FINALLY I HAVE GOTTEN THIS CHAPTER DONE. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.
So. What happened? Well, it's simple, really. The week leading up to the new year, I worked at my job all week. On New Year's Eve, I worked until 4 in the morning. You haven't seen Hell until you work a bowling alley on New Years Eve. Trust me. The first day of the new year, I was utterly exhausted, but still had to come in for a shift to train a new employee. I spent the next day sleeping until 2 pm. The day after that was another day of work.
You can see where I'm going with this.
Anywho, here's the next chapter!
And, YugiAtemYami? May I suggest something? I really love your reviews, but, it would really help me if maybe you could tell me what you liked about the current chapter I posted. I won't be giving this story up until the end, but, it'd really help me out if you could tell me what you thought of the current, updated chapter, and what you really liked about it, or what your favorite part was.
And now, onto the chapter!
Waking up early the next morning, I heard Yami and Sage talking in hushed tones. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but both seemed to be either angry or serious. I yawned and stretched, and Yami came into the room again.
"Just remember what I said, Sage," Yami reminded.
"I will, don't worry. You remember what I said, too, though," Sage said, poking her head in the room. She turned to me. "Morning, Atem. How'd you sleep?" she asked.
"Good. I'm feeling better after the hunt yesterday, too," I said, sitting up in the bed.
"That's good. You two might want to get out of here soon, though. I think some clothing shops open soon, anyway. I need to get to bleaching everything so I can mask your scent," Sage said. I yawned again, and got out of bed. I stretched again, and Yami walked over to me.
"Ready to go clothes shopping?" he asked.
"How're we going to pay for everything, though?" I asked.
"In the years I've been gone from the pureblood community, I've done odd jobs from town to city to state to country to accumulate money. Like I told you back in the restaurant, money's no object for me," Yami said.
"I remember everything from the restaurant that night vividly," I said blankly. Yami looked away from me.
"Alright. Just, um, hurry up and get ready. We need to go," Yami said, leaving the room quickly. I went to the doorway of the room, and slid on my socks and shoes. I left the room, and went downstairs. Yami was waiting at the doorway with Sage.
"Thank you for letting us stay here for a while, Sage," I said.
"You're welcome. It was a pleasure to meet you, Atem. And, I've contacted Axl. He'll be expecting you two soon," Sage said.
"Axl?" I asked.
"Another friend. We'll stay with him for a few days before finally making it to my house in Domino, Japan," Yami explained. I nodded. Yami smiled, and took my hand.
"Thank you again, Sage," I smiled.
"You're welcome. If you're ever in the area again, you know where to find me," Sage smiled. Yami and I left the house, and Yami shut the door carefully for a precaution.
As we walked, I noticed that Yami hadn't let go of my hand. I wanted to say something, but, I didn't really mind it at all. But, there was another thing on my mind, besides that.
"Hey, Yami…? I was wondering. Is the Pureblood community really that bad?" I asked softly.
"Why do you ask?" Yami asked me.
"Well, because, the only pureblood I really know is you. The others have been….what did you call them, again? The non-purebloods?" I asked.
"Changed ones. The other name they have is bitten ones. And, don't let a few good eggs affect your thought process. Some bitten ones harbor anger towards their immortal state, and lash out. There's also purebloods and bitten ones who either choose to or accidentally become rogue," Yami said.
"R-Rogue? What're rogue vampires?" I asked. Yami stopped walking, and looked up at me, dead in the eyes.
"Rogue vampires are everyone's nightmare. Not just humans, but us as well. Rogue vampires don't have a single target. Instead, everything is their target. Vampires, humans, animals. Anything. They drain for the sole purpose of killing. Of course, just draining a vampire completely won't kill them. A full day's rest, and a vampire is perfectly fine. But, rogues know that. To kill their vampire targets, the rogues rip out the vampire's heart and their throat. Rogues are the way they are, because it was a vampire who didn't drink blood for a week straight, or a vampire chose to pursue a rogue, and instead of draining them, the rogue drinks the vampire's blood, and the vampire drinks from the rogue. All in all, I advise staying away from rogues at all costs. If there's a rogue in the area, I will tell you, and you are to stay indoors, until the rogue goes away, or is eliminated," Yami instructed.
"How does one kill a rogue?" I asked.
"It's highly unlikely that you will encounter one, but, the way to kill a rogue is that you must do the same to it that it does to a vampire target. Rip out their heart and throat. Humans stand little to no chance against a rogue. A vampire and rogue are evenly matched. It's just a matter of who kills whom first. But, please, Atem. Promise me. If I tell you there's a rogue in the area, please. Just, please. Stay inside. Stay hidden. I couldn't lose you," Yami said, looking away from me at the end.
The way he said that, though. Did Yami….Did Yami have a crush on me? Did he like me?
"I...I'll stay inside, then. I promise," I smiled.
"Thank you," Yami said, sighing in relief. He started walking again, and I followed. The grip on my hand seemed to have tightened a bit, but, I didn't mind.
After a little more walking, Yami and I had come to a city area.
