Captured Hearts

Chapter Fourteen: The Tame

8I Right from the start, I got sooo many reviews against the yaoi scene... Jeez, you people are really loyal to your pairings, ne? *a bit suprised*

All right, there won't be any yaoi scene, but know that just because it wasn't described, doesn't mean it didn't happen. *still need plot movement here*

TThis story WILL be a 6918 fanfiction in the end! Pleeease don't give it up due to the Basil18/18Basil that it takes to get us there!

"Nn... Lord... Hibarin..."

Hibari sighed as Basil nuzzled into his shoulder, and petted the other's head. He was certainly refreshed after what they had done, but he couldn't help feeling a little guilty. After all, he hadn't given Basil his first time, but his second, and by giving away his second, he was inevitably hurting Mukuro. Besides, he wasn't experiencing 'love' with Basil, only a sort of 'I pity you' lust, which more or less made the situation worse. Even though the vampire didn't mean to hurt Basil by having sex with him, he could sense that the younger vampire was aware of his feelings already. His true feelings, that was.

"Hey, Hibarin..." Hibari looked up and saw Mukuro by the door, so, after a moment was spent wondering whether he should stay or go, he lied Basil in the grass and walked over to the enclosure entrance. "Look, I know what you and he did... and I know I can't prevent any feelings from surfacing in you... and I also know that you won't understand when I say this, but... I love you... okay...?"

Hibari looked down, over his bare chest, and blushed lightly, even though he was still half-dressed. "Mukuro... I...," he began, but he didn't know what to say. "I... also..."

'He killed my parents,' Hibari remembered. He shook his head.

"Nevermind... nothing..."

"... If you and Basil show us what your instinctual reproductive behaviors are... we're going to eventually set both of you free," Mukuro said.

"What 'reproductive behaviors?'" Hibari asked.

"... Well... for starters, how you court one another," Mukuro began. "How protective you become of one another... how blood exchange differs when you're mates... you know..."

"And... you're okay with this?" Hibari asked.

"Yes," Mukuro said, yet he looked reluctant. "Yes, I'm okay with it, Hibari. I need to... focus on... my job... after all..."

"You sound hesitant," Hibari murmured. Mukuro glared at him.

"I don't have a choice, Hibarin. Just ignore me and be with Basil, already."

Hibari frowned, irritated. What he couldn't understand wasn't about Mukuro loving him, it was about Mukuro's acceptance of the situation. He couldn't comprehend that someone who loved him could just as easily let him go. It just didn't add up! "Okay, so... I'll get together with Basil," he said, not trying to hide the grumpy look on his face. Mukuro smiled sadly, and caressed the vampire's cheek for a moment so fleeting that it only hurt Hibari more.

"You'll be okay, Hibari. You'll be fine... even if I'm not with you..."

'I won't be fine,' Hibari thought, looking back at Basil. 'Mukuro... you never hesitate to hurt me physically... but... why are you okay with hurting me emotionally, too?'

Mukuro soon left, and Hibari followed through the tunnel back to their former enclosure, intending to get Dino to let him out for a while. Mukuro left the enclosure, and soon after, the hunting grounds opened for the vampires. Hibari decided to take that route to get to the other tamer, but when he entered the hunting grounds, instead, he saw Bel and Hayato there. In fact, he saw them in such an awkward position that he almost left the hunting enclosure because of it. But as it turned out, he was neutral when it came to werewolf porn, and Hibari went over to the pond so that he could get something to drink. Shortly after he'd taken his third swallow of water, however, a pair of pants hit him in the face.

"Get out, you pervert!" shouted Hayato. Hibari grunted and glared at the two werewolves, who were now getting themselves dressed.

"You're the ones who were mating in here when it was our turn to hunt," he protested.

"Shishishi, that's true," Bel laughed.

"Why are you guys suddenly into one another, anyway?" the vampire asked. Hayato blushed darkly, and pointed an accusing finger at Bel as he struggled to get his belt on.

"It was all his fault!" Hayato said. "I told him I was only intrested in boss, but he wouldn't listen!"

"All right, so why was Bel...?" Hibari sighed.

"I was just expressing my distaste at being asked out by a FISH," Bel said, turning his mate's arm so that he'd be pointing in the direction of the merpeople's tank.

"So you're expressing that by forcing Hayato into something he doesn't want to do, huh?" the vampire muttered. "I feel for you, Hayato."

Bel walked over and snatched up his pants from Hibari's side, then said, "Hayato doesn't care. Tsunayoshi turned him down, anyway."

