A/N: I decided to make a (mini) continuation of Living A Better Life where we get to see some of Ren having to deal with his new vampire abilities. One scene is a bit inspired from the Cirque Du Freak manga.

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. That goes to the respective owner. I only own my OC(s).

Vampire AU P2- Adjusting to a New Life:

(Scene 1)

(Yusei's POV)

I slipped into the window quickly and shut it. It's been a week since Ren and his friends returned from that eventful night where I had to change Ren to save his life. He's adjusted well enough onto animal blood (though, he definitely wasn't too thrilled the first few drinks). His fighting skills needed work, but there was enough time for that. I'll just have to make sure he doesn't get into any confrontations with the blood-crazed vampires.

Right as I closed the window, I heard a crash and yell of pain coming from the other room. "Ren?!" I called, hurrying to check what happened. Different scenarios of what happened ran through my head. Did his father find out about his change? Or perhaps the blood-crazed vampires have gotten more bold?

I found him curled up on the floor. "Ren, what happened?" I knelt down to him. He was laying on his side with his back to me, moaning. "Ren? What's happened?" He mumbled something. He must have his hand covering his mouth. "Come again?"

"I scraped a fang against a water bottle and now it hurts," he groaned clearly.

A wave of relief flooded through me once he said that. "Oh, thank gods, it wasn't anything serious."

"It is so serious! It feels like someone took a sledge hammer to my f***ing mouth!" He rolled over to glare at me.

"That's because your fangs are still sensitive. They'll be like that for the first decade or so."

"Decade?! You gotta be kidding me!"

"It's just how it goes, Ren."

"How do you even know that? I thought you were born as a vampire."

"I am, but my clan gets a lot of newly turned vampires coming and going. I had to learn what the transition entails."

"Ugh. I have to be careful for a decade? Can't I get something to numb it, or use what I've always used for my teeth?"

"Any sort of human medicine will wear off much more quickly, and the only thing close for a vampire equivalent doesn't grow near this city."

He groaned, crossing his arms and pouting slightly. "Dammit."

"Though, I could check to see if we've got some left over. It'll take a couple of nights until I can bring it."

That brightened his spirits. "Thank you!" He threw his arms around me in a hug, realizing what he did a second later. "Err...I'm not making you feel uncomfortable, am I?"

I gave a smile. "Not at all."

(Scene 2)

(Ren's POV)

How well do you think you could adjust if one day you had super-human strength? If you're me, not very well. Especially when it tends to slip your mind that you're a half-vampire now and thus are liable to break things easily without meaning to. And unfortunately for me, a lot of the times my friends found this rather hilarious. Like times when I accidentally wrenched a door right off the hinges when trying to open it or breaking a window when I was meaning to only tap it gently. Thankfully, it only happened during the times we were by ourselves, not in the presence of certain family members who are the more dangerous vampire hunters...aka anyone other than my sister.

Of course, this latest event didn't happen in the presence of vampire slayers...but it did happen in a more public setting. Eric, Jazz, AJ, and I were all hanging out at a club that we frequent (not like a pub or anything; just more like a hangout) playing a bit of card games. Namely trying to be not the one to hold the joker card last*.

"Come on, pick one already, Jazz!" I hissed.

"I'm thinking, shush!" she retorted. I was down to only two cards left, praying that the one she took would be the joker card I got from Eric on accident (I swear, the guy's got the second best poker face...or maybe third).

Her hand hovered over the joker card until she grabbed the other card, checking it. "Yes!"

"Dammit!" I slammed my hand on the table...and breaking it in half. The noise caused the other people in the area to look toward us. Here's a glimpse of my thoughts the moment: Shit f**k shit f**k shit f**k!

Thankfully, AJ came up with a good excuse. "Who set us up with this old table? I'm surprised it didn't break when we put our elbows on it!"

The people mumbled, but they seemed to have bought it. We took our leave once gathering up the cards. Once far enough away, we all let out a sigh of relief. "Oh my God, I was sure we were going to get caught," I groaned.

"Ren, have you been listening to anything Yusei's been teaching you?" Eric asked.

"Yes! But it slips my mind that my strength has increased several fold, especially with someone of my personality."

"Well...hard to argue with that..."

"You know, if he probably wasn't asleep right now, I'd say we should call him and ask if there's a way to get Ren a chill pill. Vampire edition," Jazz said.

"Hey!"

(Scene 3)

(Ren's POV)

I yawned, sitting up from my bed with my hair tousled every which way no doubt. Ugh...okay, this half-vampire thing is really going to screw up my already horrible sleep schedule, I thought after glancing at the clock on my nightstand and grimacing. A weight around my waist alerted me that I wasn't alone in the bed.

Looking down, I saw that Yusei—the vampire who turned me to save my life—was still fast asleep. Then again, it technically would be considered his time to sleep, given the fact that vampires are nocturnal (and no, it's not due to their weakness to sunlight). I carefully tried slipping out of his grip only to feel his arm tighten and pull me back into a laying position.

"Hey!" I started pushing on his arms. "Come on, Yusei. I've gotta get up!"

"No, you don't," he replied.

"Yes, I do. And why are you being the one wanting to stay in bed? I thought you said you were an early bird!"

"Yes, at night. I'm nocturnal, remember?"

"You're pulling that on me, huh? Well, I'm...uhh...still the opposite, now leggo!" I hated how he was much stronger than I was. Curse me being only a half-vampire! "What if AJ calls?"

"Just say you're tired from training."

"Really?" Well, it probably wouldn't be a lie. Yusei and I spent most of last night with combat training, or maybe I should call it me crying 'Uncle' for most of training 'cause it's hard for a half-vampire to fight a full vampire (or keep him pinned for longer than five minutes).

He didn't reply I shifted enough to turn to see him and his eyes were closed. Did he even open them while talking to me? "Yusei? Hey, Yusei!" I shook his shoulder a little but got no response. Yep, he's asleep and still holding me in an anaconda hold. I sighed, rolling back around. "Fine, but if AJ comes in, it's your head."

*- I can't think of the name of the game. I just remember playing it and sucking badly at it. I think I also remember seeing it in an episode of Inuyasha, too.

A/N: Blagh, had to rush this a little near the end to make my monthly goal. ^^' I'm getting a block on a lot of these shorts, partly because I've been getting into other fandoms as of late (well, not completely out of Yu-Gi-Oh! but we'll get into that later). I'm going to try to get at least the Christmas oneshot posted up for December when I can think of what it will be about (I have no ideas as of now).

As far as what I've been doing...I've been trying to update Elements of the Original Dragon, Remembrance (which has been started, at least), Split Destinies (not related to anything with Ren, FYI), the rewrite for Dragons' Souls (I think I might go with branching it off into AU territory during the Dark Signers arc, but nothing has been planned just yet; I want to at least get the prologue and first chapter rewritten), and some new stories to be posted. I also want to go back to writing on Treks in Other Worlds (which features my other Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's OCs of a different storyline) along with figuring out what to do with the Voltron: Legendary Defender/Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's crossover considering each new season of Voltron just wants to change every time! At this point, I might as well take it down and wait until the series is finished or just label as AU. Plus, I've been playing the recent Pokémon games and have been neglecting things. Sorry 'bout that. Well, I guess that's it for now. See ya!