Beta: EternalAngel
A/N: All comments and critique will be happily accepted.
Ryoma met Sakuno the next day in the park near her house. The wind tossed her long hair, and she had to gather it in her hand to keep it from hitting her face. With her other hand she waved at Ryoma, smiling cheerfully.
Ryoma felt uncomfortable walking towards her and wondered what had made him ask her out yesterday. Maybe it had just been the way she smiled. The pure innocence behind it, and how it made Ryoma forget everything dark and terrible.
Their families had always tried to push them together ever since Ryoma came to live in Japan. Her grandmother had been Ryoma's father's tennis coach when he'd been in junior high. When Ryoma had gone to the same school his father had, she had been his coach too, for the three years Ryoma's junior high had lasted.
Sakuno played tennis then, mostly because of her grandmother. She was never very good and back then, all Ryoma's interest had been in tennis, so he hadn't paid much attention to her. Not even when she appeared at every one of his games with her friend Tomoka, to cheer for him.
"Hello, Ryoma-kun," she still spoke in a hushed voice. She always spoke like that around Ryoma, even though they had known each other for years. "Do you want to go to the tennis courts? I mean not to play, I know you can't, because you're hurt, and can't play, but… To watch…?" She looked awkward and Ryoma didn't know what to say to her. So neither of them spoke and the silence between them stretched.
Sakuno shivered in a sudden cold breeze that flew by, and released her hair to grasp her skirt when the wind took hold of it. She looked at Ryoma, biting her lip, the wind blowing her hair to her face, hiding her violent blush.
Ryoma looked around him, took her hand and said, "Come on," before he started running, pulling Sakuno with her.
"Wait, where are we going?" she shouted, running with Ryoma, her hand trembling in the boy's hand.
"To get something to eat," Ryoma said and stopped suddenly in front of a café. "Unless you don't want to?" he asked, releasing her hand, nervous again.
Sakuno shook her head, and took Ryoma's hand, looking at the ground. She bit her lip and smiled. "Anything is fine, Ryoma-kun," she whispered and Ryoma could have sworn his heart skipped a beat.
"Oh no, my bag!" Someone shouted, and Ryoma saw a woman standing with a ripped plastic bag in her hand, her groceries spilled on the ground.
"Here, let me help you," A man spoke and came to help the woman.
Ryoma stared at them, last night returning in a flash to his mind. He looked at the woman smiling to the man that helped her and could only see the dead eyes of the woman from yesterday and hear her pleas for help.
"I hate it when that happens," Sakuno said, when she saw what Ryoma was looking at.
"I'm sorry Sakuno, I-" Ryoma didn't finish the sentence because he met Sakuno's gaze. Her eyes were like clear pools of spring water, sparkling with joy and happiness. She made the dark thoughts go away. "I'm not sure I brought enough money."
"Don't worry, I can pay for my own share," Sakuno said and pulled him inside the coffee shop.
Ryoma came home, his thoughts still on Sakuno. He'd spent the whole day with her, sitting in the café, walking in the park, holding hands. They hadn't talked much, but Ryoma hadn't felt the need for it either. He'd been content just being with her.
When he pushed open the gate to their garden, he saw someone - probably his mother - turn on the light in the kitchen, and blinked. He hadn't realised it was so late.
Ryoma looked behind him, wondering if the shadow he saw was just a shadow, or someone standing there, watching him. He knew Inui and Oishi were probably still following him, and wondered if they were the only ones who'd be watching his house tonight. It'd be stupid to think he'd get away with it, that the monster wouldn't come after him.
"Ryoma! Are you coming inside?" Rinko, standing by the front door, yelled.
"In a sec! I'm gonna stay out for a little longer!" Ryoma yelled back.
"Alright honey, but don't stay for too long! Dinner's ready!"
Ryoma headed to their garden, and nearly tripped on a ladder lying on the ground. His father had left them there when he'd fetched Karupin out off the tree last week. Karupin liked climbing on trees, but he never got down without help.
He got up and picked up the ladder, intending to take it back to the garden shed, but stopped, and looked up to his window. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that the monster wouldn't show up tonight, maybe to kill him, maybe just to threaten him. There was nothing he could do about that, but he did have a choice of some kind. He could stay in his room, shivering under the covers all night, wait for what was going to happen, wonder if his family would be safe when it came for him, or he could choose to face the monster on his own terms.
