there to be a welt rising within minutes. "You're related to that mutt."

Nothing could cut through fear like an insult to her family. "He's not a mutt," she flared, her eyes narrowing slightly. Luckily for her, Kaiba only laughed again rather than reacting more violently.

"Is he just as much of a failure as I recall?" he teased, and Shizuka found herself at a loss for what to say. He seemed to realize he was overwhelming her and shook his head, bangs falling over his eyes. "Don't worry. If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have bothered letting you know I was there."

Well, wasn't that comforting.

"I wouldn't sully my body with blood as inferior as yours."

That sounded more like him. However, Shizuka wasn't about to argue. After all, what would she say? Of course my blood is good enough for you, you twit. Go ahead, bite me. That would be a decidedly bad idea.

"You're hurting me," she repeated instead and, to her surprise, he loosened his grip.

"You're just like I remember," Kaiba said, his voice turning softer. He shifted moods and topics as quickly as Mai; Shizuka idly wondered what had happened to the woman. "Weak, frightened, timid…respectful…" His eyes trailed lower, following the cut of her shirt, trailing over her curves in a way that Seto Kaiba never would have done.

It was rumored, after all, that he possessed no sex drive whatsoever. Unless, of course, it came to Duel Monsters cards.

Despite knowing who – what – he was, his gaze made her shiver pleasantly, and she became overly aware of her clothing, her hair, her skin, everything about her. It was almost as if he could see straight through everything, right into her, and…

"You've grown. I sometimes forget how the years pass."

Shizuka deemed it best to remain silent. His kind was notoriously volatile and the last thing she wanted to do was piss him off. He appeared to be in a friendly mood, and the longer she could maintain that, the better.

Suddenly, giving no warning, he pushed away from her, leaving her huddled against the wall, shaking. Movements preternaturally graceful, he reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a card, white enough to be the brightest thing there, catching the scant light and almost glowing. He offered it to her and, after a moment, she took it.

It was a business card with his name on it, but it wasn't for his corporation. She didn't recognize the name of the place, or the address, but then, she didn't go exploring around Domino City as much as she used to. Much of the layout had changed, buildings being burned or abandoned, others haphazardly thrown up, and it was simply much safer to keep to a familiar route.

"What…?"

"You should come by sometime. I think I would find your company there…agreeable." He managed to make the invitation both menacing and seductive, and he chuckled again, his hand briefly clasping a small locket hanging around his neck. Shizuka recognized it but wasn't sure what it held. "Show that card and you should have no trouble getting in."

Then, as swiftly as he'd captured her, he was gone.

Shizuka remained where she was for several minutes, almost afraid to move, as if even twitching would cause him to reappear in a less congenial mood. She had no desire to die the way her parents had died, and even less to become what he was.

Finally, numb from the cold and from his lingering touch, she ran the rest of the way home.

Kaiba's return to the mansion was punctuated only by the sound of the door slamming shut behind him. He gave no heed to the noise as he kicked off his shoes and moved about in almost total darkness, heading upstairs. Despite popular speculation, his mansion was spotless, not a speck of dust to be found in any corner; his cleaning crew were good, and discrete, partially because of how well he paid, and partially out of fear of what he would do if they failed.

The power he had was not much different from what he'd wielded before. He was used to people fearing rather than respecting him; in fact, he'd done everything he could to cultivate it even before the Egyptian had cornered him in his own bedroom.

He still hadn't repaid Malik for what he'd done. The bastard had turned him and left, not so much as guiding him through the first days, leaving the CEO to flounder and regain his footing fast enough to avoid being eliminated. Weakness was not tolerated; at least that he understood. Everything else…

It had been rough, growing acclimated, but he was a survivor. And in a way, it couldn't have come at a better time. After Mokuba had disappeared, Kaiba had lost almost all will to live, absolutely certain that if his resources could not locate the boy, then he was no longer alive to be found. The boy was everything to him, and losing him had been a blow he could not weather. He'd wanted to die, and Malik had fulfilled his wish, though not in the way Kaiba had wanted.

That had been the start of the fall of the city, the very beginning of the infestation that had taken over. The pragmatist in Kaiba insisted that it was better to join the winning team than to fall to them, and indeed he had powers he hadn't even dreamed of before. He was stronger, and he used that strength to pummel every other gaming company into submission. But such victories were like ash in his mouth.

Even with his new power and influence, he couldn't find his little brother. If Mokuba was indeed dead…

Kaiba's fists clenched. They would rue the day they ever decided to touch the boy.

Tugging his tie off as he entered his bedchamber, his eyes flickered disinterestedly at the half-naked girls awaiting his pleasure. His appetites were legendary. They fairly reeked of fear, just as that redhead had, yet they failed to stir his blood. Unlike that girl…

With a flick of his hand, he dismissed the lambs. Pressing together, they hurried out, and he pushed them from his mind. Why could he not stop thinking about that girl?

Shizuka, his thoughts provided in a purr. That was her name. What was it about her that had nearly caused him to lose control? He'd barely paid her any heed even when she became close to Mokuba, so why now? Was it her familiarity?

