Hey guys, hope you had a wonderful set of holidays. Since I've been stuck on both magnet and Database Horizon (damn you Writer's Block), I decided to kick off this last story for you all. If you want me to, I can publish the essay about the exposition, species background, and other things that will explain certain things that the story might not for you. I'll place it on my Fictionpress account if it's requested.
But guys! Do not, and I mean DO NOT, use my vampires/werewolves in your own story. I worked very hard to develop them and I will not let you use their concept whatsoever.
On another note, the rating is subject to change. Due to certain events, I might raise it to M, but again, nothing too graphic unless you really want it.
Enjoy, and don't forget to review! Have a happy 2015!
"Nii-san!" Haruto's voice echoed through the halls of the manor. A blonde head poked out from a door in one of the hallways, the teen raising an eyebrow as he tried to find his younger brother running through the mansion. With how the mansion was built, it was a bit difficult, but Kaito managed to figure out a radius in which Haruto was, and the blonde exited the study to search for the boy. He encountered Haruto by the bedrooms in the hall of statues on the third floor.
The little boy was frowning, massaging his cheeks every now and then as he looked up at Kaito. The prince leaned down and took Haruto into his arms. "What's the matter?" The blonde inquired, brushing aside some of the younger's blue hair.
"My teeth really hurt," Haruto murmured, resting his head on Kaito's shoulder. "I can't sleep with the pain, nii-san."
Kaito rubbed Haruto's back gently. With the boy being at this age, he would begin experience problems such as this. The blonde frowned slightly, thinking over the fact that his baby brother was finally getting his fangs. The kid was growing up fast, and that was saying something considering the slow process of aging for vampires. "Haruto," Kaito began tiredly, wondering if his younger brother had even payed attention to the lessons their family tutor gave him once a week, "Your instincts are starting to awaken."
"Really?" Haruto questioned, sounding dejected at the thought. It was true; pureblood vampires didn't start desiring blood until their sixth year of life—which, for someone of the Tenjos' status, took thirty of Earth's revolutions to get to. "Nii-san..."
"I'll eventually teach you how to use your fangs, so don't fret too much over it." Kaito turned, looking at the window that was towards the end of the hall. "Hey, look. It's snowing."
Haruto shifted, lifting his head to gaze at the flakes that were slowly making their way down from the gray clouds above. Since the ice age had ended some nine thousand years ago, the planet's climate was now permanently cold, stuck at negative one degrees Celsius even after all the time that had passed. It was common for snow to be around, especially in the last month of the 'summer', when the temperatures lowered in preparation for winter. The little boy frowned, his upper jaw aching to the point where it felt like his bone was going to fracture; the thought of the snow made the pain worse.
"Nii-san, tell me a bedtime story." Haruto pressed his face into Kaito's neck, unhappy but wanting to hear about what his older brother had in that imagination of his. The elder brother sighed, but patted his younger brother's head and took the boy downstairs, to the second floor.
Haruto's room was large, but not nearly as large as the one he would get once he reached Kaito's age (which would be the approximate time that Kaito would take over the Tenjo estate, or at least, that's what Haruto figured). The blonde set his brother down in the king-sized bed, pulling the covers of the boy. Once Haruto was settled, the elder Tenjo brother climbed on top of the bed, lying next to the blue-haired kid.
"What do you want me to tell you this time around?" Kaito inquired. Haruto remained silent, playing with one of his stuffed animals lying all around the mattress.
"Um... how about the time you forced Ryouga to learn how to tree-hop?" the little boy asked. His golden eyes glowed in the thick blanket of darkness in the room.
Kaito smirked. "Really? That one?"
"Yep. Ryouga tells me all about how mean you were to him."
"Hey! I wasn't that mean."
"We'll see."
The blonde sighed heavily. "Okay, fine, I'll tell you. You were just a baby at the time..."
I sighed, glaring at Yuma and Ryouga as the two climbed up the pine tree towards me. Sure, they were younger, but biologically speaking we were the same age; that gave them no right not to know how to get up a tree slower than pureblood of their maturity. Yuma nearly fell down again, the fortieth time at least in the last ten minutes. Ryouga took a few moments, but soon he was on the limb beside me, wobbling precariously in his leather boots and staring at the ground many meters below.
