"He's kinda' cute," Tsuki said, leaning over the back of the couch and looking down at Shinya's motionless body. "Kinda' scrawny to be a blood lover though. You sure he even has enough blood in him to keep you fed?"
Kyo took a drag from his cigarette at grinned at her. "Didn't I tell you to get to bed hours ago?" he asked with a laugh, tapping the end of the cigarette against the edge of the ash trash. He looked at Shinya, waiting still for him to wake up; he supposed the mixture of weed and having his blood drained was keeping him down and out, but Kyo had never known anyone to sleep as long as he was sleeping.
"Yes, but you know I'm on your schedule of sleep," Tsuki said, walking around the couch Shinya lay on and moving over to the love seat Kyo sat at. She plopped down and grabbed a cigarette from the pack on the coffee table before them.
"Did I say you could have one?" he asked, snatching the pack and shoving it in his pocket.
"Oh, don't act like you don't take mine all the time," she rolled her eyes and gripped the cigarette gently between her teeth as she lit it.
"That is because my not-of-legal-age daughter should not be smoking anyway," Kyo said, hiding the smile that was begging to spread across his face. He and his daughter had such a strange relationship. She was almost like a sister to him, nothing like a child at all.
"Dad, are you really going to bitch at me about my smoking when you go through almost two packs a day?" she asked, blowing the bluish gray smoke directly in his face.
His eyes narrowed and he waved his hand to clear the hazy smoke from his view. "You forget that I don't really need my lungs, so I can tar them up all I want. You, however, need those," he smiled at the frown on her face.
"Oh yeah, rub that immortality thing in my face again why don't you?" she said sarcastically and took a drag from her cigarette. She pointed to Shinya. "So that one, how long do you think he'll last? Because getting rid of Kisaki's body was such a pain in the ass, I just wanna know when I should break out the bleach and black garbage bags."
Kyo looked at Shinya for a moment, observing the delicate yet masculine features on his face. He bit the inside of his lower lip and looked back at his daughter. "I have the feeling this one is going to be around for a while," he said, nodding to himself as though reassuring himself of his own words. "The others, they always had something about them that I could tell they wouldn't last very long. But him, he's very unique, very special. I must say I am quite the lucky man to have found him."
"He doesn't even believe in your kind," Tsuki added.
"I think he does now, after draining him a bit and explaining Chimachi to him, I think he is slowly getting it, somewhere in the unconscious he is swimming in right now," Kyo said, ashing his cigarette and resting it against the glass groove in the ash tray. "What do you think of him?"
"Well, he did throw up after I made him a drink," she said, the look on her face stuck between a smile and a frown awkwardly. "That's kinda' weird, and he is very timid and shy. You always have boisterous and flamboyant blood lovers, he is the opposite."
"Well, change is refreshing," he said. He grabbed his cigarette and took a long drag, breathing out the smoke slowly and watching it twist and bend in the air. "I'm going to take the city back soon."
Tsuki's eyes widened and her mouth opened wide in shock. She swallowed hard and took a long drag from her cigarette as well; her left foot began to tap nervously. "Dad, no—" she began.
"Hear me out," he said, holding up his hand to silence her. "I'm going to go about this carefully and skillfully, I'm not running into it headlong like a fool. That is why I got rid of Kisaki and got this new boy, I feared he was too integrated into the vampire society and could easily betray me and a moment's notice. This boy will be too new and too frightened to the city and its ways to say anything of my plan to those on the council. I was to begin the strike against them tonight, but I cannot. I am too weak, and my new blood lover is too weak."
"Please, Dad, don't risk it," Tsuki shook her head, her throat visibly tightening. She was trying to control her emotions as Kyo had taught her, to control herself like a vampire instead of a human.
It was a common misconception that vampires felt nothing, whereas they just experienced emotions differently. Emotions were harder to bring to the surface and felt intensely in physical manifestations—usually painful and suffered in silence. To show pain was weakness and therefore showing the pain caused by emotions was weakness. For a vampire to outwardly show emotion meant that they were experiencing it intensely.
"Tsuki, you musn't worry about me," he said in a comforting tone. "I will be fine, I have a lot more experience and am much stronger than I once was. You will not lose me to those men."
"But what if I do? Then who will be my family? You are all that I have," she said softly, looking down at the ember of her cigarette. "I still remember the day you got me…I cannot lose you, for I have nothing to return to."
Kyo sighed and took a drag from his cigarette. He never quit understood how Tsuki felt about her adoption or her upbringing within a vampire society. She was smart, fast, witty, and was like a vampire in every sense of the word expect for her feeding habits. It had not been her choice to be a part of his world—there was the chance that she could hate him for what he had done. He did not know.
