Luuka: herein we have chapter two! Same warnings as written in the prelude, but I don't think this chapter actually uses any of them. (Next chapter makes up for it, thou.)

Again, it would be great if you could review!


'Haru?'

'Hmn?'

'I love you so much... so much. You'll make a vow to me, won't you?'

'A vow?'

'Yes: to be with me forever.'


The stars in the night's sky twinkled like silver gems on a velvet cloth. But a fog was coming: the stars were fading. Sinking into the depths of a black abyss...

'Haru... will you give yourself to me?'

'I don't understand what you mean.'

'Exactly what I'm saying- I want you to be mine. I want you to let yourself be mine.'

Haru still didn't understand what Rin was talking about, but it was romantic. He'd taken Haru into the ocean to swim with him one Friday night and wrapped his arms around his waist as they floated in the water, whispering softly into Haru's ear.

In hindsight, Haru knew he shouldn't have agreed to something he didn't understand, but he'd assumed Rin was being melodramatic- to him, it seemed as if Rin was very dramatically asking him to be his boyfriend... so, he'd accepted.

'Yes,' he replied.

'I need forever. Can you give me that?'

'Yes.'

'And will you have me? Forever?'

'Yes.'

'Then you're mine,' Rin rasped back. 'Both your body and soul are mine.'

Haru shifted in Rin's arms- Rin's tongue was too close to his ear. Not that he minded, but they were outside and the water had suddenly started to feel chilly. Had the sea been this cold moments ago? Haru broke free and climbed onto a pier, body shivering as his bare skin met the crisp night air.

Rin bobbed up and down in the water, set his arms over the side of the wooden pier and smiled.

'Try not to break our vow together, okay? I'll be with you always... my Haruka.'


Over the weekend, Haru became accustomed to living with Rin: a fact that surprised even himself. Having lived alone for the best part of his life- and having always considered himself a person who valued their own solitude- Haru found it strange that he should feel so comfortable with Rin's constant presence. But the truth was Haru liked Rin: he liked everything Rin had to offer. He liked discovering Rin's personality, liked the way Rin's emotions displayed so obviously on his face and liked talking and being with Rin, which was why he'd spent his Sunday morning curled up with the other young man in his bed.

'You can't be a real vampire.' Haru told Rin. 'You don't have a Transylvanian accent.'

'I'm pretty sure that's not a requirement of being a vampire.'

'Is.'

'It isn't!'

'I'll fight you over it.'

Haru climbed on top of Rin and pinned him down against the mattress. Rin laughed excitedly as he allowed Haru to push him down with all his strength, bumping their noses together as they wrestled.

'As slender as you are?' Rin smirked. 'Bring it on!'

'I know your weak spot. I can grab your pants.'

'How tactical.'

'I have other ways.'

'I'm sure you do.'

Rin rolled Haru onto his side, leaning across to bite him gently on his nose.

'Rin,' Haru begun, softly. 'Did you turn into a bat and fly back from Australia?'

'No: I took an aeroplane.'

'Normal,' Haru mumbled.

'As if I had any other options. You should know that I can't turn into a bat... nor any other animal that I'm aware of.'

'What else can you do?'

Rin begun to count. 'Hmm... you mean other than: healing practically as soon as I get a wound, having more stamina, a stronger body, a better capacity for memory, sharper teeth, being able to move faster, improved senses... oh, and did I mention that I never age? Well... there is another thing: it's kind of similar to a sixth sense.'

'ESP?'

Rin shook his head.

'Hah… it's nothing as exciting as mind reading. I can feel people's emotions... it's kinda like hyper-sensitivity. For example, Haru, your emotions are bouncing up and down and that means you're happy; even though you only look relaxed, I can pick up what you feel through the air. I think it's because my senses are more developed so they can pick up changes in body heat and perspiration... that's my theory, anyway.'

'It's weird.'

Rin poked Haru's cheek with a finger.

'I don't expect a mere mortal like you to understand the mechanisms of higher beings,' he announced.

'How can you say that?' Haru muttered. 'Rin, you don't even understand it yourself...'

Rin's eyelids kept drooping, but he was trying hard to keep himself awake: both of these things made Haru sigh. It was almost midday, and Rin didn't usually stay awake until then... Rin yawned, the duvet rustling around him.

'You should rest,' Haru offered. 'See you tonight.'

