Author's Notes: Uhhh.... -_- I'm so washed out... Grrr... I've been typing all day... I think I'm going to go crawl in a corner and die... Sowy if this chapter sucks, I'm really bushed, ^_^; Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I'm too tired to think of something witty to type here... Use your imagination.

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Heaven's Flames

Chapter 4

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            "You know...?"


            "Hmmm...?"


            "I was hoping after that re-introduction you would be a bit nicer to me."


            "You have too high of expectations."


            Usagi pouted. "Why do you hate me so much?"


            "I never said I hated you." Mamoru stopped mid-step, considering this. "But it does have a nice ring to it."


            "MAAMMMOOORRUUUUUUUU!!!!"

 
            "Gah!" The said vampire clamped his hand down over the wailing blonde's mouth. "How many damned times do I have to tell you to not scream so loud?!"


            The blonde grinned sheepishly. "Sowy," she mumbled around the raven-haired teen's hand. Mamoru sighed.


            Just as the latter was about to open his mouth to reprimand her again his elf-like ears twitched. Mamoru's back stiffened and he jerked his head to one side. His eyes darted nervously for a second, brow furrowed. The vampire tilted his head up the smallest bit and closed his eyes. Usagi watched in utter confusion as he began to sniff the air slightly.


            "Mamoru...?" the blonde squeaked out. "What is it...?"


            "Sunrise." The raven-haired teen opened his eyes again and turned his attention back to the girl in front of him. "I've got to go." Was that a tinge of disappointment in his voice?


            "Wha...?" Usagi craned her neck up heavenward and squinted. "I can't see anything past those trees. How could you possibly know if the sun is coming up or not?"


            "Sun sprites."


            The blonde looked at Mamoru with the most befuddled expression one could achieve. The vampire rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation.


            "This is a fantasy world, remember?" he told her slowly, as if he was chiding someone of lower intellect. "There are all different kinds of creatures living here. Majority of them are pretty nasty, though. The sprites are the second friendliest living things around, however." Mamoru's face soured. "Except for the Death sprites..." He paused. "Well, the Sun sprites hibernate; I guess you could call it, during the night. Nothing can wake them up but the rising sun. Their hearts even stop while they are sleeping." Mamoru sniffed the air once more. "And, being the vampire I am, can smell their little hearts going all a-flutter right now as they're waking up. That's my cue to go to bed."


            Usagi stared for a second. Then realization slowly dawned on her that if he was going to bed no one would be around to protect her while he was asleep!


            "B-but, Mamoru!!" the blonde stammered. "You CAN'T leave me here!! I'll be killed for sure!"


            "Look," the vampire growled. "I told you, I'm not being your protector! And you're dammed right you'll get killed if you keep screaming like that! The day time is much more dangerous for a boisterous girl like you." Mamoru ignored her rapidly paling face. "So just stay low and shut up. I can't guarantee your safety, but you're lucky I've helped you out this long. See ya around... Odango Atama." With that he turned to leave.


            "WHAT did you just call me?!" the blonde screeched, hand defensively flying up to her unusual hairstyle.


            Mamoru just waved over his shoulder, lightly chuckling. Usagi gasped, calling after him repeatedly, but the vampire kept walking. The blonde stood, mouth agape, completely horrified at the fact that she would be left all by herself for the next twelve hours. Collapsing to her knees, Usagi eyed her surroundings with terror.


            "This is going to be a loooonnggg twelve hours..."

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(AN: I'm fully energized now!!)



            Usagi sighed sadly, running her fingers through her blonde locks. Mamoru's nickname ran through her head. Odango Atama. He really was quite a rude guy!


            A small smile graced the girl's lips. Even though it wasn't the most flattering name to be called it made a light blush tinge her cheeks. At least he wasn't calling her "dumb chick" or "kid" anymore.


            Usagi sat under one of the many trees around her and was about to drift into a daydream about the sexy vampire (AN: *drool*) when she was snapped out of her thoughts as something slithered past her feet. The blonde let out a yelp and tugged her legs against her chest, eyes impossibly wide. The said creature kept wriggling past, unaware of Usagi's presence. Her eyes followed the snake-like being nervously until it was out of site. She didn't even notice she had been holding her breath until she let it out in one great swoosh of relief.


