_____.\\Hyper Chicken

One-shot: Princess

2009-08-27T11:01:23Z

Characters: Kuran family, mentions of Zero Kiryuu and Seiren

---

For as long as Kuran Rhapsody could remember, she had always been enthralled with her parents.

With her mother, Kuran Lyric, Rhapsody had more of a sister-like bond. Though she was already advanced of age, she never grew tired of hugging her mother, sharing many secret giggles with her when they were out on their regular bonding time, also known as shopping sprees. Her mother had always been sweet and thougthful, for as long as they could remember. She never raised her voice against them, and would just quietly cry to their father if her children upset her in anyway. Lyric was also a very clumsy vampire, prone to hitting walls and sliding down chairs, causing exasperation in the house every time she did. Still, mother's smile never wavered.

With her father, Kuran Kaname, Rhapsody had awe-inspired fear and respect. Like her brothers, the thought of actually asking blood from their father was and would always be a daunting one. He was a the stoic figure of the house, smiling his small, loving smile, crimson eyes unreadable, but for them his family, sincere. He was a disciplinarian and tolerated no spoilt behavior. But despite this otherwise sinister aura, Rhapsody knew that her father was a softie - he had the most unusual hobbies. He insisted that he did her and her mother's manicure and pedicure, and would often sulk if the two of them came home from the salon after from their shopping sprees, their nails done by someone else.

Even when she was little, Rhapsody could remember how her mother and father would always sit near each other; her father always having an arm around her mother's waist, smiling softly, now and then kissing their mother's pale hair. Her mother would smile perkily and have her soft arms around their father's neck. Sometimes she would kiss him endlessly, and he would smile as his cheeks blushed prettily. Rhapsody understood that her parents loved each other very very very very deeply, and if one were to go, the other one would not last long.

As soon as Rhapsody hit puberty, she had started sighing and hoping that one day she would meet a guy much like her father, and she would be as happy as her mother - with four kids too, or maybe more, living in luxury yet remaining exquisitely and gracefully simple. She too, would spend her afternoons with her husband, lying down in the garden with him, watching time roll pass them, while they remained unchanged.

It was her greatest dream.

~

She was the much awaited daughter of Kuran, for purebloods always made it a point to have a daughter or two every generation, and for the past three thousand years, her parents had managed three fine sons, now all adult pureblooded vampires. Her childhood was loving and happy, but she was not sheltered. Her father, Kuran Kaname, made it a point that as early as his children could walk they would learn step by step how to take care of themselves, for even though purebloods were immortal, none could last forever, and that he and Lyric would eventually have the need to retire.

She was as good as other boys. She loved climbing trees and could outrun her brother Yuuta in a race down the coast, where one of their houses were built. She was loud and loving, rowdy and reserved, a lady but not quite, somewhere in between. She knew that she was Princess of their household, the most precious daughter.

She shared the unusual passions of her family. She loved horses because of Zero Kiryuu, who had been with the household for as long as anyone could remember. She could handle weaponry and knew how to fight with her bare hands because of Seiren, ever loyal bodyguard. She loved MMORPGs, cosplaying, reading, manga and anime because of her parents. She loved music because of her brother Renji. She was fascinated of other cultures because of her brother Yuuta. She loved art because of her brother Izumi.

~

Contrary to her parents yet similar to her brother Renji, Rhapsody seemed to shine brightest when she was the star of a vampire night soiree. She would dress in the most fashionable and most beautiful ensemble, and behave like a lady, smile and dance and be graceful in the middle of the crowd, yet never lose her cool. She loved attention and reveled in it, not that her parents did not shower her enough. Perhaps it was a bit of vanity, but she liked all the attention the other vampires heaped upon her.

Yet she knew how to be careful. She knew the danger of being a pureblood - her father and mother taught her that well, like her brothers before her. That for all of their power they could be powerless, and their rarity could be mistaken for frailty. That a pureblood should never be raised too sheltered from the world, because in the end it would be their ruin.

She knew she was precious, yet she was determined to show to her family that she could do well on her own two feet very well.

And this was why she took on the job of leading the new Night Class, her father's old job. She was enthralled with humans, and loved their frailty and unique strength.

~

Yet life wasn't perfect, even for her. She had her own share of mishaps.

With love, it seemed that she was a bit of a loser, like her brother Yuuta, who had the mistake to fall in love with a terminally ill woman who would not let him change her. While she did not see how the loss devastated and tempered her brother, she too would nurse a longing of her own when she started to realize within herself that she loved Zero Kiryuu, out of all people. He was stoic, his own brand of aloof different from her enigmatic father, yet he was also a goof, always grounding them and making his jokes and ruining her parents' private moments maybe for the heck of seeing them flustered. She never took the risk of telling him her feelings, because she painfully well that he did not need a woman, and would never need one, much less her, whom he probably viewed as his own daughter.

She took a fleeting fancy to a human boy she'd met outside the Academy and turned him, misjudging the toxicity of her own bite. She watched in horror as the boy degraded rapidly before her eyes, turning Level E just after two hours. She kept him in the basement of her house outside the academy, not knowing what to do with him. Her brother Renji, who had dropped by during a world tour, found out her secret. The next thing she knew her cheek hurt where her father hit her. She was estranged from her father for a good eighty years, and when Kuran Kaname acknowledged her again, she knew that she would not want to incur his wrath ever again.

She had been the only daughter of Kuran for so long that when their parents presented little golden Iris to her and her brothers, she felt a pang of an emotion she did not know before - jealousy. She was ashamed by herself - jealous of a sniveling little baby who could not even see yet or crawl or talk. But she was jealous. The attention of her parents were no longer upon her, and she could not understand it. She wanted their attention back. Her 'bratty self', as her brother Renji called it, was back, and it led to another argument with her father, whom she often clashed against the most. Her father did not hit her, but refused to talk to her again, for a long, long while.

In the Kuran family, silence hurt where words could not.

On her mother's advise she took the first steps to reconciliation - baking her father little cookies, diligently go home every weekend for her regular nail care. She treated her father to a shopping spree, and watched an opera with him. It took her five tries to say she was sorry, and by then she was a stammering and crying mess, and when her father hugged her again, she thought she could never know relief so great ever again.

~

Her reaction was silence when their parents announced that they were going to Sleep. But inside, it seemed that a great void had opened up inside her and swallowed everything away, leaving her floating in the middle of nothing. But she and her siblings had been with their parents for so long. To think that their mother and father were now saying good-bye...

It was unthinkable.

She never could understand how Yuuta and Renji accepted things with this silent peace. Izumi and Iris could not. She too, knew she could not.

Yet their parents' decisions were set.

~

She could remember holding her hand up, and trying in vain to catch some ash in her palm.

Yet there was nothing.

She shivered, and hugged her coat close, and she looked up when she felt her brother Yuuta's arm around her shoulder, and he smiled down at her. She remembered smiling back at him and wiping her eyes, and then reaching for little Iris, who was by this point no longer little, yet they still called her that all the same. Soon her brothers and sister were all huddled around her. Arms were around waists, eyes turned to the horizon.

Their father always said that a vampire's end was surprisingly transient for something so long-lived, and at that moment, no words could have been more apt.

They were on their own.

And then Izumi mentioned dinner in his house, and that no, the lamb would be edible this time. Renji scoffed and was the first in the car, followed by Yuuta and Izumi. Iris wanted to linger, but Rhapsody gently had her hands on her sister's shoulder. It was getting light, she said, and that they should go. Iris squeezed her hand, and Rhapsody kissed her sister's forehead.

Together, the five of them went home.

Long Drabble 002 - Molten Rock

2009-08-22T22:44:04Z

Characters: Dias (lyricaltrinity ), Zakriid, mentions of others.
Fandom: Dragonica Online

---

The volcanoes provided spectacular entertainment.

Winter gray eyes followed the progress of flaming boulders outside of the gaping crater, great smoldering rocks arcing in the sky amidst dark clouds of volcanic ash and fumes. Even from this distance a trail of lava was still visible as the volcano spewed it out, like a long, molten trail of the thickest syrup.

The yogurt bottle in his gloved hands had long been empty.

Behind him he could hear Cailey instructing everyone how things proceeded inside the volcanoes: stick to the party, don't venture too far and one would not end up as ashes or a molten pile of bones. She repeats, exasperation in her voice, that if someone needed healing would they please stay still and stop running around so she and Marj and Aeir could tend to them properly. Somewhere, almost drowning out Cailey's voice, were the laughter from some of their friends with them. Ceaz was saying something about a suspicious totem pole, and Leongarde cheered, "Hear! Hear!" Ciel was laughing somewhere in there too.

Gray eyes move from the volcano to the stream nearby. The water was cold against his feet. It was something of a ritual. Before he went into any cavern or ship, he always made it a point to dip his feet in the water. It assured him somewhat. Assured him he was alive.

Black-feathered wings fluttered gently behind him, beautiful black things that his own dark hair seemed to cease to exist in the middle of it all.

"You've ran out of replenishers. Here."

Zakriid looks up into unreadable red eyes framed with short, dark locks. A Harlequin clad in a magician's suit - there was something strange there - was holding out some four bottles of blue replenishers for him to take. Zak doesn't take the bottles, instead raises a finger to touch the half-healed cut on the Harlequin's otherwise pleasant-looking face.

"That will scar," he comments.

The Harlequin merely shrugged.

"I have enough replenishers left. You keep them."

He gently pushes the bottles back to their owner, the brief gesture making sure their fingers touch.

Long Drabble 001 - Tomatoes and Cheese

2009-08-06T11:10:22Z

Characters: Noriyo Kyuuya, lyricaltrinity 's Dylan Keith
Fandom: D.Gray-Man (AU)

---

Somewhere on the bike a chime went tling! as a boy wearing Kaisei Academy’s black uniform rounded a corner. The bike was laden with groceries; a box of foil and some leeks could be seen sticking out of two large paper bags carefully placed within the bike’s basket. The boy himself didn’t look like a boy at first glance; his blue-black hair streamed prettily behind him, strands dancing now and then against his pale cheeks, or across his gray eyes.

The bike stopped by a two-storey house built in the modern design.

“Tadaima!”

A door creaks open and with a grunt, the beautiful boy lets himself into the house, a paper bag in each arm. The door swings, followed by a thud, and the boy lets out a loud ‘OW!’ followed by a muffled curse.

Dylan Keith didn’t shift on the couch.

Scuffles, movements.

“I brought your tomatoes and cheese!”

No answer.

Footsteps.

“Hora, I said I got your tomatoes and cheese!”

But the Puppeteer of Noah didn’t move.

A moment’s silence as the other moved back to the kitchen. Somewhere a cat meows.

The boy comes back and straddles his brother on the couch. Between his teeth is a small, perfectly red tomato, and he bends down, his hair following his every move. He presses his lips and the tomato against Dylan Keith’s, and finally he elicits movement. The older Noah opens crimson eyes idly and proceeds to crush the tomato in a juicy kiss.

“Okaeri, Kyuuya…” his voice is soft, almost a whisper as he cups his brother’s cheek.

