Chapter 6

---Next Morning---

Sakura lay on her stomach in Kyoshi's bed; her crossed arms perched onto the soft pillow with her head resting comfortably on them. The black sheets only reaching to the small of her back, showing off the pale scarred skin of her bare back, Kyoshi's fingers tracing down along her spine and side. A content smile was on both their faces, Sakura enjoying the sweet movements on her back, while Kyoshi was happy for the little attention and comfort he got while being next to her.

Kyoshi smirked, just as he was about to run his finger over an area on Saku's side he knew she was ticklish. His finger was seconds away from brushing the skin when, "Don't you dare." Saku whispered, a bit of playfulness in her voice compared to usual, a small smirk on her face for catching him in time.

Kyo sighed, shaking his head and lying down on his back again, "You're unbelievable." He whispered.

The girl brushed her hair behind her ear, cuddling closer to the boy. She moved her mouth over to his ear, her left hand running imaginary lines down his back, "I know." She smirked. Saku pulled away from him again, returning to her beginning position on her stomach, Kyo doing the same thing but putting one arm across her back and keeping his head to the side so he could look at her. "We still have time to sleep thankfully so don't wake me for a while, okay?" she whispered, closing her eyes again.

The blonde male pulled himself a little closer to her, giving her shoulder a quick kiss before resting his head on his arm again, "Don't worry." He turned over onto his back, leaving his hands on his bare stomach as he stared up at the ceiling with some thought. Someone had just walked past his room though, too fast for him to tell as the person had gone to the living room already.

Kyoshi sat up quickly, the blanket falling and revealing his bare chest again. Just in time Kai had attempted to pass by the room but had clearly already seen the two, he gave Kyoshi a light irritated glare and spoke coldly, "The least you could have done was found a room with a door." He walked straight on after that, joining his friend in the living room.

The man in bed rolled his eyes, lying back down comfortably on his back while shaking his head slightly, "Damn teenagers." He muttered.

The teenager lying beside him shifted uncomfortably on her stomach, adjusting her head on her arms, "If I weren't so tired I'd go and aim a gun to that's guys head." She whispered to him, a playful smirk adjusting itself on her lips.

Kyoshi laughed quietly, turning his head to look at her again, "Careful, he's mortal." He reminded.

She could tell the boy was still watching her intently as she yawned from her tiredness, then quietly speaking, "A girl can dream of shooting him, can't she?" she asked, sounding and looking so serious as she said it.

The vampire just couldn't help but laugh at that, finding her malicious humour funny at times, "Of course she can." He answered. He sat up slightly on his side, running his fingers through the girl's silky black hair, then giving her a kiss on the top of her head, "I'll keep them company, take it easy for a few hours." He crawled out of bed, pulling on a white t-shirt, watching as Saku sat up slightly, tugging the blankets tighter around her and reaching for his pack of cigarettes on the nightstand.

She'd just picked up the box, opening it up and attempting to slide one out when Kyo took the box from her. "Oi!" she shot, looking over at him quickly.

The boy smiled, lifting the packet for her to see, "You just woke up." He reminded her.

Saku turned over onto her back, lifting the covers to cover herself up more, "What's your point?" she asked, watching as the boy pulled on a pair of jeans.

Kyoshi shook his head, smiling so much his elongated canines were showing on the sides of his mouth, "Point is you're not going to have any for a couple of hours." He rephrased, making things clear to her before he left the room and entered the living room to join the other two boys of the house. "Morning." He greeted the two, calling to them as he walked past and into the kitchen.

"Good morning." Tala greeted more kindly, Kai just grunting quietly in some sort of agreement if that's what you wanted to call it.

"Slept well?"

"We weren't attacked if that's what you're asking." Kai commented loudly in a reply.

The vampire laughed and shook his head, picking his coffee up from the counter, "It's not what I was implying but it's still a good answer." He inhaled the strong aroma of his coffee, then taking a sip as he rested the small of his back against the kitchen counter. He put the mug back onto the counter, "You two want coffee?" he asked them, appearing in the kitchen doorway to see them.

"None for me." Tala replied.

"Yes please." Kai answered.

Kyoshi nodded, turning and walking back into the kitchen to make another coffee. Tala walked into the kitchen behind Kyoshi, biting down on his lip for a second before speaking under Kyoshi's slightly surprised look, "Water, please?"

