Disclaimer: If I owned it, it would be even weirder than it already is. Bless it. So, no, I don't own it. ;.;
Rating: Argh. Shall we say about a PG-13 for now? Might (probably will) change, so please check the rating each chapter. Don't wanna be sued by some angry parent now, do I? No.
Warnings: AU, kinda dark, bit angsty, shounen-ai both hinted and clear, blood, violence, some language… Check back here each chapter!
Summary: Yukimura Seiichi doesn't know just how far he'll have to go in the name of demon hunter when he comes across a sadistic Vampire shrouded in enigma.
-.-; … God, I suck at summaries.
Author's notes: Many thanks to Yoshikochan, Merissala, Darkdemoncat and of course my patched kitten for their reviews:) You guys are fantasmic.
Dedicated to Linc, who deserves every drop of love. :)
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Yukimura's mind raced. Why was Saeki so worked up about it?
"It's a binding charm," he said through gritted teeth, wincing in pain. "For a powerful demon that I trapped three years ago."
"What was his name?" demanded Saeki.
"Um…" Yukimura struggled to remember.
There was a resounding crack as the Vampire effortlessly broke the demon hunter's leg. Yukimura yelled out in agony, white hot pain racing up his entire body and making his vision dance.
"What was his name?" Saeki repeated fiercely, fangs bared. He waited for a few moments until Yukimura got his breathing back under control, then repeated the question again.
"Begins with an 'F'…" Yukimura panted. Then his memory clicked. "Oh, Fuji! Fuji Syuusuke," he said.
Saeki stared at Yukimura stonily for a second, then abruptly got up off him, retreating back about a metre. "I wouldn't try it," he growled quietly as Yukimura immediately sat up and drew his dagger. "I'm not going to underestimate you so badly again, and there's no way in hell you can beat me with a broken leg."
Yukimura slowly lowered the dagger, but didn't put it away. His pupils were dilated with pain, but he didn't examine his leg. Prioritise, was his personal motto.
"I guess that means something to you?" he asked, watching Saeki carefully. Sure enough, the Vampire looked away a bit soon.
"Maybe," he said guardedly.
"Ah." The pain was starting to fade a bit now as his body's natural defenses against it came in. Yukimura was extremely grateful for that.
"This demon… You trapped him?"
Yukimura nodded. "Yes."
"How?"
"Like I said, this," Yukimura shook his wrist slightly, "is a binding charm. I used it to absorb part of his soul then locked him in a shadow dimension with it. They're useful little things," he added dryly.
Saeki managed to choke down his obvious outrage. "I thought demons didn't have souls?" he gritted out.
"That's just Vampires. Most demons have souls. They just don't know it."
Angrily, Saeki stared at the wooden charm. "Can you set him free?" he asked.
'Ah,' Yukimura thought. 'The hundred bu(1) question.'
"Not really," he said carefully, considering how to phrase his words. He was worryingly vulnerable right now, and caution was well in order. "Well, I could, but it'd be difficult, not to mention time-consuming."
"How difficult?"
"Mm, well…" Yukimura's voice sounded strained, which was hardly surprising. Most people would be half incoherent with pain.
"How difficult?" Saeki repeated warningly.
"It depends. I'd need a lot of things, equipment…"
"Then do it. I'll help you get whatever you need." The look on Saeki's face was one of fierce determination. Yukimura couldn't hold back his curiousity any longer. He wouldn't call himself an expert on Vampire psychology by any means, but when a Vampire went out of its way to help a creature other than themselves… Especially a demon. The two races hated each other, generally speaking. Humans were a source of easy food and entertainment, so it wouldn't be correct to say that Vampires hated them, but demons… No, something was definitely odd here.
"What does this demon mean to you?" Yukimura asked. "Do you know him?" Stupid question; surely Saeki knew him. But Yukimura couldn't think of a different way to ask.
Predictably, Saeki bared his fangs angrily and snapped, "It's none of your business."
Yukimura decided to let it drop for the moment. Slowly, painfully, he reached over to the side and pulled over a fallen branch. It was a bit too skinny to be really useful as a splint for his leg, but it was the only one in reach. He stripped down the twigs and leaves with his dagger and, biting his teeth together, he straightened his broken leg and tied it to the makeshift splint. It hurt like hell and Yukimura wanted to bite his lip just to have some other small pain to distract his mind from the bigger one. But he knew that if he wasn't careful he might draw blood from his lip by mistake, and he wasn't sure of the chances that a hungry vampire wouldn't just follow the bloodlust regardless of whether or not it needed him to free a demon acquaintance.
"I'll meet you here at noon tomorrow, then," Yukimura said when he'd finished. Unsteadily, he stood up, wincing as he tested his weight on his throbbing leg.
