NOTES::

Anne: If you lived in America, you'd understand why we go to fast food restaurants so often; they're cheap, fast, and if you don't feel like cooking dinner, you can just run through the drive-thru. And Kei doesn't plan on getting divorced, but during the sermon at mass, my priest mentioned how he makes crème brulee and I immediately thought of Kei…and then the crème brulee that my priest made my family when we had dinner at his house. Sho is always there for Kei—he's adorable like that. I haven't been in a retirement home since my grandma's friend died about eight years ago. She had a cat named Muffin. XD; And I'm glad you liked that last scene, it was kind of written for you since you gave me that song. It was probably another raspberry pie they made, but if you'd like it to be cherry, then it can be cherry.

Fujipuri: Well I'm glad you wrote a review and didn't forget. And it's quite fun to read updates at four in the morning. I've done that before. XD Okay, I think if anyone were in Haruki's position, they'd die of shock. Especially if they're as old as him; they'd probably die of shock. I'm sure their faces would still look the same if they weren't vampires, especially Sho's, since he is based off of Gackt-san and Gackt is freaking reverse aging. SERIOUSLY. Okay, I'm good now. xD; Computers are fun distractions. I would know…

Yvonne: I made up for the sad stuff last chapter, but I definitely don't make up for it this chapter. I'll make up for it in the next chapter, okay? Don't hurt me! PS – Gackt probably would knock you out with one kick to the head. No offense. But you have to realize that it's Gackt and he's amazing at everything. xD

Hoshino Haruka: I know I'm cruel; I'm even crueler in this chapter, but at least you find out what the note says! Nikita actually isn't in this chapter. She's in the next one, though, don't you worry! ;D

Puptastic: Well, you'll just have to wait and see whether Haruki believes him or not! You'll learn to love Haruki even more than you do now (if you love him now, that is).

Shari: Good, that means that I haven't confused you! And Kei gets abused a lot in this fic—I'll have to abuse Sho more sometime soon…which, actually, I think I actually have something planned out. XD And sorry if this chapter seems like it's copying off of one of your latest ones; it's kind of hard to vary that sort of thing. I won't write it here, but once you read the chapter, you'll know what I mean.

Kei-Sho: Aha, well I'm glad you love Haruki because I love him, too. He might be one of my favorite side characters. I probably shouldn't say that because there aren't that many named side characters, either…and there's dancing in your play? Huh. I've only had to practice being carried around the stage in my costume, which, by the way, is a nurse's outfit, so it's a skirt. NOT good for being thrown over someone's shoulder. xD

Renai-chan: Oh good, you're caught up! I'm glad you like them so much and that I'm a drug dealer now! xD Well, I should have guessed that by now…

Sad chapter. Not exactly sure what inspired it. Maybe too much drama going on in my group of friends that's quite unnecessary. Anyway, I'll make up for it next chapter, don't worry!

Chapter Ten – Suddenly I See

Kei was sitting at the kitchen table in stony silence the next morning, the piece of paper the nurse had handed him in his hands, still unread. And when Sho walked into the room, his warm smile faltered. He took a seat next to Kei and placed a hand on top of one of the vampire's. Kei looked over at him and smiled softly.

"I haven't read it yet," he said plainly, feeling as though he had to confess to Sho. But all the brunette did was smile at him and ask:

"Would you like me to read it for you?"

And he handed Sho the note. Sho unfolded the piece of paper and read through the note several times before deciding that it was safe to read it out loud.

"It says," Sho began, glancing up at the blonde. "If you really are my brother and your vampire story is true, come visit me again on one of the next rainy days we have. This time I'll ask the questions."

"…That's all it says?" Kei asked, leaning over to peer at the note.

"Yes, love," Sho said with a smile. "That's all it says." He held out the note so Kei could read it, watching the vampire's dark eyes dart back and forth, a smile forming on his lips. "You seem happy about it…"

"He might actually believe me," Kei breathed, intrigued. "I didn't think he would…he was always so down-to-earth when we were growing up. Never believed in anything that didn't seem logical…"

"So then you're happy?" Sho asked again.