Kyo smiled suddenly, "Right, sorry." He left the boiling water and mug on the counter, walking over to the fridge and pulling out a small sealed bottle of water and handing it over to Tala. He heard the red-head mutter a quiet 'thank you', he nodded and went back to making the coffee for Kai, "You're friend in there…is he alright?" he asked quietly after a while.

Tala had just finished drinking about half of the water when he'd heard the question that surprised him slightly. He looked over at Kyoshi, watching as he picked up his own coffee and sipped it, "As far as I know." He replied.

"So he's always…like that?"

The red-head defended against laughing at the comment, "These are his bad days, he gets better." He replied, smiling at the other male. He took another sip of cold water, soothing his parched throat, "And your girlfriend?" he asked suddenly.

The vampire was in the middle of taking another sip of coffee when he'd heard that, almost laughing once thinking about it. He finished making Kai's coffee while he replied with a content smile on his face, "I wish I could give you an answer as nice as the one you gave about your friend." He stated.

"There's nothing good about her?"

Kyo shrugged slightly, turning back to Tala, "I wouldn't say that…she takes her job seriously, she treats me like dirt most of the time because of it but I've learnt to live with it. She really isn't that bad if you give her the chance to prove it to you, she's just got more of a…tough love approach." He answered.

Tala nodded quickly, "I know what that's like." He whispered.

The two had a silent agreement on that as they walked back into the living room, Kyoshi handing Kai's coffee over to him, "There you go." The two that had just entered the room sat down on the sofa, Tala next to Kai and Kyoshi on the far end, "So you two plan on staying out of trouble for the rest of the day?" he asked them.

"Hana came after us, not the other way around." Kai stated coldly to Kyo.

Kyo nodded slightly, "But you didn't exactly follow orders to protect yourselves either."

Kai refused to answer, just continued to drink the coffee he had been given. Tala glanced over from Kyoshi to Kai, seeing the two were so alike yet so different in the same way. The two were sipping their coffee, ignoring each other a little, both having an uncaring look on their faces regarding the situation. He hated these kinds of things, he always saw them happening in the abbey but refused to be any part of any of them, staying as far away as he could from them. This case was a little different, he was in a stranger's house, being unable to just get up and walk away from being in the middle of some fight. He always looked brave, strong and cold, and true he was all that and did appear as all of that but deep down, especially without Boris' brain implants, he could feel that he hated arguments and fights. He sunk back into the pillows, feeling a little uncomfortable in the situation of being stuck in the middle of things.

The three heard quiet footsteps leaving the bedroom and all looked up, seeing Saku walking out of Kyoshi's room wrapped up in the black sheet. The object perched between her lips surprised Kyo a bit, making him ask, "Where'd you get that?" referring to the cigarette in her mouth as she held the blankets close to her body.

Saku turned round, smiling and pulling the cigarette out of her mouth, sticking her tongue out at him before popping the cigarette back in her mouth, "Serves you right." She said turning and walking down the hall to the bathroom to have a shower.

Kyoshi shook his head, getting up and walking into his bedroom. He opened the cupboard of his nightstand, finding another packet of cigarettes missing from his stash; he smiled in his mind giving her credit for finding them since it was the fifth time within the recent three days that he'd changed the hiding place for them. He stood up and walked back into the living room, seeing no point in hiding the stash again for a while. He sat down on the sofa again, picking up his coffee from the table and sipping it quietly before raising his eyes at the other two, "You want me to leave you two alone to talk?" he asked them.

Tala and Kai looked up at him; both a little puzzled by his question, "Why?" Tala asked.

Kyoshi shrugged and stood up again, "You both go silent when Sakura and I are in the room."

Kai looked up at him, raising an eyebrow although Kyoshi didn't seem to be looking at him at the time, "And you're taking something like that personally?" he asked coldly.

Kyoshi laughed quietly and shook his head, "I'm part of a band, I don't take anything people say personally anymore." He replied. He gave the two a final smile and then turned and walked down the hall the way Saku had gone minutes before. He stepped into her bedroom, looking strangely at the bed that had been neatly made after the other two teenagers had slept in it that night. He shook his head slightly, walking to the side of the bed and putting his drink down on the bedside table. He sat down on the bed, his hands by his sides as he kept staring at the ground for a moment.

