Remember Me – Chapter Three

Disclaimer: The standard

Genre: Supernatural/Angst (Yaoi)

Synopsis: Coming back from the dead, he went back to his homeland intending to live a new life but was instead plunged back into those haunting memories when he met a certain pale, raven haired boy……

//……………// = Thoughts

~……………~ = Wave of thoughts

Akane: ^^ Hope you like it! Here's the next chappy!

Ckfox07: *glomps* Yeah yeah!! Sensen will always be a super seme! Great job on PIC!

White Meteor: Transform Kaede? Hehhee…you sure think far ahead! ^____^

Fiery Frost: Hmm…. I duno. Contrary to what most people think, Kaede's not exactly the reincarnation of Ayumi, so I am not sure if he will ever 'remember'. Read on!

Sakura88: Thx! Am continuing!

SLL: *glomps* Hihi gal! Here's the next chappy.

Nothingtodo: *jumps up and down* So happy you reviewed cos I know you are not into Yaoi. ^____^ Hope you will continue reading the fic!

This is a crappy and long chappy… so bear with it. ^^

******************

Sprawling his head on the table, Rukawa took his chance to nap when the sensei took her attention off the class to welcome a certain new student.

He sure had no interest nor any intention to get himself acquaint with the new student, whoever he or she was.

"Ok now class, we have a new student all the way from America who will be joining us for the rest of the year. Now, I want all of you to be nice and make sure he feels at home."

//A student from America?//

Now that was a different case. Curious, Rukawa took a peep from beneath his black bangs with his head still lazily sprawled on the table. With all the heads blocking his view, he could only catch a glimpse of the new student. He had spiky hair…..

//Spiky hair?//

Rukawa immediately sat right up.

//It's him//

Rukawa could only stare in disbelief as the boy who had been haunting his mind since yesterday stood in the front of the room, dressed in a black woolen turtleneck and black jeans, with a dark brown haversack casually slung over his shoulders.

Shudders ran through the raven-haired boy when the voice of the new student rang in his ears as he introduced himself. The familiar voice reminding him of yesterday's encounter.

Like the entire class, he was also taken aback by the cobalt blue eyes. They were like no eyes he had seen before, they were unusual.

His heart involuntarily picked up speed when he saw those blue eyes scanned the room, as if looking for something, or rather someone….

His breathing stopped as those blue eyes fixed directly onto his.

****************

The smile on Sendoh's face froze for a split second as his eyes fell upon the image of the boy which had been residing in his mind despite all his efforts to banish him.

"Thank you for your introduction, Sendoh-san." The sensei smiled through her thanks as her eyes roamed the class before she continued, "You can take the only seat left right at the back of the class. Beside Rukawa."

//Rukawa…//

Every single muscle in the young man's body tensed up upon hearing the command.

A small nod was all Sendoh could muster as he strolled towards the seat at the back of the room, with one hand gripping onto the strap of his bag which was swung over his broad shoulders.

As he was nearing the seat, his other grip on his sunglasses tightened, threatening to break the expensive shades into pieces. He was trying hard to conceal his real emotions with his casual behaviour but in actual fact, he was close to losing his sanity.

With eyes fixed unwavering on the empty table as he made his way over, Sendoh could feel every pair of eyes in the class on him. But an exceptionally intense stare stood out from among the many, willing him to return the gaze.

Placing his bag and shades on the table, Sendoh proceeded to take his seat. His eyes, all the while avoiding the stare of a pair of piercing eyes on his left… never once did he even look in that direction.

*****************

//He don't remember me//

Surprising even himself, Rukawa felt something, akin to disappointment coursed through him as the realization hit him.

Since when did he care about what others thought of him?

The spiky-haired boy had totally ignored him, as if he was invisible, not even once looking in his direction despite his intense stare. It was as if they had never met before, as if yesterday's encounter never happened.

*****************

Despite his calm demeanor and the occasional smiles he flashed the giggling girls who turned around every few minutes, Sendoh's rationality was shredding away, bit by bit….

It was bad enough when the boy was out of sight, when only his beautiful image sat on the edge of his consciousness. But to be in the same room as him, to be able to feel and touch him with just an outstretch arm was torture in its purest form.

He was aware of every breath the boy took, no matter how soft…..every movement the boy made, no matter how slight and it was more than he could bear. The self-control he had on was immense.

