EDIT: PAGE BREAKS HAD TO BE PUT IN CHAPTERS 2, 3 AND 6! SORRY FOR THE SLOPPY DIALOGUE!
Kage: Finally! Chapter two of our bloody vampire story!
Hoshi: And Ryou's in it! *random cheering*
Kage: Sorry about the MASSIVE delay in getting the next chapter up. Just before we got it finished (which I'm ashamed to admit was about three weeks ago) our jump drive broke. That being our ONLY METHOD of getting stories on here, we had to wait until our little brother found another one and kindly let us use it.
Hoshi: Thank you! ^_^
Kage: And thanks to all the viewers out there that read our stories.
Hoshi: WE'VE DECIDED TO CONTINUE AND FINISH THIS ONE, SOMEDAY!
Bakura rolled over in his sleep, trying to fight off the imaginary monsters in his dreams. A maid smirked at him, watching the teen kick at something in midair. She turned to pick up a sock he'd left on the floor, listening in amusement to the loud thud he made as he fell off the bed. Bakura jumped to his feet, standing in his fighting pose. After a few seconds, he realized he was in his bedroom, in his pajamas. He slumped back into an almost normal standing position, a frown on his face.
"Aww," He whined. "I was having fun."
The maid laughed heartily, turning to smile at the whinette.
"Well, you can't spend all morning killing imaginary vampires," She scolded, her voice light and full of humor. "You need to take the second half of your exams today."
"Oh yeah!" Bakura said. "We have the written part today!" Slowly, he thought about what he just said, his cheerful mood plummeting. "Oh yeah," He muttered, sounding glum. "We have the written part today."
He was never any good at written tests, being more of a physically working person. But if he ever wanted to make it to A rank, he'd have to pass the test with at least a B, something that wasn't too hard to manage. He walked around to his closet, pulling out a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Quickly, he changed out of his pajamas, not really caring that the maid was there. The jeans were pulled up his legs and the T-shirt was jerked over his head, his jacket going over it. Without another word, he ran out the door, reciting everything he knew about vampires in his head.
'Okay, the main component of vampire venom is their blood combined with several toxins such as…' He struggled to remember. 'Um…I know it's supposed to affect your nerves…tetrodotoxin?'
He suddenly paused. "Wow. I'm surprised I even knew that word."
"What word?"
Bakura internally groaned. He recognized that voice. Marik stepped around the corner to grin at Bakura. He seemed to have gotten dressed up for the tests today, as the edges of his wild blonde hair were dyed red, making it look as though his head was on fire.
"None of your concern, Marik."
"Aw, c'mon," Marik teased, wrapping his arm around Bakura's neck. "I want to know! Is the word 'estrogen'? Because you wouldn't have any experience in that department, would you?" He sighed dramatically. "I'm not surprised."
Bakura kicked him in the shin so he would release his grip. "Ha, ha. I have had far more experience with girls than you have Marik, seeing as you're gay."
"Oh, contraire, my elderly-haired friend," Marik retorted, stepping a little too gracefully around behind Bakura. "Girls love gay guys. Have you ever seen how many them try to sit by me at lunch? Especially when Malik's around."
The whinette rolled his eyes. Malik was Marik's equally obnoxious boyfriend. However, where Marik was rude and abrasive, Malik was a bit calmer, and spoke with more tact. The two Egyptians had been his best friends even longer than Kochi had. They had helped Bakura pull all sorts of hysterical pranks in the past, and always went on adventures with him. (Adventures being exploring the forbidden areas of the castle and peeking in the men's locker room. Bakura only peeked because Malik and Marik were.) The only problem with the two boys is that they had absolutely no shame. None.
It was then that Malik appeared at the other end of the empty hall, completely on cue as usual. Noticing his boyfriend, the teen dashed over and threw himself in his arms, grinning widely.
"Hi," He said, leaning up to kiss Marik on the lips.
"Hello gorgeous," Marik joked, lifting up Malik's head for another. The two continued to kiss until their make out session had gotten pretty intense. Bakura only stopped them as Marik was trying to remove Malik's shirt.
