Chapter 4
Kyoshi and Sakura had just ended the night dropping Kai and Tala off at their apartment, or so they had thought. Really and truly Kai and Tala were not too far behind, following the two band members down many streets in hopes on finding where they lived. Kyoshi had sensed the two following behind but he didn't say anything to the girl beside him, not minding much that the two were trying to find out where they lived., whereas he knew that Sakura would have one and would have tried to stop them, something Kyoshi didn't want.
Once they'd gotten into the apartment Kyoshi was first in his bedroom, lying back on the bed with his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling with a drained look in his eyes. Dark red circles were lining under his eyes, giving him an even more exhausted look then he was actually letting on. Sakura leaned by the wall in the doorway of his bedroom, waiting there for a moment, realizing that he wasn't taking any notice of her. When it sunk in that he wasn't up for talking she just pulled a blood red vial out of her pocket and tossed it onto the space beside Kyoshi on the bed, "Drink up." She ordered before she turned and left the room and moved back to sitting in the living room.
Kyoshi didn't move to look at the vial, he knew it was there and only needed to move a hand from under his head and bring it to his side to reach it. His fingers bitterly touched the cold glass and pulled it closer to him, looking down at it suddenly, watching the crimson red liquid swaying in the glass container. The sight of the blood was making him hungrier and hungrier by the second that passed, mili-seconds if you wanted that in the time that it felt like to a vampire watching blood. The boy sat up quickly, tugging at the cap of the bottle, taking a deep breath and gulping down the blood in one swift motion.
The coppery taste of blood lingered in his mouth for a while after, Kyoshi quite enjoying it, at the same time making him feel bad about that fact. His mouth remained slightly open, giving the drying blood a better taste as he took in deep breathes and enjoyed the taste of red liquid that remained in his mouth, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes for a second to enjoy it. He opened his eyes again once the taste had almost been drained completely but at least now he wasn't craving as much blood as he had been before. Slowly he moved his legs off the side of the bed and steadily stood up, taking a moment of standing there before walking into the living room where Sakura was.
The silent skinny girl sat on the sofa like she had earlier that day, fidgeting and sorting out all the papers that were still scattered all over the living room coffee table. Kyoshi sat down in the armchair, sitting forward with his arms resting on his knees as he held his head in his right hand and watched her move the papers about.
Sakura raised her eyes to look at Kyoshi, her hands continuing there movements with the papers, "Sorry about the mess, I'll be out of here in a minute." She told him, speeding up her progress of cleaning up her things from littering the living room.
Kyoshi sighed, sitting back, his elbows resting on the arm rest as one hand moved to rub his temples in exhaustion. A quiet groan escaped him, one Sakura had heard from where she sat.
Sakura had remained looking at him, then turning her eyes back to sliding her files into the shelf under the coffee table, "What is it?" she asked him, keeping her usual stone face as she continued to clean up without taking much more than a quick and sudden glance at Kyoshi once in a while till he answered.
"Nothing."
"I'm not stupid…you know that right?" Sakura asked him, sitting back and putting her feet up on the now clear table.
"You wouldn't understand." Kyoshi told her, sitting forward in an attempt to get up, being interrupted by Saku's answer.
"Try me." Came the confident words of the other teenager.
Kyoshi continued to hold his hand onto the arm of the sofa tightly, just as he'd been ready to stand up but hadn't. He stared at the ground for a moment, contemplating on whether or not he should talk about what was on his mind and what he would say. "Alright…well it started out a few years ago, there was this girl who really loved me and really I loved her back, more than she actually knew but she sensed I liked her. So when I kept denying it she wouldn't let me live it down and I admitted to my problems and we got together…but these days she's been acting strangely and she thinks that if she gives up enough blood for me, that it'll make me feel better but it doesn't, I just can't understand her, that's all." He explained, looking up to look at her once he was done.
Sakura slowly raised her eyes, locking eyes with Kyoshi, the two holding a silent lock for a few seconds before Sakura's face slowly softened up and she pushed herself off the sofa. She sat down on the end of the coffee table, resting her arms on her legs, her forearms being pressed against her stomach. "I haven't been treating you right these days…I'm aware of that but we're dealing with a lot right now." She spoke quietly, carefully yet the girl was incapable of just saying 'sorry' and getting it over with. Her ways of saying sorry and asking for forgiveness were usually long and uncomfortable.
