I'm going to rewrite this, only because the original concept and the title didn't really make any sense, which I should've seen before posting it, but at the time I wasn't thinking clearly. The rating will remain the same, while the story itself is going to be completely different. Expect bashing of course. Please enjoy, going to share similarities to the one-shots in stripes and scales.

Ryuuji sat in his room, his back against the wall as his body shook from a mixture of anger and fright. Hearing a knock at the door, he began breathing heavily as he looked up and heard the voice of his mother call to him, "Ryu? Ryu are you okay in there?" he frowned and hung his head as Yasuko continued to call to him, "Ryu, it'll be okay. I know your friends turned on you, but you've still got your mommy," Ryuuji narrowed his eyes as he shook his head before the sound of a loud knock at the front door caught their attention and Yasuko poke again, "I'll be right back, Ryu," hearing his mother walk away from the door, Ryuuji moaned as he hung his head.

Yasuko opened the door and looked down at their neighbor and Ryuuji's classmate Taiga and she narrowed her eyes slightly, "Yasuko…I'm here to see Ryuuji," Yasuko continued to glare at the petite brunette and Taiga frowned as she held her hands up and shook her head, "I swear I don't have anything to hurt Ryuuji and I don't want to hurt him. It's just…before I could talk to him, Minori, Kitamura and Kawashima pulled me away from him after the incident, screaming monster,"

Yasuko continued to glare at her before she sighed and stepped aside, "He's in his room, but know this, Taiga, if you do anything to hurt my son, I swear I will-"

"I promise I won't," Taiga moved past Yasuko and Yasuko closed the door before following Taiga down the hall.

The two stood outside of Ryuuji's room as Yasuko sighed and knocked on the door, "Ryu, Taiga's here to see you," silence passed between them and Yasuko frowned, "Ryu, Taiga promised she has nothing to hurt you with. Can you open the door please?" hearing movement on the other end, the door soon opened and a pale Ryuuji stepped out of the room and Yasuko smiled, "Hey Ryu…I'll be right down the hall if you need me," glaring down at Taiga, she hissed, "I swear to you, if you do anything to upset my son, I will-"

"I already promised that I don't want to hurt him," Taiga swore again before taking Ryuuji by the hand and leading him back into the room before closing the door behind them and Yasuko glared at the door with narrowed eyes as she crossed her arms.

The two teenagers sat on the floor of the room before Ryuuji inhaled slowly and looked up, "Why are you here, Taiga?" Taiga frowned as she hung her head, "I figured you'd want to avoid the monster. What do you want an-"

"I'm sorry, Ryuuji…I should've fought when Minori and Kitamura and the dumb chihuahua started to pull me away, but I was too stunned. I was worried when I saw you fall to the ground," she looked up and saw Ryuuji staring at her with him arms crossed and she frowned, "I…I was scared when I saw that creature coming towards me. I thought I was going to die, but then you pushed me out of the way, and I saw you fall to the ground. When you got back up, Minori, Kitamura and the dumb chihuahua started to scream monster and began pulling me away, but I was too stunned to react then. After getting away, I came to my senses and started yelling at them for leaving you like that. The four of us got into an argument before I left and came looking for you."

The air between the two grew still as Taiga shook and looked down with a faint frown as tears began building up behind her eyes, "I didn't want to leave you there…I wanted to stay to make sure you were still alive…you've done so much for me that I thought that it was the very least I could do for you," she looked up and saw Ryuuji still staring at her, "Damnit Ryuuji, say something! I'm sorry for what happened, but I wasn't going to leave you like that! I didn't want to, but the others were just so…so stubborn an-" before she could finish, Ryuuji pulled her into a tight embrace, surprising her as Ryuuji inhaled her natural scent and the scent of her perfume, "Ryuuji?"

"C'mon Taiga…you of all people should know I can't stand to see the Palmtop Tiger crying like this," Taiga moaned at her much-hated nickname as she slowly wrapped her arms around Ryuuji's torso and lightly cried into his chest as Ryuuji rubbed the top of her head, "I was hoping at least one of you wouldn't do something like leave me over something like this an…and-" he moved away from Taiga and curled up on the floor as he began howling in pain as Taiga stared at him with wide eyes.

The door slid open and Yasuko ran into the room, "What happened! What did you do to Ryu!"

