Important Author's Note
Hey everyone! Kagamichihime here, I thought I should let you guys in on a few things about STS that should help your understanding of the story. They're actually pretty important, so you might want to read through (most) everything.
I've written a bonus side story for you all at the bottom as to how Aidou got the nickname "Thumper" from Kain. If you want to skip all of the info about STS, then you can jump down to the side story.
(Woah, de ja vu...)
It takes place before STS, and is rated M. ;D It's also less formal than STS, a little more OOC with a few interweb slang terms, like "butthurt". ^^ Have fun with it.
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Opening Personal Note: (Feel free to ignore)
This Saturday and Sunday I'll be going to Atlanta Georgia for an anime convention with my brother. I'll get to see Vic Mignogna!! (Voice of Fai Flowright from Tsubasa, Dark Mousy from DNAngel, and Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist) *happy dance because she lubbs him*
Purist:
I'm actually have purist views when it comes to writing fanfiction. I prefer to not bring in any sort of OC at all, but I do it anyways because I love too many of the actual characters to kill them, plus it's hard to find a character who's death and or disappearance would impact the fic the way you want. It's not that I dislike fics with OC's, it's just that it's hard to come across something good when an OC is dominating most of the story.
Twitter:
It's not as bad as I thought it would be. The site is very simplistic and there's a lack of bullshit on there. it's just like little alerts telling you who's doing what in 140 characters or less. It's pretty convenient and I actually tweet quite a bit. (I just signed up yesterday) ^^ It's usually about updates I'm making to my fanfics, what I'm working on at the moment, and what I may be doing art wise. My twitter feed is the same as my pen name, except all lowercase, kagamichihime.
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STS Talk
A note on the time line:
For those of you who've been wondering, this story takes place around.... chapter.... 26/27. Enough time for it to be revealed that Kaien was a vampire hunter, enough time for Yuuki to start seriously trying to remember her past, but before everyone goes on winter break. I was skimming chapters and realize that I had my time line sort of screwed up, since they head off in chapter 26 and Yuuki doesn't really get her first hallucination from trying until 27.
Please forgive my clumsy rearrangement. DX I thought they left for holiday after Yuuki started seeing things, so I had the time line set that way. However, the two incidents are very close together, and seeing as MOST OF the rest of the series wouldn't be cannon to STS after I killed off the protagonist, rearranging the vacation (which won't be taken since the school is on lock down) to occur only a few days later is a very important move to maintain the plot of the story. There are quite a few things that are set into motion because of the trip they take which would not line up well with what I have in store for this fic, because I need some people alive and.... unposessed. DX
I can't say too much more on the matter without revealing bits and pieces of the plot to you, I fear that I've already said too much DX.
I hope that gives everyone a better understanding of the time frame in which this story occurs, it's very important. This may be a yaoi fic focusing on the Zeme shipping, but it's also a sort of murder mystery (the plot device I am using to try and logically drive them together.)
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Who's alive, who's dead, and whom is where:
If you have a good enough memory or like to constantly go back and reread VK like I do, then you'll have noticed with my big reveal on the time line that Shizuka has already been killed. Shizuka will not make an appearance, and Maria has already gone back home. That's all I can say right now. XD
Kaito - I don't understand him, so I don't think I'll shove him in the middle of this.
As you may or may not be able to tell, I have pulled something from the recent chapters of the story (in the 50's I think) to lump with what's going on now. It makes sense, don't worry.
I just realized that what might confuse many about the time line and about who is alive or dead, if the fact that I have brought attention to Haine and Yuri, which is the names I gave to Yori's two friends. You don't see them until chapter, like, what, 52? I'm pretty darn sure that they've been at the academy the entire time, which is why it's safe to place them in the fic, since it adds to human interaction and they're of convenience.
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Special Note About Ichiru:
With the time line I provided, he shouldn't even be anywhere near Cross Academy, he should still be sulking somewhere about Shizuka's death. He doesn't even enroll until chapter 30. For my personal convenience, I just made his feelings a bit more stubborn, more bitter towards Zero as an excuse for a logical reason to throw him into the day class.
