Chapter 4: Shiki, Varuga, and Niji
Tohru kept himself as close to the wall and Natsuno and as far away from the Children of Circus as he possibly could. "I heard everything you guys said while I was asleep," he said. "I'm NOT a Varuga, but it's understandable how you could mistake me as one."
Gareki and the others gathered around. Nai was almost in Gareki's lap, and Yogi was sitting closer than what he was comfortable with. Tsukumo rolled her eyes at the boys, why was it always some kind of contest between the two of them to see who got closer to Gareki?
"Then what the hell are you?" Gareki asked.
Natsuno felt Tohru's hands catch hold of his shirttail and cling tight. "I'm what some would call an Okiagari, or Vampire. Specifically, I'm a new member of a clan that has recently begun calling itself Shiki," he started to explain.
"Corpse demon?" Tsukumo asked.
Tohru nodded. "Most Vampire stories tell of someone being turned after having been drained of all their blood. Some stories say you have to drink the vampire's blood. Either way, they always tell of the person being turned suddenly becoming this blood-crazed monster who's only thoughts are to seduce and feed. Shiki… are a little different. We're drained and killed by our sires, but we're only able to come back if we have regrets that tie us to the mortal coil. When we rise up, we keep our souls, feeding because we know we need to, sometimes going into an uncontrollable frenzy when the hunger becomes too strong. But we regret our actions. We don't mindlessly kill, we only feed to survive. But, like your Varuga, our bodily fluids are…unusual."
"Unusual, how?" Nai asked curiously.
"As the little mouse over there has already figured out, I'm the one who bit Natsuno," Tohru admitted.
"I'm not a mouse, I'm a Niji!" Nai objected.
"My hands were forced, I had to do it in order to save him from two members of my clan who are much stronger, and much more ruthless than I am. The venom in my fangs work as a powerful hypnotic. One bite and I could have rendered him into a temporary state of paralysis, then ordered him to do anything I asked. It would be as though I were turning him into a ghoul or a thrall, much like my sire did when I was turned."
Natsuno's eyes widened when Tohru said this. What was he talking about? What had Megumi Shimizu made Tohru do during those nights? He suddenly felt a pain in his stomach and his heart wrenched, and to make matters worse, he knew Nai sensed it. Shimizu and Tatsumi had paralyzed him and forced him to watch that first night she attacked Tohru. Her words rang in his head. "I hate this guy. You get along with him so much better than me. Why can't you look at me the way you look at him? So… I'm going to take him from you." Natsuno closed his eyes and forced himself to hold back the tears he knew wanted to escape them. There had been nothing he could do in time to save Tohru, but with those words, Megumi had pushed all the blame for Tohru's fate onto him.
"As for our blood," Tohru continued, "We heal quickly. You can torture us and cut us, burn our skin, scramble our brains, even poison us, and we'll survive it all. Our hearts may not beat, we may not have a pulse, but somehow, the blood still flows through our veins. The blood itself is alive, like a parasite. It's what heals us. Whenever blood from a foreign entity is introduced to it, our blood breaks it down and absorbs it, assimilating it into our own. This in itself seems similar to how a Varuga can be created by someone coming in contact with the blood of a preexisting one."
Yogi looked like he was about to faint, Tohru had gotten pretty graphic with his explanation, and for some reason, it was giving him uncomfortable flashbacks to the time he spent in laboratories during his childhood. "IDIOT!" Gareki thought with a smirk, noticing the look on Yogi's face. "So, you can survive all that? Surely you have some weaknesses, right?"
The red lights in Tohru's eyes flashed as his grip on Natsuno's shirttail tightened and he slowly tilted his head up to look at the black-haired teenager. Nai shivered and attempted to move even closer to Gareki. "Why would I tell you how to kill me?" Tohru asked.
"I thought maybe I could put you out of your misery," Gareki scoffed.
"Don't do me any favors," Tohru sighed, looking away.
"You'll have to get through me first," Natsuno thought as he glared at Gareki. He was beginning to dislike this guy more and more every time he opened his mouth. He stiffened and nearly blushed when he felt Tohru's forehead gently press against his back. He found it a little ironic that the Shiki was acting so frightened of this group of kids. But what was he really afraid of; what they would do to him, or what he could do to them? "Tohru, let go of my shirt already, would you?" Natsuno sighed, "It's not like I've got a spare if you rip it." Tohru reluctantly let go. The moss green shirt wasn't Natsuno's favorite, but as he said, it was the only one he had. "We won't give you exact details," Natsuno said, "But if you guys know anything about Vampires, then you should know enough. I only offer that much of a hint incase any of his clan turn up. It appears none of us know how we got here. If any other Shiki had been watching us the other night, it's possible they're here, too. Tohru-Chan's too much of fraidy cat to be any kind of threat."
"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence," Tohru remarked, standing up.
Natsuno turned at the waist, keeping his hands on his knees, and tilting his head up to look at Tohru. "Now, where do you think you're going?"
Tohru closed his eyes and sighed. "Out to hunt," he replied. "For starters, there's too many humans in this cave, I've got to get some fresh air before the smell of blood forces me into another frenzy. Second, I was worried that rabbit I brought you last night wasn't going to be enough, but it was all I could find. Maybe I can bring back a deer or two, or at least something bigger than a rabbit tonight for all of you."
Natsuno stood up. "Hold on a second? You're going out alone again? Don't you at least need to feed first yourself?"
Tohru shook his head. "I told you, it's not as fulfilling or palatable but I can survive with the blood of animals. You need to give yourself another day or two to recover from what I've already drank! Natsuno, you like to act tough, but I can sense it, you're still really weak from last time. I took more than I should have, and I'm sorry for that." Tohru knew it would embarrass him, but he did it anyway; he reached over and ruffled his hand through Natsuno's hair. "Right now, I just want you to get better."
