Let It Rain
Written By Shadow Empress
Chapter Two
Kaoru yawned as Misao drove her silver Celica frantically down the alleyways that she knew so well.
Dawn was approaching and the older Vampire was getting tired. Her body was slowly losing its powers as it tried desperately to get her to sleep and avoid the sun altogether.
"Las Vegas is a crowded place. How do you know that he'll be in one of the alleys?" asked Kaoru, finally turning to face her friend.
"Don't question me while I'm on a mission, Kaoru! Hiko wants this boy found, and damn it, he will be! I am not going to let the Juppongatana get to him before we Shinsengumi do! Plus, I'll be able to gloat in Saitou's face if we find him first," beamed Misao as she kept her focus on the road, a huge grin on her face.
Sighing, Kaoru shook her head. She knew how competitive and how much Misao had wanted to shove things in the face of their superior. If Hiko didn't have a higher position and the Wolf, then she was certain that Misao would have been fired long before now.
"We can start fresh tomorrow night when there's more time to look for the kid. Why don't we head back to your place now?" asked Kaoru, getting more and more tired by the second. They had around half an hour left before things got really bad.
"Oh all right, but you can't go looking for your creator until Myojin's found!" said Misao as if she were scolded a child not to eat a cookie before dinner.
Hearing Kaoru growl an agreement, Misao smirked before stopping her car. The only way out of the alley now was to back out until she got onto one of the streets. Just as she placed the car in reverse, Kaoru unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car.
"What are you doing?" asked Misao incredulously, not understanding her friend's actions at all.
"He's here," said Kaoru, her voice low as she narrowed her eyes.
Eyes widening, the younger woman turned off the car and got out as well. Her emerald colored eyes looked around the alley and noticed a silhouette of a figure slowly making its way over.
The body of what looked like a young boy was swaying towards them as the person groped at the wall to keep his balance.
"Wow. This was easier than I thought," blinked Misao, disbelieving that they had found the boy quicker than ever. If she had known Kaoru would have been the key to finding the boy, she would have called her friend earlier to join her.
Kaoru growled, baring her fangs as she crouched down and took out the dagger Misao had given to her earlier. It was a warning to the young Vampire to make him more alert.
"Kaoru!" hissed Misao as she glared at the more experienced Vampire when the boy froze and looked over and finally spotted them.
"It's better to teach him how to survive now. If he doesn't know the basics, then he'll be killed even when he gets training from the others," stated Kaoru before she jumped at the inexperienced creature.
A scream of shock and fear came from the boy as Kaoru landed on his small form, instinctively lodging the dagger near the boy's throat. The boy had obviously just fed.
Kaoru didn't budge when she felt him freeze beneath her in terror, didn't even blink as Misao raced over.
"Yahiko Myojin?" questioned Kaoru, her voice demanding enough to make the kid nod his head vigorously. He was apparently in too much of a shock, in too much of a daze from the last few days, to actually do anything else. She scowled slightly as the smell of fresh blood reached her nostrils; she knew she couldn't feed tonight.
Kaoru finally stood up and nodded to Misao to indicate they had the right Vampire.
Rolling her eyes and shaking her head, Misao helped Yahiko up.
"We're from the Shinsengumi and we're here to bring you to a place to help you learn how to control your powers. If you run away, then either the Ishin Shishi or the Juppongatana might get you. They're just as bad as we are. And don't mind Kaoru, she's just a bit upset since it's close to dawn," acknowledged Misao as she motioned her head towards the horizon.
Yahiko only blinked at her confused, his large deer like eyes confused and untrusting.
"It basically translates into get your butt in the car and let us take you to safety," spat out Kaoru. She was never a morning person.
Slightly intimidated by Kaoru's anger and bossiness, Yahiko quickly got into the backseat of the car.
Sighing, Misao got into the car the same time that her friend did.
"You know, if you keep acting like this everyone's going to think you have PMS 24/7, Kaoru," admonished Misao as she started the engine, causing the boy in the back to blush furiously. He obviously was very new to the concept of being a Human male as well.
"Just get us back to the hotel, itachi musume," said Kaoru annoyed, rubbing her eyelids that were threatening to cover her eyes completely.
Growling when she heard Yahiko laugh in the back of the car, Misao started the car and began their drive back to her place. It was a good thing she had two guest bedrooms in her penthouse.
.:oXo:.
How can you drink black coffee without any sugar?
Why should you care how I drink my coffee?
Because it's just gross! I mean…the taste is horrible!
It proves that your senses are improving with your age, but it seems that you've got a long ways to go, since you can't taste everything that makes up my drink.
What are you talking about? Black coffee still tastes the same to me; disgusting!
You should really pay attention to what one tells you, you know.
I know what you said, you said you liked black coffee!
.:oXo:.
The red haired Vampire froze in mid-swirl of his spoon in his coffee cup. His amber eyes narrowed darkly as his crimson bangs shielded them from view. He hadn't expected for his creation to be in Las Vegas of all places, or in such a dry area for that matter.
"I still don't think wearing all black is any better than black and white," complained a taller Vampire, his hands hooked behind his spiky hair as he walked out of his bedroom in a pair of black pants and a t-shirt.
Not bothering to look at his old friend, Kenshin took out the spoon from the cup and placed it on the counter. He swiftly moved his mug from the counter in the kitchen to the round glassed table in the living room of their rented apartment; silent strength and confidence in each of his movements.
"Is something the matter?" asked Sanosuke when he sensed a ring of tension in the shorter Vampire's aura.
"It's close to dawn and you know that I don't like sleeping when there's a lot that needs to be done," answered the older Vampire calmly as he drank his black coffee.
Sano snorted as he sat across from his traveling companion.