"Alright, Atem. Pick any clothing store, because you need new clothes, and so do I. I don't have many spares left at Axl's place. Remember-"
"I know, I know. Money's no object. But, I don't want to spend all your money," I said. Yami sighed softly, but didn't say anything. We started walking around, and soon, I found a clothing store that had mannequins clothed in things I liked. Yami and I went inside.
"Can I look around on my own?" I asked Yami.
"Yeah, just, be careful," Yami warned, letting go of my hand. I started to look around the store, finding a few tops and bottoms I liked. As I looked through the clothes, I giggled softly to myself, remembering my father. As time went on, he had eventually learned what kind of clothing I liked, but before he had learned, because he wouldn't even let me leave the house to go with him shopping for clothes, he'd always come back with a wide range of outfits for me, going from really bright and colorful, to dark and shadowy. I always offered to go shopping with him, but every time I suggested going with him, he'd always get a worried look on his face, and say 'maybe'. I stopped asking as I got older, but, now I knew the reason why he kept me hidden.
And, I had been stupid for defying that when he died.
I sighed softly, looking at the clothes in my arms. Every so often, I'd start getting sad, remembering him. Not even heeding his wish for me to stay hidden after he had passed on. I was stupid for doing so, because no matter how I looked at it, all of this was my fault. I should've never left my house. Never gotten the job at the restaurant. Never even talked to anyone.
But then, what would've happened, had I been alone and my vampire tendencies started coming out. I would've been terrified. Alone. What would I have done? Would I have become a rogue, like Yami had said?
"Hey. You alright?"
Yami's voice made me jump out of my thoughts.
"Oh! Yeah. Still looking at a couple things, though. I'll be done, soon," I smiled. I quickly walked away from Yami, and started looking at other clothes. After a while of trying on the things I found, and I met up with Yami again near the register.
"So, just these outfits from here?" Yami asked, taking the clothes from me.
"Yeah. We're going to other stores, right?" I asked.
"Of course. We can go to any store you want to today. We'll find a hotel to stay at for the night, tonight, so, we can take as long as we need," Yami said.
"Alright. That sounds good," I smiled.
Much later that night, Yami and I were resting in our hotel room. Well, Yami was asleep, anyway. I was still wide awake. I had started thinking of what I thought earlier.
Would I have been alone? Would I have become rogue? I wouldn't have known. I didn't want to hurt anyone, so, drinking a human's blood was out of the question for me. But, I question whether I would've been alone. A while back, Yami had told me he had gone to my house, and had panicked when he didn't find me.
I sighed again, and turned to face the wall. I needed to get some sleep, to at least get a little energy in me. But, with my mind still swimming, I was finding it difficult to even close my eyes for rest.
"Are you still awake, Atem?"
Yami's voice once again brought me out of my thoughts.
"You could tell?" I asked, not turning to him at all.
"No one sighs like that while they're sleeping. Care to tell me what's wrong? I might be able to help," Yami said. I took a deep breath.
"All of this stems from me not heeding my father's wish of me staying hidden. After he died, I was the one who decided to finally see the outside world. I was the one who decided to get a job at the restaurant. The whole thing that I think of every now and then, though, is, what if I hadn't done any of that? What if I had stayed inside? Would I have been alone? Would I have become a rogue like you said? I don't even know. How different would all this be if I had just heeded my father's only wish? Why did I have t-?!" I broke off suddenly, as Yami turned me onto my back, and had his arms on either side of me.
"You would not have been alone. I can promise you that. As soon as I had heard of Katsu's death, I started looking for you. I never wanted you to be alone. I can also promise you that you would never have become rogue. I would always be by your side, and I would make sure of it. They would've found you sooner or later, so, we'd still have to move around. But you would. Not. Be. Alone," Yami said. His face was inches from mine.
What would happen?
What would happen, if I decided to….? If he decided to…?
His lips met mine.
At first, I was shocked. I didn't know what to do. How to feel about this. But, in this moment, all I could feel to do was one thing. I closed my eyes, and sunk into the kiss. I wrapped my arms loosely around him, and he did the same to me. After a few moments, we broke apart gently.
"Y-Yami...Do you...Is that why you…?" I couldn't finish my questions. I was overwhelmed by emotion. What could I say? What could I do? What should I say? How should I feel?
"Atem, I...I don't even know what came over me. I….I'm sorry," Yami said, quickly sitting up. I sat up, and looked at my bed. I didn't want to say the wrong thing. I looked up at Yami.
"Can you….kiss me again?" I asked.
"R-Really?" Yami asked.
"Y-Yeah. I mean, I...if you want to, that is," I said nervously, looking at the bed again. Yami gently tilted my head up, and softly kissed me again. Soft. His lips were so soft and gentle. It was...odd. Even with us both being vampires, his lips held a warmth to them. We gently broke apart again.
"C-Could we...maybe, like we're doing now? With me learning everything…? Could we….take it slow?" I asked. Yami smiled kindly at me.
"Of course."
IT FINALLY HAPPENED!
But hoo man do I have a plan in mind for the future!
Until next chapter!
Also, if y'all like Danganronpa stories, I have an AO3 account, AngelofDeath241. I've got one in the works, but, it'll be updated soon! Hajime x Nagito and Chihiro x Mondo will be my main areas, so, if you like them pairings, I'd love support!