Okay. First things first: DON'T KILL ME!
I am finally updating; I apologize AGAIN for all delays. I got back from Japan again on the 21st of June, had two weeks of the whole : "Dear-God-America-sucks-when-do-I-get-to-live-in-Japan-I-can't-eat-anything-here-Geez-everyone-is-really-rude-and-noisy" thing, and then I got better, if only by realizing if I want to live in Japan, college is necessary first.
On this trip we went to Tokyo, (Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku, Roppongi, Sumo Town, Tsukiji Fish Market, Emperial Palace, Tokyo National Museum, Edo Museum,) Hakone, Nikko, Kamakura, Oboke in Shikoku, Miyajima, Hiroshima, (Peace Memorial and Museum), Nara, Kyoto (FINALLY!), Takayama, Kanazawa, Ibara to visit a friend, and finally Matsue to see everybody from last year.
Everybody, even the people from the tea shop, remembered me, and my classmates from 19R all looked so different! At least most of them. They grew up! Awww... They all kept saying I look more adult too.
I am now persuing my goal of breaking into the Japanese music business. I am about to enter college in August, for music, so I can learn theory, cuz I suck at it, but for now the major is violin. I will switch to voice eventually. And Japanese, I'm sure.
Okay, update done. Not that anyone cares. ONWARD!
(Oh, and NO. I did NOT get to go to the Hyde concert. All my money was gone after Japan; none left for a plane ticket. ARRGH!)
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
CHAPTER FOUR
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
A man stood in the shadows. There was a smoking gun in his hand, and he was staggering, but it didn't matter; the shot had already been fired. There was graffiti behind him of seven dragons, all intertwined, spouting flames from their nostrils. Red.
"KEI!"
Someone was shouting. He could hear wailing, high-pitched with agony, and he smelled smoke. Light was flooding in from the ceiling, the walls, all around them, and he looked down to see Kei clutching at him in pain, his eyes pleading with him to get out of there, but he couldn't move; it hurt too much. His legs were numb.
"Help him!" he screamed, looking around for someone, anyone. "Get him out of here!"
No one came.
Kei cried out again, kicking violently, this time his body contorting in spasms as his blackened clothing and face began to disintegrate. He kept trying to cover himself with his hands, grabbing at his face, shoulders, stomach, but there wasn't any way to block the light. "Sho! Sho!" he kept yelling.
"Sho! AGH--"
"STOP THIS!" he bellowed, lashing out at--
"KEI!"
"Sho-- Sho! Hey!"
Blue-green eyes snapped wide. "Kei--"
Kei's sandy blonde hair was ruffled, and his eyes were slightly dark from sleep. He bore a worried expression, one hand wrapped firmly around Sho's shoulder. "Sho, it's okay," he tried telling him, laying his palm on his forehead as he laid back down, gasping for air. "You were having a nightmare. It was only a dream, Sho."
As he calmed, Sho found himself on the leather sleep couch, Kei sitting up next to him off the edge of the bed. He still wore the hospital gown, but Kei had obviously showered, changed, eaten, and apparently had a little time to nap for himself. He looked much more composed than he had earlier that night. He also had obviously never left Sho's side the entire time.
Kei's fearful eyes in that room of light refused to leave him, and Sho shuddered involuntarily. He realized abruptly that the shivering wasn't stopping, and that while he was sweat-soaked from the nightmare, he was freezing. "K-Kei, c-could we t-turn down the air in here?" he muttered. "'S s-so cold--"
Kei's eyes were on the floor. "It's a reaction from the feeding. Your energy was drained too, not just blood. You'll be weak and have dizzy spells, and it'll be very cold for a while. I'm... not sure how long. I don't really know much else."
His shivering increased, and Kei rose to fetch him a blanket from the bedroom. He came back to see Sho curled on his side, hugging himself, trying to stop the tremors.
"Here." The vampire lay the thick blanket over him, tucking the edges around him gently.
