A/N: Sorry for the rewrite guys. I've been updating all my stories (Merlin, Xavier and Jayden as well) and thought: might as well do Kain. I stray away from main plot at times but, don't hate me! I also may need symbolism…. By the by, I'm moving stuff around.
Akatsuki Kain walked down the street, his eyes on the pavement. He had received an urgent text from Takuma Ichijo saying to meet him at the local bar… At three am. Why three am, he asked himself repeatedly, disgusted by the passing inebriated humans and busy vampires. It was also the question his cousin, Hanabusa Aidou, asked over the sound of a complaining Ruuka Souen.
Covering his stomach, Akatsuki wondered if he should have taken a blood tablet with him. Nah, he thought. The bar knows about vampires. And, it's not that far away. The crisp autumn air mixed with the smell of blood caused his mouth to water. He grimaced, recalling the last time there was a three am meeting set by Takuma.
It had been an autumn like this. Takuma and Shiki had brought the entire gang together. The entire thing had been a mystery. Yuuki Kuran had just turned and Kaname Kuran was unsure about bringing her to a gathering, coming himself. As always, he was fashionably late. Kain was drinking as Rima Touya lectured him on alcohol intake. He had done it to curb the cravings but, annoying Rima always brought a sense of pleasure – and, greedy as it may seem, he enjoyed someone caring for him.
Bringing his drinks, his cousins glared at him.
"Are all those for you?" Aidou asked, skeptical. Akatsuki only shrugged.
"The bar is open, Hanabusa." He retorted, downing his first drink in one greedy gulp. By the time he set it down, Hanabusa and Ruuka were at the bar, ordering drinks of their very own. Senri Shiki and Takuma whispered to each other. Akatsuki's heart sank as he gained a little sympathy from Rima. When Kaname came in, Aidou and Ruuka had settled on drinks and brought them back to the table. Due to their loyalty, Kaname found three drinks to himself. Seiren perched herself on the rafters, watching from afar.
"We called you all here because we haven't seen you all year!" Takuma cheered, his innocent eyes glowing. Senri rolled his.
"No. We called you here to inform you we're moving." Takuma glared at his lover but nodded. There were assorted gasps all around.
"Moving where?" Ruuka insisted. Aidou asked the same after he finished sipping. Rima gripped Kain's arm nonchalantly, causing no suspicion.
"There's this little town about an hour's drive from the modeling studio." Shiki assured.
"We found this little old cottage and we bought it!" Takuma's infectious smile spread through most of the group. Aidou rolled his eyes as Ruuka held in her objections. Kain was the first to express his gradulations.
"So, you're moving in together?" Kaname asked, sipping at one of the drinks. Kain felt pride, knowing it was his.
"Yeah. I guess we are." Shiki said, his bored expression returning. Takuma nodded.
"It'll be great! And, we want our friends close to us!" He looked imploringly toward Kaname, as if that were his only friend. Kain made eye contact with Shiki before giving a lopsided smile.
"Sure."
"Akatsuki!" Aidou and Ruuka yelled.
"Kain!" Rima and Kaname joined. Only Takuma and Shiki seemed to approve.
"If he's moving, I'm moving." Aidou sentenced himself, sighing. Ruuka nodded.
"Can't have the losers be alone, can we?" She glared pointedly at Rima.
"No, we can't. They'd have no girlfriends left. But." She pointed a finger at Shiki. "You and I are carpooling."
"Fine, fine." Shiki conceded quickly. Kaname smiled.
"Well, it'd be nice to be closer to my home again. Might be better for Yuuki, too. Too many memories here for her."
"Then, let's drink to it!"
He knew it would wind up like that. Normally, he'd be on the phone with his cousin, listening to the complaints about Ruuka he held. Then again, being in a relationship with Ruuka seemed to be a lot of trouble. That didn't seem to hinder Kain's feelings for his female cousin. He looked up at the moon, wondering how he spent excessive energy on keeping that relationship alive. Of course, he had spent a long time looking after them individually.