Saeki narrowed his eyes. "Oh no you don't. You're staying in that little village on the forest outskirts, right? I'm coming with you. You're not gonna get a chance to run away. No way in hell."
Yukimura glanced pointedly down at his leg. "The thought never crossed my mind," he said dryly.
"Huh, I'll bet. You could probably still ride a horse without too much difficulty though. I'm coming with you."
"If you think that I'm going to take you into a village full of innocent people then you've got another think coming," Yukimura replied firmly with a cool stare.
"I'm not gonna bite any of them."
Mildly amused despite himself, Yukimura said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I believe you now."
Saeki bared his fangs again, but the effect was lost on the demon hunter, who'd managed to regain almost all of his cold dignity. "I promise, I won't bite any of them. I can't, if you have to know. So there." Saeki's glare dared Yukimura to say any more on the subject. Yukimura liked dares.
"Why not? Side effect of the immortality blessing the demon gave you?" he asked.
"No. Drop it."
"Does the village have some sort of protection on it?"
"No. I mean it, drop it!"
Yukimura hesitated, but decided to press on. "What sort of thing would stop you from biting humans? You were going to bite me forty minutes ago."
Saeki looked as though he was tempted to break some more bones, but then he sighed crossly and said, "Persistant bastard, aren't you? If you really have to know, I can't…" Yukimura was intrigued to see a look of embarrassment. "Blood… makes me sick." The human stared and the Vampire glowered at the ground.
"… I'm sorry?" Yukimura said finally. "Blood makes you sick?"
"Yeah," Saeki muttered shortly.
Yukimura couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Sick? Honest to the gods sick?"
"I said yes already!" Saeki snarled. "I get a splitting migraine every time I feed. I think I'm allergic to it, or something..." The last bit was mumbled, and it took Yukimura a few seconds to work out what Saeki had said. When he had, his good leg gave way and he collapsed.
"Stop laughing!" Furious and highly embarrassed, Saeki advanced upon the helpless demon hunter, grabbing the front of his shirt and giving him a shake. "Stop laughing, damnit!"
"Y-you're allergic to blood!" Yukimura choked out through his mirth. "You're… allergic…" Words became impossible.
"Shut up!" But no matter how hard Saeki shook him, Yukimura couldn't stop laughing. Disgusted, the Vampire got up, glowering down at him. "I'll break your other leg if you don't shut up," he warned.
"Then I can't free the demon," Yukimura managed to point out through his laughter.
Angry, Saeki stamped down on the broken leg. Hard.
That made him stop laughing. Yukimura released a string of swearwords in fast succession, teeth drawing blood from his lip as he bit down. He didn't bother to lick it away as soon as he tasted it, now that he knew the Vampire couldn't feed without becoming ill. He missed the hungry look Saeki gave the droplet of crimson as he was too busy digging his nails into his hand in agony.
"Don't laugh at me again," Saeki growled. "You don't need both your legs."
In even more pain than before, Yukimura didn't answer. Giving a sigh of mock-patience, Saeki bent down and picked him up as though he weighed nothing more than a rabbit. "Tut, tut. Weren't you ever taught to respect your elders? I've got at least a good sixty years on you. It's your own fault that your leg got broken," he admonished, sounding in a much better mood. Completely ignoring Yukimura's protests and struggles, the Vampire proceeded to carry him all the way back to the village.
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"Ah, of course. It's fortunate that you were passing by, Saeki-san. And what of the Vampire?"
"Not to worry," Saeki said smoothly. "He won't be bothering your village."
"That's wonderful news. I offer you my heartfelt thanks, on behalf on my entire village."
Saeki smiled sweetly. "No thanks necessary. All in a day's work for a demon hunter."
"Quite, quite." The elder watched approvingly as Saeki carried an unconscious Yukimura upstairs to the room he'd been staying in. He shook his head admiringly. "Now there," he said to the sleepy grey cat lounging on the table, "is a fine example of humanity's finest. I can't imagine ever being able to kill a Vampire whilst simultaneously protecting a fellow injured demon hunter. Quite remarkable."
Dropping Yukimura unceromoniously on the bed, Saeki smirked in dark amusement at the elder's words. He turned and shut the door before leisurely going through the bag by the side of the bed. There wasn't really anything of particular interest in there, apart from a single silver-plated ring, crudely made. Saeki could only surmise that it had some sort of sentimental value and he rolled his eyes. Humans were so superficial. They always seemed to need a physical object to remind them of their loved ones, or past events in their lives. It was pathetic. Vampires had no such need for these things; the memories in their hearts were all that was necessary.
Saeki was startled when he heard Yukimura stir, but he recovered quickly. "Of course," he mused aloud. "You're not just any ordinary human. I keep forgetting."
Slowly, Yukimura opened his eyes. He blinked a couple of time, then sat up with a slight wince and tentatively felt the back of his head.