"You have nothing to fear, Tsuki, everything will come together eventually. Right now I am concerned with my health and the young boy laying on my couch," he said gently. "I will not move against them for a few days, so please calm yourself and relax, and do not fear that the Devil will come to reclaim me."
Tsuki smiled at that comment. "What would the Devil want with you anyway? You're too evil for him," she said, taking a final drag of her cigarette and putting it out in the ash tray. She cracked her neck from side to side and got up slowly. "I'm going to bed, there is an exam tomorrow and I'll need to get to bed if I want to be up and out before the sun rises. You keep the new boy under control and quiet, okay? I don't want to woken up by screaming or crying or moaning or anything."
Kyo laughed and smiled at her. "I'll see what I can do," he said. Tsuki leaned down and kissed him on the forehead.
"'Night, Dad," she said as she moved towards the stairs.
"Good night, Tsuki-chan," he called as she walked up the stairs. He smiled faintly to himself, pleased that she had turned out so well. He had done a good job of raising her, and she had not been corrupted by neither humans nor vampires. She was perfectly in between. He was proud of that fact.
He got up and moved over to Shinya, sitting down on the arm rest of the couch and stroking the boy's hair. A small groan came from him and he moved into Kyo's touch, as though he were enjoying it in his subconscious. How cute, Kyo thought. He ran his cold finger tips over Shinya's cheeks, drawing another small moan from him and he stirred, his brow bunching and then relaxing. He was slowly waking up.
Kyo did not want to rush him, but he most certainly was an impatient man and did not want to wait until dawn for the boy to wake up from his nap. He gently shook his shoulder. "Shinya, it is time to wake up my dear boy," he said softly into his ear.
With a smile, he shut his eyes and imagined the sleeping boy. He focused his thoughts and pushed them towards Shinya, visualizing the thoughts as a mist flowing into Shinya's head. Wake up.
The young man bolted up, his eyes wide and his hand jumping up to clutch his chest. Kyo heard his heart racing as though he had just had a nightmare, a look of sheer panic on his face. His chest heaved up and down, his adrenaline having been tapped and flowing widely throughout his body. Shinya looked at him and jumped back, slamming hard into the back of the couch and bringing his feet up beneath him.
"Don't be scared," Kyo said softly, reaching out to take his hand.
"Stay away from me!" he said loudly, though the force in his voice was weak and distant, as though there was no meaning behind the words. He scrambled up, grabbing the top of the couch and practically falling over it, hitting the ground with a loud thud. He pulled himself back on his hands, his eyes wide and his mouth agape as though he were silently yelling.
"Oh goodness," Kyo sighed and walked around the couch. He was used to playing the game. The initial fear in all his blood lovers had been apparent, but not as much as Shinya was displaying at the moment. After all, he had just discovered the vampire world and found out it was real. The trepidation would be great for quite some time.
"Stay away from me," Shinya repeated in a meek voice, his eyes beginning to water. One hand went to his neck where Kyo had bit him, touching the four puncture wounds and the hickey left from when he had been bitten. He grimaced and quickly put his hand down, staring at Kyo and shaking.
"Are you afraid of me?" Kyo asked, taking slow steps toward Shinya. He knew he looked even more frightening from the way he was approaching Shinya, but that was what he wanted. Fear made people do silly things, and he was hoping to scare Shinya into doing something that he wanted.
Shinya did not answer, he only stared at him. Kyo knelt down in front of him and smirked at the young man, hearing his heart beat speed up with each passing second. The blood rushing through his veins was moving as such a pace it reminded him of rapids. "Do not be frightened, dear boy, you weren't afraid of me back at the club," he said, cupping Shinya's chin in one hand so he would not look away.
"You…you bit me," Shinya finally said, sounding perplexed by the action.
"Yes, yes I did," Kyo said with a chuckle. He felt like he was talking to a child. "You passed out so I brought you home with me. Tsuki even cleaned you up a bit because you were bleeding on the couch."
"Tsuki…" Shinya said blankly, his eyes still fixed on Kyo's eyes and unable to look away from his piercing gaze. It was such a simple advantage vampires had over the humans, their hypnotic eyes. Kyo was of the few left who still utilized the trait.
"My daughter, the girl from the bar," Kyo explained. He shut his eyes and visualized the mist again. Go, sit down on the couch. Calm yourself, but not too much. We are going to talk, my new love. He let go of Shinya's chin and a look of confusion and frustration came over his delicate face. His legs shook as he stood up and his movements were slow and rigid, as though he were trying to convince his body to stop moving but unable to.
