Chapter 2:
They arrived on the scene after about 10 minutes. Only Yayoi paid any attention to the tension between the two vampires: Riho sat in the back seat in a huff the entire ride and Shido had this strange, guilty look on his face. 'Why is Shido such an idiot? If he'd only express himself to the girl, she wouldn't be going out with that cutie-pie human.'
A slimy, green Nightbreed was seen by the group just as it grabbed a pretty, 25-ish business lady and slunk into her body.
Shido rushed forward, "Since when do you filthy creatures start invading ritzy neighborhoods like this?" He didn't really care to know, but he wanted to distract the breed while he figured out what its weakness was. "Leave that woman alone!"
Riho followed her master's lead, "Please vacate that body!" She bit into her finger and appeared a crack-whip made out of blood, like Shido had taught her. She'd never actually gotten to use her powers in a fight before.
"No, Riho!" Shido stopped her hand, then said more softly, "You aren't ready yet."
She reeled away from him, "What is it with you today and ordering me around?" Now her anger was real. "I am not a child, Mr. Shido!" But she let her whip, which reminded Shido so much of Cain, drop to the ground and disappear.
Shido sighed and drew his blood-sword. He shouted and rushed at the Breed. He surprisingly succeeded only in stabbing it through the arm. He had to make peace with Riho; he was losing his concentration. "Fine…Riho, hold it!"
The girl perked up and bit her finger again, 'Damn, that hurts!' Her whip came out and she swung it around the Breed's hips, tying its legs together and tripping it to the ground in one swift, smooth motion. Shido was impressed, 'She must have been practicing at home.'
Shido grabbed the Breed by its shoulders and bit into its vessel's body at the neck, sucking the poisonous demon from her in an effort to save her. He spit the green, gooey essence of the Breed onto the pavement. He then bit his finger and tossed a few blood-droplet bullets at the puddle, destroying it completely. Riho watched it dissolve, then released the unconscious woman and grinned up proudly at Shido. He smiled down at her. "Well done." He put his arm around his student's shoulders as Yayoi went over to check on the woman.
"Wow, Riho! That was amazing!" Jayne appeared behind them and Riho turned and ran into his arms, hoping she wasn't overdoing it. But she had gotten used to excitement whenever she saw her "boyfriend".
"What are you doing here?" She asked.
Jayne smiled down at her, "I was walking home. I live around here, remember?"
Shido glared at the boy, but only behind Riho's back - he had still never been formally introduced to the gorgeous boy.
Jayne looked over and extended his hand to the menacingly beautiful, even glowering at him, vampire, keeping his other hand around Riho's slim waist. "Hi, I'm Jayne Hawkins. You must be Mr. Shido!"
'Why does he have to be so damn polite!' "Yeah, uh, hi. I've heard a lot about you." 'Or rather I've heard you making out with my secretary in my hallway!' his mind growled.
"Are you a vampire, too?" Shido just blinked and then nodded.
"Well, since your work for the night seems done, do you mind if I take my Angel away from you?" Shido's head raged, 'Your angel? Take her away from me! What the hell!' Jayne smiled innocently at the vampire's unguarded scowl. "That is, unless you guys still need her."
"Well actually, you never know when another monster is going to show up."
Yayoi was surprised at Tatsuhiko Shido's rude tone. "I'm sorry, Jayne, you'll have to wait until tomorrow."
Jayne nodded and pointedly wrapped both his arms around Riho's waist, giving her a chaste kiss on the forehead. "I'll miss you, Angel." Riho giggled and stood on her tiptoes to give him a quick peck on the lips.
"Yuck!" Guni whined loudly, untangling herself from Yayoi's hair and flying over to rest on Riho's shoulder.
Jayne laughed his melodic laugh, "You must be the infamous Guni?" He held out two fingers to shake her tiny hand.
She obliged him, "At your service, Human." "Wow, Riho," Guni admired the boy without thinking, "You really know how to pick 'em."
Jayne laughed again and rubbed the back of his neck. "Guni!" cried the three onlookers with surprise.
"What?" She asked spotlessly.
"Well, we'd better get going. Bye, James." Shido said with mock politeness, taking
Riho's hand and pulling her gently away before the boy got any more ideas about kissing her.
"It's Jayne," he called, sounding ever-polite, even correcting the excruciatingly jealous immortal.
"Right!" Shido called over his shoulder.
"See you later!" Riho managed to get out before Shido ushered her into Yayoi's car.