"Shut up!" Hayato barked, his wolf ears lying flat.

Hibari tried to ignore the happily waving blonde tail as Bel walked away from him, and instead focused on finding out more of what had taken place between the two. "What's up with you and the scientist?" he asked. Hayato looked down.

"It's nothing... he just told me that he wasn't intrested," he murmured. "'Cause the other day, I got to see him... he said it was impossible."

"That's a real letdown," Hibari sighed, walking over and patting the werewolf's shoulder. "Maybe there's someone else for you out there."

"Maybe," Hayato said bitterly, before looking down at Hibari's chest. "But I'm not intrested in YOU like that."

Hibari glanced at himself. "Hey, I can be shirtless if I want to. Both you guys and the centaurs do it all the time," he said, placing his hands on his hips. Hayato snorted and folded his arms.

"We're werewolves, for one, and the centaurs go naked all the time. Huge difference."

"They DO have fur," Hibari chuckled, then glanced back at the entrance as Basil walked into the enclosure. "You guys should head back to your enclosure before-"

"HAYATO! BEL! MOVE IT!" shouted Mukuro from the observation area. Both werewolves left on the spot, and Hibari walked over to the observation area, then waited as Mukuro left, and Dino walked over, a few observers at his side.

"Oh- hi, Hibarin, what's up?" Dino asked, reaching through the bars to pat Hibari on the head. Hibari allowed the belittling movement, but just as he was about to ask about going to see the merpeople or centaurs or something, one of the girls squealed.

"Can I pet him, too?" she asked.

"Me too!" said another observer.

"Uh- well, I don't know," Dino said, glancing back at them, "he's used to me, but..."

"It's fine," Hibari sighed. "But you're gonna give me something in return, right?"

"Oh, sure," the tamer replied. "All right, I guess you can pet him."

Hibari allowed himself to be fussed over for a moment, but he closed his eyes to endure it. They thought that was very cute of him to do so, anyway. Finally, once they'd backed off, Hibari reached up, straightened out his hair, and looked at Dino. "I want to help out with your work today."

Dino sighed. "Man, Hibarin, I'm pretty busy today... I don't have time to babysit yo-"

"That's why I said I wanted to help out," Hibari replied, gripping the bars in his hands and baring his fangs so that Dino knew he meant business. After a short standoff, Dino gave in.

"Fine. Okay? I give. But do me a favor, and don't bite anyone! Especially in front of the guests," he whispered to the vampire. He checked to see if Basil was focusing on hunting, then quickly went over to the computers and opened the observing area gates, before clipping the leash on to the collar Hibari wore. He allowed the vampire to step out, then closed the gate behind him, and pulled the vampire a couple feet away from the guests. "All right, everyone, trust me, this is perfectly safe, as you've seen, this particular vampire is very tame!" he announced.

"I have a question," one of them said. Dino nodded at her, and she asked. "Who trained it to talk?"

Hibari flushed red and folded his arms, glaring at Dino. The tamer immediately patted his shoulder, and told the girl, "No one trains them, vampires know how to speak." Satisfied, Hibari nodded, smirking, but then another question was asked.

"So you taught it how to help out around the Science Center?"

Hibari twitched. Were all of the creatures considered uncivilized pets here? "Yes, actually," Dino said. "He picked up on it really quickly, though."

"Why's he wearing pants?" someone else asked. That crossed the line for Hibari.

"All right, look!" he said, placing a hand on his chest. "I may be a different species, but I'm not a performing monkey! Vampires are dignified creatures, and we are allowed to wear clothes, damn it!"

"Who'd he learn the cussing from?" asked another.

"Probably Mukuro," Dino answered, looking at Hibari with almost pitiful eyes. The vampire snorted, and walked over to the observer's area, for Basil had come up to the bars with his shirt.

"Don't want thou to catch another cold," the younger vampire murmured as he handed over the clothes. Hibari nodded and took his shirt and cape, wanting to prove his point anyway.

He walked back towards Dino, and started getting dressed as the blonde continued to inform the crowd about his kind. "So that's why they're becoming extinct," he said. "They are all raised to believe that they shouldn't mate unless they feel true love for their mate."

"So does Basil and Hibarin share true love?" someone asked. Dino chuckled.

"Well, I suppose that depends on how you look at it, but they are mates," he replied. "Anyway, we're still learning about their reproductive habits, but I can tell you this. Blood exchange turns out to be a completely romantic event," he said. "I have yet to see these two mate without one being attatched to the other's neck."