"No, we're not. I'm going through some things; you're making this whole Hana situation more difficult on yourself and on some innocent kids."
"The fact that you don't agree with my way of doing things is not my problem but I'm only trying to keep you and everyone else safe and it's worked so far." Sakura said, flames practically appearing in her eyes.
"Well a lot of good your ways have been doing me." Kyoshi shouted at her, standing up abruptly, pushing her and storming out of the living room and back into his bedroom.
Sakura closed her eyes quickly, sighing with some frustration, "I didn't mean it like that!" she shouted at him from there. After about two minutes of waiting for some form of a reply she still didn't get one and decided on getting up, taking some uneasy steps towards the bedroom. She walked up to the bed, Kyoshi lying on it and staring up at the ceiling with a sense of disappointment and sadness on his face to join the unearthly and sickly exhaustion. She knelt down on the ground beside, resting her arms on the leather bed and looking at him with an intense look on her face, "You shouldn't take this so hard. You won't even tell me everything about these dreams of yours, you can't expect me…"
"You can just forget about it." Kyoshi interrupted her coldly.
"I'm not about to just forget about anything, you know no matter how much time passes I don't forget about anything." Sakura lashed out at him, staring on in anger, "Now just relax, take it easy and don't fuss about this. Soon enough Hana will be gone and you and I can go back to the way we used to be."
Kyoshi rolled over onto his side to give his back towards her, lying on his arm, closing his eyes and exhaling quietly, "Sure." He replied.
Saku put a hand on his shoulder, leaving it there for a second before forcefully pushing him onto his back once more. She sat up onto the bed, running her thumb under his right eye and wiping off the slight moisture Kyoshi had tried to keep hidden from her. A trace of a smile appeared on her face, leaning forward and giving him a small kiss on the corner of his mouth as he continued to stare up at her. "Get some rest." She stood up, turning and quietly leaving the bedroom without another word of affection.
---With Kai and Tala---
Tala tossed uncomfortably in bed, huffing in realization that he was too flustered to sleep. The heat in his bedroom had begun burning his pale skin, making him more irritable by the second. He sat up quickly, getting out of bed and running to the window in practically one movement. He pushed open the window, breathing in some cool air that blew in silently. The heat made moving more unbearable, the heat gripping at his skin which caused him to slowly sweat. He turned and rested his bare back against the wall, taking deep breaths before sliding down the wall with exhaustion, "What are you doing over there?" a voice intruded on his peaceful and quiet thoughts.
Tala looked up hurriedly, making eye contact with Kai who kneeled down in front of him, "Ah…it's hot." He replied quietly.
Kai smirked down at his friend, picking up Tala's hand that had been pulled close to him, "It's better in the living room. C'mon." He tugged at his hand while he stood up, indicating Tala to go to the living room with him.
Tala slowly stood up again, letting go of Kai's hand once he'd caught his footing properly. He walked over to his bed, picked up his pillow and followed Kai back out into the living room, tossing the pillow onto the sofa before falling onto the sofa in exhaustion. The sweat on his forehead settled and he quietly enjoyed breathing in the cool air-conditioned air that filled the room, smiling slightly as he grew accustomed to the more comfortable temperature this room held.
Kai watched for a second, shaking his head and turning to the other sofa and lying down, making himself comfortable before hitting the switch and turning off the lights. "Tal…are you alright?" He asked, staring off in Tala's direction in the pure darkness.
The red-head turned onto his side, his hand under his head as he looked over at the little bit of illumination of the room that came from the moon that shone through the window, "Of course."
"You seemed really…upset when in the alley." Kai recollected on the moments in the alley with the other two mysterious teenagers, remembering each and every one of Tala's movements while there.
Tala seemed to have shrugged a little indifferently, "I was just getting tired…and it's all really confusing but it's sinking in now, I'll be fine in the morning."
"So…you're okay?" Kai asked carefully, turning onto his side too.
"Yeah…I said I'm fine. But Kai…" Tala started out quietly, then slowly building up the courage, "I'm really sorry for bringing you into this."
Kai smirked slightly at Tala's words, "That's the least of your worries right now." He told him.
"I don't care, I'm sorry I brought you into this, you don't deserve it."
"Night, Tala." Kai whispered, ignoring Tala's persistence of apologies.