"Yeah," Kei replied. "Yeah, I am. Oh Sho-chan—" He threw his arms around Sho's neck. Sho smiled and pulled Kei into his lap.

"You know, a few weeks ago I was forcing you to try and find Haruki," he said tenderly. "Now you're ecstatic about being able to talk to him again." Kei looked up at the brunette and smiled.

"Yes, but you're just so persuasive," Kei replied, tracing a finger over Sho's petal soft lips that curled up into a smirk. "So shut up and kiss me, love." The brunette laughed and pulled Kei into a deep kiss, making the shorter vampire shudder with passion…

Over the sea and far away
She's waiting like an iceberg, waiting to change
But she's cold inside
She wants to be like the water

The first rainy day they had was nearly a week later and before Sho had even said two words to Kei, he found himself seated in the passenger's seat of their car, the radio tuned down low. "Ready, Kei-chan?" Sho asked nearly a half-hour later as Kei parked the car in the parking lot.

"More ready than the last time, but still nervous," he confessed, turning to smile softly at Sho. The brunette leaned over, placing a hand underneath Kei's chin, and pulled the vampire into a soft, reassuring kiss.

"Don't be nervous," he breathed against Kei's lips, pausing every once in a while between words to plant kisses on the vampire's lips. "You've been given a second chance. Take it, love. Don't waste it."

"Now there's the brilliant Sho-chan that I fell in love with," Kei murmured against Sho's warm lips before he entwined his fingers in Sho's hair and flicked his tongue against his lover's lips. Sho moaned softly and parted his lips, letting Kei's tongue enter his mouth.

"Don't stop," he whimpered when Kei pulled away. The shorter vampire smiled at Sho and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"You're the one who told me I can't miss this chance," he purred, a hand stroking the younger vampire's cheek.

"I know, but…" Sho let his sentence trail off.

"Later, Sho-chan," Kei assured him. "Patience, all right?" The brunette nodded.

"Alright," he agreed, stepping out of the car with Kei right behind him. They made their way inside to the front desk; the woman recognized them immediately and smiled.

"Back already?" she asked. Kei nodded with a smile. "Haruki-kun will be happy. He's been waiting for you. I'll go and get him; you two can have a seat at one of the tables inside, okay?" As the woman left, Kei turned to Sho.

"Would you like to come in with me?" he asked the brunette.

"I thought it was only one person to a resident, but whatever. I would love to come in with you," Sho replied. "But I won't sit at the table with you two. I'll sit somewhere else, okay?"

"Good idea."

With that, the vampires went inside; Kei sat down at the table he had sat at before while Sho sat down on a couch against the wall next to an old woman who was snoring quietly. After a few minutes, Haruki was walking into the room, glancing around and noticing Kei. He sat down across from the blonde cautiously.

"You're back," he said.

"You asked me to come back," Kei replied. "At least in the note you gave me."

All the muscles tighten in her face
Buries her soul in one embrace
They're one and the same
Just like water

"Right…the note," the elderly man murmured. "I'm asking the questions this time, Kei." Kei's eyes widened—Haruki had said his name. Maybe that was progress…

"Go ahead, Haru-chan."

"You've been gone for the past seventy years—everyone thought you were dead. Why show up all of a sudden? Why not sooner?"

"I had some…persuasion," Kei answered, shooting a sidelong glance at Sho, earning a smile from the vampire. "And it was just by luck that I happened to find you. An acquaintance of mine used to work here and mentioned a Haruki."

"I see…so what exactly happened at the party that night?" Haruki asked.

"Haru—I never made it to the party," he confessed. "I was taking the long way to Takkato's house; you remember I never really liked him. But I turned down a wrong alleyway and found myself lost. I started backtracking and at the end of the alley was Luka, the vampire who made me like him. I-I passed out from blood loss and when I woke up, I was in a trashy apartment, scared out of my wits. He explained everything to me."

