Smile
By Shadow@ngel
superpinay@hotmail.com
A Vampire Princess Miyu Fanfiction
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Summary: Conflicts arise in Miyu's judgments and an odd encounter with a
Shinma renders her helpless in ways she cannot understand. But maybe
when she is able to confront her fears, perhaps she can finally learn
what it truly means to be the Vampire Princess...
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Scroll 1
-Of Wonder and Song
The moon.
The cloudless sky.
Swaying trees.
Soft wind, dancing leaves.
One would think that such a sight
would calm me.
Or at least get some praise from me
about how beautiful it was.
Ha.
Feeble thoughts. So it would be
foolish to think that words like this would come from a Shinma. Theses
could only be the comments of a human.
Earth. Such a strange place. Even
though I have lived here all my life, everything still seemed so
eternally foreign. As if I was born elsewhere. And either to my delight
or my regret, it is not my world.
It is a world that I simply have
been chosen to protect. Perhaps because I was once part of it. Perhaps
because I too… was once… a human.
Sometimes I wonder how such a being
like myself could have come from such a …thing. And that's all
humans are to me. Things. And nothing more. A human is helpless. All
they can do is spread and conquer everything with their number.
As I sit atop the roof of my
temple, questions about my past often arise. Escially tonight. Things
like how did I become sentinel? It makes me wonder. A higher power at
work, maybe? Surely there must be. I say so, for someone had to choose
me. Someone had to say…. 'This girl will be the sentinel. She will
be protector of those worthless humans.' Impossible, it would be to
say that I just became the sentinel and just was because I was
just there.
But if I was chosen… when was I?
And by whom?
Eck. An emotion arises within me
often: anger. Anger that makes me wish I could cast out my hand and
silence the miserable creature who chose me. Such a responsibility does
not feel as if it should fall solely on a vampire like myself. And yet
it does, despite my frustrated-silent pleas to no one in particular.
I sigh, and turn my head towards a
sound that had suddenly ruptured my train of through: A soft step of a
human's foot does not escape my delicate ears. I tilt my head in
mock-curiosity, watching the human trespass on my property. I smile.
Perhaps I would entertain myself. My teeth and my fingers itched for
something to do on such an uneventful night.
I almost float down to the ground
from the temple roof. My hands go behind me and grasp each other. I
watch the ground and I tiptoe towards her, as if I was walking on a
wire, my balance threatening to leave me. As if I would tumble miles
before crashing to the ground if I made even a tiny miscalculation.
Laughing softly at my own
playfulness, I stop only yards in front of the girl. She hugs her
schoolbag close to her chest, unaware of my presence. She stops as
papers suddenly fall from her bag. She curses at her own clumsiness and
tries to gather her papers from the ground before they dance away from
her on the wind.
"Goddammit!" She cries
and she simply sits down on the ground in defeat. Brushing one of her
silky black strands of hair from her face, she suddenly takes notices me
in front of her. I smirk as her eyes make their way up to my face and
towards my gold-tinted eyes.
"Little girls should not be
out at this hour." I say playfully. She pauses and stands up to
meet me.
"Who are you calling
little?" She asks cautiously. My height is a few inches short of
hers. She's not taking me seriously. Of course, I don't blame her. I
still have the youth of a young teenager. Somewhere along the lines of
thirteen, I think to myself.
"You of course." I
giggle. She sees my fangs as I smile. Her eyes widen and she seems
frozen under my gaze. She looks like she's very afraid, as I would
expect. I guess fear was taking its toll on her. Needless to say, I
think she was beginning to take me seriously.
Her schoolbag drops from her hand.
It hits the cement with a small slap. "You're so careless."
I giggle once more before placing my hand on her cheek, pulling her down
me. Her ear stops at my lip. I begin to whisper,
"Would you like a dream?"
She blinks. I feel her relax. She knows it's out of her power. And she
knew there are no one else around. She was alone this night. This cold,
dark night. "I promise that it will be beautiful…" She nods
again. So my lips find their war toward her neck and my fangs sink into
her flesh. Her blood flows and is sweet on my tongue.
"Good night." I whisper
as I release her. She falls to the ground.
I'm not thirsty anymore.
Larva waits for me beside a
beautiful Cherry Tree. I softly dance over to him, my hair trailing
lightly behind me.
* ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~
*
Only a few hours until sunrise, I
think to myself. I sink back into Larva's cold, but loving arms. He
tightens his arms around me and I return the sign of affection by laying
my head on his chest.
"Larva? Were you human
once?" I ask him suddenly. He is not surprised by my question. But
I knew he wasn't expecting it either.
"No. I have been a Shinma
since my beginning." He says to me. "But my allegiance and my
love will always belong to you."