Ryoma picked up the ladder and placed it under his window. He stood and watched the sun set, knowing it would not be long before it would be so dark he would have trouble separating his hand from the background, if he'd hold it before his face.
They ate dinner in silence. His dad didn't even tease him about Sakuno, even though he knew about it. Ryoma guessed his mother had her hands in it.
"I'm going to bed," Ryoma told them when he finished dinner.
"So early? Are you sick?" his mother asked.
"No, I'm just tired. And I've got school tomorrow."
"Alright then. Good night honey," Rinko said. She watched her go up the stairs with a worried frown. When she heard his door close she turned to Nanjiroh. "Do you think we should take him to see Hanamura-sensei again?"
"The kid's coping by himself. Let him. If he starts screaming in the middle of the night or wetting his bed again, we'll take him to see her," Nanjiroh said.
"Ryoma never wetted his bed, Nanjiroh. Don't go spreading rumours like that about our son. I'm sure he will have a hard enough time at school, everyone wanting to know about the attack," Rinko scolded him. "I wish you'd take this seriously."
"I am! Look there's nothing wrong with the kid. If anything, he's doing too well." Nanjiroh drew Rinko into a hug. He looked down on his feet when he felt sharp claws attack his ankle. "You damned cat! I should drown you!"
"Don't let Ryoma hear you talk about him like that," Rinko said and picked up Karupin. She stared at the cat strangely and then looked at the stairs. "He can't sleep without Karupin. Never has," she said, dropping the cat.
"Now don't worry, I'm sure it's nothing," Nanjiroh murmured soothingly and wrapped his arms around Rinko. "Nothing at all," he repeated calmly, but couldn't stop himself from narrowing his eyes at the cat by his feet. It shouldn't worry him so much that his son had finally matured to sleeping without his cat.
Alone in his room, Ryoma locked the door and turned off the lights. He went to the window, and waited. He didn't have to wait for long, for a shadow darker than the others to appear in the garden. He opened the window, found the ladder he'd placed under it, and with one more look at his door, climbed down.
When his feet, only covered with socks, touched the ground, he ran towards the tennis court, and stopped when he reached the stairs of the temple. He looked back at the house, saw the light in the living room, and the shadows of his parents moving inside. He could see them, but knew no one in the house could see him here.
"You knew I would come," the voice was as smooth as velvet, the words were spoken sharply, every syllable cutting through Ryoma like a sharp blade.
"Yes," Ryoma answered, his voice trembling more than he would have liked, and turned. He couldn't see the face of the monster clearly in the darkness, when there wasn't even a moon to give light, and the sky was covered by dark clouds. But he didn't need to see the man's face, to know who it was. The overwhelming presence, a pressure that pounded behind his eyes, the man's scent, his voice, were all imprinted in his mind.
"So presumptuous," the man said, anger clear and sharp in his voice. He stepped forward with quick steps, and Ryoma backed away, terrified. "I don't think I like it."
Ryoma flinched when the man's cold fingers landed on his chin. "So you can be afraid. I was beginning to wonder if you lacked the ability for it," the man spoke in his ear, his amusement thick and warm in the rich voice that sent waves of excitement through Ryoma. It mixed with the fear, and had Ryoma shiver in anticipation. He gasped at the sudden cold touch on his neck, gently caressing the skin around the bandages of his wound.
"I… I'm not scared," Ryoma said, his breathing hitched.
"But you are shivering." The man pulled Ryoma closer against himself. Ryoma let out a scream that was cut short by the man's hand over his mouth.
"Why?" the man asked. "If I terrify you so much, why did you follow me, why wait for me?"
Ryoma swallowed and lifted his eyes to look at the man's face for the first time that night. His eyes had grown accustomed to the darkness and he could see the man's features. He was beautiful, but not in the way Sakuno was, or even in the way the stranger at the airport had been. This man was bolder. He didn't try to hide behind a mask of gentleness. The smile he wore radiated of self confidence, of power he knew he possessed, and was not afraid to use.