Tala sighed, obviously frustration an emotion he'd been feeling a lot. He turned over onto his back again, staring at the ceiling in the darkness, "Good night." He whispered to the emptiness. He rubbed at the sleepiness in his eyes, closing them gently before slowly and steadily drifting off into a peaceful sleep. A rest that should keep him to handle the day that was to follow.
---Next Afternoon---
Kyoshi walked into the kitchen, glancing strangely at Sakura that sat at the table but shrugged it off and continued to walk over to the fridge, pulling out a beer and opening it up. He took a quick sip, looking over at the girl again, watching her with a furrowed eyebrow. "What's the matter?" He asked her, placing the still full beer bottle down.
The dark-haired girl continued sitting quietly, both hands on either side of her head covering her ears as she stared down at a blank wooden point on the table with a sickly look on her face, her arms covering up enough from the sides for him not to be able to see her face properly, "Nothing." She replied blankly.
Kyoshi shrugged and pulled the ice-tray out of the freezer, "Whatever you say." He said indifferently. He tried to take some ice out and put it in the glass but the ice was frozen solid to the plastic tray. He slammed the tray down against the counter in hopes of getting the ice out but a long with the crash he heard a loud whimper from the girl in the room. "What is it?" he asked her.
"Nothing." The girl answered again.
Kyoshi looked on at her suspiciously, at the same time flicking his tongue in his mouth before slowly turning back to the ice tray and slamming it down on the island counter. The crashing of the plastic against the stone created another loud crushing sound, the other sound of cracking ice sliding off the counter and falling to the floor was also heard, causing the girl to wince, whimper and hold on tighter to her head. The older blonde male took careful note of all this that was done and turned to her fully, "You're hung over again aren't you?" he asked her, smirking on finally catching the girl slipping again.
"No." Sakura answered rudely, her voice shaking just slightly, Kyoshi's senses being able to detect the slight tremor in her voice.
Kyoshi bit his tongue on the inside of his mouth, a habit he'd had for a long time, long before being turned into a vampire. He confidently picked up the beer bottle and walked over to her, placing the top of the bottle just under Sakura's nose to smell the scent of alcohol. Sakura quickly pushed the bottle away from her face, both hands clapping over her mouth as nausea made its way up her stomach, the horrible taste almost making its way up her throat. "Alright, Alright…" she called out defensively from under her hands. "I am, so what of it?"
"We agreed…less drinking."
"It's been a week." Sakura shouted, attempting to stand up.
Kyoshi quickly placed both hands on her shoulders to hold her up, "Why this time?" he asked her quickly, lowering his voice to make sure he wasn't severely harming the girl. Clearly you could tell that he was more careful with her than she ever was with him.
Sakura's eyes almost began rolling in the back of her head as she still wavered in his hold but still managed to answer him with firmness in her voice, "It wasn't intentional…I just had two bottles…" she replied.
Kyoshi looked at her strangely, curiously and confusedly, "Two bottles of what?" he asked her quickly.
Sakura shrugged Kyoshi off and turned to walk out the kitchen, leaning against the door way with one hand gripping the wood tightly, "Smirnoff black." She replied, continuing to stagger out of the kitchen.
Kyoshi gaped at her reply, holding onto the table quickly as he leaned over, staring over at her exit in a bit of shock, "She's got one hell of a death wish." He muttered, breathing out in anguish.
"I don't have a death wish." Sakura shouted from the living room, surprisingly hearing him from there despite how low his voice had been.
Kyoshi hurried into the living room, placing his hands on the back of an armchair as he looked on at the girl who was sitting down on the sofa, looking over at him with a small sense of innocence in her eyes, "Do you know what you're doing?" he asked her, "You're making yourself weak in front of me, making yourself vulnerable, do you know what I could do to you? I could take your life, drain your blood."
Sakura smirked at him, looking on at him, not being phased by all of Kyoshi's words, "You wouldn't dare, jerk." She told him, standing up and walking out of the room, feeling like her usual superior self, despite her current physical and mental state.
Kyoshi continued looking on after her, suddenly smirking when all she'd said had sunk in properly. He stood up straight, slowly, uneasily before walking quietly to the bathroom that was just beside Sakura's bedroom. He stepped inside, leaning back against the door opposite the mirror. Sakura stood in front of the mirror brushing her teeth, her left hand leaning against the sink as she brushed with her right. She looked up into the mirror, making eye contact with the boy that stood behind her, "What?" she asked him. The boy didn't answer her, just remained looking at her in the mirror with a small smile on his face, his eyes shining with some kind of spark not usually there. Sakura rolled her eyes at him, moving down to the sink to rinse her mouth and wipe her face off with a towel.
