Song playlist: Cha Ching by Imagine Dragons

Chapter 8

Clinginess

/ˈkliŋēnə̇s/

1. the quality of being clingy

[i. to hold fast or adhere to something, as by grasping, sticking, embracing, or entwining

ii. to be or remain physically or emotionally close; resist separation]

Yuu ducked his head and walked hastily to the front door. If he was sneaky enough maybe he wouldn't be noticed by-

"Are you going out? Where are you going? I'll come with you- wait, hold up Yuu! Why are you walking faster?"

In a flash Mika had appeared out of thin air, even though Yuu could have sworn he had been chatting to Akane in the kitchen just seconds ago, and latched himself to Yuu's arm like a parasite.

"Geez, I just want to go for a walk," Yuu groaned. He tried to tug his arm free but Mika had it locked in a vice grip with that deceiving hidden strength of his.

"That sounds great," Mika beamed. "Let's go then!"

But you've been stuck to me like glue since we arrived, Yuu wanted to say. From waking up together, to breakfast, to having their blood taken, to walking back home- Mika had attached himself as a permanent fixture to Yuu's side.

He felt kind of suffocated by Mika's attentions- hence him trying to sneak out for some time alone. In fact, why did he have to put up with it? Damn right he didn't. Yuu was going to tell Mika how annoying he was being to his face here and now.

Yuu blocked the exit with his back and crossed his arms. He looked decisively at Mika with a long overdue rant at the tip of his tongue. Mika looked back with those shining blue eyes of his.

"I…" How was it even humanely possible for someone's eyes to be that freakishly blue? "Yeah, let's go already." Wait, that's not what he had meant to say.

"That's what I just said! You're as ditzy as usual Yuu," Mika laughed as he pulled Yuu outside.

"Shut up. Did you just mutter 'works every time'?"

"Oh dear, Yuu is going deaf too now. Whatever shall we do?"

"Hey!"

Their impromptu wrestling match left them with dust and dirt trailed clothes and an unspoken mutual truce. They wandered shoulder to shoulder along the cobbled streets under the hazy orange gaslights of the underground vampire city.

It had been nearly a week into their new lives as human blood bags for the vampires. Yuu hated it.

"Stupid bloodsuckers," he grumbled, kicking his foot wildly at a pebble. It barely hit and sent the stone skittering pathetically a few centimetres. Mika snickered. "Stupid emo hooded leeches, stupid rations, stupid everything."

"The rations suck don't they?" Mika sighed.

"As if these tagged collars weren't enough, of course they have to feed us like livestock too." As if prompted, both of their stomachs rumbled out loud in unison. They automatically looked at each other before breaking into childish laughter.

"Shh," Mika squeezed out between his peals of laughter. "We don't want to attract attention from any vampires nearby."

The v-word sobered Yuu up like a wet blanket. He scowled at the ground. "Let them come, I'll punch them in the face."

"Of course you will." Mika rolled his eyes. "It's nearly dinner time, let's make our way back home Yuu."

A melancholy mood settled over them as they turned around and walked back. A streetlamp flickered erratically. Home. Once a bright sunny orphanage with the director's home made cooking and love, now a run down crumbling house allocated to them by the vampires for their small group.

"It's not my home," Yuu broke the quietness between them. "Living like this, like dirt under the bloodsuckers' feet. Where I born wasn't home, the orphanage could have become home but I know for sure this cage isn't."

"The orphanage…" Mika opened his mouth, closed it, shook his head. The streetlamp flickered one last time and died, shadowing Yuu's side of the street in darkness. "The orphanage wasn't home to me, at least not anymore. Maybe it's better things are like this."

"What?" Yuu felt icy cold, and then fiery hot. He grabbed Mika by the front of his shirt and dragged him up with his fists. "How could you even say that? That things are better now? Don't you hear the kids crying every night from hunger and sadness? How the fuck are you happy with this?"

"Of course I'm not happy!" Mika shot back, unusually frustrated. Yuu saw him grit his teeth. "How can I be happy when my family are suffering? But at least compared to before-" He cut himself off abruptly.

"Don't stop there, what do you mean 'before'?"

"It's nothing, let's just go back home. Please." Mika flashed Yuu a disarming smile as if nothing was wrong. "It was just a slip of tongue. I'm tired and talking nonsense."

Mika's face was open and honest, his blue eyes earnest like before, but…there was a tug in his heart that was telling him…

"You're lying," Yuu realised numbly. "You're lying and you don't care about us after all. You're on the same side as those bloodsuckers."