            "It was only a water serpent."


            Usagi squeaked, heart hammering out of her chest. She jumped up in terror, whipping around to the source of the voice. She shielded her eyes with one hand from the sun. It may have been dark and damp in this world at night, but during the day the sun was sweltering!


            "Who...?" the blonde managed to strangle out. A human shaped figure stood a mere two feet away, a black cloak wrapped about its whole body. "What do you want...?"


            "Relax."


            Usagi gulped. How was she supposed to relax?! Some hooded figured had just come up to her with a voice that sounded as if its vocal chords had been ripped from its throat. And, to make matters worse, Mamoru wasn't around to save her if she got in trouble!

 
            Before the blonde could even scream she was pulled hastily against the figure. It wrapped its cloak over both of them and held a hand over the fumbling girl's mouth.

 
            "Shhh!" the figured hushed. "Calm down, it's just me."


            Usagi gasped. Even though the figure had pulled her into the cloak with her, letting out all means of light, she could vaguely make out a face. He let his hand drop.


            "Mamoru...?!" Usagi blinked. "Is that you?!"


            Bloodshot eyes stared back at her in amusement. He tightened the cape around the two of them and nodded. Usagi shuddered slightly at the coldness of the tip of his nose as it brushed hers. The scent of blood emanated from his lips.


            "What...? What are you doing awake?!" the blonde reprimanded. "The sun's out!"
"Ya think?" Mamoru drawled hoarsely. Usagi flinched at his strained voice. "Why else would I have this damned cloak on?"


            "What's wrong with your voice...?" Usagi slowly began to notice slight abrasions all over his face.


            "It's just from the sun," he whispered out. Was it Usagi's imagination, or was he pulling her closer? "I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd check on you. Figures that you'd be dumb enough to sit out in the open like that."


            Usagi scowled, trying to desperately calm her thudding heart. Being this close to Mamoru was sending her whole body on hyper-drive. She prayed that it was too dark inside the cloak for him to notice her crimson cheeks.


            "I should be getting back now..." A thicker layer of blood seemed to be coating his eyes. "Just wanted to see if you were still alive."


            Usagi took this as a sign of affection. "Aww," she cooed. "Does that mean you care about me?"


            Despite the lack of light Usagi could see Mamoru's usually milky white cheeks flush over the small rash that already seemed to be breaking out on his skin. He cleared his strained throat and began slowly pulling away.


            "Like I've said a million times before," the vampire began, "I'm not going to be your bodyguard." He now fully pulled away, hurriedly covering himself fully with the cape. "But I will help you out for ONE week. That's it."

 
            Usagi's grin spread from ear to ear. She jumped around excitedly, clapping her hands. She couldn't see Mamoru's features anymore under the cape, but she was sure he was rolling his eyes.


            "Thank you!!" she cried happily, flinging her arms around the young man in front of her. "I knew you weren't a complete jerk!"

            Mamoru wriggled free from her hold. "Don't read too much into it." Usagi could hardly make out his words behind the raspy breathing and thick hood. "I'll teach you one lesson of survival each day. By the end of this week, you're on your own."


            Usagi watched as he turned around and began walking away.


            "Today's lesson," he called over his shoulder in a croaked tone, "Find yourself a place to hide and stay there. You've got nothing else to do."


            The blonde was about to open her mouth to thank him, but he was already out of hearing range. She smiled despite herself, glad that he had actually cared enough to come searching for her, even when the sun was beating down so heavily, burning his skin.

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            Usagi turned her head around in all directions, quickening her pace slightly. The sun was just beginning to set, so Mamoru must be getting up soon. The past seven hours after Mamoru's short visit had nearly drove her mad. Not only did her mind keep drifting off to how incredibly close they were, but his words - about finding a place to hide - kept echoing through her brain. With all the built up energy in her slowly-going-insane body, she just had to go out and search for him.