"I sensed the rain too, you know," said Sanosuke, frowning when he noticed Kenshin's grip on the mug tightened. There was an underlying meaning to his words and he knew that his friend understood them all too well. It was why Kenshin had done all he could to avoid the rain for the past nine decades.
When the Hitokiri Battousai didn't speak, the ex-Sekihou Tai member continued, "You're going to have to face it sometime. Why not now, while it's within your reach?"
Sano didn't back down when icy cold eyes turned his way.
"Don't remind me," said Battousai, the threat within his words clear and deadly.
"Fine, it's your loss," said Sano with a shrug as he stood up. As he walked back to his room, he called over his shoulder, "I'm going to bed and you had better too."
Hearing the door shut, Kenshin looked down at his drink so that he came face to face with his reflection. Not even the darkness of the apartment kept him from seeing what he had refused to see for the past 90 years.
Walking over to the kitchen, the Vampire poured the last of his coffee into the sink before dumping the mug into it as well. It was about time he straightened things out and got rid of his past.
.:oXo:.
I love the rain.
Why?
Because it matches my emotions perfectly; it always has, even before I became a Damned.
Explain.
I don't really know how…. But the rain has always soothed me in a way that I…I just really can't explain.
I always knew you were odd.
No! Just…look outside! Doesn't the rain comfort you? Doesn't it seem to wash away all your worries, your past? The rain clears your path and allows you to walk on towards…a better future. I can't really say bright since…well we're Vampires.
Do you regret me transforming you?
Actually…I don't, because if you didn't, then I would have never been able to spend so much time with you. This is the happiest that I've ever been, believe or not.
I believe you.
You do?
Yes, because I myself have never been happier.
.:oXo:.
The sun never stayed in the sky for long. As surely as the sun will rise each day, it was a fact that it would set. The sun was the source of all life, because without it then Humans and animals would die, and when they did, so would the creatures of the dark. Everything revolved around the life force given to the Earth by the almighty sun, which was needed, hated, and loved all at once.
Albeit there was one Vampire that hated the sun, would have loved it if the sun vanished completely from existence. For without the sun, then she wouldn't have to deal with the troubles of life and all of its issues.
She never did believe in suicide. Death by honor or by a cause she couldn't help was much more appealing.
Kaoru Kamiya moved her pale arms over her knees that she pulled to her chest, her black hair blending in with the darkness of her room and the night clothes that adorned her body. It was only a few more minutes before she would be able to leave her dark room safely, a few minutes before her body would properly allow itself to work.
Her mind was in turmoil as her memories pounded against her mental shields and she could feel tears threaten to fall from her eyes. Ever since he had left her she had forced herself to put up a defensive front, had made a mask to hide behind. She only played the commanding and strong front, but within she was breaking down like the little girl she really was. If she hadn't created the shell she did, then she was certain that she wouldn't have survived this long.
The sudden change had been a shock to her. She had never really expected to become what she was now, had never thought that her protector would leave her unguarded. If he had stayed with her, had protected her like he always had before, then she wouldn't have become so cold. It was his fault that she had became what she was, but it was her own for becoming so attached to the way things were.
She was going to find him. She was going to get her answers.
The one thing that had always plagued her mind so that she woke up a few minutes before sunset in mental chaos was the same question; why did he leave? It was the only question that she couldn't answer, because she couldn't see any reason as to why he would leave her, which is exactly why she had been searching for him for the past ninety years; to find out why he had left her so suddenly. She still didn't understand why every time she got close enough to seeing him again, he fled.
Before her mind could go any further on the thought, she was snapped out of her reverie by the sound of knocking on her bedroom door.
Standing, she adjusted her nightgown and walked over to the door to open it. Her eyes widen for a split second before she narrowed them upon seeing Yahiko--flushed and flustered--standing there with his brown hair sticking up everywhere like they always did. At least now he was in a fresh set of matching clothes that wasn't soaked in blood.
"What do you want?" snapped out Kaoru, annoyed that he had interrupted her train of thought.
"I-I was sent by the itachi musume to tell you that break…I mean dinner was on its way," corrected Yahiko, still a bit nervous around the older Vampire.
Kaoru gave him a weak smile as she noticed that he was already getting into the habit of calling Misao her hated nickname.
"What?" asked Kaoru with a frown when she noticed he was gawking at her.
"It's nothing! I…I just didn't expect you to…uh…smile," answered Yahiko truthfully, his hands twisting together awkwardly as he stared at the floor.
"Novices," mumbled Kaoru as she slammed the door in his face. She was now certain that the boy hadn't gone crazy; he just didn't know how to feed without getting rid of all of the evidence. He made typical beginner mistakes. The ones she would have made if Battousai hadn't guided her.
"Are you coming though?" asked the boy again from behind the door.
"Yes! Just let me change!" Kaoru called back as she walked over to her discarded clothing from yesterday. She hadn't bothered to pack any clothes in her rush to get to Nevada in the same day.
Hearing the youngest Vampire in the hotel finally pad away, Kaoru sighed.
Finishing changing, Kaoru stepped out of the room, only to find her self laughing whole heartedly at the scene that she was met by.
.:oXo:.
Ew!
What?
You drank blood from a cow!
So?
Well why not a Human like you always have before?
Because drinking blood from Humans all of the time will get you addicted so much that you'll want to feed every second.
We're Vampires, aren't we supposed to want to drink blood from Humans?
You'll go insane and obsessed over Human blood and our kind can't risk getting exposed. You're bound to mess up when you're not in the right state of mind.
But why a cow?
Because we Vampires need blood!
Why a cow though?
Novices.
Hey! Don't you walk away from me, mister! Hey! Wait up! Come on. I was only curious!
.:oXo:.