"No, Yuu, you don't understand-"

"Well then explain it! Tell me so I understand!"

Mika looked trapped and visibly floundered, but before he could open his mouth to spew out whatever crap he could think of Yuu was already storming off .

"Wait, where are you going Yuu?" Mika called after him, sounding desperate. "Don't go!"

"To get away from you! Leave me alone!" And then Yuu ran off as fast as he could, not caring where he was going as long as it was away from his so-called friend.

His footsteps pounded hard like the blood rushing in his ears. With each step away from Mika he could feel the tug in his heart from earlier pulling harder, as if there was an invisible bond between the two that was being strained apart.

He didn't care. He really didn't. Why should he care what Mika thought?

The cobbled paths were flying beneath his feet, his breath coming out in painful puffs now. A muscle burn in his leg sent him tripping over cluster of pipes and sprawling helplessly onto the ground.

He swore and pushed himself up on his palms only to wobble and collapse back. Looking down Yuu saw his hands sliced open with cuts and red friction burns. The steady drip of his crimson blood was trickling down his arms.

"Ugh." Yuu grimaced. With a groan he buried his head in his arms. All his suppressed fear and anger and worry ever since the vampires had enslaved them was welling up, dampening his eyes. Guilt was gnawing at his stomach too now at how he had snapped at Mika, but he couldn't bring himself to go back and face him.

He couldn't even bring himself to get up again.

Yuu abruptly choked as a hand suddenly clamped down on his neck.

He gasped for air, his hands clawing at his throat wildly. A leering face leaned down to his, ghastly pale and haunting.

"Looks like I've found a stray livestock," the vampire murmured with a guttural voice that sent shivers down Yuu's spine. "Piped blood is so stale. No one will notice a missing sheep."

"After all" –the male lowered his mouth onto Yuu's bleeding palms, the latter pinned like a dummy in the chokehold- "fresh blood" –a scrape of deadly sharp fangs on his flesh- "is so much more delicious from the source."

A slimy tongue slid along his skin like a snail, lapping up the blood. Yuu felt the body on top of his abruptly jolt as if it had been electrocuted.

"What a divine taste," the vampire exclaimed in pure shock, more to himself at this point than his captive. The edges of Yuu's vision were fading out from oxygen deprivation. Everything felt fuzzy and painful. "How is it a possible for a human to taste like this? Why haven't the vampire population been alerted of such an abnormally high calibre blood source-"

The pressure on Yuu's neck abruptly cut off. He immediately inhaled deep lungfuls of precious air, panting hard. Looking up from where he sat, Yuu's eyes widened dramatically at his attacker gurgling on his own blood. A blade was embedded into his undead heart deep enough to stick out from his chest.

"Denizen of Sanguinem," a hooded guard intoned monotonously from behind him. "You have infringed upon the laws of this noble city and are charged guilty of drinking directly from a human livestock. As per Her Majesty's will, your crimes are punishable by immediate death."

"Wait! As a denizen I have the right for a public trial-"

"Her Majesty's orders are absolute."

The cry of metal slicing through the air rang together with the vampire's screech as his head was severed in a clean swipe. Yuu couldn't tear his eyes away from the vampire as it disintegrated before him into a swirl of fire and ash. The guard flicked his wrist efficiently, cleaning his sword in that one powerful movement, before sheathing it at his hip.

Then he took a step towards Yuu. Panicking, Yuu scrambled back. His bleeding hands left smears of blood along the stone floor as if he were in a horror movie. The guard's mouth tilted down and his next words couldn't have sounded more foreboding to Yuu if the grim reaper himself had uttered them himself.

"Yuichirou Hyakuya."

"Oh, sir, I'm so sorry!' Yuu found himself encased in a protective hug from- Mika?!. "He got lost on his way home, we're sorry for troubling you! We'll be going straight back home now!"

For one terrifying moment Yuu thought Mika's usual charming smile had zero effect on the guard's stotic hooded face. But to his relief the guard didn't move as Mika dragged Yuu away, simply standing still like a statue. Yuu could almost feel his penetrating gaze watch them leave.

"What- Mika- where did you come fro-"

"Not now," Mika hushed him and Yuu felt himself flush as the memories of their argument flooded back to him all at once. "Get back safe first, talking later."

Yuu obliged and shut up.

The candle flame was playing with the shadows on the cobbled wall, twisting and turning. Yuu watched its dance with lidded eyes as Mika herded the children to their upper sleeping floor.

