Author's Note: Um… Well, I didn't have an author's note at the beginning of Chapter 4, did I? Well, I think I'm finally going to earn that M rating I promised you guys five chapters back! And before I get flamed, I already feel bad for doing this to Tohru-Chan, especially after how I ended the last chapter. But this is why I spared you watching what Megumi did to him. Please, please, PLEASE don't hate me! Um… That first line of dialogue from Tatsumi in this chapter, I had actually considered using in "Another Way" as a joke on Natsuno's part, but it seemed like something WAY too far out of character for Natsuno on any level. It works better with Tatsumi, as does what Tatsumi says to Natsuno at the end of the chapter, but I promise that one's all on him!

Brainwashing and Blackmail

Chapter 5: Jinrou

"Natsuno…!" Tohru's mind was screaming. His arms were tied behind his back. Tatsumi had given him just enough blood to keep him awake. Tohru had spent the entire day tied and asleep on the floor in Tatsumi's bedroom. He was black and blue from bruises that would have healed much quicker had anyone but a Jinrou inflicted them, and even then they would have healed quicker if he'd had been fed properly. Tatsumi had been abusing him since sunset.

After several hours Tatsumi decided just beating on Tohru was becoming boring. Sunako had given him leave to do whatever he wanted. He hesitated at first, he wasn't really into doing this kind of thing with guys. Not that he hadn't in the past, but he just didn't care for it as much. Still, it had been awhile since he'd done anything with a woman, either.

Tatsumi gave Tohru an evil smile. The green-haired Jinrou grabbed the collar of Tohru's shirt and drug him to the nearby bed. Tatsumi flopped down on the bed and pulled his cock out of his pants. Before Tohru could even attempt to move away or protest, Tatsumi pushed the bound Shiki's head down to his crotch. He could feel Tohru's feeble attempts to pull away. Tatsumi forced Tohru down on it until he felt Tohru's gag reflex-he always thought it ironic that Okiagari still had such a reflex. Tatsumi smiled evilly and gave a sadistic chuckle as he held Tohru in place by his hair. "Bite me and I'll rip your fangs out," he warned as he started guiding Tohru's head up and down his shaft.

"Mnp… Mmph… Mn…" Tohru's attempts at protest were muffled. He was thankful that as a Shiki breathing wasn't necessary. Tohru closed his eyes. He was too weak to fight back, and he didn't want to give Tatsumi the satisfaction of seeing him in tears. "Natsuno…" Tohru kept calling out for the blue-haired Jinrou over and over again in his head; as though he dared to hope that Natsuno would hear him and come to his rescue, but he knew better. All he could do now was bear with Tatsumi's torture, and hope this was the worst of it.

The earlier portion of the night had been long and painful. Tatsumi had tried to grill Tohru for any and all information about Natsuno. Was he still alive? Was he a Shiki or an Jinrou? How long had Tohru known he was still in Sotoba? Was he planning anything? Tohru refused to answer any of these questions; up till now, his loyalty to the Shiki had only existed out of fear. Every refusal to answer brought a new cut, bite, or bruise. Tohru had already been blackmailed into betraying Natsuno once, and he was somehow resistant to the brainwashing and hypnotism of his 'sires'. There was nothing they could do to bend him to their will anymore. However, no matter how sadistic he'd accused Tatsumi of being, he never expected the green-haired Jinrou would actually go this far.

Meanwhile

Natsuno was pacing in his living room. Tohru had never been this late. He hoped for the best but feared the worst. Natsuno sat on the couch, his hands folded into each other and his face rested worriedly upon his fingers. "Perhaps something happened that he couldn't sneak away tonight?" he thought hopefully, "They probably sent him with a new Shiki to hunt or sent one of the higher ranks to keep an eye on him." Natsuno hoped against hope that's all there was to it.

However, he couldn't deny he was worried. Something felt off, even the night air felt thicker, heavier, fowler than ever. Natsuno pulled his hands away from his mouth, realizing that he'd bitten into the side of one of his fingers. "Damn it all," he scowled, shaking his head. "Tohru-Chan, what happened?" He walked over to the window and peered outside, his right arm against the window seal, his forehead resting against his forearm, and his left hand resting on his hip. "Where are you Tohru?"

