Yay, another fic! This is, what, my seventh Moon Child fic? XD; So, PG-13 for all of the chapters (but the last one most likely whenever I post it.) and R (or M, whatever) later. ENJOY! (PS - THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SEQUEL TO NIGHTMARE AURA. THIS IS NOT THE SEQUEL)

Innocence

Chapter One

Kei sat at the kitchen table, waiting for Sho to wake up. He had stayed up the whole night trying to make a cake for Sho's birthday. After several failed attempts, he managed to make a small yellow cake, coating it in vanilla frosting and sixteen sticks of strawberry pocky (his favorite flavor) as candles. He put some blue food coloring into some of the excess frosting and spelled out "Happy Birthday Sho". And he had only been sitting down for five minutes; it had taken just that long. Sighing happily, Kei knew that he'd do anything for the sixteen-year-old.

He glanced at the clock to see what time it was. 11:35. "God, Sho. How late can you sleep in?" Kei said to himself.

After several minutes, Kei heard the usual soft smacking of Sho's bare feet on the linoleum floor. Looking up from the table, Kei observed Sho. Sho was shaking his head, trying to get rid of the sleep from his sapphire eyes; his hair—or what wasn't braided—was messed up; and his red pajama pants were hanging loosely off of his waist. Kei smiled, realizing how grown-up Sho had become in the past seven years. He also realized how head-over-heels he was for Sho, even though he was still only sixteen.

"Happy Birthday, Sho-kun," Kei said. Sho smiled and walked over to sit down across from Kei.

"What's that?" Sho asked, pointing to the cake in front of Kei.

"Well, usually a person says 'thank you' when someone says a compliment," Kei said, still smiling. Sho sighed.

"Thanks, Kei. Now—what's that?" He pointed again at the cake.

"Well, traditionally when it's a person's birthday, there is usually—"

"So it's a cake?" Kei shook his head, amused.

"Yes, Sho."

"How much did it cost?"

"Let's see…my blood, sweat, and patience." Kei replied. Sho's eyes widened.

"You made it?" Sho asked, staring at it, amazed.

"Yeah. I barely finished in time, too." Kei said, pushing the cake towards Sho, who was staring at it. He tentatively poked one of the sticks of pocky.

"Is that pocky?"

"Strawberry pocky." Kei said. "Your favorite." Sho sniffed one of the pink sticks. Once deemed safe by his standards, he opened his mouth and bit off a part of one of the "candles". Kei laughed. "You're still a ten-year-old at heart, Sho."

"So you're calling me immature?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Spoiled vampire," Sho shot.

"You know, I stayed up all night baking you a cake and this is how you're going to treat me?" Kei said. "Well fine, then." He leaned forward and grabbed the cake. "My cake and I will go celebrate your birthday elsewhere." Kei made a move to stand up, but Sho grabbed his wrist.

"You know I'm joking, Kei!" Sho said exasperatedly. "I never mean what I say!" Kei merely looked at him. "Please, Kei—it's my birthday!"

"You do know I wasn't actually going to leave." Kei said, sitting back down and grabbing the knife that was lying next to two paper plates.

"I know." Sho said quietly, hanging his head. As he cut the cake, Kei wondered why Sho didn't want him to leave so badly. Hoping the cake would cheer him up, Kei leaned forward and gently rested his hand on top of Sho's.

"Cake?" Kei asked with a smile on his face. Sho grinned.

"Yes, please!" Sho said as Kei handed him a fork and the cake. "Thanks." Sho gave him a grateful smile and took a bite. Kei watched as Sho made a face. "God, Kei—it's disgusting!" Kei's smile faltered.

"What?"

"It's really gross!"

"B-but I followed the directions word for—"

"Kei—I'm joking." Sho said suddenly.

"What?"

"It's delicious! I was just kidding. It's got to be the best cake I've ever had. Ever." Kei's face brightened as Sho crammed down the remaining piece of the cake. "Can I have another piece, please?" Kei grinned and happily cut Sho another piece. As he watched him eat, he had the sudden urge to kiss him. His childish aura was one of the things that attracted Kei to the teen.

