Shizuru awoke to find herself in a prone position, laying upon what felt like a soft cushiony surface.
Her head was aching horribly, and she had a sharp pain in both her shoulder and her neck. Letting out a light moan at her utter discomfort, Shizuru struggled to open her eyes and that's when she felt a cool cloth being placed on her forehead, and a light touch easing gently down the side of her face.
Slowing opening her eyes, Shizuru was greeted with a darkened room, and an image of someone hovering before her. She blinked her eyelids a few times to try to bring her vision into better focus, and finally she was able to better see who was before her.
It was Natsuki, who was looking down at Shizuru with a highly worried expression on her face, and Shizuru could have sworn she saw a fleeting look of guilt before it quickly vanished, when Natsuki saw that Shizuru was finally awake.
"Natsuki...?" Shizuru lightly croaked out, the pain in her neck flaring up briefly when she spoke, before it settled down into a light throb.
"Shh shh, Shizuru. Don't try to speak just yet. Your neck and throat are going to be sore for a little while longer, so you just rest okay. You're also running a bit of a high fever, so don't try to move around too much right now. I'll watch over you, I swear. You just rest now," Natsuki said with a light swallow, as she tried to avoid looking directly into Shizuru's eyes, as the guilt at what she had done to the chestnut-haired woman before her raged within her.
It's too early...it's too soon. I can't tell Shizuru what has happened to her yet...I can't reveal that to her right now when she's so sick and weak. Her body is still adjusting to the changes, even though her transformation is complete. Shizuru is...like me now...a creature of the night...a monster...oh, will you ever be able to forgive me for this Shizuru! Because I don't think that I could forgive me if I was you...Natsuki thought mournfully to herself, as she lightly dabbed Shizuru's forehead with the damp cloth again.
Shizuru nodded her head tiredly at Natsuki's request that she get some more rest, and so she closed her crimson eyes and let herself drift off into a slightly agitated sleep.
Natsuki watched Shizuru's resting face for a few more minutes, before she leaned forward and pressed her lips gently against Shizuru's cheek, and then leaned back with a slightly dejected sigh. Then slowly rising to her feet Natsuki made her way out of her bedroom, closing the bedroom door softly behind her.
************
Three days later when her fever had finally broken and she was feeling more alert, Shizuru was sitting up against a pile of pillows on Natsuki's bed.
Natsuki sat on a high chair beside the bed, and she was gently holding Shizuru's hand, lightly running her thumbs across the back of Shizuru's hands.
"Shizuru...there is...there is something that I have to tell you. I didn't want to say anything to you while you were so sick, but now that you're feeling better there's no excuse to postpone saying this any longer," Natsuki said as she looked everywhere but directly into Shizuru's intense ruby eyes.
Natsuki then felt a light squeeze on her hand, and she finally allowed herself to look at Shizuru's face, and what she saw was the other woman giving her a small warm smile.
"It's okay Natsuki. You know that you can tell me anything. So please go on, what is it that you wanted to tell me?" Shizuru asked, as she gave the hands holding hers another light squeeze.
Natsuki felt her throat constrict a bit as it went dry, and she had to clear her throat a couple times before she was able to speak again.
"Well, first off I have to tell you thank you. Thank you for saving my life by doing what you did. I really really really wish that you hadn't decided to do such a reckless thing, and endanger your life like that just for me, but...you did do it...and so I am eternally grateful for you being such an amazingly wonderful and brave person for doing that for me. I am forever in your debt," Natsuki said as she bowed her head slightly to Shizuru.
Natsuki then felt a light touch under her chin, and she felt her head being raised back up to face the mesmerizing view of Shizuru smiling beautifully at her.
"Silly Natsuki, how can you say that you are in my debt, when you have saved me numerous times now. If there is one of us to be in the others debt, then that person would be me. What I did to save you...I honestly can't even say that I knew that I was going to do it. All I remember briefly thinking was that I didn't want you to die...I couldn't allow you to die...and so I stepped before you. I don't...remember much of anything that happened after that besides the excruciating pain in my shoulder, and then later an equally excruciating and also burning pain that started in my neck, and then worked its way throughout my entire body. Then I briefly remember waking up here a few times, feeling hot and intensely miserable, but still soothed as I could feel you always there by my side," Shizuru said with a light smile towards Natsuki.
Natsuki squeezed her eyes shut for a few seconds, took some deep calming breaths, before she re-opened her eyes, and gave Shizuru a determined and serious look.
"Shizuru, the thing that I wanted to tell you about...it's kind of...no...it's very hard to say, and I honestly don't know how you're going to react to it. Or if you'll ever forgive me for what I had to do...but...Shizuru...that pain in your neck that you felt on and off over the last few days...I...when you were shot...and you lay there bleeding, slowly dying in my arms...I just couldn't...I had to...I didn't have a choice!" Natsuki exclaimed as she squeezed her eyes shut again, before she took a deep breath and then said what she had to say all in one go.
"Shizuru in order to save your life, to keep you from dying there in my arms...Shizuru...I bit you and turned you into a vampire!"
Dead silence.
