Chapter 3- Staurophobia

A/N: Welcome! Thank you for continuing to read my story! Please review and tell me what you think! Also, do you want any character deaths? I wanted to keep this story light and fluffy but I have a few ideas… so review or pm me and let me know. Thanks!

Shinya Kougami walked into the vampire's chamber, surprised to see a wall decorated in crosses. Honestly, nothing about this makeshift family made any sense. Vampire's living together with no leader, tomato juice instead of blood, a love of literature over bloodshed? The man shook his head, gazing at the shadowy figure. Makishima was lounging in a loveseat, silver hair reflecting against the light from the fireplace. A large tome lay in his lap, fingers skimming against the parchment.

"Hey, Shougo."

"Kougami? What a pleasant surprise, please, sit down."

The raven-haired man sits in the opposite chair, pulling out a cigarette and a lighter. He takes a drag of the cigarette, breathing out smoke. Makishima laughs, closing the book.

"You're only killing yourself faster. Why do you smoke even though it shortens your already short lifespan?"

"You don't know when you'll die. Doesn't matter if you're a vampire or a human. I may die tomorrow, three years from now, maybe even fifty. Same for you. You could live to be thousands of years old, but you can't predict what each day will bring. Who knows, I might come into your room one day and kill you."

"I see… so a gift of 'immortality' would not interest you?"

"What are you talking abou—"

"It's a simple question. Do you want to live forever? I have the means necessary to turn you into a vampire. All I ask for is your faith."

"It sounds like I'm making a pack with the devil."

"You flatter me, Kougami. No, I'm but a simple messenger of Hell. Think of the possibilities. Death, disease, famine could not touch you. We need only an exchange of blood to seal the 'contract.'"

The hunter gazes into the fire, a foreign emotion passing across his steel blue eyes.

…

It felt as if something heavy was lying on the girl. Groggily, she moves the foreign object off of her, rubbing sleep from her eyes. The 'object' curls up defiantly, arm encircling her waist. The man nuzzles her neck, orange hairs tickling her skin.

"Kagari, wake up. Kagari… Shusei, wake up already!" The man jolts awake, flipping out of the bed. He tumbles over the edge, cocooned in silk sheets.

"Ouch… how did I end up on the floor?"

"You fell."

"Oh." He gives a classic grin, fangs glinting in the light. "I'm hungry… you want something to eat?" The vampire walks to the door, watching the girl expectantly.

"I could go for pancakes." Her stomach rumbles in agreement.

"Hahaha, sure, follow me to the kitchen."

…

"Uh, I've never actually cooked something on my own, Kagari."

The vampire laughs. "No problem, I'll teach ya. Cooking is great, I mean, you get to eat what you create!"

The pair work diligently in the kitchen, Akane watching and learning as the man whisks the eggs. He instructs her on the precise amount of salt, how finely to dice the onions, how long she should scramble the eggs, and how to make homemade pancakes. Three hours later, and they emerge victorious from the kitchen, a total of twelve plates in their hands.

"Uh, Kagari, I don't think anyone else is awake yet…"

"It's fine, we'll eat what we can and store the rest for later."

They share breakfast (which only happens a handful of times for Kagari, since he usually doesn't wake up till past twelve in the afternoon) and watch T.V from their chairs. She can't help but stare at the orange-haired 'vampire.' 'He cooks, drinks tomato juice, watches T.V, how can this man attack anything? He couldn't hurt a fly with a flamethrower…' she thinks, taking a sip of her orange juice. Unsurprisingly, the man substitutes blood for another glass of tomato juice.

"Ya know…" Akane starts, taking a mouthful of pancakes, "You should act more like a vampire so I don't feel guilty shooting you later."

"Eh? I'm not scary? Not even a little bit?"

"Well… sometimes, whenever you get angry. But, for the most part, you seem so carefree and, dare I say, human."

"The old man used to joke that no one would believe I was a vampire because I never slept in a coffin, and, for the longest time, I was actually afraid of the dark."

The girl nearly falls out of the chair, laughing. The vampire blushes, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

"It was when I was a kid, ok? It's not that big of a deal…"

"Don't tell me you had a night light or something." The man turns a darker shade of pink.

"N-no, of course not, I wasn't that pitiful—"

"If I remember correctly, Kagari, there were a handful of times when you thought you heard monsters outside your window and would crawl into my coffin during the night. I couldn't even have a normal sleep pattern, having to watch you all day and make sure you didn't reveal your identity to all the other human children." Masaoka walked down the main flight of stairs, chuckling at the vampire's expression.

"I told you once already, stop sharing all this information—it's personal!" He looked exasperated, close to ripping his own hair out of his scalp.