The walk back had been too tense to worry about their fight with the threat of being caught by another vampire looming over their heads. As soon as they stepped inside though the awkwardness had hit them at full force. Mika had been abnormally quiet as he wrapped up Yuu's injuries with only a few short words asking Yuu to lift his hand or spread his fingers, and Yuu hadn't built up the nerve to breach the taboo topic.

It wasn't like Yuu at all. He had never been one to hold back his words (except for with his parents which he reallydidn'twanttothinkabout) but this was his first real conflict with his first real friend. What the hell were you supposed to do?

"Everyone tucked in?" Mika asked brightly. Of course he wouldn't show anyone else if he was upset. Yuu was beginning to see Mika wasn't as easy to read as he seemed.

"Yeess," came the chorus of replies from the children, ranging from adorably sleepily to wide awake.

"Okay, good night everyone! Close your eyes and go to sleep, okay?"

Amongst the yawns and pillow talk to bed neighbours, Mika lifted himself up the ladder and crawled over to his blanket and pillow next to Yuu. Trying to ignore Mika, Yuu drew in a breath and softly blew out the single candle in the room. The room was plunged into darkness.

Maybe it was because he was trying so hard to ignore Mika, that he ended up inevitably peeking at his every movement instead and saw the flinch that racked his body.

"Wait, are you scared out the dark?" Yuu blurted out before he could stop himself.

"…What's wrong with that?" Mika sounded almost embarrassed.

"Oh my god, seriously?"

"Stop sounding so gleeful, you knucklehead." And with that the heavy silence was broken like the clouds parting after rain. Yuu rolled over fully to face Mika who was looking down. "It just, it reminds me of some bad memories."

"Oh," Yuu said very quietly. "I can understand that. Sorry."

"It's okay." There was a long stiff pause. The silence seemed to be threatening to return for the rest of the night so Yuu grasped his courage and forced the words out of his mouth-

"About earlier-"

"What I said-"

"Oh-"

"You go first-"

"No, you can go first-"

"Boys!" Kagame's half asleep voice hissed from somewhere. "Keep it down or even better, go to sleep or I'll poison you both when it's my turn to cook tomorrow!"

Yuu and Mika clamped their mouths shut and shared a fearful look. With slow careful movements Mika wriggled closer to Yuu, dragging his blanket and pillow with him. He lowered his voice enough for just the two of them to hear and whispered, "She's scary when she's mad."

"Yeah, I know right?"

Within their makeshift bubble of privacy Yuu took the chance to mumble, "I-I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to shout at you. I don't care what secrets you keep from me but you being okay with how we're chained by the bloodsuckers got me angry."

"No, I'm the one who should be saying sorry. If it wasn't for me you wouldn't have run away and nearly got killed by that vampire." Mika traced his fingers over Yuu's bandaged hands with feather light touches, as if Yuu was made of glass. There was a burning black fire in his eyes that was pointed at no one but himself. "It's all my fault."

"Hey, don't say that," Yuu frowned. "Why do you have such low opinion of yourself?"

Mika just gave a smile. "It doesn't matter. But I don't want you to hate me Yuu. It's horrible, like a really bad ache in my heart. When I said maybe it's better things are like this I…it's because I've…seen some bad things back before we were captured. I don't like the vampires but I don't trust humans either Yuu."

"Yeah, I guess so. You did mention your parents weren't that great."

Mika made a neutral noise of agreement, as if they were talking about two completely different things but he wasn't going to correct Yuu. "What you said was right though. I'll help find a way to get us all out of here Yuu. Whether we're with vampires or humans, my home isn't with either of them. It's with wherever my family are."

Yuu didn't know what to say to that. He felt his cheeks warm up. Looking anywhere but at Mika, he flopped over and declared, "So we're all good now. Good talk. Let's go to sleep before Kagame really does poison us."

He could hear Mika's chuckle vibrate through his back. A thought flittered into his mind. "I forgot to ask, where did you come from when you jumped in front of that guard?"

"I followed you of course," Mika replied as if it were a natural matter of fact.

Luckily Yuu was too tired to process that completely. "You've got to stop following me everywhere," he heard himself say distantly.

"Nope. I'm never letting you out of my sight. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened again to my precious family."

"Mmm."

"Yuu?" But Mika could tell he was already asleep.

He shuffled closer so they were flushed together and hid his face into Yuu's back. In a broken, near silent whisper he confessed what he could never say to Yuu's face.

"Yuu, don't go where I can't follow…"

Author's notes: I have rewritten this chapter at least 5 different time but I'm happy with this end version. Thank you for your patience!