here you all go, hope you enjot it!

Natsuno rode diligently. He knew that nothing was likely wrong with Tohru, but since the dream, since seeing him stramble in like a zombie that first night, then that mysterious little girl on the second, he just wanted to be sure. It had been another night since then but he couldn't shake the dreadful feeling that had burrowed its way into his psyche. He shook his head in dismissal of his instincts.

"why would I even care what happens…Tohru will be fine." He thought reassuringly as he pedaled vigorously.

Today was certainly gloomy enough to fit Natsuno's demeanor. There was a thick blanket of clouds in the sky, and sporadically, a light rain would start to pour. It made Natsuno's feet slip on the bike pedals. He shook the water out of his hair aloofly as he took a sharp turn down the street that tohru's home was located on. He peered down the road and noticed another bicycle parked close to the Moutoh residents' door. There were some letters scrawled on the flag sticking up from the seat, but Natsuno couldn't quite make them out from the distance he was at. Nevertheless, it made him even more concerned. He ditched his bike, letting it fall into a metal heap on their driveway as he ran up into the home. His heart dropped when he saw the words on the stranger's bike.

"Ozaki clinic"

"time of death…2:15 am…cause of death, acute heart failure…and severe hemorrhaging…. it's too late to give this one a pint of blood…his father was the assistant doctor at my clinic, so I'm sure he just assumed he could handle it without bothering me…." Ozaki tried to light a cigarette, but that magical command prevented his hand from fishing out the lighter. He sighed as he stared over the lifeless body of the blonde teenager before him. He looked over to Mr. Moutoh. The man had his face buried in his son's chest, sobbing quietly. His mother held her other two children close, barely able to utter a word. Ozaki could read the shock on her face, clear as day. He bit his lip, he bit it so hard blood started to drip without him realizing it. The doctor turned away from the sorry scene to see a purple haired boy about the same age as Tohru looking upon the whole picture with utter terror.

"No." he said quietly. "I…. I was supposed to come here worried about him…. but he was just supposed to be okay. "don't worry about me Natsuno I'm all good". That's what was supposed to happen. That's what was supposed to happen!" Natsuno looked around the room with wide, nearly tearful eyes. He could only stomach one more second of the he heartbreaking scene before turning tail and fleeing as fast as he could. Ozaki reached after him, hoping to ask a question about tohru's well-being before…this… but Natsuno was too far away by the time Ozaki turned. He rubbed his eyes….

"how many more scenes like this are there going to be?"

That night

"but I'm BOOOORED!" megumi lamented as she wiggled around on Sora's futon, stretching her arms and legs as far as she could. Sora took a deep breath as she rolled around coyly. "you never let me leave here"

"well what do you want me to do about it? If I let you leave Sunako little militia will stake you on sight" Sora said with tired resignation. He gently poked her head with his foot and she made a playful attempt to swipe at it.

"I don't know…figure it out. Just do SOMETHING." She pouted. Sora smiled devilishly.

"we could fuck again" Sora said with a laugh. Megumi turned beet red, despite her pale vampire complexion.

"well….im not…. averse to the idea…. but can I feed on you first? You still don't know your own strength, so it kinda hurts when you're full" Sora couldn't help but giggle.

"hahahaha, sure. Today's blend is a special ab positive vintage from doctor ozaki…" Sora said with a fake accent. megumi wrinkled her nose as she plunged her fangs into Sora's arm.

*bump bump, bump bump* Sora locked eyes on megumi. Her eyes were closed, and she looked peaceful as she drank away. "that noise again…. could it really be?" megumi pulled away after a few moments.

"cough* cough* "eww, it tastes like smoke!" she squealed in disgust as she wiped away the trail of blood dripping from her bottom lip.

"you're telling me…. hey megumi, what did my blood taste like?" he asked out of morbid curiosity.

"hmm…. Kind of sweet and savory…maybe…a bit oily." She said, remembering fondly. Sora laughed.

"that sounds about right hahaha. I pretty much eat nothing but junk food…. though it doesn't really satisfy me anymore..." Sora thought solemnly. "right…that noise I heard…megumi, come over here for a second" she looked at him curiously, and he grabbed her wrist, placing his thumb on the vein.

"Sora…what are you doing?" she gave him a strange look.

"just be quiet for a second, I'm concentrating…." Sora felt the area diligently, trying to pick up any slight vibration he could. But there was no pulse, just like usual…. what WAS unusual however was Megumi's body temperature, and her complexion too.

"hey megumi, were you lying on something warm?" he asked curiously.

"no, nothing. why?" she asked innocently.