The girl turned round and attempted to leave the bathroom when Kyoshi grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back towards him so that her back could be pressed against his chest. She smirked, leaning her head back which stretched out her long pale neck, probably not the most intelligent move when in the arms of a vampire. Saku was far from one to care about what he'd do to her though. It wasn't that she had a 'death wish' as he'd put it so many times but in actual fact it was just that she'd put her lifetime's worth of trust in him and she'd learnt to refuse to herself to believe that he'd hurt her in any way, no matter how many times he warned her. Kyoshi lowered himself slightly so that his mouth could be just in line with Sakura's ear so he could whisper something that sounded more like a threat rather than the sweet words anyone would wish for him to say, "How many times?" he asked her.
Sakura's eyes closed slightly in a dramatic coldness, smirking suddenly before turning and pushing herself off of him. She looked up at him with the same amount of confidence in her eyes as she always had, seeming like nothing that the other said or warned her about would make her barrier break down. "Maybe when you actually draw that blood you've been talking so much about…I'll believe what you're actually capable of." The cold glare remained that way for another moment till she turned and finally left the room, unsteadily of course as her attitude still took a lot out of her state.
---With Kai And Tala---
Kai opened the apartment door and walked inside with a two bags of food in hand, placing them down on the coffee table which was opposite the sofa where Tala still lay sleeping soundly. He was regretting his following action, waking Tala up even though he didn't want to. He gripped Tala's shoulder tightly, shaking him till he woke up with a start, causing the red-haired Russian to look up at him with some confusion. "It's time to wake up." Kai answered the silent question, letting go of Tala and walking over to the other sofa he'd slept on earlier, sitting down comfortably.
Tala sighed and nodded, pushing himself up, wavering slightly at first before walking out of the room and to the bathroom. Kai sat there on the sofa, pulling on of the bags of food closer to him as he watched after Tala's exit. He shrugged it off slightly, pulling the burger and fries out of the bag while picking up the remote and putting on the TV. He nibbled at the chips while watching on curiously at the news, something a series of murders happening lately. He continued to eat, more like subconsciously as he was too engrossed in the news to even bother to where his hand was going to his plate.
A few minutes later and into the news that still continued with its interesting report, Tala walked back into the living room and sat down on the sofa. "What is it?" Tala asked Kai.
"A lot of murders happening in that area we were in yesterday." Kai replied, picking up the other bag and handing it over to Tala, "I brought lunch."
"I'm not hungry." Tala told him, pushing the bag off of him and onto the table.
Kai suddenly ignored the TV, turning fully towards Tala to look at him properly, "Since when?" he asked him, raising an eyebrow at the younger boy with suspicion.
Tala shrugged and just looked at him blankly and replied, "I'm just not hungry."
"Then put the food in the fridge and eat later but don't you dare pass out, you'll never hear the end of it from me if you do." Kai said coldly, feeling a little concern for his best friend as he turned back to the TV but just chose to ignore it, hoping the uneasy concern would just disappear.
Tala nodded, smiling inwardly, thankful for Kai's understanding but obviously not telling Kai so. He stood up quickly, picking up the bag of food and taking it with him to the kitchen and putting it in the fridge. Feeling rather drawn, he walked over to the sink, putting on the cold water and running his hands under it, wiping a bit of the cool water on his face to rid him of the stinging heat. On the surface of the shining water of the silver sink a face seemed to have emerged on the waters surface, a face that scared him and made him draw back away. The image in the water smirked evilly and closed her eyes, slowly disappearing a moment later which caused Tala to lean against the wall with a sigh of relief escaping him.
"Tal…what is it?" Kai asked, standing in the door way just beside Tala, scaring the other boy at first.
Tala shook his head slightly, trying to clear his thoughts before getting off the wall and turning to walk past Kai. "Nothing." He replied.
Kai gripped onto Tala's shoulder just before he left, pulling Tala back and setting him in front of him, "Did you see her again?" he questioned.
Tala shrugged and continued to walk past him, "Just her face in the sink, that's all." He answered him. Tala could still feel Kai's glare against his back as he continued to walk and entered his bedroom, the glare ceasing when he closed the door behind him. The teenager lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling for a few minutes with many thoughts about the female demon running through his head, along with his upset thoughts of Kai being involved.
