You'll realise Alex is a lot older than in canon, but in a way they all are, artistic freedom and all that XD It's related to the plot though, that's why. Everything is there for a reason!
Chapter 12: Bloodied Secrets
Hanamiya was a patient man.
Not patient enough to wait and set a meeting, but definitely patient enough to break into a lock or two.
While his boss was busy talking to that damn dog who would undoubtedly end up telling them useless information, Hanamiya was working. The Wayward Wolf was directly connected from the back to the Crimson Claw HQ, a downtrodden and unassuming building hidden among the apartment blocks of Harajuku. Hanamiya preferred the stylised architecture of the Aomine household any day.
The lock clicked into place and Hanamiya smiled triumphantly, pocketing his tools back into his wide sleeves. He slowly opened the door, peering into the darkened hallway. He wasn't stupid enough to waltz through the front door, so slipping through a partially hidden locked door that was probably used for deliveries was a safer bet.
He closed it behind him and looked around. Vampire night vision wasn't as good as a werewolf's, but whereas werewolves excelled in their senses, vampires were physically stronger and faster. Unless it was a full moon, then vampires would be better off locking their doors and filling their pistols with silver bullets, waiting it out.
Just thinking of werewolves put a scowl on Hanamiya's face, but he shook the thoughts away. A few seconds of adjustment and a lot of squinting later coupled with the golden light of the early morning sun filtering through the gap beneath the door made sure the vampire was able to see well enough.
Being mixed blood, his scent wasn't as strongly vampiric as a purebloods, but he still made sure to keep his distance from any potential werewolves that may be waking up for an early start. He strained his ears for any footsteps and moved quickly up the stairs and down the hallways until he came across a door labelled Nijimura S. It was the only door on the entire floor, and Hanamiya dropped to his knees and got to work on the lock again.
Bingo! He grinned as he succeeded, turning the doorknob and peering inside.
There was enough light seeping through the closed blinds for him to view the carnage within the room. The smell of werewolf blood hit him in the face so hard he physically staggered back, and his sharp eyes took in the bottles of sleeping pills and ripped sheets with a touch of horror. Before he could see anything else, however, a hand grabbed the back of his yukata and slammed him against the opposite wall.
A werewolf towered over him, dark hair pulled back into cornrows and braids brushing his neck. He growled, grey eyes narrowed. "What the fuck are you doing here, bloodsucker?"
Hanamiya raised his arms, smirking. "I got lost, and I didn't see anyone to ask for directions."
The werewolf snarled. "You take me for an idiot?"
"Not at all, Haizaki. But I do know that you frequently go to bars on the borders of vampire and lycanthrope territory, and get drunk off your ass using Crimson Claw funds. You wouldn't like Nijimura to know that, would you?" Haizaki's eyes widened and his grip tightened. Hanamiya frowned. "Now this is a very expensive yukata, and you're crumpling it."
The werewolf stepped back. "Who are you?"
"Hanamiya Makoto," Hanamiya straightened his clothes. "Aomine's best informant. I know everything," his lips pulled back in a smile that could curdle milk. "Well, mostly everything. Maybe you can help fill in the blanks, dog?"
The stars twinkled weakly above the ocean of lights and noise that was the city of Los Angeles. A pale hand clutched the metal ring strung around the man's neck, and he let out a breath as he stretched his senses across the thread of magic that connected this ring to its twin, currently on the other side of the world.
Okay, his vitals are okay. Would it kill him to call once in a while?!
Just two weeks back, he'd felt a surge of power through the connection as though another sorcerer had cast a spell on it, or searched inside the link. Ever since then, he had made sure to keep tabs on the other side, just in case.
As if on cue, the mobile on the kitchen counter started vibrating. Kagami Taiga flashed on the screen. For a split second, the man thought in a panic that the magical check-up had registered somehow, and now this call was coming to demand answers, answers as to why a symbol of their friendship was so much more than just that.
Calm down, Tatsuya! He grit his teeth. Himuro Tatsuya was a man of calm and careful thinking, and jumping to conclusions would not solve anything. There's no way he would know. He's as dense as lead when it comes to magic.
"Hey," he said in the most nonchalant manner possible. "Taiga, how's it going?"
There was silence on the other end, but before Himuro could start panicking again, Kagami responded. "Tatsuya…you aren't mad?"
"Why would I be mad?" Himuro deposited himself on the couch.
"Well…I haven't called you since I landed, and it's been over two weeks, so I thought you would be more worried."
Himuro couldn't tell him he wasn't worried because he'd been checking regularly to make sure Kagami was healthy. How would he explain that? "A-ah, no, I mean…it's great to hear your voice, I'm more relieved than mad." He was relieved. Relieved that Kagami didn't know anything more than he was allowed to know.
Kagami snorted over the line. "And, uh, Dad? Has he gotten suspicious yet?"
Himuro smiled. "I do get a small heart attack anytime he calls, but I've known you long enough to answer his questions accurately. And my voice-mimicking spell works wonders on you non-magic folk," he added playfully.
