Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Mai Hime. They belong to Sunrise.
Setting: Alternate Universe.
Speech - ""
Thoughts - Italics
"I'm bored, Kuga. Let's go out and get a bite to eat," Nao Yuuki said, as she blew on her long fingernails she had just finished buffing.
"No, Nao. Absolutely not. You know the rules. No 'snacking' under my watch," Natsuki replied as she sat in her chair, one leg swung over the armrest.
"And that is why being a vamp in this city of Fuuka sucks. You won't allow any of us to take a nibble from the humans. I mean, what's so wrong with a small bite here and there," Nao complained, as she got to her feet and and gave a cat-like stretch.
"No one is forcing you to hang around here. You could always head on over to Kyoto," Natsuki replied in a bored tone.
"Are you kidding me! That's werewolf territory! I'd sooner stake myself, than to hang out with Takeda and his hairy crowd," Nao stated, as she wrinkled her nose in distaste.
"Okay, then quit bitching already. You know the rules, no 'eating' humans. And you know that you can always 'snack' on the wildlife. I don't have any problems with that," Natsuki commented, as she also stretched out her body, and then slowly rose to her feet.
"Ugh, you're no fun at all. I'm going to go find Mikoto. I bet she's hanging out at that human Mai's restaurant again. I honestly don't see what Mikoto sees in her. I'd rather make lunch out of her, than eat the lunch that she prepares," Nao stated, as she began to make her way out of the parlor room, that she and Natsuki had been conversing in.
"You actually have a good point there, shocking as that may seem," Natsuki replied dryly, as she also began to follow Nao out of the room. "Vampires and humans should not mix together. It only causes problems down the road," Natsuki continued, as she and Nao made their way towards the front door of the mansion that they called home.
"Mm hm, better to just eat 'em and get it over and done with," Nao replied with a wide smirk, as she and Natsuki now stood outside the front door, in the twilight of the steadily-rising moon.
"You just won't give up on this whole eating thing, will ya? Why don't you head on over to one of the vampire blood banks, and get something to eat that isn't alive and screaming for help," Natsuki said over her shoulder, as she began making her way down the mansion's front steps.
"Aww, but that's just not as much fun. It's much more entertaining to have my meals wiggling and screaming for their lives," Nao replied, with a wide grin that made her pointed teeth flash in the moon's shimmering light.
Natsuki rolled her eyes, as she began to head into the thick woods that surrounded their mansion home, set far away enough from the city and surrounding town that there were no prying eyes, but they were still in the general vicinity of Natsuki's domain of Fuuka.
"Whatever, Nao. Just make sure that whatever you do tonight, it doesn't involve a human tragedy. When I took over 200 years ago, the residents of Fuuka were about to go up in arms to track down the 'blood-sucking monsters' that were terrorizing their human population. Now most humans here look at those stories as made-up legend. I've brought peace and stability to our race in Fuuka, as we no longer have to fear being hunted. Do not make me regret turning you, Nao. You were dying when I found you, and you begged me to turn you when you saw what I was. That was a 100 years ago, and though it was...trying...at first when you first became one of us, as the blood-lust in you was especially strong, you've been on very good behaviour for the last 50 years. So, let's continue to keep things that way," Natsuki stated, as she turned slightly to fix Nao with a glinting green-eyed glare.
"Lighten up Kuga, Ms. Queen of the Fuuka Vampires. I get it. Sheesh. A girl just can't have any fun when she's around you," Nao complained, as she and Natsuki walked up to a small building on the edge of the forest, but which was still completely hidden by the trees.
Natsuki pulled a key from the pocket of her black leather trench coat, and inserted it into a key-slot of a digital touch-pad, and then she quickly punched in a code. The touch-pad beeped twice, and then the wide door of the building slowly began to open, revealing a small garage inside with a fire-red convertible, and a midnight-black motorcycle sitting side-by-side inside it.
"Oh, sweet ride come to mama!" Nao exclaimed, as she ran her fingers along the side of the car, before hopping over the front door seat as the top to the convertible was down, and made herself comfortable in the plush-leather seat.
