I should be studying guys! I have finals! But instead I'm doing this...! Because I don't want to study!

Also extra long chapter to make up for the wait. ;D


Chapter 8: Fragile Trust

It was the tittering of birds that woke Kagami, but as he slowly came to, the throbbing in his head became more pronounced. He groaned, rolling off the bed and landing on his hands and knees on the cool wooden floor. He sat back on his haunches, cradling his head and taking deep breaths as the pounding lessened.

It was a sign. A sign that he'd had dreams, nightmares he couldn't remember. It would happen from time to time back in LA, but they'd gotten progressively worse every night he had spent in Japan.

And it had already been fourteen nights.

She told you, they'd get worse the closer you came to the truth. But where is it? I can't find any damn clue, and now all I can do is wait.

There were dreams that he could recall, however. Snippets of them, and just thinking about them made him flush.

You've met the guy…what…twice? And he's a goddamn vampire to top it off. You're not a kid having stupid wet dreams, get a grip. There are more important things out there.

He stood up slowly, sitting down heavily on his bed. Slipping his hand under his pillow, he relaxed a little and closed his eyes when he felt the familiar hard wood of the box underneath. Two weeks, Taiga. Two weeks and you've got nothing to show for it. His eyes snapped open at the sound of cloth rustling.

Kuroko leaned against the door, and Kagami knew he had wanted to be noticed. Kuroko was a great stalker when necessary, so it was clear he had no intention of hiding when one could see him.

"Good morning," Kagami mumbled, his gaze dropping to the sheet of paper Kuroko held in his hands.

The other boy walked towards him, holding it out. "Riko-san wants you to run some errands around town. We're low on a few supplies."

"Sure," Kagami yawned. This was what he had been doing, running jobs and favours halfway across Tokyo for their Alpha. He'd met a few other pack members too. The second-in-command was a hothead by the name of Hyuuga Junpei, and he would show Kagami a few tips and tricks when it came to scuffling. There was a large but kind man too, Kiyoshi Teppei, and he loved gardening. Furihata was his skittish apprentice, scared of practically anything. There were others, but Kagami wasn't as well acquainted.

It had been a slow two weeks, but Kagami couldn't complain, since he didn't have anything else to do but follow orders. There were still at least six weeks until the Blood Moon Festival.

Kagami went to stand up, but Kuroko placed a hand on his shoulder. There was surprising strength behind it, and Kagami found himself pinned in place. Kuroko stared down at him.

"You've been having nightmares recently."

Kagami couldn't shrug the hand off, and he felt a little cold at the words. "Yeah…but I don't remember them. What, you been watching me in my sleep or something?" he snorted jokingly.

Kuroko didn't respond.

Kagami frowned, a little unsettled. "What's this-?"

"First time we met you, you told us you were in Japan to explore your heritage, if I remember correctly," Kuroko said, his face expressionless. "And then not even a day later, you tell Akashi-kun that it's because you want to attend the Blood Moon Festival. I was not going to mention it. I was going to give you time to bring it up yourself, but I think two weeks is long enough."

Kagami squirmed under his blank stare. "W-well, like Riko-san said, the Blood Moon Festival is about werewolves and vampires, so of course going there would help me explore my heritage."

"Except you didn't know what the Blood Moon Festival even was before Riko-san explained it to you." Kuroko sighed. "Kagami-kun, you need to learn how to lie better."

Kagami looked away. Riko and her pack had taken him in just because he was the new werewolf in town. She had come willingly to help guide him, and all he had done was lie back. He knew that, but the truth… He didn't know enough to explain it to himself, how was he supposed to explain it to others?

Kuroko's hand left Kagami's shoulder. "Riko-san and I have already had this conversation among ourselves," he murmured, sitting down next to him. "She trusts you, Kagami-kun. She says she feels it in her gut, like instinct. You don't mean any harm, and after watching you for these couple of days, I can see what she means. But trust is a two-way street. We want to help you, but if you don't tell us what you're really after, we can't. Why can't you trust us?"