He didn't hate Kai or anything of the sort but he just wished that at the time Kai wasn't around. He really didn't want the older teenager to get hurt because of some dangerous girl that was after him. He worried for the other teenager, just like Kai worried about him ever since he'd left the abbey. It all frightened him. Boris had finally been sent to prison, if not killed; Tala was free but was in the hospital because he kept losing consciousness. It all turned out to be that any magnetic in his body that Boris had had implanted had begun to malfunction and mess with his nerves. Everything was sorted out after about another week and a half of being stuck in hospital and while there he had been an emotional wreck considering that years of torment that had been cauterized where now unleashed to actually affect him.
With so much going on with him Tala had decided that it would have been better for him, and maybe even for everyone else if he just disappeared but since actually disappearing wasn't an option he opted to going to Japan to live with Kai for a while. Now, when it came down to all that was happening, he regretted the decision of moving in with Kai. The two of them were best friends when they were younger, they grew up away from each other but when they met again they remembered that friendship…the last thing Tala wanted was to lose Kai…to anything, especially some supernatural being. Most of all he didn't want Kai getting hurt just because Kai was overprotective of him. The last thing he wanted was to be cared for in ways that made him feel helpless…not at the risk of losing his best friend.
A part of him really wanted to leave…or at least go outside on the streets but it was dangerous. He didn't care that it was dangerous for himself, he cared because he knew that if he left Kai would follow and wherever Tala was there was danger to accompany him and he wasn't ready to inflict such a thing on his friend. It was bad enough that Hana was after him even while he was at home. So for a while longer, he was stuck inside until he thought it was safe enough to go outside, or at least until he got too fed up to stay inside any longer which probably wasn't too far along.
At the moment he wasn't even sure about the way he should be feeling. Emotions where something he rarely felt while under Boris' rule so sometimes he found he couldn't even decipher his own feelings. He didn't know whether he should be scared for his own life, scared for his friends, whether he should be trusting the two strangers to keep Hana away from him. Was he supposed to be afraid to fall asleep? Eat? Drink? Go outside? He didn't know any of it; he turned out to be a total blank with his emotions, not being sure how he should feel about what was going on with him. He was just hoping so much that it was all some sort of dream, a nightmare that he'd wake up from soon. It evidently wasn't like that though and it was all real enough, the real world where anything and everything was possible.
---With Kyoshi and Sakura---
Sakura walked out of her bedroom, her hair brush in hand as she brushed through the short black wet bangs that stuck to her face. She entered the living room, tossing her brush on the coffee table as her eyes remained fixed on the form of the sleeping teenager in the armchair. She smiled, very very softly, one that was hardly noticeable, only noticeable to those that actually knew who she was and the way she acted. The girl sat on the corner of the table, her arms on her knees as she looked closely at him as he slept soundly. She sighed, almost one that couldn't be heard, "To wake you…or not to wake you." She whispered to herself. Carefully, slowly and awkwardly she moved her hand out to reach him, using two fingers to gently brush away a strand of blonde hair out of his eyes. She sighed again, just a little louder this time, "Things haven't changed as much as you think." She whispered to him.
---Flashback---
Six year old Sakura sat outside on the orphanage's porch, watching the rain come down from the dark and cloudy sky. She smiled happily, staring up at the sky, enjoying the cool water that fell on her legs that had been stretched across the grass. On the other hand, she could see two men in the shadows across the street in an alley, both watching her strangely. One with some regret, the other with some anger. Even with this though, it didn't seem to hinder her happiness much.
"She's just sitting there…you're starving and she's vulnerable, what better reason do you need to go get her?" One of the males told the other in regards to the sitting Sakura.
"She's a little kid." Kyoshi said through gritted teeth, sliding down the wall and staring off to the side at the sky.
"Did I mention that you're starving?" The first male asked.
"Yes…but I'll manage." Kyoshi said stubbornly, wiping some hair out of his face.
The taller and older male just shrugged unsympathetically, "Whatever. I'm going to go for a while for my dinner. In half an hour the body will start to decompose and we all know that won't taste very good." He said.
"Enjoy it, brother." Kyoshi waved his hand, giving his brother the back of his hand as a sign for the other to leave.
"I will but I still think you should re-consider that girl…she looks good."