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Jayne turned back home, sighing a little sadly. "Looks like my Angel's plan is working… too bad." He was almost surprised to hear himself utter this last part - he'd never been one to get foolishly attached to one girl. But lately he was having a hard time convincing himself that Riho was just a girl he was helping out. He still wasn't sure what had made him decide to help her out in the first place…but that thought was also a lie.
Flashback
I was talking to my friends Seiya, Yosuke, and Hajime when I felt a tentative tap on my shoulder. I saw all three sets of my posse's eyes grow wide and I turned - there was nothing there! Hearing a small sound, I looked down to see an absolute goddess, but purer, angelic. "What can I do for you, Angel?" I asked in my sexy tone. I was much better at keeping my composure than my drooling friend, though I understood their reaction. The girl was probably 5'4" or 5'5", her eyes were perfect cerulean, huge and hopeful, her smile was dazzling and shy, her milky skin brought out the brilliance of her eyes and long, flowing, ember-red curls. She wore an innocent, yellow school-girl outfit that bared her legs, which seemed to go on for days. Best of all she oozed this natural seductive charm that sent an undetectable shiver down my spine; I could tell by her stance she had no idea that she was doing anything of the kind.
She just blushed and leaned to look behind me at my gaping friends.
"Yeah sure," I answered her silent plea. I turned back to my boneheaded entourage. "Uh, guys?" I decided chuckling at their dumbstruck expressions would not be cool. "I'll see you all later." Hajime groaned but they disappeared. "Now, Angel, where were we?"
She held out her small hand, "Hello, Mr. Hawkins." I raised an eyebrow at her formality, thinking, 'I'm only 19.' "My name is Yamazaki Riho and I have an, uh, business proposition for you."
"Oh really?" I stepped closer and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "And what might that be, Angel?"
She gasped and blushed again prettily, jumping back. She then gulped and looked at the ground before her sweet voice asked me, "Um, Mr. Hawkins-"
"It's Jayne, Angel."
"Yes…can we continue this someplace a little more, um, private?"
I sighed, sensing that suggestion wasn't meant the way it sounded. I took her hand, startling her, and led her off-campus to a nearby park. When we arrived in the middle of a grove of trees, I released her. She became decidedly more relaxed in the deep shade. I leaned against a tree nonchalantly, "Well, Angel?"
She looked up at me, "Riho."
"Riho," I repeated slowly as if savoring the sound on my tongue.
"Um, well, I need your help, Mr. Jayne. You see, I'm in love with a man named Tatsuhiko Shido," I felt myself frown slightly, a suspiciously open and uncharacteristic reaction to my slight disappointment. "and I was wondering ifyouwouldmaybepretendtobemyboyfriendandmakehimjealous?"
'Well, well, well, this is new.' I pushed myself casually off the tree's trunk and stalked toward her. I reached out and brushed her bangs aside. The girl truly did posess an almost unearthly beauty. "And what do I get out of this, Angel, besides spending time with you?"
Riho blushed once again, she must have known full and well I was infamous for my ability to seduce anyone and everyone that caught my eye (or even just had something I wanted) to come to me.
Riho found herself looking him up and down appreciatively and sughed. Here was the single most beautiful specimen of maleness she'd ever seen in her life (yes, even more handsome than Shido); he was tall with lean muscles rippling obviously behind a whit silk shirt, the top two buttons were undone, exposing a teasing view of his tanned, well-carved chest, his shiny, night-black hair was mussed in a sexy, bed-head sort of way and spiked at the top, and his eyes were a sparkly, dark sapphire, rich in color - absolutely perfect, and yet…she felt nothing more than mild arousal at the side. Shido still held his throne in her heart and mind.
"I hadn't thought about that actually," she paused, obviously thinking, "but I can get you just about anything. Only, there's a catch., sort of."
"I see." I stepped up so that she was only inches from my chest. "And what would that be, Angel?" I leaned down and stroked her side irresistibly, my favorite move, and made like to kiss her. I knew even the most devout maiden couldn't resist my touch.
She sort of growled and jumped away from me. "Damn you," she whispered. That's when I saw that her eyes had started to glow a shade of gold, and they looked wild and hungry, or perhaps lustful? I couldn't quite tell. All the same, my eyes had rolled back in my head and I had promptly blacked out.
End of Flashback
When I had woken up that day, Riho explained to me her, uh, special circumstances, and we cut a deal.