"I…I didn't do anything, Yasuko, I swear! We were just talking, and he just started screaming!" Taiga looked at the blue-haired teen and frowned, "Ryuuji? Ryuuji, what's wrong?"

"M-my body…it feels like it's failing!" Ryuuji hissed and Taiga's eyes widened, "I don't know what's wrong with me!" thinking quickly, Taiga took the small knife out of her pocket and ran the blade across her arm, cutting it slightly and drawling a small amount of blood.

Ryuuji's head shot up as he panted and Taiga knelt in front of him, held out cut arm out towards him, "Here, Ryuuji," Ryuuji stared up at Taiga before he slowly shook his head, "I'm not saying kill me or anything like that, idiot, just drink enough to fill you up!" Ryuuji swallowed hard before he leaned closer to her and began running his tongue across the cut.

Yasuko watched as her only son slowly sat up and panted before he looked at Taiga, "Th-thanks, Taiga…I guess even Vampires need to eat…thanks," Taiga hummed and nodded before Ryuuji tore off a piece of his shirt and grabbed her arm and began wrapping the small cut up, "So it doesn't get infected,"

Yasuko slightly smiled at her son as Taiga smiled and shook her head, "Yeah…don't mention it, Ryuuji,"

"You know your blood tasted really sweet…almost like strawberries and cream,"

Taiga's eyes widened as she felt her cheeks get warmer as she began stammering, "Taiga," the two looked up as Yasuko smiled and waved the brunette over, "Can I talk to you out in the hall for a minute?" confused, Taiga nodded before standing up and walking over to the older woman. Yasuko looked at Ryuuji and shook her head, "Don't worry, Ryu, I just want to talk to her," Ryuuji hummed and nodded as he watched as his mother and Taiga walk out of his room and Yasuko slid the door close.

The two stood at the end of the hall in silence before Yasuko took a deep breath and crossed her arms before speaking in a serious tone, surprising Taiga, "I wanted to refuse your request. I wanted to tell you to leave and then slam the door in your face, but you are one of the few people who Ryu will talk to and at the time, I was desperate to see how he was doing," Taiga's eyes widened as she hung her head, "But…after seeing you offer Ryu some of your blood when he was starving and that you haven't gone after him since you've been here shows me that you care for him and wanted to be there when it first happened."

Placing a hand on Taiga's shoulder, Taiga looked up with wide eyes as Yasuko smiled, "You and I are the only ones who are accepting Ryu and I need to know I can count on you to continue to be there for him. If he's upset, lend him a shoulder to cry on, if he needs to vent, let him yell at the top of his lungs at the entire world…show him that he's loved, and that he doesn't need to feel like he's alone,"

Taiga slightly smiled before it quickly turned into a frown and she looked away, "Yasuko…can I tell you something? And can you promise you won't be mad?" Yasuko hummed and arched a brow, "When…when Ryuuji and I first met…I wasn't the nicest person around. I'd physically hit him, I jumped at him after I put something in his bag by mistake when I thought it was someone else's and…I broke into your home and chased Ryuuji all around his room with my Bokken, trying to hit him with it…I didn't mean to…I was just…I was…trying to jus-" Yasuko pulled her into a comforting embrace and Taiga looked up at her with wide eyes, "Yasuko? Didn't you hear what I've been saying? I physically assaulted Ryuuji and-"

"While I am upset you did all of that to Ryu, I can't fault you. Everyone has made mistakes in the past…I thought Ryu's father was going to be there for me when I told him I was pregnant with Ryu,"

"Do you regret it?"

"Not at all," Yasuko smiled as she shook her head, "Whether he stayed or not doesn't matter to me. A few months later I gave birth to Ryu and I never been happier," Taiga looked down, "And now it's your turn to make Ryu happy. Be there for him, I know he'll be there for you," Taiga hummed and nodded before returning the embrace.

Ryuuji sighed as he sat in his room before he heard the door slide open. Looking up, he spotted Taiga walking into room, "Hey Taiga," Taiga hummed and looked at him, "Is everything okay? What did Yasuko want?"

