12:30am, January, 20XX

"Happy New Year?"

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"Master Fai, welcome home!" The cheerful voice chimed as a pair of slender arms wrapped around the tall mans neck. He wasn't surprised; in fact he smiled at the affection in the girls' voice. Fai turned so he could face the short, silver-haired child looking up at him with huge amber eyes. Chii, the second member of his team, beamed back at him with a pink tint to her cheeks. Fai couldn't help but focus on the one thing that threw her innocent face off.

Her fangs matched his to the last detail, long and white. Not yet red.

Chii was only a 'Gem', which was a fancy way of saying she was a fledgling with the potential to perform magic. It also meant she didn't have any game yet to feed off of, so she was pretty much a human with sharp canines. Fai had been a Gem once when he was very little, when his father was still in the ranks. But even as a Gem, he was told he was going to be an elite. Everyone knew that.

His brother was so proud of him.

"You were out late again, Master Fai. Did you have to catch another Oni?" The Gem tilted her head, eyes curious. Fai gave her a warm smile, his lips staying shut over his teeth.

"I was just giving one of our friends a hand. You can imagine how messy some of the new fighters can be…" the arms loosened around his neck and Fai moved quietly into the larger living room. It was an all white room, white walls and white floors, with a dark blue carpet and a few lighter-blue chairs and one couch that matched the rug. There were paintings on the wall, but they were empty blue frames. A strange looking box hung on the far wall facing the couch, it somewhat resembled a flat screen TV, but it was white instead of black. The male vampire slung his long black coat over the couch, staining the perfect blue-and-white coloring scheme, before sliding his body into the cushy fabric. Chii ran into the kitchen and came back out with a teacup and teapot on a silver tray.

The tea wasn't hot. It wasn't even tea. Chii poured her master a cup of refrigerated blood.

"Are you still looking for your new fledgling, Master?" the girl moved to pour the second cup, "I heard from Sei-kun that he's a bit of a hellion."

Fai sighed, closing his eye. "Yes, yes. Her highness mentioned he was…I just don't know about this, Chii…" he picked up the cup, white with an odd blue pattern on the lip, and drank from it, "I already have you, so why is she pushing this newbie on me? I mean, Fuuma hasn't gotten a fledgling in almost seventy-five years…"

Chii blinked. "I didn't know Fuuma-san was that old…"

"We're all very old, Chii." He chuckled. "You will be too, eventually. But you'll never age from this adorable form." With this, the silver-haired girl went bright red like the drink in her cup. She took a sip to keep from squealing. Fai did too, but to hide a mischievous grin. Making Chii blush was so much fun.

The tapping at the window made both vampires jump. Neither had even heard someone approaching…or smelled them, for that matter. This meant it could only be one person.

"Hello Fai-kun."

A man stepped in through the open window, his short black hair ruffled and tossed by the wind. He wore glasses, thin rimmed and normal glass, and his black attire was topped with an odd gold necklace with a large gold medallion on the end. He also wore a smile, which was as fake and empty as his glass eye. Fai returned the grin, just as phony, but Chii's eyes lit up.

"Seishiro!" She laughed joyfully, running around the couch to throw her arms around the dark man. Seishiro chuckled, patting the child on the head. Fai blinked, and then rolled his eye.

"How do you attract small, innocent people who would be better off without you?"

Seishiro shrugged. "I guess they just don't know better…" he reached behind himself to unhook Chii's arms before he moved past her to sit next to Fai on the couch. Fai moved away slightly, still smiling. Sei moved one leg up so he had the blonde caught under it, laughing as the boys face flushed. "You, on the other hand, seem to know what's really good for you."

"I just know what you're capable off. Get off." Fai hissed. The other vampire dropped his leg, faking a crippled sniff. Chii made a distressed face.

"Fai-kun hates me, Chii-chan…"

The blonde gripped Sei's arm painfully hard. Seishiro laughed.

"I'll break your leg."

"Why? Because I want to spend time with my dear…" Seishiro inched closer to Fai, "…dear friend?"

"The only person dear to you is now afraid of you. Move it." Fai stood up from the couch, pulling Seishiro off with him. The dark haired vampire was slightly shorter, but still very intimidating to the other. Chii watched them with confusion and worry, her better instinct telling her to leave the room, but her human nature telling her to get the tea tray out from between them.

Surprisingly, Fai dropped his arm, a stunned look on his face.

"You have a message on where he is?"

Seishiro's smile became serious, both eyes, fake and real, narrowing. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small plastic computer card with a kanji on it. The kanji read 'black', even though the ink was red. Fai sighed, holding out his hand and letting the card fall into it. He scowled, a new look for him. "Thanks. Since when do you deliver?"

"Since I heard the twins were doubling their shifts. One overworked Kamui plus one unsuspecting Subaru…" he trailed of, his eyes sinister, and cleared his throat, "Besides, I heard about your new job and got curious. I wanted to see this guy."

"Well you're out of luck. He's very mobile for a fledgling."

"Can't you catch him during daylight? You're elite. Sun won't hurt you."

Fai snickered. "Sunlight, no. All those crowded streets, a blood crazed fledgling, and the possibility that he's armed…that might leave a mark."

Seishiro shrugged. "I could help you. I love children."

"Subaru will be happy to hear you're a pedophile. Now he can sleep at ease."

The short vampire glowered at the blonde. Chii blinked again before exiting the room, finally listening to her better instinct. She heard the tea set crashing against the wall.

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The computer chip slid into the drive without a hiccup, the screen flickering as it downloaded its content. Fai rubbed his golden eye, moving his hair up to untie the patch over his other eye. He placed it next to his white bed on the white cupboard before he opened his bad eye to the weak light of his laptop. It stung the fragile pupil, which was really all that was visible. The entire iris looked like a black blot, not a perfect circle like normal eyes, and the skin of the lids was scarred. It looked painful.

Because it had been painful.

The computer 'blipped', and Fai returned to sit on the white comforter. The file opened to what could be considered a background check for a certain individual. His new fledgling, of course. He scrolled from the top of the page to the bottom, memorizing quirks and past offensives, viewing the pictures and family story. Then after fighting the annoying urge for quite a while, he scrolled to the very top and saw the name of his new charge.

Now he knew why the kanji read black.

"Kurogane You-ou…interesting…" Fai smiled, small, but impish, "I can't wait to meet you…"


Quick note: I'm fitting Chii's design to the one in the Chobis manga...so silver hair. And she doesn't have ears. She looks like a normal person. With fangs. C:

Read and Review!

-Claw