"Are you sure about this, Kaito?" were the first words out of the blue-eyed vampire staring at me as he continued his fight for balance. "My tree-hopping skills aren't very good and you know that."
"Oh shut up," I muttered, rolling my eyes. "You're worse than a werewolf in the trees. And just about as cowardly as they are."
That offended him, and instantly he bared his fangs at me. I hissed back, and due to my status he backed down almost as fast as he had threatened me. I smirked, allowing my fangs to return to normal before looking for Yuma. He was on the limb below Ryouga and I, clinging to the tree's trunk like it was his last lifeline.
"Oi, Yuma!" I called, holding out a hand. "Don't be a girl and get up here."
He grabbed my arm, nearly yanking me off the tree limb, but I resisted and hoisted him up, almost knocking Ryouga into the air with Yuma. The youngest out of us three sighed heavily, dropping his head. A laugh caught in my throat; I wasn't going to laugh in front of these imbeciles that had decided to become my 'friends'. I stood, jumping over Yuma elegantly (can't exactly help my abilities) and going to where Ryouga clung, his eyes estimating how much distance we had to travel to get to the next stable pine branch.
"How far do you think?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer.
He sat up, clutching the snowy branch he was straddling. "I think about thirty meters, I'm not sure."
"Eh, easy." Without much effort, I launched myself forward, feeling the twin scars on my back split open and spill out a good amount of my blood to take on the shape of my wings. I glided quite easily through the cold night air before landing on a branch in the tree Ryouga had inspected. My two idiot friends looked at me, dumbfounded; it wasn't the first time they had seen my ability, since I had learned it during the summer, but no doubt it was a wonderful sight to see. I flapped the wings slightly, the blood making them solid rippling in the breeze.
"Well? C'mon." I walked along the thick limb, allowing a small landing pad for the other two. For nearly three minutes I waited, and as I considered flying back to go and get them, Ryouga came crashing through the pine needles, sending pine cones scattering as he tried to control his gliding ability. He face-planted the trunk, falling to the branch below and moaning while holding his head. I rolled my eyes; his wings were, like mine, made of his own blood, but they were much smaller and had little in the way of lifting ability.
"For Christ's sakes Kaito," the fish-head began complaining, dusting snow off of his jacket and sending a glare up at me. "Why did you think this was a good idea?"
"You two are supposed to be my bodyguards in the future," I stated, leaning back against the tree. "I want to see how capable you are, and so far, it isn't good."
"You know what, go f—"
Yuma's yelling cut him off, and the young vampire came towards the tree, having taken off too early. The wind caught him at a bad angle and he flew sideways into the trunk, snapping something and falling through the branches until he stopped in a cluster of twigs and limbs knotted together. He groaned, flipping onto his back and gazing up at Ryouga and I. He smiled, as if he didn't just crash into the tree and had made a complete fool of himself.
"You know, that was fun," Yuma said, sitting up and popping one of his vertebrae back into place; I heard the crack clear as day. "Let's do that some more."
I sighed, and Ryouga groaned in exasperation. "Can we please not do that again?" Ryouga pleaded. That statement of his made me smirk triumphantly, and before he could say any more, I dropped down to his branch and kicked him off of it. He screamed like a little girl before using his wings to stabilize himself. However, he rammed into yet another tree and this time plummeted to the ground. A plume of snow exploded into the air as he came down; Yuma laughed like a kid and fell off the nest he had landed in, plopping into the snow right beside Ryouga.
I brought my hand to my face, but let a small chuckle pass from my mouth before gliding down to my friends. Yuma was rolling around in the snow, his wings making red stains in the white powder. Ryouga was just laying there, his body having made an imprint in the snow where he lay. His wings were nowhere in sight; the blood being used to create them must have run out and returned into his body. I rolled my eyes and the two, disintegrating my own set of flappers and crouching to poke Ryouga's thigh.