"Hey, that's enough. You two don't need to do that in the hallway," Bakura snapped.
Malik looked up at him with his best puppy eyes. "Please Bakura? Please?"
The whinette's eyelid twitched in response. "No. Other people don't need to see that and you don't need to make a mess of the nice clean floors."
"Pfft. You're no fun," Marik scoffed, kissing Malik again.
Bakura rolled his eyes, pressing his hand to his forehead. "Just go to a closet at least, please? I don't want to have to watch that again."
Malik cheered, hugging Bakura around the neck and pecking his cheek. "YEAH! We have permission now!"
The two darted into a nearby broom closet, swiftly locking the door. Bakura was about to protest, but decided against it. Maybe sex would take the edge off their hyper moods for a while. He sighed, heading off down the corridor.
"Who knows?" He muttered to himself. "Maybe father will catch them and cancel the tests to give everyone a stern talking to."
The whinette snorted, turning a corner. Yeah. His father would cancel the test as soon as the Aikuun kingdom was turned into potted plants. Out of nowhere, the sound of quick footsteps met his ears. He turned around to see a butler dashing towards him, his short gray hairs being blown back.
"Bakura-kun!" He called, wheezing. "Your father wants to see you immediately! It's very important!"
Thrilled at the excuse to be late for his classes, Bakura took off with the man, headed for his father's room. Even from the bottom of the winding staircase, he could hear loud arguing from behind the door. He knocked on the wood, causing the people in the room to grow hushed. His father opened the door, his face stern.
"Bakura. Just the man I wanted to see," He huffed, his usual cheerful demeanor dropped. "We've got a huge problem."
"What is it?" Bakura asked, taking a seat in one of the armchairs.
Harrun glared at him. "Get up, son! This is no time for resting!"
Bakura quickly got to his feet.
"Now," His father said, pointing to a large piece of parchment that was stretched over an easel. "This is a chart of the disappearances that have been occurring in the nearby villages. As you can see, the vampires have been organizing huge kidnappings of cows and pigs."
Bakura tilted his head. "Livestock? I'll admit that's weird, but why does it concern us? The villages have a truckload of spare animals."
"This is important!" Harrun roared, whacking his son with his crown. "We think they might be up to something! I want you and Kochi to go in there and try to figure out what they're planning."
Bakura's face lit up. "We get to do an Elite mission? We're only B rank!"
Harrun crossed his arms, grinning proudly. "I have faith in you two. Your stealth skills far outrank a lot of my top fighters, and I'm sure you could beat your way out of any situation you get yourself in." He punched Bakura playfully in the arm.
"You got it, father," Bakura said. "This shouldn't take too long. Just give me a ham sandwich or something for the trip."
His father laughed. "Nice," He chuckled. "You go fetch Kochi. I'll send you two out in about half an hour."
Bakura waved on his way over to the door. Just as he got onto the staircase, he made a victory fist, whooping in glee. The sound of quiet chortling was heard not too far away.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
"I still can't believe this!" Kochi whispered excitedly. "We get to go on an Elite mission!"
Bakura shushed her. "Shut up, Kochi. We're almost there."
The two leapt from branch to branch, each landing not making the slightest sound or movement. As long as they didn't speak, they could sneak in completely undetected.
"Alright, move out," Kochi said voicelessly, jumping up to a windowsill. Cautiously, she looked around the room before slinking inside.
Bakura, on the other hand, shot up to the roof, using the top of a large tree as a pole-vault. As he soared through the air, he was sorely tempted to shout wildly, waving his arms like the idiot teenager he was. He hit the roof with a silent fall, his face landing in gravel. Wiping off the bits of rock, he continued on into the castle, sneaking effortlessly around the guards. Just up ahead, there was a small door that led into a winding staircase. He descended it slowly, listening for the sound of any people. When he got to the bottom, he realized that he was on a ledge above a great dining hall. Directly below him, a beautiful white haired woman was talking to a tall man who Bakura assumed to be her husband.
