Sunrise: The Chapter That Follows
The sunlight was what woke him from his sleep; mentally groaning, the teen rolled his neck around, getting rid of the kinks that he'd acquired from sleeping in a sitting position-sitting position? The young man shot his eyes open and the sunlight blinded him. He sniffed the air around him; it was familiar, but not very. He heard shifting and a sigh. The sun's effect had died down and he looked to his left and his jaw dropped: the man next to him was supposed to be dead.
That thought led to another, and this time the man screamed: he was supposed to be dead as well! The young man's thoughts didn't continue as the world came to a screeching fast stop. "Are you alright, Yuuki-kun?" The voice was familiar, and Yuuki Natsuno looked into the front seat: sitting there in the driver's seat was Muroi Seishin, the junior monk of Sotoba Village's shrine. They were in a small white car in the middle of nowhere.
"What caused you to scream?" He asked calmly, but Natsuno gave no answer. He glanced slightly at the man who was waking up beside him; Seishin understood and sighed loudly. "Ah, so that's it, huh? I found you two at the top of the pile of dead vampire bodies. I'm surprised you two survived; everything else was blown to pieces…must've been the werewolf in you."
"…What's going on?" Said a sleepy voice from beside Natsuno and he looked to his left: waking up next to him was Tatsumi, servant of the Kirishiki family and another vampire. Tatsumi opened his eyes and was met with an odd scene: in the front seat was Muroi Seishin, and across him, a glaring Yuuki Natsuno. "Well this is very awkward," he muttered as he sighed loudly.
"How are you feeling, Tatsumi-san?" asked Seishin, and Tatsumi looked at him tiredly. "Ah, tired huh? Are either of you hungry? I have blood in the back seat if you wish for me to get you some; I was able to get some from the mansion before it burned down-"
"Muroi-san, what happened to Sunako-sama? Is she alright? And what of Seishirou?" Tatsumi was absolutely livid now; what had happened to those people he'd served so faithfully? Seishin shook his head, but he was smiling.
"Seishirou-san did not make it out alive unfortunately. While I was scavenging for blood around the mansion I found his body; it seems that the humans had gotten to him." Seishin paused for a while before continuing. "Sunako-sama is safe-" Tatsumi sighed in relief as he leaned back into the seat. "She is currently sleeping in the back seat in a light-proof box."
Both Tatsumi and Natsuno looked back to see a small suitcase-sized black box, just as Seishin had said. Tastsumi's appearance visibly relaxed as he reached back and gently rubbed the box with a small smile on his face. To Natsuno, this was disgusting. Well, just about anything vampires did was disgusting to him; even what he himself did.
"Yuuki-kun, it's not nice to judge others. Tatsumi-san is merely showing relief that his mistress survived the…genocide we all were near-victims of last night." Seishin turned back to face the front and started the car up. Once again, they were on the road. A few silence minutes passed until Tatsumi spoke up.
"Muroi-san, did anyone else survive? I saw all those that were murdered at Yamairi, but what of the others? I never saw Megumi's body, or that of Mao's." At each of those names Natsuno flinched, remembering awful times spent with both vampires mentioned. They were annoying even before turning.
"I know Mao is dead; I saw a woman lighting his body on fire. But on Megumi-san…I don't know. I have a feeling like she may still be around. I never did find her body…anyways; the sun is coming down, which means that Sunako-san will be waking up very soon. We should all probably eat up and discuss where to go from here." Seishin sighed as he pulled the car over to the side of the abandoned highway.
Natsuno was the first to get out, and the first to react. "Discuss our plans? What are we, some kind of happy little family now? I hate these people! They," he say, pointing to Tatsumi who was holding Sunako's box, "are the reason I'm like this, like everyone was like this! Why do you trust them, Muroi-san? What are you a vampire n…?"
The words died in his throat as Seishin bared his teeth and revealed the truth: he was a vampire, just as they all were. "I am helping them because I am one of them. If you do not wish to join us on our journey to a safe haven, you can leave."
Natsuno got up, glared at Tatsumi one last time, and started walking off into the night. Seishin yelled in his direction, "If you go, we will kill you!" Natsuno sighed and turned around, only to be greeted with little Sunako face to face.
"Yuuki-san, why do you want to leave us? There…there are barely any of us left, and you want us? We could thrive together! Think of the possibilities; we could find a new, better hometown to-"
Natsuno cut her off by grabbing her roughly by her dress collar. "Why the hell would I want to help you kill even more innocent people? Because of you, everyone I knew, everything I cared about burned to the ground! You make me sick."
He dropped her and she fell to the ground. In an instant, Tatsumi was by her side. Tatsumi growled and bared his fangs. "If you even think of hurting her again I will kill you, boy…" Tatsumi's eyes were as red as fire, and Natsuno knew he was absolutely serious. He looked over to Sunako, whose eyes were drenched with tears.
"We don't have to kill anyone, Yuuki-kun," Sunako spoke in a small voice; her words were quite clear despite the trembling of her upper lip and the tears that had fallen. "We can live off blood from the blood banks and even off of animals. If that's what it takes for us to stay together, I'm willing to compromise."
Tatsumi looked at her with surprised eyes but Sunako held up her hand and spoke once again, more confident this time. "Will you accept our proposal and join us as we try to find a new life, or will you go against us and die. While you are a jinrou, Tatsumi and Seishin are as well. They could easily overpower you…"
Natsuno actually took her words into consideration. He had to tread carefully here. He could either go on living or die where he stood. Neither choice seemed very appealing, but a thought stuck out in his mind that he'd had long ago. A want he'd had as a human that was as strong, if not stronger than his will to live.
He faced her again, looking down upon her small frame. How could someone so innocent-looking and small be the puppet-master that destroyed a whole town? "You said choose to go with you or die?" He asked again, and she nodded her head. Natsuno let out a sigh; how did his life end up like this.
Natsuno turned on his heel and started to walk. He could hear Sunako gasp and Tatsumi growl. He stopped at the car and opened the door. "Well then, shouldn't we head out then?" He asked, turning to face the three others. Sunako smiled warmly with Seishin just let out a sigh.
"Sunako-sama, I ask that you sit in the back seat with Natsuno because the windows are tinted. While we are out of Sotoba, there might be survivors still in these outer towns and we don't want to be recognized." Tatsumi pushed Sunako towards the back and she pouted, but she did as she was asked and got into the car. "You next, kid," Tatsumi spoke, and Natsuno slowly complied.
Seishin got into the driver's seat and started the engine. "Are we ready?" He asked, and there was no reply. The car roared to life and Seishin fastened his seatbelt.
Natsuno had been looking out the window until he felt a tugging on his arm; Sunako was looking at him with pitiful eyes as she held the seatbelt, and Natsuno suppressed the urge to laugh. Sunako angrily pulled onto the seatbelt but it wouldn't budge. Natsuno sighed and reached over, effortlessly pulling across her waist and fastening it snugly.
Sunako beamed at him, and he could tell why people were drawn to her; she was absolutely beautiful, even for a young child.
Seishin started up the gas and the car sped off towards the rising moon; towards a new life.