The boy snapped out of his sudden ongoing thoughts, taking a deep breath and lying down on the bed, fixing the pillows so he could sit up comfortably. He took the few minutes of silence to relax a little, something told him it was going to be another long day and it wasn't like he could go out for a walk or something; he was confined to his home. His hands were kept on his stomach, occasionally one hand folding tighter around the other. He closed his eyes, relaxing into the pillows before stressing again and opening his eyes to stare up at the ceiling.

Sakura stepped out of her bathroom, wearing her usual black shirt and trousers but walking barefooted at the moment. She had a towel over her shoulders as she ran her fingers through her wet clean hair. She'd seen Kyoshi lying there as he continued to stare at the ceiling; she remained watching him from her place in the middle of the room, remaining silent just as he had. The girl finished tending to her long black hair and tossed the towel onto the floor in the bathroom. She closed her eyes for a second, then moving over to the mirror as she slid her eyeliner off the counter. She stood in front of it, looking into it and being able to see Kyoshi's reflection in the back. The girl tended to putting the make up under her eyes, being a little distracted when she'd seen Kyoshi turn onto his side uncomfortably, almost poking herself in the eye with the eyeliner pencil. She put it down and turned back to him, leaning back against the dressing table to look at him. "Nani?" she asked coldly. ("What?")

Kyoshi glanced over at her, lifting his head slightly to look at her before returning to his position, "Dame, kekkou desu." ("Nothing, it's ok")

Saku shifted and pushed herself away from the dressing table walking over to the side of the bed, "Eeto…" she whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder and turning him to lie on his back. ("Let me see…")

Kyoshi flinched angrily and turned back onto his side, "Yamero yo, onegai." He growled. ("Stop it, please")

Saku placed one arm under his back and rolled him over again but onto her arm, her hand holding him down by the side of his stomach, "Ochitsuite. Shizukani." ("Relax. Be quiet.") Once Kyoshi had relaxed in her arms she took it as a sign that he no longer intended on fighting her off for the rest of the morning. He tended to be like that, suddenly emotional about something that past; it was the affect of blood loss and mental instability from some trauma to go with it. She got out from under him and let go of him completely, turning and sitting in front of him on the bed, "Dou shita no?" ("What happened?") She remained that way, staring down at him casually for about two more minutes before shrugging lightly, "Osukina you ni. Dewa mata atode." She got off the bed and walked out of the bedroom, quietly closing the door behind her. ("As You Wish. See you later.")

The raven-haired girl walked past the two boys that were seated in the living room, entering the kitchen without a word to the other two. The boys kept an eye on the kitchen door and in another minute she was walking out of it with a mug of steaming hot coffee in her hands, ignoring them and attempting to walk down the hall. "Hey! Do you intend on just leaving us here?" Kai asked angrily, standing up as he called behind the girl.

Saku's wet black hair stuck to her face and neck mostly, particularly when she stopped in her tracks at the sound of Kai's voice. She turned round, staring him right in the eye from the living room entrance, "Well yes I did, I figured that if you two just sat there all day without speaking or moving you'd cause people less trouble."

Just those words where already enough to begin to anger Kai but the only reason he didn't act on that impulse was because Tala was standing just beside him and the last thing he wanted was his friend in the middle of an argument. Kai and Tala had discussed things, deciding to do things Tala's way, which was to be trusting to a degree towards Kyoshi and Sakura and to work things out a little more civilly then Kai was wishing in his mind. "So we can leave?" Kai asked quickly, biting back the bitter response he had in mind.

The band's singer looked over at the clock that hung off the living room wall, watching it plainly as it ticked away the seconds that past. After a minute she looked over at them again, the look on her face no changing in the slightest, "You can go home, straight there, no stops whatsoever. Shower, change, wait there till about 10pm then meet Kyoshi and I at the bar." She ordered, monotonously.

Kai and Tala both nodded, walking past Sakura without another real word apart from Tala's quiet and sincere, "Bye." The two left the house quietly, getting back out onto the swelteringly hot streets.

Kai let out a quiet growl from under his breath, his fists clenching by his sides, "Who is she to tell us how to live our lives?!" he whispered, his uncontrollable anger seeping through.

The red-head walking beside him sighed "Take it easy, Kai."

"How you see her bossing us around as helpful I have no idea." Kai continued.