“Bum,” Kyuuya answers as he leans close to the touch, gray eyes lit with a rare spark of joy.

One-shot: Before Forever

2009-07-20T11:05:59Z

Something spawned after some contemplative re-reading of the 8th volume. I just had to question some very crucial things, and hence, this one-shot.

---

The chess game is abandoned halfway, the white pieces almost mingling with the black on the board. I lean back and let out a quiet exhale through my mouth and look out of the window. The snow is falling and outside, I see a fragment of a memory flitting before me, of another age gone by - of another time, another story, another lifetime. I remember journeying in a similar winter, the clothes upon my back thin, and yet the cold never really touches me unless I want it to. I remember pausing and glancing over my shoulder, my lips parting in the start of a conversation. I talk to some unknown companion, a forgotten someone. As quickly as it comes the memory leaves me.

I start as I sense Renji approach me, and I turn to my little son with a smile, and pick him up from the floor. I sit him on my lap and wipe his mouth with my hand, gently, and smile at him. He smiles back at me and tries to stand up; I help him by having my hands on his sides. He wobbles quite cutely in front of me and laughs, and my smile gets wider. Children were adorable, no matter if they were human or vampire.

I ask Renji if he wants to have a book read, and he nods. For one moment I carry him in my arms and approach the shelves that house our collection of children’s books. He picks out Hansel and Gretel, a hardbound illustrated tome that I remember buying some one thousand and one hundred thirty years ago. It had been my son Yuuta’s, one of his favorite books in fact. I settle back on the couch with my son on my lap, and I read him the story of siblings Hansel and Gretel. I let him trace his little fingers over the fine drawings, and I let him point to colors and encourage him to find their names. He is learning to speak rapidly.

Izumi, Yuuta and Renji are not my first children. Yet when my sons were born, the feeling of mixed dread, happiness and apprehension were present as if it was my very first child being born. A parent never gets used to that feeling. I have never really gotten used to a baby’s smile, or a baby’s laugh. Each smile and laughter is like a new gesture, something I have only recently experienced. I revel in them. I feel as though all my worries are away. I feel that time somehow stops, and nothing exists, just my child and me.

My very first children were only two, a boy and a girl, the parents of the Kuran line. My son was born during a warm summer evening, and together his mother and I decided that he should be named Kostya. The vampire court greatly celebrated his coming. A thousand sacrifices were bled in honor of him. I remember being very, warmly happy. I remember Sonja faintly as she sits beside me holding our first child, and she is aglow with happiness.

My first daughter was born ten years after Kostya, a relatively small gap in vampire standards. We named her Ilya, and though her coming was not as celebrated as her brother’s, Sonja and I strived to shower equal amounts of affection and exact parts of love to our son and daughter.

Kostya and Ilya were born in a dangerous time, even then. I remember that as soon as Kostya could walk, I was already teaching him how to use his powers and his fangs to defend himself, and most importantly, to Hunt. I was already trying to teach him that unlike nobles and commoners, he had too great a responsibility should he bite a human; that no human was ever a play thing, because vampires owed all that they were to their neighbors. I stressed to Kostya and Ilya that all purebloods with us now started as humans, and that they should always respect their neighbors. I remember teaching them about Profugus, Level E’s, in a hushed voice, saying that the poor creatures should always remind them of their responsibilities as a pureblood, as a leader of this race that I had created.

Then one day Kostya asked me about the human captives being kept in the dungeons. He had went to Uruki, ancestor of the Hiou line, and asked that the captives be released. Uruki would not have obeyed if I hadn’t been looking on, but release the humans he had captured he did. I would never forget the look he gave me after.

---

I sit there stroking my little Renji’s hair. He points to Gretel’s hair and tries to mouth out the word ‘blonde’, but he doesn’t manage it. He looks up at me and smiles. I smile back, and marvel at the vulnerability of pureblood children. Our children have to learn early on that they cannot spare too much kindness to anyone, no, not even their own siblings. They have to understand how deadly an attachment to a human is. That the life of a human being is but a blink of an eye to us, who linger on through eternity. That they would have to be numb to a certain extent, kill or be killed, because in the vampire world, a weak pureblood was as good as dead.

Yuuta, my second son, had to learn how deadly an attachment to a human is the hard way. He had worked as a doctor then, and had found himself irrevocably enamored of a terminally ill patient. He had not told us a word of this, no, not until everything was over and he was a sobbing, helpless heap before us his parents, who could only feel sorry and wonder how much pain he must be going through. He had told the girl all about him, even what he was, but despite it, she did not want to be changed. Yuuta told me that she spoke this with so much resolve that he had wavered, and chose to respect her decision though he knew it would pain him greatly, and that he might never recover from the hurt of it forever. He had picked himself up admirably, nursing his broken heart as best he could. He had become more solemn after that, but he had moved on.

As I sit down I wonder how life would be for my little Renji.

I know that when a child cries, little pieces of the parents’ hearts are lost with every teardrop shed.

Yet we are pureblood, and we cannot afford to know weakness. We are doomed to an existence of solitude, forever unable to fully trust anyone. We cannot know any real friends, or if we do, most of them, if not all, fall back and fade as Time passes by, while we keep walking forward, each dear loss carving out a nick in our hearts, to scab over and heal, yet the scars remain, and we carry it with us until we decide to sink in that irreversible, eternal Sleep.

A parent’s heart only wants the best for a child, yet the heart sometimes overrules the mind, and ends up stunting the child when the parent intended to only give protection.

At this point, my thoughts stray to Yuuki – and inevitably, to Haruka and Juuri.

---

I still do not understand why they chose to raise a daughter in a windowless basement.

It may be a little selfish of us as her parents, but we just want to keep her safe.

Haruka could not look me in the eye as he had uttered those words, in that distant time in that selfsame windowless basement, when I once asked when they would let Yuuki venture out onto the surface, the outside world. I knew at once that it was wrong.

Parents would always have this selfishness for a child’s well-being, but how far could selfishness get? In the end, when the parents are gone, their selfishness’ long term effects would stay, stunting the child forever, and the child is left vulnerable when he is already supposed to be able to stand firm on his own two feet, able to protect himself from any and all danger that life might throw at him. But this is not the case. This is magnified for our pureblooded children, rare and dangerous creatures that we are. But our rarity is most often mistaken for frailty, and we are sheltered, oh too sheltered, and when Fate finally finds us, we are caught unawares, and for all of our power we are actually quite powerless, and we are dead before we even knew what hit us between the eyes.

I remember. I was in no place to say anything, nor object, because I was never part of Haruka and Juuri’s family in the first place, no matter how much they liked to pretend. I stayed because I felt indebted – guilty for all the trouble I have caused them, and that I sought any way at all that I could make up for it – taking up the space and the life of their lost son.

I still do not understand why Juuri had to even consider ‘providing Yuuki a different future’, when in the end she left her daughter still in my care, still close to vampires. A memory seal was to its best effects when the sealed vampire would be cast away, away, from any traces of that previous life. The seal would not break without the extreme want to remember from the sealed target. A perfect, peaceful life was achieved in the end, and the vampire would die as a human, enjoying that baffling ethereality that have puzzled me and my race since we had first existed.

I do not understand why parents should ever want to hide what their daughter really is. Acceptance of what you are is key to many things, even parenthood – and if you cannot accept yourself, are you ever truly fit to be a parent? If you cannot accept what you are, then how can you ever accept what your child is?

I do not understand why parents should stunt their child’s growth too much, so much so that their precious daughter ends up being too precious for anyone to handle, too vulnerable against her own self.

I do not understand the selfishness that drove Haruka and Juuri to kill themselves, leaving their daughter alone in the world, when on top of everything; they have not prepared her for the life of a pureblood, this damnable existence of unending thirst, limited trust and consume or be consumed.

Ten years of quaint peace. I never believed any of it.

What is ten years of mindless, idiotic peace when in the end, Yuuki would have to face the onslaught of the terrible reality of the world, yet she is powerless against it all?

I knew then, that she would never be able to endure Forever.

---

I start as little Renji touches my cheek. I look at my son, and there is a hint of childish concern in his deep crimson eyes. He is a sharp child, like his brothers, and already rather perceptive to things around him, much like Yuuta when he had been in the same age. I smile, and this assures him.

A parent’s heart only desires the best.

But our children cannot afford to be left unprepared, because in the very end, they only have themselves to rely on.

I kiss Renji’s forehead.

My son, your mother and I would love to see you standing proud and strong on your own one day, to turn to us with a smile and say, “Mother, Father, I can do this now. Thank you for everything.”

One-shot: In The End, Desire.

2009-07-18T10:39:11Z

For lyricaltrinity

---

It was a terrible mistake to say that he wasn’t a flirt. He was his own brand of shameless, the kind of shameless that was hidden beneath his dark dress shirts and well-pressed slacks; the kind of shameless that was hidden beneath a quiet, unreadable smile and alluring crimson eyes. His was the kind of shameless that he reserved for someone special – not that vampires, especially purebloods, were strictly monogamous.

Oh, he liked to flirt. Only he flirted in ways that baffled many, especially on those early stages of his attraction or infatuation. Many would mistake his attentions for downright eccentricity, sometimes subtle hostility. He was often amused with those who mistake his attentions for hostility. Because if Kaname Kuran was hostile to you, he would not be trying to sniff your neck, much less press his lips against your skin. It was quite simple, really. Sometimes people tended to over-complicate things.

He learned the subtle art of seduction at an early age. He had a very interesting nanny named Mana, a noble vampire from the ancient Velvet family who had served in special operations many centuries ago in the human-vampire war. Lady Mana was a sweet and caring woman, sweet and caring enough to rival Juuri herself. She often wore something in red without fail, and she liked to perform physical check-ups on him to make sure his body processes were normal.

It was his father who instructed Lady Mana to teach him how it was to use his pretty face. But of course being young, Kaname had to be taught in simple terms, like how it was to smile first, or how to kiss another young vampire lady’s hand. However, when physical check-ups were in order, Lady Mana would often peer to that little friend of his and say that he would be a stag one day. Young Kaname had no idea what that really meant, but he guessed it assured him that he would be able to make lots of babies.

After the disastrous binding, he had of course withdrawn from Haruka’s efforts to educate him further in the art of flirting. Of course he knew. He knew how to touch a lady’s skin to make her blush, or how to kiss her and make her want more. He knew the fine distinction of pale skin with olive, oriental and black. He knew to decide if and when freckles made the person tempting, or plain horrid. He knew how to thrust and then stop at the crucial moment, to pull out and push in, to pull what needs to be pulled and bite what tickled his partner the most.

And he hid that all beneath his silences and his smiles.

---

The first real victim of his experimentations was Takuma Ichijou. When he had moved to the Ichijou estates in Genoa, Italy, still clad in black from mourning Haruka and Juuri’s untimely deaths, flirting would normally be not in his list of priorities. Of course it wasn’t during the first few weeks of adjustment in the viper pit that he had found himself into.

Ichijou Takuma was the perfect victim. The blonde was too clueless on the most basic of things, forever prattling on about a book or comic he’d read, then about this or that game show, wondering whether Aidou’s noble image would make an appearance once more in the television. It took Kaname an observation of a week before putting his plan into action. He would start simple.