Ever since he sat down beside the boy, he never once looked to his left. He did not want to look into those fox-like blue eyes. He was afraid….afraid of what he would do….afraid that if he did, he would lose his self-control and take the boy right in front of everybody. Running his tongue over his teeth, Sendoh felt a tingling sensation from beneath them. Seeing the boy had reawakened his hunger. But it was a different form of hunger, one that was out of desire, not need.

Using his Powers, Sendoh tried to block out his awareness of the boy beside him before he did anything unforgivable.

But with only a small forest hare as a feed in the morning, there was no way Sendoh could sustain using his Powers for long and soon he felt his Powers weakened. With a defeated sign, he stopped using them and decided to resign himself to the agony, swearing to himself that he would not do anything rash. He waited for the presence of the boy to overwhelm him.

He waited… but none came. Instead, all that he felt was just a quiet and peaceful presence. In fact, so quiet it was almost non-existent.

Curious, Sendoh turned his head ever so slightly to his left, blue irises looking out from the corner of the eyes.

What greeted his sight just took his breath away. Subconsciously, Sendoh turned his head fully to his left and allowed his eyes to drink in the sleeping form of the boy who had his head lying on the table, cushioned by his own arms.

Sendoh marveled at the beauty of the young man before him. He had soft snowy skin, resembling that of a baby. His cherry-red lips were parted slightly, making him looked vulnerable and innocent. He had on such a serene look on his face that Sendoh found himself entranced. Long thick, fluttery lashes cast soft shadows under the closed eyes which were half obscured by the silky black bags, entranced Sendoh even further. Somewhere from within him, despite the pain, Sendoh wished he could look into those fox-like blue eyes again.

Suddenly, as if in answer to his silent wish, those fox-like eyes flutter opened.

Sendoh's breath got caught in his chest those sapphire blue eyes met his. He wanted to pull away but found himself helpless as those beautiful depths of sapphire blue steadily held his gaze, forbidding him to turn away.

Looking into the all-too familiar fox-like eyes, memory engulfed him, coming back thick and fast, as if he was skimming through the pages of his life journal. A particular entry flashed before him vividly…

//Ayumi…//

Pain coursed through him like a thousand needles pricking on his nerves.

//If only…If only I had given in to my desires…//

All of a sudden, Sendoh became acutely aware of the warmth radiating from the boy, the sweet throb of his pulse, the smoothness of his pale slim neck which had its back exposed as the boy remained slumped over the table. A forbidden desire was slowly building up from within him and to his own horror, Sendoh found himself giving in, even welcoming the desire. Flicking his tongue back and forth over his canine teeth, Sendoh envisioned the pleasure he would experience from sinking them into that delicate skin…he wanted the boy…

NO! With all the energy he could muster, Sendoh jerked himself out of the trance and broke his gaze with the raven-haired boy. Turning his head to face the front of the class, he channeled all his attention back to the lessons on hand. His own pulse was racing, and his body shaking slightly from the immense self-control he had just went through…

Closing his eyes briefly, Sendoh tried to regain back his composure, wishing with all his heart that the lesson would end soon, so as to release him from the anguish.

On his left, a flicker of emotion passed through the usually expressionless face of a certain raven-haired boy before he closed his eyes once again.

*************

Echoes reverberated through the empty gym as Rukawa successfully made a reverse dunk.

To the untrained eye, the basketball ace might be seen as playing his usual game, smooth and flawless. But if one made a more careful observation, his moves were rushed and concentration detached. Underneath the cool exterior and impassive face, emotions ran deep…

No one had ever evoked so much emotion in him, no one. He, himself did not even know he was capable of such powerful emotions. What he had felt back in the classroom, similar to what he felt yesterday in the gym, was beyond his own understanding. It was a mixture of fear, excitement, helplessness, and passion.

Passion…

He had felt eyes watching him as he slept. Opening his eyes, he found himself looking into the most amazing pair of eyes. From afar, those eyes were a striking cobalt blue but from a close distance, no words could really describe the shade of blue of those eyes, they were really a colour by itself.

And it was those eyes that mesmerized Rukawa, made his heartbeat quicken, made breathing seemed like the hardest thing to do, made him forget where he was...

Lost in the depths of those eyes, Rukawa wished he never had to pull himself out but what the new student felt was definitely the contrary, for the new student had looked stricken…stricken with pain, as if he couldn't stand another minute looking at him.

But yet the new student never looked away. And as the seconds passed, his gaze softened. Just when Rukawa felt hope stirring up in him, that handsome face hardened suddenly and turned away just as abruptly, never looking back again.