"Are you done binging on sugar?" Kei asked. Sho nodded, grinning. His teeth were stained light blue from the frosting. "Good, because I have more things planned." Sho motioned for Kei to follow him as he left the kitchen.

"Can you make cakes more often, Kei?" Sho asked as they entered the bathroom.

"If it's going to take me six hours to make one cake, then no." Kei replied, picking up a brush and beginning to brush Sho's hair—or what wasn't in braids.

"But it was really good!" Sho whined, trying to make Kei say yes.

"Maybe…" Kei said softly as Sho brushed his teeth. As he combed Sho's soft hair, he wondered if the teen would be getting any taller. He was happy with Sho's height because they were equal, but if he grew any taller, Kei would feel extremely short. "Sho—I hope you don't get any taller."

"And why's that?" Sho asked, wiping his mouth on a towel. "You'd feel too short?" Sho turned to look at Kei, who was grinning.

"Yeah, I would." Kei replied, blushing slightly. "I like how tall you are right now." Kei put his hands on Sho's bare shoulders, stepping forward so he was staring straight into Sho's blue eyes—measuring their heights, of course. "You see?" Kei breathed, staring into Sho's eyes. "We're the same height."

"Uh…uh-huh." Sho managed to say, obviously trying hard to restrain himself. Kei smiled.

"Go get changed. We've got places to go…people to see…all that birthday stuff." Kei pulled away from Sho, giving him a soft shove out of the bathroom and towards his room. As the door to Sho's room closed, Kei heard a soft tap on their front door. He briskly walked over, opening the door and coming face-to-face with Shinji, Toshi, Son, and Yi-Che. "I'm glad you guys made it." Kei said quietly, glad that it was raining (or he wouldn't have been able to answer the door very easily).

"Why are you talking so quiet, Kei?" Toshi asked.

"Because this is a surprise, idiot." Shinji said. The twenty-year-old shook his head at the stupidity of Toshi. "Don't you remember your surprise sixteenth birthday party a few weeks ago?"

"Umm…no…?" Toshi replied as Kei ushered them towards the couch. Son hit Toshi on the head.

"You really are an idiot, Toshi." He said as they sat down quietly and began to talk amongst themselves. Kei sighed, wondering when Sho would be done changing. And then—

"KEI!" Sho yelled from his room. Everyone turned to stare at Kei.

"What is it, Sho?" Kei called back. "Hold on…" He muttered to the four on the couch.

"I NEED YOR HELP!"

"One second!" Kei said, running to Sho's room. "What is it?"

"My—braids!" Sho gasped. "They're stuck!" Kei laughed, walking over to Sho.

"How did this happen?" Kei asked as he tried to untangle Sho's braids from the rings on his fingers.

"Well, I had to—owww!" Sho whined as Kei freed Sho's fingers.

"Never mind how it happened, I don't care." Kei said.

"Okay." Sho said, straightening his brown t-shirt. "Now, where are we off to today, Kei? I noticed it's raining, so you can go with me…" Sho ranted as Kei led him out to the kitchen/family room area.

"Who said we need to go anywhere?" Kei said mysteriously as they reached the couch.

"K-Kei—you…" Sho tried to say, thinking something completely different than what Kei meant, but he didn't have time to finish. He then noticed Shinji, Toshi, Son, and Yi-Che sitting on the couch, his presents from them sitting on the coffee table in front of the couch.

"Happy Birthday!" They all said. Sho grinned.

"Thanks!" He said. Toshi stood up and went to the oven.

"I brought lunch!" He exclaimed, grabbing a pizza from the oven. "I put them in the oven to keep them warm."

"Your smartest move of the day, Toshi." Shinji said. Everyone laughed.

"I'm not that stupid, you know." Toshi said as he set the pizza down on the coffee table. "One of you, move Sho's presents—not Sho." He added as Sho made a move to grab the presents.

"Aw, why not?" Sho asked.