Kagami shook his head. "I do trust you, it's just…it's something that you can't understand. I tried to tell my own father and he brushed it off like some child's rambling."

Kuroko's eyes narrowed. "We aren't your father-"

"Look, all I can tell you is that I'm looking for something," Kagami interrupted. "And…someone very close to me said that I'll find it in Japan, at the Blood Moon Festival, for sure. So, like the idiot I am, I rushed here straight away, only to find out that the bloody thing is in two whole months," Kagami gritted his teeth. "I guess I was just being optimistic, thinking I'd find it before the festival itself. And yet, nothing. I've been running all around Tokyo and I haven't felt anything."

"Felt?" Kuroko repeated slowly. "I thought you were looking for something."

"Yeah," Kagami laughed wryly, standing up. "Except I don't even know what the fuck it is. It's like I have answers without questions. I know it's here, but I don't know what it is. And that's what I meant when I said you couldn't understand." He snatched up the paper from Kuroko's hand. "I know you've been keeping an eye on me, but I'm not going anywhere." He opened the window, gazing down at the two storey drop. It was nothing to a werewolf, and the window was faster than the door and stairs combined. "I'll be back." And with that, he jumped out.


Aomine's eyebrow twitched at the incessant chirping.

It's fucking near sundown, why are they still making so much noise…!?

The birds in the trees quietened a little and Aomine grunted, turning on his side and letting the warm sun warm his back.

He'd been avoiding sleep lately, mostly due to the dreams. He'd wake up in cold sweat and a pounding headache, the echoes of a name on his lips, a name he couldn't remember from a dream he couldn't recall. It had gotten pretty bad over the past few months, and he kept waking up the servants back in the Aomine manor. So, against everyone's wishes, he'd decided to sleep out in the open for the past few days, away from gossiping whispers and curious gazes.

There were the nightmares on one hand, and on the other there was him.

Everything always came down to him. Aomine's thoughts always ended up there.

Fucking werewolves ruining everything, he grumbled sleepily. Since when was I even attracted to those dogs? Especially that dog. With his messy red hair, for fuck's sake, has he not heard of a comb? And those twitching ears, goddamn it, they keep moving so much I just wanna grab them. Grab them…they look so soft…and his tail too…

He clicked his tongue, shifting onto his back. "I need to get him out of my head," he muttered aloud, scrunching his brows. Hell, he could swear he could even hear that bastard's voice…

Wait.

Aomine jolted up, the shingles on the roof he was on clattering at his sudden movement. He wasn't dreaming that voice, his super hearing was picking it up! Picking it up above every other noise in this corner of the neighbourhood.

He peered over the edge, squinting. "Kagami-?"

A man ran past him on the street below, holding a hand on his head to stop his beanie from falling off as he screamed at the thing behind him to stop giving chase.

Aomine's hand fell to Mai-chan by his waist. His father had let him sleep outside on the single condition that he would have his sword close to him at all times. After the attack two weeks ago, they had not given up looking for the killer but had taken any necessary precautions.

When he saw what was chasing the terrified werewolf, he almost fell off the roof.


Kagami vaulted over a fence and ran into a park, a deserted area at this time of day. He glanced behind him at his closing assailant, but since he wasn't looking where he was running, he hit a fallen branch and fell face first in the grass.

"N-no!" he squealed, holding his arms up to protect his face from the attack. But no attack came.

"A Dachshund, Kagami? Really?"

Kagami swallowed at the overly familiar voice. Overly familiar in his dreams. He looked up slowly to see a figure standing over him, a growling dog held in his arms. "Aomine…"

Two weeks suddenly felt like a long time, and an unexplainable rush of joy filled him when he met that navy gaze.

"I thought you were getting attacked," Aomine huffed, bending down and smacking the dog lightly on its hind so that it scampered off. "I was enjoying my nap in the sun but woke up to find you running away from a puppy. What kind of werewolf is scared of dogs?" he teased.

"So what if I am?" Kagami said defensively. "And napping in the sun? How are you still alive?"