Too late: Rin had already fallen asleep.


That morning, Rin had also told Haru he'd been announced missing in Australia- he'd explained that it was just easier to disappear than it was to confront his family about what had happened to him. He'd said that his mother wouldn't be the type to accept him, and that it would only bring problems to his sister, which was why he'd made the choice to leave them both behind... then he'd added, unhappily: 'I miss my sister,' as an afterthought.

Haru had felt a twinge of sympathy for Rin at that point: he didn't know if Rin was a villain or victim. On one side of the argument, Rin hadn't asked to be bitten by a vampire, but on the other side, he hadn't exactly shown a lot of remorse for all the people he'd killed, either- at least, not outwardly, anyway. Still, Haru had found his words interesting:

'Do Matsuoka's turn into vampires at seventeen?'

'No.'

'Do they have a history of drinking blood?'

'No.'

'...Do you know who bit you?'

'No.'

They hadn't learned anything new about Rin's situation, but Haru knew more about Rin as an individual- somehow, that was progressive.

Even if part of him did suspect that somewhere, Rin had told him a lie.


At seven p.m., Haru was cooking in the kitchen when he heard the soft pitter-patter of feet as Rin came downstairs. For how muscled and heavy he was, Rin certainly had a way of carrying his weight- he could slip around noiselessly, and creep up behind Haru without so much as a warning. Sort of like what he was doing, now.

'What's this?' He asked, slipping a hand under Haru's jumper.

'Breakfast.'

Rin looked up over Haru's shoulder at the spread of food on the countertop, cocking his head ninety degrees as if he didn't understand.

'Try it.' Haru ordered. 'Just eat with me.'

'You could always come and eat with me, Haru.'

Haru ignored the teasing. He continued to serve the food, searching Rin's face for any signs of approval.

'Is it doing anything to your hunger?'

Rin swallowed a mouthful then shook his head.

'It's gone down by maybe a fraction of an inch... to be honest, I could probably get more nutrients from the air than this whole table. But I still have my sense of taste- your cooking is pretty good.'

Haru glanced down at his own untouched food: he needed to discuss something with Rin, and he doubted the other man would take it very well.

'Rin... you can't eat humans. From now on, you shouldn't kill anyone else.'

'Haru,' Rin's expression became instantly cold. 'You do realise what you're asking me to do? I've tried living on normal food before and it's not enough- it will be the same again.'

'You don't know that...' Haru remained insistent. 'You can't kill any more people. If one person goes missing, it's enough to attract national attention. So, several people, on a regular basis...' Haru knew it wouldn't be very long before the police made a link and came to them. 'It's wrong,' he finished.

'Humans kill each other all of the time for stupid and pointless reasons, but when I do it to stay alive then you find that: 'wrong?' Haru... you're asking me to die.'

'I'm not,' Haru replied stubbornly. 'There has to be a way around it. Animal meat is close to human, so… if I buy you enough-'

Rin gave a resigned sigh.

'Me or other people,' he said, gritting his teeth. 'That's what this comes down to. I'll try it again if that's what you want, but I can promise you that nothing is going to change. Oh, well.' He poked an egg yolk. 'I guess it will give you some time. You can think about how much you love me now I'm like this... if at all.'

Haru looked to one side.

He wanted to do what was right, but the word 'right' was hard to define. There was a: 'what was right for Rin' and: 'what was right for society' and: 'what was right by moral standards' and: 'what was right for Haru...' but all of them were so vague- so difficult just to pinpoint.

'I'm taking a bath.'

He was running away- running away from the idea that Rin had presented to him, because it was too difficult to think about; because Haru wasn't sure just how to approach it. Stress was accumulating one grain at a time. As he climbed into the bathtub, he tried to clear his head and think about the way he felt.

Haru was in a limbo. He didn't want to be surrounded by dead bodies but didn't want to leave Rin, either- he loved Rin too much to let him go, and too much to turn him away and leave him on his own. To him, Rin was a precious person... he'd been the first person to come close to Haru emotionally- he'd been the first person to get through Haru's personal barriers, to penetrate them with motivation and ambition.

Now, Rin was the one who was alone: Rin was the one who needed someone to understand him. And Haru had decided that he was going to stay with Rin and fix what had happened to him. If he couldn't fix Rin, well...

Haru stared at his toes in the water.