"So why didn't you try to talk to any of us? I'm sure you had chances—"

"I did," Kei assured. "But…you and Maori were always surrounded by friends whenever I saw you—same with Mom and Dad. And I thought that might scare all of you. I heard about the missing persons report, too. …And the break-in, which was actually me." The elderly man gasped. "I just wanted some things to remember you all by…"

"I told Mom she shouldn't have advertised the robbery," Haruki said. "It's been so long…what did you take again?"

"A bottle of Mom's perfume and Dad's cologne, one of Maori's uniform skirts—"

"She was obsessed with those things!" he commented and for the first time in nearly seventy one years, the brothers laughed together and Sho was a witness of it. "You took my teddy bear, too!"

"It was mine first!" Kei protested. "I was still surprised that you called the police—it was just stupid things."

The fire fades away
Most of everyday
Is full of tired excuses

"That's what I told Mom, but…its Mom," he said, shaking his head amusedly. "And then she found great-great Grandma Rose's wedding ring missing." Sho stifled a gasp and looked down at the diamond ring on his left hand. He looked back over at Kei, who glanced at him for a long moment while Haruki wasn't paying attention.

"I don't remember grabbing it," he lied. "Did Mom misplace it?"

"Well, we never found it," he said softly. Sho blushed and placed his right hand over his left even though he knew Haruki had no idea who he was, let alone if he had even noticed him.

"Haru-chan, is there anything else you want to ask me or can I ask a question now?" Kei asked timidly.

"Sure."

"What happened after I disappeared? How did Mom and Dad take it? Did—" Haruki held up a hand to silence the vampire.

"That night, Mom figured you wouldn't get home until the early morning. But when you weren't home, she started to worry. We called Takkato, who was drunk out of his wits, and he claimed that you had left the party a while before. Then you still weren't home that night or the next day. So we put out the missing persons report and a week later was the break-in. After several more weeks of searching, the police told us that they could only assume you had been kidnapped and taken out of Mallepa or murdered. The news was devastating, even though all of us knew it was coming. But still…

"Dad put me in charge of setting up a private funeral for you. Maori moved back in for a little while to help Mom through at least the funeral. But afterwards…she was never the same. She went into a state of depression and none of us could pull her out of it. A few years later, Maori had a baby boy and the thought of a grandson—her first grandson—pulled her out of it finally. And when Maori told her the name…she started crying."

"Wh-what did she name him?" Kei asked, a tear falling down his cheek.

"Keiichi," Haruki told him with a sad smile. Kei let out a soft sob, burying his face in his hands.

"When did they die?"

But it's to hard to say
I wish it were simple
But we give up easily

"Mom died in March of 2005 and Dad died six months later," he answered; Kei nodded in response, staying silent. "Would you like to go visit their graves?" The blonde looked up, wide-eyed.

"Yes," he replied in a whisper…

"This cemetery seems awfully familiar," Sho commented as they made their way through the tombstones nearly thirty minutes later. Suddenly, the brunette gasped, pointing off to his left. "It's Nii-chan's grave!" Kei smiled softly, nodding.

"So it is," he said. "We entered around the back, that's why we didn't recognize it. Come on, Sho-chan. Let's keep searching." The vampires continued on for several more minutes, finally finding the graves several rows over from Shinji's. Sho saw them first and pulled Kei over so he didn't see them yet.

"Are you ready for this, love?" he asked, arms wrapping around Kei. The vampire nodded, but curled up against his lover, glad when Sho's lips against his own reassured him.

"Thank you," he breathed against Sho's petal soft lips.

"Go on, Kei-chan."

Sho let go of Kei and the blonde walked slowly over to his parents' graves, holding back the urge to break down and cry. He fell to his knees between the two resting places, reading both headstones and letting a solitary tear trail down his cheek.