And why, he asked himself, did he move himself into the boonies just because of Shiki's continuously bored expression? He almost slapped himself for his answer. Love. Yes, love. Some twisted up idea of it.
He wrapped his coat around himself. All this talk of love and he felt cold. Maybe it was true what a gypsy said long ago: Kain could not truly love. But, then, what were these emotions?
It wasn't until he felt someone crash into him that Kain realized his thoughts absorbed him. The stranger called over his shoulder, using profanity that Kain shrugged off. He glanced at the figure, his eyes on the blonde head but, he was too stunned to ascertain whether the figure was human or not. Believing it not his business, he slid into the bar.
Kain took in the scene of the pounding music and the lustful humans in one glance. It was the closest thing this place had to a nightclub. From the crowd, he could see blood lust in a few of the vampires. He shook his head to himself, finally spotting his friends in the back corner. His heart dropped slightly upon viewing Senri. The brunette looked well, his bored expression stifled for the moment with candy in his mouth. Takuma sat next to him, his arm around the others' shoulders. With a sigh, Kain made his way to the table.
"There you are, Akatsuki!" Takuma gave Kain his best smile. Senri shifted closer to Takuma and rested his head on the blonde vampires' shoulder. Kain nodded and sat across from the duo, ignoring the ache.
"Thanks for inviting me, Ichijo." His voice sounded robotic. If Takuma noticed it, he didn't show it. Instead, he grinned and clapped his hands.
"You're the first to arrive!"
"Second." Senri challenged. Takuma craned his neck to look at the other. Senri gestured to a blonde girl in pig tails. "Touya was here first."
"Alas, I stand corrected." Takuma acknowledged with a blush on his cheeks. "Second to arrive."
"How many are arriving?" Kain asked, wondering if he had time for a drink. Takuma lifted his hand and counted them off on fingers.
"Let's see. Touya, yourself, Souen, Aidou, Kuran Kaname, and Kuran Yuuki and… That's it." He placed a finger on his lips as he mentioned Yuuki. Senri stared hungrily at this finger. A small gold band on Takuma's ring finger caused Kain's heart to sink lower.
"Well, if I'm the second, I hope you don't mind if I get a drink." Kain excused himself. Takuma started with 'not at all' but, Kain had already dispersed.
Of course, Takuma had invited everyone, he thought stupidly to himself. How could he think otherwise? The text message had stated 'big news', didn't it? He slid up next to Rima at the bar and ordered a Bloody Mary – extra on the bloody. Rima, with her docile façade, glanced up at the figure. Akatsuki enjoyed Touya's company. "Hey."
"Hey." Kain said, nodding at the bartender as thanks.
"Been a while. How've you been?" Rima's bored expression rivaled Shiki's as she caught the expression of the two lovers. Kain pretended not to notice.
"Been fine. Yourself?"
"Usual. How's Souen and Aidou?"
"Fine. New relationship. I'm tired of it. The usual." They took a sip. "Seeing anyone?"
"Sayori. She's… difficult to read." Rima toyed with her hair, her eyes flickering to the couple they meant to celebrate. Her eyes returned to Kain, questioning. Kain shook his head in answer. She scoffed. "Seriously? It's been five years, Kain. Haven't you even thought about it?"
"No point." Kain asked.
"No point in dating another person? Unless you're confessing to Souen or Shiki in the next five minutes, you're wasting your life! Wait, are you?" She eyed him skeptically.
"Wasting my life or confessing?" Kain asked. She hit his shoulder.
"Confessing, dumb ass."
"I'm not confessing. You see how happy they are." He pointed to the couple, now joined by his cousins. "I don't want to ruin that so, why should I try?"
"They could be just as happy with you." Rima argued.
"But, they're all happy. That's all. Now, they're engaged."
Rima shook her head. "You waited too long. You deserve to be happy."