"Huh-- Y-you haven't-- t-tucked me in-- s-since I was thirteen," Sho smirked.
"That's because you flail in your sleep so much it doesn't matter if I do or don't. You always end up with at least the blanket on the floor in the morning," he snorted. "Makes me wonder how I tolerated you in the bed with me 'til you were twelve."
Sho sputtered indignantly, but then he saw the small smile on the older man's face. "Whatever. Jerk," he snorted.
Kei chuckled. "Then you had to go and get taller than me," he added, punching him lightly in the arm. "I still haven't forgiven you for that." This time Sho chuckled.
Then he winced. "Ow..." Sho's injured wrist had gotten under the pillow, and the weight of his head was making it hurt.
Kei saw what had happened and reached to replace the arm in a more comfortable position. Looking at the bandages, he saw that it was still bleeding. His heart lurched. "Sho... I am... really sor--"
"Don't!"
He fell silent, guilt swamping him as he carefully studied the floor.
"I told you last night. You didn't hurt me. It was as much of an accident as Son opening those curtains," Sho told him quickly, trying to get it out before the shivering made him stutter. He looked at him, almost pleadingly. "It wasn't your fault, Kei. It wasn't."
Kei was still riveted on the floor. His hands were balled on his knees. "I shouldn't--" Sho watched, still bundled, as Kei's knuckles went white, "--I shouldn't even be alive--"
The vampire gasped when Sho abruptly flew up off the sleep-couch and punched him hard across the face.
He sat there upright, still shivering, with an intense look on his features, glaring at Kei ferally as the smaller man held his cheek. Kei looked at him in shock, the entire right side of his face burning. Sho was breathing hard, staring pointedly at him, hunched over.
"Sh-Sho--"
"Don't you ever say that again," he snarled breathily. "Don't you ever say that, Kei." His eyes were deceptively hard, but there was a shine in them that suggested more moisture than usual, and his voice broke. "You are the last person we have left. Me, Toshi-- hell, I know Shinji never really approved of you, and he always called you a monster, but-- he never understood. You're our family, Kei. We... I can't lose you, too. I can't," he finished, turning toward the wall as his voice was cut off harshly.
Kei sat looking at the wall, his cheek throbbing, and finally reached a waivering hand toward his friend. "Sho..."
"What do I have to do to make you realize how important you are, Kei?" he bit out. "I gave you my blood, my trust-- my life, even-- and you still think that you-- you aren't worth anything--" Sho punched the wall with a loud bang, then leaned his forehead against it, huffing.
Kei stared at him, his jaw dropping open. Sho still needed him this much? He'd grown into a man from the skinny little boy in the abandoned complex. He'd taught him everything a kid on the streets of Mallepa would ever need to know. His martial arts and skill with firearms had been perfected, and even against many he held his own. Kei had assumed he didn't really need him any more, that they were simply friends and Sho happened to stay with him out of a sense of childish obligation. But this...
"Sh-Sho... I'm sorry; I never realized--"
With an abruptness that made Kei flinch, Sho whirled 'round and swung his arms around the smaller man in a crushing hug, his face buried in Kei's shoulder. "Damn it all, will you stop apologizing to me!" he gritted, and something wet soaked through Kei's shirt. "Just stop..."
Kei tentatively returned the hug, feeling very confused now as to what his take on life had become. Was he hurting people this way, by thinking he was useless? Was it worse to feel like he shouldn't exist, that he was a monster, while he was still needed? Sho's shuddering form against him should have told him that much. Kei closed his eyes, understanding how much of a change his entire perception and attitude was going to require.
He'd do it for his Sho, though. There was nothing he wouldn't do for his Sho. He'd given him his life back, after all.
"You aren't scared?"
A slight shake of the boy's head. A bright smile that made him chuckle.
Thank you, Sho. Thank you...
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"Figures. Sho, when was the last time you refilled the fridge?"