Tala exhaled again, shaking his head as he stared on at the ground, "I'm sure they're both doing it for our own good." He said.

Kai's ongoing anger didn't seem to stop there and the anger reflecting in his eyes could be seen as deadly blood red, "We'd be better off fighting these things alone." He whispered.

That was the end of it, Tala couldn't take it. He stopped, slamming his hands against Kai's shoulders, "You're talking nonsense. They have guns, Kai, guns and we haven't dealt with those in years. We can't defend ourselves on our own, get that into your thick skull." He was angry, obviously but he continued to speak quietly so that the people that surrounded them as they walked past wouldn't hear him speak of such things.

"How can you trust them so much?" Kai asked quietly.

Tala let go of Kai's shoulders and turned back into the direction they were meant to be walking in, continuing his journey back to Kai's apartment. "I have no choice. I don't want to be the same person I was in the abbey, and a part of me does believe they're only trying to help us."

"We're doing things your way here. I hope you know what you're doing." Kai glanced over at his friend as the two walked to the apartment.

"If I'm not right then say 'I told you so' and I won't care."

Kai shook his head and looked over at Tala again, "That'll be a little hard when we're both dead." He reminded him.

The two arrived at the apartment, climbing the stairs in silence while Tala thought deeply about what Kai had said. They got to the apartment, Kai turning to go to his bathroom to have a shower and change but Kai's words stopped him, "Kai, let's hope it doesn't have to come to that." Tala parted, leaving Kai alone in the living room while he went back into his bedroom. He closed the door quietly behind him, turning his back towards his bed, falling back onto the cool material.

He took the opportunity to relax a little, considering the thought that he was going to remain in the apartment for the next few hours till he went back to the bar to meet the others. He was comfortable there, too comfortable to make himself get up as his mind reminded him of how tired the heat was making him feel. It took a while for his stubbornness to accept the fact that he felt weaker than usual. He was sure it was the blood loss from his surgery and the heat that he was unaccustomed to wasn't helping him at all. He mustered up enough energy to get off the bed after a while, then slowly walking back into the inhabitant living room. He lay back on the sofa, reaching his arm out to grab the remote control of the air conditioner. He switched it on and turned over onto his side comfortably, closing his eyes and basking in the cool air as he attempted to sleep.

---With Sakura and Kyoshi---

Saku slowly and quietly stepped into her bedroom, closing the door behind her. She had left him alone for almost an hour and a half and she'd had enough of it and wanted to check on him. She leaned against the door, her hands behind her back as she watched him shaking lightly, tears washing over his pale cheeks. She walked over to him, kneeling on the bed just beside him as she bit down on her lip. The palm of her hand rested on his cheek, her thumbing rubbing gently at the soft skin under his eye to wipe away the tears, "Nakanaide." She whispered, almost in a whining voice as she lay down beside him, her hand not moving. ("Don't cry.")

Kyoshi sat up on his side slightly, supporting himself by leaning on his elbow, his hands rubbing frantically at his teary eyes. "Gomen na." he whispered hoarsely. ("Sorry.")

Sakura forced a small smile onto her face, gently moving her hand back up to wipe off any dampness, shrugging slightly, "Maa ii deshou." She sat up slightly on her own side, giving Kyoshi a soft and careful kiss on the cheek for some sort of comfort. ("It's Okay") She gave him a pat on the shoulder, getting off the bed, "Genki o dashite." She turned towards the door, opened it and slid outside again, leaving Kyoshi alone for a while. ("Cheer up.")

Kyo slumped, lying on his back, tossing the pillows onto the floor before turning back onto his side and using his arm as a pillow instead, finding that much more comfortable. He suppressed the tears, especially the stinging at the beginning which he found more painful then dealing with the actual tears. He was having no problem with it after a while, replying Saku's most recent words over and over in his head in an attempt to make himself feel better somehow. He decided on getting up and speaking to Saku for a while, as long as he possibly could actually just for the sake of talking and using his voice. He walked out of the bedroom, then down the hall and to Saku who was seated in the living room; sitting comfortably on the sofa, a note pad on her lap and a pencil in hand. She glanced up at him blankly, coxing him to speak or keep his mouth shut, "I'm sorry." He told her, sounding brave but scared at the same time, trying hard to come through with a tough façade, one that wasn't really his expertise.