"Calm down, Shusei. Everyone has something they're embarrassed about, myself included. When I was growing up, I thought only stakes through the heart could kill vampires. Luckily, I didn't meet any hunters during that time."

…

"Mr. Kougami, where are you?" Akane walks through the west wing of the mansion, surprised to see everything layered in dust. Old, antique furniture piled high in the wing, red carpets stained with age. There are actual spider-webs on the windows and the girl wants to be anywhere but here. "Damn, Kougami, don't tell me Makishima got hungry and decided to have a mid-morning snack."

A cold hand grips her shoulder, puffs of breath tickling her neck. The other hand is over her mouth and the girl reflexively bites down on it. She can feel the man smirk into her neck, pulse increasingly rapidly.

"Scary enough for you, Akane?" Kagari lets the girl go, laughing at her bewildered expression.

"Do that again and I won't hesitate to shoot you."

"Alright, alright… Masaoka said I should come help you find Ko-chan. His scent is strong here; he must be in one of these rooms."

Akane nods here head in agreement. "Ok, I just have one question. Why is this side of the mansion so… unkempt?"

The vampire sighs, running his fingers through his hair. "It's a long story… Shougo had a human lover, Rikako. He was engaged to her when a group of vampire hunters kidnapped her. They thought she could lead him into a trap. He shows up at the main headquarters and slaughters them, in droves. When he finally gets to her, the leader of the vampire hunter organization, Sibyl, has a knife to her throat. He lets them take him into custody. As he's being dragged to the torture chambers the woman slices the girl's throat right in front of him. There was nothing he could do. He's been unable to touch any of the furniture since. It all reminds him of her."

The brunette is quiet, absorbing the sad tale. "So… is that why he acts so cold? Because hunters killed his lover?"

"More or less. He's always had a shaky relationship with hunters, but so do all vampires."

"But, you didn't immediately attack me, even though you knew I was a hunter."

"Pops always told me to judge a person by their actions. You had subdued Shougo and only pressed on killing him when he attacked you first. Most hunters just shoot, allow Sibyl to make the decision. And, if they were wrong, and the vampire didn't do anything worthy of death, well, at least it meant one less monster off the streets."

"Wise words… my parents also said something similar to that." The vampire smiles, gesturing for the girl to follow him. "Come on, I think I hear them."

They make it to an open doorway, Akane's eyes widening in shock. The white-haired vampire's eyes were glowing crimson, fangs mere inches from Kougami's neck.

"Stop!" She fires, a bright blue light hitting the man directly in the chest. He goes down, falling backwards onto the floor.

"W-what did you just do, Akane?" Kagari runs to the fallen vampire, checking his vitals.

"Don't worry, it was on Paralyzer mode, he'll be out for a few hours but should be relatively fine." The girl places the gun back in its holster, walking up to the surprised hunter. He shakes his head, a headache forming.

"Why, Kougami?"

"I don't know, I think he put me under a trance or something. At first, I refused his offer, told him I'd rather die a hunter than a murderer. I guess that triggered something and before I knew it you were here."

"Uh, guys, in the heat of the moment I kinda forgot about my phobia but it's seriously getting too bad. I have Staurophobia. Ko-chan, could you carry Shougo? I really need to get out of here." The orange-haired man looks in pain, topaz eyes squeezed shut.

"What's wrong, Kagari?"

"T-the crosses." He points to the wall decorated in them, shielding his eyes.

"When I was a kid, before I was adopted by Masaoka, my real parents instilled a fear of crosses in me. Many hunters would wear them for decoration, and my parents thought that if I grew up to fear them I'd subconsciously keep my nose out of hunter affairs. Look at all the good that's done." He nearly sprints out the room, a blur of black as he runs to the main living room.

"Seriously? First he drinks tomato juice, and then he tells me he used to be afraid of the dark, hates coffins, and can't stare at a cross? I give up. When I return to headquarters I'll tell them none of their classes are useful. I would have stood a better chance reading Dracula."

The pair (despite Kougami being on crutches) manages to drag the unconscious vampire into the foyer area, leaving him on the couch.

"Don't worry, Kagari, his head only hit the stairs a couple of times." The girl chirps, smiling at the worried man.

"Wonderful." He says sarcastically, sitting across the sleeping vampire. His eyes tighten in concern, averting his attention to Shougo. "I told you so many times to stop acting so damn reckless. It will get you killed, someday."

Suddenly, a figure steps through the front door, gun in hand. "My name is Ginoza Nobuchika and in the name of the vampire hunter association I sentence all of you to death." He points the Dominator at the slumbering vampire, pulling the trigger.