Kain was about to retort when Rima gestured her head to the other corner. A silver head with lilac eyes watched from afar, drinking a Bloody Mary much like Kain's. Kain examined him then shrugged. "Not our issue, Touya. He stays in the corner, we have no problem with him sharing the same air."
"Still." Rima narrowed her eyes.
"Seiren will be here and we'd all die before that happens." Kain knew it was loyalty. He felt it, too but, with logic overlapped his intense need to protect. Rima shrugged and returned to the previous conversation.
"Anyway, you need a partner."
"I do not need a partner, Rima." With that, they returned to the table and discussed it no further.
Zero had been stalking out his prey for months, learning the Kuran's nightly routines – when he hadn't been sent on suicide missions. The closest he had ever come was when they met with other noble vampires – usually Takuma. Three years since high school, Zero thought to himself. They had all shown signs – scruff, longer hair. And Zero held five o'clock shadow on his face with dark circles under his eyes. Many months had gone by since he had brought the Bloody Rose gun next to his head, wanting to end it all.
Instead, it was that disgusting pureblood, Yuuki Kuran, that had brought him from the brink of the edge. He hated Yuuki Kuran but still, he marveled in how Cross or Kuran, Yuuki managed to hold the sway.
He had access to their messages. Kuran and Kuran were to attend at the local bar where Ichijo and Shiki had big news. Although he loathed Kaname Kuran (that son of a leech), his target was the true blood princess – the more guarded of the two. And tonight was the night that he formulate a plan to get close to them.
The club had been packed when Kiryuu showed. By and by, human instinct caused them to leave in the danger of more than one vampire. One by one, each vampire showed up. Takuma and Shiki were the first to arrive. He counted them as one now because of their obvious news. He saw the matching bands on their fingers. He considered, briefly, shooting them there and then. They wouldn't mind… Much. Secretly, he was grateful to them. How else could he have trapped any vampire that held it's guards too closely?
Touya entered after them, her pitying eyes on everyone around her. She was the one who noticed Zero, the one who glared and made an all too understandable motion that he was dead if he tried anything. Zero, normally, enjoyed a challenge but, he was intelligent enough just to watch… For now.
The next to come in was Kain. Zero admired this vampire – even though he hated their species. Kain never tried to fight, kept to himself. In a lot of ways, he reminded Zero of Zero. Except for the self-loathing. Of course, the vampire would never mention that to anyone. Usually, the noble vampire would survey his surroundings, almost in a paranoid fashion. He walked up to the bar.
Souen and Aidou entered together, both racing for the table. Aidou noticed his gain and slowed his pace, letting his equally competitive girlfriend beat him. Aidou growled but clapped as Souen bowed chivalrously, grinning from ear to ear. They both realized Zero's presence at the same time. Aidou made a movement – probably to ask Zero to leave – but was trapped in a conversation. Souen ran a finger across her throat as she sat, joining in a conversation.
Zero turned back to Touya and Kain. Touya had pointed the Level D out. Kain only shrugged and murmured something to her. Zero almost raised an eyebrow.
Half past the meeting time, Zero glanced up at the rafters, almost grinning at the sight of Seiren hovering over her charges. Yuuki and Kuran entered together, both flushed from the outdoors. Zero felt the familiar pangs of heartache. Downing his shot, he wondered if he should just leave. No, he answered firmly, I should stay. After all, there might be an opening.
He took a moment to examine their faces. Shiki and Ichijo basked in their happiness and congratulations. Souen and Aidou, equally happy for the couple, flirt with each other. Touya smiled happily as the Kuran's smiled politely. Zero stood, planning to leave until he caught a glimpse of Kain. Zero had made enough fake smiles himself to know that Kain's was fake. He noticed his hands clenched into fists, could almost hear the teeth grinding next to him. He smirked. Found one.
A/N: as a prologue, four pages is enough, I think! Like I said, not much changing but, there is another scene! :D