"I hope we got enough pork," The woman said. "Lord knows the boys will eat enough of it."
Bakura made a victory fist. "Yes! I found it!" He whispered.
The man chuckled, his long black hair shaking slightly. His young looking face was bright. "I think we're fine. The neighboring villages have had quite a surplus of livestock lately, and we left enough money to pay for anything we took."
The whinette's jaw dropped. 'Father didn't tell me that!'
"Good," The woman said, kissing her husband sweetly. "This is supposed to be a very special day for Ryou-kun. He's finally coming of age."
"Yes!" The man replied proudly, making his wife laugh. "The boy's finally seventeen. This is truly a proud day for the Aikuun family."
Suddenly, there was a soft knock at the door. "Father? Mother? May I come in?"
Bakura felt his heart starting to melt at the gorgeous velvety voice. Who on earth could that be?
"Yes sweetie," The woman called.
Slowly, the large wooden door opened, and in walked a young boy of sixteen. He was robed in lovely red and black silk, the colors contrasting against his milky skin. His hair was the color of ivory, falling around his shoulders in sheets. Eyes of the deepest brown looked at his parents, childlike laughter hidden behind his strong presence. Bakura's heart felt like it was stopping.
"Hi mother, father. It's nice to see you," The boy said, the words soft and airy.
He embraced the slightly shorter woman, smiling.
"It's good to see you too, Ryou dear," She replied, holding his arms. "We've got the feast almost completely planned out."
Ryou grinned, his eyes bright. "Do we have pork?"
His father laughed. "Boatloads of it, son! In three nights, we shall have a feast!"
Ryou nodded. Suddenly his ear twitched. He looked directly at Bakura's hiding place, the whinette ducking out of the way just in time. His mother's expression was one of concern.
"Something wrong, sweetie?"
The younger whinette paused for a moment, before shaking his head. "No. Must have been a mouse."
His father patted his back, laughing heartily. "Why worry about that now? Let's go and see all the food we've prepared, eh?"
Ryou cheered, his parents chuckling. The three walked out the doors, leaving Bakura in silence.
'S-so that's the prince, huh?' He swallowed heavily. Suddenly, he froze, thinking hard for a moment. 'What am I so nervous about? The king and queen didn't freak me out like this, why him?' He paused. 'I mean…for a boy, he's beautiful. And strong, nicely built…what am I talking about?'
Bakura got to his feet, running swiftly out of the building. When he got to the trees, Kochi was already there waiting for him.
"I couldn't find anything," She whispered as soon as the two got out of hearing distance.
Bakura smirked. "I found out tons. Now we know why the vampires are taking the pigs and cows."
"Why?" Kochi asked.
"The prince is turning seventeen," He said, leaping across the branches.
Kochi started giggling. "Ooh! The prince? Did you get to see him? What's he like?"
"Yeah, I saw him," The whinette said, his confidence wavering. "He's…pale. Really pale, with white hair and brown eyes."
At this Kochi paused. "Kind of looks like you, except your eyes are red."
"Whatever," Bakura sneered, running ahead of her. "I don't look like some pansy-ass prince."
Kochi smirked. "Yeah Bakura. You're the queen."
The whinette was sorely tempted to whack her with something heavy. Then again, he actually did have the social position of queen. Since his mother died, he'd become the second highest-ranking person in the clan. Technically, he was a queen.
Bakura smiled teasingly. "Better than being a lowly clerk's hand."
"YOU LITTLE - !"
The whinette laughed maniacally, darting ahead of his friend. Hopefully, he would be able to distract himself from what he'd just witnessed. His first sight of the beautiful vampire prince.
Kage: I hope you enjoyed this, because it really wasn't worth the wait.
Hoshi: We're going to get started on chapter three when we get back from our short vacation. ^_^
Both: THANK YOU! PLEASE REVIEW!
(Sorry, editing had to be done. There's really no difference, just the time break in the middle.)