Himeko

November 13, 1924 – March 23, 2005

Beloved Wife, Mother, and Grandmother

You're close enough to see that
You're the other side of the world to me

Ryuuto

December 13, 1922 – September 23, 2005

Loving Husband and Father

He sighed and closed his eyes, mumbling a soft prayer for his parents. When he opened his eyes, they fell upon another headstone, the earth where the casket was buried still rather fresh. Then he read what it said:

Maori Shouzu

January 15, 1949 – February 23, 2045

Loving Mother and Wonderful Wife

Kei let out a sob, attracting Sho's attention, so the brunette came and kneeled next to him. "S-she died two weeks ago!" he said as Sho ran a hand through Kei's hair soothingly.

"She took her husband's last name?" Sho asked, noticing the last name. Kei nodded and opened his eyes.

"Oh no," he breathed, shuffling forward on his knees as he noticed a smaller gravestone between his parents'. He knew what it was even before he saw it…

Kei

January 30, 1954 – May 17, 1973

Wishing him love wherever he may be

And can you still love me
When you can't see me anymore?

"Th-they…they really…" But he couldn't even finish his sentence and within moments, the tears in his eyes obscured his vision. "Oh god…" he moaned, falling backwards into Sho's ready arms. The brunette rocked back and forth, comforting Kei as best as he could.

"Shall I drive home now, Kei-chan?" he asked quietly. The blonde looked up, cheeks tearstained, and nodded.

"Yes," he replied. "I'll be all right…but still…you drive home." He handed Sho the keys and headed back to their car, leaving Sho kneeling in front of his parents' and sister's graves as well as his own memorial headstone.

"It was nice to meet you all," Sho whispered softly, bowing his head. "I just hope you haven't hurt Kei too much. I'm glad he finally got to visit you after so long, but I'm afraid it's hurt him beyond repair. I hope he didn't hurt you, even though I know he did…but just realize that it wasn't his choice to leave any of you…"

With that, Sho stood up, giving the three graves their usual goodbye wave, and followed Kei's tracks to the car…

Arriving home, Sho went and lied down on the couch while Kei decided to take a nice hot shower to drown out his troubles. After twenty minutes, Sho heard the bathroom door open and the soft padding of Kei's bare feet on the linoleum floor in the kitchen and he sat up, making room for the vampire. The blonde sat down and curled up in Sho's arms, content when Sho lied down once more and wrapped his arms lovingly around him, not to mention the fact that he didn't say a word or ask any more questions. He turned his attention to the television, which was starting to play You've Got Mail.

Can you help me?
Can you let me go?

"Thank you for being there," Kei murmured several hours later as a different movie started.

"It's what I'm here for, Kei-chan," Sho replied, kissing Kei's cheek softly. The vampire turned and let Sho's lips meet his own. He placed a hand on the back of Sho's head, pushing the kiss deeper as Sho swung his leg over Kei.

"I love you," Kei breathed when their tender, yet passionate kiss stopped, a tear slipping down his cheek. Sho kissed it away and smiled down at his lover.

"I love you, too," he purred back. "Come on, love. I think it's time for bed." The lovers managed to make their way into the bedroom and curl up under the warm covers of the bed in each other's arms…

Sho found himself walking into the kitchen to find Shinji sitting at the table looking as though he were waiting for someone. "Sho," the man spoke softly, looking up at the vampire with dark eyes. "Sit down." Wary of his brother, Sho sat down slowly, his eyes never leaving Shinji's.

"Are you…waiting for me or something?" He asked Shinji, but the man simply chuckled.

"You're thinking this is a dream, aren't you, little brother?"

"Yes…" he replied.

On comes the panic light
Holding on with fingers and feelings alike

"No, Sho. This isn't a dream. I've been meaning to talk to you somehow for quite some time but I wanted you two to visit Kei's parents' graves…otherwise it would be irrelevant for me to come. And you would have just thought it was a dream…" Shinji paused, letting the words sink in.

"Nii-chan, why do you care about Kei-chan suddenly?" Sho asked cautiously.

"A year ago on the five year anniversary of Toshi's death, I came to Kei in a dream or vision or whatever similar to this one and gave him a message and a mission," Shinji explained. "And now, I'm doing the same for you."