There was nothing but utter and complete dead silence from Shizuru, and Natsuki felt the hand in hers stiffen terribly, even though it didn't pull away from her own.
Natsuki dared to open her eyes to see what Shizuru's reaction was, and Natsuki felt her heart break at the utterly-shocked and lost expression on Shizuru's face.
"I...I'm a...I'm a vampire...?" Shizuru asked in a small voice. Natsuki cringed inwardly as she mutely nodded her head.
Shizuru sat silent for a few seconds more, before she lay back against the pillows behind her head, and looked quietly at the ceiling as she processed this new startling revelation. But she never let go of Natsuki's hand the entire time, and Natsuki felt pathetically grateful for that.
Shizuru then took a deep breath and slowly released it, before she looked over and focused her intense crimson gaze back onto Natsuki.
"I guess that means that I can now leap tall buildings in a single bound," Shizuru said in a lightly teasing tone.
Natsuki felt the pressure that she had been under crack a bit, and she couldn't help letting out a small laugh that escaped passed her lips.
Shizuru smiled gently at Natsuki, and lightly squeezed their joined hands again.
"While I do admit that this is quite a bit of a shock, I can see how this happened and why you did what you did. I am not angry or upset with you, Natsuki. You did the only thing that you could do to save me from dying," Shizuru said to Natsuki with a soft smile.
Natsuki let out a loud sigh of relief before she rose to her feet, leaned forward, and gave a slightly-surprised Shizuru a tight hug.
"Thank you, Shizuru...thank you for accepting this. I never ever wanted to hurt you, and making the decision to do what I did was the most painful, and difficult thing that I've had to do in a very very long time. But I just could not let you to die, especially when it was in place of me dying. So thank you again for accepting it all so well," Natsuki whispered into Shizuru's chestnut tresses.
Shizuru raised her hand, and gently began to run her fingers through Natsuki's dark mane. The two stayed like that, pressed close together for a few precious seconds more, before Natsuki leaned back and gave Shizuru a lopsided smile.
"And yes, you can now leap tall buildings in a single bound."
Shizuru let out an amused laugh, which made Natsuki grin as the two of them enjoyed the moment together.
************
Two days later found Shizuru and Natsuki back at Shizuru's home. Shizuru had recovered well enough to travel, and Natsuki had given her a ride back home in her car.
Nao had mysteriously vanished again after the showdown with the werewolves, but Natsuki wasn't worried. She knew that the redheaded vampire was off doing her own thing, also more than likely avoiding Shizuru until she was ready to face that particularly thorny situation. After all Nao had tried to eat Shizuru, so Nao was more than likely laying low in one of her favourite haunts, until she felt it was a good time to come back.
Mikoto had taken to sleeping over at Mai's apartment lately, as the apricot-haired human seemed to be growing more and more attached to the golden-eyed vampire. Natsuki knew she was probably going to have to have a 'talk' with Mikoto soon about the fact that Mai still didn't know that Mikoto was a vampire, and she now knew from much experience that it was best to reveal that secret as soon as possible. But Natsuki decided that she'd handle that particular situation a little later. Right now, she was trying to explain to Shizuru how she would 'feed' or eat from now on.
"It is as you said, Natsuki. I no longer feel...hungry...at least not for human food anymore. Why I don't even really feel for my precious tea anymore," Shizuru said with a sorrowful sigh from her seated position on her living room couch. Natsuki sat beside her, her arm slung lazily along the back of the couch behind Shizuru's head.
Natsuki then leaned forward slowly and reached out with the hand not on the couch, and gently turned Shizuru's face towards hers.
Shizuru's breath caught lightly in her lungs as she was held captive in Natsuki's emerald-eyed gaze, before she heard Natsuki begin to speak softly to her.
"I'm sorry, Shizuru. I know how much you love and enjoy your teas. But even though our bodies no longer require the sustenance that human foods once gave us, we can still enjoy the flavour and taste of eating such foods and drinks. So, you don't have to give up your favourite pastime. And as you know, I quite enjoyed having teatime with you as well," Natsuki said with a light smile, that reached all the way up to her sparkling-green eyes.
Shizuru nodded slightly, as she felt with a small twinge of regret Natsuki's fingers leaving her chin.
"So, I assume that I now have to consume...blood...to sustain my energy and life?" Shizuru said with a slight cringe that did not go unnoticed by Natsuki.
"Yeah sorry, Zuru...this is just how things are for us now," Natsuki said with a sympathetic smile, as she played lightly with Shizuru's silken tresses using the hand that was laying on the back of the couch.
"I know that you don't...attack humans to drink their blood, so how do you survive?" Shizuru asked with a curious tilt of her head, as she resisted the urge to shiver lightly at the feel of Natsuki's fingers running smoothly through her hair.
"Oh, I just go to one of the many blood banks that are hidden around Fuuka, Kyoto, and the surrounding provinces and cities. There is an entire underground network that caters to every kind of creature out there. Vampires, werewolves, and most other supernatural entity that you can think of that's out there." Here Natsuki stopped for a minute, as she took in Shizuru's wide-eyed crimson gaze.