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Special Note About Takuma Ichijou and Tsukiko Aidou:
I have no idea what their special powers are, but for all intents and purposes I am assigning water to Tsukiko, to be similar to Hanabusa, and Wind to Takuma. I read somewhere that Rima's special power was lightening... but for all three I can't recall.
Their powers are not only abilities, but part of their personalities as well.
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Events:
I'm not too sure if I already made a reference to Zero drinking Kaname's blood, which also happens in chapter 30, and I've honestly been on the fence about including that in this particular fic, but I have a plan to use the same scene, different circumstances. Whether or not I'll include it remains to be undecided.
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Rewriting STS:
I know that my writing isn't the best out there, but now that I have a decent plot formed, it should become smoother from here on out, since I have an idea of what I'm actually doing. This means rewriting the past chapter's I've published to improve their quality. There will be minimal changes in the scenes, if none at all, and perhaps I'll even be adding things from Kaname's POV to help the transition process, since it's easier to write from a third person omniscient than a third person limited.
Chapter one will for the most part, stay the same. I had a lot of inspiration for writing that chapter as an introduction to this fic, and I was very happy with the set up. Chapter three I will definitely be rewriting and adding some Kaname time in, seeing as there's a very good place or two where I can have him take over. ^^
I love the title I came up with for this project, and I'm happy that it's a unique one. I search all my titles before turning them into stories (save for R, it was a temp). I will probably change the chapter titles though, to make them sound like they're worth reading. DX
The description I gave on Kain, Haine and Yori's hair were both of straw, they will be corrected to strawberry blond for the men and light caramel respectively, since I had a different hue in mind when writing the descriptions.
(MUTHERFUCKER I JUST DELETED SOMETHING IMPORTANT DDDDX) *It was Uzumaki Drop Actually*
Ignore that. ^
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Updates:
I'm going to try to update STS every 7 - 10 days. I've started putting up release dates of my fics and their chapters on my profile, so once I decide on when the next release will be, I'll post it on my profile. There will also be other things there like upcoming fics and such. I think I might start answering to questions in reviews on my profile. I'm sorry if it seemed like I was being rude by not answering your questions or comments, but I was busy writing and pulling my hair over forming a logical plot. Logic will be the death of me, a fantasy writer. DX
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Other fics: (Feel free to ignore this section)
Uzumaki Drop - A future project in which the night class members combine (swirl - uzumaki) their powers to create figures to play a chess-like game.
Resurrection - I should know better than to try to bring logic into a prediction fic. I've tangled my brain into knots and that one is on hiatus, on the verge of being destroyed. Please, don't visit it either. You won't know what's going on, as it's based off of a theory about reincarnation. It's a tl;dr piece.
VKoCC09 - Hiatus, I should know better than try to write about something I've only seen one episode of. I've written myself into a corner.
Masochistic Desire - Completed. It was a thank you oneshot for Sagakure-sama and I won't be making any more chapters since it was a particular prompt.
I will be writing other oneshots for VK and be starting new ones for other series. More on that in my profile.
Profile:
I update on my profile now, including dates, releases and whatnot, which I might move to my twitter if people watch me.
Here's your bonus, enjoy! And remember that vampires have a reversed sleeping schedule.
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"ღ*~+~*ღ"
Side Story: Thumper
It was 3pm, much too early for anyone to be up, but as always, Aidou had a broken sleeping pattern. Most times he wouldn't bother his cousin, unless he happened to stir, or turn over in his sleep. The blond would take any movement as an invitation for conversation when he was waiting to conk out. Unfortunately for the strawberry blond, he tossed and turned frequently. And people wondered about the faint dark circles beneath his eyes...
"Kain..."
"Hmm,"
"About the upcoming game..."
"Go back to sleep Hana..." he grunted, pulling another pillow over his head.