He sat down and leaning back into the plush leather couch. His breathing slowed and Kyo listened carefully until his heart beat evened out to a regular pace before moving over to the couch and sitting near him; he left enough space to make Shinya feel a bit more comfortable about the situation. "What are you doing to me?" Shinya asked calmly, his face relaxed and his jaw relaxed, revealing a saddened and at the same time desperate look.
"Suggesting to you what to do," Kyo said simply, pulling the pack of cigarettes from his pocket and pulling one out. He placed it between his lips and dug his lighter out of his other pocket.
"I can hear your voice in my head, telling me what to do," Shinya said, his eyes moving down to his lap and refusing to look at Kyo.
"Don't worry, it isn't mind control or anything, just careful suggestions," Kyo said, lighting his cigarette. "We are bonded now, for the most part anyway. That is how we can communicate. You'll get used to it eventually, everyone does."
Shinya continued to stare down at his lap. "Are you still frightened?" Kyo asked.
"Yes," he said softly. His eyes widened for a moment before relaxing, obviously he had not wanted to say that.
"Don't be, you were perfectly comfortable with me before and knew I was a vampire then too, don't act so strange," Kyo said, knowing full well why he was so frightened.
"I didn't believe…in you," he said, seeming stuck on each word as he said it. He finally looked up at Kyo, his eyes bloodshot and teary. "Are you going to kill me?"
Kyo laughed, taken aback by the statement. He had never been asked such a thing by one of his blood lovers. Then again, he had never taken one in such a forceful manner. All the ones he had had previously knew what purpose they would serve and who he was. Shinya was not at all prepared for the world he had just stepped into.
And some part of that just tickled Kyo's funny bone inside and out.
"No, I am not going to kill you," Kyo shook his head as his laughter faded. "You are to be my blood lover, and I your master. It is a very simple yet paradoxically complex relationship. It will take getting used to, of course, but I think that we will work quite well together, my dear boy."
"What is a blood lover?" Shinya asked, his hand moving up to his neck again.
"It is sort of like what I have running at the club, only on tap," he smiled. "You are to be my source of food, constant and refilling, as opposed to donor blood, which runs out. I will be very cautious when it comes to feeding as not to harm you or leave you with too little blood, and I expect you to observe the same caution when feeding from me."
Shinya gulped. "From you?" he asked.
Kyo nodded, taking a drag off his cigarette and flashing the puncture wounds he had inflicted on himself previously. "A blood lover, once fully made, can only be nourished by his master's blood. You can still eat human food, but it will not feed you. You are to live off of me, and I off of you. It's sort of romantic, isn't it?" he smirked. He reached into his pocket with his free hand and pulled out a pocket knife. He withdrew the blade and set his cigarette down in the ashtray. "You are most of the way to being my blood lover, the only thing left is the traditional vampiric contract. A blood binding. This means the world to those in my culture, and this will seal you as mine."
Shinya stared at the blade, his lower lip quivering.
"I will not influence your decision with my thoughts, this is your choice alone. You can be my blood lover or you can go on with your life, but you will die of starvation in the next few weeks. You can live in my world, with the rules of the vampires, and I will shower you with all that you could ever want and more. Or you can go home, pretend we do not exist, and fade away with your family. The choice is yours," Kyo said, waving the knife back and forth.
He watched Shinya's face grow very pale and his body tensed. He was confused, lost and uncertain of everything that had just taken place. And the threat of death—he had to admit to himself that that was an awfully nice tough. In all truths, if Shinya got up and walked away the affects of vampiric blood would send him into a drug-like withdrawal for a few days and he would be fine.
But he did not know that.
"I'll do it," Shinya finally said, holding out his palm face up, his entire arm shaking.
Kyo smiled and a part of him jumped with excitement. He ran the blade over his palm and then quickly over Shinya's; he drew his hand back for a moment, groaning from the surprise and the pain. "Place your hand to mine, wound to wound. You're going to feel a bit of…burning, but you'll be fine when it wears off."
Shaking, Shinya placed his hand to Kyo, staring at the blood drip down his arm. His face tensed up again and eyes began to water profusely. "It hurts…" he moaned, growing silent for a moment before screaming out in pain. Kyo grabbed Shinya's hand and held it to his in case he fell back or passed out. Mixing human blood and vampiric blood was said to burn like acid in one's veins.
Kyo smiled as Shinya screamed louder, his body writhing and shaking uncontrollably. It was official. He had his servant.
Chimachi would soon be his.