hope you all enjoy the latest installment!

"Sora, calm down." Seshin said as he tried to console the terrified teen. Sora simply sat there shaking in place as icy beads of sweat dripped down his forehead.

"b-but you should have seen them. They had fangs Seshin. FANGS! Like vampires or something! And their eyes, they were as black and soulless as the night. I knew they smelled weird." He said as he panted from the exhausting sprint home.

"smelled weird? Sora, I'm sure you were just paranoid. You've been through a lot and you haven't dealt with much of it yet, and maybe it manifested as a fear of strangers or you saw something that reminded you about your parents." Seshin calmly said with a warm smile. "the kirashiki's are a bit odd, but I promise they only have good intentions." Sora shot Seshin a resentful look.

"I know it's hard to believe. Frankly I wouldn't have believed myself if I hadn't seen it, but I promise you I'm telling the truth." Seshin put a comforting hand on Sora's shoulder.

"I never said you weren't, you saw what you saw and I'm sure it was just as real as I am, all I'm saying is that the cause wasn't something to fear. Hallucinations can be a powerful thing, they've certainly motivated people to do rash things before. Just think about it for a few days, and then you should walk over and apologize for being rude." Sora backed away.

"hell no, I'm not going back up there, I can call them or if I see one of them on the streets I'll think about apologizing, but I will. never. EVER. Go to that mansion again." Sora spat indignantly. Seshin simply sighed.

"I'm sorry its shaken you up so much, but just try to work it through in your mind and take some time to relax." Seshin said kindly. Sora looked away, a guilty expression was plastered all over his face. "now what's that look for?" Seshin asked curiously.

"I know it wasn't a major errand or anything, but I didn't mean to let you down" Sora said with a sigh.

"it's alright. You probably just need rest" Seshin led the exhausted Sora back to his room in the back corner of the temple, he resisted playfully, but Seshin won him over and Sora relegated himself to a night's sleep. Or at least he attempted to, until he heard rustling in the bushes outside. He suddenly felt his heart drop. Could it be one of those…things? A cold shiver crept down his spine at the thought.

"did they follow me here?!" he thought as his eyes snapped open. trembling, he walked over to the desk Seshin had placed in his room and slowly opened the drawer. It creaked and groaned as Sora slowly jimmied it open, he took a quick look inside and retrieved a small trinket tucked away in the back corner. It was a small omamori charm and Sora eyed it skeptically. "I figured Seshin might have slipped something like this in here…." He sighed. "I never really believed in Shinto tradition but I guess he thought it might help me out…. they might be vampires…and vampires don't like this stuff right?" he thought aloud as he pocketed the charm…" come to think of it, I get an uneasy feeling myself looking at it…" Sora thought to himself for a moment. "ever since the day of the fire something hasn't seemed quite right about me…I feel so weird lately…maybe it's just puberty…." Sora shrugged his shoulders. He snapped back into focus and steeled himself. Once he took a deep breath he slowly walked towards the door. He paused and listened for a moment. There is was again, the same rustling sound. As he exhaled he cracked the door open and stuck his head outside. He looked around the courtyard of the temple as he tried his hardest to identify the source of the noise but the whole place was quiet. Bracing himself once more, Sora cautiously inched his way out of his room. It took a moment, but he was standing in the center of the courtyard at last. He sharpened his ears and listened for the noise once more.

"rustle"

He instantly locked on to its source when he heard it outside.

"the woods" Sora thought as he looked into the thick brush at the back edge of the temple. He started walking towards the woods that hugged the temple, picking up an old shovel lying next to a building as he made his way. It felt light in his hands, and the metal was cool to the touch. Sora moved some overgrown tree branches and made his way into the thick of the forest, just a few yards away from the temple. He heard the rustling once more, though this time it was louder, and it seemed to be coming towards him, he readied the shovel, holding it in his hands like a club as a gaunt mangy dog charged him, shrieking and barking as if it was caught in a bear trap. Without thinking he swung the shovel as hard as he could, its flat side smashing the dog's ribs. Sora heard a sickening crunch as the animal flew into the side of a tree from the force of the swing. He felt a surge of guilt as his hands recoiled from the blow. He stuck the shovel into the ground as he went over to the dog. He looked it over carefully, it wasn't moving, and Sora couldn't see it breathing. He was reluctant to touch it, worried he might get some kind of disease from the fleas and ticks it was coated in, so he backed away from it.

