o o o
The fresh air was sobering. The lustrous lake rippled in the sun. The sight of rice fields and quiet mountains was a soothing change after three nights of muddy hills and steep terrain. Due to the possible attack on Kurashiki, they were to take a rigorously detestable path rich in mudslides, poisonous snakes, swamps, and the above-average creepy-crawlers. She wished for Cyrus, her most loved and trustworthy steed, whom she had to leave behind after a vociferous congress on the night of departure. She, obviously wanting her horse, and he claimed the usual mode of travel was a no-go.
"I refuse to trudge through a swamp and sleep under spider webs. They're poisonous, you know." Yuki cried, "They drink your blood, crawl in your ears, lay a few thousand eggs."
Kaname knew Yuki would resent his suggestion, he was surprised to discover her knack for exaggeration.
"My blood is not toxic like yours, they'll chew me to death," Yuki exclaimed.
He folded his arms in the sleeves of his black coat in the leisure and all-understanding manner of a sage. "Leave it to me."
"We should take the horses and cut down travel time." Yuki insisted anxiously.
His eyes narrowed and brows skewed enigmatically. "I have to pass towns and estimate damages. The swamp is the quickest and easiest road to the east. It is less utilized so it'll be peaceful."
"Poisonous vampire tarantulas are not peaceful." She was a pitch below screaming but had successfully managed to slick his hair back over his head in the gravity-defying shriek. A marvelous trick he hadn't noticed her master before.
His eyes, that were always narrow and sharp around the corners, widened at the force. Kaname schooled his features back to warmth calm and smiled into her upturned furrowed and furious expression. "I will carry you." He declared, once and for all.
"And let you fling me around like a tornado, no thank you."
"You didn't have a problem before," Kaname emphasized by raising a long index finger, "It was the perfect solution. We were under attack and you were very happily snuggled in my arms."
Yuki slurred through clenched fangs indignantly, "I had a concussion."
"I remember my blood was titillating, you frothed around the mouth. I've decided to dispose of my shirt for the trip, you can have better access."
"Stop making your safety a joke and wear armor." Yuki searched her person and yanked the crimson handkerchief wrapped around the ostentatious dragon dagger, "Better yet, take this back, or I'll pawn it for blood."
In Yuki's eyes, Kaname was an upright Sir Bookworm that could not offend or defend. "I don't have pockets in my jacket to keep the dagger. The only harm done to me is your rejection." She'd get scared and run away if she witnessed his real powers. He hadn't found a solution to keeping her by him yet.
"What kind of agent throws themself at their superior?"
Kaname returned his hand back in his sleeve elegantly, "We've already accommodated your proclivity for my blood at previous intervals."
Yuki glared out of the corner of her eye, "I'm wiser now."
"We shall see for ourselves when I carry you," Kaname murmured sinisterly, "My hunch is you're going to enjoy it more than you assume, you won't be able to resist me. I'm the most delicious thing you've tasted."
"You have unreasonably high expectations," Yuki reproached.
Amusement flickered across his eyes, "The concept has long been proven. I won't worry, you'll wind up attacking me in your sleep."
Yuki flinched at the accusation, the assault in the meaning turned her limbs to lead. She rinsed her hands in the stream and freshened her face in a splash. She hadn't spiraled with hunger in months and to further avoid an unflattering encounter on the ground in seizures, she carried a bottle of blood wine on her belt. It didn't hurt to ask for blood from her pureblood superior—companion, savior?—but she refused to let him 'win.' He'd make her do his bidding. Not that the pureblood was prone to traitorous endeavors but she caught herself wondering how little she understood about his sly nature. It didn't take a genius to see Kaname was not lighthearted or facetious. He committed things to memory upon initial observation, was somber-quiet, reserved, and unsmiling to others, but it didn't mean his power over her would stop him from making her strip tease for him in the woods. And she wouldn't be able to stop herself because she wanted to please him. Her nudity was now a sad topic. He had very effectively adjusted to her indecent exposure. No, no, she couldn't let him win.
She swore not to let him fool her into thinking whatever she wanted about him. She had to watch closely, openly, and thoroughly to understand the real man. For three days and nights, she happened to do the things she did not look forward to—trudge through the swamp wired by vampire tarantulas. If she appeared stone-faced or diligently half a step behind the pureblood, she was shrieking hysterically and squirming on the inside.