"You didn't have to knock me out," he said coldly.
"No," Saeki agreed, "but it was fun."
"Of course it was." Yukimura's face had suddenly gone back to being cold and expressionless. Saeki couldn't tell what he was thinking anymore, and it unnerved him a little.
"Pass me that bag," Yukimura requested. Saeki glanced down and picked it up, holding it out to him. Yukimura took it and rummaged around, taking out a small red bag. Opening it, he took out a single dried leaf of something, putting it into his mouth and chewing slowly. Then he reached over and flicked something on the side of a lantern. It flickered into life and illumianted the room.
"What's that?" Saeki asked, nodding at the red bag that Yukimura was putting away.
"Painkiller."
"Well, yeah, I kinda guessed that." When Yukimura didn't answer, Saeki shrugged to himself and sat down on the side of the bed. Yukimura instantly tensed.
"Get off."
Surprised, Saeki tilted his head to the side. "Calm down, little tiger. I'm just resting my feet."
"You can rest them elsewhere. Get off."
"Well, what's gotten your trousers in a twist?" Saeki drawled. Yeesh, this guy was totally unstable. One minute he was laughing hysterically and generally being, well, normally human, and then you knock him on the head and when he wakes up he's back to being Mr. Professional Demon Hunter.
"What do you think? You're dangerous, and I'm currently quite vulnerable. I want you as far away as the room'll allow, thank you very much," Yukimura said curtly. It hurt his pride a little to say as much, but he'd already figured out that straight answers were the quickest way as far as Saeki was concerned.
Saeki licked his lips unconsciously, grinning when he inadvertantly made Yukimura tense even more. "I guess you are, huh?"
In a flash, Yukimura had drawn his dagger. Saeki raised an eyebrow. "You already know that doesn't work," he began, but then he stopped still.
"Get off, or I'll destroy the charm," Yukimura said. He was holding the point of the dagger directly above the centre of the wooden pendant. "Then your demon will disappear into eternity."
"You wouldn't dare," breathed Saeki. For the first time, Yukimura saw fear in his eyes, and he knew that he'd won.
"Want to test that theory?"
There was a pregnant silence, then Saeki stood and backed off, stopping when his back hit a wall. "Don't destroy it," he said, sounding subdued.
Yukimura relaxed a little and he removed the dagger tip. Destroying the charm would mean that he'd have no value to Saeki whatsoever. He knew that if he destroyed the charm he'd be sealing his death, but he'd been banking on the fact that killing him wouldn't go far in making Saeki feel better.
"Right, listen. This is how it's going to work," he said assertively, not giving Saeki a chance to butt in. "I'm freeing this demon because if I want to keep sane and relatively healthy, I don't have a choice. But you need me to free the demon. That means you listen to me. I'll listen to you as well, since you have some things humans don't, but only if I think the situation calls for it."
"So, what, you want me to be your partner in justice?"
Yukimura considered this. "Yes, in a way," he agreed.
A scowl descended on Saeki's face again. His mood changes were faster than most Vampires Yukimura had come across. He wasn't sure whether to see that as a good, bad, or totally irrelevant thing. "Fuck that," said Saeki rudely. "I'm not human anymore, and I'm not going to help you kill other non-humans."
"I'm not asking you to help. Just to not intefere," said Yukimura.
It was obvious that Saeki didn't like the idea at all. Yukimura waited patiently as the Vampire weighed his options, gently rubbing his thigh to get rid of the uncomfortable numbness that was a side effect of the painkiller he'd taken.
Eventually, Saeki seemed to have come to a decision. "Fine," he grated out. "For as long as it takes to free Syuu… the demon."
"Good. Then we're agreed."
"Only just," Saeki muttered.
Yukimura ignored this. "Good night, then. Do you need to sleep?"
"Not tonight, no."
"You may as well anyway."
Saeki shook his head. "I'll just stay awake. Watch the nightlife, or something."
"Don't leave the room, then."
Saeki's teeth ground together audibly at being given orders, but he nodded stiffly and settled himself on the floor, leaning against the wall.
"We start tomorrow, right?" he said as Yukimura managed to manouver his broken leg into a position he could sleep in.
"Wake me at first light."
Yukimura flicked off the lantern and plunged the room into darkness. Even though his eyes were closed, he could feel brown eyes boring into him. With a quiet sigh, he resigned himself to a restless night's sleep.
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(1) Right, ok. I wanted this set in… I dunno, in the past. Like an Alternative Universe Feudal Japan, or something. So for currency I used the currency of Feudal Japan. One bu is about £100 (approx. $188).
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Sandy: Mwa ha. The adventure begins! Or some such corny line :D
If you liked it, then please, please review! As always, questions, ideas, suggestions, etc are more than welcome. :) Especially if I've made some sort of stupid error that needs sorting out xD
See you in a week!