"its head is sitting at an odd angle…its neck must have snapped when it hit the tree…I guess this is what was making the noise" Sora slapped himself in the face, "damn paranoia is getting to me…sorry dog…" he said regrettably. As he walked back to the temple he picked the shovel up, there wasn't any blood on it much to Sora's relief. he certainly didn't want to clean it after all. He shook himself off one last time and crept back into bed, leaving the charm in his pocket.

The next morning.

"ugh…" Sora lamented as he tried to sleep at lunch. Megumi had a hand sitting on his back. She flashed him a concerned look as she began to work out a knot in his shoulder.

"what's wrong Sora?" she asked gently. He looked over at her, and she grimaced when she noticed how bloodshot and baggy his eyes were "ew, you look horrible. Are you getting sick again?" she asked with a haughty smile.

"No. I…I'm fine…" he said groggily.

"you really do look drained." She gently whispered to him. "anyway I was wondering if you might go somewhere with me today?" she pressed her hands together in a pleading motion. Sora looked her over.

"we're sort of a couple now right? I guess I can spare the time" he said casually. "I still don't know how I feel about her…she certainly is gorgeous, and without me she's basically alone…. but is it right to stay with someone just because you feel sorry for them?" he looked on at Megumi''s innocently smiling face. "then again she's MY only friend too, and I do seem to enjoy my time with her, even if she gives me weird vibes….so where do you want to go megumi?" she smiled devilishly.

"the family finally moved into the big mansion. I wanted to meet them."

"NO!" Sora screeched as he recoiled in fear. Megumi looked at him almost in shock, which quickly turned to indignation.

"and why not?" she asked angrily. She gave him a harsh glare before she noticed his hands trembling, she grabbed them in an effort to calm them. "what's wrong Sora? For real?" she asked with genuine concern.

"don't go to that house…avoid it at all costs along with the people inside." Sora gave her a dreadful look.

"what do you mean? You have to give me a reason." She responded irritably.

"I guess I can trust megumi with the information at least… Seshin sent me to meet them yesterday. He wanted me to give them a housewarming present. So I go up to their place and I meet the man who owns the mansion. Seshiro, and his servant Tatsumi. They invite me in for tea and everything is going well. I mean, Tatsumi smelled really REALLY weird, but that's not what I'm terrified of." Megumi gave him a confused look.

"he smelled weird? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she asked, growing irritated.

"I don't know…like, he didn't smell like a normal person. You know how each person sort of smells differently yet sort of similarly too? Well Tatsumi just smelled differently, like he was a different kind of species or something." Sora said as megumi continued to look at him with sheer bewilderment.

"what? Are you a dog or something? What do you mean everyone smells differently?" she asked with genuine curiosity.

"I don't know. I thought everyone knew about it, I just thought it was something that develops with puberty or something." She eyed him skeptically.

"what do I smell like?" she asked with a devilish smile.

"hard to tell since you usually bathe in hooker perfume…" Sora thought sarcastically. He walked closer to her and took a sniff. "sweet. You aren't wearing that awful flowery perfume today, that's for sure" she glanced back in surprised irritation.

"what's wrong with my perfume?!" she asked nervously.

"there's nothing wrong with the fruity one you wear sometimes, I like it, what is it, tropical berry or something?"

"pinacolatta…." She said irritably.

"yeah, it's the flowery one I hate" he said matter of factly.

"well who asked you." She spat bitterly.

"you did…. either way we've gone off topic." He said, calmed from the distracting exchange. He took a deep breath.

"everything was going just fine until his wife and daughter walked into the room, it seemed like Seshiro and I had hit it off great. But when those two came in…" he shook his head as megumi eyed him, lost in the story. "It was as if a cold chill washed over the place."

"you got scared because they gave you weird vibes?" she interrupted.