The edge of Kaname's mouth wrinkled, hoisting smartly in a knowing smile. She mumbled incoherently, brushing off spider webs from her sleeve and quivered upon passing by a dangling baby spider. Reaching over, he secured her by the wrist. "I'm here."
Yuki gaped at the collection of long fingers enclosed around her wrist, pacified. She fidgeted as a pair of spiders scrolled down a branch down her right. "No wonder the swamp is avoided. I did expect them, but not this many," Yuki paled.
Kaname slowed, tugging her against him. "See, Yuki, if you let me carry you, you wouldn't be afraid."
Her eyes doubled at the pirouetting tarantula over his head. "W-who's afraid?" She wrung his collar. "We-we should definitely keep moving."
"True," Kaname felt her grip tighten around his. Ambling around, he widely smiled. "You're a walking feast. There are thousands roving in your vicinity by the second, I can hear them. Luckily, I'm too powerful to ingest. If I stayed back, the mother might not match up to me either."
Yuki whimpered over his shoulder, stumbling against Kaname and clung to his back ."Oh-oh Ouji," She sobbed. "So-something's crawling in my boot."
"Mm?" Kaname blinked at her cringing on his back. "Oh, that's because a couple of babies slipped inside your socks."
That did it.
Yuki screamed, wringing free, and kicked her boot off. Kaname struggled to maintain his impassivity at her distress. He gently knelt and removed the shoe, brushing the stray aways. "You sure you don't want me to carry you?"
Upon feeling a large tarantula land on her back, Yuki squealed again.
"Being fodder is easier than snuggling in my arms?" Kaname rose when she attempted to brush off the sizable creature but failed multiple times.
"Help me…" Yuki moaned, averting from the spider reaching around her hair, another landed on her pate from the trees.
Today, you're so adorable showing me your vulnerable side.
"Alright," Kaname slowly approached. At once, the tarantulas leaped from Yuki upon his encroach. He pulled her neatly in his arms, until she rested weightily against his chest, catching her breath. "It's best to stick close to me. They won't dare come near you."
Yuki noted the critters circle from a distance. She couldn't imagine traversing the swamp alone. There were various creatures not understood by mankind, hosted from vampire genes, and remains from centuries. Her hunter's sword could thwart them temporarily, but she felt irrational and overwhelmed by the population to kill all. The game of predators was usually to wear out the prey. She did not want to struggle. For the time being, she was relieved and grateful for Kaname's presence and let herself rest against him. Lulled by the vibrations of his heartbeat, and the interweaving current of his blood magnetizing her own to a calmer rhythm. In every room where a pureblood resided, the lower level vampires received a form of security by imitating their heartbeat.
Kaname stroked fingers through her hair. It was now past her shoulders, stopping in the middle of her back. Hard to believe there was a time her scalp was filled with burn marks and deep scars, revealing the cranium. His jaw clenched in reaction at the deplorable past she'd endured and overcome. He much preferred Yuki leaning on him in a tarantula swamp than the Toma camp any day.
"Feel better?" Kaname asked softly.
"Yes," She murmured against his sleeve, assessing their whereabouts intelligently, "Let's go."
Kaname released her and turned back around.
She hastily grabbed his arm to stop him from taking another step. "Carry me."
"I don't know," Kaname mumbled indecisively, "I might fling you around like a tornado."
"Just do it." Yuki gritted her fangs.
Kaname passed her a sleepy glance, "But we'll be out of the swamp once we pass the nest. It's right in front of us."
What a simple adventure for the pureblood, and a horrendous nightmare for the huntress.
"Take me out of here right now," Yuki desperately clenched his hand, yanking his sleeve.
He didn't know how to pretend not loving her plea. The capacity to reject her was suddenly unavailable.
No.
She had another power over him. At her round, pleading eyes, Kaname could not ignore the feeling of sympathy and longing sting his chest. He made no expression that it was difficult to gauge his sentiments. He was secretly appreciative of his ability to discipline emotions.
"You're tougher than ten bulls. We're merely a few steps from leaving the swamp, you can outdo the mother in your sleep." He tugged the arm and folded it across his chest mockingly.
Yuki inched toward his solid stature, hugging his side in order to escape the engulfing critters swirling over their heads hungrily. "I can't face the nest." Which protruded like a colossal mountain in front of them. Yuki tugged his sleeve, "Ouji, please take me out of here, oh?"
