Yuki-Chan2: Thanks! (happy) I came online after studying for Geometry (we don't get a cheat sheet) and read the review and now I'm happy! You're so cool!

Thanks for all the reviews! They're very appreciated!

Chapter Ten: Something goes Awry…

SHO

As quickly as Sho had stepped out into the crowded streets of Mallepa, the sun began to set. This made the crowds begin to thin out dramatically, making it extremely hard for him to blend in. He had seen Shinji once outside of Happy Pizza and Toshi had almost run into him on his bike twice. Luckily Sho jumped out of the way without being noticed by them.

Sho accidentally went over to Shinji's bar, but stopped just at the end of the awning-covered walkway. He turned to leave, but did a double-take, turning back around. Someone was sitting on the steps to the now-closed bar. Sho turned to leave again, but was stopped when they began to speak. "Hello Sho." They said.

I heard the voice of the wind

I want to know the rest of the dream

Sho turned around and faced the person who was about ten yards away. "I didn't see you there—" he began to walk slowly to the person, "—Kei."

Kei smiled gracefully, still sitting on the stone steps. "How's it going for you?" he asked. "Still coming out at night, I see." Kei added calmly.

Sho saw a glint of something in Kei's eyes—was it pity? His mind was abuzz with thoughts that seemed to contradict one another. Make up with him, you'll be happy, both of you...Don't, you fool! He's making sure you can live without him so he can make up with you! Be strong. Ignore any signs of pleading coming from him! Sho stopped his slow walking, pausing just about four feet from Kei, plastering on a fake smile. "Oh, well, you know... I'm just so used to the nighttime life that I've decided just to keep my life like this. It just seems more... normal." Sho could have sworn that Kei's smile faltered for a fraction of a moment.

He knew that if it had been anyone else sitting there on those steps that had run out on him, he would have been yelling and screaming at them. But something about Kei made his tongue freeze mid-sentence. Trying to act more casual than he felt, he stuck his hands inside his trench coat pockets.

No one will tell me

My chest was smeared red...

"How's life for you?" Sho asked, his voice quivering a bit. Kei seemed unusually calm to Sho, who was trying not to splurge out everything he wanted to say all the while fighting back stinging tears that weren't visible yet... he hoped.

"The usual... hiding by day, awake by night." Kei replied, standing up, his smile now faded, his eyes stone-cold. "Living the hardships of a marked monster that no one dares to come near."

"What!" Sho blurted out on accident. He would have clamped his hands over his mouth, but it would have been too obvious to Kei.

"You wouldn't know, would you?" Kei said, venom beginning to form on the edge of his words. "You're not a vampire. You don't know the hardships I have to go through. No one comes near me. Not even Shinji or Toshi."

"But I—"

"You don't count!" Kei spat at him. "We were too close to each other in the first place!" He swiftly stepped forward, grasping Sho's shoulders. He placed his left leg on the inside of Sho's left leg, bringing their waists dangerously closer than Sho had expected. Kei brought his right hand up and stroked Sho's right cheek. Sho, on the other hand, was breathing heavily and shaking slightly. Every time Kei's hand brushed his cheek, he shuddered, trying to suppress his nervous system of movement. More than anything, he longed to wrap his arms around Kei and drag him back to his bed ...or could he do it right there on the sidewalk in front of Shinji's bar? No... he couldn't. He was praying that Kei didn't notice how hard he was suppressing to lean down and kiss him.

I want only you to understand

Why I must return...

"Besides," Kei said smoothly. "You seem to be doing fine without me. I knew you'd come to live without me once I left you alone long enough. Although," he added with a small chuckle, "I didn't expect it to be this soon. Only a day and a half? I would have thought it to take at least a week or two." Kei slid his hands onto Sho's chest and pushed away from him. Sho automatically rubbed where Kei had pushed off of him, whimpering inaudibly.

"I'll see you around, Sho." Kei said, staring at him hard and walking down the walkway and down the street, breaking into a run once he reached the sidewalk. Sho pivoted on the spot, following Kei with his eyes.

"Goodbye..." he whispered after Kei, tears welling in his eyes. He wiped them away on the back of the sleeve of his trench coat. He turned back around to the steps, hoping on false hope that the true Kei, the one he had known and loved (and still did), would be there smiling brightly, wanting to come back to him.

Sho didn't know how long it took him or how long he wandered around blindly, but he finally made it home, exhausted, his face covered in tears. In the darkened house, Sho threw his trench coat down and headed to his bedroom, feeling dejected and depressed.

Far off in this endlessly continuing white earth

My voice that's crying out can no longer reach anyone

Tired of the world, Sho threw himself down on top of his bed and cried. He missed Kei so much, but how Kei acted that night made him feel as though he had wasted all that time, all that energy, paying attention to the vampire. He felt unloved, cut off from the rest of the world, with no one to turn to. When the tears stopped for a few minutes, Sho flipped over and stared at the dark ceiling.

"I love Kei...no matter how horrible he is..." Sho choked out through sobs. "No—matter... what— I'll love him…" his voice broke off as new tears swelled. He threw off his shirt and quickly crawled under the puffy white covers of his bed, pressing his head into the pillow to stifle his loud sobs.

Minutes later, he fell asleep, crying harder than he ever had before because he knew that he had lost the only person he ever loved...

Like it's concealing this body's pains

I'm embraced by kindness from the sky...

KEI

Once he had reached his little "hideout" in the alleyway, the sun was almost below the horizon, and everything was in shadow completely. Kei saw no harm in going to Shinji's bar just to sit at the front.

Quickly he made his way there to find it already closed. Kei found this strange because the sun had just set. He didn't feel like going back to his hideout, since he knew Sho had left to go somewhere, so he sat on the stone steps.