 
            "Geez, Mamoru," the blonde sighed. "How is it I'm falling for a conceited vampire like you... huh?" Usagi smiled sadly at herself. Her heart sped up.


            Any minute now the Sun sprites would go to sleep. And then Mamoru would sneak up behind Usagi and scare her senseless. It seemed to be his favorite pastime when it came to the Odango Atama.

            Usagi could hardly wait.


            After a good fifteen minutes of aimlessly wandering Usagi found that she had walked in a complete circle. Slapping a hand to her forehead the blonde began to wearily trudge along again hoping to find her newest obsession, Chiba Mamoru.


            Twenty minutes and a migraine later Usagi wound up standing in front of a cluster of weeds nearly as tall as she. A faint trickle of water could be heard from beyond the weeds. The blonde absent-mindedly noted that the sun had been down for a good half-hour now so she had to squint to see what was right under her nose. Reaching a hand out to part the weeds, Usagi stepped closer to the source of water.


            A pond greeted the girl's surprised blue eyes. The light of the moon glimmered down on the water, sending flecks of light to bounce off its surroundings. Off in the extreme right of the pond was something akin to a waterfall, but two times smaller. Usagi gasped, not only at the breathtaking scenery around her, but at the figure that was standing under the rushing water of the midget waterfall.


            Its elf ears twitched slightly. The figure jerked its head to the direction of Usagi's gasp, eyes going impossibly wide.


            "Mamoru?!" Usagi croaked.

 
            Sure enough, the figure standing under the streaming water was none only but her heart's desire. And, Usagi noted mentally with a gulp and crimson cheeks, he was completely naked.


            The vampire stared in shock, mouth hanging open slightly. The sensible part of his mind was desperately trying to remind him that he was stark naked and Usagi was staring at him, but that part of his mind was only so big.


            Usagi could feel her whole face burning all the way to the tips of her ears. It seemed as though her mind had gone completely numb. She soon found her eyes, which were previously glued on the vampire's own, traveling slowly downward. Past the blush on his cheeks, past his blood-stained lips... Down his throat and shoulders, over the alabaster-white skin of his chest and hard stomach, to land on...


            "You can stop staring anytime now."


            Usagi blinked, finally coming back to reality. Her eyes immediately flew back up to meet Mamoru's. She screamed and whipped around in the opposite direction.


            "I'm SOOO sorry!!" the blonde wailed. "So, SO sorry!!"


            Usagi could hear splashing of water as Mamoru emerged. He mumbled something under his breath and hastily dried himself off.


            "You can turn around now," Mamoru grunted as he finished putting back on his jeans.

 
            The blonde slowly faced Mamoru again, hands pressed to her flushed cheeks. "I'm really sorry..." she whispered again.


            "Eh..." Mamoru shrugged. He eyed her warily, flicking his soaking wet hair back to have it flop back over his eyes again. "Did you follow me here, or something? How long were you standing there?"


            Usagi shook her head frantically. "No! I didn't follow you! I was looking for you, actually... And you saw me the same second I saw you."


            Mamoru sat down on a boulder next to him and scratched lightly at his left shoulder. Usagi noticed a rash, similar to the one that had covered his face earlier that day.


            "Hey," she started, realization kicking in, "your voice is normal again!"


            "Yeah," the vampire mumbled back. He flinched slightly, still scratching the sensitive skin on his shoulders. "But the rash needs time to heal still..."

 
            Silence was all that followed, leaving Usagi's thoughts to roam semi-shamelessly. She couldn't help but let her eyes wander back down Mamoru's chest. The moonlight shining on his wet skin made it appear as though he was glowing. He was... gorgeous...


            Usagi was about to mumble another quick apology when a loud rumbling interrupted her speech. Mamoru turned to her in surprise, ears twitching back.


            "What the hell was that?" he sputtered, still flushed from the events that had just passed a moment ago.


            Usagi grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I guess I'm a bit hungry..."

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Author's Notes: Well, wipe the sweat off my brow and call me Pinky! ^_^ That was a long chapter for me, hehe. My poor fingers hurt... -_-; Oh well, me try to get Chapter 5 out today, too! Review!!