I have to make a confession. This chapter is boring (in my opinion XD) but unfortunately necessary for the plot to go on. BUT! The next one is filled with action. It will be ready soon (means up to two weeks). ^-^

Okay so now I'll just simply wish you a nice read!

Beta: elyrian
Warnings: language
Characters: Souichi, Isogai

Chapter 25

The next week passed in a blur for Souichi. He had so many things to do at the University that he hadn't really had time to be angry at the Hunters. He still saw them from time to time when Kurokawa came to see his brother, but they never stayed long. It was as if Kurokawa was afraid of what Souichi might do to him for being romantically involved with Souichi's little brother. It might have had something to do with the glares Souichi had been sending Kurokawa's way whenever he saw the Hunter near Tomoe. His fists had been itching to beat the Hunter for making his little brother gay. The only thing that held him back was that happy look Tomoe wore whenever Kurokawa was near him or when Souichi's brother thought or daydreamed about the Hunter.

Souichi had made his feeling's clear. He was against their relationship. But knowing how stubborn his brother was, the only thing Souichi could do was stand to the side and watch worriedly. He didn't want to admit that he secretly envied his brother and Kurokawa. When he saw them they looked happy. And himself? He wasn't. As crazy as it was, he missed Morinaga. He wanted to see the vampire again. Even if only to hear that the vampire had lost interest in him. That way maybe he might be able to stop thinking about him, about their last hours together when everything had been bizarre but so very right.

But the Hunters were staying in town indefinitely, preventing demons from the Demon World from coming here, preventing him from seeing Morinaga again, making it possible for his brother to go out with Kurokawa. He also wanted to see Hiroto, if only to tell him that the vampire had been right. There were so many reasons to hate the Hunters. His reasons were different from those that Hiroto had harbored but the outcome was the same. The Hunters were a nuisance and Souichi hated them. Well, to be precise he hated two Hunters, Kurokawa for staying near his brother, and Isogai for hanging around him and annoying the hell out of him.

Luckily it looked like telling Tomoe about Morinaga and everything that had happened after he met the vampire was a good thing. The Hunters stopped pestering him for information. For that he was grateful to Tomoe and looked the other way when his brother hugged the Hunter. He couldn't stop glaring at Kurokawa but he avoided him as much as he could.

Unfortunately, Isogai wasn't making Souichi's life easier. True, he didn't ask about Souichi's adventures, seemingly having heard the story from Tomoe or Kurokawa. Souichi wasn't sure and he didn't really care. The most important part was that he had his peace, at least when it came to the questions. Isogai found other means to make Souichi's life difficult. Whenever he came with Kurokawa to Souichi's house, Isogai made sure to rile Souichi up as often as possible. The Hunter took some kind of perverted pleasure from making Souichi boil inside and blow up. Then Isogai would brush the whole thing off saying that Souichi was too tense or too serious or other such things. Finally he would say that he was doing it for Souichi's own good so that he would stop acting as if he had a stick rammed up his ass.

This comment would always enrage Souichi even more, but after the first few times when it proved fruitless to hit Isogai, Souichi had been left unable to give a satisfying riposte. He didn't know why the Hunter liked to annoy him so much but he hoped Isogai would grow tired of it soon and leave Souichi alone. He had far too much on his mind without adding Isogai to it.

Sometimes on the days that Isogai had picked on him too much, when later Souichi tried to sleep, the longing for Morinaga was unbelievably strong. For some reason the vampire made everything seem so much easier. Souichi wasn't a person that wanted others to take care of him but he still craved the vampire and wanted him to be close. As much as he dreaded Isogai and Morinaga meeting, he also suspected such an encounter would be very amusing. If the Hunter didn't attack the vampire on sight, Souichi was sure that Morinaga would definitely make Isogai squirm. Unfortunately his own experiences with the Hunters only confirmed what Hiroto had said about them.