"Oh, shut up," Kagami griped. "Thanks," he mumbled after a beat. "I'm still here for another six weeks-"
"Six weeks?" Himuro groaned. "What are you doing, Taiga?"
"Hey, the second Alex told me that the Blood Moon Festival in Tokyo would be the answer to my problems, you think I was going to wait around?" Kagami snapped. "I just found out some time ago that there were still a few weeks, so it's a little late now, isn't it?!"
"Okay, okay, calm down," Himuro rubbed his forehead. "Ryuuichirou-sama is coming back in two months, so you've got enough time, just barely." He hesitated slightly. "Are you sure…are you sure this is what you're looking for?"
"Yeah," Kagami's voice sounded certain. "I've…I've actually felt more at home here than I ever did in LA. It's like…the void in me is slowly being filled up." He laughed dryly. "We've been over this though, how you think it's silly."
"I don't think it's silly," Himuro shook his head even though Kagami wouldn't be able to see it. "I'm just worried. You're all alone there, I should have gone with you."
"And who would've taken care of Alex then?" Kagami asked. "I'm fine, Tatsuya. Be more worried about Alex. How is she?"
Himuro glanced at the closed door off to the side, the darkness under the slit showing that the occupant was sleeping. "She's well."
"Don't lie to me."
Himuro sighed. "She's resting."
"Is she…?"
"She's walking, but she still needs the cane," Himuro leaned back against the soft cushions. "What were you expecting, Taiga?"
"There has to be a cure out there," Kagami's words were tinged with desperation. "T-there's this sorcerer here, and I swear he's going through soul deterioration. I smelt it on him."
"And?"
"A-and then I didn't."
Himuro's brows furrowed. "What?"
"I don't know entirely, and everyone who knows him says he's never been through deterioration, but I know I smelt it on him." Himuro heard Kagami shifting restlessly. "How else do you explain that? Maybe he has a cure."
"Wouldn't he have told someone, then?" Himuro swallowed. If a cure existed, it could change everything. Most sorcerers were doomed to end up as husks of their previous selves, their body slowly failing them until untimely death, the price of magic. He was no different, although he tried to use his magic sparingly. The allure of spellcasting was hard to resist, and once one knew they had the ability, it was easy to ignore the price that would be paid in the future. "And even if he did have it, Taiga… Everything has a price." He repeated the words taught to him from a young age.
Everything had a price, even the smallest spell. And everything related to sorcery involved spells.
"Yeah, but some things are worth it," Kagami whispered, and Himuro's heart clenched. "Anyway, it's probably getting late there. I should go too. I'll call you more often, promise."
He disconnected before Himuro could say goodbye, and the older man clutched the phone tightly.
The light under Alex's door flicked on, and Himuro stood up to walk over.
"What are you doing awake?" he murmured, opening the door carefully.
A woman in her middle ages looked back at him, wisps of grey lightly streaking her blonde hair. Her emerald eyes were bright and focused on him, even if the wrinkles at their corners gave away her age.
"That was Taiga, wasn't it?"
"Yes, he's fine. You should be sleeping," Himuro sat on the bed beside her.
"I know you're worried, Tatsuya," she placed a hand on his, and he frowned at the coldness of her skin. "But Taiga has to do this. He has to find out the truth, and even if we are bound by oath not to tell him directly, we can still help him search for it."
"Ryuuichirou-sama won't be happy if he finds out," Himuro winced.
"That man hasn't been happy ever since his wife died all those years ago," Alex looked out her window, but her gaze was distant as though remembering some other time and place. "And his desperation and fear has made him – and us with him – hide so much from his own son. Taiga must know his past, and who he is. And Ryuuichirou's past should not stop Taiga from having a future."
Himuro wrinkled his nose. "And why do you think Taiga will figure it out at the Blood Moon Festival?"
Alex smiled. "The last one was fifty years ago, and caused all the events that Ryuuichirou tried so hard to bury ten years after. The Blood Moon Festival is sure to bring all the purebloods together again. And one pureblood among them all will surely help Kagami unlock his memories."
"Who?"
Alex patted his hand. "You weren't even born back then, but I still remember that boy. Small and full of energy. I was so young, following my mother blindly. But I remember that boy." Her eyes twinkled at the memory. "His name…oh, what was it?"
Himuro leaned forward to switch the light off again. "Please, don't strain yourself…"
Alex snapped her fingers. "Aomine! That's it." Her teeth flashed in a grin. "Aomine Daiki."
"You're what?"
Aomine shrugged uncomfortably, staring down into his cup of sake and trying to ignore Kagami's staring. Aomine had showed Kagami to a traditional Japanese restaurant his family frequented often, and gotten a private room for dinner. They'd ordered some alcohol, which had started a conversation about age, and when Aomine had revealed that he had just reached fifty this year, Kagami had spat out the contents of his mouth all across his plate of assorted sushi.
As the redhead coughed and tried to get his breathing back to normal, Aomine scowled and covered his discomfort with insults. "You're so gross, Kagami. Better not have gotten any in my food."