No matter how much he tried to convince himself there was a good reason for it, he couldn't shake the feeling something was very wrong. But if he left to look for Tohru, there was a risk of missing each other, which would only serve to cause Tohru panic if Natsuno was gone when he showed up. Against his better judgment, Natsuno decided to stay and wait. If Tohru didn't show up tonight, there had to be some reason he stayed away, but if he didn't come tomorrow, then Natsuno would KNOW something was wrong.

Natsuno sat on the couch again, leaning back into the seat, propping his left foot on his knee, resting both arms on the top of the sofa. He leaned his head back and looked up at the ceiling, letting his blue hair fall naturally around his face and neck. He had to try and calm down. Worrying and pacing like this just wasn't like him. Tohru would probably laugh at him if he came in and saw him in such a state, too. Natsuno was nearly ready, Tohru had given him information on the Shiki hiding places, told him where and when he could usually find Tatsumi and Sunako. The Kagura festival was in a matter of days. That was the night when Natsuno wanted to make his move. The village would be rid of most of the Shiki, and providing Dr. Ozaki didn't do anything rash, the villagers would be mostly unaware of what had happened to stop this rash of murders. Natsuno and Tohru could then leave, knowing the village was safe, and their friends and family along with it.

The night passed, Tohru didn't come.

The Next Afternoon

Tohru woke as the sunset, to find his hands were still bound behind his back, and he was still in Tatsumi's room. Several of his injuries from the previous night were still unhealed. Tatsumi left Tohru on the floor in a corner, only tonight Tohru found his feet tied together and his mouth gagged. Tohru's eyes looked around the room in a panic. There was no sign of Tatsumi anywhere, and it looked as though the green-haired Jinrou had no plans to feed the blonde Shiki tonight, as there weren't even signs of reserve blood having been left behind.

Tohru sighed and shook his head as he tried to pull free of his bindings. This proved fruitless, he was still too weak. He leaned against the wall. He was glad Tatsumi wasn't around to give him more of the same from the previous night. As that one thought sent a chill running down his spine, he shook his head again, trying to forget what he'd gone through the night before.

"Natsuno…? Natsuno!" Tohru called out the blue haired Jinrou's name over and over in his head, trying to find a way to help himself focus on anything but the horrors he had endured. "I've really let him down, this time, haven't I?" Tohru thought, "When I don't go to him tonight, he's going to be worried sick." Tohru tried again to break free of the ropes, but it only caused them to dig into his skin, causing painful burns on his wrists. If he could only feed, he would be able to bear it and break free. As the situation stood, however, he had to cave in to defeat. Struggling was only serving to make him weaker and hungrier.

Meanwhile

Natsuno sensed something moving outside. It wasn't Tohru. This was something strong and menacing, something he'd sensed twice before, when he was still human. "Tatsumi!" Natsuno growled.

There was a knock at the door. Before Natsuno could act, his father opened it, stabbing the green-haired Jinrou with a knife, and raving about how he'd 'killed' one of the Okiagari. Natsuno groaned and placed a hand over his face. His father's mind still hadn't fully recovered. "Dad, go lie down," he grumbled, when Tatsumi didn't make a move to attack. His father dropped the knife, gave a simple nod, and went to bed.

"Natsuno Yuuki/Koide," Tatsumi smirked, "So you are alive after all? Mind if I come in for a chat?"

Natsuno glared at the Jinrou for a moment. "You showed some restraint just now," he said flatly.

Tatsumi gave a low chuckle and crossed his arms. "There's no fun in killing a man who isn't in his right mind. Besides, that strike was nothing more than a minor annoyance, as I'm sure you're well aware," he smiled, "I can smell it on you, you're a Jinrou."

"Whatever," Natsuno sighed, "Come in, but if you try anything I'll revoke that invitation faster than you can blink."