"you don't feel as cold as you usually do…" he took a closer look. "and you don't look as pale either…I can almost see some red in your cheeks" he studied her closely, her pink hair, buxom slim figure, and of course that gorgeous face. A face, that had, at least lately, been a sickly pale color. But now, her skin looked…almost…vibrant. Nothing like the light colored skin she had when she was human, but it certainly looked much healthier than it did.

"it's probably just the lighting." She said nonchalantly.

"but we're in a pitch black room with no windows" Sora retorted. "maybe it's my night vision…or I really am delusional after all." Sora laid back on the swivel chair he was in, stretching his arms as far as he could. He yawned loudly, it was so powerful his fangs extended. He glanced back at megumi laying seductively on the futon. Her curves packed tightly into the pink mid-dress she was wearing. his eyes flashed red as a crooked smile grew on his face.

"what's that look for?" she asked coyly as she gave him a devilish smile. Sora walked closer, about to hold her in his arms.

*knock knock*

"FUCK!" Sora shouted angrily as the noise snapped the two from the romantic moment.

"Sora, there is a phone call for you." Seshin called out from behind the door. Sora glanced back at megumi lying down in the same position and pondered for a moment if he should dismiss the call.

"it's doctor ozaki right?" Sora lamented, still burning with desire he'd not get to attend to.

"yes actually. He said he wanted to let you know about "new information" or something like that" Sora took a deep breath and braced himself for what the doctor might say.

"alright, I'm coming…" he opened the door.

"wait, I want to come too." megumi said with determination.

"sorry, but you have to stay here, it would be dangerous to go with me when I have something to take care of." Megumi faux pouted at him. Then looked irritated.

"I'm not a child, I can take care of myself you know." megumi stared back defiantly.

"you couldn't even outrun a tractor…. I'm not taking you. End of story. I know it's boring here, but bear with me, I'll get us out of sotoba as soon as I possibly can." Seshin edged his way into the room.

"I can read you one of my novels if you want, I don't know if it's your genre, but I'd like to hear your opinion on it. It could prove entertaining to you." Seshin said with a warm smile. Megumi sighed.

"fine. Will you at least tell me what you're doing?" she said with sly retort.

"doctor ozaki wanted to see me today. He and the other villagers didn't know I turned into a jinrou, they think that I got the sickness going around but survived. Ozaki wanted to study me to see how to cure it. When he wasn't looking I bit him, and now he's more or less my slave." Seshin looked horrified.

"I know toshio might become a problem but you can't just kill him!" Seshin replied with fiery retort.

"relax, I'm not planning on it, I just told him to stop investigating the deaths and to call me anytime someone shows up sick with anemia or hemorrhaging. I also told him to give those people pints of blood." Both of them looked at him strangely.

"why do you need him to tell you who the sick people are?" megumi asked innocently.

"so I can convince the shiki feeding on them to join our cause. I'd just kill Tatsumi and Yoshie outright…. but even I couldn't take two jinrou at once…and he's probably pretty pissed about… what happened. But I figure if I chip away at Sunako's allies then I can get everything to go over peacefully."

"what about Sunako?" Seshin asked regrettably.

"I'll kill her myself." Seshin backed away. He could see Sora's eyes flash red. He knew Sora had turned into something else, but to see it up close was jarring.

"wait! I thought you didn't want to hurt any people!" Seshin pleaded. Sora locked eyes with him.

"good thing Sunako is a monster then.…. anyway, I need to talk with ozaki right?" Seshin sighed regrettably and handed him the phone. "sei…. I can hear your heart racing, just what could be going through your mind?"

"hey, Sora?" the phone rang in Sora's ear, and the electrical static bothered him as well. With his hearing especially, every crackle, every screech of the static sent shivers down his spine. He had to hold the phone a few inches away from his ear to make everything bearable.

"yeah? What have you got for me doc?" he said nonchalantly.

"only one person came in sick today…a good friend of mine and Seshin's, Mikiyasu Yasumori. I gave him a blood transfusion like you told me to, from what I observed it seemed to make a difference." Sora sighed.

"you're the doctor, not me. Anyway, what's the address" ozaki gave him an address and Sora hastily scrawled it down on a ripped piece of paper

"that's on the south side of sotoba…. Sora, I don't know what you're planning to do, but I guess I won't complain as long as no one else dies." He could hear the irritation in ozaki's voice.

"lack of nicotine getting to you?" Sora taunted playfully. "you and I both know I can't prevent every death…. but with the information I gave you we should be able to slow them to a crawl."

"I suppose it's the best we can do. But please, you have to tell me the bigger picture." Ozaki pleaded.

"sorry. You'll just have to trust me." Sora placed he phone back in the receiver. It made a satisfying click as the conversation was terminated.

"so…. who was it?" Seshin asked, noticeably worried.

"Mikiyasu…I have a feeling I know who I'm going to see tonight."