Natsuno flinched and swatted Tohru's hand away. "Idiot!" the purple-haired teen scoffed. "Fine, go ahead. Just be careful out there. … It sounds like we're all running from our own demons tonight."
Tohru gave a weak smile and nodded. Natsuno quietly wondered how long it would take before he saw the Shiki smile like he use to. It almost gave him physical pain to see Tohru so melancholy. "Perhaps Nai-Chan can go with you?" Yogi suggested. Everyone blinked and turned their attention to the violet-eyed blonde.
"Yogi?" Nai chirped.
"What the hell?" Gareki growled.
"I'm not sure taking the mouse with me will be a good idea," Tohru said. "He's clearly frightened to be anywhere near me."
"Why do you keep calling me that?" Nai asked, turning back to the blonde Shiki. "I'm a Niji, not a mouse."
Tohru gave him a soft smile. "I'm sorry if it offends you," he apologized, "But I don't know what a Niji is. I DO however know what a mouse or a rat smells like, and your own scent isn't too far off from that. I figured calling you a mouse would be much more polite than calling you a rat."
"He's just a fluff ball with wings," Gareki scoffed, ignoring the blush on Nai's face. Yogi looked at Gareki, curiously, almost as if he was surprised Gareki used that terminology in reference to Nai of all people.
Tsukumo pulled out her portable compad. She'd tried it before, while she and Nai were looking for Gareki, there was no signal to allow her to contact the Second Ship, nor any of the rest of their team, but she could still access stored data with it. A few button presses, and a 3-D holograph of a Niji was projected. It was a small white, rabbit-like creature with red eyes and a pair of wings, lavender tips on it's feathered-looking ears-much like Nai's white hair with lavender tips, a pair of yellow horns on the top of it's head, and a long slender tail with a white lion-like tuft of fur at the end. "This is a Niji," she said calmly. "It's a creature from the Niji Forest-also known as the Rainbow Forest who's environment causes mirages, forcing its fauna to rely on their sense of hearing. Niji are an endangered species native solely to this area and because of the environment, they have excellent hearing. Yogi-Kun was suggesting Nai go with you because he could help you listen for animals to hunt."
Tohru's eyes widened at the image and he smiled. "Aaww…! So cute!"
Nai flinched and blushed. Natsuno blinked, was that the old Tohru coming back? That was the closest to his old familiar smile Natsuno had seen from him in days. "Maybe the kid should go with him. Tohru-Chan's use to playing the protective big brother."
"I'm still not sure that's a good idea. There are three people in this cave who their blood is just calling out to me. Unfortunately, Nai-Chan is one of them," Tohru objected, "He'd be safer here until I find something else to feed off of."
Natsuno turned to face Tohru. "Then who are the other two?" he asked curiously.
Tohru blushed. "You of course," he said, "I can't explain it, but as I told you last night, your's is the best I've tasted yet. Ever since I first sank my fangs into you, my body's been aching for more and I'm doing all I can to fight it." Natsuno flinched and blushed. The Shiki's eyes shifted toward Yogi. "And, there's something decidedly different about Yogi-Kun's as well. Something not quite human, yet very… tantalizing."
Nai fidgeted for a moment. He had been frightened of Tohru because he couldn't read him. But now he was starting to understand, he couldn't hear the Shiki's heart, but he could sense the blood running through him. He suddenly realized that Tohru was originally much like Yogi, hyper, happy, and easy to befriend, but his current sad, timid demeanor was due to his transformation, and the current friction between him and Natsuno that it had caused. The Niji's big red eyes looked up at the blonde Shiki, even after hearing how tempting his blood was to the Okiagari, he no longer felt any fear. "Um…?" he timidly chirped, "I'll go, if he's willing to let me."
"Like hell you are!" Gareki growled. "Not without supervision. We can't send Yogi, though, it needs to be someone who this guy thinks looks less like a buffet table."
"Then your little pet can stay, Tohru's not going anywhere with you," Natsuno insisted.
"F-Y-I, I didn't say I was going to go, but that someone had to," Gareki pointed, "And it's got nothing to do with your corpse demon there. Nai attracts Varuga like flies."
Tsukumo rolled her eyes and sighed. She was the only girl in the cave, yet Gareki and Natsuno were carrying enough testosterone for all six people it was starting to annoy her. "I'LL GO!" she insisted, standing up. "This environment's too hostile right now."
Tohru sighed. "No offense, but if anyone's going to come with me, I'd rather it just be one person," he insisted. "A hunting party much larger than two might become cumbersome. Nai-Chan, I do appreciate the offer, but do you think you could keep up with me?"
Natsuno gave a quiet smile, but tried to hide it. At this point, he would gladly welcome anything to bring Tohru back to his old self, Nai's innocent naivety was a possible push in that direction. Nai nodded, "I can do my best!"
Tohru smiled again, even brighter than before. "Alright then," he said, rubbing the top Nai's head, "It's settled, then. Let's go hunting."
"You'd better bring him back unharmed," Gareki scowled.
"Gareki-Kun, I'm sure Nai-Chan will be fine," Yogi assured him.
Tsukumo couldn't take it anymore. "Honestly, grow up already, all of you," she grumbled.
"Huh?" Yogi chirped as the others watched the girl stand and head for the cave entrance. "Tsukumo-Chan, where are you going?" he asked.
"I'm stepping out for some fresh air," she replied, "Don't worry, I won't venture too far. Nai-Chan, have fun with Tohru-Kun, but be careful."
Nai smiled and nodded, "Uh-huh!"