He began with simple brushes against his friend; a friendly bump with an elbow, or a brush of his delicate hands onto his friend’s clothed chest. He would start from these simple gestures to more forward ones, like sniffing the other’s hair, or otherwise brushing his nose against Takuma’s cheek, or ear, or neck. The blonde’s only reactions were a bit of surprise, a short burst of an almost-awkward laughter, and then he would brush off Kaname’s actions completely as if they had never existed. Kaname would almost smirk at many of these encounters.

Now the ultimate flirting for vampires consisted of two things: bloodplay and sex. Vampires held the act of biting and feeding at somewhat sacred perception, and it is widely-believed that the penetration of fangs into a neck is like the actual penetration in sex itself. Biting was both a pleasure, a pain and nutrition. Vampire lovers showed their affection in frequent bloodplay, desiring only the blood of their partner. Aroused blood was the most nourishing blood of all.

Takuma’s expression when Kaname licked his neck was that of a deer caught in headlights. The comic book the blonde was reading had dropped to the ground, and he was suddenly frozen stiff. Stutters of his name (K-K-Kaname?!) escaped the other in irregular intervals as Kaname sat himself firmly on the other boy’s lap, his tongue hot and wet against pale skin. It was a must to lick your partner’s neck before drinking to soften up the skin.

When Kaname’s fangs pierced skin, Takuma uttered a terribly delicious moan that caused the hairs on the pureblood’s nape to rise. He tried to keep quiet as Kaname drank agonizingly small sips, piercing his fangs deeper, just an inch, just a teasing inch deeper, deeper, deeper. Takuma’s face had gone from the usual vampire pale to freshly-steamed lobster pink.

While his blood was far from sating Kaname, the satisfaction on watching his very vulnerable expressions had given the pureblood the treat he had been looking for. How simple would it be, would it not, to swoop down before Takuma could make sense of what was going on, swoop down and take him out of his pants and put the other boy into his mouth, where Kaname would…

But he did not do that. Kaname withdrew with a secretive smile and raised a finger to his bloodied lips, and gave the simplest of instructions:

“Ssh.”

---

A vampire night soiree was a river brimming with prey waiting to be caught, or beached. Kaname mingled with the crowd, young pureblood lord with impeccable manners, while on some occasions he would not deny that he was on the lookout for meat. He loved approaching the nervous and shy noble daughters of this and that family, but he only exchanged with them polite, layman’s conversation – politics, marriage, prey, profit. They would not be able to keep up with his preferred level of intellect, and he enjoyed the simple blush they elicited. He was particularly amused if and when he graced them with a simple touch, and their quaint little faces would flush.

Sometimes he would accost Takuma, nervous golden Takuma in the terrace, and send him running away with a whimper.

Aidou Hanabusa he never flirted with, because he was sure that if he offered himself to the blonde, Aidou would die of a nosebleed even before he could land the first touch.

Souen Ruka was far too awkward to sneak a hickey on, and the poor girl seemed to have this strange idea that he was an immaculate saint.

Akatsuki Cain was…plainly not his type.

He supposed Sara Shirabuki was up to his little games, and she had proved this magnificently when they were fifteen, the first time they were introduced in a soiree. She had opened her fan in a distinct manner that said she favored him, and he withdrew with her to the terrace, where they engaged in a verbal duel on higher politics and history, something Kaname liked.

Sara also kissed well, not like Takuma, whose lips always quivered nervously when Kaname’s own clamped over them. It was utterly distasteful to kiss a shivering brat. She met tongue for tongue, Sara, and fang for fang when their playing got a bit fired up. It would have been terribly lovely to exchange bites, but they knew the value of the red liquid inside their veins, and they sought replacement – she copped him a feel on his ass, and he sneaked a hand into her skirt, fumbling in those lacey, secret depths, to find her wet with anticipation.

He told Takuma that he was not going home that evening.

It would he expecting too much to hope that she was still a virgin even in that young age. When they got to her chambers she stripped him almost hungrily, ripping his tuxedo where he stood, and he exacted revenge when he ripped her pearls and tore her silken dress. And then his hopes for a satisfying evening had been terribly shortchanged. She pushed him onto the bed almost impatiently, giving him no time for more delicious flirting that would ready both their bodies for later. She straddled him, and there was a manic look in her eyes that Kaname admitted made him nervous.

She didn’t give his body a chance to know if they fit well, or if his body loved her and desired her. She rode him like no tomorrow, the world rocking around them as her golden hair danced insanely around her. His grunts were lost against her overly-dramatic screams, and she ground so hard he was hurt. She would not stop even when his moans were already far from pleased, but she clamped down some more and continued in the same monstrous vein. He slapped her, but that fired her up some more, and they ended up quiet beside each other when dawn came. He would not look her in the face and he felt cold and terribly filthy.

In every night soiree thereafter he satisfied himself with just a small kiss on Sara’s hand and small idle conversation before he wandered away to safety.

---

When the Night Class was established, the school offered him a wider hunting ground. But he soon came to discover that his dreams for a fertile flirting ground was for naught. The Day Class girls were all amateur and awkward girls, forever shrieking and fawning so horribly that he almost considered dropping out during the first week of his freshman year. But he had promises to keep and had to stay.

The Night Class was boring in itself, as Takuma never grew over his nervousness. The bevy of vampires in the Moon Dorms offered him little beyond kisses and casual groping, but he did have his favorites.

Seiren was particularly sexy in skimpy jeans or slitted qi paos. Kaname had long decided that slits were made to be exploited.

Nagisa, the pretty dark-haired girl with a rose tucked over an ear, was an excellent kisser, but she had the bad taste of burping in nervousness once his hand would brush over a breast.

Aidou was still too frazzled for any fun, Akatsuki still not his type.

Ruka’s idea of him being a saint seemed to have intensified and this he could not understand.

The others were just too weird for consideration.

Another particularly amusing thing within the walls of Cross Academy was Yuuki’s little attempts of flirting with him. She would send him her looks and her glances, approach him and stutter and stumble over herself, and she supposed he found it cute, when he found it terribly boring and stereotypical. And if the days came that he was feeling rather naughty and he would take it out on her, she would blanch and panic and fuss about much like Aidou, and the mood was dead and cold to his utter distaste. She would never understand the light brushes against her neck, the subtle touching on her waist or shoulder. One side of him decided that she was no different from those boring human girls.

Kaname supposed Zero would have been a good target, but apart from that, he never really considered flirting with the hunter. It would have looked terribly horrendous, even for him.

It was outside the campus that he found some solace for the horrific company inside the school walls. There were interesting girls and boys outside the academy, a lot of them, and most of them human. A commoner vampire he flirted with would have run away from fright, and that was just sad. There were girls who liked painstaking dates, there were those who were satisfied with a bouquet of flowers and some romantic dinner. There were some that needed to be broken, and it was these that he enjoyed immensely. At the same time, there were boys who liked painstaking talks and drinks, there were those satisfied with a smile, and there were those who provided the right challenge for dominance that he sometimes looked for now and then.

---

Lyric was another matter entirely. In actual truth he never had her in mind for flirting with, not until she had approached him one evening when he had skipped class and asked for him to fix the hooking of her brassier. He was never one to let go of a good opportunity, so he allowed himself to touch her skin and marvel at her beautiful human frailty. She had caught on quite quickly but did not react violently, and then that little meeting was cut when Zero sent her scuttling back to her class.

They met only for a few more times after, but always during those times Kaname did not think of ever flirting with her.

Until of course, when things changed.

Lyric was very pleasing to be with. When he dared to brush her with a touch, she would blush or sputter, but she would hold her ground in a way that was entirely different from Seiren nor Sara. She would tease back, not shamelessly at first, but with restraint, and they would often end up laughing together, then trailing off to peaceful silence. It was the kind of silence that he found satisfying. The kind of silence that made him relax. And he enjoyed it with her immensely, in his own way.

He found out that she had water fetish in a burst of his playfulness. Half the dorms had already left for holidays, with only a few stragglers left behind. He had gotten the inspiration in the shower, and he left his bath dripping, with only a towel around his waist, and he had walked to her dorm rooms and knocked. She had the most amazing reaction when she’d seen him – her face flushed a beautiful rose, then crimson, as she stumbled over words that died even before they left her lips. He had asked for her to wipe him down, and this she did, her hands shaking, but still she held her ground. Afterward when his company proved too much, she had locked herself in her bathroom.

Her reactions were something he thoroughly enjoyed – he loved her surprised look when he would catch her off-guard with a kiss, or how she would moan when he would pierce her with his fangs and drank those slow, teasing sips of her blood. And, as teasing would often give way for the need for intimacy, they made love quite well, and their first time together had proved to be satisfying to her and to Kaname in many, many ways. Kaname loved the part when morning came, however, and she had snuggled closer to him in her sleep, her arm around his waist tightening as she gave this satisfied, sleepy grunt.

And then there was no need to stand on ceremony, or manners.

As the years passed by, they had never really relented in their little sweet moments, but they had both taken care that their own children should not be disgusted if they held each other close, or exchanged tiny kisses as they sat beside each other on the couch, or in the library. Kaname had always believed that parents could flirt without the children being grossed out, with the right amounts of respect and subtlety. It was something that he did not experience as a child, however.

In the end, though, in his eyes, it was about satisfaction and peace. How your beloved person would hold you close, trail a kiss on your ear curve and grant you that most intimate embrace, and you would never fail to be satisfied, and share a peaceful quiet. It was the kind of satisfaction that was never gained with a random cop of a feel, or excruciatingly long drinks, or a boring ball. It was the kind of satisfaction that you looked and waited for, for a long time. The kind of satisfaction and peace that you both worked hard for. There would be bad days, oh yes, bad days were crucial and added variety to many things, but they would work their way around that and give the other another chance.

For Kaname, though, in the end, the greatest satisfaction of all was just to hold her hand, look into her eyes and smile as they sit watching the sunset, and a flood of quiet and relief overwhelms him. And he was already good with that, as he knew she was, too.

One-shot: Through Young Eyes

2009-07-12T01:26:46Z

Title: Through Young Eyes
Character: Kuran Kaname, Kuran Lyric, Kuran Renji, Kuran Izumi, Kuran Yuuta, Kiryuu Zero, Seiren
Rating: G
Status: One-shot, complete
Notes: Inspired by VK role-plays I've been having. Kuran Lyric is lyricaltrinity 's original character. Renji, Izumi and Yuuta are both ours. Original characters by Hino-sensei.

---

Kuran Renji was the third child of four, and had the features of his father. As a little tyke of a year old and three months his shock of dark hair reached his nape, neatly parted at the smack middle of his head and then tapering gently around his angelic, rosy-cheeked face. His eyes were his mother’s, a pair of gentle blue orbs that flashed crimson whenever the need to feed came. As it was with little vampires, little Renji still had no fangs, and whenever he latched onto people’s necks to feed off their spark, all he managed was a little sucking on the skin, which often made his parents laugh.

