A Sweet Fanged Smile
CHAPTER 2
You try to swim toward the surface,
But what will that bring?
You let yourself sink to the bottom,
But what will that bring?
Left with a choice you hang in the balance,
But what will that bring?
To drown in the blood is the easiest way,
But what will that bring?
Haunted, tormented, tortured, you try to escape it,
But what will that bring?
Lost in a world without words, you make your choice,
But what will that bring?
To drown in the blood.
To drown in the blood.
Mizuki didn't move. She just knelt, paralyzed, by the vampire's side. She was fearful, wary, and confused. Her thoughts jumbled into meaningless words. Three semi clear thoughts made their way to the front of her clouded mind.
Ichijo is a vampire.
He's hurt badly.
I have to help him.
She set her mind and pulled Takuma's left arm around her shoulders. He didn't try to resist – he wasn't in any position to – but he couldn't look at her, not with his eyes glowing. He allowed Mizuki to help him (painfully) to his feet, tried to stand on his own, but staggered as his vision swam. He looked down at where the sharpened end of the pipe had pierced him and his vision spun again at the sight. His white shirt was soaked with blood.
"Ichijo," Mizuki's voice sounded distant, but Takuma's drained body could still feel her next to him, "Ichijo, I know a place we can go, but it's a block away, do you think you can make it there?"
Takuma's world took another dizzying spin. He nodded, even though he was fighting himself. Mizuki was so close to him, and the smell of her blood was becoming more and more tempting. This is what it must feel like to have no power over thirst for blood, he thought blearily. Yes, he could make to the place Mizuki was talking about, but he didn't know how much longer he could go without sinking his fangs into her flesh.
She slowly started to walk with Takuma's arm wrapped around her shoulders. He tried to put as little weight on her as possible, but he was relying on her more and more with each step. His breath came in sharp, ragged gasps that never seemed to leave him with enough air to breath properly, and his vision was starting to go black.
They finally made it to the house Mizuki had spoken of earlier. She kicked open the door and slowly helped to lay the injured man on the couch. She gave him a single worried look, then darted down the hall calling, "Aunty Kana! Aunty Kana, come quickly!"
Takuma arched his neck back and tried to get enough air to breathe normally. The gray ceiling above him swirled. A single thought managed to get into his muddled brain, At least miss Natsujina is all right. Amazingly, he managed to smile once before his vision went black and he fell unconscious.
Takuma didn't open his eyes for two reasons; He wasn't sure he could, and he didn't know if his eyes were red. He let his tongue move slowly to his eye teeth. A sharp point touched the top of it and could tell they were extended. Voices, cloudy and fogged came to his ears from his right, but their words were inaudible. He forced his fangs to retract and his eyes to turn back to there familiar emerald color before he dared to open them. His lids and lashes slowly parted in the middle.
Bleakly, he opened his eyes and cringed in the bright sunlight. A female figure swam into view.
Mizuki, still in her dress from last night, jumped and put a hand to her chest. "Ichijo! Thank goodness you're OK." She whipped around. "Aunty Kana, he's awake!"
Another feminine shape came into the picture. She looked a lot like Mizuki. Her hair – it was slightly longer then her niece's – was tied back into a bun with her bangs clipped to one side, and she was dressed in a simple, white, doctor's outfit. "Is he now? Well, good." She plopped down beside her niece and shook her head "A vampire. How..? I can't believe you were able to kill it. Persistent little pests vampires. Although, I guess everything comes with a price."
Takuma looked down and saw, for the first time, his injury. Someone had wrapped the right part of his chest in white bandages that had turned red with his blood.
It took all of his willpower to keep his eyes green.
"You're a lucky one. Whatever the hell that thing gotcha with barely missed your lung." Kana gestured vaguely to his wound. "Can't believe you were able to keep conscious, much less make it all the way here." Kana stood and put a hand on her hip. "Now that you're awake I can finally change those bandages..." she trailed off, strolling, away to find fresh clean ones.
Takuma switched his gaze to Mizuki. She gave him a sad smile, then bit her lip and looked away.
Suddenly it all came back to him. He flew upright. "Did you see-" he cut off with a sharp cry of pain.
The returning Kana shouted, "Don't move! Seriously, you gotta death wish or something?"
He laid back down, breathing heavily.
"Try sitting up slowly." He took her advice and eased himself up. She turned to her niece. "Mizuki, help the boy with his shirt while I get the bandages will you?"