About ten minutes later, as Kei was beginning to become bored, his ennui ended as he watched Sho stop at the front of the awning-covered pathway. Kei couldn't help but smile slightly when Sho turned around to leave and did a double-take. "Hello Sho." Kei said to the man, who turned around completely.

"I didn't see you there—" Sho began to walk slowly towards him, "—Kei."

Kei smiled gracefully, trying to stay sitting on the stone steps. All he wanted to do was say he was sorry, but apologizing wasn't something he did normally... "How's it going for you? Still coming out at night, I see." Kei said calmly, much calmer than how he felt. He stared into Sho's cerulean eyes, which seemed to shimmer with sadness.

The moon reflected in those eyes is pretty

Even as the night is not finished

Sho stopped his slow walking, pausing just about four feet from Kei. He smiled, but Kei could tell it wasn't real. "Oh, well, you know ...I'm just so used to the night-time life that I've decided just to keep my life like this. It just seems more... normal."

Kei's smile faltered for a moment, seeing how stubborn Sho still was about his life. But Kei didn't care... he loved Sho, and he could adjust. When he stuck his hands inside of his trench coat pockets, Kei could tell that Sho was just as nervous and as anxious as he was.

"How's life for you?" Sho asked, his voice quivering a bit. To Kei, he seemed to be doing well keeping his emotions hidden... except for the small tears in the corners of his eyes.

Far off in this endlessly continuing white earth

My voice that's crying out can no longer reach anyone

"The usual…hiding by day, awake by night." Kei replied standing up, his smile now faded, his eyes stone-cold. Where is this coming from! He thought to himself. "Living the hardships of a marked monster that no one dares to come near."

"What!" Sho blurted out. On accident, too, Kei suspected.

"You wouldn't know, would you?" Kei said, venom beginning to form on the edge of his words. Where was he getting this from! "You're not a vampire. You don't know the hardships I have to go through. No one comes near me. Not even Shinji or Toshi." Really? Even he didn't know that...

"But I—"

"You don't count!" Kei spat at him. "We were too close to each other in the first place!" Where was this hatred coming from? He loved Sho. He swiftly stepped forward, grasping Sho's shoulders. He placed his left leg on the inside of Sho's left leg, bringing their waists together a lot closer than he had expected to. Kei brought his right hand up and stroked Sho's right cheek. He could hear Sho breathing heavily and could feel him shudder every time Kei stroked his cheek. Kei was making sure that Sho didn't try to move any closer because he didn't know if he could handle it. Kei didn't know how he was handling what he was doing right now.

Deeply in this endlessly continuing white earth

I'm still falling and cannot be healed by anyone

"Besides," Kei said smoothly. "You seem to be doing fine without me. I knew you'd come to live without me once I left you alone long enough. Although," he added with a small chuckle, "I didn't expect it to be this soon. Only a day and a half? I would have thought it to take at least a week or two." Kei slid his hands onto Sho's chest and pushed away from him. He watched as Sho reached up and rubbed his chest. Kei felt a huge urge to lean forward and make up, but he suppressed it with the unexplained anger.

"I'll see you around, Sho." Kei said, staring at him hard and walking down the walkway and down to the street, tears beginning to form in his eyes. He broke into a run once he reached the sidewalk and dove behind some bushes as he was out of Sho's line of vision.

Inside his fortress of bushes, he rested his head on his knees, letting the tears fall. What had come over him back there? How could he have done such a thing to Sho? Kei felt rotten inside and wanted to make it up to Sho, but how could he when Sho was thinking that Kei hated his guts?

Like being enveloped in that small body

I'm embraced by the wagtail's kindness...

Kei looked up suddenly when he heard a sniffling coming from the sidewalk. It was Sho, blindly walking home. He soon realized what he had to do. Swiftly, Kei began to run, taking shortcuts down deserted alleyways.

Silently, knowing that he had beaten Sho to the house, he clambered through the still-open window by the couch. Crouching low, he made his way into Sho's room, slinking into the shadowy corner just in time. Sho came through the door, his trench coat gone, probably thrown on the floor somewhere.

He watched as Sho collapsed onto the bed in agony. Kei then heard something he hadn't heard in the many years that he had known Sho; he was crying. It wasn't the usual pity-crying Sho did almost on a daily basis. It was real, true tears that made Kei let a soft sob loose. He had done something horrible to the person he loved. He had made them cry. He hadn't done that to anyone, ever (not counting his victims) and it saddened him deeply.

I lie with the kindness from the sky

Kei lifted his head a bit as he heard soft talking after a few minutes. "I love Kei... no matter how horrible he is..." Sho choked out through sobs. Kei stifled a sob of his own at the heart-wrenching love Sho was showing. "No—matter... what— I'll love him..." his voice broke off as new tears swelled. Kei watched as Sho threw off his shirt and quickly crawled under the covers of his bed, pressing his head into the pillow to stifle his loud sobs.

Kei listened intently and minutes later, Sho fell asleep, still crying. Slowly, Kei crawled over to the edge of Sho's bed, tears welled in his eyes. "I'm sorry." Kei whimpered to the crying, sleeping Sho. "I—I just wanted you to—to go through—what I have to go through—everyday." He stifled another sob. "I—realized tonight that—that it was too much—too much for me to—to ask of you." He buried his face in the white covers of Sho's bed. "I'm sorry..."

Time trailed off...

And am embraced by the earth's warmth...

Well…I guess I will get more done now that there's finals……I had geometry today…it wasn't too bad…

Lyrics are Seki-ray... they seem to fit well.

More to come sooner since I randomly had inspiration during history the other day for the final chapter…you'll love it…trust me. I do...I wish they had it in the movie...all the fangirls would be like: "OMG! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Heh. You'll just have to wait!