And that was the answer Ryoma hadn't known even existed until he was asked the question. "Power," Ryoma whispered and saw the man's eyes grow wide. "You have it. I want it." All that time shivering in the hospital room, shrieking at shadows, that was what he had wanted. The strength he had felt, so he could face the monsters determined on haunting him, without the fear overwhelming him.
"Not mine, never mine," the man answered, trailing his fingers against the pulse that beat on the boy's neck. "Who knows, maybe one day there will be a vampire so taken by you, that they will give you what you seek."
"But not you?" Ryoma asked, his voice a raspy whisper, the fear and something else he couldn't recognize, drying his mouth and throat.
"No, not me," the man laughed before ripping the bandage from Ryoma's neck, and sinking his teeth in the skin, still tender from the old wounds.
Waking up that morning, in his own bed, laying over the covers, still wearing his clothes, Ryoma had trouble remembering the previous night. He had slipped into unconsciousness soon after the monster's teeth had penetrated the skin on his neck. But before he had passed out, he had felt something he hadn't on the night he'd been attacked. Remembering now what he had felt last night made his face hot. He understood now why the woman had gasped in pleasure when the man had sank his teeth in her flesh.
He sat up, too quickly and clasped his head when a sharp pain shot through his head. Her felt dizzy and fell back down on the bead, groaning. He lifted a hand to his neck and his fingers found a bandage there instead of a new wound.
"Ryoma, are you awake?" his mother knocked and turned the door handle. "Why is your door locked? Ryoma!"
"I'm up, mom! I'll come down soon!" he yelled, throat dry and his voice rasping.
"You don't sound good. You don't have a cold, do you?" she yelled, worried.
"I just forgot to close the window for the night, it's nothing!" Ryoma yelled back and looked up to confirm it. And like he'd guessed, the window was open. The ladder was probably still there, too.
"Oh Ryoma," he heard his mother sigh. "You should take better care of yourself. Karupin's been sleeping behind your door the whole night. Won't you at least let him in?"
"In a sec, mom!" Ryoma yelled back, still trying to cope with his headache.
When he heard his mother's footsteps going downstairs, Ryoma stood up and walked to the door unsteadily. He opened the door and Karupin came in, meowing softly, and rubbing against his ankles. Ryoma closed the door after he was in, and noticed his socks were covered in dirt and grass stains. He walked over to his desk chair to take them off, and saw what had been placed on his desk.
A single red rose and a small white card with a gold lining. Ryoma picked up the rose, snapped it in half and threw it out of the open window. He meant to do the same with the card, but paused. There was nothing more than a single name on it. Atobe.
So the monster had a name.
Ryoma closed his fist around the card and gritted his teeth. "A rose? What the hell does he take me for?"
"Hey Echizen!" Horio screamed and came to stand by his desk. "So, you dating Ryuzaki-san now?" he asked.
Ryoma gave him a blank look and then ignored him in favour of setting his books on the desk.
"Echizen!"
"None of your business," Ryoma told him and saw Sakuno enter the classroom. She ducked her head when their eyes locked, but Ryoma still spotted the smile on her face.
"Fuck, you're smiling!" Horio screamed and the whole class turned to stare at them, causing Sakuno to blush bright red and the girls around her to giggle.
"Good morning class!" The teacher came in, interrupting Ryoma's murder plans.
The teacher placed his briefcase on the desk and pushed up the round glasses he wore. There were rumours about the authenticity of his need for the glasses and his thick Kansai accent. Along with other rumours that concerned some of the more attractive female students in the senior year. Ryoma believed only a fraction of them. Horio'd told them he'd seen the teacher read without his glasses once.
Ryoma stole a glance at Sakuno, and she lifted her eyes from the book in front of her to give Ryoma a small smile. He smiled back at her, and only remembered to pay attention to the teacher when Kachirou, who was sitting next to him, nudged him with a textbook.
When he was leaving the classroom, the teacher stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder, and Ryoma tensed under the touch. Oshitari-sensei's habit of touching the person he was talking to had always made Ryoma wary, more so after he'd noticed that Oshitari-sensei preferred talking to him more than any of the other students.
"Are you well, Echizen-kun?" Oshitari asked, rubbing Ryoma's shoulder in a way he knew was meant to be comforting. "You look pale. I heard what happened, of course, since you were not at school, your parents informed us."