As days went by and there was no sight of Morinaga anywhere, Souichi's mood plummeted. He didn't react to Isogai's stupidity any longer, choosing to ignore the Hunter altogether. He still glared at Kurokawa whenever he had the opportunity, but his own thoughts and feelings were making him indifferent.

Souichi was spending long hours at the University, doing all sorts of experiments and studying like a madman. Life was getting back to normal, but Souichi had to admit that he wasn't really happy. Something was missing, or to be precise someone was missing. He tried to banish all thoughts of a certain vampire from his head since he had no influence on the situation and couldn't make Morinaga come and see him. He didn't want to acknowledge that every day when he walked back home from the University he looked around hoping to find a certain black haired vampire waiting for him in an alley somewhere.

Souichi suspected that if the vampire wanted to see him again even the Hunters wouldn't stop him, and after two weeks of no Morinaga showing up Souichi had started to think that the vampire wouldn't come to see him again. He tried to ignore the pain that that thought brought him but was not entirely successful. Souichi, more often than he wanted to admit, revisited memories of his time spent with the vampire. Some were more bitter than sweet, but now that he was home again and looking at everything from a distance he had to admit that even if it had been annoying, he didn't want to forget them. Somewhere deep down Souichi hoped it meant something more to Morinaga, too.

'If it really did mean more then he would have showed up here by now, wouldn't he?' Souichi thought. 'So I was just a toy for him and he was protecting me from his brother only because he had a good heart.' Souichi wasn't sure if he wanted to believe his own hypothesis or not. They were natural conclusions he had come to when alone and hurting. There was also another thing that Souichi kept thinking about. 'If he really has such a good heart then why did he want to make me his pet? He must have known that it was not right, so why do it?'

There were so many things that Souichi wanted to ask the vampire, but until he met Morinaga again he wouldn't be able to. This inability to do anything was not sitting well with Souichi. Between the waves of longing he felt for the vampire he also felt great annoyance because of his absence in Souichi's life.

'Stupid vampire. Making me get used to him popping out of nowhere on random occasions only for him to stop coming to see me. That jerk. Why do I even want him here?'

Souichi hadn't even noticed that he had returned home. Inside he was greeted with the sight of Tomoe eating ice cream while sitting on Kurokawa's lap. Souichi cursed inwardly. His timing sucked so much. At least Isogai wasn't anywhere in sight.

"Oh! Nii-san, you're home!" Tomoe cried, scrambling hastily out of Kurokawa's lap. The Hunter turned pale and Souichi could tell he was waiting for Souichi to lunge at him at any moment.

"Yeah, where's Kanako?" Souichi's brow twitched in annoyance but he chose to ignore the scene he had walked in on. He only glared at the Hunter menacingly. He made his way to the kitchen to grab some chow.

"Don't you remember? She's staying with a friend overnight. It's the weekend! She told you yesterday at breakfast," Tomoe reminded him, following him to the kitchen and leaving Kurokawa sitting on the couch.

"What did I say to that?" Souichi frowned, opening the fridge and looking into it. He hadn't slept well and at breakfast hadn't really paid attention to what was happening around him. Now it looked like that had been a mistake.

"You said, 'Yes, fine'," Tomoe answered helpfully.

"Oh."

Tomoe sighed. "You didn't listen, did you?"

"Looks like it." Souichi shrugged. He was slightly annoyed at himself over his lack of attention but he was also not going to cry over spilled milk. 'I'll just have to pay more attention from now on.'

"Nii-san, what's wrong with you?"

"What do you mean?" He found some leftover dinner waiting for him and took it out to heat in the microwave.

"You're not acting normally," Tomoe said looking at his brother with concern.

"You're imagining things." Souichi brushed his brother's concern off, putting the dish in the microwave and setting the temperature and time. He didn't need more problems.

"No, I'm not! I can tell that something's wrong."

Souichi glared at the microwave, willing it to heat his meal faster. "Then what do you think is wrong with me?"