He had two older brothers, namely Kuran Izumi and Kuran Yuuta. Izumi was over two thousand years old, and was currently helping a team of vampire and human researchers in the Antarctic in finding energy sources in the continent. He dropped by home at every important holiday with a penguin in tow, whom he had named Zero, to spite a certain silver-haired hunter-nanny-family friend.

Yuuta was another matter entirely; a thousand years younger than Renji, he was the most soft-spoken of the boys, taking after the temperament of their father. Of the three Kuran heirs he took more to their mother’s looks – a pale-haired, almost delicate beauty. He traveled around the world extensively, publishing cultural studies papers now and then about every major culture of humans and vampires he encountered. Like Izumi, however, Yuuta never missed a single important holiday, only he came back with souvenirs and not a live clapping penguin.

---

The house is vast, and quiet. The cube is multi-colored and a bit too large for Renji’s small hands, and currently the little boy drops it when he senses the silence of the house. He stands up, wobbles and grasps the edges of his crib. Somewhere the sound of a clock chiming alerts him. It is about this time that his mother would come, whispering soft loving words, and she would pick him up for feeding downstairs in the room that smelled of wonderful yummy scents. The clock stops chiming and his mother doesn’t come, and Renji starts to wail. There must be something wrong.

Footsteps sound, and Renji perks up, fat teardrops glistening on his cheeks. It is not his mother who comes, but another dark-haired presence, one that he is equally fond of. The baby squeals and raises his arms in delight, and a pair of strong hands picks him up and wipes his tears away.

“Hey there, buddy…mommy’s gone shopping, so I’ll be feeding you.”

Renji touches his father’s cheeks with his hands, and he peers up into those crimson eyes he knows so well. Daddy’s face crinkles into a smile, and warm lips rest on Renji’s forehead. The baby boy coos in comfort, assured. They go downstairs, where another familiar presence makes Renji laugh.

There is another man there, standing by the stove, who turns when he and his father arrive. The man is holding something silver and long, and it smells yummy. Renji smacks his lips appreciation.

The man is rather tall, with silver hair and an odd marking on one side of his neck. He talks to daddy in rapid words, something Renji could not yet understand. For a moment the baby boy watches them, eyes wide. The silver-haired man fills his baby bowl and hands it to his father. Renji is then seated onto a high chair, and he squeals, eager to eat.

“You are getting along really well, aren’t you?” his father says to him as he stirs the food with a spoon. “You are getting really fat…”

Daddy raises a spoonful of yummy stuff toward his lips, and Renji chomps down on it eagerly. Delicious!

---

Little Renji loves sitting on his father’s lap. He especially loves watching the glowing box with the little black squiggly line and some odd shapes, and an arrow that flies where his daddy’s hand directs it to. He especially enjoys it when his father presses something, and more multi-colored boxes appear, flashing before his eyes. He claps his hands whenever his father does this.

That morning, his father works on an extraordinary amount of colorful boxes inside the bigger, glowing box. The flashing, black squiggly line moves so fast that Renji barely has time to watch it. Excited because of this, he stands on daddy’s lap and attempts to catch the little line by clapping a hand toward the surface of the big box.

“Renji!”

Behind him, he senses his father’s chest heave in a sigh. He turns his head and blinks innocently at his father, who gently tries to pry him off the glowing box. Renji wails and tries to struggle. He had to catch the squiggly line! It wouldn’t stay still, so he has to catch it! He really has to!

His father’s hand keeps him down, and Renji cries. The squiggly line, daddy! He had to catch that!

“Just a little bit, son. A bit more and I’ll be done, all right?”

He wails again, but instead twists around to face daddy. His father’s crimson gaze meets his own, and for a moment Renji stands still, unsure of what to do. He wobbles. Left. Right. Left. Right.

“Aiii!” he cries, and latches clumsily onto his father’s neck. Renji’s father shifts, tipping his head back. Little Renji’s lips cover the pulse by instinct, and he tries to chomp down with his little baby teeth. He hasn’t got fangs yet, but what bite he manages leaves soft red welts, and his father’s life force floods into him as energy.

Renji draws back after four mouthfuls of the mysterious, invisible but yummy food, and looks up at his father. His father smiles kindly at him, the kind of smile that mommy uses and that never fails to make him feel warm. He raises his arms again and hugs his daddy.

“I love you too, son.” He hears his father say.

---

That peaceful moment was short-lived, and soon Renji finds himself put down upon the floor after he nearly toppled the glowing box by jumping on it. His father looks at him in an odd manner, and for a moment little Renji feels his first taste of fear. He wobbles a bit on the floor, and soon his father is working again. He was sure, however, that he did not want his father to look at him in that way again, so he quietly crawls out of the room.

The silver-haired man with the odd mark on the neck who makes his yummy food finds him and puts him back into his crib, but after a few minutes Renji finds the cubes and balls boring, so he climbs out of his crib and crawls around their massive house. Soon he finds himself in a dark room just beyond the room that smells yummy. Renji sits on the floor and looks around, but everything is gray and cold. His sensitive nose catches a myriad of scents, and he is curious.

He finds a clump of…something near him, and he thinks it resembles the brown yummy food his mommy and daddy love to eat for breakfast. The silver-haired man with the odd mark on the neck makes the brown stuff, and they are yummy. But mommy and daddy could make the brown stuff too. Renji crawls toward the brown stuff and picks it up. He finds that it isn’t warm and soft. It is cold and rough to the touch, and this close, it smells weird.

What is it?

He chomps down on the stuff and finds that it is too hard, unlike the brown stuff they usually eat that are soft. A weird taste floods little Renji’s mouth. He tries biting off a chunk, but his teeth do not have that kind of strength yet, so he contents himself with sucking. It tasted really, really weird. Like some metal…

---

Usually, mommy or daddy’s hugs and kisses would make him feel better, but for that day, even with daddy holding him really close, Renji did not feel better. He was crying as badly as his tummy hurt, crying so bad that he could feel his father’s fear and panic. He suddenly tips backward in an anguished wail, and only his father’s hand kept him from toppling out of the arms that held him. His tummy hurt. It spasmed and hurt and his mouth tasted weird. His sob is cut short and he flails, and he spits out lots of stinky stuff down his father’s back. Renji only cries louder.

Somewhere he smells mommy before he actually hears her voice. She speaks, but her voice is different, and as she talks little Renji senses his father waver. Then mommy takes him from daddy’s arms and takes him away from daddy entirely. He sobs into mommy’s shoulder. He sees his daddy standing in the kitchen, looking at a loss and almost…tragic.

---

It takes days for Renji to feel better. He had spit a lot of stinky stuff and had to have his diapers changed a lot more frequently than usual before he was better again, and could eat more yummy stuff that mommy made. All the while it was mommy who took care of him. Not that he complained, though, but somewhere in his mind he wondered where daddy was. He could smell daddy nearby, but he couldn’t see him. Was daddy all right?

He doesn’t see daddy, and though he loved playing with mommy, little Renji starts to worry. One afternoon when mommy wasn’t looking, he crawls around their massive house. His nose catches daddy’s scent and he follows it, and soon finds his daddy by the terrace, reading a huge sheet of paper. Little Renji climbs up his daddy’s lap and sits there uncertainly.

Daddy…looks different. There are shadows under daddy’s usually pretty eyes, and he looks so sleepy. He manages to smile, but it is not the kind smile that Renji knows and loves. Even daddy’s hair is a mess.

Renji rests his head on daddy’s chest. Daddy is much too big for him to hug, but somehow Renji hopes this would make him feel a bit better. He senses his father move, and daddy’s warm lips rest on Renji’s head. They stay like that for a while until mommy arrives and picks him up. Renji wails and flails and wants to be put back down on daddy’s lap.

Then mommy looks at daddy, but daddy wouldn’t meet her gaze. Renji watches them, unsure. He sucks on a finger, waiting for what happens next. And then mommy kisses daddy’s cheek, and leaves him on daddy’s lap.

---

Renji’s brothers haven’t visited in a while, and when they arrive, the house is suddenly noisy again. The baby boy easily recognizes their smell and their faces, and Izumi-nii carries him around on his back, something that Renji really enjoyed. He gets introduced to Penguin Zero, who claps his flippers and squawks whenever he wants fish. Yuuta-nii reads him some books, and Renji likes their colorful illustrations.

Lunch is a busy affair, and Yuuta-nii feeds him on his high chair as Izumi-nii talks with mommy, daddy, Seiren-nee and Zero-nii. Renji looks at his father and mother, and notes that daddy looks better again.

That evening, Renji is happily put to bed by his mother and father. Mommy sings him some lullabies as daddy reads to him from one of the new books Yuuta-nii brought home, and the last thing Renji sees before he falls asleep are the familiar faces of his mother and father, watching over him with a kind smile. Renji knows that daddy is holding mommy’s hand, and though he could not understand it yet, he liked the idea of that very much.

One-shot: Like a charm, like a chant, like a prayer

2009-07-08T05:07:18Z

Title: Like a charm, like a chant, like a prayer
Character: Kuran Kaname, Seiren
Rating: T
Status: One-shot, complete
Notes: A rather unusual pair. But I love this pair as much as I adore KanameTakuma. And besides, the fandom needs more variety. For esthiem

---

She can feel his gaze upon her, studying her every move. She almost purrs, knowing that he loved it terribly if she wore skinny pants, the skimpier, bold ones that could almost be considered as leggings – clinging to her thighs, calves and butt so fast that skin and clothing were almost one. Aside from those kinds of pants, he had always loved her in Chinese style clothing, especially qi paos, the notorious ones with long slits, as he liked to exploit those slits in every possible way.

Whoever said that he was not a flirt had it terribly wrong.

She turns her head, her bob of lavender hair dancing, and looks at him. He is seated behind his desk, dark, open-collared dress shirt open, and under what dim light the lamplights give she can see his skin still damp, still smelling of the green apple bath gel that he had always loved.

He is terribly sexy naked in the bathroom. Especially when he has her pinned against the wall, hips against hers in a furious, shameless grind.

She approaches and puts the stack of class hand-outs on his desk. He momentarily scowls at it, his crimson eyes narrowing. He was an outstanding president but that did not mean that he did not have his own lazy moments. He detested checking math handouts because he reasoned that for some reason, their classmates always scrawled their solutions in his unintelligible and undignified manner of writing. Whenever he sinks into this excuse she just pats his head and gives him an assuring kiss, and he is appeased. At least for that moment.

He says something, and she replies that he should not go lazy on her. He gives his pretty head a toss, and a faint pout appears on his lips. Strong hands find her slim, toned waist, and she is pulled upon his warm lap.

She is quick to take up the invitation and sits on him astride on the chair. She winds her legs around his waist and presses close, the kind of proximity that nobody in their right minds would have thought they shared. She buries her nose into his hair, and he smells of blood and roses and green apples, and she is quickly intoxicated.

His lips press against the skin of her neck, and she feels him sucking on her skin. Her eyelids flutter downwards as her voice gives life to his name in a hushed whisper, like a prayer. His hands wander and trail down her curves, and beneath her clothes she feels her skin tingle.

This is not the first time his touch sent her shivering.