And Rukawa had felt hurt.

********************

Using his cat-like reflexes, Sendoh left the gym quietly and made his way into the cold night towards his black Porsche, making sure the raven-haired boy remained unaware of his presence. He knew it was going to be soon before the boy called it a day.

He had been standing hidden, watching the boy trained with his team mates since late afternoon and had stayed on even after the training ended, to watch the boy practice alone. He had no idea why was he even doing this…

//He is not Ayumi…//

But yet he was attracted to the boy.

The boy bore an uncanny resemblance to his previous lover but under closer scrutiny, there were many subtle differences. His flawless skin was a shade or two darker albeit still considered very fair. His raven black hair was thicker and his lips less full. And his eyes… his eyes were bluer and cold, unlike Ayumi's warm gaze.

Again, memories of his past threatened to cloud his mind. Why was he even dwelling on the past and reopening old wounds? Shaking his head to rid himself of the painful memories, Sendoh gently steered his car out of the school and into the street.

Driving along the busy street, Sendoh tried to distract himself with the many shops, cafes, supermarkets and restaurant that flanked the street. As he continued driving, he came into a quieter street lined with brightly-coloured discos and clubs. Amidst the numerous neon lightings, a dark but simple and classy club, named 'Eternal Euphoria' caught his attention. It stood out from the rest with its understatement and lack of loud decorations. Not only was it because of the decoration but a certain aura exuded from the place. Sendoh couldn't quite place his hand on the aura, but it was beckoning him on… beckoning him to enter.

And he did.

Pulling his sleek convertible at the driveway, Sendoh stepped out of the black car in his all-black attire. He was still dressed in his black woolen turtleneck and black Armani jeans, the same attire he had adorned to school earlier in the day. The only areas exposed were his handsome, chiseled face and smooth slim hands, their paleness a direct contrast to his black attire. Black had always been his colour.

Sauntering up to the counter where a beefy bouncer stood guard, Sendoh flashed the bouncer a trademark smile.

The bouncer took a top-down glance at the young man before him who emanated a relaxed confidence. Satisfied, even impressed with the expensive clothes and car, the bouncer flashed back a smile of his own before saying, "It's free entry tonight."

"Oh… I see. Thank you." Raising his eyebrows slightly as his eyes roamed to a signboard a few feet away which clearly read '3500 yen per entry', Sendoh coolly sidestepped the bouncer and made his way into the disco.

Unveiling the black velvety curtains aside, a dungeon-like spiral staircase was all that greeted Sendoh. It was supposed to be an underground club. With cat-like grace, he slowly descended, his black leather boots making no sound as he did so. No fancy ornaments adorned the two walls of the stairs, it was just plain unpolished granite. As he continued his way down the spiral stairs, a kissing couple pressed against the wall came into view. The man had his back facing Sendoh, hovering over his lady partner who had her supposedly knee-length leather skirt pulled all the way up to just covering her modesty, revealing long slim legs.

As he came within a short distance of the couple, something made Sendoh turned to look at them.

Following his inner call, Sendoh turned and saw a pair of gleaming green eyes looking back at him. The eyes were nearly all black, with only the edges a bright green. The pupils were fully dilated.

//One of us!//

The green eyes regarded Sendoh for a moment before he turned his attention back to now totally-aroused girl who was begging him to take her. He too, had sensed Sendoh's presence.

Recovering from his slight shock, Sendoh continued to descend the stairs, his steps a little faster than before.

With a final turn down the spiral stairs, the full view of the club came into view. The club was rather huge with its high ceiling which had a magnificent revolving crystal ball hanging from the top of the dance floor. Numerous powerful disco lights littered the rest of the ceiling space. With its bare granite walls and olden décor, the club resembled 18th century housing. Deep red, velvety couches were sprawled all over the club. Soft rock music played in the background. Two long luxurious bar counters occupied each side of the club.

The club was relatively empty except for a few people lounging around for the night was still very young.

Walking over to the bar counter on his right, Sendoh sat himself on a high stool. A young waiter immediately came to provide his service

"What would you like, Sir?" The waiter was being extra polite. Judging from the stylish dressing, he reckoned the young customer to be loaded and was hoping for a fat tip later on.

"A Margarita will do, please." Sendoh placed his order without much thought. Whatever he drank was not much of a difference, he just needed a drink to make him look in place and besides, he had more pressing matters on hand than to fuss over his choice of drinks.

"Sure, coming right up."