Kyoshi nodded in some agreement, then watching as the other male walked out of the alley and left him all alone there to contemplate on what to do for his next meal. He continued to look at the girl, a look of sadness in his eyes as he watched her with a weakness up until light started shining in painfully through his eyes. He hissed and moved backwards slightly more into the alley to keep himself shielded from the sunlight that had began to peep out from under the clouds as the rain slowly began to stop with it.
Finally the heat grew strong for him, the weakness from lack of blood caught up to him and he fell over onto his side, his back against the wall as he pulled his arms closer to his body. From across the street Sakura had seen the man disappear from the little light that illuminated the streets. She stood up on the porch, looking on sadly at the now what appeared to be empty alley with a look of sadness in her eyes as she tilted her head to the side a bit. She turned and watched for any cars, then turning back to the orphanage, realizing no one was watching and no cars where passing she made one quick brake and ran across the street.
She slowly and quietly walked closer down the small alley, looking on a little fearfully when seeing the boy lying there so weakly. She stepped a little closer to the body, looking on with a bit of concern in her eyes along with some fear, "Nanitenda?" she asked quietly for him to hear her, which he did but didn't react to. "Doiste no?" she asked this time. She still didn't get any form of an answer and she decided to step a little closer, kneeling down in front of the lifeless body, "Daijobu?" she asked a little louder. A thought then came across in her mind, even though the boy was Japanese, or at least appeared to be, she thought that maybe he didn't speak Japanese, "Egao?" she asked carefully.
"Leave me alone." The form growled at her through a harsh and pained wince.
Sakura stood up quickly and backed away upon hearing the voice, cold but weak and gentle at the same time, one that couldn't be described properly, "Are…you okay?" she whispered.
"Leave…please." Kyoshi shouted at her.
Sakura walked over to him, placing a careful hand on his shoulder as a form of comfort only to have it pushed off again. "What's wrong with you?" she asked him.
The Sun came out completely from under the clouds and the sunlight shone suddenly on Kyoshi's right arm, burning the skin so much that smoke began erupting from the area. Kyoshi groaned at the pain as the fire built up on his skin until he was dragged out of the sunlight to the very back of the alley where there was seldom any light reaching it.
Sakura's waist long hair trailed behind her as she ran across the street and back into the orphanage home, running back out five minutes later with a cold cloth and a blanket she'd pulled off of her bed. She reached the back of the alley and she just stood there in the light for a minute, watching as he tried hard to push himself up into a sitting position. She walked closer to him, kneeling beside him and placing the object she'd brought with her on her lap. She looked over at him, looking at the burn closely before placing the cold cloth against it.
Kyoshi hissed louder, forcing himself harder up against the wall when the cold water entered the burn, some tears entering his eyes at the same time. "You should go."
"You're really hurt." Sakura stated, tears streaming down her face as she let go of the cloth that her shaking hand had held. She passed him the cloth and stood up, looking down at him with a great sadness, concern and terror in her grey eyes. She watched as the male slowly stood up, looking down at her with a small sign of…gratefulness? The older boy, the teenage boy pulled the dark blue coat's hood over his head and tugged down the sleeves to defend himself from all the sunlight. He walked out into the light without saying anything else to the girl and before the girl knew it, he was running down the street with an amazing speed and disappeared from the area.
---End Flashback---
Sakura continued to look on sadly at her band-mate, her best friend, her lover. She slowly moved her hand to stroke his cheek with the back of her fingers, smiling honestly at him, she tended to smile more when no one was watching her do it. Something she preferred rather than showing everyone how she felt. She sighed quietly, moving herself a little more off the table so she could be closer to him, "That time I tried my best to help but…that didn't come close to what our friendship turned out to be like. Nothing close to what happened later."
---Flashback---
The raven-haired orphan stared out the window, sadness still twinkling in her eyes as she looked out for any sign of movement under the slowly darkening sky. It had been two days since her encounter with the teenager in the alley and ever since then she looked out for him in hopes that she'd see him again so that she'd know for certain that he was alive and out there.
She'd just caught sight of a figure in the alley, then another figure leaving the alley quickly. She ran down the stairs and out onto the street, being careful not to be seen by anyone before she ran across the street and stood at the end of the alley where she couldn't be seen. She listened for any sounds, hearing nothing but a light breeze that echoed against the stone walls. She stepped inside and walked as far as she could to the end of the alley way.