"How should I know?" he mumbled.
Kei rolled his eyes. That was Sho for you. He, Toshi and Son did eat out a lot, but... this? "Fine. Look, I'm heading to the convenience store. You need to eat something, and we can't survive on two twinkies, half a can of Asahi, and," he checked, "four olives."
Sho mumbled something and rolled over to face the wall. Kei had the sneaking suspicion that Sho was exhausted, but didn't want to sleep for fear of him leaving. Or maybe doing something stupid. "You want some onigiri?" There was a little grunt that indicated a "yes". "Okay. I'll be back within the hour, okay?"
Kei opened the door, and there in front of him stood Son, his arms full of groceries.
He blinked. "Uh, hi."
Kei stared back at him for a moment. Then his face broke into a smile.
"You have excellent timing. And you're a mind reader; thanks for stopping by," he said warmly.
"Thanks for letting me in," Son remarked, trying for a little levity. "I didn't think you'd answer the door after the mess I made last time." His face told Kei that he was still seeking forgiveness for his earlier actions with the curtains.
Kei's smile was small and sad. "How could I not? You're part of the family, now. Especially if you're going to be bringing home groceries," he quipped, arching an eyebrow.
Son laughed as he walked in and set the bags down on the counter. "Well, I knew pretty boy there wouldn't be able to go get food himself, and I knew you wouldn't want to leave him in the state he's in."
"A state of annoyance, you mean?" Sho called, raising his voice from under the blanket. "Quit screeching. You're loud."
"I'm beginning to wonder if you just got a really bad hangover and became suicidally depressed," Son snorted. "At the hospital you were mumbling about drinking too much, and now my normal speech is too loud."
"You've gotten much drunker than I'll ever be," he mumbled, still grumpy. "And I have the pictures to prove it."
Son's eyes went wide.
"You're kidding."
A soft snicker floated out from under the blanket.
"SHO! Hey-- talk to me here! When did you--"
Kei watched as the two of them bickered, settling back against the counter with a soft smile: a real one, for once. It was nice to see them like this. Toshi hadn't visited since the incident, so in the past week, Sho had become quiet and moody. There was something bothering him that he wouldn't tell even Kei, and that was making him very concerned. Sho told him everything.
Except whatever was bothering him now.
"You stupid-- When did you take pictures? I... Sho? Oi, Sho!"
Kei looked up from his thoughts to where Son was badgering Sho on the sleep-couch. "What's wrong?"
"Sho!" He turned toward Kei, worry marring his face. "I think he's unconscious."
"It's okay, this happens sometimes," Kei sighed, running a hand through his hair. "He gets so weak from the dizzy spells and cold flashes that he passes out, sometimes for hours. The doctors won't be able to fix it, and I can't help either. It's just something that'll have to heal naturally." Naturally. Right. What is natural about your situation, Kei?
Son glanced back at the still form on the couch and let out a soft breath. "How long will it take?"
"Don't know. I'll let you know when he starts feeling up to walking, though," Kei offered uncertainly. "He hasn't wanted to do much since we came home."
Son studied Kei's gaunt features. "What happened to your face?"
Kei realized quickly that he was referring to the bruise Sho had left him with. "Oh-- Sho had a nightmare," he tried quickly. It was the truth. Things were a bit too complicated right now, and he didn't want to go through it again with Son. He was too drained, and honestly he didn't feel all that comfortable sharing those kind of thoughts with the younger man.
"I see." Son's tone was troubled. He gave him a scrutinizing look. "You don't seem to have slept very well either."
Kei wasn't sure how to answer. "Something's bothering him," he began finally. "I can't tell what. And he seems... worried. He actually looked frightened when I-- talked to him about dying," Kei said carefully. "He actually..." A frustrated sigh. "...I don't know."
Son stared. He always acts like such a tough guy... "Has he said anything?"
"That's just it; he won't talk to me about it," Kei explained. "He's very self-conscious." A knowing look lit his eyes. "Can you try and get him to open up? He may very well talk to you about it."