While waiting for the eager waiter to serve him his Margarita, Sendoh observed his surroundings. An uneasy feeling was settling down on him.

//Could there be more of us here?//

As if in answers to his doubts, two heads over at the opposite bar counter turned to look at Sendoh. Eyes gleaming from the distance, resembling those of a cat's.

Sendoh returned their gaze with a steady gaze of his own. After a few seconds of exchange, the two sitting opposite lowered their gazes in slight respect before turning back to face the rows of bottles of wine and liquor arranged on the mirrored shelves of the bar counter.

//They are relatively new//

"Sir, here is your drink. Enjoy."

The arrival of his order snapped Sendoh out of his thoughts. Fishing out a 5000 yen note, Sendoh slid it across the bar top before adding, "Keep the change."

The young waiter failed to hide his glee when he answered with an overly-wide smile, "Thank you."

"Kiddo, how long have this place been around?" Sendoh asked the waiter curiously.

"Ohh…about only 2 months old. Our customers are mostly regulars here."

//Regulars?//

"Oh… this must be a pretty 'in' place to be then. Are those two at the opposite bar counter regulars here too?" Sendoh asked nonchalantly as he jabbed a thumb behind him.

The waiter's eyes followed the direction his thumb jabbed before casually exclaiming, "Yupz, they come here pretty often too. And they are really popular with the girls here, girls flocked to them like bees to honey."

//Well, they are courting death//

"Oh… when will the crowd start coming in?"

"Ah… the real party only starts after midnight but the crowd will start coming in at about 10pm." Just as he had finished the sentence, the young waiter was called upon by another attractive female customer dressed in revealing skin-tight dress at the other end of the counter.

"If you excuse me, Sir, I will be back shortly." Having said that, the young waiter walked over to the female customer, who had by now noticed Sendoh and was smiling at him seductively.

Not one to embarrass the opposite sex and being the ever gentleman that he was, Sendoh forced a smile on his handsome face and without waiting for any further response, he disinterestedly turned his stool around so that his elbow could rest on the bar counter, with his back leaning against the counter.

Running his sharper than normal eyes across the club, Sendoh noticed more crowd than before. His sharp eyesight and predator instincts led him to another two pairs of gleaming eyes among the new crowd. They, too had sensed Sendoh's vampire aura and turned to look at the newcomer in the club. But before Sendoh could get a better look at them, his vision was filled by a well-endowed bosom clad in a plunging V-neck dress.

It was the earlier female customer.

"Hi… gorgeous, are you alone? Care to have a drink together?" The voluptuous lady purred as she expertly leaned nearer towards Sendoh in a subtle manner, offering a generous view of her ample cleavage.

For a normal guy, one would have noticed her full assets, but all Sendoh took notice of at the moment was the throbbing jugular vein beneath her exposed neck. He imagined how pleasurable and sweet it would be to sink into the vulnerable neck, sucking and feeling the warm flow of blood through his entire body.

Suppressing his urge to empty every drop in her body, Sendoh tried to discourage any further advance by replying in his deadly cold voice, "No, thank you. I can manage on my own."

It was for her own good. She had no idea what she was playing with.

"Oh, if you say so." The lady was clearly disappointed and offended at being snubbed. With a toss of her hair, she turned and made her way to the other end of the room.

Relieved at being left alone, Sendoh returned to observing the environment but was soon snapped out of it when a voice invaded his mind.

~Seems like you are still sticking to that vegetarian diet of yours after all these years, Sendoh~

Startled, Sendoh's eyes quickly searched the club for the source.

As if on cue, a tall muscular man stepped out from the crowd and walked towards Sendoh in big confident strides, his movement graceful and refined, resembling that of a leopard. Brown cashmere sweater clung onto his bronze taut body with the sleeves pushed up to above the elbow, revealing a pair of strong arms which were casually tucked into the pockets of his black suede pants.

A smile slowly spread across Sendoh's face as the man neared him.          

"Another Margarita" The man ordered as he sat himself on the high stool beside Sendoh before he turned his attention back to the young man beside him, "You never change, do you Sendoh?"

"I never knew we could change, Maki." The grin still plastered on his face.

A good-natured smirk formed on Maki's face. "You know I was referring to your diet."

Silence ensued.

"You know it's a promise I made to her." Sendoh's voice was lower and softer than usual when he finally replied. His earlier grin wiped off. Bringing his Margarita up to his lips, Sendoh closed his eyes to force out the memories threatening to flood his mind, his grip on the glass tightening.