I give him a quick peck on his lips
before returning my gaze to the falling moon.
"Why does this matter
arise?" He asks suddenly. The moonlight hits him just right and I
smile, I can feel my fangs show again. I think he likes it.
"You need not worry. Just a
simple inquiry." I say to him. He can sense my aura and he knows
something is definitely bothering me.
But he also knows that I will not
say what is wrong unless I tell him myself. He learned long ago that
though my love for him is absolute, I only tell him what I choose to
tell him. But… more often than not, his smille wins me over and one
way or another, I find a way to hint it to him. So I harbor no secrets
from him, and he in turn, harbors no secrets from me.
Suddenly, my expression becomes
distraught. I sit up and jump down from his grasp and I land on the
forest floor. Larva notices, but he waits in the trees, watching over
me. The branches of the surrounding trees almost seem to stretch and
curve. They resemble hands that reach out to grab me.
But I have no fear. Only a human
would fear a pathetic shadow.
"Larva." I say. He nods
and comes down to my side. Now covering his beautiful face is his mask-
a pale, fake complexion my eyes tell me.
I hate his mask.
"Come out." I can feel my
playfulness suddenly surface from the depths of my tainted emotions.
"Shinma, you cannot hide. I am Miyu. Do not feel you can deceive
me." I begin to play with the end of my braid.
A small tune begins to float on the
wind and it drifts to my ears. A pleasant sound, it was. But its tune
was tarnished by a malevolent voice that accompanied it. A shadow comes
out from behind one of the trees. And it stares at me with eyes as
curious as my own.
It dances to the tune of its song.
The shinma was singing and playing
the flute simultaneously. Impossible, I think at first. But a ray of
moonlight shows me an instance of its face. Four lips; Two to play, two
to sing.
"Wandering Shinma, you dare
confront me?" I say, my laughter following. "Do you wish for
death?" To my surprise, the Shimna nods. I laugh again. Foolish
wretch, I think. The Shinma's skinny frame looks almost as if it will
fall apart at any moment. All skin and bones, he was. So I thought I
would reach out and twist his bones until he shatters.
"Miss,
perhaps you'd like to hear my song
Be light, be flight, be proud, be
gone…
Do not fear me nor fear me not
For fault is yours, and take care,
you ought."
"You mock me, shinma? Or maybe
a threat?" I ask him.
"Mock
you, I have not
Warning just one- and only one I
give
So listen well, immortal one
And I shall let you live"
"You? Let me
live?"
"Push
back your pride and open your ears,
For the question you ask
Not far, but so near."
"What is this nonsense. I
have no questions for you. I am content." I say to him, sensing
very well that he knew I was lying. But he intrigued me very much. He
made me wonder.
I would make him die slowly.
His song stopped and he lowered his
flute. He began to speak with his pair of lips and those voices of his
sounded almost as if they were intertwined. Like my braid.
"Miyu. A wandering Shinma I am
not. A messenger sent from one of higher ground. A hidden desire you
must resist, or humanity will become yours. And immortality will fade
until you find the answer to that question which has plagued you since
you awakened as the Vampire Princess."
"You stand on dangerous
ground." I say.
"Whether it be dangerous or
not, I come now to say that Larva will fail you when in fact you have
failed him."
"Enough! You dare speak to me
in such a manner!?" I hiss. I prepare to do battle when Larva
suddenly senses my anger. Without warning, I feel a Larva lunge forward
and run his nails through the Shinma. I stand, surprised he would act
for me in such short moments.
The Shinma fell, his flute lay
beside him. But his last words still managed to sift through.
"Miyu- do not dismiss my song.
Your hidden desire can only be destroyed by your answer." I frown,
not knowing what he means. In an attempt to forget his words, I turn and
my head towards the moon. But it is not there.
It has set. And it is gone.
"Sunrise," I say to
myself. "…has come."
* ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~
*
I wrap my human-made scarf around
my neck. It is a chilly morning and if I were a human, I would probably
be shivering.
The dew drops of the early morning
were just beginning to fade and the faintest traces of the city
beginning could be heard just above the faint blowing of the soft wind.
I look down at myself and nod. If I
were a human, this was probably what I would be wearing: a uniform shirt
and a blouse along with a skirt and the masterfully added scarf.
I am walking alone, as I do every
morning to school, but I can feel someone behind me. They are quite a
ways back, but I can sense them quickening their pace. This does not
worry me.
I turn around. Luckily, it is
simply one of those impish humans who has believed they have befriended
me. She has a human name, but I have come to affectionately call her
Rayuki. She doesn't seem to mind, as her other friends like to use
that pet-name as well.
