QUESTIONS: How come Cain came back? After being decapitated and falling off the bridge? And even more handsome and determined than before... *VBEG*

Disclaimer: ...Did anyone really *seriously* believe that "Mayonaka no Tantei" (i.e. "NightWalker"), Cain, Shidou and all the other characters belong to me?? (*sniffs* Sadly enough, they DON'T !! T____T )

Warning: This concerns a Relationship between two MALES. (And, hopefully, will eventually be turning lemony... *beams*) If you do not like such stuff, then LEAVE! *waves* Shoo! *brandishes cross* Be gone!! (On the other hand... Then why would you be here, ne ? ~__^)

Dedication:       - SoulSister, who may yet convince me that Seto/Joey just might be not all that bad. ^.^;;

                        - silverwyvern, who gave me an encouraging review on a fic I was starting to doubt. ^__^v

                        - Darkmaster2, a fellow 'Nightwalker'-fan and writer. ~^__^~

For Once, Then, Something

by Hotaru Muraki

~ Part One ~

Friday nights are really a terrible time to spend alone. Earlier this evening I had accompanied Yayoi, Riho and Guni to the airport. Yayoi had planned to visit those cousins twice-removed for quite some time now. She had, for that same amount of time, been trying to persuade me to go with her. When Riho had found out that Yayoi's relatives owned a large ryokan with an onsen as an additional bonus, she had joined in Yayoi's attempt at persuasion. Even Guni had been infected with their enthusiasm of, as she put it, 'getting away from all that crap that's been happening lately'. That explained some of their excitement alright!

Not that I can't understand them...

At first, I had really actually thought about joining them...but then, I became somewhat uneasy. This whole business sounded almost too good to be true. What if this was just some elaborate trap? Some Machiavellian scheme waiting to be carried out? By...Him...?!

I knew I was being paranoid, and perhaps overly so – as Yayoi so graciously agreed when I voiced some of my fears to her. But then again... She didn't know Cain even a shred as well as I did. I think no-one does. At least no-one who can still talk about it.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh! I had vowed to not think about him any longer! He was...gone. Destroyed. Vanished from the face of this earth. I had decapitated him that night on top of that bridge... He. Was. Gone. Gone!!

As his head and body had tumbled from those lofty heights, I had numbly wondered whether the brightly flickering flames of the explosion below would consume him. Or would he turn to ash before even reaching said fiery grave?

I guess some of those old clichés about vampires still hold, hm? Question is – do they hold true?

Now I have the time to think and muse about it to my heart's content. Back then... Back then, the only thing I remember feeling was a profound sense of relief. It was over. Finally. I was finally free!

Free at last. No more...dreams. No more illusions. No games. No threats. No more...Cain?

I shrugged those unpleasant thoughts aside, shying instinctively away from plunging any deeper into the abyss of memories both old and fairly recent.

Maybe, instead of insisting that they go without me... ("Riho... It's okay." – "But..." – "No, really. I'll be alright, I promise. I a grown boy, ne? Just enjoy yourselves.") Maybe I really should have accompanied Yayoi, Riho and Guni on their 'vacation'... Being alone like this just seems to bring out my moody side, hm?

I stood up from the couch I had been slouching on and walked towards the small kitchenette of my office. Opening the door of the refrigerator, I reached for an almost-empty bottle of the small blood-supply Yayoi had left behind for me. I poured a generous amount and took the glass back to the couch with me. Sitting down, I picked up the remote and switched on the TV.

As I had nothing special in mind for tonight, I just flipped through the channels. Hooray for satellite-TV!

Then some strangely familiar chords of music caught my ear. And my attention. Weren't those...? Yes! The opening credits of that American director's version of "Dracula". Hm... For a vampire to watch that... Wouldn't it be somewhat...bizarre? Then again...why not?

After having decided that watching "Dracula" alone in an empty office was better by far than sitting alone in an empty office and watching the ink dry in the glass-jar, I settled down. Guni would definitely call it 'slouching'. I can almost hear her. And Yayoi would undoubtedly tease me about being morbid or something similar. Riho would most likely just scurry closer and start to cuddle against me, content to watch a movie with me.

Funny how they had left just bare hours ago – and I already missed them. It was probably watching this Harker-guy going on about missing his beloved so much and them being so far apart that made me think of my loved ones all of a sudden. After all, what else could it be?

"Does this mean you were also thinking about me?" whispered a hypnotically soft, deep voice from somewhere left behind me.

Nooooooo.........

Tsuzuku...

Note 1: This part (among others) was written BEFORE I even thought of writing a prologue. Then a kind friend pointed out that most people wouldn't be able to make sense of it. (a.k.a. She bugged me about explaining it for so long that I thought it might be easier to just do it than keep continually looking for excuses. __;;)

Note 2: This is my first NightWalker-fanfic. (And YES, I am going to inflict it upon you.) IMHO, Shidou does have something of a living-room in his office. Just call it artistic license and be done with it, okay? *winks*

Note 3: The title is from I poem I like dearly – the rest of which I can't remember right now. For some reason though, this line got stuck in the webs of my mind... ^^ I certainly don't lack the ideas but still... I wonder if I should continue this... YOU tell me!