He parallel parked viciously and managed, "I'll pick you up later." before swerving off and out of sight. "Sato-I mean, Hiwatari!" A friendly voice called behind him. "Niwa." Riku was walking beside, glancing curiously at Satoshi. "Where have you been, Hiwatari?" The Niwa asked, smiling and holding Riku's hand in his. The bluenette headed for class and tried to get Shiki's words out of his mind. "I was sick. I'm feeling much better now, though." He let the irrelevant school conversation float over him, enjoying the company of a pair of normal humans. But when he opened the school doors the smell washed over him and he gagged, nearly thrown back by the smell of so many people (prey) in one place. "Hiwatari?" Niwa and Harada looked at him.

"Nothing. It was just some girl's perfume." He said quickly. Riku suddenly yelled "Yeah, Risa! What did you do, bathe in it this morning?" Hiwatari and Daisuke both inched away to class not wanting to get caught in that battle. He'd already learned everything they were covering today, so he spent most of the time thumbing through the love confessions in his desk and wondering what lame excuse he could give to Daisuke to explain dropping out of his life. He examined the nails on his hands and noticed they were slightly longer than the night he'd been turned, and shone harshly like chips of glass. Krad's smooth, sleepy voice flowed through his head, explaining ~ They're for digging deep into the earth to sleep. We didn't always have pretty coffins. ~

~What a lovely thought.~ Satoshi replied, moving his elbow away from the small inch of winter sunlight hitting his desk. It made his skin prickle and itch, like a sunburn. He wondered how many pieces of art Dark had stolen during their absence. It didn't matter, though, because the one he was looking for he would never find. Krad had made sure of that. The lunch bell screeched like a cat and Satoshi winced, waiting until most of his classmates had left before heading to the roof. To his surprise Daisuke was there alone, turning and waving when he saw Hiwatari. "Hiwatari! Want to have lunch together?"

"Sure."

"I was wondering... What happened to your glasses?"

"I got contacts." He didn't have a lunch either. Curses. "Oh. Well, do you want some of my lunch? Mom always packs too much for me." He thought

~Krad, will human food make me sick?~ and Krad replied quickly ~Yes. Very. So don't unless you want to be throwing up all day.~

"No thanks. I ate a large breakfast this morning." Daisuke looked at him intently as he stood in the shade of the stairwell, as if trying to figure him out.

"You seem a little…different today." Satoshi froze, his undead blood pounding in his ears. "You think so?" He managed to keep his voice level and leaned against the wall casually. "Yeah. Did you-" The redhead looked around to see if anyone was watching and said quietly "Make some kind of deal with Krad?" Hiwatari was lost. "A deal?" "Yea, because you just seem more relaxed or..." Daisuke searched for the right words and finished lamely. "You just seem healthier."

"Yes, we made a deal of sorts." Apparently, Hiwatari looked healthier when he was undead than when he was alive. He wasn't quite sure how to respond. As Daisuke ate, holding the chopsticks carefully, Hiwatari couldn't help but notice the pattern of thin blue veins on the insides of his wrists. They were pushed right underneath the skin, and the sunlight made them glow with heath. He could see his pulse, a fine minute movement, barely detectable. In fact, now that he thought about it, he could hear Daisuke's heart beating… "Hiwatari?" Satoshi closed his mouth which had somehow parted slightly in the last few moments, then asked,

"Yes?" making sure not to show teeth. ~What am I thinking? This is DAISUKE! Not a hunk of meat! ~ And yet the thirst was still there.

"Are you sure you don't want any? You look kinda hungry." He wanted something, alright, but nothing he could ever take from the Niwa. "No, I'm fine."

He gritted his jaw until his fangs receded ad swallowed, wondering how long he could really go without feeding. Hopefully it would be…Had to be at least seven hours. They went back to class, and Hiwatari savored the usually dull classes with these people. During his last period, however, he suddenly felt a twinge of pain in the scars on his neck, and a pit formed in his gut. He felt like something had happened back at the Mansion. He was nearly jumping out of his skin when the last bell rang and practically ran outside, spotting the black Bentley easily. Shiki turned to him as soon as he sat down and said "I hope you don't mind being a blood donor today." Satoshi brushed blue bangs out of his way and stated calmly, "What happened?" even though he felt like he was going to throw up. Something had happened to Krad.

"Krad was attacked by three of Yagari's former henchmen. Apparently they weren't too keen on the idea of serving Krad in his place." The Hikari cupped his neck and swallowed. "Is he ok?" Shiki's hands flexed on the steering wheel, tendons showing through brown leather gloves. "He's lost a lot of blood, and since he can't feed from anyone in my family we've locked him in the vault so he doesn't make a mistake. They destroyed his coffin." Satoshi didn't want to know what he meant by 'mistake'. "What do you mean he can't, um, feed from any of you?" The winter light made his face and arms tingle uncomfortably.

"Well, he could, but it would practically kill him."

The juvenile vampire closed his eyes, reaching out to his other half. ~Krad?~ At first there was nothing, then a thirst he'd never known hit him, making him double over and hiss in the mindless hunger. His saliva was thick in his mouth, his tongue dry and scratchy.

"Stop it!"

Shiki ordered, shaking his arm and breaking the bond between sire and fledgling. Closing his mouth, he wiped drool off his chin and trembled for a few seconds. "Sorry." He crossed his arms and sat up, running his tongue gently under saber-like canines. It was a good thing his mouth had been open,or they would have sliced through his bottom gums like butter.

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