"Miyu! Wait up!" She
calls to me. I stop and she catches up to me. Once by my side, she fixes
her glasses and tries to make her short, black hair look a bit more
decent. And in the process, straightens her uniform. "Hey."
"Rayuki," I smile. She
smiles back. We continue on the way to the school I had chosen to enroll
in. I didn't really have to enroll myself in a human school, but it
may be a bit of an advantage to make myself blend in with the humans.
"How are you this
morning?" I ask her. She shrugs.
"Oh, the usual. Tired from all
the algebra Miss Tatsasuke gave is last night. Geeze, she can be a pain
in the ass sometimes, no?" she says, not waiting for a reply from
me. She sighs. "How do you deal, Miyu? You always have all the
assignments in on time and you always have the highest grades. Perfect
attendance…And not to mention all the boys are practically fawning
over you and tripping all over themselves. Heh. It's like you're
superhuman."
"Oh you'd be
surprised." I answer.
"What 'zat supposed to
mean?" She says, elbowing me lightly. I don't mind. It amused me.
And she was just playing.
"Nothing. Just a matter of
speech." I say and look up to the sky where a few dark clouds seem
to be rolling in. Rayuki glances at me and follows my gaze upwards. She
frowns when her eyes meet the same clouds.
"Oh that's great. I thought
it was going to be nice today!" she says, a pout playing across her
face. She can be so cute when she wants to. Humans are so very peculiar.
But I guess that's one of the principles that help me resist that oh
so very satisfying urge to kill them.
* ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~
*
So what does a vampire do to forget
the seemingly foolish words of a dying Shinma?
Simple. Pick on bullies.
Well, it seems to pass my time
anyway. Not that it goes any faster. After all… vampires are immortal,
are they not? So why pass the time at all, when there'll always be
more time to pass? Oh the predicaments I face every day, posing as a
human.
I guess having to think like a
human comes with the territory of pretending to be one.
I lick my fingers after
accidentally giving myself a paper-cut. Damn. I was getting another urge
for blood. Those urges were happening more frequently after that
encounter with the Shinma with the flute. It seemed almost too
coincidental.
"Don't touch me dammit."
A voice floats over to my ears. I look up, and almost immediately, a
smile slip across my face. In front of me is quite an inviting sight:
Some boy is pestering the hell out of a girl only a few desks away from
where I am sitting.
"Oh come on, you know you like
it," The boy persists. He then has the nerve to put his hand on her
leg. The girl jumps. Indeed it was a wonderful chance to amuse myself…
and if I may say, to scare the shit out of that young boy.
The teacher hasn't come in yet,
and no one around really had the 'guts' to intervene and stop it.
Cowards. Such cowards, the humans
are. So I stand and make my way over to the two and I stand patiently
until the obnoxious boy glances up from his victim and notices me. The
girl, is currently trying to shove him away.
"What the hell do you want,
shrimp?" he says, and stands straight. A pathetic intimidation
attempt. I suddenly decide that perhaps it was my turn then.
I blink, unmoving. And then he
frowns. "So, I am a shrimp, now am I?" I ask. "What are
you then?"
"Shut up and go sit down
before I pound you into the ground. This is between my girl and
me," he says, trying to stand his ground. The girl protests.
"God! Its over! I told you, I'm
not your girl anymore!!" She yells. Oh, this truly was amusing. I
guess the boy didn't know that the dominant one in this school was me.
And he had no right to threaten my authority. The grounds belonged to
me. The students belonged to me. The humans… belonged to me.
"Just shut up!" The boy,
not standing for her objection, brings down his hand to slap her. But I
wasn't going to stand for it. So I quickly stepped in front and
abruptly stopped his hand. "What the hell!?" His wrist is
still in my grasp. He tries to pull away, but I simply smile in return.
"I wouldn't do that," I
say.
"I'll show you, ya little
bi- Augh!" He quickly drops to his knees as his wrist cracks under
the pressure of my fingers. He is crying now and he is whimpering for me
to let go. My smile grows wider, and the rest of the students are
beginning to stare at us. I don't mind.
"I don't think you want to
bother this girl anymore," I say. I let go of his wrist and pick up
one of the notebooks that the girl had dropped while trying to push him
away. "You should take better care of your things, girl."
The bell rings loudly and I make my
way back to my desk. The teacher walks in with his briefcase and some
papers. And that's when it suddenly occurs to me what I had just done.
I pause and frown.
Had I just helped that human?
Willingly?
No…no… I was just scaring that
boy for amusement. That was all. I wasn't helping that girl. It was
just to pass the time and nothing more…
Damn that Shimna and his infernal
song. He was making me paranoid.
…N-nothing more…