"....Never mind then...." Aidou pouted, drawing the curtain around his four poster.
Sure, Kain felt sort of bad for brushing off his cousin, but he wasn't exactly the nicest person during the noon or early evening hours. If he didn't get his sleep, he wouldn't be particularly nice all night.
"ღ*~+~*ღ"
The evening had come and gone, classes were mundane, and dinner was almost over. Dorm President Kuran was upstairs on his special couch, sulking because Zero was tending to Yuuki, who had caught a cold recently. Kain knew that he must have been upset with the hunter for getting so close to her, right?
He had no idea.
Ruka was conversing with his other cousin Tsukiko, Rima, and Ichijou. Seiren was nowhere to be found as usual, and the other vampires were either engrossed in some sort of reading material, or were outside enjoying the night. Kain scanned the crowd, looking for the blue eyes of his cousin to no avail. He wanted to finish the discussion that he had abandoned earlier this afternoon about their game of Uzumaki Drop.
With a shrug, he headed up the staircase, figuring that he would come find him when he was ready to share strategy. The upstairs corridors were deserted, typical for the hour, untypical for the faint scent of blood drifting through the air. Doing his best to ignore it, Kain unbuttoned his jacket as he approached his room, intending to catch up on his sleep. A loud popping noise came from inside, like the delicious sound of lips against skin.
"Ngh,"
"Mmmmhh, much better..." a voice sighed from behind the door that wasn't Aidou's.
The door swung open just a moment later, Shiki walking out into the hall with cold air in his wake, paying no mind to the pyro. He looked tired, with a bright dusting of red across his cheeks. Confused as hell, Kain entered cautiously, spotting a disheveled looking blond with the icy blue eyes he had been looking for. Aidou was shirtless and in the middle of putting on a new pair of pajama pants, school clothes crumpled in a pile on the floor. He looked up, seeing the 'WTF?' look on his cousin's normally stoic face and blushed through his unusually pale complexion.
"What-?" Kain started.
He was cut off when Aidou gestured rudely at him before diving behind the thick scarlet curtains around his bed.
What the hell was that? First the scent of blood, then the noise, not to mention the other dozen misleading things wrong with what he witnessed in the last minute alone. Putting it out of his mind, Kain flopped onto his covers without bothering to undress all the way. It was the first day in a while that he slept peacefully throughout.
"ღ*~+~*ღ"
Strong sunlight was filtering into the room as Kain awoke. Of all the ways to wake up, this had to be his least favorite. Sure, he was a pyro, he could go out into the daylight if he liked, but it didn't mean that he had any sort of overt fondness for the sun.
Too awake to fall back into a comfortable slumber, Kain got up to head over to the windows, his body was stiff from staying in the same position for the last ten hours. The curtains were tied open with a double knot. With a scowl, the pyro knew that had been Aidou's doing. That brainfrozen idiot must have set the room up just to piss him off. What was his problem? Kain left the drapes the way they were and stalked to his cousin's bed, pulling back the curtains of the four poster with a flourish so the sun could cast its harsh rays on -
The crumpled duvet.
That was weird, Aidou was usually the one to wake him up, and he had gone missing. Something strange was definitely going on. He forced the palm of his heel on the stiffness in his pants, hoping to tamper down the semi-swollen state caused by his dreams. Kain decided to go ahead and shower early, grabbing a set of clothes from the top drawer of his dresser on his way out.
The shower down the halls was for the males only, the few females in the Moon Dorm were assigned rooms with their own lavatories attached. They had sectioned showers for quick bathing and separate bath and shower areas for relaxation. Since it was still more than an hour away from sunset, he would take his time in a nice, long, hot stream of water to take care of his problem.
Kain pushed the door open, already thinking of mentally stimulating images when he was greeted by a rush of cold air, followed by the sound of running water and voices bouncing off of tiles, slightly distorting them and the words. He instantly summoned fire to his side to warm the rising goosebumps and keep his stiffy alive. There was no way he would give up a morning fap with so much time to spare. He would just have to use the showers in the very back.