Tomoe didn't answer. He just stood there and stared at Souichi while he ate his dinner. He probably suspected that it had something to do with Morinaga but didn't know what specifically, and Souichi was grateful for his brother's silence. He wasn't up to another soul baring conversation with his brother.

"See? Nothing's wrong. Now I'm going to bed. I'm tired." Souichi left the dirty plate in the sink, not in the mood to clean up after himself, and made his way to his room leaving his brother and Kurokawa downstairs in the living room. He wasn't thrilled with the prospect of sitting in the living room and watching the two love birds cuddle.

Souichi threw himself on his bed and hid his face in the pillow. He felt hollow inside and didn't know what to do to get rid of that feeling. Soon he had fallen asleep but woke up about an hour later to someone knocking on the door. Souichi ignored it but whoever was on the other side was stubborn and kept knocking. Annoyed, Souichi bounced out of bed and threw the door open, glaring at the person on the other side.

"Why am I not surprised it's you?" Souichi groaned.

"Aww… you wound me, Tatsumi-kun, really." Isogai chuckled but sobered very quickly. "Can I come in?"

Souichi looked sourly at the Hunter. "And if I say no…?"

"I'll come in anyway. So can I come in?"

Souichi tried to slam the door in Isogai's face, but the other man didn't let him close it completely and with the strength that he had demonstrated to Souichi some time ago, forced the door open again. Souichi turned abruptly and let the Hunter come in without another word. It was pointless anyway with such a nosy person.

"You getting off on ignoring my wishes?" Souichi asked, highly frustrated. This time it wasn't a perverted vampire that had disregarded his opinion but a loony Hunter who Souichi wanted to avoid at all costs.

"Aww… don't be like that, Souichi-kun," Isogai cooed but then noticed Souichi's distress and stopped. He crossed his arms and leaned on the closed door. His face turned from playful to serious alarmingly fast.

Souichi didn't like that quick shift in the Hunter's mood. He didn't like the fact that this man was in his room. It was sacred ground, his territory; he should be the one to make any decisions about who entered, and he wanted it to remain that way. The only other person besides family members that he'd let sit in here would be Morinaga, but the Vampire wasn't in this world.

'Fuck! I'm doing it again!' Souichi closed his eyes in frustration. His thoughts had once again led him to a certain Vampire Lord without his consent.

"Your brother's worried," Isogai said seriously.

"I'm fine," Souichi sneered. He really didn't need another person yapping about anything and everything, annoying him to no end.

Isogai snorted. "Yeah, sure you are Tatsumi-kun, sure you are. Well, maybe you were for the first few days after you returned from the Demon World, but now you're not." Isogai raised an eyebrow and looked meaningfully at Souichi. "Care to share why that is?"

"No," Souichi barked hostilely. "Can you leave now?"

"A-ha! So I'm right. Something is wrong!" Isogai said cheerfully, totally disregarding Souichi's request to leave.

"It's none of your business! Now get the fuck out!" Souichi pointed at the door that Isogai was still leaning on lazily.

"I just want to help," Isogai said sulkily, looking offended.

"Why? Why do you care?" Souichi grumbled mistrustfully.

"I like you, Souichi. You're a great guy. You took everything more or less in stride and didn't let the new reality get the better of you. That's something that not everyone could do. They break at some point and it's better to let them break sooner rather than later," Isogai explained.

Souichi looked at him, not comprehending at first, and then suddenly something clicked.

"You were trying to make me break down?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes."

"Are you fucking stupid?" Souichi hollered.

"No. Just experienced enough to know how encounters with Demons can weigh a human down and make him sink and drown."

'Where the hell did he come up with that metaphor?' Souichi made a face.

"And you wanted that to happen to me? You wanted me to shatter?"