"Because you'd open them up and ruin the fun of making you wait to open them." Son said, moving the presents to an empty armchair. Kei went over to the cupboard and grabbed some napkins and plates, bringing them over to the table.

"Thanks," Sho said as Kei passed around the plates.

"Welcome." Kei replied, smiling. He turned to Toshi. "I hope you didn't drug these, Toshi."

"I didn't!" Toshi retorted.

Kei turned to make a comment to Sho, but he found that Sho was trying to make Yi-Che smile. Exactly why I can never tell him, Kei thought. I'd just scare him off. I don't want that. He wouldn't be interested in me anyway...

"Oh come on, Yi-Che!" Sho said. "At least smile!"

"You won't get her to smile, Sho. Just give up." Son told him.

"I don't give up that easily!" Sho snapped. Yi-Che smiled. "See? Ha ha. You lose, Son."

"No, I think she's just amused at your stubbornness. Right?" Son asked her. Yi-Che nodded, smiling brightly.

"Why you—"

"I'VE GOT AN IDEA!" Toshi exclaimed. Everyone stopped talking and turned to stare at him. "Why don't we eat?"

"Okay."

"Sounds good."

"Fine."

As Toshi passed out pieces of the pizza he had brought, Kei wallowed in his thoughts, wondering what would happen if he ever confessed to Sho. Only when Toshi yelled his name, did he realize that he was zoning out. "What?"

"Would you like some pizza?" Toshi asked for the fifth time.

"Oh—sure." Kei replied, sitting up. "Just a small piece."

"Kei—why don't you eat?" Son asked him as Kei slowly ate his slice of pizza. Shinji, Toshi, and Sho looked at him. Sho looked worried about his answer.

"I'm usually not that hungry." Kei said, knowing that Son and Yi-Che had no idea about what he truly was.

"So that's why you're so thin?"

"Yeah, you could say that." Kei replied, smiling. "I do have a fast metabolism, too." Shinji and Toshi smiled and turned to talk to Son, but Sho kept staring at him. He leaned forward.

"Kei—when will you—"

"I don't plan on telling them." Kei whispered. "For once, I have friends…besides Luka……" Kei trailed off, looking away from Sho. "I…I don't want to tell them."

"I was just wondering, that's all." Sho said, suddenly becoming very distant towards Kei. Kei merely sighed, hoping that Sho wouldn't be so distant once he got his present.

Once everyone was done with the pizza, Kei threw away the empty box and went to the fridge, pulling out another cake he had made. It was exactly the same, but it was bigger and it didn't have pocky, it had candles. He brought it over to the table.

"God, Kei—how long did this take you?" Sho asked as he set it down.

"A long time."

"Wait, you made this cake?" Toshi asked.

"Yes, I did." Kei replied, lighting the sixteen candles. "But first, Sho needs to make a wish." Kei turned and smiled at Sho, who was thinking about his wish.

"Okay." Sho said. As he took a deep breath, he thought, I wish Kei would fall in love with me. He blew out the candles in one breath; everyone clapped wildly.

As soon as Kei had cut the cake and everyone was eating it greedily, Toshi asked, "So Sho, what did you wish for?" Sho stopped eating immediately. Kei stared at him for a moment, but Sho regained his suaveness.

"I'd rather not say."

"Why not?"

"Because…because I'd really like it to come true." Sho replied. Toshi looked disappointed. Sho glanced at Kei, who was still staring at him, his mind lost in thought. Sho flashed him a secretive smile and continued to eat cake. Wonder what he wished for… Kei thought.

As soon as the plates were in the trash and the coffee table was clear of any remnants of food, Sho exclaimed, "PRESENTS!" Everyone mumbled some sort of response, grabbing their presents to Sho and setting them on the table. Kei didn't move, he merely stayed where he was at, watching Sho open his presents greedily.

"Thanks, Toshi, it's……wait. Coupons to Happy Pizza?" Sho threw them to the side and dug deeper in the box to find a black tank top. "Toshi—where did you find this?"

"You wanna know how long it took me to find that stupid shirt? SIX MONTHS." Toshi said. "I figured I'd get you your favorite shirt because the old one was ruined on a mission."