Saku returned her attention back to the notepad and continued writing as she replied, "I already told you that you don't have to be."

Kyoshi shook his head and sat down on the armchair, "But I am. I'm sorry for everything." He couldn't help it anymore, the tears were stinging again, making his vision blur and his eyes flutter closed rapidly.

Saku raised her eyes from her work, sensing the quiet tremor in Kyo's young voice and watching the tears slid down the cheeks again. She sighed, a little out of sadness while the rest was out of some frustration. She got off the sofa, walking over to Kyoshi and stood in front of him, staring down at him as he stared at the ground.

Kyoshi wouldn't look at her. He stared somewhere to Sakura's right, into space, refusing to acknowledge Sakura's presence in front of him. His face wasn't able to reflect many of the emotions he was feeling, the anger towards himself couldn't be seen, just heard, the contortion of his face from the tears and wracking sobs showed off his sadness, and even when he was relaxed the tear tracks that ran down his left cheek showed very little, but Sakura knew Kyoshi, and Sakura knew that Kyo was feeling more than his visage would indicate. Kyo looked sensitive and fragile, even though he had tried not to but even with what could be seen, that wasn't even half of it.

"Don't be like this, you don't have to be." Sakura whispered, wiping the tear from Kyoshi's cheek with her thumb as she did before, the gentleness of the gesture a sharp juxtaposition to his anger from only moments before. Sakura took Kyoshi's shoulder and pulled it to him, Kyoshi's weight settling against her stomach. With one hand atop Kyoshi's head, he whispered into his hair, "It's just like when you when I was younger but a little in reverse, isn't it?" in a voice tinged with nostalgia and affection, and a sadness so deep that no words could put a voice to it. Kyoshi still said nothing, and the only indication that he had heard Sakura's words was a slight hitch in the regular pattern of his breathing and that already was enough for Sakura, enough to tell her that Kyoshi had heard the caring behind his words, enough to tell her that Kyoshi knew her as well.

Saku slowly attempted to remove the boy from against her stomach, pushing him back by his shoulder but a moment later Kyoshi wrapped his arms around Saku's waist, stood up and gave her a soft and chaste kiss. Saku placed her hands on Kyoshi's and gently moved them away, she squeezed them both tightly in her hands, looking up and giving him a quick kiss before letting go and walking away from him. She went back to sitting on the sofa, pulling her notepad back onto her lap and picking up her pencil, she looked up at him as he stared down at her from across the room with a blank look on his face, "Go and get ready, we have to go out tonight." She reminded him, turning back to her work.

Kyoshi nodded slightly, remembering about their performance for the night. They'd been having the same shows every few days for months, he even amazed himself whenever he forgot about one. He thought for only a second, looking over at the girl again as he watched her working, ignoring him for another moment. He turned and left the room, walking into his own bedroom to get some clothes to change in.

Sakura heard the footsteps leaving the bedroom and going back down the hall to the bathroom to have a shower. She raised her eyes and looked on after him as he left, her facial expression a blank but her eyes holding a little bit of concern. Once he disappeared her eyes glazed over once more, returning to their cold blank stare, she glared on down the hall before turning back to her work casually.

---That Night---

Kyoshi and Sakura walked through all the crowded people in the bar, Sakura keeping an eye out for the two teenagers but Kyoshi had his hand buried in his pocket while the other held onto the strap of his guitar case, staring at the ground as he walked through the heaps of people. They arrived in the back room, Sakura following back on the door as she closed it behind her, "Those people are crazy." She told her band mates.

Danny, the drummer and tallest of the group laughed at her from the sofa, looking up at her from the book he was reading, "You should have got here at opening time." He told her.

"Yeah well we got hung up with some things." Saku retorted angrily, glancing over at Kyo out of the corner of her eye, seeing him sit comfortably on the armchair. "So where's James?" she asked suddenly, sitting beside Danny.

"Out back smoking." Danny replied, jerking a thumb to his side.

Saku smiled suddenly and stood up, pulling her cigarette carton out of her back pocket, "He was always the smart one." She turned and opened the door that led outside into the back alley behind the bar.

---Dream---

Kyo had been sitting for about an hour under the dark night sky, the bit of light coming from the half moon that shone in the sky surrounded by bright stars. He was sitting on the black railings, his back towards the sea and rock side as he stared up into the sky, watching all the stars and the clear moon. He was free for the whole night with no school in the morning so he chose to enjoy the night out for a while.