"All right then," Sho said, relaxing a bit. "Go ahead, Nii-chan."

"Sho-kun," Shinji said in a serious tone. "We've been together for all our lives—well…all of my life. We understand each other and know each other's hardships. You know I never liked Kei—always called him a monster behind his back and sometimes to his face. I even told him that I couldn't stand the thought of him coming home from feeding and fucking you—don't, Sho." Sho was about to protest Shinji's choice of words, but stopped after hearing his dangerous tone. "—And how it sickened me. But I told him something that I can't even tell you, little brother, because my trust in him has grown.

"I wanted to say thank you for you speech on the five year anniversary of my death, Sho," he continued. "I realized as soon as I reached Heaven that nearly an hour after I had died—if I hadn't died—you were going to tell me the truth. That is true bravery. Sho, I've been watching you two from Heaven…" There was a long pause before the concerned brother continued.

But the time has come
To move along

"I've seen how Kei looks at you—how loving his gaze is…how he always turns to you as of late for the support that he needs…how you always go to comfort him or you go for comfort. How you're both so sincere towards each other and manage to keep your love so strong. So I'm asking you, Sho, in regards to what I asked Kei to do…" Shinji leaned forward and placed a hand on top of Sho's. "Please take care of Kei. I know that may sound strange coming from me, but you're the only reason he's living such a horrid life, even though it's not so horrid now that you share the same curse as him.

"Kei needs you now more than ever. He's just found out about his parents, whom he loved—maybe even more than he loves you. He needs your love and guidance and encouragement. Sho-kun, please, watch over him for me so that your love stays strong…"

"I will," Sho replied, rather choked up by his brother's words. That and the fact that he hadn't spoken to Shinji in over six years. Shinji nodded in response.

"He's crying," Shinji said softly. "Wake up and comfort him…you're the only one who can. He has no one else." Sho nodded and stood up. But before he said anything, Sho walked over and hugged his brother tightly.

"I love you, Nii-chan," he whispered, small tears welling in his eyes. "I'll never break your promise. Don't worry."

The fire fades away

"I love you, too, Sho," the man replied, smiling warmly and hugging his younger brother back. "I believe you…"

"Shinji…I have one more question," Sho said, pulling away from his brother. "W-when I visited your grave…did you really answer if you had lived for me…?" Shinji smiled warmly and nodded.

"Yes," he replied. "It was such a heartfelt question…there wasn't any way I wasn't going to answer it."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now go, Sho." He hugged Sho goodbye again as the vampire slowly woke up from his dream—

—to find Kei crying silently, just like Shinji had said in his "dream". The vampire looked up at him and let out a soft sob. "Kei-chan," Sho whispered. Kei whimpered and collapsed into Sho's arms, sobbing freely. After a long period of time, the blonde vampire calmed down and looked up at his lover.

"Thank you," he whispered back, fingers curling into the fabric of Sho's shirt as the vampire leaned down and placed a light kiss to Kei's lips.

"Go to sleep, my love," he whispered in Kei's ear. With a small whimper, he curled up against Sho's warm body and tried to fall asleep again. "I'll always be here, no matter what…"

You're close enough to see that
You're the other side of the world to me…

Lyrics are Other Side of the World by KT Tunstall. I love that song so much.

The play is next week and then I swear I'll have more time to write. I've actually been writing this during practice and I'm always in a sad-ish mood, so sorry about the angst, but you all knew it was coming sooner or later. I'll make up for it in the next few chapters, don't worry.

And yes. All of them have died on the 23rd of a month. I noticed that, too. XD; And I got the Shinji-talking-in-the-dream idea out of nowhere and just decided to write it. Not exactly sure what else I had to say because it's nearly midnight and I'm rather tired, but I figured I should update before it's been over a month since the last update…

Thank you all for being so patient and sticking with me through this. Reviews are appreciated and will power me through this whole week and the upcoming weekend!