Grey Flower

"All I feel is strange in your perfect world."

Chapter Six

"Wake up, Takuma." I shook the blond until his eyes opened. He stared up at me, bleary eyed and still sleepy. It was times like this that I could forgive him for anything. He rubbed his eyes, sitting up like a tired child, sliding out of bed. When his bare feet touched the frigid floor, though, he recoiled and laid back down.

"It's so early, Senri. What are you doing?" he whined, pulling the pillow over his head as if to ignore me. I frowned and pulled the pillow away so that he could hear my answer.

"We have a tour of the town set up, thanks to me," I repsonded darkly, prompting Takuma to turn over and look at me with a strange expression.

"Whaddayamean?" It was one mumbled word, and I barely caught it. He was so tired; but I had promised Miyabi that Takuma would come. Maybe not promised persay; but I told her he'd be there, and dammit, he'd be there. I explained this to him and he frowned, beginning to search the bed for his socks, which he often kicked off in his sleep. I knew he couldn't resist upsetting some kid, some innocent little girl who had lost her parents at that.

He searched for quite awhile before flopping down on the bed and peering over at my feet. I had stolen his socks before I left so that my feet wouldn't get cold — when he glanced up at me, he caught my devilish grin and returned the look, sitting up to grab me. I lost my balance, falling down on top of him. I moved to get up and felt myself restrained by Takuma's strong legs. Finally cluing in, I leaned down and kissed him gently, letting my weight fall on him slowly so that he could adjust, not that it was even possible to crush him under my body weight. The kiss turned deeper and more passionate as we rocked together; but a voice disrupted our fun before it had even really started.

"You two know you've got duty, right?"

I hated Shitsuren Fuyuki more than ever at that moment. That was the third time in three days that we had been interupted, and I was beginning to get irritated. Next time, I swore to myself, I was going to continue no matter who was watching. If they didn't want to see it, they could leave — end of story.

xXXx

"So, where exactly did you find this kid, Senri?" Takuma leaned over to me as we approached the diner. Miyabi sat there on the steps, watching down the street, for us most likely. She had her head turned away from us, so I was free to answer without the fear that she might read my lips.

"It doesn't matter. She's a big fan of mine, and she loves your parents' movies." At the mention of his parents, Takuma winced slightly. I took his gloved hand and squeezed — I knew it was still so tender, even though it had been so long ago. "Anyway, she agreed to show us around. I thought it would be good for us to know our surroundings, even if she doesn't look very reliable."

"That's all well and good, Senri, but what if we're attacked while she's with us? I don't want her getting hurt, or finding out about us," he hissed in that soft way that only Takuma could manage, as if he were more worried than angry, which was probably true. "What if she decides not to keep our secret? Then where will be?"

"Dead, I suppose." My answer was less than satisfactory for my love, and I heard it in the sigh that escaped his lips. "It's not like she can just go ahead and call up Knights. No one outside of this town will know. We'll be taking the only helicopter out of here when we leave, so what are they going to do about it?"

"I guess so." He sounded utterly defeated, and we continued on in silence until Miyabi turned and caught sight of us. She jumped up and waved before running to meet us. I looked slightly disturbed at the flurry of loose snow that she kicked up when she slid to a stop in front of us on a patch of ice. I never would have dreamed of doing something like that when I was the equivalent of her age — my agent use to give me Hell over putting my body at risk. There were some photoshoots I might have to do with very limited clothing, or none at all — scars are always ugly; and ugly doesn't sell.

"Hey, Shiki-sama!" She beamed brightly, quite reminiscent of Takuma himself. I looked up to find him returning it. She was probably anywhere from twelve to fourteen, a very pretty little thing. Her hair was a shocking shade of red, vibrant and shining, pulled up into a ponytail; and her eyes were like molten chocolate, vividly alive with energy. She was tall for her age, and willowy, almost eye-level with me. "Is this...." She trailed off, and I nodded. Instantly, she bowed respectfully to Takuma. "Ichijou-sama, it's so nice to meet you!"

"Well, I'm flattered, really." He managed to blush and have it show through the redness the cold had left behind. His beam lightened into a soft smile.

"This is Kisaragi Miyabi," I told him, motioning out to the redhead, and she waved again.

"You're a friend of Senri's, right? Then you're a friend of mine, too."

This statement lit up every one of her features and she nearly bounced in place with excitement. "Thank you, Ichijou-sama!"

"And, if you will, call me Takuma."

"Yes... Ichijou— Takuma-sama. And, I want you to call me Miyabi!" That made her day. She took both our hands and tugged us along to stand in front of the diner. "Now, for the tour! First, there's the Silent Place Diner, the best restaurant in all of Heavensent."

"Heavensent? Is that the name of the town? Kaname-sama didn't tell us that," Takuma wondered aloud and I had to smile. It was a beautiful name for such a crappy little town, and I actually liked it. The name made me think of Takuma, my perfect angel. Maybe he belonged up here. I knew he liked the snow, so an excess of it wasn't so bad for him. Other than that, there were few residents — I was guessing that this was the kind of town where everyone knew everyone, and news spread like wild fire without proper precautions.

"Alright, now for the rest of the tour!" And we were whisked away again. Basically, Heavensent consisted of four streets, one main, and three that crossed through it. The main street was where all the town's stores and restaurants were found, the others were packed with houses. At one end of the main street was the helicopter landing pad, and at the other was a large school building — it was most likely that both grade school and high school students attended there. Our cabin was on the farthest street from the landing pad, at the far, right-hand side. Despite the lack of interesting things in Heavensent upon first glance, Miyabi managed to put together a fairly good tour... and a very long one....

It was pitch black out by the time the tour ended with the outermost limits of the town. There was a small lookout building there that Miyabi wanted to show us. It seemed harmless enough, but Takuma and I were both on guard. It wasn't long before we heard footsteps just behind ours. None the wiser, Miyabi continued to talk; but Takuma unbuttoned his jacket and shifted his katana around, fisting the hilt delicately. I lifted my thumb to my mouth.

Within seconds, we could see the bright red glow of Vampire eyes, and lunged toward it, attacking with our full force to eradicate the monster before it could do any of the three of us any harm. Unfortunately, Miyabi had turned around to look at us just in time to see us make off with Vampire speed. We returned to see her gaping, and we couldn't decide whether it was surprize, fear, or awe. Slowly, her lips curled into a smile again.

"I don't believe it. What was that? What are you guys?" She sounded amused, but disbelieving. At least she was truthful.

Takuma and I exchanged glances. I hoped that Takuma wouldn't make me explain, and sensing it, he took up for me. "That was a Level E Vampire," he said simply, and the smile fell from Miyabi's face. "We, too, are Vampires; just higher classed."

Takuma explained the classing of Vampires, how everything worked, and even our secret politics. She stared at him, her expression changing several times. I was so glad that I didn't have to be the one to do the talking. But when Takuma was finished, I reached over and put a hand on her shoulder. She flinched, naturally afraid of what we might do — but she didn't move away.

"Is that why you sleep all day, Shiki-sama?" Her voice was strained and quiet, but with my enhanced hearing, I was able to pick it up.

"Yeah," I affirmed, pulling my hand back slightly. "We've come to eradicate the Level Es so no one gets hurt. We're not Vampire Hunters; but we can definitely do our job. Alot of people have already died—"

That was where she cut me off. "I know. My mom was one of them."