"I don't think I can do much for the erection."
The pyro stopped in his tracks.
"What do you mean? All you have to do is give it a little blow, the surface is smooth so it'll just slide right along."
"But I prefer making something soft hard, yours is already hard. The movement is stiff and there's nothing I can do about it."
"Come on, I'm not asking you to bend over backwards, just blow hotly and it'll melt the way it should."
"I'm not sure if you're under or overestimating my powers."
The voice laughed softly.
"Over? Under? Which would you prefer? You know if we switch and have yours underneath, the feeling could be different."
"You know, that's not a bad idea."
Wet rhythmic noises echoed off the tile, making a thumping noise.
"Too much!" one voice cautioned.
Kain had heard enough. He turned and slammed the door open loudly, as if he were just coming in. There were startled gasps coming from the sectioned showers when he made his footsteps heavy to announce his presence. The noise ceased immediately. As he thought, Aidou was occupying one of the stalls. To his surprise, Ichijou was showering too, in the stall right next to his, the two separated only by a waist high divider.
"Ah, morning Akatsuki."
"Mrh," he scowled at the man's nervous emerald eyes in a manner he hoped seemed half awake.
Aidou, acting childishly, again turned the other cheek to his cousin and continued to lather his hair with a strawberry scented shampoo. Kain's perverted mind wouldn't let him rest after hearing that conversation. He quickly locked himself in a separate shower, intent on solving one problem at a time.
"ღ*~+~*ღ"
Breakfast was strained between Kaname's inner circle, as most of the males were avoiding each other on some sort of level, the most noticeable avoidance being between Aidou towards Kain. Everyone left in a sluggish pace, none too eager to travel through the annoyance that was sunlight.
"Idol!!"
"Wild! Look over here!"
"Kaname-sempai! kyaa!"
As they passed through the gate, from the corner of his eye, Kain could see Aidou making off with Zero into a throng of day class girls, their annoying squealing trailing after the pair. What the hell could Aidou, someone who hated Zero almost as much as Kaname did, want with the hunter?
"Wonder what's up with him. Hm?" Rima mumbled, voicing his thoughts out loud. She offered him a stick of Pocky, which he chewed on in thought.
"No idea." he murmured in return. "Hanabusa hates Kiryuu."
"Aidou? No, I meant Kaname-sama, though I guess the same could be said about him."
"Huh?" Kain looked to Kaname, who seemed to be glaring off in the direction Aidou and Kiryuu disappeared to. "You're right."
"Someone's in trouble." Ruka smirked.
"Probably." Rima was already bored with the news, not really much of a gossiper.
"He's asking to be slapped if he makes the night class look bad again." Kain muttered, taking another stick. He was was beginning to crave more sweets. Damn that he accepted that chocolate in the first place.
"ღ*~+~*ღ"
Aidou was late to class, disheveled, and not to mention pissed.
"So nice of you to join us, Aidou-kun."
"Sensei I can explain,"
"I'll take care of this, if you don't mind sensei."
"Erm, not at all, Kaname-sama."
Kaname offered the teacher a curt bow before tugging the blond by his ear out of the classroom.
This time Aidou was the only one to get in trouble. Finally! Kain was tired of being a victim of circumstances.
Neither of them were present for any other class that evening. Kain went back to homeroom to ask the teacher where Kaname had gone, only to be redirected back to the dorms. It was becoming a pain in the ass to find his cousin. He figured he would let the blond come to him as he entered the kitchen, determined to satisfy his sweet tooth that the Pocky had caused earlier. Muffled voices came from a jointed room to the side of the kitchen
"You'll have to masturbate to release the flavor."
The hell? Kain recognized the tenor of Kaname's voice. He would have gone to ask him where Aidou had gone, but he had a feeling he shouldn't intrude on whatever was going on with whom. Had he just heard correctly?
