A/N: Ah, this chapter certainly took longer than I thought it would. Between school and my other stories in other genres, I seemed to have forgotten this one! (No, not really, but I got stuck on this particular chapter.) I kinda feel like it's choppy… :sighs: I'm no good with fights. On the other side, the problems that have nothing to do with the author what-so-ever, every time I'd think 'Tonight, I'm going to write on Bloody Kisses', my teachers would give me SO MUCH HOMEWORK, I couldn't even see over the top of it. It made me so sad… :sniffles: So, as a Christmas present, I'll try to get the next chappie up quickly.

Chapter Two: Meeting (I Could Have Sworn I Told You to Run/ I Should Have Run)

The air reeked of the supernatural; there was no wind, but the errant leaves rustled, creating ominous whispers in the quiet park.

The air felt hot and heavy, even though it was fall.

"I don't like it here, no one's here, let's go!" Watanuki whispered, tugging on Doumeki's sleeve.

Doumeki hushed the boy, drawing him to his side. He understood why Watanuki wanted to leave; even he was freaked out with this atmosphere. But he felt that they had to stay.

"C'mon," the bespectacled boy whined, stomping his foot into the dirt. "I feel like someone's watching us."

"From which direction?"

Watanuki's face screwed up in concentration. "I don't know," he finally admitted. "Everywhere…"

"I don't like this…"

"You have every reason to."

Watanuki gave a start, clinging to the archer's arm. Doumeki scowled. That voice… he had heard it somewhere…

"Are you afraid, Kimihiro-chan?" A spiritual wind began to howl, and the rustling leaves flew into a whirl-wind, out of which a young girl stepped.

Doumeki's scowl deepened as Watanuki gave a start of recognition.

"I-it's y-you!" Watanuki shrieked, raising an accusing finger to point at the girl. "Kieran-chan! F-from school!" At that moment, a shudder ran through the bespectacled boy's body as the ramifications of this revelation burst into his mind.

The small empath smirked delicately, taking high pleasure in Watanuki's shock.

"Hi-Himawari-chan! Is she who you started to feed off of?!"

Doumeki reached up and covered Watanuki's mouth with his hand as Kieran began to laugh. "Kimihiro, I want you to run," he whispered softly. Watanuki gave a deft shake of his head, waiting for Kieran's answer.

The girl gave a disapproving click of her tongue. "Her? All that dreariness and unluckiness?" Kieran shook her head, her wicked smirk spreading. She spread her fingers and raised her stiffened hand, a miasmic shadow spreading out from under Watanuki's feet as she did so. "If I was as stupid as to feed from her, why, I'd be no threat at all!"

As she spoke, the shadow wrapped it's tendrils around Watanuki's legs, slowly making their way up to the boy's waist. At the exact moment that the spirit-haunted boy noticed, Kieran closed her hand, and Watanuki flew away from Doumeki's grasp.

The slight teen gave a yelp of surprised terror and Doumeki instantly drew his bow. The archer took aim, and fired straight at Kieran.

The girl merely laughed, something that was really irritating Doumeki—why did the bad guys always laugh?—, and flicked her wrist, sending the spirited arrow directly towards Doumeki.

The weapon hit its mark, sinking into the flesh of the archer's shoulder. The arrow quickly dissolved, leaving Doumeki bleeding and stunned.

"Shizuka!" Watanuki shrieked, struggling to get free.

Kieran licked her lips. "Panicked, Kimihiro-chan?" she teased. "Oh, well! No harm's going to come to you at all," she soothed, clicking her fingers. Instantly, the leaves in the park rose, swirling around the archer, their edges suddenly blade-sharp, shredding the sleeves of Doumeki's uniform, and tearing his skin.

"No, no, no, no! Stop it!" the bespectacled teen protested, screwing his eyes shut.

Kieran drifted towards him, her cold fingers finding their way upon Watanuki's cheek. "But I enjoy this game, why should I stop playing it?"

Doumeki struggled upright, his teeth grit in pain. "It's him you're feeding off of, isn't it?" he grunted, staggering towards Kieran and the shadow-bound Watanuki.

Kieran smirked smugly. "You've found out my secret, Shizuka-chan!" she giggled. "Your lover's emotions are exquisite, so lovely. I couldn't help but want to feed off of them!"

Watanuki grew faint, swaying in the shadow's grasp. "No," he gasped. He was afraid now, even more so than he was when Kieran began to attack. He was scared that he would actually kill Doumeki with his feelings. He was already bleeding so much! "Run! Please! Get away from here, Shizuka! You'll be killed!" Tears were streaming down Watanuki's face. He was scared, afraid for Doumeki, and afraid for himself.

The archer wobblingly stood, using his bow for support. He stared intensely at Watanuki, scowling. "I won't leave you."

Watanuki whimpered. "But I'm scared!"

"All the more reason not to leave."

Kieran smirked. "What a deep bond you two have," she chimed, clapping her hands like an over-excited fangirl. "All the more reason to have you killed," she hissed happily. She pointed her staff at the archer, and he suddenly was there, right next to Kieran, in front of Watanuki. "And you will have the best place to watch him die, Kimi-chan!"

The shadow began to bubble around Watanuki, and it split in two, the new half wrapping around Doumeki. The archer struggled for a moment, then was bound completely.

The empath grinned evilly, her teeth gleaming between her parted lips. She raised her staff and…

All Watanuki could do was watch. Everything seemed to become like the slow motion scenes in a movie, and he could see so vividly as everything was colored red…

And then it was over, still in slow motion, and the haunted boy was aware that he was screaming, he was choking, and Shizuka—his Shizuka, his protector, his lover—was on the ground, shadows receding, showing him broken and bloody…

With the staff going straight through his heart…

And time sped up.

"SHIZUKA!"