The whole time he noticed that the whole sea front was filled with other students from the art school he attended. Down the road he had seen a guitarist playing for the crowd of people that flocked around him. Kyo knew him from his class, he didn't know him too well but he still knew him at least. On the other end of the sidewalk a young teenage girl, an aspiring artist from the school sat by herself. He didn't know her very well either, just that her name was Naomi and she was taking a course in art. She was there, sitting quietly on a wooden bench, her sketch pad perched on her lap and a box of assorted colours beside her as she was focused on the page.

Her long brown hair fell gracefully over her shoulders, her tongue constantly moving from one side to the other in her mouth as her eyes were almost always set on the picture that was being formed. She straightened out her navy blue skirt, then staring down at her drawing, smiling as she felt proud of her artistic abilities.

Kyo had still been staring off into space, finding the view inspiring and calming. He slipped his box of cigarettes out of his back pocket, drawing one out half way and picking it out with his mouth, pulling the box away. He stayed without lighting it for about five minutes, just it in his mouth while looking around him, the view of the moonlight shining over the dark marine sea behind him and the people that walked in front of him.

Amidst the noise he heard heels tapping against the stone floors. He turned forward to see who was approaching when he heard the sound getting closer and louder. Naomi stepped up in front of him, trying a small smile through the burning tinge in her cheeks, "Hi." She greeted quietly.

Kyo slipped himself off the railings, looking at her blankly as he caught the cigarette between his two fingers, bringing it to his side, "Hi." He greeted too.

The boy had a cool but still sweet heir about him, this slightly intimidating the girl a little more. She shifted uncomfortably under his stare, biting down on her lip before handing out to him the loose page from her artbook. "Here…it's for you." She said quickly.

Kyoshi looked up at her, suddenly a little startled. Seeing her acting so shyly, he smiled sweetly at her, particularly for her shyness and took the picture slowly. He looked down at it, a little shocked upon seeing the perfect picture.

In all his dark black clothing drawn onto the picture he was there sitting cross-legged on the shining black railings. Beautiful colours of purple, blues, reds and oranges filled the painted sky behind him in the picture. His hands where gripping the railings beside him, staring down at the stone floor. On the ground by his legs was his black guitar case, red lining the edges as the case was shaped identically like a coffin. The whole picture was wonderful as a whole, beautifully colorful around the edges but dark and mysterious looking around him.

He looked up at her quickly once he'd taken in the whole picture, serious at first which scared her into thinking he didn't like it. He kindly smiled suddenly, searching for the right thing to say, "It's perfect, thank you." He said quickly.

Naomi smiled suddenly, nodding quickly, "I have to go. I'll see you in school?" she asked him.

Kyoshi nodded slowly, "Definitely." He replied.

Naomi smiled happily, turned and walked away. She suddenly turned back to him, walking backwards back to the bench, waving a silent bye before turning back to her things on the bench and packing up to leave.

Kyoshi knelt down on the ground once she left, opening his guitar case. He put the picture on the guitar in the case, leaving it in there for safe keeping till he got home. He closed the case again and got up, looking around him before sitting back on the railings. He turned round so that his legs hung over the railings on the other side, so he looked out over at the sea, gripping the bars tightly in his hands as if he let go he could fall down to the rocky ground beneath to his death.

---End Dream---

Sakura and James walked in from outside, Saku putting a fake, almost sarcastic smile on her face as she saw Kyoshi. She walked over to the armchair, kneeling down in front of it and taking in Kyoshi's form. The boy lay on his side, his legs pulled up onto the seat, his arms around them tightly with his cheek pressed up against the back of the sofa, sound asleep. "How cute…" Sakura said sweetly. Her face had an almost malicious look to it all of a sudden, only a slight one. She hit him quickly on the shoulder, "Wake up." She ordered harshly, standing up again.

Kyoshi woke up with a start, his heart racing heavily as he turned onto his back and looked up at the girl. "What is it?" he asked quickly, breathing heavily.

Sakura picked up a cigarette from the box on the table, handing it over to him, "We're on in fifteen minutes." She told him. Kyoshi sighed, took the cigarette from her and stood up, walking out the back door. Sakura smirked and sat back on the armchair Kyo had just been in.