"The sun doesn't burn us, dumbass," Aomine rolled his eyes, and plunked down on the grass next to Kagami, sighing. "It just weakens us a little. That's why it's easy to fall asleep like that. Plus I like the warmth."

"You're weird," Kagami snorted.

"I'm weird? You're the one scared of your own relatives," Aomine laughed, and Kagami smiled at the sound.

It was weird, but he felt relaxed around Aomine. The guy was a werewolf hunter, but for some reason Kagami didn't mind. He felt more at ease with Aomine in some random park in Tokyo than he had with his own family in LA, or with his fellow kin back at their werewolf abode. Maybe it was the way he smelled, or his voice. Kagami didn't know.

"Thanks," he said softly. "Seems like you're always popping out of the blue to save me." He grinned, his teeth flashing. "There won't be a next time though! Or I'll be saving you then, maybe."

Aomine stared at Kagami, long enough that Kagami started feeling a little awkward.

"I-is there something on my face?"

Aomine shook his head. "Why are you here?" he asked, his voice quiet.

"Running errands for the pack." Kagami's eyes widened. "Shit! The groceries, I dropped them-!"

Aomine leaned closer. "No, Kagami. I mean…I mean here. Tokyo."

Kagami blinked. "What's with the sudden question?"

Aomine shrugged. "Curious." Because you're all I can think of ever since you appeared!

"I'm here because…" Because of the Blood Moon Festival, was what he wanted to say. "Because I'm looking for something," he ended up admitting.

"Oh?" Aomine raised a brow and Kagami hummed. "What?"

"I don't know actually. But for the longest time ever, I felt like there was something missing inside me," Kagami murmured, only slightly shocked that something he found so hard to admit to Kuroko, to explain to his own father, he was easily telling Aomine. "You might think I'm strange, but it's like a chunk of me…I don't know what exactly, but it's missing. I'm not…I don't feel…complete," he gazed into Aomine's eyes. "I'm always dissatisfied, and…Alex said I can find it in Tokyo. She said that it would be at the Blood Moon Festival, if I couldn't find it any sooner. So now I'm just waiting."

"Alex? Who's that?" Aomine asked, and there was a flare of jealousy in his mind somewhere, but Kagami's deep red gaze was slowly drowning out his own thoughts.

But more importantly, something in Kagami's words resonated within himself.

Dissatisfaction. Emptiness.

He felt it too, but it was less when he was around Kagami. The werewolf was soothing his rough and sore edges, like a vanilla balm.

"Not…important right now," Kagami licked his lips, his head feeling heavy. There was that same burning, tightening sensation in his gut, the same he had felt when he was up in the rafters at the VLSA headquarters. The same as the time when he licked Aomine's wound. The same as the time they were close enough to kiss.

He needed release, and Kagami didn't even realise he was climbing Aomine until he felt fingers scrape the beanie off his ears as Aomine grabbed his hair.

Their mouths met in a frenzy, tongues licking and teeth nipping, careful not to draw blood. Kagami had already crawled into Aomine's lap, and he circled the other's waist with his legs without breaking contact. Aomine pulled one of Kagami's furry ears, an action that should have caused pain but sent a spike of pleasure to his groin instead.

Kagami moaned, pulling apart slightly so their breaths mingled as his hazy brain commanded his hips to grind. Aomine groaned, cool hands slipping under Kagami's shirt to touch his heated skin, ghosting up his stomach and nipples teasingly.

"W-what are we doing?" Kagami asked, slightly confused but extremely turned on, especially when Aomine grabbed his hips and grinded back.

"Making out…?" Aomine supplied his less than intelligent answer through another sloppy kiss. "God, your ears are softer than they were in my dreams…"

"Unn…?" Kagami gasped at the friction between them, and then again when Aomine yanked his tail. "Aomine, I n-need more…" His thighs squeezed tighter.

His brain said it was wrong, a werewolf with a vampire. But the heat inside him drowned out all his thoughts. It just wanted, needed, lusted.

Aomine bit down on one of Kagami's ears, the scarlet fur soft against his tongue. He trailed down, over Kagami's lips, and down to his neck, tasting Kagami's sweat and scent.