"I'm fine, sensei," Ryoma said and tried to get away from the touch by stepping back. Instead the teacher stepped with him, bringing his body closer to Ryoma's.
"Perhaps I should take you to the nurse's office?" Oshitari suggested.
"It's fine sensei. I'll go see the nurse if I don't feel good," Ryoma said and brushed the hand from his shoulder.
"Well if you are sure." Oshitari didn't seem convinced and frowned. "Just remember my door is always open if you are having problems."
"I will sensei." Ryoma left the classroom and wondered if the female had been replaced with male in one of the rumours that were told about the teacher, it could be accurate.
"Ryoma-kun," Sakuno had been waiting for him outside the classroom. "What did Oshitari-sensei want with you?"
"He just wanted to know if I was alright," Ryoma said.
Sakuno glanced back at the classroom and Oshitari waved at her. She waved back and blushed when Oshitari winked at her. "He's one of my favourite teachers," she whispered to Ryoma who turned to glare at Oshitari, who just shrugged and went back to clearing his desk.
"I think he's weird," Ryoma said and grabbed Sakuno by the elbow to take her away.
"Uhm, Ryoma-kun, are we eating lunch together? I made you a bento." Sakuno said.
"Really?" Ryoma asked. He'd always gotten bentos from girls, even from Sakuno, but this was the first time he was happy about it. "Thanks," he finally said. "And yeah, let's eat lunch together." Ryoma was pretty sure he'd never been happier than now, when he saw Sakuno's beaming smile.
When Ryoma came home he went straight to the garden and took the ladder from behind his window back to the shed. He wondered briefly if he should've just left it lying around somewhere in the garden, because that was what his father always did. Now that it was in the shed where it belonged, Nanjiroh would guess Ryoma had used it. Because even though Rinko would take it to the shed too she never had any use for the ladder.
Ryoma was about to go inside the house when he suddenly wanted to call Sakuno. And it would be better to call from outside, than from the house where his father would no doubt try to bud in with his idiotic comments.
"Hello," she answered.
"Hi it's me," Ryoma said, and realized he should say his name, because he hadn't given Sakuno his phone number.
"Hi Ryoma-kun," she said.
"You knew it was me?" Ryoma asked.
"I recognized your voice, Ryoma-kun," Ryoma could almost hear her smile. "What is it? Everything's alright, isn't it?" there was a little worry in her voice.
"Yeah, everything's fine, it's just that…" Ryoma hesitated. "I forgot to ask you at school if you want to go and see a movie, or something?"
"Oh no!" Sakuno shouted.
"What?" Ryoma panicked.
"I can't today. Mom wants me to help her clean the attic," Sakuno said and Ryoma sighed in relief. "But I'm free tomorrow."
"Okay. Tomorrow. I'll see you at school," Ryoma said.
"See you tomorrow Ryoma-kun," Sakuno said and ended the call.
Ryoma went around the back of the house, and found his dad waiting for him by the back porch. He was sitting with his legs crossed, hands folded, and a cigarette hanging from his mouth. A mock image of a monk, complete with his brown monk's garb. His eyes were closed and when Ryoma stepped on the porch, he opened them, dark eyes sparkling. "Kid," Nanjiroh said, taking the cigarette from his mouth and waving it around while he spoke. "You got anything you want to tell me?" he asked.
"No dad. And if I did, I wouldn't tell you," Ryoma said and took another step towards the door.
"I saw the ladder outside your window," Nanjiroh said and Ryoma stopped with his back at Nanjiroh. He didn't say anything and waited to hear what Nanjiroh would say. "Tell your old man the truth. You sneaked off to play tennis last night, didn't you? Your mom said you had the window open the whole night."
Ryoma nearly sighed out loud from relief, but managed to stop himself and turned to look at his dad. He shrugged and Nanjiroh grinned, closing his eyes.
"I just hope you didn't use that right hand of yours. Putting strain on it could make it worse, but I suppose it won't hurt if you do a little something, just so you don't start lagging behind. Just remember to let your wrist heal, alright kid? We don't want your mom to worry."
