Time of Dying
A Hagi story based off the song "Time of Dying" by Three Days Grace
A/N
And, I re-correct my corrections on a translation. Originally, the Romaji for "I understand" was wagarimashite. I then realized the final syllable was not a te, but a ta—only after looking up the true pronunciation of the word, except that this occurred before I fully understood tenten usage!! So I still foolishly believed that ka to be pronounced ga… Okay, final correction! It's actually pronounced wakarimashita. And then, wakatte! I used to call that one wagatte. Don't know if I've used it here, though… Means the same thing, by the way
Aldedron: Well, now that I've finally recovered from the trauma of… Serin's word choice… I'm posting a new chappy! Yay~!
Serin: *rolls eyes* Aren't you supposed to be practicing?
Aldedron: *shifty eyes* No…?
Saya: Practicing what?
Serin: *rolls eyes again* Her cello
Saya: Oh! Maybe Haji can help her ^^
Haji: If that is your wish
Serin: No, it's not like that
Saya: Then what O.o??
Aldedron: *darkly* Gresham
Neles: Aldedron's FIRST musical competition ^^ And she's not even ready *falls over laughing at the sadistic hilarity of it*
Aldedron: *glares at Neles*
Saya: Well then, what're you doin' here!? Go practice!
Aldedron: Never~!
Aldedron: And, I just got back from a two hour concert, so I'm tired once more and will use very little nihon go…
Unsettled by the sudden desire irking at him to bite into their throats, Haji unceremoniously straightened from his perch leaning against the wall. He breezed through the door without receiving a single glance from Joel II nor his guests until they felt a sudden breeze, turning to spy the open door. Joel II, having witnessed Haji's newfound speed before, immediately turned to where the Chevalier had only just been. Nothing but empty space.
"Haji," he muttered angrily.
Never did it occur to the aristocrat that Haji might've left for the others' own safety—only that he'd left in the middle of his meeting! Joel II, having grown up an aristocrat, was unused to a "servant" walking out without dismissal. It was something simply undone by the lower class, which the Goldschmidt had always considered Haji to be, if not even lower because of his gypsy background.
"Where'd Haji go?" Elena wondered aloud. She'd been pampered as a child, as well.
"He was no help, anyways, so I say good riddance," Isaac said sharply, crossing his arms to lean back in his seat. "As you were saying, Joel?"
Joel continued to stare at the open doorway suspiciously, acknowledging Isaac and Elena with an absent nod. "Sumimasen, demou… I have something I must take care of first. Excuse me for a moment."
He quietly closed the door behind himself, nearly walking straight into Aiya, who carried a teapot. She'd been standing outside the door, hand held just before the wood, eyes wide. She hadn't wanted to interrupt their important meeting… And besides, Pierre had been listening in, too.
They'd both jumped back in shock as the door opened out of nowhere. No footsteps leading up to the event or anything, just its suddenly flinging open and Master Haji bursting through. He'd seemed a bit pale, although not at all surprised to see the two of them listening in outside the door. Almost as though Master Haji was ignoring the fact he'd ever seen them, he'd briskly walked down the hall, followed by a "Where'd Haji go?" from one of the guests in the room. It had been awfully odd…
They'd had no time to move before Joel-sama walked through the door as well, so Pierre just leapt through a random door and Aiya pretended she was just walking up—although that ended as an epic fail with her lousy acting skills on pretending she was hesitating to knock.
If aristocrats of the time period rolled their eyes, Joel II would've, but he didn't. Instead, he narrowed his eyes, folding his gloved hands behind his back as he gave the girl a reprimanding glare.
Taking a deep breath, voice tense with annoyance—or perhaps it was anger—he ordered," Go retrieve Haji. He's probably in the study."
Aiya, fearful for her job at that point, rushedly placed the tray on a nearby table, nearly knocking over a candle and urn in the process. Blushing madly, she caught them both, replacing them where they'd originally been, before dashing off in the direction of the study.
…
Their heartbeats still thumped in his head. He could hear the blood pumping through all their veins, detect their every breath and smell their veins. It called to his body, but he resisted with all his will. What was happening? This had happened before, but only while he was fighting Chiropterans! Why now? Why here, of all places??
Such horrible timing…
Haji sat on the cold stone floor unabashed, his back leaning against Saya's coffin. His head hung low, gloved hands gripping his knees tightly; his fingers tore holes through the rough material. The pain helped distract him from the hunger… Even Haji's breathing was slightly labored with the resistance to his instincts.
It had never been this strong before! And he'd never held such a strong instinct to murder the living, either. Every time, it had been just a glance at a Chiropteran's unlucky victim and he'd unthinkingly lean towards the body, taking in the scent of freshly spilt blood. It had been such an intoxicating aroma… —Before regaining his senses and spinning around on his heal to stalk off as far from the corpse as possible. Sometimes he rushed off so quickly, he forgot to wipe the blood off or place his daggers back in the cello case. This slip-up had gotten him caught by one of the servants once before and he'd grown more careful since then, being sure to leave the site the moment the Chiropteran was dead, holding his breath and keeping his eyes away from the cadaver until he was a safer distance away.
So tempting… Since when had such things been so seductive?? He was so confused…
And now, hunched over on the ground, panting as his mind was tormented with the strong beats of healthy hearts, unspilt blood pumping enticingly through their veins, rising just below the skin on the throats—
Yadda, had to think of something else. Thinking about the hunger was the same as picking at a festering wound or watching a pot boil. It only made things worse. Iie. He had to think of something else. Something far more distracting…
Desperately reaching for relief, Haji searched for his link with Saya.
Aldedron: *yawn* Okay, I'm tired. Time for bed *sleepy eyes*
Saya: Oyasumi ^^
Aldedron: *waves hand absently* Yeah, yeah, you do that…
Serin: Don't you have to read To Kill a Mockingbird? Your teacher has quizzes to make sure you read the chapters…
Aldedron: … I'll do it in the morning
Serin: But you planned on doing your MATH homework in the morning
Aldedron: … We shall discuss this at a later date
Serin: -_- They're due TOMORROW, baka
Aldedron: *waves hand absently* Yeah, yeah, you do that…
Serin: *exasperated sigh* It's your grades…