"You mean to tell me that there are other things out there besides us that are real? Things that indeed do go 'bump in the night', and that I have always thought were mere figments of the human's overactive imagination, are in fact real?" Shizuru asked, as a perfectly arched eyebrow slowly rose upward.
Natsuki let out a loud laugh, before she quickly caught her breath and replied. "Yes Shizuru, they are quite real. As real as you and I are," Natsuki replied with a light teasing smile.
Shizuru felt a light blush dust across her cheeks, as she opened her mouth to reply. "Well, yes I can see now that if we certainly exist, other beings would also. So tell me Natsuki...what other creatures are out there that go bump in the night like us?" Shizuru asked as she quickly recovered her composure, and returned Natsuki's teasing grin.
Natsuki let out another laugh, as she leaned forward and lightly poked Shizuru's nose. "That is for me to know and for you to someday I'm sure, find out. After all we are eternal beings. We can live for an eternity if nothing ends our lives, like those pathetic werewolves tried to do with those silver bullets.
"Meanie Natsuki, I want to know," Shizuru said as an adorable pout came to her lips, and Natsuki just resisted leaning forward and capturing those pouty lips with her own mouth.
Ooo, bad thoughts Natsuki. Bad. Resist. You must resist, Natsuki fervently told herself, until the urge to lean forward passed.
"So, just how old are you, Natsuki?" Shizuru was asking the distracted cobalt-haired vampire, with that cute way of tilting her head to the side in curiosity that she had.
Resist! Natsuki cried out to herself again.
"Oh me? Well, I was turned about 300 years ago," Natsuki answered, as she tried swiftly to get her thoughts back in order.
Shizuru's mouth fell open slightly, and Natsuki almost had a small heart attack as she wrestled with herself to not just lean forward, and close those delectable lips with her own.
Ugh...now that Shizuru is like me...and I no longer have to worry about the fact that she is a human that would be consorting with a vampire, it is extremely hard to quell my feelings for her. Ugh. I'm just going to have to be stronger about it that's all. The very last thing that Shizuru needs to deal with after being turned into the living dead, is me burdening her with unwanted feelings, Natsuki said to herself with a stifled sigh.
"Ara ara, that is quite a long time to be alive, Natsuki. Were you alone during all of that time?" Shizuru asked with a soft look in her eyes.
"I was for about the first 200 years. Then I met...and 'saved' Nao...and I have known her for the last 100 years. Mikoto was turned by Nao fifty years after we met, so Mikoto has been with us for the last 50 years."
"Ara, such long years. It's a little hard to envision living anywhere near that long, but you must have seen and done so many things during that time, Natsuki," Shizuru said with a little excited jump in her seat, as her wine-coloured eyes sparkled at Natsuki.
Natsuki gave a little laugh as she replied. "Yes, yes I've had quite an...interesting...life," Natsuki said with a slightly roguish grin, as she wiggled her eyebrows teasingly at Shizuru.
Shizuru let out a light giggle at Natsuki's antics before she suddenly stopped, a strange look appearing on her face, and her burgundy-red eyes seeming to darken even further, until they were near the colour of blood.
Natsuki felt a shiver race down her spine, as she recognized the look in Shizuru's eyes.
"Natsuki..." Shizuru said hesitantly, as she looked up at Natsuki with a slightly confused, yet hungry look on her face.
"Natsuki...I'm...hungry...I need...I need to eat," Shizuru continued haltingly, as she slowly began to rise from her seat with a dazed, almost-possessed look on her face.
"No. No, Shizuru! This is the blood-lust talking! Damn me for forgetting that you haven't 'eaten' since the incident with the werewolves. You've just been so sick as your body fully adapted to its new changes. But I was going to take you to a blood bank tonight! Fight it, Shizuru! You don't know how to control your feeding impulses yet. Fight it!" Natsuki cried into Shizuru's face, as she has also risen swiftly to her feet, and was now lightly shaking the chestnut-haired woman before her to try to snap her out of her feeding craze.
"Natsuki...blood...I need...I must have...Natsuki...I need the blood!" Shizuru cried out, as with a powerful backhand that Natsuki knew came from Shizuru's vampiric powers truly awakening, Shizuru knocked Natsuki off to the side, and the dark-haired woman went flying over the back of Shizuru's couch.
By the time that Natsuki had struggled quickly back up to her feet, for Shizuru's hit had been wickedly powerful, the chestnut-haired woman was nowhere to be seen, and her front door was hanging off of its hinges.
"Her power...it's so strong," Natsuki said to herself in dismay at the damage that Shizuru had caused, and worst the damage that she was about to further cause on the human population, if Natsuki didn't stop her quickly.
"Damn it, Shizuru. Damn it!" Natsuki cried out as she quickly raced through Shizuru's open front door, slamming it back shut the best that she could. She then sped off into the night, following the swiftly vanishing 'scent' of Shizuru, as the tawny-haired vampire set off to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting humans of Fuuka.
AN: Whoo! Another chapter done! =D
I hope that you all enjoyed it, and THANK YOU for your reviews of my last chapter =3
Every time that I think that I will not post for a couple of weeks, your wonderful reviews motivate me to get the next chapter out in a few days :p
So, please help keep that motivation flowing and continue to review =D