"Hmm." Ryoma nodded at his dad and went inside. He felt guilty he hadn't sneaked off to play tennis in the middle of the night. He'd been so focused on everything else, Sakuno and Atobe, that he hadn't given tennis a single thought. And he felt like an idiot for doing so. Tennis was what he was going to do when he got out of school, it was what he'd been focusing on for his whole life and to think he could forget it so easily when he was given proof that what had scared him all those years ago was real, and not just his imagination…
He decided he'd talk to the coach tomorrow, to ask if he could start attending practice again. Sure he couldn't play matches as long as his wrist was still aching, but he could still practice, do laps, something!
"Ryoma, stop picking on your bandages!" his mom shouted and Ryoma noticed he'd been tearing at the bandages around his wrist.
"Sorry mom," Ryoma mumbled and disappeared up to his room.
Rinko kneeled to stroke the long fur of the once again abandoned Karupin that looked lost when Ryoma hadn't picked him up, or even petted him when he came home. "Don't worry Karupin, I'm sure it's just a phase he's going through," Rinko told the cat, and swallowed her tears.
It was nearly nine o'clock when Ryoma remembered to do his homework. He sat down by his desk and meant to turn on the light. But he paused, finger on the switch and looked outside. He stared, wondering if a tree branch that the wind moved, wasn't a man's hand. He stared for five minutes, but when the figure just kept swaying, Ryoma finally shrugged, switched the light on, and started doing his homework.
He woke up with a startle when someone shook his shoulder.
"You should go to sleep, Ryoma," his mother said, and gently separated Ryoma's cheek from a textbook page. "Your father and I will still be up for a little while, if you need anything," she ruffled his hair before leaving.
"Okay mom," Ryoma said, and yawned. He quickly took off his clothes, and too tired to change into his pyjamas he slipped under the covers with just his boxers and turned off the light, reaching the switch just barely from his bed.
"Mmm, Karupin," Ryoma muttered, half asleep when he felt something nuzzling at his neck. He smiled and brought a hand to stroke the cat. He just didn't remember Karupin's hair being this soft and sleek… He jolted up when he realized that he definitely didn't remember Karupin having a tongue that large!
"What the hell are you-!" he yelled, and was pushed back down on the bed.
"Shh, we don't want to alert your parents." Atobe silenced him by placing a finger on his lips.
Ryoma stared, letting the voice flow through him like last night. Every word was spoken carefully, as if they each held a special meaning, and every time Atobe's voice lowered, Ryoma felt a pleasant jolt in the pit of his stomach. The smile on Atobe's lips was playful, and it had Ryoma mesmerized. When Atobe's hand slid down to his neck, he shivered. It was new to him, to have a touch affect him like this. He didn't think much about it that it was another boy, and not a girl that made him feel like this, because Atobe wasn't human. Normality didn't apply to him, to them, this.
Atobe slid his thumb on the boy's neck, and whispered in Ryoma's ear, "When you didn't leave the window open, I had to come through the front door. Do you know what an inconvenience it was to sneak up here without being noticed?"
"I wasn't going to leave the window open for the whole night and risk getting a cold just because you might show up," Ryoma answered with an even voice, despite his dry throat and hammering heart.
"You should start," Atobe told him, his smile losing its playfulness when his eyes turned cold.
"Why should I?" Ryoma frowned and grabbed the hand on his throat, trying to pull it away. The hand didn't even flinch. Instead the fingers tightened around his neck and Ryoma panicked when he couldn't breathe anymore.
"Because I said you should," Atobe hissed, staring coldly at him, his face immovable like a porcelain mask.
Ryoma gasped for air desperately, clawed at Atobe's skin, trying to pry away the hand that was strangling him. He kicked the man hovering over him, but nothing helped. Finally Atobe released him and Ryoma sprung up, coughing, drawing in deep breaths.
"Ryoma, are you alright?" his mother asked form behind the door. "You didn't catch a cold from keeping the window open last night, did you? I can hear you coughing."
"It's nothing mom, my throat's just dry," Ryoma shouted, his voice raspy.
"Alright honey. Your father and I are going to bed now. Good night!"
"Night," Ryoma answered, hand around his sore neck.
He jumped when a hand landed on his shoulder and Atobe hissed in his ear, "You will keep the window open tomorrow night." and was gone, the wind blowing form the open window, making the curtains dance, and scattering the papers from his desk, on to the floor.