Natsuki snorted a little as she watched Nao caress the car, before she walked over to the motorcycle, and slipped her tight leather-clad leg over the seat. Natsuki let out a light purr, at the feel of the powerful machine between her legs, as she inserted the key she had pulled from her tight-red vest top pocket, and powered up the bike's engine.
"Alright Nao, I'll catch up with you later. Have fun, but not too much fun if you know what I mean," Natsuki said, as she gave Nao a pointed look.
"Yeah, yeah Kuga. Don't get your tight leather pants all in a bunch. I'll be good. I promise. Scout's honor," Nao replied with a wide grin.
"You were never a scout," Natsuki grumbled under her breath, as she strapped on her helmet, and then watched Nao peel out of the hidden garage, laughing loudly at the top of her lungs. Nao drove the car down a dirt path behind the garage, and then screeched out onto a lonely road that eventually would lead into the city.
Natsuki let out a small sigh, before she allowed a wicked grin to cross her lips. Her emerald-green eyes glinted wildly, as she let out a laugh of her own, and screeched out of the garage behind Nao. She pressed a small button on the front of her bike, and the garage door came slamming back down. Natsuki then pulled on the handle bars of her bike, rising the bike up onto just its back wheel, before she dropped the front tire back down, and sped off into the night towards the city.
************
Shizuru waved goodbye to the grocery clerk, as she made her way out of the store's sliding glass doors. She had her little grocery bag full of fruits, vegetables, and her precious tea, and she was all ready to get back to her home to make herself something tasty to eat.
As she turned down a dark alleyway, Shizuru heard the distinct sound of footsteps falling heavily to the ground behind her. Sparing a quick glance behind her, Shizuru saw two males walking cockily behind her. One of them was lazily swinging around a chain, while the other walked with a baseball bat tapping lightly on his shoulder.
Shizuru's heart immediately began to pound with fear, as she quickened her steps to get out of the long alleyway, chastising herself for choosing to walk down it at this time of night.
The footsteps behind her began to pick up speed as well, and then the next thing Shizuru knew she was being slammed hard against the alley wall, her bag of groceries falling to the ground.
Shizuru felt as if all of the air had been knocked out of her lungs, as she stared into the cruel eyes of her attacker, with tears forming at the corners of her crimson-red eyes.
"Hello there, sweet thing. You're looking quite...tasty tonight," the one who had the baseball and was choking her said. He then leaned forward and ran his tongue down the side of Shizuru's cheek.
Shizuru felt a shudder of disgust run through her, and she began to struggle fruitlessly in her attacker's grasp. Her attacker just tightened his hold on her neck, and Shizuru immediately stopped struggling as she began to choke. She instead focused on trying to breath, by bringing her small hands up to try to pry his much larger ones from her throat.
Suddenly her head was slammed back hard against the alleyway's wall, and stars exploded in her eyes, causing her vision to fade in and out. Shizuru was fairly certain that the back of her head had been split open, as she could feel the tell-tale sign of blood dripping passed her ear, and onto her shoulder.
"Why...why are you...doing this...to me..." Shizuru choked out in her thick Kyoto-ben, made even thicker by the lack of oxygen that she was getting into her lungs.
"Well you see darling, my friend and I are...new...to your city here, and he and I were feeling a bit...hungry shall we say. So, we decided to go out and find ourselves a little...snack," here the male before Shizuru smiled wide, and to her horror two very pointed teeth began to grow in the corners of his mouth.
Shizuru renewed her struggles to break free, but she was slammed once again against the alley wall, and her vision began to dim as her ears began to ring loudly.
Please...someone...help me...someone...please...help me..., Shizuru thought desperately as she began to black out, watching in helpless horror as her attacker leaned down towards her neck with his sharp pointed teeth.
Then just as Shizuru was about to lose conscious completely, a new voice echoed powerfully down the alleyway towards her and her attackers.
"Hey! Scumbags! You two idiots must be new around here, because everyone knows that messing with humans on my home turf is strictly forbidden. Now, I'm going to give you two losers until the count of three to let her go gently, and then get your asses out of here, before I have to show you what happens to fools who wantonly break my rules. One..."