Her hands curl into half-formed fists, and her nails rakes down his back. His fingers are cold, yet they have warmth, as they slowly work the buttons of her blouse undone. His lips are quick to cover the skin he has exposed, and she is once again vulnerable, helpless against the tide of his desire, and her own.

Beneath her, she feels him come alive.

A whisper of Seiren, and her innermost reaches tighten, and she is almost ashamed of the way his voice tempts her.

Even though it is not the first, she cannot help but gasp as he enters her. She clenches almost immediately, loving the way he fit inside her very depths, loving the one truth that she held him in her most intimate embrace, where nobody could go. She takes him into her farthest end as she rides him hard, grinding furiously, furiously, furiously, and his lips melt into a moan that drives her onward, recklessly, shamelessly, deliriously onward.

Miraculously, the chair endures.

He revels in the spill of her warmth, impossibly hard within her. She cries out as his fangs sink into her neck, and she feels him draw her blood, with such skill that no drop is spilled. He penetrates her all over again.

She clenches impossibly around him, tightening her secret depths furiously. She feels him respond with a thrust, and his lips let out the surprised little gasp, and he spills deep inside, a liquid heat that floods her with pleasure up to the very roots of her hair and the very tips of her fingers.

She licks the drop of blood from his lower lip, and he whispers her name again.

Like a charm, like a chant, like a prayer.

Seiren, Seiren, Seiren…

Slowly, slowly, his gaze softens. A finger brushes against her cheek, and she leans close to his touch. His lips curl into a smile that nobody ever sees, and she knows in her heart that she will follow this man to the ends of earth and time.

One-shot: Unspoken

2009-07-06T09:28:17Z

Title: Unspoken
Character: Kuran Haruka, Kuran Juuri, Kuran Kaname
Rating: T
Status: One-shot, complete
Notes: Another ancestor-centric story, but following Haruka's POV.

---

“In some families, please is described as the magic word. In our house, however, it was sorry.”

-- Margaret Laurence

It had been some six years hence since the unfortunate tragedy, and Haruka was still silently blaming himself for everything that had transpired. He had long resigned himself to half-hearted sleeps every daytime, to be awoken with Juuri’s very light movements beside him. Sometimes, sleep would escape him entirely, and it was during those times that Haruka would gently leave Juuri’s side, get into his slippers and go to the adjacent room that had once belonged to their son.

During the first year he had entered that silent room to find his sleeping boy curled up on his side, half-hidden in his comforters. It had been such a comfortable sleep. Haruka had stayed there well until noon and left only when Juuri stirred and opened the door herself. She had never seen him crying, as he liked to keep his emotions to himself, but that day, Haruka knew that he turned to his wife with tears silently streaming down his eyes.

I’m sorry…

Those words have lost their luster and meaning for Haruka as the days lengthened into weeks, the weeks into months and the months into years.

During the second year, Haruka visited his son’s room again, only to find the boy awake and staring at him in the dark, his crimson eyes bright. Haruka could remember hesitating by the door, but in the end he mustered up his courage and went inside, to sit on the bed edge. The boy had not said anything, yet his gaze was consistent, inquiring silently.

“My apologies,” Haruka ventured. “Did I disturb your sleep…?” The question trailed to awkward silence. What would he address this person with? Did I disturb your sleep, your Majesty? Most Illustrious Father? Father? Great Blood Father? “…Kaname?”

“No. I cannot sleep.” The boy had lain down again and was hugging a pillow, yet that crimson gaze never left Haruka.

A pause.

“Should I call you father, Haruka Kuran?”

Haruka stared back at the person who bore his son’s semblance. His hands curled into fists without him knowing it, and yet his knuckles relaxed as he shook his head, managing a smile in the darkness of the room.

“I would like that very much, Kaname.”

He and Juuri could not pick up all the pieces of their son’s memory, but he decided that they would make do with that they could save.

“Very well. Father.”

Haruka knew without saying that Juuri had never really gotten over it. He could not say that she wasn’t doing her best to move on, because how could any parent fully recover from such a tragedy that they had encountered? Only Juuri dealt with it differently – she had put an invisible barrier between herself and their ‘son’. He scrambled frantically to make up for it in any way he could; he silently vowed to himself that this boy was their son, no one else, and Haruka would raise him with as much love he could give, make up for what Juuri refused to hand out. He took ‘Kaname’ to fishing trips, taught him to play chess (but of course in the first game ‘Kaname’ proved that he needed no teaching), brought him to places around the world, bought him books and introduced him to eligible noble girls if he would suffer it. Juuri watched his efforts in silent disdain but she never bothered to stop him.

“Why are you spoiling him so? You know he cannot appreciate these things.” Juuri had asked him one balmy evening just after they had made love. “Do you not see the look on his face when you try to teach him how to drive a motor-car? He cannot understand, and he prefers not to understand.”

“Because he is my son.” He had answered to her, the look on his face so set that she had dropped the topic completely, but turned away from him to face the wall to sleep.

His efforts did not stop there. During one fall season when Juuri had refused to cooperate, Haruka had packed off some luggage and went to Paris with his son in tow. The reconstruction of the Eiffel Tower had just been completed, and they were among the very first few elite allowed to ascend the structure. On the view deck Haruka had pointed out the great structures of Paris and named them and explained their history in great detail.

“Would you like to have pizza for dinner, Kaname?” Haruka asked at around ten in the morning, as they strolled lazily in the Tuileries. “There is a great pizzeria somewhere around here, I am sure…”

“I am not hungry, thank you.” Kaname had replied. The child had found a bench and sat down unceremoniously to watch the circling pigeons overhead. The birds would not land with him there, and for a moment Haruka watched the birds too, before sitting down beside his boy.

The silence was something that lengthened as the years passed, as the changes became harder to ignore. There were many things too, like Kaname’s habit of going out alone in unusual hours of the morning, especially when the sun was at its hottest. He would return late in the evenings, his clothes sandy, sometimes his hair still damp from the melted frost outside. He would not volunteer information as to where he had been, and Haruka and Juuri never really asked. They would not understand.

Sometimes Haruka would find Kaname in the library, reading the books written in a language that nobody could now understand. Sometimes Kaname would sit upon the roof and watch the stars and sometimes wait for the sunrise. Soon the silence was something he and Juuri started to get used to.

“Pigeons never liked me,” Kaname spoke.

“Avians have never liked vampires,” said Haruka.

“They never liked me,” Kaname repeated, and Haruka trailed off to silence.

“Would you like ice cream, Kaname?” Haruka decided to try again after some moments.

“Did you know that the very first vampires cared not for the state of their clothing, or fine stones or gold?” Kaname said. “The Hunt was what mattered.”

“…I…see.”

“I like sleeping on the floor. Please do not move me to the bed if you find me sleeping on the floor.”

“But you would get a crick on your neck, and you will get cold.”

“I like sleeping on the floor.”

“At least let me put a blanket on you, Kaname?”

“If I need a blanket, I would get it myself, Haruka Kuran.”

The boy was staring him down, a gaze that no young pureblood would have managed. Haruka felt something in him quail, and he ducked his head in obedience. “As you wish…”

“Then we understand each other.” Kaname said, turning away.

Juuri looked so completely happy when she announced that she was pregnant again. It was a smile of hers that Haruka had not seen for a long while, and the sight of his wife smiling like that again clawed against his heart, mixed emotions raging within him in a tempestuous swirl. The announcement had taken place during one quiet breakfast between the three of them. He had smiled softly and kissed Juuri’s hand tenderly, their fingers twined. Kaname remained eating as if nobody said a thing.

“Kaname, you are going to have a sister or a brother soon.” He had said, turning to their son.

Kaname put his knife and fork down as he looked at him, and then to Juuri. He dipped his head, the tiniest of bows. “You have my congratulations.”

“You could at least be excited,” Juuri said. Her own crimson eyes had hardened now. Haruka squeezed her hand in warning.

“I hardly find the news of a youngling coming cause for any excitement.” Kaname replied, matching Juuri’s gaze. “Excuse me.” He rose and left the dining hall in silence. He had dropped Juuri’s hand as he buried his face in his hand.

“When will you stop this, Juuri?” He had cried in anguish at his wife. “It is not his fault! It is not his goddamn fault that he had been rudely snatched from his slumber, and you know this! I am trying to keep this family together, Juuri! Can you not see that? Everything was never his fault from the start, you--!”

“He is not my SON!” She shouted back at him. “He is not my son, he is not my Kaname!”

He had raised his hand then to hit her, but stalled himself. His raised arm wavered and he let it drop to his side. Juuri had not wavered in her seat, and remained looking at him coldly. She was a woman who never took to physical pain without giving back as much as she had felt. It was his turn to rise from his seat and leave her to herself. Halfway up the stairs he found Kaname sitting down on the topmost steps, looking at him.

“I am sorry for all the trouble I have given you and your wife.” Was all he said before going back to his room.

As was tradition, Haruka held the newborn Yuuki close and gave her her first taste of blood. Juuri lay weakened in the bed, but she smiled at him and their daughter with such love shining in her crimson eyes. As Haruka carried their daughter, he sat beside his wife and kissed her cheek, whispering a soft ‘I love you’, to which Juuri replied, ‘Forever’. There was no mistaking it that little Yuuki, their gentle princess, would grow to look a lot more like her mother. It had been the same with Kaname. Haruka remembered when his son was born; one glance was enough to tell him that he would be a male Juuri, and as Kaname grew, he was proven to have spoken the truth.

Two hours into the birth, with Juuri cleaned up and recovering, a soft knock came on the door. Haruka had opened it and was surprised to see Kaname standing there timidly, and asked if he could see the youngling. Juuri wordlessly nodded, and their ‘son’ went toward the small cradle and peeked in.

“She is a bit small, but very healthy.” Kaname had commented, blinking at the two of them.

“She’s your sister,” it was Juuri who spoke. Haruka turned to his wife, too late to conceal the mild surprise on his ageless face.

Kaname and Juuri looked at each other for a long while. Then Kaname placed a hand on the small warm bundle that was Yuuki. “Yes. She is my sister.”

They could not have what was lost, but they tried their best to pick up the pieces. It was the thought that Haruka had when he felt the hunter’s sword pierce his heart. As Yuuki grew, their family was given a chance to nurse the injuries and slowly heal, over time. There were scars, scars that would never be lost, a reminder of what would have been and what would be.

But this was a chance now to be with their lost son, something Haruka knew that Juuri had wanted ever since. And he was happy for it. He knew he would never understand Kaname, that nobody ever will. But at least they had tried, and given him a chance of happiness in his long, unending existence. It was the least they could do for him.

Kaname, my pride as a parent would be shattered if I allowed my boy to shield me.

No matter what, you’ve always been our darling child.

RP Site Plug: Adeste Fideles

2009-06-29T01:12:59Z

Welcome to Adeste Fideles!

It has been a year since Rido Kuran attacked Cross Academy, intent on getting not only Yuuki Kuran's blood, but also the blood of the Origin of Vampires, whom he had forcefully bound into the body of his nephew, Kaname. The Night Class, along with the assistance of powerful hunter Zero Kiryuu, ultimately defeated Rido Kuran, severing the accursed blood bond on the Origin forever.