His throat suddenly felt dry, his tongue heavy.

Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.

Kagami's heartbeat was strong against Aomine's lips, and against his tongue when he licked Kagami's nape. He felt his fangs throb, and his head pulsed.

It wasn't his usual thirst. It was something else, like…he needed Kagami's blood. He needed it to…to live

Kagami wasn't struggling, but then again he probably had no idea he was about to be bitten.

Stop, stop it you idiot! Werewolf blood is poisonous! You'll die! His brain screamed at him as his teeth pressed against the tanned skin.

Kagami froze, feeling Aomine's fangs. "Aomine, what-!"

BRRIIIINGGGGG. BRRIIIINGGGGG. BRRIIIINGGGGG.

Aomine was snapped out of his trance by the shrill screech of his phone going off. He pulled back just as Kagami pushed him away. The werewolf scrambled backwards, and hand against his throat as he stared at Aomine with a mix of confusion and hurt.

Before Kagami could comment, Aomine picked up the phone without looking at the caller ID. "Yeah?"

"Daiki, there's going to be an arrest and I need you there with the rest of the team."

The cool voice and terse words made Aomine apprehensive. He cleared his throat. "O-okay. Where?" Eyes widening at the address he heard, he looked over to Kagami. "Got it." He stood up, holding a hand out to Kagami and flinching a little when the werewolf got up on his own. "I think you should come with me."

Kagami eyes him with some suspicion, trying to straighten his clothes from their earlier activities. "Where? And why?"

"The Aomine Clan are making an arrest," he explained, running a hand through his hair. "And the address is your pack's reserve."


Kagami's nose twitched at the smell of vampire. It wasn't Aomine, Aomine had his own unique smell that Kagami didn't specify as general vampire. The stench in the air right now meant a vampire he had never met before, but he hadn't met many.

He glanced over at Aomine, who walked in front of him silently, before rubbing the skin where Aomine's fangs had touched not even an hour ago.

Why would he want to bite me? Is he hungry? Kagami kicked the ground. He wasn't upset that Aomine wanted to bite him because Kagami was afraid of getting bitten. It was more because Kagami was afraid of what his blood would do to Aomine. Did he forget it can kill him? Or is he just that in need?

And he was scared of another thought that flittered in the back of his mind.

You wanted him to bite you, didn't you?

"Sorry about earlier."

Kagami glanced up to see Aomine's steps slow down. "Huh?"

Aomine sighed. "I don't know what came over me. I...it's probably because I skipped breakfast," he added with a dry laugh. "It won't happen again." They continued on silently until they reached the towering gates that led to the reserve.

Aomine stopped so suddenly that Kagami rammed right into him, his shoulders tense. "Shit, Father sent him?!"

Kagami looked over Aomine's shoulder to see Riko standing in front of the gate, her ears stiff with contained anger. She was facing against a man nearly a foot taller than her, her fangs bared with strong animosity.

"So, I need to see him."

Riko spat near his feet. "He's not here, so you can just fuck off, Hanamiya."

"Can't do that, Aida," the vampire Hanamiya grinned. "Here on Hirohito-sama's orders, so…"

"Take his orders and shove them-" her gaze flickered to the side and she saw Aomine a ways off, with Kagami behind him. Panic made the blood leave her face.

Hanamiya turned around slowly, a lazy smile stretching his lips but never reaching his eyes. "Oh, if it isn't Hirohito-sama's boy! And look at that, you even brought the grand prize."

Kagami's sharp vision didn't see the vampire move, and before he knew it, he had his hair gripped. A kick buckled his knees and he crashed to the ground, feeling the cold nozzle of a gun forced against the back of his head.

"You're Kagami Taiga, right?" the voice made Kagami shiver, and a knee in his shoulder made him grunt in response.

"Hanamiya!" Aomine growled. "What the fuck are you doing?"

Hanamiya smiled. "My job."

Kagami felt the gun press harder against his skull.

Hanamiya grinned down at the helpless werewolf. "Kagami Taiga, you're under arrest for murder."


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