"It wasn't your fault. She would have left you sooner or later, it was only a matter of time." If Maki ever felt regret for digging up Sendoh's unhappy past, his deep velvety voice and cold-hard, striking dark-brown eyes showed none of it.

Downing the last drop of his drink, Sendoh turned himself around and placed the empty glass on the bar counter. His eyes staring hard at his own reflection.

"So how long have you been here? Thought you were in New Jersey. " Maki tried to alter the tense atmosphere with a causal change of topic.

"A couple of days ago. What about you?" Sendoh said as he looked across the club. He caught sight of another pair of unusual gleaming eyes amongst the small crowd and before Maki could answer, Sendoh shot him another question.

"By the way, what's with the crowd?"

Knowing fully what Sendoh meant, an amused grin appeared on Maki's face. "So you noticed, thought you would be too weak."

"I am not that weak, Maki" Sendoh retorted with a grin on his face, his usual smiling face back in place.

Maki smirked again before his face grew serious. "Came back here a week ago from Italy, actually its more like we fled. 12 bodies were found in the same district in Italy, all died from the same cause, loss of blood. The authorities then set up a special force with weapons capable to take us down. We are being hunted now, Sendoh. We are the preys now."

"Any idea who did it?"

A frown akin to worry, appeared on Maki's face. "Michael. Michael Okita."

A look of surprise flickered across Sendoh's face before it resumed its usual calm façade.

Seeing no other response from the spiky-haired boy, Maki chose to continue, "He finally came back after 100 years, blood-thirsty as always."

Turning his head slightly to his right to face Maki, Sendoh asked in a casual tone, "He did all 12 of them alone?"

"Yes and No. Yes, He was alone but no, he did not finish of 12 of them. Well, 2 were courtesy of a reckless idiot who had no idea how to control his urges even after so many decades." Maki rolled his eyes at the last bit of the sentence.

Noting the exasperated look on Maki's handsome face. Sendoh knew exactly who he was referring to. "Speaking of the devil then, where is he?"

"I thought you would never ask, Sendoh". A third voice drawled from behind. Voice husky and deep, with a hypnotizing effect.

Smiling, Sendoh turned his chair around to face the owner of the mesmerizing voice. The sight that greeted Sendoh's eyes was even more mesmerizing.

Looking sleek and elegant in his faded pair of blue jeans which showed off his strong lean legs and a black sweater, covered over by a black leather jacket of an unusual cut. Mitsui glided across the short distance towards Sendoh and Maki, a lazy smirk on his gorgeous face. An air of pure arrogance surrounding him.

Looking into the striking dark blue eyes as Mitsui came to a stop in front of him, Sendoh couldn't help but be impressed by Mitsui's good looks. He was incredibly handsome and attractive with his piercing dark blue eyes and cocky attitude. His face structure was a sculptor's dream and his sensual features perfect under a shock of blue-black hair. Every inch of his taut body screamed 'danger' but yet women flocked to him like helpless flies to a waiting spider.

"I do not appreciate being called an idiot behind my back." Mitsui threw Maki a dirty look as he lazily leaned himself against the top of the bar counter beside Sendoh.

Maki just rolled his eyes.

From the radiance and powerful aura emitting from Mitsui, Sendoh could see that he had fed well tonight. Mitsui was one who had no qualms about feeding out of desire, not to mention need.

Maki, too had noticed the glow on Mitsui's skin.

"Hope you are smart enough not to leave your victim drained like the last time."

Narrowing his eyes at Maki, Mitsui chose to ignore the comment and instead turned his attention to Sendoh.

"It's been a long time, Sendoh. Glad to see that you are still alive, despite your measly diet."

Sendoh smiled. Knowing Mitsui, it was the most affectionate way of greeting him possible.

"I thought that old pal of yours couldn't be more ruthless than he already was but I guess I was wrong. The throats of the 10 victims were totally ripped apart and they had all suffered from shock. He didn't even bother to lure or hypnotize them with his charm."

Mitsui shrugged nonchalantly before he continued, "Seems like your ex-partner had gotten even more ruthless than the 2 of you combined last time."

Maki shot Mitsui a withering look but he was too late.

The smile on Sendoh's face faltered slightly at the last bit of sentence.

"Got to go. It's getting too crowded for my liking." Sendoh said as he pulled himself up from the high stool. The crowd was starting to stream in.

And without another word, he disappeared into the crowd.

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TBC