"let me finish." Sora spat right back. "they walked up, and the woman flirted with me for a moment. Then the little girl patted my head…. but…." Sora shivered in place." Then they grabbed my arms, I wanted to leave but their grips grew tighter, almost like a vice. I insisted on leaving, practically begged at that point. But then I took a look in the wife, chizuru's, mouth…I saw fangs, megumi. They were an inch long and white as ivory! And their eyes' were black and soulless. I swear to Christ, or Buddha or whoever we're supposed to be worshipping in this town, I saw them. They must be vampires or something." He was starting to shake again. So megumi put her arm around his shoulder and kissed his cheek.

"I'm sure you're just scared, a lot has happened to you lately, so maybe it was all too much to bear and turned into a vision or something." Sora's heart dropped.

"Seshin basically said the exact same thing to me, save the affection…why would I expect anyone to believe such a crazy story? I'm kinda hurt megumi doesn't either but I guess I can't expect anything…maybe I WAS just seeing things…" he looked away, pride crushed. He grabbed Megumi''s hands and looked into her eyes. "megumi… I might just be seeing things, no…I'm certain I am. But don't go near that place unless you're with me. Even if there is the smallest chance something could be going on, I don't' want you to risk it okay?" he pleaded. She looked him in the eye and blushed.

"okay. I won't." she agreed. "but I want to see the house up close, so please take me sometime" she pleaded excitedly.

Yesterday

Tatsumi paced around the mansion foyer, gnawing his fangs.

"something wasn't quite right about that kid…" he muttered angrily.

"give it a rest, it's not good for you to stress out like this." Chizuru muttered as she sat back on a comfy sofa.

"you don't understand. He smelled so weird. And I KNOW that smell. I can't quite put my finger on it." He looked at her derisively.

"you jinrou, I swear, you might as well be dogs with that sense of smell you have." Tatsumi brushed her off.

"people all sort of have a similar smell, but he didn't smell like a human, no. I'd say he smelled more like me or Yoshie." Tatsumi surmised. "besides you know jinrou can do more than just smell well. All five senses are amplified far beyond a normal human's level, and unlike normal vampires we can walk out in the sunlight. Not to mention the enormous strength." He chastised her.

"yeah, but you'll still waste away if you don't eat blood, true you don't need it as often as a normal vampire, but still. And even you can't walk into a place without being invited in, so don't go thinking you're better than us standard vampires" she gloated with a sly smile on her face. Tatsumi returned a tepid smile of his own.

"ugh… this plan of Sunako's is sure to fail, but at least the ride will be fun…tell Sunako she won't need to send a vampire after him, I'll take a look." Tatsumi cracked his knuckles as he walked out of the mansion. He sniffed the air "he said he lived near the temple, so I guess I'll take the path up to it" Tatsumi walked along under the glow of the moonlight, he clung to the edge of the road, out of the notice of the villagers. Once he reached the long flight of steps towards the temple he was hit with a familiar feeling.

"right…I need to be invited…I'm sure he's told someone about us, so I probably shouldn't even bother. I'll just loop around the forest and spy on him, if he is a jinrou then he could prove a valuable asset." Tatsumi smirked as he walked into the thick forest. He trekked through what was undoubtedly a harder climb than the steps would have been. More than once he could feel himself tripping on a wayward tree root, or swatting a branch away only to have it smack him in the face seconds later. "backwards ass villagers can't even keep the area trimmed" Tatsumi thought bitterly. He crouched behind a bush in the back of the temple. He looked into Sora's room from the small window. "now…how to draw him out." Tatsumi thought to himself as a mangy dog walked up behind him. "oh, looks like he could hear the noise." Tatsumi thought to himself as the dog growled. He reached around and smacked in hard in the face. "quiet mutt." It got angry growling and snarling from the pain. Tatsumi ignored it and jumped into the branch of one of the trees above him. He looked closely and noticed Sora walking outside. The dog was scratching the trunk of the tree so Tatsumi broke off a twig, he watched as Sora entered the woods. "alright then, let's see how you handle this" Tatsumi leapt onto another branch facing in front of the dog and threw the twig at it knocking it right on the head, mistaking the attacker for Sora, the dog charged him. As if by instinct Sora swung the shovel instantly, sending the dog careening several meters into a tree. Even from his high position Tatsumi could see the surprised look on Sora's face.

"forgot to conceal your strength huh? That proves it. No normal person could strike with such force…I better report back to Sunako. With him, our plan might not be doomed to failure after all." Tatsumi laughed.

"no…that's just wishful thinking"

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