That couldn't be it, else he'd have cared even a fraction when he'd heard whispers of the feisty blonde destroying vampires in America. There was no doubt in his mind who that was and she, certainly, was far more familiar and memorable than Shizuka.

"You should eat."

Kaiba paused in unbuttoning his shirt and turned, watching as Isono – loyal even now – pushed a squirming brunette at him. Despite her trembling, her dark eyes flashed a challenge. They often thought that perhaps they would be the ones to break him, that they were pretty and special enough to turn him away from his blood lust and change the very fabric of his being.

Just try it, her eyes boasted. A fighter; he liked them best. It was always so dull when they were so meek and frightened that they barely tried to get away, and their antics in attempting to seduce him – whether sexually or emotionally – were always entertaining.

"You've had nothing all week. You must keep your strength up."

Kaiba frowned briefly before nodding, turning away as if it didn't matter. Despite what he'd told Shizuka, blood was blood; it didn't matter to him where it came from. But if they fought…it tasted that much sweeter.

But it wasn't the nameless girl's tan face in his mind as he fed.

Shizuka was timid as she unlocked the door to the tiny apartment she and her brother shared, eyes running over the threadbare carpets and rundown walls and peeling paint without really seeing them. Not once did she voice a complaint about their living conditions; Jounouchi was doing the best he could.

Still, she missed living in a house, running along the hallways and up and down the stairs, laughing. Laughing; she missed that most of all. It had been difficult to adjust when her parents had died, stuffing personal belongings into cramped spaces and crying whenever she held something of her mother's. Selling things had been even harder, objects that had carried so many memories. But they'd had no choice.

Shaking her head, she pushed the door open slowly, trying to be as quiet as possible. The door, however, needed repair, and thus it protested quite loudly. The superintendent was supposed to have fixed it that morning.

She could already hear Jounouchi's reaction. "At least no one'll be able to break in without waking the whole floor."

As if they had anything worth stealing in the first place. Anything of value had already been pawned off, save for a few items too precious to part with. While they were only material possessions and, in a sense, useless, Shizuka felt they contained the lingering essence of their parents and insisted on keeping them safe. One object, a plain gold pinky ring her mother had worn since Shizuka could remember, never left her finger.

Easing the door shut, Shizuka took a deep breath, waiting.

Silence. Perhaps her brother was asleep, or still out?

A quick glance at the clock showed the hand just past ten. Considering it was Friday, he might still be out, or staying with a friend…

Toeing off her shoes and stepping into her slippers, Shizuka silently padded into the kitchen, seeking a note. Instead, she found her brother hunched over at the kitchen table, pouring over a set of papers, a mug of steaming coffee in his right hand.

"Where were you?" His eyes never left the papers, but Shizuka could see his grip tighten on the mug.

She didn't have to lie. "The library. I told you, I have an exam…"

"Do you realize what time it is?"

"Yes…"

"You were supposed to be home…"

"Onii-chan." Shizuka crossed over to the table, resting a hand on his shoulder. He finally looked up at her, and she gave a start at the tired, worried look in his eyes. "They cancelled the bus. I had no choice but to walk home."

He relaxed, but only a fraction. "You could have called me…"

"I thought you'd be mad."

"I would have been, but I'd still have come and gotten you." He stood suddenly, knocking the chair to the floor and leaving the mug on the table. Then he wrapped his strong arms around her and pulled her into a gruff hug. Burying his face in her hair, he mumbled, "I was worried, Shizuka. Don't do that ever again."

Well, this was far better than a lecture. "I'm sorry…"

"If anything ever happened to you…" Jounouchi inhaled sharply and hugged her fiercely, as if he was never willing to let her go. Then his voice turned slightly harsh. "You know how much I worry. Did you do this on purpose?"

Shizuka squirmed a little. "No…" He was in one of those moods again. She'd been deceived by the hug. "I'm sorry, onii-chan, please…"

"Are you sure you weren't out with a boy."

She felt stunned. "What? What are you talking about?"

He pulled away and stared down at her, his walls already formed once more. She could read nothing in his expression. "Someone left you a little gift on our doorstep."

He pointed, and Shizuka's gaze followed to the kitchen counter, where a massive, clearly expensive bouquet of flowers were sitting in a crystal vase. There was no note attached, nothing to indicate who it was from.

She shook her head slowly. "I don't…"

"Don't lie to me, Shizuka." His hands gripped her upper arms now, hard and painful. "Who sent those?"

"I don't know!"

Her cry seemed to break through, and he let go, his eyes pained. "I'm sorry. I don't…know what…" He took a step back and sighed, his shoulders slumping. He looked defeated. "I didn't mean to yell."

Shizuka understood; she always did. Still, she felt just as disturbed about those flowers as her brother was concerned. Who had sent them? She didn't know anyone with that kind of money, and as far as she knew, she had no admirers at school.

"It's all right. I'm going to bed now."

He leaned down and kissed her cheek, warm and affectionate again. This was the Jounouchi she knew and loved; she wished he stayed around longer.

"I'll be here," he promised, as he did every night. He never left her alone.

She reached up and touched his cheek, mirroring the one he'd kissed. "I know," she murmured. "I love you."

"Love you too."