Sunrise: Chapter 2

March, 1985

It'd been nearly five months since the…incidents in Sotoba that'd led to its destruction, and those who'd escaped had tried to move on. One such group including the only surviving vampires from the town: one small puppet-master, a former priest, a blue-haired man who liked odd outfits and a brooding teenager.

After three weeks of aimless driving and hunting deer, the quartet had found a home in the small town of Hirono. The population was barely over 8,000, so the vampires decided to settle down in a place where they wouldn't be bothered that much. Seishin purchased a house on the outskirts of town right by the road leading out in case of an emergency. The three males of the group could care less about the town other than its quiet and peace, but Sunako loved it.

In January she'd made snowmen and snow angels every night, constantly dragging out the other members of the household to join in her fun. Seishin and Tatsumi would generally go along with it, but Natsuno was absolutely adamant about it; he hated the snow, so he stayed inside.

Two weeks after moving into their new home, laid-back Seishin became mother Seishin and insisted that Natsuno reinstate himself in school. He also made Sunako go back, but she'd only do the work by night as she couldn't just walk into the daylight.

Seishin essentially took him by the hand to the only high school in town and signed up Natsuno as a senior and Sunako as a freshman. They received uniforms the following week and Sunako never took hers off. She said she loved the uniform as she'd never gotten to wear one herself; as a human she'd been homeschooled. Of course no one would ever see Sunako besides the three of them because she stayed at home each day. Seishin convinced the principal she was an ailing cancer patient who desperately wanted to learn, and they left the principal trying to hold back tears.

They were now known as Natsuno, Sunako, and Seishin Futsumoto. Tatsumi merely became Uncle Tatsumi. Natsuno slouched and frowned his way through school, despite the throngs of ogling girls who constantly tried to get his attention. "Mysterious Futsumoto-kun!" or "cool Futsumoto-san!" they'd call him. The compliments were unfortunately endless, and there had been many times when Natsuno had begged Seishin to take him out of school.

That was two months ago, and now it rained like there'd be no tomorrow. Natsuno often came home with his shoes completely soaked, much to the anger of him and the poor carpet. Sunako thought it was hilarious and called him Squishy-kun endlessly. Squishy-kun, however, was much better than the alternative.

Sunako had decided that since they were going to be living together for a long time, they should all be less formal with each other: thus the uses of the horrible nicknames. Horrible to Natsuno anyways; the other two just generally went along with it. Natsuno became Naa-chan; Tatsumi became Taa-chan; Seishin became Sei-chan. At one point Natsuno had even bared his fangs at Sunako, who promptly went and cried to Tatsumi. The next day Natsuno came to school with a sprained wrist. From that day he'd merely sighed or groaned at the annoying nickname.

As much as he probably wouldn't want to admit it, life was becoming peaceful; well, peaceful for four vampires. They'd settled into a routine that was relaxed and easy; Natsuno even found himself forgetting what'd happened in the previous year sometimes.

Seishin was definitely like a father: kind yet demanding at the same time, constantly going over the homework that the two purple-haired teens had completed. Tatsumi had become a very laid-back, easygoing man; unless you bothered Sunako, he'd generally leave you alone. Natsuno himself was very much the same as he'd been as a human, although he didn't drink blood during his mortal times.

Natsuno had to admit that if Sunako had never been a vampire that had caused the deaths of hundreds, she'd be an ideal little sister. Yes, she was quite perky and girly, but wasn't that how girls of her age-group were supposed to be? She'd often ask him about his days at school and lately, he'd found himself replying with more than just a simple "fine" or "the same". Five months ago Natsuno would've hated himself, but it seemed as though Sunako had grown on him.

Their days fell in an easy rhythm: Natsuno went to school, Seishin wrote his stories, Sunako slept and Tatsumi…did Tatsumi-like stuff. At night they'd eat together and Natsuno would occasionally help Sunako with her homework. As much as it might've bothered Natsuno before all of the things that happened in Sotoba, he was generally starting to become comfortable with the people he was with.

May 12th, 1985-evening

At last, the day Natsuno dreaded and Sunako couldn't wait for had arrived: the ending ceremony and banquet for the school they'd been attending. It was to be held at night, and for the weeks preceding it Sunako had been bouncing off the walls in excitement: she could go out again and meet people!

Of course, proper precautions had to be taken. To follow up with their lie about Sunako's "cancer-induced state", they had to order a wheelchair from a neighboring town so as not to rouse suspicion. Seishin also covered her body partially with bandages and wraps, to heighten the awareness of her 'condition'.

When the night finally came, Seishin drove the same old beater that they'd escaped from Sotoba in to the dinner. Sunako was asking Natsuno questions nonstop on the twenty minute drive. Were his classmates nice? How was the food? Were there cute girls? At that question Natsuno's face flushed and Sunako laughed.

"What a prude you are, Naa-chan." She said between giggles. It was quite odd for a girl who looked to be about ten telling a sixteen-year old boy that he was prudish. 'Sixteen…I would be seventeen last month if I were still…' His thoughts drifted off as they pulled into the already packed parking lot.

Seishin pulled into the disabled parking lot, giving a wink to Sunako and said "I'm so glad you're 'crippled' Sunako! We got the best spot!" He turned off the car and around to the back, pulling out the wheelchair. Natsuno got out of the car and faced the rest of the parking lot; it was filled with the cars of people he'd distanced himself from. There was no need for friendship between you and someone you wanted to drain dry.

Natsuno's thoughts were interrupted by a harsh hand on his shoulder. He turned his head and Tatsumi was giving him an eerie glare. "Sunako-sama has been waiting a long time for something like this, so don't you dare screw it up, you hear me?" Natsuno nodded and Tatsumi let him go. Sunako was calling him and he walked off, smiling happily. Natsuno sighed and raked a hand through his hair; even though Sunako was no longer in charge, she and Tatsumi still had a strong Master-Servant relationship.