"Fifty…holy shit…" Kagami squinted. "You don't look a day over twenty, twenty-five tops!"
"Uh, yeah, well, kinda pureblood here," Aomine crossed his arms. "We age way slower. My father is like…over a hundred or something. He still doesn't know how to use a smartphone." His eyes widened. "Wait, am I…am I cradle robbing here?" his face paled. "How old are you?"
Kagami flinched as his head started hurting, and he moved a hand to massage it. Must be the alcohol… "I'm…I'm twenty-five…" His mouth felt dry, and the words…they tasted wrong somehow. Rehearsed. He didn't know what the problem was, he'd been asked his age multiple times before. Except now, in front of Aomine, it was…he was…
A cold sweat broke out on his forehead and his breathing shallowed, his hands trembling.
My age…my birthday. What's my birthday? Second august…no, no, what year? What year was I born in?!
"Kagami?"
The metal of the ring around his neck burned cold against his bare skin, hidden by his shirt.
"Oi, Kagami!"
It was cold, so cold, but it burned like a thousand suns, searing his flesh. His head hurt, like something had sunk its claw in his mind and was trying to pull it apart. His eyes rolled back into his head. Images, sounds, smells.
A cold night, surrounded by trees, pain, pain everywhere. Pain in his neck, a body above his own.
"I'm sorry," the boy above him sobbed, the full moon shining off the crimson staining his lips.
"It's okay," he tried to say, but too much pain.
Then suddenly, cutting to a fireplace in a warm room, a bandage choking his neck, arms pulling him away.
"Make him forget!" the man yelled. "Everything!"
"Everything?" a woman breathed.
Pain, so much more pain, but inside now. Pain inside him, squeezing his heart.
"Him too! Both of them!"
He struggled, reaching out towards the boy. "No!" he screamed, but his throat closed up. His heart screamed, his soul screamed, he felt like an important piece had been torn out of him, never to return.
The boy fought as well, held back by dark skinned arms. "Don't go! You can't leave me…not now…Taiga!"
"Taiga!"
Kagami blinked, staring into navy eyes as Aomine cupped his face, his expression stricken. "Wha-?"
"You started having a panic attack or something," Aomine dropped his hands to Kagami's shoulders, his eyes searching for any signs of damage. "You freaked me out, man."
Kagami clutched at the ring through his shirt, but it wasn't hot or cold, just slightly warm from his own body heat. Had he imagined the whole thing?
No, definitely not. Something's going on here. He looked up at Aomine. Murders, the dagger, and now visions? Alex said I would find what I was missing here. Is this what it is? He leaned forward, resting his head against Aomine's shoulder, breathing in deeply. At least right now, the one thing he knew for certain was how peaceful he felt in Aomine's arms, how his scent made Kagami's worries blur, and all his rough emotions quiet down.
"Are you okay?"
"I don't know," Kagami mumbled into Aomine's coat. "This…this thing between us…what is it?"
Aomine stiffened. "What thing?"
Kagami sighed, his breath brushing Aomine's cheek. "Our relationship. It's kinda embarrassing but…I like hanging out with you."
"I like it too," Aomine whispered.
"But you're a pureblood, so you'll live longer. And you're a vampire, so…" Aomine's arms came around him and squeezed, stopping the rest of the sentence.
"Honestly, Kagami, I haven't even thought that far," he confessed. "Why don't we just…focus on the present right now, huh?" He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. "There's plenty going on as it is, and right now, when I'm with you, I can just forget about it all. So let's…let's just…sort this out at our own pace."
"You're so corny," Kagami snorted, but there was relief in his voice. His tail calmed its nervous twitching and his ears drooped a little. "Can we just stay like this for a bit?"
Aomine relaxed under him, and Kagami felt fingers thread through his hair. "As long as you want, Kagami. As long as you want."
"I knew he was hiding something," Hirohito shook his head as he placed the teacup down.
"Haizaki didn't know much, though," Hanamiya shrugged. "Just that Nijimura hadn't been getting enough sleep, and was having dreams bad enough to cause self-harm."
Hirohito hummed. "It is odd that Nijimura would ask him to stay guard outside though. Stop him from sleepwalking?"
Hanamiya raised a brow. "Haizaki said Nijimura ordered him to leave his post in the middle of the night, so it's a bit counterproductive."
"I need to deal with the bodies personally, so take this," the older vampire handed over a wax sealed envelope, addressed to Akashi Seijuurou in fine calligraphy. "It will update Akashi on what has happened here, and you can fill in the blanks."
"Haven't you heard of a phone, or email," Hanamiya muttered, taking the letter and examining it.
"My son teases me on my old habits, but I still prefer the art of letter writing." Hirohito glanced outside. It will be a full moon again soon. Hopefully we can sort this mess out by then.
Hanamiya stood up and bowed. "Leave it to me," he smiled, turning around.
He was secretly glad for this task. He hadn't told Hirohito everything he knew.
What secrets are you hiding, Akashi? He looked down at the letter on his way out, one nail sliding under the wax to pop it open. Tell me, and maybe I can help.