"Thanks, Toshi!" Sho said, hugging the shirt happily. "NEXT PRESENT." Shinji pushed his forward. Sho opened up the small box to find a silver gun.

"H-holy shit, Shinji. This is a really expensive gun!"

"Yeah. I know. And I got your name engraved on the side of it." Sho turned the gun in his hand and traced a finger over the engraving.

"Nii-chan…" Sho said softly.

"You're welcome." Shinji said, grinning. Sho gently set the gun on top of the shirt Toshi got him. Yi-Che pushed hers and Son's gift forward. Sho opened the large box slowly. He pulled out a black leather gun holster with a small 'S' stamped on the side of it.

"Wow. Coincidence." Sho said softly. He dug deeper in the box to find a small porcelain box that looked like a jewelry box. Sho opened it slowly and found, printed in gold letters, his name.

"It's a jewelry box for all of your rings and necklaces and bracelets." Son explained. Sho was still staring at it, amazed. "Yi-Che made it." Sho set it down softly. He turned to Yi-Che, who was blushing slightly.

"You made it?" Sho asked. She nodded. "It's amazing. Thank you." Sho leaned over and hugged her tightly. She smiled and hugged him back. Kei flinched slightly, almost sickened by the sight of Sho hugging someone that wasn't him. "Thanks, everybody! I love all of it…" Everyone muttered "Welcome" and started to leave.

"Thanks for coming," Kei told them all as they left. Toshi stopped before he left.

"Sho—those coupons are good, you know." Sho merely laughed.

"Maybe I'll use them sometime." Sho replied as Toshi waved goodbye, closing the door behind him. Kei glanced at his watch.

"I had no idea it was already eleven at night…" Kei said as he threw away the wrapping paper and empty boxes. He turned to say something to Sho, but found that Sho was standing at the coffee table, staring at him.

"And what about your present to me?" Sho asked softly, looking saddened. Kei merely smiled.

"Patience, patience, Sho-kun." Kei replied. "Maybe if you helped me clean up, you would get it faster." Sho's face brightened and he rushed to help Kei.

Once everything was cleaned up, Kei made Sho sit at the kitchen table. "I have to go get it." Kei explained as he went into his room and fished out the box from underneath his bed. He came back and set it down in front of Sho. "There. Open it." Sho opened it slowly. When he opened the box, he gasped.

"K-Kei." Sho breathed as he pulled out the white trench coat from the box. "God, Kei…this thing was so expensive—"

"I don't care how much it costs. As long as you're happy with it…" Kei said softly, watching Sho put on the trench coat. It was a bit too big for him; it trailed on the ground. "You'll grow into it."

"Oh, Kei—!" Sho said, running over and hugging the vampire. Kei blushed into Sho's shoulder, wrapping his arms around the teen. "I love it! Thank you!"

"You're welcome." Kei said, resting his head on Sho's shoulder for a moment. Sho loosened his grip on Kei so Kei could see how happy he was. Kei smiled, tracing his fingers through Sho's soft bangs. Sho's cerulean eyes twinkled with happiness. "So you like it?"

"I love it!" Sho said, smiling. Kei grinned, revealing his pointed canines.

"Good. But for now, I think you've had enough excitement for the day. Go to bed."

"Okay." Sho said. Rather than pulling away, he pulled Kei closer, hugging him again. "Thanks again, Kei-kun." Sho said as he walked to his bedroom.

"You're welcome," Kei said softly, touched that Sho had finally called him 'Kei-kun'. Sighing softly as Sho closed his door, he felt guilty that he was angry at Sho for hugging Yi-Che………

Randomly when I was writing this chapter, I exclaimed, "BUT I LOVE THE TRENCH COAT!" And I have no idea why. XD I'm just that random.

So yay. My seventh Moon Child fic. I figure since two…three…are finished, I should start another one…

This is another fic that won't be very long. Five chapters at the least, I do know that.

Please review and I'll be happy. And I'll try not to have cliffhangers in this fic. But I think there will be one, I'm not sure yet.