"I hadn't planned on staying long anyway," Tatsumi said as he entered the house. Tatsumi gave some vague attempt to explain to Natsuno what a Jinrou was, but mistakenly identified them more with Werewolves than Ghouls. When Natsuno showed little to no interest in the topic, he turned it to Akira Tanaka, stating that the boy hadn't been seen in a while. Natsuno passively stated he knew nothing about that either, in truth, after Megumi had attacked Kaori and Akira's parents-having caught not just Mr. Tanaka but the misses too, Natsuno was finally able to reason with the two children and send them somewhere safe. Tatsumi realized Natsuno hadn't been drinking a lot of human blood. Though he didn't realize this wasn't the reason Natsuno was so tired. Natsuno had been awake all the previous night waiting for Tohru, and had spent the day with little to no success in getting any sleep out of concern.

He reached out and grabbed Natsuno by the neck, squeezing tight and lifting him off the ground. "You haven't been feeding on human blood, have you, Natsuno? True we Jinrou can survive without it, living off normal human food. But it makes us stronger, faster, makes our senses more heightened and in tuned." Tatsumi smiled thinking to himself, "If he had been drinking blood, his little Shiki probably could have called out to him for help last night, just by a simple thought." He squeezed a little harder before throwing Natsuno across the room. "This is the true strength of a Jinrou," he declared. "I could kill you on the spot, but Sunako wants to see our ranks grow. I'm here to invite you to join us."

Natsuno coughed and looked up at Tatsumi. "I think you'd better leave now," he growled.

"Well, you did say you would resend the invitation if I pulled anything, I guess," Tatsumi snickered as he turned to walk out the door. "Think about it, will ya'?" He waited until he was outside, and turned to look back at Natsuno, with a smile that seemed to say, 'I know something you don't.' He stopped and smiled. "Join us, or die, those are Sunako's terms," he said mischievously, leaning against the door frame with his right arm, and looking at his nails on his left hand, "But which one of you, she wasn't too clear on."

Natsuno raised an eyebrow. "What?" His tone was firm and commanding, as if he already knew where Tatsumi was going with this.

Tatsumi smiled, that struck the very nerve he was looking for. "I suggest joining us, Yuuki-Kun. Or don't you care about your little Tohru?"

Natsuno was standing at the door within the blink of an eye. "What did you do to him?" he snarled.

Tatsumi took a few steps back, with an evil smile. "Well, let me start by saying I don't normally go in for the girly-boys. I prefer real women, or guys with strong jock bodies like yours," Tatsumi chuckled while shrugging his shoulders. "Even so," his voice became villainous and he crossed his arms with a laugh, "I gotta' admit the kid made quite the 'cock sleeve' last night." Tatsumi laughed and quickly jumped away from Natsuno's lunge. Tatsumi had been drinking blood, so he was much quicker than Natsuno. "He's safe for now, Yuuki-Kun," Tatsumi called from the tree limb he'd leapt to. "Invitations work the same for Jinrou as they do for our Shiki masters. Come to Kanemasa tomorrow night, come alone. We await your answer. Join us, and your precious Tohru will be safely returned to you and raised much higher in our ranks. Refuse and one, or both of you will perish forever." With that, the green-haired Jinrou took his leave.

Natsuno closed his eyes and punched the wall. The wall, which had always seemed so sturdy bowed and dented under the weight of Natsuno's inhuman strength. "Damn it all!" He would have killed Tatsumi before he had a chance to get out of the house if he'd known. Now, he had to wait until tomorrow night before he could even set foot inside Kanemasa. There was nothing he could do for Tohru tonight. "Tohru-Chan…" His voice was soft and forlorn as he whispered the Shiki's name. Where those tears rolling down his cheek? Ever since these damnedable Vampires had come to Sotoba, it seemed he and Tohru were plagued with one misery after another.

Tomorrow night, then. This would all end, then. Tonight, Natsuno had to call upon his last three human allies and arrange a meeting place. They couldn't go with him, but if he was going into the lion's den, he'd need every bit of help they were willing to give.