"So you'll help me if I do this, right?"
"No, this is your punishment for being late to class. Remember when we tried before? You couldn't handle my raw power, and you were butthurting for days."
"But how exactly do you expect me to do this?"
"I already showed you, it's not that hard. Well, I guess right now it is for you, but use your head."
"Grnnnn....." Aidou groaned.
Not waiting for the soft wet sounds that had already started to continue, Kain ran out of the kitchen as quietly as he could, heart hammering a mile a minute. He knew his cousin was flirtatious; the guy had the day class girls fawning over him on a daily basis. But he never knew that Aidou was into men. Did that have something to do with why he was ignoring him? Kain let the thought trail off right there, afraid to work out any sort of possibility, fearing the results of his pondering. The crisp, refreshing night air would clear his head. It had to.
He headed out front to sit beneath the soothing light of the full moon, distracting himself by contemplating all possible reasons he, a vampire, could have been named "Akatsuki".
"I want to live on the moon..." he sighed.
The pyro must have sat there for a couple of hours, mind eventually falling into non-thinking as he watched the moon sink lower in the sky. A soft voice woke him from his trance.
"Akatsuki?"
"Hn?" Kain turned to face his other cousin, Tsukiko.
"Have you seen Hana?"
His eyebrow twitched.
"I'm trying to avoid him right now, so no, I haven't seen him. He was with our gang leader, but that was a few hours ago."
Every bit as perceptive as her brother, Tsukiko was quick to pick up on his slip.
"Good thing you're avoiding him. He'd throw a hissy fit and tell you to call him the supreme gang leader or something." she rolled her eyes in amusement. "So if you can't tell me where you've last seen him, can you tell me where he probably is?"
Those damn siblings. Kain sighed, keeping in mind that she only wanted to find him, not drag them both into a confrontation. She wasn't like that. He decided to cover himself and Hanabusa anyway.
"I don't know."
She recognized that tone. Tsukiko conceded, not wanting to press the issue.
"Well Ichijou already went to bed, and I'm going in a minute. Could you pass along a message to him? Since you two share the same room and all."
Did she have to remind him of how awkward that would be? His brows furrowed before he accepted.
"Un."
"Ichijou says that he'll try again tomorrow, as long as in the game room, in private."
Kain paled. Maybe he really was born under the "Victim of Circumstances" Star. He turned to look at his little cousin, his gold eyes nearly burning into her unflinching blue.
"Un." came the laconic reply. Both went back to the dorms, leaving conversation and the warm night air behind.
The crowd in the front sitting room was thinning considerably for a weekend twilight. Kain paid no mind as he climbed the stairs and took the familiar halls to his room, parting ways with Tsukiko one hall before his without a goodnight.
He shouldn't have been surprised to hear some sort of activity going on behind his door, a muffle voice calling out. If Aidou really was gay, he might soon be hearing that a lot.
"Ahh, ahh, shit, I can't keep going, haa."
Kain stopped. Did he dare to go inside? He listened for a moment, curious as to whether or not someone else was in there as well.
"Argh,"
He could hear wet rhythmic sounds issuing out from the room, getting louder. Goodness.
"Ahh, come... on..."
The wet noises grew louder still, a quick thumping noise pealing through the air until an agonized scream cut through the dorm.
"AAARRRHHHHH FUCK!"
"Hanabusa!!"
Kain burst into the frigid room, looking around for what could have hurt his cousin, only to spot him crumpled on the floor, pink in the face, clutching a dripping, angry red hand. Liquid was pooled at his knees. Aidou scrambled to make it behind the safety of his bedspread.
"Oh no you don't, hold it right there Thumper!"
Aidou reluctantly turned a teary face to his cousin, clutching him around the waist, clinging and cuddling.
"Akatsuki!!" he sobbed. "I-I-I'm sorry I've been ignoring you. I've tried to get others to replace you, I've t-t-tried to d-do it myself, but now I realize that you're the only one that I can ever partner with. P-please. I can't take it anymore!"
