Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.
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#5: The Hierophant
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The hunger was only worse in the morning. Ryou managed to drag himself to school, but by lunchtime Anzu put her foot down and made him go to the nurse's office. He didn't have a temperature, but the nurse apparently thought he genuinely sick, because she offered to let him rest on the cot until he felt a little better or until someone else needed it.
Ryou took the offer, and even though he wasn't able to sleep he stayed there until fifth period. He left then, but only because Chemistry was his worst subject and he couldn't afford to skip any more classes.
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After school was over he waved off Yuugi and Anzu, telling them thank you for their concern but he could make it back to his apartment on his own. Neither of them looked convinced, but they let him go.
He had only made it a block down and across from the school when an arm draped over his shoulder.
"Idiot," Honda said in annoyance. "If you don't eat when you get hungry, pretty soon you'll go crazy and kill the first thing in sight."
"I won't . . ." Ryou mumbled.
"Trust me," Honda said flatly. "You will."
Ryou didn't ask how he knew.
"Come on," the brunet said, using his arm to push Ryou away from the route he usually took home and towards the downtown area, "I'll go with you. This one time."
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They reached downtown around the time the first wave of people were getting off of work. The streets were crowded with men and women racing to the trains or subway stations.
"It's a lot better to eat during the day," Honda said, as a young man exited the store they were passing by and elbowed them aside as he walked away. "People are automatically more suspicious at night. It's one of those things where the myths will help you out."
Ryou made a noise of acknowledgement, twisting his case handle tensely.
There was a crack, and he had to move quickly to keep the case from falling to the ground. Ryou stared at the broken pieces of plastic in his hand. Honda snorted.
"You are stronger," the brunet reminded him.
Ryou stared at the pieces for a moment longer, before shivering and putting them in his pocket. He tucked his case under his arm and moved to catch up with Honda, who'd gone on ahead.
". . . And you want to go for the arteries," Honda added a few blocks later. "They come up from the heart, not go to it, so it tastes better. Veins don't have all the oxygen and nutrients and stuff. It would also be easier when to eat in warm weather than in cold, since the blood's closer to the surface, but you can't help that." He lowered his voice as they passed through a thicker part of the crowd. "And don't drink anything tainted, like from people who have AIDS or other blood diseases. You don't have to check; you'll know if you're standing next to one. They . . . feel weird. You'll know." He shrugged. "And that's everything she told me."
"Okay . . ." Ryou said, trying to process too much too fast. ". . . But the jugular is a vein, isn't it? So . . . so why are people always getting bit in the throat?"
"There are arteries in the neck," Honda replied. "The . . . shit, we just had to learn this in Anatomy. . . . The carotids." He rolled a shoulder, shifting his backpack so it sat more comfortably. "Y'have to be careful, though -- arteries spurt, since they're under more pressure. It can be really messy. Plus, they're harder to open." He glanced over at Ryou before staring back along the sidewalk. "You should probably just go for a vein anyway, until you get used to it and your fangs develop more."
"God!" Ryou burst out suddenly but quietly, still aware that they were in a crowd. "How can you be so, so . . . about this? These are people! And we're . . . we're going to. . . ." He trailed off and swallowed thickly.
"Are you hungry?" Honda asked.
Ryou didn't answer for a long minute, as one hand absently settled over his stomach. Finally, he closed his eyes, and got elbowed in the side by another stranger as a result.
"I'm starving," Ryou answered softly.
"Then shut up," Honda said. "And get used to it."