Kaname spied her through narrow eyes. His amorous gaze curtained by lashes. Yuki tightly latched onto him to his exceeding predilection. He stared remotely around the swamp, unamused or bothered by the hissing creatures. His arms enclosed around Yuki sturdily in a liquid motion, enough for her to fit delicately and precisely along the width of his chest. Kaname tucked her head under his chin.
"You already know your Ouji can't refuse you." He sighed. In a matter of seconds, Kaname shot into the stratosphere.
The dreary darkness of the humid swamp whipped away like drops of water, irretrievably gone. They disappeared behind the clouds, between the interchangeable melt of cold wind and warm sunlight. Yuki tightened her grip around his shoulders. Her chin propped against his chest as she closed her eyes in the seamless gust of mist, wind, and his irreplaceable scent. Absently she nuzzled him, diving farther into memory from the first time he lent her a silk shirt.
He still smells the same.
Comfort serenaded her blood, short and refined strings plucked with the draught of breath. Yuki smiled in the balmy warmth of arms. She was safe and content. Nothing could catch her or touch her. Below, land and rivers fell away under layers of birds and mountains, she sighed in sublime satisfaction.
Observing Yuki's mute but undeniable smile, Kaname whispered, "I was right."
Yuki didn't lift her head, she merely tilted her chin to the side, ensuring to hear him through the draft.
"You like snuggling in my arms best."
She didn't refute him and remembered how far they were from Kurashiki. She hadn't traveled in such a long time but it was gratifying to fly across the horizon. Sunlight stroked his profile, drizzling brilliance through dark locks fluttering across his cheek and eyes. The clouds seemed to ripple and sway like a hazy echo. She sank further in his arms, her eyes drifting shut in surrender.
o o o
The Toma faction waited in chilling vigilance as the black tether of bats and smoke passed the invisible shield. Standing above his troop, Lord Toma smirked sardonically in the direction the pureblood traveled.
"My lord," One of his samurai whispered widely, "Wasn't that the crowned prince?"
"He wasn't alone." Another samurai muttered, "I smell a woman."
Lord Toma admired the invisible shield protecting his army in the sky. "While he tends to the death of the people, you should focus on the fiefs in the eastern border. It's close enough to let him know we know where he is."
The samurais nodded, "Understood."
"As for the woman," Lord Toma cunningly narrowed his eyes, "Yuki Hanako was cool enough to tell me how to take advantage of the crowned prince but she gets swindled by him, even forced across the seas."
"How do you want to deal with her?"
"It is said he has taken a bride. I can't believe she accepted his proposal instead of mine." Lord Toma growled at the blunt sword in his belt, "No matter, she is useless to us. We shall attack the king's palace then the Kuran palace in Kyoto. The nation will be mine soon." He glared at the nodding samurais. "Show the crowned prince what you're capable of."
The troop bowed excitedly and streamed beyond the shield, dropping one by one into the waiting human villages.
o o o
Kaien, Lord Kisaragi, and Haruka glanced at Aidou in the lamplight. The blue-eyed sighed wearily and wiped the perspiration from his forehead. "We're taking every precaution possible. Every day it's fifteen different villages under attack. We keep dividing our resources and men. The daimyos can't sustain their borders for long. We are running out of food and supplies."
Lord Kisaragi broodily nodded, "The Healer Tribe has no room to take in the wounded. Savages, the Tomas attack us on all fronts but we're still nowhere near finding their main hub."
"We have a hunch he's using a portal to keep his army from view." Kaien murmured distantly.
"Is he a superstitious fellow?" Haruka mumbled uncertainly, "A pureblood like that could resort to magic?"
"Nothing is off-limits anymore, my friend," Kaien replied.
"The Tomas have strength in numbers and blood. " Aidou stated. "Kyoto will be targeted. The king has a twenty-thousand army waiting but we know it can't defeat them. All of us are stretched thin, we're growing weak before the war has begun. He keeps us occupied so we can't defend the capital."
They assembled to aid the middle states but battle after battle, upsetting news outweighed the effort. In a short amount of time, Lord Toma managed to crumble the defenses of seventy-seven states, ruin the established sceneries of villages that were home to thousands of humans who kept going missing. It was rare to find over fifty alive after an attack. The human warlords were fiercely battling the Tomas, some skirmishes were victorious in their favor, but it continued to make little to no difference. If Oda, Date, Tokugawa, and Toyotomi lords won a battle by sunset, the following day Lord Toma slew the humans that were saved.
o o o
Hanabusa,
Thank you for your letter. Kurashiki withstood the attack thanks to father's quick thinking. We were lucky this time around. I'm writing to let you know I'll be on assignment in the Southeast. There's a lot of interstate conflicts. Be careful. I'll stay in touch and write to this address if things change. Stay safe. We will meet again soon.