"No, of course not!" Isogai looked offended. "I just told you, Kurokawa and me, we have some experience in such situations. We've taken care of Demon victims before and I can tell you, Souichi, they need to get all of that off their chests one way or the other. You weren't all that inclined to talk with us about what had happened to you. Thank God you talked with your brother. When he told us you had, we were both relieved but still on alert. From what Tomoe-kun told us, we gathered that you had left out the more juicy parts, right?" Isogai leered at Souichi.

"And you're here to hear them?" Souichi sneered defensively.

"Nah," Isogai denied. "Well, if you're offering the story then by all means, I'm all ears, but I don't think you'd tell me such intimate things." Isogai shrugged.

"How do you know there were even any intimate things?" Souichi grumbled.

Isogai shrugged. "You'd clearly left something out while talking with Tomoe-kun, and since you're so close to him… that's the only thing that you would have left out." Isogai looked meaningfully at Souichi. "But I need to tell you that your tale was very interesting. I didn't know Vampires were so complicated."

Souichi groaned. "You're telling me!"

Isogai chuckled. "So why are you so gloomy?"

The Hunter startled Souichi. "No, I…"

"Don't try telling me you're not feeling down because you've stopped reacting to my jokes, and from the way both of your siblings fret so much I can tell that it's not normal for you. So spill it."

"Why do you think I'll talk with you when I don't want to talk with my brother about it?" Souichi sighed resignedly. Throwing the Hunter from his room was impossible, as well as making him stop prying into other people's business too, it seemed.

Isogai shrugged. "Because you can talk with me about sex and stuff. I don't believe you'd want to talk about it with your brother."

Isogai didn't wait for Souichi to react. He took things into his own hands and asked, "You're only now realizing that you're back home, am I right?"

"No," Souichi sighed unhappily. When he had been in the Demon World there was nothing he had wanted more than to return home, but now that he was home again he couldn't really find his own place. Everything seemed the same as it had been before. Only he was different.

Isogai didn't say anything; he just sat there and waited for Souichi to speak.

"I'm just stupid," Souichi said quietly. He didn't know why he was confiding in the Hunter. He didn't like the guy, he sure as hell didn't trust him, and still he was about to share his most intimate and most disturbing thoughts with him.

"Because you're trying to justify what he did to you?" Isogai asked.

"No, of course not! I don't have Stockholm syndrome! I know that what he did, the kidnapping and treating me like a damn pet, was wrong and he's a jerk for doing that. Not to mention a pervert for…!" Souichi caught himself before he blurted out even more things that he would rather not tell anyone. He clammed up, refusing to say more.

Isogai waited patiently for Souichi to speak again but when it became clear that Souichi wasn't willing to share more with him he asked, "Then why are you stupid?"

"Because I don't care!" Souichi said, his voice as tight as his body.

"You don't care… about what?" Isogai asked, confused.

"About all those things! I still want to see him again!" Souichi yelled, and then hid his eyes with one hand, the other balled into a fist. Saying it out loud made it all the more serious. Final. He couldn't pretend that he didn't want the vampire to come and see him. Despite all the things that Morinaga had made him go through, Souichi still wanted the vampire near him.

Souichi waited for Isogai to laugh, to tell him he was crazy, but nothing like that happened. There was only silence in the room. Souichi could hear his own harsh breathing. Now he felt even worse than before because his longing for the vampire had made itself even more evident, more persistent.

"Then… I don't believe you'll need to wait a lot longer for that to happen," Isogai said enigmatically.

Souichi blinked, turning his head to look at him.

"Now get some rest. I can see you're tired. Good night, Tatsumi-kun," Isogai said and closed the door after himself, leaving Souichi to wonder.

'What the fuck did that mean?'

Note: The end of the chapter is the most important part from it and next time you'll see someone having wet dreams (*^-^*) and meet someone that hadn't made his appearance yet. XD The 27th chapter should be easy to write but the 28th might be a bit tricky. But I'll worry about it when I get there. XD Now you can tell me what you think. ^-^