Takuma raised an eyebrow. Boy? He was certainly older than Kana, even in vampire years he was nearly seventeen.
Mizuki blushed, but nodded. "I-"
"You don't have to," he said softly. He knew it would be awkward for her, but he had a feeling that wasn't what she was going to say. "Miss Nat-"
This time she cut him off "Mizuki. I think we're past formalities, call me Mizuki."
The tiniest of smiles crossed his face. "Yes. Mizuki. And you can call me Takuma."
He saw a mirror of his tiny smile reflected on her lips and she unwound the gauze around his chest. With his left hand he began to undo the buttons on his shirt, but his hand was brushed away. "That must be troublesome for you. Let me do it, I really don't mind."
Takuma sat back and allowed her to undo them and remove his shirt. He saw her blush very hard and try not to stare at him.
Takuma looked down at his lap "Did you see...what I am?" he said quietly.
Mizuki tapped his left shoulder, put a finger to her lips, and cocked a head toward the hall Kana had gone down, hinting she could hear them and was probably listening in on their conversation. She smiled sadly. "Aunty Kana may be a little overpowering, but she's right about one thing; vampires don't die easily. "
He breathed out deeply "She's correct, vampires certainly are persistent pests."
Takuma silently thanked Kana for her perfect timing as she plonked down next to Mizuki. She eyed him and whistled under her breath. "You OK with me cleaning you up handsome?"
He nodded. "Yes."
Kana gave him a look, but shrugged and dipped a washcloth into a pot of water she had brought. She brought the dripping cloth to his chest and muttered to herself. "This is worse then I thought. Well gorgeous, looks like you'll be staying with us for a few days."
Takuma looked up anxiously. Then his expression softened. "You really don't need to worry about me, I'm a quick healer."
Without taking her eyes off her work, Kana said, "I don't think you understand the severity of this situation, your lung was missed by a fraction of an inch, and even though it missed you still could have died. Even if you heal as quick as a vampire you're staying here until at least tomorrow evening."
Takuma wondered vaguely how she could be so ignorant.
She wrapped a clean, white bandage around the right side of his chest, around his neck for a hold, and then back around his chest. "Mizuki, will you take him to Raiden's old room?
Mizuki took a sharp intake of breath. Her aunt pretended not to notice.
Takuma stood slowly and saw she was quivering ever so slightly. He took one step, stumbled, and was caught at the arm by Mizuki. They exchanged smiles.
She lead him down the hall into a vacated room. "You can stay here for a while. There are some clothes in the closet you can wear, they may be a bit big though."
Takuma peered around the room as though he was mildly interested. "Who's room is this?" when he saw Mizuki's expression sadden he hurriedly tried to reclaim his words. "Eh? Sorry I shouldn't have said anythi-"
"It's Raiden's room. He was Aunty Kana's fiancée, but two months before they were to be married he suddenly vanished." She smiled sadly.
Takuma tried to think of something to say, but was saved yet again by Kana popping her head into the room "Hey, Mizuki, do me a favor, go out and pick these up would ya?" she flapped a shopping list between her fingers.
Any thoughts of her aunts lost fiancée vanished. "'Kay!" she shouted happily as she tore the list from her aunts fingertips and raced out the door. Kana laughed and smiled lovingly in her direction.
Takuma laid down on the soft bed and sighed with a smile. "I don't know how I can thank you, miss...?"
Kana groaned while simultaneously pinning her long hair back "Miss? That makes me shiver. I haven't been called 'miss' in years. You wanna make it up to me? Start by not calling me that. I'll tolerate Kanako, but I prefer Kana. Actually I'd really be happy if you call me 'Aunty Kana' like Mizuki does." She caught the look Takuma was giving her and shrugged. "Eh, don't worry I'm not her real aunt either. It's just a coincidence we look alike."
Takuma looked eagerly at her, waiting for more. "What do you mean?"
She sighed "Well, I guess since she already told you about Raiden, I can tell you a little about her." She leaned back and an image swam to her mind.
"It was a dark night that day. Raiden and I had gone out for the evening, just to see a movie. I remember it started to rain very hard. We had an umbrella, but it wasn't big enough to cover the both of us, so we took refuge under a small food stand..."
The rain poured down like a river. The man in the coat, and the girl next to him, ran under the stand laughing. He turned around and the smile faded from his face. The girl went on chatting happily with the stand owner while the man slowly walked over to a small, blocked-off alleyway.
The small female figure cowered, whimpered, and tried to wriggle into the corner. The man knelt down and reached a hand out to touch her, but she only backed away even farther.