- Yuki
Aidou slipped the note inside of his armor, a faint smile bound his lips as his eyes turned misty. He blinked at the starry-night above hopefully. "We will meet again soon, Yuki."
o o o
They weren't greeted open-armed, serenaded in welcome songs and dances. The smell of blood, burnt corpses, wood, and animals bathed the billowing black smoke. Kaname turned a drastic shade of white. His large red eyes ringed in shock at the marsh of bodies left behind by the Tomas. There was no drop of vampire remains, only humans. His fists curled and his jaw taut. He smelled it from the skyline. They'd been a few miles down when they village was trampled on but he could not believe the sight. The emptiness in the fumes, the flickering amber of crumbling houses, and the slaughtered cattle in the fields. The bodies of little children tossed in the well and rice fields, drained of blood as fear wrecked their expressions until their last moments.
The loss, defeat, being too late and incompetence stormed his mental faculties. Kaname clenched a fist against his temple.
Yuki walked past him toward the ruined town center. She looked over the littered bodies, the screaming faces of crying mothers as their children were ripped out of their arms, and the valiant village men racing with pitchforks and knives to fend off the raiders. She sighed heartily, tears shimmering down her cheeks. Unbuckling her weapons and cloak in an unobjectionable and determined manner, Yuki toured the first shamble of houses and retrieved a shovel.
"Come on, Ouji," Yuki said, looking at the unrestrained wrath of shame and anguish etched in his normally calm face. He was not holding back how he felt now. His sadness and defeat were raw. His eyes, no longer red or a whisper from a relief. Kaname stood in the throes of self-disdain. "Let's give them a funeral they deserve."
His black eyes flickered, an unquenchable loss loomed, petering from the hollow crack of his soul as he approached Yuki. But Kaname did not refuse or ignore the suggestion. It was what the townspeople deserved. Buried with dignity and love deep in the earth, somewhere close to their precious ones. He dug the graves and Yuki assisted in transporting the bodies, tidying their clothes and hair in the process before covering them with soil. They worked tirelessly in silence long after the sunset as equally heavy in the heart and in the mind.
"A couple of months ago," Yuki patted the soil of the grave, "I went to Eternal Abyss. Zero was having a hard time. You ordered me to not leave Kurashiki, but sometimes we have to break rules for the right reasons. He was very sick. The leader of the Healer Tribe told me a pureblood roamed the mountain. She said he was one of kind. He helped a human and hosted a funeral for the man's wife, truly he is one of a kind to look after strange humans. Vampires celebrate death. It's nice there's a pureblood who understands how sacred it is when life passes. We can strive to be more like him. Don't you think, Ouji?"
No doubt Yuki didn't understand he'd learned about funerals from watching her bury Nadeshiko Shindo on a mountain, a vampire Yuki loved and killed.
Kaname hadn't moved and watched the sun suffocate in the darkness. The shovel propped in the ground, under the weight of his wrist.
Yuki glimpsed his silhouette from over her shoulder. It would be too cumbersome to comfort him when he was washed with torment. She didn't prod and lace endearing lyrics. Kaname was the next king. What he witnessed was the normal walk of life as the crowned prince and pureblood king. She wouldn't say it won't happen again or he should avert from the tragedy and suppress it. Later it would rebound twice as tragically to the surface. He needed to be full of it to pass it without confusion and self-condemnation. He needed silence, choice, stillness, and self-conviction, not empty words and prophetic ideals about a new future while the current one rotted under his feet. He had to feel through it completely and listen wisely. He had to mourn the people, his people, even if they were human.
They settled in a house that could pacify for the night. Yuki's vampire powers weren't strong as it once was regardless of how much strength conditioning she'd mustered. She could fight excellently but the rest of her abilities suffered significantly from the consequential hunger episodes. She was fast asleep in a makeshift bed but it was another ordeal to remain asleep.
The torch pierced under her breast.