Danny looked up at her again, smiling as he shook his head, "You two are only engaged but you fight as though you're an old married couple." He commented.

"You remember who handles your pay check right?" Sakura asked him.

Danny placed his index finger to his lips, then casting his eyes back down to his book. James couldn't help but laugh, Danny was whipped really. James was the one member of the group that was better of then the rest of them, leaving by himself in a large house with all the money he wanted to spend. Danny was different though, he grew up in a foster home and always strived to be less dependent on the rest of his foster family so he had been working for any money ever since he could remember. Sakura was just about the same but a little different, she grew up in an orphanage even though her dad was alive and well. He was a busy politician, not having much time to look after her so he left her in the orphanage and just deposited some extra money into her bank account every special occasion possible. Although the girl never touched that money, she always lived off of her own money, the money she earned by herself from doing odd jobs and playing in clubs.

Kyoshi being a vampire didn't even have a bank account and no family left to speak of anyway and without an identification and no real opportunity to get out of the house in the day time he was unable to ever get a job other than playing in clubs at night. He didn't mind it too much, he got to play music which he loved, he would have just preferred it if he had more time to drink blood but that alone wasn't the case. He didn't have the heart to kill people for their blood, he didn't want to kill just to live a life he didn't really want. Said vampire tossed his cigarette onto the ground, stomping on it once before turning and walking back inside to join the others.

"Feeling better?" He heard Sakura ask him from the arm chair.

He'd heard the question clearly enough but it actually took a moment to factor it in and come up with an answer. He nodded slowly and answered with, "Yeah, a little."

Saku got out of the chair and moved to stand behind it, tapping her hand against the back of it as indication for him to sit down. He looked at her a little surprised at first before he walked over and sat back. Sakura moved to sit on the arm of the chair, picking up Kyoshi's hand and running her fingers over his knuckles, gaining his attention. He looked up at her slowly, taking in her harsh expression but basking in the tone of her quiet, almost comforting question, "Will you be okay?"

Kyoshi nodded again, "Fine." He whispered in reply.

The girl slid off the armchair and walked out the front door the led down the hall to the bar. Kyoshi sighed and just rested his head back, a small groan escaping him as he stared at the ceiling, "What's with her?" James asked.

Kyoshi shrugged and muttered a, "I have no idea."

Danny closed his book and tossed it back onto the coffee table, "Easier question, what's with you?" he asked suddenly.

Kyo's exhausted look turned to confused in under a second, his head shooting back to look at him, "What do you mean?" he asked quickly.

"You're spacey and distant and you weren't always like that." Danny pointed out to him.

James nodded quickly in agreement, "And I've never seen you look so…skinny and pale before." He added.

Kyoshi thought about it for a moment, they were right and he knew it, he had been getting skinnier and skinnier over the little time that passed and his paler complexion was from the lack of blood he absorbed. A vampire was meant to drink blood at least four times a week at night. Kyoshi was lucky if he even drank blood once in a week, sometimes he went without blood for weeks at a time. He snapped back out of his thoughts, looking up at them clearly, "I'm fine. The doctor said I'm fine and I feel fine." He continued assuring.

James shrugged a little and stood up, walking to the other end of the room and leaning back against the wall, "We hope you're right, we're just trying to look out for you."

Kyoshi nodded slightly, taking in that fact, "I know, and I appreciate it but I'm fine." He seemed confident in what he was saying at least, which probably made the whole thing a little more believable.

Saku walked back into the room, closing the door behind her and handing out to him a glass, "Drink up, we can't have your voice cracking on stage." She commented harshly.

Kyo took the glass of warm water from her, looking up at her as he took it, "I love your show of concern." He muttered sarcastically. He heard her groan quietly as she sat next to him, ignoring the urge to comment and just sipping the warm lemon water to sooth his throat. Once he was done Saku took it out of his hand and put it on the coffee table before getting up again and walking over to stand by James, looking down at her watch, "Two more minutes." She whispered.

"So let's get going and get it over with for the night."

All the members of the band nodded and stood up, meeting in the middle of the room with their own instruments, "Good luck everyone." Danny said. All the members nodded towards each other and walked out of the room.

A/N: Another chapter even though I only got one review. I'm not sure when I'll update again at this rate so I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Review if you want another chapter, its all up to you now. Take care everyone!