"Oi, wake up." I poked him until I drew blood, which he squawked at (that's literally what he sounded like) and scrambled up to toss snow in my face. I dodged, directing the attack at Yuma, who ended up getting a load of snow on black leather pants. Yuma stuck out a hand and launched some snow at Ryouga, who then tossed a load at me. I jumped out of the way from the impending fight, watching as the banter between the two grew heated.
Soon snow was flying left and right, and I managed to avoid a majority of it without my wings. I got hit a couple of times, but none to my, and I quote every female out there, 'beautiful, perfect face'. After a good half hour or so of using trees as shields and tossing projectiles at each other, we plopped on the frosty ground and looked at each other.
Then laughter came boiling from us, which surprised my friends since this was the first time I'd ever laughed in front of them. But it was fun, being with these two, even though deep down, we all knew I would outlive them both.
Haruto was out by the time Kaito had gotten to the end of his story. The blonde pressed his lips to his brother's forehead and left the room, quietly shutting the door. He backed away, staring at where he had just come from, considering his options. The blonde didn't want to accept the fact that his little brother, the child he had practically raised on his own, was becoming a true vampire. Kaito wished Haruto would stay the same forever without having to deal with maturing into a full pureblood. Eternal life without the problems of growing up was better than what the little boy would be going through in his next few years.
"Kaito," a sweet voice called from down the hall. The blonde looked up, gazing over his shoulder to see his mother coming towards him, her long blue hair having been tied up into a tight bun, her dress dragging behind her. She looked serene, yet her eldest son could feel the power rolling off of her. Any regular vampire would bow before her just at the mere sight of her this way; purebloods, however, just gazed upon her as another one of themselves. Her abilities, though, were not rivaled at all within the small circle of pure lines.
"Mother, you're looking better today," Kaito said, turning to face her with a small smile. She was taller than him by a fair amount, but she was still small for their species.
"Indeed I am," she replied. "The treatments are working, for now, so I've been able to get out and about." A laugh came from her and she hid her mouth behind her hand. "Doctors won't be too happy about it, though."
The blonde sighed. "Oh, mom." Exasperated, he hugged her tightly, laughing with her because her humor was contagious. Her arms came around him, one of her hands patting his unusual hair. Mother and son stayed like that for a few minutes, enjoying the temporary contact they had before she was yanked away for business or treatment again.
"Anyway, Kaito," the female began after they managed to let go of each other, "Your father and I have been discussing your future, as well as the future of our bloodline."
Oh, wonderful. Kaito bit his lower lip, hating the subject that was on the horizon. His mother laughed at his typical teenage expression, the grimace that clearly showed how uncomfortable he was with the subject matter. She smiled at him, patting his head again. Even after a century, two decades, and seven years, he was still immature. "Oh, darling, it's not as bad as you think it is."
"Anything that involves the words 'bloodline' and 'future' in the same sentence is bad," the blonde grumbled. Sure, he was the prince of all vampires, but seriously, did he need to be taught about the workings of their reproduction cycles again? Nope, he was not reliving that discussion.
Seiren, as was his mother's name, sighed and rolled her eyes. "We arranged a marriage for you, dear," she started, causing him to recoil from her touch. "I'm sorry, Kaito, but you know how the monarchy works; you can't exactly escape who you were born as." And god, did she know it; her husband, in actuality, was her twin brother, even though they didn't look the part. They hadn't wanted their children to face the same fate, so they stopped trying for a girl after learning of Haruto's existence. However, arranged marriage was the only way for their sons to keep the bloodline pure, although with Kaito's case, they were attempting something that hadn't been done since before the ice age.
"I know." The blonde shut his eyes and pretended like the world hadn't just taken a big dump on his life. He thought he'd get a few more years on his roster before even considering taking the responsibility of having a family of his very own. But nope; his future was crashing down on him and he had to take it in stride without failure. "When will I see who I am to marry?"
"Next week," she replied. "We have been planning this for a while, darling; sorry we didn't tell you earlier."
Kaito just shrugged. "It's my fate; I don't exactly have a choice in the matter." With that, he turned away, not saying goodbye to his mother. He left the second floor, going to the basement rooms in order to calm his jumbled mind.
He could only wonder who the girl was that he was marrying.