Her eyes sharply opened at the whimpering firelight chiseling the ceiling. Her hastened breathing rose noisily in the room. Sensing the flatness of the ground, Yuki nudged her palms and stirred in a sitting position. Her heart rammed against her chest. She balanced her shaky limbs and searched the thumping echo, pausing on the dark form in the corner by the door.
"Did you have a nightmare?" Kaname turned his head to eye her through the slit of his eyes.
It was the nearing scratch of a nightmare that waited to screech. Yuki shook her head, she woke up beforehand. "Why are you wedged in the corner?" She wondered skeptically.
He teasingly draped an arm protectively over his chest. "I had a feeling I might get attacked tonight."
Yuki instantly took refuge under the blanket. She took a calm breath to chastise her fluttering heart, but she froze. The blanket was no mere blanket, it was Kaname's coat. His heat and scent engulfed her smoothly and sweetly. She nuzzled the jacket against her face.
It's not fair he smells good too.
She couldn't tackle him in sleep either. Peeking her head out, she listened to the rumbling wind carry the smoky ruins of the dead village to the sea. Her eyes grew heavier by the silent hour, but she couldn't let herself succumb, or else Kaname's expectation would be realized. She rolled over and looked at him. His arms remained locked and his head rested on the wall, closed-eyed, asleep. The dancing movement of his breathing chest was captivating in the silence.
You even sleep beautifully.
Lethargically Yuki ambled out of the makeshift bed with the jacket. She soundlessly knelt. In the flickering light, twisted strands of hair clung against his temples and brows but his eyes were sealed shut. His tall nose pointed symmetrically between even cheekbones. The flesh of his cheek was warm on her hand, drawing upon the neat but justified line of lips. The man was not merely good looking, he was outstanding. Collarbones chiseled freely from the décolleté of the shirt. She sighed raggedly at the unhesitant and desperate ruckus of the pulse at his throat. Beneath her fingers, his pulse was rapid and majestic. Yuki felt her fangs ache in her gums and a raw pain heave through her windpipe and mouth. Hurriedly, she covered Kaname with the jacket, tucking the lapels neatly over his shoulders.
His eyes winked open, peeking at Yuki through the strands of hair tumbling down his temples and forehead. "Why are you up?"
"I'm trying to protect you." She salivated.
Kaname tugged Yuki by the wrist firmly. She tipped on her knees and he tilted her flat on the floor, placing her head on his leg. "We have a long day tomorrow. Your powers are limited since you haven't taken nourishment." Kaname pulled the jacket over her as well.
Yuki frowned but resigned to the heat emanating from the pureblood. Her fangs clicked hungrily and the pull of blood grimly grated her belly. Curling her hands in front of her chest, Yuki stared at the fire hearth at the opposite side of the room to concentrate on the changing light.
"You're thinking about drinking my blood again," He voiced.
Yuki closed her eyes. "Before you, I never had seizures. It's nice that it's in remission. I have to supplement it with blood wine and tablets."
Kaname raked his fingers through her hair, brushing down her scalp and the back of her neck.
"Don't mind me, Ouji," Yuki whispered.
"I don't mind," Kaname resumed rummaging her thick hair, "I won't refuse you either."
Yuki gazed at the cinders in the hearth, glazed and sleepy-eyed. "You don't need to have all the answers or be a champion. Who are you are is enough, Ouji."
Kaname rested his cheek against a knuckle, twining a strand of hair around his index finger.
"It's not your fault they're gone," Yuki softly uttered, "Don't blame yourself. It's well-known how much you want to protect and keep the peace between vampires and humans. No one said being a crowned prince was simple. Being there for humans and vampires is enough. You haven't failed, because it's not over yet. You know how it'll end, you've always known. You never touch anything without knowing how it ends, Ouji."
Normally Kaname would've put her under a sleep spell but he chose not to.
Today, you talking like this, I find you comforting me heartwarming.
When he first met Yuki, she talked brashly, uncouthly, and did not care what others thought of her. She heckled and made fun of him. She looked down on herself, did not trust her worth, and took hygiene for granted. Little by little, she grew through and through. Budding through obstacles, captivity, and loneliness, she continued to reach forth toward the sun. He knew all along she was soft before she hardened herself to match the world, and he would break her illusions and help her free herself. Now she lay curled on his leg, trusting and compassionate of the pureblood she swore to resent forever. Those false claims and threats had long run its course.
You have softened, Yuki.
o o o
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