But the story goes a completely different path from there, of course.
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RP Site Plug: Gate Keepers Exceed

2009-06-24T00:46:29Z

GK Exceed

ARC 1: Exceed

<A huge door opens and an AEGIS operative greets you>

Good, You're here. Welcome Recruit, you are now a member of AEGIS.

Don't salute, seriously. First thing you gotta learn is that we're over that saluting thing. It's been over...like...I dunno...10? 20? ALOT OF years since Shun Ukiya's generation walked through these halls so NO SALUTING. At least NOT LIKE THAT.

Okay? Okay.

<The floor starts moving forward>

As you know, we are AEGIS and we are here to stop invaders from taking over the world. That's us in a nutshell.

We used to be a secret organization but after a few incidents, the world eventually found out about us. The UN then made AEGIS a part of its organization and we, like the police, need to make sure we keep the peace.

Even if that means sacrificing ours.

<The AEGIS operative looks seriously stressed. The floor stops in front of an autopsy lab, the people inside wave at you briefly before going back to work>

We are currently investing time to finding out how Invaders work and created in the first place. Yes, yes I KNOW they're the negatives of humanity but WHAT gave them life? It must be some sort of Dark Gate right? That's what we're looking for.

<The floor moves again and stops in front of a state-of-the-art training facility>

Here in AEGIS, we train you to be in the top of your game. Your gate is your friend, your gift, not your curse. We don't want you turning into a Dark Keeper now right?

<The operative pats your shoulder in a friendly manner, however, there is a cold and serious feeling in the air as the floor moves again>

The UN eventually found out about these Dark Keepers, who, as we've noticed, seem to have formed their own organization. As in, a REAL organization. Invader attacks are becoming more organized and it's just a matter of time before they will act almost like us.

We have to make sure that doesn't happen.

That's why we're here. You must understand that you are no longer just a simple Gate Keeper killing Invaders. No, you are also a soldier now. A soldier in a war that is just waiting to happen. That's why you're here. That's why we're making sure to give you the best training you need.

<The floor stops in the main hall where other Operatives are walking around>

The war is looming, everyone can feel it. That's why you need to Excel in what you do.

That's why you need to Exceed.

Welcome to AEGIS, soldier.

<the Operative walks away>

One-shot: Ad vitam aeternam

2009-06-12T04:49:02Z

Title: Ad vitam aeternam
Character: Kuran Kaname
Rating: T
Status: One-shot, complete
Notes: Some random inspiration that came with the concept of Kaname being the founder of the Kuran family. Added twists of my own.

---

Sleep would not come to me easily.

Sometimes I think it’s better that way.

Because sometimes sleep brings memories I would rather forget.

I stand there watching, silent, as the countless tendrils of ethereal, white vapor rise up skyward as if in a storm, or blizzard. The ground beneath my bare feet is hard as stone, cracks spread upon the earth, the soil in no way resembling what it had once been before I waded into the great river and started drying up the water. I shift silently, and the soil cracks beneath my toes. I turn my head and my long, dark hair follows my movement; some strands dancing in the torrent of steam.

My clothes are wet.

I turn my gaze to the faraway citadel, and I can taste the fear and hatred of the humans cooped up inside. Another arrow whizzes past me, and it grazes my cheek. I feel my blood trickling down yet I don’t bother to wipe it off. Behind me, still concealed in the fringes of the forest, I sense my bodyguards shifting restlessly. I could almost hear the clank of their armor, the baring of their fangs. My blood never fails to cause a stir, even if it is only a drop.

Another arrow flies, and this time it hits me. The barbed arrowhead pierces my shoulder deeply, and I let out the faintest gasp as I feel it break through my body. But it is far from causing me any real pain. I reach up with a clawed hand and snap the shaft easily, and pull the arrowhead out without so much as a flinch. Blood spatters my bare feet. The damp gray of my robes is soon darkened with crimson. My bodyguards long to kill.

I turn away and step out of the dead river. The greatest fortress of the humans will only have a week to live, maybe less. When darkness comes, the slaughter will begin.

I see traitors everywhere I look.

I have isolated myself from my own children the moment Sonja’s body crumbled into ashes.

No more, I told myself.

No more.

But there was more to come.

I return to the palace and find a commotion that is not my doing. The moment my foot steps into the threshold, the huddle of vampires break and everyone parts to make way for me. I see soldiers still in their bloodied armors, ladies in their fancy jewelry and awkwardly made hair. Everyone bows low, nobody daring to meet my tri-colored crimson gaze. They reek of hatred and grief. In the far end of the hall I find the Lady Olenka crying tears of blood, monstrous howls escaping her parted and bleeding lips. Her daughter and son, both golden-haired young purebloods, try to restrain her, but there is no stopping her fits. Blood froths from where she gnashes her mouth, her fangs destroying her lips before they could properly heal.

I stop a few way’s away, but my presence calls Olenka from her fit. She crawls toward me, her golden hair torn, her claws reaching. I crouch down and extend my hands, feeling the cold within my gut.

“Father, great father, oh father, oh father!” Olenka collapses into my arms and continues to weep. “Oh father, make them pay! Make them pay! My Inase is no more! His ashes has been scattered by the wind, and his blood is consumed! Oh father, father, great father, make them pay!”

I say nothing and continue holding her to me. A great invisible force sweeps the entire palace, cracking stone and shattering glass. The easterly wind shifts and blows in an entirely new direction. The sky, which had been sunny outside, starts to darken as thunderclouds gather. I smell the rain before it falls, and hear the thunder before it booms. My heart is in pain. Olenka lets out a terrible, keening wail. I feel tears of blood well from my eyes and trail down my cheeks, and before I could realize what I was doing, my lips part, and an anguished cry escapes me, to drown out everything else.

I twist and I turn, unable to escape.

These are the times when I curse sleep.

I want to stay awake and never close my eyes.

I look at the silver goblet in my hand, wondering which castle have they pilfered it from this time. I don’t drink the thick blood inside, and instead put the goblet down on the nearby table. I raise a hand and push my long hair away from my face. Outside, the night is so deep and starless. The air is dry and cold, and I could smell the bloodshed from the battlefields even from here. I could hear vampires baring their fangs, and the hunters unsheathing their swords. I could hear blood-soaked standards waving in the wind. I could smell the first beginnings of rot and decay on the abandoned human corpses. I could smell the ashes scattered in the wind.

I wave a clawed hand. “Leave me.”

The door creaks shut as my royal guards withdraw, leaving me in the darkness and silence of this castle tower that I have confined myself in. But the silence and solitude is brief, and three knocks sound on the doors before the hinges creak. I turn my gaze to a golden-haired boy with crimson eyes. He looks so young. Yet I see hatred in his gaze.

“Father.” The boy has a hand over his heart and sweeps me an impressive bow. I regard him with little interest. “Your accommodations have always been an issue amongst us, your children. We have procured a fitting castle for you, and it is our greatest hopes that if you would please cut this solitude. Father, your children need you. We need you now more than ever.”

I turn to the boy and prop my head upon my right hand. My hair swings down and seems to conceal me. “Were you so angry with my decision that you betrayed Inase to the humans?”

The silence thickens. I sense the boy stiffen, yet he holds his ground. From where my hair curtains my eyes I could see the crimson glint of the rubies of his earrings.

“I have been your most loyal, father!” the boy’s voice bounces off my cold, lonely walls. “I have always been beside you through your hardest times. I have been every bit as endearing to you and loyal to you as Inase, and yet, and yet--.”

I draw breath and feel the air against my fangs. The boy sputters and stops speaking, yet he still holds his ground. For that alone I would admire him in another time.

“You are ambitious, Asato.” I speak his name. How it brings about a roiling in my gut. I want to shred him to bits, or let Olenka have her way with him. I knew he was afraid of my children. I knew he envied my children. Fear and envy were not the very best of combinations. “And you have a brilliant mind, I give you that. But I cannot make Pure someone whom I know will abuse the gift of my blood. My love for you has never been any less than Inase’s, yet you are blinded by your greed and your fear and your envy.”

He pales and trembles. I know it is because of rage, but he never could bare his fangs against me.

“Uruki is no different!” he cries out, eager to pass on the blame and point out my mistakes. “You loved him and yet what is he doing now with your Gift? He is creating hordes upon hordes of vampires as we speak, to conquer the livestock. Aglaia is no different! And Enkil, and--- and Sonja!”

I stand before him before he could blink, and I feel the skin at my back break as the great bones of my bat-like wings emerge, and impale him against the wall, one in each shoulder. His blood scent fills the room, yet I am distant from it. I drive the foundations of my wings deeper and destroy bone. He starts to cry and babble. I do not have the time to understand the words.

I recall perfectly Sonja’s beautiful features as she stands proud and stoic in the middle of the courtyard, stripped of her title of Queen. Her dark hair trails around her, dancing just above her hips. She turns her crimson gaze to every single pureblood in that assembly, challenging them. Nobody dares speak. Only Sonja could match up against me in that aspect. She turns her gaze to me last, and I recall her words.

Most dearest father, husband and King, this is farewell. I stand now before you humbled and judged because I have committed the greatest crime of plotting to take away the father’s life. I do not deny any of my crimes, nor revoke my reasons and cause. This court will not thrive with a soft ruler. We all know this to be true. I will hold firmly to my cause as just and reasonable, even as the wind finally scatters my ashes. Hear these last words of Sonja the Queen!

The scent of blood pounds my senses ruthlessly as I tear Asato apart against the wall. I let his limbs fall to the ground, to soak in the pool of his blood. His bloodied and ruined eyes still see me as I peer down at him.

“Then this is your curse,” I whisper. “You will forever roam this earth, close to power but never actually holding it in your hands. You will always stand in the shadow of the Pure ones. Forever a servant. Forever groveling. Forever bound.”

My eyes are open but unseeing.

I feel cold.

But I cannot hope to find warmth.

I love the feel of sand crunching beneath my feet, and the feel of the tide coming in, momentarily soaking me before ebbing away. I bend down and pick up an exquisite conch, and I turn it in my hands, temporarily enthralled by its simple beauty.

I am not alone.

I come across a young vampire whom I had never seen at court, and immediately know that he is of the Plebeius rank, a Commoner. The little boy looks up as I approach, awe etched in his young but ageless features. I smile at him and ask for leave to sit down beside the sand castle he builds, and he agrees shyly. I sit down with my knees gathered to me, and watch his progress on the sand castle.

As the afternoon sun makes way for dusk, the boy completes his castle. I find an irresistible tugging at my heart, and a loneliness so deep that I could drown in it for ten thousand eternities. I am unforgivable for biting the first eighteen.

Yet was it wrong of me to seek company?

The boy tells me his name is Gaius. I smile and give him the conch I found earlier, and promises that he will treasure it. As the night gets deeper little Gaius bids me farewell. I watch him leave just as the tide sweeps his little footprints away, as if they had never existed.

I try to wake,

But I can’t.

I must wake.

I must.