"Relax! What the hell are you talking about!" Kain was puzzled, wondering what the hell was eating his cousin, or what he might have been eating.
"He's finally cracked, eh?" Ruka poked her head in the doorway, followed by Rima and Ichijou.
"It was only a matter of time." Shiki frowned as he passed by, gnawing on Pocky.
"I didn't think he would even make it as far as he did." Kaname sighed, watching the scene unfold.
"What the hell are they talking about Hana?" Kain demanded.
"I need you Akatsuki!"
Kain blushed profusely, all to aware of the entire night class wathing his gay cousin confess to him.
"Woah, he actually said it." Rima said in amusement.
"Wait wait wait, I'm not like that, at least, I'm pretty darn, sure, I haven't tried like you have, but I'm certain that I wouldn't like it!"
"HUH?"
The dorm asked in unison. Kain felt like he sent his brain to the moon.
"What are you talking about?" Aidou asked.
"I don't know... what the hell are you talking about?"
"Uzumaki Drop." he blinked, confused.
Relief shot through Kain's system like morphine.
"I thought,"
"Wait wait, you thought I, was...?"
"Well, what was with Shiki coming out of your room yesterday?! And that sound!"
"I froze Shiki's blood, I felt bad, and let him have some of mine."
"Ichijou? He said he didn't think there was much he could do for the erection!"
"What?" Ichijou looked taken back. "You must be talking about when Aidou and I were discussing how to form a good Uzumaki. There wasn't much I could do for the direction."
"Yeah, all he had to do was give the figure a blow to its destination, but then we decided to try and use his powers on the bottom as a base." Aidou's eyebrow was raised, mirroring all the other vampires.
"The gang leader?" he asked desperately, earning a glare from the class, save for Ichijou and Rima.
"Supreme gang leader!" Aidou corrected.
"Whatever! He wanted you to 'masturbate to release the flavor'! Saying you tried before, couldn't handle his power, and ended up with butthurt!"
Ichijou let out a snerk before bursting into a fit. Even Rima was chortling; Ruka was simply horrified. Kaname looked downright amused.
"Kaname-sama put me on dinner duty, he wanted me to macerate the juice and skins of white grapes. We tried to make an Uzumaki once before, a long time ago when I invented the game, but he was too powerful for me to keep up with, and I complained about it forever. You remember that, don't you? You were there! Butthurt is when someone whines a lot."
Kain could have died right there. He had never been so embarrassed in all his life.
"We're going to bed." Rima laughed, tugging Ruka along, who was clutching a stich in her side.
"Come on Ichijou," Shiki pulled the breezy blond with him to their room.
Kaname left, shaking his head, which he seemed to do often around his friends, leaving the cousins alone.
"So you actually thought I was gay?"
"Yeah, and what were you doing when I came in?"
Aidou held up his freezing hand to point at a block of ice he had been trying to shape with his body heat.
"You're really that stupid, huh." Kain asked, sighing with relief.
"I am not! Either way, it's good to know that you would help me regardless."
"Huh?"
"You came running when I screamed in pain."
"Oh, that."
"Thanks, you know?" Aidou smiled.
"Um, sure." Kain smiled back, helping his cousin up. "So what happened with Kiryuu to make me misunderstand?"
"What?" Aidou raised a brow.
"Kiryuu?" Kain shut the door as he started to change clothes. Aidou turned to his covers, smoothing them out before climbing in nervously.
"Goodnight Akatsuki." he called.
"Wait, you still didn't answer-"
"Goodnight!"
"Goodnight, Thumper."
Aidou flinched from beneath his bedsheets.
Kain decided not to ask.
Ever again.
"ღ*~+~*ღ"
I stretched the release date by half an hour because I came up a better ending at the last moment than I had first planned. XD
I'll do a fine edit later, since I want to get the chapter out right now. XD
Reviews: Tell me what you think of the sidestory?