Hibari blushed, and stared at Dino in shock. "Were you WATCHING us?" he hissed. Dino grinned.

"It's all part of the job, Hibarin. I watch everyone, actually." The vampire looked away, a little flustered to have realized that, but he was able to distract himself when Dino began to talk again. "Now, does anyone know how the fangs work?" Nobody answered, so the tamer began to elaborate. "There's a little slit on the back on the fang, so when they bite down, they're able to take the blood out as if they're using straws. Hey, Hibarin, you mind opening your mouth so I can demonstrate? You'd be helping out." Hibari hesitantly opened his mouth, and Dino told him to stay calm as he put a mirror on the inside of his mouth. "Now, if you look closely, you can see the cut in his fangs." Everyone came up close and observed, and Hibari rolled his eyes, making an effort not to bite the mirror, or anyone's fingers that strayed to close to his fangs. But, to his relief, that was over soon, and he could go back to focusing on tying his cape on. "Another thing about vampires is that they try not to cause pain when they bite. They believe that inflicting pain without neccessary is-"

"A waste of time," Hibari finished. "It's not good to treat your host by causing them pain."

Dino glanced at the vampire, then smiled. "Yeah. That's it."

"Can we go see the centaurs now?" someone asked. Dino looked at his watch.

"Oh- it IS about time for them to be feeding," he said.

Hibari immediately perked up. "I can help with that," he said. The tamer laughed lightly.

"Yeah, Hibarin's a real pro with the centaurs."

The small group walked up to the centaur enclosure, and Dino undid Hibari's leash, looking at him seriously. "Hibari Natsu Kyoya II, be a good boy and help out." Hibari nodded and hopped the fence, while Dino casually took the gate. "You can get Byakuran and Takeshi, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," Hibari answered, approaching Byakuran. The hybrid stood, and reared up, before landing back on the ground with a snort. Hibari bowed, and muttered, "You still upset? Basil and I are mates now, you know."

Byakuran sighed, and bowed as well. "All right, vampire. If you say so," he sighed. Hibari took the centaur's hand, and led him out of the enclosure, then noticed the observer's looking at the centaur in awe.

"Hey, are you cool with being petted?" he snickered. Almost instantly, a wing hit the back of his head.

"Don't even suggest it," Byakuran snorted. Hibari chuckled, and led the halfbreed down the ramp, then sighed when Byakuran cantered into the enclosure. Hibari quickly checked to make sure that Basil had left the enclosure, then headed back up the ramp to find Takeshi. As he was heading up, a certain appaloosa-pelted centaur was coming down, and Kikyo glared at the vampire, flicking him with his wavy-haired tail as he was led by Dino down the ramp. Hibari walked into the enclosure, and approached Takeshi, but yelped when he was suddenly tackled and held down by a silver-haired centaur. Hooves pinned his arms to the ground, almost crushing them as the centaur who bared them reared up. Hibari gasped, then cried out in pain when those hooves slammed down on his arms, snapping the bones instantly.

"You can't fool me!" he shouted. "Vampire's are dangerous to the extreme!"

"Ryohei!" Takeshi shouted, galloping over. "Stop it! He's not dangerous!"

"He is!" the centaur yelled. "Kikyo said so!"

Hibari could see Takeshi and Ryohei get into an arm lock, and they wrestled about until the ebony-coated centaur pushed his friend back. Immediately, Hibari scrambled to his feet, and gasped when he felt the hurt bone in his arms. Takeshi then trotted up to him, picked him up, placed the vampire on his back, and headed for the ramp, then cautiously began down the ramp with Hibari on his back. Hibari sighed, leaning against the human backside as the two of them headed down, and, upon reaching the bottom, Takeshi trotted over to Byakuran. "Hey, Byakuran! Ryohei just... you need to heal Hibarin again."

Byakuran snorted, and Takeshi let the vampire off his back. "All right, but seriously..."

Hibari crawled beneath the hybrid's outstretched wing, longing for relief from the pain, and panted as the healing process began. Soon after, however, Dino ran over to them. "Hibarin, are you all right?"

"He's been injured by Ryohei," Takeshi explained. "Ryohei almost crushed his arms."

Dino ran back up the ramp, and sighed when he saw the silver centaur racing around the enclosure. Sighing, he looked at the whip on my belt. "He's been like this ever since Lussuria stopped visiting him," he murmured. "Maybe... it's about time to shoot him."

-End Chapter

Hehe! Mostly side-pairing development here! But don't worry, it will all turn out as B26, 5980, 6918, and Ryohei won't be shot.

Please Review!