He supposed he'd hold Rin's hand as they fell down together, into the pits of Hell itself.


The first week of Rin's new diet plan passed smoothly, but that was only to be expected; Rin still had two bodies in the basement. Although Rin had claimed that the body of an adult male could keep him full for around three weeks, he was presented with a new problem: humans didn't keep well after they died. The smell had managed to rise up from the basement door and get past the air-fresheners in the hallway, and- as he'd told Haru several times before- Rin couldn't eat dead bodies that were rotten.

They'd put some organs in clingfilm and moved them to Haru's freezer but the rationing was clearly affecting Rin: during his first few days on animal meat alone, Rin's behaviour changed for the worst. He'd become restless and frustrated- demanding and easy to aggravate- and did everything in his power in order to make sure that Haru was aware of every second of his discomfort. Want, want, want- all Rin seemed to do was want. He wanted to be entertained, he wanted to find something to eat and wanted Haru's attention- Haru's constant attention. His emotions were either extreme or non-existent: Rin got angry at everything and nothing, upset at unimportant things but couldn't care less about others. He never put a hand on Haru, but the rest of the house suffered for it: he'd knock over coffee tables and chairs without obvious reasons why, kick doors closed and throw things across the room, hang from the furniture and growl when Haru ignored him. Other times, he wouldn't speak for hours. He was... difficult, to stay the least.

Haru found Rin irritating, yet he could understand it- Rin had told Haru that 3kg of animal meat gave him the same amount of energy as a handful of rye would for Haru. Day by day, Rin would become more demanding: the best- or perhaps, worst- example of this begun on the Sunday night of Rin's first week without human meat, and would be the start of a chain of events that Haru would regret allowing to get out of hand.


'Rin.'

It was six o'clock when Haru found Rin alone in the living room. Haru was wearing a waterproof coat and a rucksack.

'I'm going out,' he explained. 'Nagisa and Makoto... we're going night-fishing together.'

No response. Rin was sitting on his own, ignoring Haru.

'I'm leaving.'

Haru had barely finished turning around before two, strong arms locked around his stomach.

'You're not going,' Rin told Haru, sternly. 'Haru… you're staying here with me.'

Haru had anticipated this: he'd known there would be some level of resistance, but he was ready to combat it.

'No,' Haru objected. 'It isn't up to you. If you want, you're invited, too-'

'No- I don't want to be around anyone but you. Haru, you should feel the same way... you don't need any of your friends now that you have me to be with you. I want you to forget about them; you never need to speak to either one of them again.'

Rin had begun sucking on Haru's earlobe, his palms roaming Haru's chest and thighs through his coat. Haru didn't know if Rin thought that what he was saying was romantic- or if he was speaking out of spite- but Rin's words weren't resonating with Haru: on the contrary, they were pushing him away.

Haru didn't like the direction in which Rin was steering their conversation- this was a direct attempt from Rin to control him, and Haru knew that if he gave in here it would open the floodgates to Rin's demands in the future.

'Why can't I be in a relationship with you and have friends?'

'Because they'd only get in the way. Haru, I'm here with you, so you don't need them anymore. You have no use for third and fourth wheels-'

'How can you talk about them like that? Rin, Nagisa and Makoto are your friends, too.'

When Haru forcibly pulled himself away, Rin slitted his eyes.

'You were all that ever mattered to me, Haru- you were the only one who I ever cared about! I thought it was the same for you, but obviously I was mistaken.'

'Don't start.' Haru muttered. 'I'm not losing my friends because you say. There are people in my life other than you, so don't try to push them out.'

Rin's lips curled- enough to let Haru see his fangs- but Haru didn't falter; he knew that he'd annoyed Rin, but he didn't care. He got to the door when Rin spoke up:

'I'm coming.'

'What?'

'Haru, I want to see the others.'


Haru didn't buy that Rin was interested in seeing Nagisa and Makoto, but he supposed it couldn't hurt to bring him along; Haru didn't want another disagreement. The worst thing Rin could do would be to close down and ignore everyone... at least, that was what Haru had thought.

For an autumn evening it was surprisingly dim- dark enough for Rin to feel comfortable but at the same time, light enough for Haru to see. What little light remained was slowly dying- fading away into the blackness that ebbed at it- staining Iwatobi with shadows. Nagisa and Makoto stood waiting on a patch of grass located five minutes away from Haru's house... both of them were smiling and waving.