"Hey bitch! You can't talk to me and my buddy like that! Do you have any idea who and what we are!" The one with the death-grip on Shizuru's neck screamed down the alleyway at the person threatening him.
"Two..." the sound of knuckles being cracked echoed loudly down the alleyway.
"This bitch is crazy. Let's just fuck her up, and get this shit over and done with," the attacker with the chain snarled as he raised his chain before him, and then began swinging it threateningly.
"Three. Times up. Time to take out the trash."
"Whatever, bitch. Like you could even touch...OOF!" The attacker with the chain never got to finish his sentence, as the feeling of a solid knee to the gut dropped him in two-seconds flat. He hadn't even seen her move. That wasn't human speed. That was inhuman speed. And as the realization of just what he and his buddy were dealing with dawned on his slow mind, he began to open his mouth to cry out to his friend that his attacker was one of their kind. He never got the chance to however, as his own chain which had fallen to the ground beside him after the first hit, was now smashed hard across his face, and as his body fell over backwards, his head cracked solidly onto the ground beneath him, knocking him out cold.
"Hey! Hey you bitch! That's my friend! I'm going to fucking tear you limb from...UGH!" The attacker with the bat went down just as hard as his friend had, when a roundhouse kick delivered with a heavy black boot nailed him solidly in the face, and he involuntarily released his stranglehold on Shizuru's neck.
Shizuru let out a loud gasp as she fell to her knees, her hands flying up to her bruised neck, as she desperately tried to draw in much-needed air into her lungs.
The sounds of fighting continued for just a few more seconds around her, and then there was utter silence, only broken now by the sound of siren's wailing in the distance.
Someone must have seen what was happening down here in this alleyway and called the police, Shizuru thought hazily to herself, as she felt a hand lightly touch her shoulder.
Shizuru flinched away from the touch, and then almost pitched forward as the bleeding wound in the back of her head began to pound heavily, and her vision began to dim again.
"Whoa, whoa there. Take it easy now. I'm not going to hurt you. I just took out those scumbags who were attacking you. I'm here to help you, and we need to get out of here. Now. The police are almost here," a velvety-smooth voice spoke softly by Shizuru's ear, as arms wrapped around her shoulders and under her knees, pulling her up into the air and against her rescuer's chest.
Shizuru could now feel that her rescuer was a woman, but she didn't have the energy to say anything as she was struggling just to remain conscious.
"Dammit! The cops are almost here," the smooth, magnetic voice spoke again by her ear. "Okay, now listen to me carefully. I can't get to my bike right now, but at least it's safely hidden away for me to come and pick up later. So, we're going to have to take a little...trip. I want you to wrap your arms around my neck as tightly as you can. Things are going to get a little bumpy.
Shizuru did as her rescuer asked, and weakly raised her arms and wrapped them around the person's slender neck.
Then the next thing that Shizuru knew, she and her rescuer had rocketed straight up into the air, and Shizuru could now feel the wind rushing past her face. Letting out a slight gasp, Shizuru tilted her pounding head slightly to the side, and was presented with a dizzying view of the lights of the city below, as her rescuer jumped from building to building.
Shizuru could no longer take any more of all that she had experienced tonight. Now finding herself practically flying from rooftop to rooftop, was the final straw in a string of events that defied imagination and explanation.
So Shizuru finally succumbed to the heavy throbbing in her injured head, and passed out against her rescuer's chest.
Natsuki looked down at the now unconscious, chestnut-haired woman in her arms and she released a loud groan, as she realized that she would have to take the woman back to her mansion for treatment, as there was no way she could show up at the hospital with the unconscious girl in her arms. The questions that would be asked were ones that she would much rather avoid.
"Oh, Nao is not going to let me hear the end of this," Natsuki muttered to herself, as she continued to fly past the moon as she made her way from rooftop to rooftop, heading in the direction of her mansion.
Nope. She isn't going to let me live this one down at all.
To be continued...?
AN: Hope that you all enjoyed this! =D
I haven't stopped working on my others fics, but sometimes an idea will just latch onto your brain, and will not let go until it's written. That's what happened here :p
Please let me know what you all think of it, and if you would like me to continue =3
~Yuri-hime~