"Sure, I'll do what I can," Son agreed. Kei looked so relieved Son thought he was going to fall over. Kei practically did, dumping himself into one of their leather chairs with a great sigh.
"Thank you. I just don't know what to do with him anymore. At least when he was little he'd come and talk to me about anything, everything..." He smirked. "Incessantly, in fact."
Son cracked a smile. "He still seems to keep you quite occupied."
Silence.
Kei looked down at the floor.
"...Are we okay... Like this? I mean, you know about me now, and..." His voice trailed off.
Son knew exactly what was bothering the shorter man. "Sho cares deeply for you," he said gently. "You're his father and his best friend, rolled into one. I'm not so stupid as to worry about you hurting him now that I know. You couldn't have raised him all these years if you were just going to turn on him and kill him in his sleep."
Kei stared at him in shock. He was right, he realized suddenly. All these years he'd been worried about turning on Sho, and suggesting that they separate so that he couldn't do anything to him. But even after all this time walking beside him, sleeping beside him, reading bedtime stories, applying band-aids, and washing braids in the bathtub, he knew he could no more harm him than he could kill himself. Without sun, anyway.
Though, his heart still lurched slightly when he thought of the pale face on the pillow at the hospital, or the lack of life in Sho's eyes when he first awoke.
Was he really that trustworthy?
"I wouldn't dwell on it, Kei, really," Son insisted, gathering his jacket onto one arm. "You need to give yourself a little more credit."
Kei smiled at him; a real smile, not a forced grimace. "Thank you."
"No problem. I'll see you later tomorrow. I need to talk to you about a job, but it can wait 'til then."
The vampire nodded. "'K. Later."
Son's final thought as he reached for his keys and shut the door behind him was to pray that they'd be able to pull off the next job without Sho.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
In a seedy-looking bar in inner Mallepa, three men in inordinately expensive suits walked in and motioned to the man behind the counter. He nodded and pressed a button beneath the bar, opening a door to the private lounge. The middle man had a scar over his left eye and thoroughly gelled black hair, and he gave the bartender a signal to shut it once they were in.
"What took you?"
Scarred Man looked into the corner where smoke was wafting out like a foreboding mist.
"What are you doing here?" he inquired, in thickly accented Mandarin. "I thought we had no more business to discuss."
"We didn't, until my men were ambushed a few days ago," a deep baritone answered back, his face hidden in shadow. The ash glowed a bright orange as he sucked in a lungful of smoke.
Scarred Man glanced at his men, letting them know it was time for them to leave. They disappeared as he'd asked.
"I was checking on your movements last week, to see if you had put us on your blacklist," he murmured. "You hadn't, but I noticed there was a younger set of Chan's people acting strangely. Kid named Son. He and his sister live near the Barracks."
"Oh, yeah," Scarred Man remembered suddenly. "One of mine had a bit of a falling out. He offed 'em for doin' his sister."
"Yeah, well," the deep voice continued, "apparently he's throwing in with a new pair. I had my guys check on it to see who's been wrecking my business." The man on the couch threw a set of polaroids onto the low table. "This group... They're a young duo who've been pulling some jobs around town. Not exactly Chan's buddies. They work solo, apparently." The photos showed a tall kid in leather with rattail braids, packing a pair of holsters. He was talking with a blonde man in a red jacket, who stood a few heads shorter than him. They seemed rather friendly toward each other.
The remaining photos showed them walking around town, looking wary, obviously trying to avoid being seen. A couple of the photos showed them buying ammo, a few more entering a pet shop and a pizza joint, all at night.
"Why are all of these nighttime shots?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We never see the guy in red during the day," the man replied, puffing another breath of smoke out over the table. "He's hard to catch. Couple times we had him cornered for a photo, he disappeared right out the shot."
Scarred Man eyed the photos with increasing interest. "Intriguing."