'Rin's back?' Makoto gasped.

'Rin-chan, it's so good to see you again!' Nagisa laughed.

Rin kept himself close to Haru, and regarded Nagisa and Makoto as though they were filthy. Haru had begun to regret bringing Rin along, but it was already too late to take him home now.

'Oh!' Nagisa noticed. 'Haru-chan and Rin-chan are holding hands!'

Holding hands was the wrong observation: Haru hadn't gotten any vote in the matter. Rin had suddenly gripped his hand and refused to let go, no matter how hard Haru tugged... Rin's grip was a lot firmer than his, so that Haru couldn't pull back without making a scene. Rin had become protective and was seeing threats in the smallest of things... he didn't seem to comprehend that Nagisa and Makoto were his friends, just like all those years ago.

'Aww, too bad.' Nagisa laughed. 'I guess that means Haru-chan is taken! Oh, well!' He winked playfully at Haru. 'You and Rin-chan are a really good match!'

Makoto smiled awkwardly, but Rin didn't seem to find Nagisa's teasing entertaining. Nagisa moved forward excitedly, but Rin stepped in front of him, suddenly-

'No!' Rin snarled. 'Haru is mine!'

Nagisa skidded to a halt; his face became a mask of confusion.

'Stop it,' Haru murmured, to Rin. 'You're embarrassing-'

'Embarrassing?' Rin yelled. 'Haru, no one else is allowed to touch you... nobody else is allowed to talk about you like that! You belong to me- you gave yourself to me-'

'Heeeyyy,' Nagisa interrupted nervously. 'You guys, let's try not to fight... we should all just get along! Rin-chan, we're going fishing for a few hours... let's try and catch lots of big ones, okay?'

Rin turned away from Haru very slightly and did an analysis of Nagisa through his crimson eyes.

'Annoying.' He summarized under his breath. 'Haru, let's both go home: I feel like fucking you hard tonight.'

'Rin!' Haru felt his cheeks heat- Nagisa and Makoto were directly opposite them. He wasn't sure how much more of Rin's jealousy he could tolerate, or why Rin behaving this way to begin with... he knew that Rin was agitated due to how hungry he was, but he was very far away from sympathising with Rin, at this point.

'Unfortunately we won't be coming with you,' Rin informed Nagisa and Makoto. 'Haru is fed up with both of you. So, we're going home. Right now.'

Rin tried to drag Haru away, but Haru wretched his hand free-

'Rin,' he demanded. 'Go back alone-'

'It's okay, it's okay!' Makoto had clearly sensed an argument on the horizon and decided to intervene early. 'It's fine if the two of you can't come with us tonight- really, it's completely okay! Another time... let's go, Nagisa. See you at school on Monday, Haru.'

'Aww, too bad- I wanted everyone to come! See you later, Rin-chan, Haru-chan! Goodnight!'

Haru and Rin both trudged back to Haru's house together, enveloped by a heavy silence. When they got to the front door, Rin turned around to Haru and smiled.

'Well,' he laughed. 'That worked itself out in the end.'

Haru drew back a hand and slapped Rin across the face. For a split second, a pink handprint shone on Rin's cheek then- as quickly as it had appeared- it healed over, leaving behind no trace. Rin turned his head slightly at the contact, but not another muscle so much as twitched in his body.

'Rin,' Haru said, angrily. 'I won't let you control or humiliate me when you can't have what you want! I'm going upstairs- don't follow. I've had more of you than I can take.'

Then he went into the house, leaving Rin alone in the darkness.

Rin stood in the space where Haru had slapped him for several minutes... the same space where he'd first asked Haru if he could come in all those days ago, he recalled. After a few minutes, he saw Haru appear in the upstairs window and close the curtains, then the light behind them clicked off. Rin stared up at it even after Haru had left, raising a hand almost unconsciously to touch his cheek.

The impact mark of the slap had long healed over thanks to his superb cells, but it still seemed to sting there: for some reason, his cheek still tingled. Sparks of phantom pain were shooting across Rin's skin like a fierce, electrical current, brought about by Haru's touch...

'I won't let you control or humiliate me... I've had more of you than I can take...'

'I'm very upset to hear that, Haru.' Rin whispered. A thin smile crept across his lips.