She gaped slightly, watching as a shot man lay dieing on the ground, the most shocking part was the man that drank the blood from the neck of the dieing victim. The man continued to suck the blood from the dieing, being too engrossed in his feeding time that he hadn't sensed the person that stood over him watching. Once the man was dead and he'd been satisfied with the day's feed he looked up, blood dripping from his mouth as he stared on a little shyly and awkwardly at the girl who watched. He groaned quietly, looking down at the dead body in his arms for a second before looking back up at her. "Aren't you…afraid of me?" he asked her quietly, letting go of the body and standing up.
Sakura took a tiny step back, being taken aback by the man's sudden height on her. She shook her head strongly though, her dark black wavy bangs falling in front of her face as she smiled on at him, "Why should I be?" she asked him.
---End Flashback---
"So…if you think about it enough…we haven't changed all too much have we? We're still the same way we were back then…it's not going to change. Time goes on but my personality and feelings won't change." Sakura looked on with that small smile of hers before she stood up, giving the pale cheek one more quick stroke before leaving the living room again.
---With Kai and Tala---
Kai quietly opened Tala's bedroom door, peeking inside the room to look for the younger boy. He saw the Russian captain lying on the bottom of the double bed, fast asleep on his arm, looking like a drained and exhausted child. Seeing him like that worried him a little, even annoyed him as Tala had slept for a long time the night before and all through the morning, he shouldn't be sleeping anymore, "This can't be right. How could he possibly be tired?" he whispered to himself. He sat down on the bed, keeping a close eye on his friend. Ever since Tala showed up in his life again he couldn't help but worry about him all the time, he figured it was just something that would pass but it hadn't so far, the worry grew stronger now with all that was going on.
He put his hand on Tala's shoulder, gently shaking him awake while calling his name quietly and telling him to get up. Tala had heard him clearly enough and turned onto his back, staring up at Kai with a drowsy and spacey look on his face. "What?" he whispered hoarsely.
"You've slept enough. It's time to wake up." Kai said coldly, standing up in front of Tala.
Tala sat up, a hand by his side to keep himself steady as he wiped the tiredness out of his eyes. He groaned out, feeling too tired to say anything beside a quiet, "Sorry." Towards his friend.
"Hana is finally getting to you?" Kai asked him, leaning back against the wardrobe in front of Tala, watching him carefully.
Tala smirked lightly, resisting the urge to laugh, "I highly doubt she's making me tired and intends on killing me in my sleep."
Kai didn't seem amused by Tala's words though and continued to look on blankly at the teenager, "You know that's not what I mean." Came his icy tone.
Tala nodded, staring at the ground and contemplating a little before deciding to speak, "Change is exhausting."
Kai looked on at him, nodding just barely with agreement to his statement, "I know but coming from someone who hates change, I have to say that sometimes change is good."
"I know it is…I just didn't expect anything to end up like this."
Kai smirked and pushed himself off the wardrobe, "Trust me, neither one of us expected someone to be after you again."
"If she's been after me for a long time now, she's done a really good job of hiding herself up until now."
"And she won't be after you for much longer."
The red-head looked up at Kai suddenly, looking on a little questioningly, "You believe that those two could get rid of her?"
The bluenette gave a civil nod and sat down beside Tala, staring at the ground in some thought. He continued to run over some of the past events in his mind, the meeting of Sakura and Kyoshi and their confrontation in the alley. "I'll be the first to admit, I don't really trust them but I do trust them enough to think that this 'job' they've been doing, they've been doing it well and I can tell…because they're determined."
The red-head looked over at Kai, attempting a small smile on his face, "You always thought that determination made a difference."
Kai closed his eyes, smiling too at the words from his friend, "And now we can watch it happening." Tala was pulled up off the bed by Kai before he even had a chance to reply, "Go eat so we can go out a little." He ordered, pushing Tala towards the door.
Tala groaned, exhaling with some annoyance but a smile on his face, "Even when my life is at risk you still want me to go out." He commented loudly.
"Of course." Kai said, walking outside the room with Tala and setting himself in the living room.
A/N: Exams are in a few weeks so chapters are getting a little shorter and maybe even a little sloppy, sorry for that. I hope that this chapter had even a little bit of good writing in it. Please leave a review and tell me what you think of the chapter and I'll try have another chapter up as soon as I can.