"It's nothing, Ryuuji," Taiga answered, sitting next to him and leaning up against him, "She just told me that she wanted to slam the door in my face when I first got here because of what Minori, Kitamura and the dumb chihuahua did by dragging me away from you after you were bit, how she knows you'll talk to me and she wanted to know how you were doing that she was desperate enough to let me try to talk to you," Ryuuji looked at her and arched a brow, "What?"

"Nothing," Taiga hummed as Ryuuji sighed and rubbed the back of his head and looked away, "So…what happened between you, Kushieda, Kawashima and Kitamura after they dragged you off? You said you got into an argument with them,"

"Yeah," Taiga hung her head, "Like I said, I didn't come to my senses until after we got away. I looked around but saw that you weren't there. I looked at the others and asked why weren't you with us and Kitamura said that they didn't have time to worry about…about uh…well…a monster like you," she looked up and saw Ryuuji's expressionless face, "I stared at him in disbelief…thinking he was out of his damn mind. I then looked at the dumb chihuahua and she scoffed, saying if we had saved you, we all would've ended up dead, and I told her that you wouldn't attack your friends for no reason,"

Ryuuji sighed and shook his head as he ran his fingers through his hair, "And I wouldn't. The reason I pushed you aside was because I didn't want you to get hurt…wait…you didn't get hurt, did you?"

"I was more concerned about you, Ryuuji…but no, you didn't hurt me," Taiga assured before her face twist into a sour expression, "Anyway…I looked at Minori, thinking maybe she'd be the voice of reason, saying I was right and we should go back to get you…but instead she just…she said that…well…she-"

"Taiga don't force yourself. If you can't say it, don't worry about it, it's not import-"

"She said that if only four of us could survive it'll be better if we just left you for dead," Taiga spouted out before the room fell silent. After several minutes of silence have passed, Taiga's fists tightened as tears slid down her cheeks, "My best friend, the girl who can see the good in everyone around her, no matter who they are, suggested we'd leave you to die…I lost it…I yelled at her, saying if it weren't for your quick thinking, I would've been the one who was bit and then what? Would they leave me for dead?"

"Taiga,"

"I told them that if they didn't want to go looking for you then it was fine, but they aren't true friends if they ignore you like that. They've called my ungrateful after having saved me from you, something I didn't even want them to do, and that if I wanted to look for you then I was free to do so…so…I told them all off before running back to the street only to find you and the creature were gone…I came here as fast as I could…I'm just grateful Yasuko heard me out and let me talk to you."

The air between the two grew still before Taiga sighed and stood up, "Well…I better get home. I'll see you around, Ryu-" before she could finish, she felt Ryuuji grab her hand and she looked down in confusion as Ryuuji slightly smiled at her, "Ryuuji?"

"Why don't you stay here for the night? The others are bound to come looking for you and they'll go to your place without hesitation," Ryuuji shook his head, "Yasuko won't let them in, and even if they do manage to break in, I'll just scare them away," Taiga hummed before she picked up the covers and wrapped them around her before siting next to Ryuuji and leaned up against him, "Taiga?"

"If you wanted me to stay then all you had to do was ask, you know," Ryuuji slightly smiled as Taiga shifted her weight and laid on his chest.

Ryuuji reached up and patted the top of Taiga's head and Taiga moaned as she nuzzled closer to him and Ryuuji smirked, "Are you purring?"

"No…idiot, I wasn't purring," Taiga moaned as she closed her eyes and Ryuuji wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back as she closed her eyes and mumbled, "Don't move…too comfortable…tired," Ryuuji hummed and nodded as he continued to rub Taiga's back and she slowly drifted off to sleep in his arms.

Yasuko poked her head in Ryuuji's room and saw Taiga sleeping in Ryuuji's arms while Ryuuji continued to rub her back. A faint smile crossed Yasuko's lips before she turned and quietly slid the door closed before walking down the hall, "I'm glad Ryu has someone else he can turn to, and I'm happy that it's Taiga." She turned and walked into her room, sliding the door closed behind her as she laid down on her futon and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Ryuuji looked down and saw Taiga's back rise and fall at an even pace, indicating she was asleep. Carefully moving aside, he laid Taiga down on the futon and pulled the covers over her before he stood up and walked out of the room and down the hall to the kitchen to prepare Taiga a lunch for school the next day.

Well…here's the first chapter. I'm going to delete the original one soon. Please enjoy.