I only take two servants with me as I fled the court. We travel by day, and though I know they cannot stand the sunlight as well as I did, I still pushed them to their very limits. I was determined to never be found. I drove my poor servants for years, until at last they grew resilient to the sun. We hunted whoever had the unfortunate luck to stray across our paths, may they be vampire or human. The despair inside me had grown to such an extent that I was restless, angry with myself, with my servants, with the earth, the water, the wind. Sometimes I would wander away from them and scream in anguish at the skies until the rains would respond to my voice. Cold, wet, confused, I make my way back to my servants who eye me with fear, yet always make sure I am warm after.

I was delirious with despair, and this increased as the days lengthened into weeks, the weeks into months, and the months into years.

The journey ends when the three of us find ourselves at the snow-capped mountain peak. The sun was high in the sky but the heat had long stopped bothering us. I look at the gaunt faces of my servants and knew they would follow me without question. I turn my back upon them and shut my eyes.

Blood.

It started as a droplet of blood from my forehead, that eventually gained strength as a trickle. I feel my blood run down my face, as I cleave my own head apart slowly. Behind me, my servants are prostrate on the ground, unmoving, showing no will to stop me. More blood escapes me and stains the snow red.

I will end this here.

No more.

I will end this here.

For one moment, the world stops to gather its breath. The pain that rips me apart is unbearable. Yet I still live. My blood flows, and only a blow now to end my life, and once my life ends, all vampires would cease to exist. I was determined…

Yet I remember little Gaius.

Little Gaius with my conch.

Little Gaius and his sand castle.

Little Gaius and his smile.

I…

Good grief, I…

I…

My body has lost all the will to move. My consciousness remains, and I sense myself crumple onto the bloodstained snow. I sense my servants lift me into the great stone sarcophagus. I sense the lid close on me. I sense my servants take their own lives after burying me in the permafrost. In the darkness, I feel the need for a second chance.

Perhaps when I wake, things will have changed.

Perhaps…

I finally manage to wake from the nightmare.

I find myself damp with sweat.

My breathing is ragged.

I look out the window and the sun is high up in the sky.

I hear the voices of the Day Class outside.

I feel cold.

Yet I cannot hope to find some warmth.

Invitation: A Storm Is Coming

2009-05-20T23:37:15Z

A Storm Is Coming is an AU Vampire Knight RPG, set in pre-Ridou arc. It just started, and I play Kaname over there, and we need canon people and lots of OC's.

Already there are:
esthiem as Ichiru Kiryuu
kurosaki_koi as Ichijou Takuma
rewindingdreams as Hanabusa Aidou

We would love it if you can make it!

A Storm Is Coming

Canon List

One-shot: A posse ad esse

2009-05-17T06:12:34Z

For: kurosaki_koi who plays an awesome Ichijou Takuma

---

I used to think that I was a strange kid, because I smiled a lot. My ‘father’ rarely smiled and was always immersed in books, sitting in that great throne-like chair of his in the basement library. He and my ‘mother’ would look at me strangely sometimes, as if reprimanding me for smiling too often. I would ask them what was wrong but they would assure me it was nothing.

The understanding would eventually come to me, later.

The servants did not know what to make of me whenever I smiled at them. Some would bow, too afraid to look up until I touched their faces. Sometimes they would smile awkwardly back, but the gesture would make me pout because I didn’t like fake smiles. Others would not smile to me at all.

We were both five years old in human reckoning when my ‘father’ brought me over to your house. I smiled at you, and you smiled back and immediately invited me to play with you and your toys. I was mightily relieved. Looks like I wasn’t a strange vampire after all.

---

You never noticed it, but I always made it a point to manage a visit to your house once every week, even if I have to fight Haruka or Juuri for it. I never brought any play thing with me because it’s a nuisance. I did bring books and traded with you, do you remember?

Days with you were never boring. Whenever I got home Juuri always complained that I never changed at all. She always called me a stuffy old man. I wonder if she realized how true that was. Anyway, what I did went along with her plans for you to influence me to change and try to loosen up. That made things a lot easier.

If only you could have inkling as to how I looked forward to every visit.

Sometimes I couldn’t even sleep.

---

There were many noble families clamoring to take me in after Haruka got murdered and Juuri committed suicide. I narrowed down the choice between your family and Aidou’s, and in the end, despite my better judgment, I ended up packing my things and going to your estate. Never mind that I was going to be surrounded by enemies from all sides. If it meant being closer to you, then I could handle my broken self better and nurse myself faster to full recovery.

It was the darkness they used to spy on me, thinking that I was too young to know the secrets of controlling the shadows. It is an amusing thought that I still entertain from time to time. True that the ability of listening to the dark has been lost to many bloodlines, even from the Kuran, but I never lost it.

I thought you would never agree to share a room, and I was relieved that you did. I was surprised when you volunteered to join me on the floor. You must have found it strange…a pureblood sleeping on the floor, refusing the bed or the couch. But you see, the very first vampires had no care for any luxury back then. It was enough to have a scrap of clothing on our backs and a comfortable cave to sleep in. The hunt was what mattered.

I would never stop finding luxury and vampires as an odd combination.

---

I disliked answering your phone calls, especially if it’s those girls at the other end of the line. I can’t stand their giggling. I always watched from afar every time your grandfather tried introducing you to this and that noble daughter, my eyes seeing the discomfort of you that he refuses to acknowledge. I should know how annoying it is to be forced to interact with a girl. Twenty thousand years and that hasn’t really changed.

On the other hand, those phone calls were a source of entertainment.

I especially love telling them you’re not available because you were taking your time in the toilet.

---

This body has been ravenous for more than a hundred years.

Shock after shock, grief after grief increases a vampire’s thirst. This is made even worse if the vampire is not in his original body. It takes a great amount of blood and control not to lash out and hunt even the most innocent bystander. It seemed I was forever in the end of bad luck. Juuri and Haruka’s death increased my already unstable thirst, and now I could not risk taking a drink from you.

Oh I had known…it has been a long while since I had stopped looking forward to the scent of Yuuki’s blood. But with you so near…how many times had I woken in the dead of morning, only to lock myself in the bathroom to prevent myself from attacking you? I desired your blood, no one else…no one else can quench this festering thirst, this burning curse within my throat.

But I can’t…I can’t. I would never forgive myself if some harm came to you.

I already have too many sins on my hands.

Yet the fool that you are…you offered me your blood. I could have drained you ten thousand times over and it would not be enough. I could not look at your weakened state after I had nearly drunk you dry. I vowed myself that I would never again…but ah, promises were made to be broken, were they not? Just two weeks later in our new school, I struck again and nearly killed Ruka.

Poor Ruka…I would love to love her back, but my heart cannot.

Because my heart already belonged to someone…

---

This is why I hate parties.

Because I would have to endure the sight of you gallivanting around with your huddle of giggling girls. Did you ever wonder why I always hid away in the terrace? It’s such a childish gesture, I know. But at least it saved me the hurt and the unnecessary jealousy.

Sometimes I felt like walking toward you and striking you down where you stand.

How dare you cause me more pain.

I don’t need any more pain, do you understand?

I don’t.

---

They call me the fountain of immortality in some legends. In lore alone there are countless stories about the wonders that my blood could do. I created the first lines of vampires by letting them drink from me, and during those earliest ages, a single drop of my blood could save a Level D from deteriorating into Level E forever. My children had then decided to keep my blood as pure as it was and safe even from them. How strange. I knew from the start that nothing good could ever come from me biting those mortals and turning them like me, but I was lonely.

Loneliness had always been a central weakness of our race. It is what drives us to commit that deadly little bite that destroys everything in its path.

I had long stopped sharing my blood openly, but to have you pressed against me, your fangs buried deep in my neck, pressed so close I can melt into you and beyond…

Just this once, let me commit another mistake and risk everything all over again.

Invitation: Wayawaya

2009-05-06T12:24:57Z

One-shot: The Only Other Girl

2009-04-04T12:34:36Z

Character: Kaname Kuran
Rating: T
Status: Complete
Prompt: Inspired by a picture (included inside the cut)
Timeline: Spans volume 1-6 of the manga.

---

The Only Other Girl

“Love ceases to be a pleasure, when it ceases to be a secret.”

She was the only other girl that he had noticed in that welcoming assembly of freshmen in Cross Academy. She had short, slightly wavy hair that hung up to her jaws, auburn in color, offset by her startling green eyes. He could remember that the green in her eyes were different, something of aquamarine and yellow-green, depending on how the light hit them, or what angle the light was coming from. She had neither freckles nor pimples, and her skin was smooth and fair, a definite mark that she was one taken good care of by a known dermatologist. Like many of the girls in that assembly, she watched him with fascination and adoration, unwittingly drawn to his vampiric charms.

It was the only time that he had consented to actually speak before freshmen; it was too troublesome a task that he usually let Aido and Kain handle. Perhaps it was because he had been feeling particularly bored that day, so he actually took the time to write himself a proper speech and speak it in front of the school. Chairman Cross had been pleasantly surprised, and he knew Yuuki was watching him with adoration that she had always had. He could feel the hostility from the future Day Class boys, not that it did much to gain his notice. The only Day Class boy he would ever notice would be Zero Kiryuu.

As he ended the speech with the customary welcome for this year’s new students of Cross Academy, the girl had been one of the few who didn’t stand. She was looking straight at him, the blush pale on her cheeks now, as she had regained her composure halfway through his speech.

Just for the heck of it, Kaname flashed a rare but meaningful smile.

---

She was the only other girl who didn’t immediately become a member of their nightly mob outside the Moon Dormitory. He had immediately scanned for her face while Yuuki and Kiryuu had their hands full, and to his tremendous surprise, he did not find hair or hide of her in the gushing crowd that reminded him of hyper chickens every evening.

---

Her name was Lian Suiren, a half-Chinese half-Russian. He had smiled to himself when he rummaged through the school records and found her familiar picture on the forms. She’d spent much of her childhood in Shanghai, China, and planned to finish the rest of her schooling in the country. Her parents were tycoons, and the marriage was to cement a corporate alliance between the two gigantic companies that were only second to the Ichijou firms.

Kaname printed himself a copy of her files and neatly tucked it into one of his class workbooks. He would spend the next few weeks reading about her, and what background of her the school had managed to write up.

---

She was the only other girl that he had asked to dance in that Friendship Ball organized by Chairman Cross. She had looked especially attractive in the serpentine dress that clung to her shapely figure, the deep neckline doing her ample and pretty cleavage some well-deserved justice. Her hair was swept to the side and held there by hairspray. He had taken the liberty of tucking a single blue rose over her left ear.

Her movements were slow and graceful as they danced in the slow arc, an old song wafting around them, enveloping them in music.

In your heart

Can’t you feel the glory

Throughout joy, throughout pain

We can move worlds again

Take my hand,

Dance with me

He drew her to the gardens when Seiren and Kain hadn’t been looking. She went with him with no complaint, but she was also self-composed, when other, lesser females would have been gushing over their sheer luck. They sat beside each other facing one of the many fountains, one that he particularly liked, which was an angel scratching it’s backside rather blatantly. He asked her about her studies, and she candidly replied that she loved her Math and Science, to which he agreed. He had always preferred numbers, but he did have his handful of favored authors.