Finally the girl noticed and came over to him. Before she reached him she heard him shout, "Kana, get me some rice balls, hurry!" Without asking what they were for, she ran back over to the food stand and asked the man for some.
When she came back she saw the soaking girl hidden in the corner. The man took a rice ball and handed it to the girl. At first she hesitated, but hunger got the better of her and she warily excepted.
"Look at her arms and face," the man whispered. His girlfriend squinted through the rain. The girl was bloody and bruised.
"That's not natural. Someone did that to her," she whispered. She handed the girl another rice ball seeing as she had eaten the first. "Do you have anywhere to stay tonight?" she asked soothingly
The girl shook her head. Even though see seemed very afraid of the man, she also seemed to trust the woman. "Would you like to come with us?" she asked. The girl waited for a moment, but slowly nodded and began to cry. So cold. She was so cold.
The man immediately took off his coat and wrapped it around her and the woman next to him whispered "Get her into the car now. With that much blood on her they won't be far behind." She wrapped a hand under her cloak and gripped the long knife hidden away beneath its folds.
The man nodded and they both took one of her hands and pulled her toward the car parked close by. The man got into the drivers seat and the woman-after checking the area- got into the backseat with the young girl. She fell asleep quickly on the drive back.
"Just before she fell asleep, I told her my name was Kana, and she told me her's was Mizuki, and just a few days after we found her she asked me if I was her mother. I told her no and she said 'But you're someone I care about, are you my big sister?' I laughed and told her I was to old for that. She got this look like she was thinking as hard as she could, and then she said, 'Then you must be my aunt!' like she was as proud as could be for finding that out." Kana's lips turned up, then they fell back into a frown. "You. You're one of them aren't you?"
Takuma looked up bewildered. Kana meet his gaze with hate in her eyes, spite in her words.
"A vampire."
The accused young man's eyes widened in shock. "How did you...?" he whispered hoarsely.
She gave him an evil grin and saw him cringe slightly. "Oh come on. I may not be in the hunting business anymore but my senses aren't dead, I can still tell a vampire when I see one." She cocked her head in the direction of his weapon. "Nice sword. I prefer knives, but I've used my fair share of swords too."
Takuma almost slapped a hand to his forehead in realization. "Oh, I get it, you're a hunter working for the Association." He didn't know whether to scowl or smile, so he just kept his expression neutral.
Kana lit a cigarette and waggled a finger at him. "Correction, former hunter. I ditched that damn Association not long after we found Mizuki and became a doctor instead. And good riddance too, they way they handle this town. But it did help to get Mizuki into Cross Academy that I happened to know Kaien. Although, he sure has gotten irritating," she muttered.
Takuma smiled. "That's our faithful Headmaster."
"When you get back, do me a favor and tell Kaien the Vampire Hunters Association has got a top hunter who's just waiting for orders from the president to sniff out that school." She shuddered. "Stupid cross-dresser. Gives me the creeps."
The door clicked open and a breathless Mizuki followed in it's wake. "I got the groceries! Are we making *shogayaki?" *pork with ginger*
Kana smiled happily. "Yep." She turned back to her house guest. "You OK with that, handsome?"
Takuma nodded. "Yes that sounds wonderful."
Kana, somewhat late, added "Just so you know that's your nickname now, handsome, get used to it."
Mizuki sat by the newly nicknamed young man and put a hand on her false relative's. "Aunty Kana, would you like to make the shogayaki or should I?"
"No it's fine I'll do it," Kana sighed.
Takuma looked out the window and saw that it had been dark for some time. He wondered idly how long it had been since he had woken.
Mizuki closed the door to the bedroom and sat down in the chair beside Takuma. She put her thumb in the middle of his palm and massaged it slowly. He hated to admit it, but it felt nice and he wanted her to continue. "You should get some sleep," she said softly.
He hesitated to respond, and when he did he chose his words carefully. "I'm all right. Besides, I would normally be awake and attending classes at this hour anyways." A soft smile crossed his lips. "How am I ever going to thank you and Kana?" he whispered softly.
"Well," said Mizuki, "I'm not sure what Aunty Kana has in mind, but I don't think it's got anything to do with money. As for myself...
"I've thought of a way you can start."
She flipped her hand over and wound her fingers around his. Her eyes closed and she leaned in so she and Takuma were only a few centimeters apart. He felt her hair brush his cheek as she took the same cheek in her left hand and...
END OF CHAPTER 2