"We have a few guesses of what's going on with these bums, and none of 'em are very likely, but as a sign of good faith, I want you to keep an eye on them. There've been quite a few raids of random posts with the same signatures: a buncha guys drained of blood with two holes in their neck, dead, and even more shot through vital points before they could blink." The deep-voiced man's eyes narrowed in the darkness.
Scarred Man stared down at the polaroid for a few more moments before crushing the photo in his fist. "...Okay, I'll bite. Give me a week; I'll decide what to do about it. Maybe I can give them a gift befitting your lost personnel." He flexed a leather-gloved hand in anticipation. A wicked, slightly psychotic grin stretched his lips.
More grey smoke floated from the shadows. "My thanks, Long. I knew I could count on you."
The smirk widened, and Long's dark eyes fixed on the man.
"Me, or my hobbies?"
Soft, smoke-laced laughter filled the room.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"Sho... Sho? Sho, wake up--"
"AAGK-- Kei! KEI!"
"Sho, I'm here!"
This time he sat bolt upright, eyes wide and unblinking, sweat pouring off of his face as he gasped. "Kei-- Kei--" He'd latched onto Kei's shirt with both fists, panting in more than just a momentary fright. Kei saw that he was utterly terrified, and it hurt.
"Sho, I am right here next to you; you don't have to worry," Kei assured him, pushing him back against the bedding, one hand laid tenderly on his soaking forehead. "Everything's fine; shh..."
"Kei-- Oh God," Sho moaned, shivering. "Your face... Kei--"
Kei watched as two tears slipped down his cheeks. "Sho, you have to tell me," he ordered. "What did you see? Did something happen to me?"
Sho shook his head. "Can't--"
"Sho, I'm not going through this charade again," Kei interrupted, squeezing Sho's hand. "What did you see? I know that something's wrong, and I know you're seeing something. Now tell me!"
The young Japanese' eyes were stricken. "You-- you were--" Kei watched intently as Sho's hand reached for his face, touching his cheek. He knew if Sho had been in his right mind then, he wouldn't have dared to look at him, let alone touch him.
"You were burning alive," Sho let out in a strangled whisper. "You were-- I couldn't save you. I couldn't... Oh God--"
Sho was sobbing into his hands like a child. Kei had both arms around the taller man trying to calm him, but it wasn't any use; Sho was hysterical. Whatever he had seen had scared him witless, and the images were obviously sticking with him. Sho hadn't had a nightmare this bad in years.
"Sho--"
"We were in a room," he gasped. "My legs won't work, it hurts-- you're screaming, Kei-- You're screaming--"
"SHO!" His hands were pressing hard over his ears, as though trying to block out the sound. Kei tried to pull his hands away from his head but he refused, sliding to the floor from the bed and hunching over.
"You were burning," he forced out, "and I couldn't stop it-- you were-- your face-- I couldn't save you--"
Kei turned his head toward him, and slapped him. Hard. "SHO!" he screamed in his face, staring straight into his eyes. "Wake up!"
Sho stared blankly at him, confused, tears and sweat still streaming down his face. The look in his eyes was so lost.
"Sho, it is alright," Kei tried telling him. "Everything is fine." His eyes begged Sho to believe him. "It really is okay." He put his hands on either side of Sho's head, and pulled his forehead down to meet his own. "It's okay."
Only later would Kei have time to ponder whether Sho calling for him nightly meant he was reverting to childlike dependency-- or if he was having a recurring dream of his death... or perhaps a premonition.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Okay, I enter college August 18th, and I have to get ready, but I like writing this, so I may actually finish it this year, or halfway through next! (Aren't I optimistic? )
See you all next chappie! Let me know you still like it and I WILL post sooner.
P.S. OKAY, Soumanyon, I have posted TWO chapters, and you have still done nothing for yours! C'mon! LET'S SEE SOME RESULTS! YOU'RE KILLING ME! (dies)