"Come along, Natsuno-san; the program is going to start soon!" Seishin was calling him from the doors, having already wheeled Sunako there. Tatsumi was diligently at her side as always. Natsuno sighed and turned on his heels; they had a banquet to attend.

May 12th, 1985- Nighttime

The banquet had gone quite well, even in Natsuno's opinion. The girls (and boys, much to Tatsumi's agitation) fluttered around Sunako, the 'younger sister' of the mysterious transfer student. Sunako loved the attention; it'd been so long since she'd been around others. Seishin and Tatsumi merely sat and drank wine. Natsuno merely sat; Seishin cited that he was far too young to have wine (Tatsumi had a nice laugh at that statement).

Eventually awards had been handed out, and Natsuno received perfect scores for all his classes. Sunako had even been awarded an honorary medal for her 'triumph over her disease'. Sunako even cried fake tears as she spoke to the audience.

Two hours later they in the forest beyond their home, searching for a few deer to eat; Sunako was especially fierce, still on her happy-high. "Over here, I can smell a herd!" Tatsumi shouted with glee, and the others rushed quickly. A herd was a rare and wonderful event; if you got a herd, you could last for weeks without hunting by preserving the blood.

Seishin attacked the largest stag, taking him down with elegant ease, while Sunako and Tatsumi started to take down the rest. Natsuno patrolled the area, making sure none escaped. It seemed as though, in their joy, Sunako and Tatsumi had missed one; it darted between a pair of bushes and into the night.

"I got this one guys," Natsuno called as he jumped above the bushes. Catching up to the deer was an easy task; the deer was fast, but as always, Natsuno was faster. With a snarl his fangs came out and he took down the deer without a second thought. Hot, juicy blood filled his mouth and he let back a shudder. The first bite was always the best, and this was something Natsuno could not deny. However, Natsuno was so caught up in the feed that he didn't notice the footsteps approaching.

Tomosaka Ryuuji, his girlfriend Fujimoto Satsuki, and his best friend Takanashi Shin were drunk; very, very drunk. Rather Ryuuji and Shin were drunk, and Satsuki was buzzed. As seniors they only had one week to go and then they'd graduate! Freedom was on the horizon and the three teens couldn't wait to experience it.

As they stumbled to and fro in the woods at the edge of town, a scream caught their attention, quickly cutting their joyfulness to a halt. Another scream occurred three minutes later; this one sounded closer. Satsuki gripped Ryuuji's hand and Shin stood close beside him. Together, they cautiously moved through the dark woods towards the sound.

As they neared the area, they heard a...sucking noise? The three looked at each other and moved closer. There was a perfect gap between the trees where the sucking noise was strongest. Ryuuji, in his fear, stepped on a branch, but they kept on going. They went beyond the trees and Satsuki screamed.

Natsuno sighed at his state of dress: his pants and shirt were covered in the deer blood. The deer itself was drained almost completely dry. He sensed Tatsumi and the others approaching his location; he started to leave when a branch cracked from behind him. He spun around and his red irises widened.

"Futsumoto, is that you? What in the hell are you doing…" Tomosaka Ryuuji was about to continue, but he stopped abruptly.

There stood the terrified figures of three of his classmates. There was Tomosaka Ryuuji, the athletic; Fujimoto Satsuki, his girlfriend and a cheerleader; and then there was Takanashi Shin, the artistic friend of Ryuuji. They took in his state of dress, the blood and all.

Satsuki screamed. Ryuuji and Shin looked as though they were about to do the same when two hands slapped around their faces. Tatsumi and Sunako had appeared from the trees, and Seishin walked calmly toward the group.

"I'm so sorry you had to witness this, children," Seishin spoke sadly. "We mean you no harm, but you cannot, under any circumstances speak of what you've seen here." He glanced over to Satsuki, who'd begun crying and had slumped to the ground, her head in her hands. Seishin had begun to walk over to her when Ryuuji broke out of Sunako's lax grip.

"You get the fuck away from her!" He screamed, grabbing a fallen branch. Tatsumi sniggered and only gripped the crying Shin tighter. "You think this is funny, you fucking freaks? You guys are monsters! Once we get back to the village I'm bringing the cops and they'll kill you!"

Seishin and the others merely said nothing as the teen raged on. "I've heard of things like you. Like that town, Sotoba?" Each of the vampires internally cringed at that one. "They said it was a forest fire, but I bet it was things like you, huh?" None of them answered him. "I'm telling everyone about this," Ryuuji was about to continue, but he was more preoccupied with his now-broken arm.

Sunako stood above him with her red eyes staring straight through him, and Ryuuji wet himself. She looked to the others of her kind, and they merely stared back. "Tomosaka-san, I'm truly sorry." She said sweetly; then she broke his neck. Tomosaka Ryuuji's body slumped to the ground and Satsuki crawled over to it, clinging to his head and crying.

Sunako broke her neck as well, and Tatsumi killed the boy in his arms. Seishin looked around at the others, all of whom had solemn, stone like faces. He grabbed the girl and boy, and Tatsumi held the boy he'd killed. They slowly walked to the edge of the forest, where a thirty-foot cliff stood. One at a time they dropped the corpses off the side.

"We have to leave now, don't we?" Sunako asked sadly, and the other three merely nodded. Tatsumi put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and she smiled at him.

"It is time we go now," Seishin spoke calmly; he walked back and they followed him. Silently they walked back to their car, hidden in the trees. They knew that it couldn't have lasted forever, but even Natsuno had hoped they'd be able to stay longer.

One by one they piled into the car and rode off. To where, they didn't know: hopefully to a place where they could have a longer, happier time together without the tragedy of morality getting in the way…