"so you're going then?"

"yeah…actually…could I ask a favor?" Seshin looked at him hesitantly.

"what do you need?" Seshin gulped.

"I need some of your blood… megumi tends to be a greedy feeder, so usually I'm only left with about half of what I take, and I need to be able to feed the shiki I'm trying to persuade, not to mention the lack of strength. If Tatsumi or Yoshie catch me in a vulnerable position, I'm dead." Seshin sighed and extended an arm for Sora. Sora, like megumi, began to drink it with vigor. He pulled away and licked the trail clean.

"I feel lightheaded." Seshin stammered. Megumi held his arm and helped him sit in Sora's swivel chair.

"sorry sei...when I visit ozaki tomorrow I'll make sure you get a transfusion. In the meantime, put some extra sugar in your tea or something." He gave the two a final goodbye and ran out of the temples back exit.

A few hours later

Sora crouched low in the bushes behind the Yasumori home, waiting for whatever unlucky vampire was going to happen by. It had been a few hours since he started waiting and he was beginning to think that he may have already missed them.

"damn…I might have to come here earlier tomorrow." But just as the thought made its way full circle Sora noticed a short curvaceous woman with blue hair approach the window. He could hear her crying, moreover, he could smell the salt in her tears. "I knew it…." As silently as he could, he leapt from the bushes, taking the woman down with a running tackle. The force of the impact was so strong that the two slid for several meters, far enough to plunge them back into the thick undergrowth. He clasped a hand over her mouth and started to whisper.

"I'll give you a minute to calm down, then I'm going to take my hand away from your mouth. When I do, don't scream, you'll wake the whole village and alert them all to our presence." He flashed his fangs to her to prove his own vulnerability. He waited a moment, keeping her pinned to the ground the whole time. Once she stopped squirming he released his grip.

"why would you tackle me like that? I was just trying to feed like anyone else. Are you one of Sunako's new jinrou? Was I doing something wrong?" she asked, visibly trying to hold back tears. Sora sighed.

"no. I have nothing to do with Sunako. I'm totally my own party." He said matter of factly.

"then what could you possibly want with me?" she asked. About ready to burst into tears.

"I'd gotten a tip that a vampire was feeding on someone named Mikiyasu." He looked at her. "I take it that was you?... Nao, I think I might be able to help you especially." The woman started sobbing into Sora's shirt. He felt awkward about it, he didn't know whether to give her a hug in comfort, or push her away. So he simply stood stiff as a board until she had finished. She sniffled.

"He's my husband… I wanted to take him and my son… maybe they would rise up and I won't have to be alone like this anymore. It's not like I want to hurt them! But I have to eat or I'll die! And every time I do I get one step closer to killing someone." Sora sighed and smiled warmly at her.

"don't worry. You don't have to actually kill anyone. While it's true you may need blood, you don't have to drain someone dry. That's just a lie Tatsumi tells the new vampires to keep them in line." She stared at him with a face contorted in utter shock and guilt. Sora truly pitied her. Megumi must have felt something similar when he told her the same.

"but I-I-I already…" Sora sighed as he watched Nao struggle with her guilt.

"killed someone? It wasn't your fault. You couldn't possibly have known. But now that you do, I expect you not to do it again, or at the very least to try and avoid it as much as possible. Switch targets when one gets too sickly, and if you can't get the invite, go after old people and criminals. Someone who won't be missed or who is soon to die anyway. And stake the corpse so no one else has to be put in the same position as you."

"but…I'm still alone! Shouldn't I try turning my family at least?" Sora looked at her with empathetic eyes. It was very rare Sora ever felt such strong sadness for someone besides megumi.

"not everyone rises…is it really worth the risk of killing them? You love them don't you? It might be sad now that you are gone…. but they can still lead happy lives. Why would you try and take it from them?" she started sobbing again, hysterically, so loudly that the villagers might wake up again.

"But I want them to be happy with me!" she lamented. "you're probably right…. I guess it's just my luck. I've always gotten the short end ever since I was a child." Sora grabbed her shoulders.

"I want the vampires to have peaceful lives just like the villagers… maybe if things go over well enough you might be able to see your family, even as you are. But you have to do your part. Stop killing. Stop following Sunako. Tell other vampires to do the same and play it off however you can. But for change to happen I need everyone to work with me. Can you at least try?" he asked as sweetly as possible.

"I…alright." She spoke quietly. "what's your name anyway?"

"Sora."

"mine is Nao."

"I keep forgetting that no one else is privy to the knowledge I am…well Nao…feed on me tonight, then tomorrow is a new day…errr…. night….and you can try to become better. Everyone can."

i have a question for all of you guys. whhat voice actor(english) do you picture sora being? anyway please review/comment and have a good day!