It would have been the simplest thing to charm her with a bit more ounce of pheromone, and sneak a small gash on her neck or arm, and then take a little sip of her blood from there, with care that his fangs should not graze her skin.

But he didn’t.

Before he left when the clock struck eleven, though, he had given her a taste of his lips, and he was glad to say that she too had given him hers.

He decided that she was a good kisser after that brief tryst under the oak tree.

---

She was one of the few who could actually afford having a dorm room to themselves. Her rooms were located in the Day Class Girls’ building, by the eastern wing, at the topmost floor. It had been easy sneaking into her rooms after they had arranged a set-up: he had come to be expected every weekend, and she would leave her window open, just a fraction of an inch, and as a sign that she was waiting she would burn a stick of sandalwood incense; if she wasn’t lavender would be the scent that would waft from the window.

They spent the first few weekends idling around, playing Monopoly or chess, with him teaching her some of his age-old techniques to guarantee a checkmate in three moves only. Sometimes she would pop them some popcorn or microwave some pasta. She would drink a myriad of sodas, her favorite being Cherry Coke, whereas he would have his water with the customary blood tablet.

With the visits, inevitably, came the need for intimacy.

He had come to her during a particularly rainy evening and asked if he could use her shower while his clothes dried out. She ushered him into the bath and told him, quite frankly, that she did not have anything that he could wear for the time being – unless he would suffer some hours gallivanting around in her jammies.

She had opened the shower for him, the hot water cascading down his hair, then down his bare chest and arms and legs. She had turned away soon after, but his arms had already wound themselves around her waist, the protest dying even before they could leave her lips. Soon her nightgown was wet and clung to her in a mist-like fashion, and under the flimsy cloth he could see her nipples standing proudly at the tips of her small breasts. His right hand cupped her between the legs as his lips claimed the side of her neck.

It was his first time making love to a human after his disastrous binding into this body that wasn’t his in the first place. He tried to modulate his strength, something which he found quite hard to do after discovering just how tight, hot and wet her secret depths were. He did a good job making sure he didn’t cleave her apart from between her legs, just as she did a good job making sure her moans and cries were kept to that steamy little bathroom alone.

He’d pulled out in time just as his orgasm left him weak and dripping, and they stayed huddled on the bathroom floor in a glorious foam of bubbles and other fluids.

---

He took great care whenever they made love, something he had never done with anyone before. He took all precautions against accidental pregnancy with her, as their intimate moments didn’t end with that one chance in her bathroom. Sometimes he would dare sneak her into the Moon Dorms, and in the moonlight he would admire her more as she stood unflinching, her hand in his as she followed him into the mysterious corners of his bedchambers.

She was never afraid of him. And that earned her his respect.

---

She had not argued with him when he told her about the threat of Rido looming over the Academy. He had done the pacing around the room as he talked, with her sitting calmly on his bed, her hands on her lap. They had easily come to an agreement that she would drop out of the Academy and return to China.

This was before the long school holidays.

---

He was in Aido’s estate somewhere in the Caribbean with the other members of his circle of friends when he received the news through an international SMS message. The message was brief and short, telling him about her accident as she skii’d somewhere in-between France and Belgium with some school friends. She had broken her neck and didn’t make it alive to the hospital.

He sat there for hours silent, refusing to acknowledge even Seiren when she had tried to report more things to him about Rido’s movement. He twirled his cell phone idly in his hands, his crimson eyes looking out of the window and into the gathering dusk outside.

After a few moments he turned to his phone and deleted all pictures of her and her details in his phone book. Then he rose and went to look for Seiren and Ichijou.

One-shot: Forking Road

2009-03-27T23:53:39Z

Title: Forking Road
Rating: T
Status: 1/2
Characters: Yuu Kanda (Noah), Allen Walker (Noah), Tyki Mikk, Timothy, Lavi
Notes: Yet another one-shot from my Noah-centric AUverse.
Timeline: After Dark Chocolate

---

Christopher Evans, formerly Allen Walker, loved watching the winter gray skies, with their eternally white snowflakes falling from above, floating down to the earth blanketed in white like feathers shed by an angel in hurried flight. It wasn’t a stretch to say at all that winter was Christopher’s favorite season, as he could have all the time in the world craning his neck upward and admiring the gray skies. Gray was also his favorite color, for reasons easy enough to guess.

The motor car’s engine hummed noisily around him, but he was warm enough inside the car. He could sense his Akuma driver up front waiting patiently. The Will of Noah looked out of the window, his breath creating mist on the glass as he looked up at the boarding school. Abingdon School was a sprawling campus, but Christopher did not pay attention to any other detail as he checked his pocket watch.

Any time now…

“Master Noah.”

The Akuma’s voice alerted him. Chris craned his neck in his seat just as students started the slow flooding out of the school buildings and out into the campus. But this far, and with the sheer size of the grounds, he wasn’t sure if Kyuuya was out there…

“Shall I go out, Master Noah?”

“There will be no need. We will wait.”

“Very good, sir.”

He remained inside the car’s warmth, watching with keen eyes the crowd of boys that now milled in the grounds. Eventually the Akuma driver let the engine die down to conserve some fuel, not that its master could not afford buying all the fuel in the world. But it helped to be practical. Christopher Evans was a bit tight-fisted with what money his diamond mining company in Africa brought in.

Ah!

His eyes caught the lovely view of a dark-haired boy in the school winter coat walking toward the gates, followed by his own gaggle on insignificant human admirers. Chris felt a small, involuntary snarl escape his lips at the sight of the fawning little insects.

“I am going out to get him myself.”

He got out of the motor car and let his polished shoes land in the mush of mud and melted snow on the pavement. Tucking his cane elegantly in the crook of his left elbow, Chris straightened his top hat and walked toward the gates at the same time Kyuuya neared it.

“See you, Ed!”

“Enjoy the holidays, Ed!”

“Looking forward to another term with you, Eddie!”

“Bye, Ed!”

The gates clanked loudly as Kyuuya was finally let out. Christopher automatically stepped forward and grabbed hold of the smaller Noah’s luggage, easily hefting it with one hand and handing it to the Akuma servant, who promptly put it up on the roof.

“Are you that determined to beat Tyki-nii in picking me up?” Kyuuya said with a petulant pout, but his gray eyes sparkled with ever-present mischief.

“He is out with his little friends today. I conveniently made him forget.” Chris replied as he opened the door for Kyuuya, who gladly hopped into the warmth of the car. He followed soon after and dared to sit beside the 13^th Noah. The car door slammed shut, and soon they were pulling out into the road.

“Did you now, bean sprout?” Kyuuya sneered.

“Of course. I won’t let him beat me again. And the name is Christopher.”

A gloved hand cupped Kyuuya’s cheek as the 14^th’s lips closed over his.

---

“What now, bean sprout? I thought you could take your teasing!”

The voice was husky and provocative somewhere above Christopher; it was hard to see what with him pinned down awkwardly on the floor of the car in a tangle of hastily-removed clothes and limbs. The heat rose to his cheeks some more as he felt Kyuuya do a slow grind on him, hips against his.

“Kyuu---!”

“Now that is what Allen Walker looks like when Yuu Kanda gives him a good time, hmm~?”

His fingers dug into the other Noah’s skin as he felt the push. Chris tipped his head back on the car floor, eyes shut, moan escaping his lips.

“Gods, bean sprout – you’re – pretty – excited – aren’t you -?”

“Y--!”

Then the car hit a bump on the road, sending a wild jolt everywhere. He heard Kyuuya curse above him, the sudden movement making the other tighten impossibly around his burning excitement.

“Ahh---!”

He would’ve loved to keep it in longer, but there was no stopping the orgasm as it rippled through his body in unbelievable waves. He could feel the strands of Kyuuya’s long hair against his skin.

“You…should…fucking fire…your driver…” Kyuuya complained, panting.

“Never mind the poor Akuma,” Chris said, pulling his loved one into a terribly sexy mouth play of tongue that could be called a kiss. When they parted, Kyuuya was purring like the cat that he always was and licked up the thin bridge of saliva that connected their lips.

The 14^th ran his hand through the strands of dark hair.

“Are you going to leave me cold again after this?” He asked in a whisper, amber eyes looking into the other’s own.

Kyuuya bent low in reply, mouth resting against the corner of his lips. “I’ll tell you a secret…”

“And that is…?” Chris murmured, nuzzling the other’s cheek.

“Today there is no Illusion.”

---

He watched with disbelief as Kyuuya was out of the car first, running and tackling Tyki Mikk into the ground.

“TYKI-NII!”

The Pleasure and Illusion of Noah rolled down the snow, laughing, before Tyki sat up and gave their brother a pat. Christopher watched the show with a stony expression before he turned to his Akuma servant and gave instructions to put Kyuuya’s things in his own room.

So much for no Illusions.

“Now that was a tad unfair, Christopher.” Came Tyki’s voice beside him. “Using your powers on a sibling is a bit unethical, don’t you think?”

“What’s unethical is being unable to keep your hands away from someone who already belongs to someone else,” Chris hissed faintly. Kyuuya had already gone ahead into the Kamelot manor with the Akuma servant bearing his luggage. With a snarl, Chris purposefully bumped against the Pleasure of Noah before stepping into the house as well. He could hear Tyki laughing good-naturedly behind him.

“Lulubell just came in an hour ago,” Tyki said, changing the topic as he lit a cigarette. “Got some interesting reports.”

“Yes?”

“One of the All-Powerful Seven fragments of Innocence has reacted.” Tyki eyed him meaningfully.

Christopher stopped in his tracks, shoes squeaking audibly on the marble floors.

“You’ll know the full details later at dinner.”

With a wink, Tyki drifted off to the family library, trailing cigarette smoke behind him.

---

He didn’t join the family dinner, not that an Akuma or even the Earl would dare approach him and reprimand him for his sheer defiance. He was never obedient in the first place, wasn’t he? Instead he stayed in his room and busied himself with unpacking his clothes into the closet. He had a dump of books too that needed shelving, but that meant he also needed a new bookshelf. Maybe he could bully Cyril-nii for a new bookshelf.

Kyuuya straightened up, clutching an armful of his dress shirts. Outside the snowfall had worsened, and people were fleering the streets, trudging through the increasing dump on the roads. Somewhere he could see a carriage stuck in a pothole.

He returned to his closet and put the shirts in, and then he turned his gaze to the full-length mirror in there too. He frowned in distaste at his reflection – instead of showing him the image of a fourteen-year-old raven-haired boy, the mirror showed his reflection as an Exorcist, his 19-year-old self in that black-and-red uniform with the insignias and the crosses. His reflection frowned back at him.

Mirrors never lied to the Illusion of Noah.

“Che.” He shut the closet with a bang.

---

The blizzard turned everything into a gray haze. The coldness was sharp and biting even with the specialized coat Timothy wore over his Exorcist uniform. Behind him he could sense his Innocence spirit floating nearby. He envied Tsukikami in that aspect. The bastard didn’t need to endure cold and snow and the flu.

There was a squelch as a hooded Finder landed beside him.

“I’m sorry, sir, the readings are botched up in this weather. General Lavi says we better head back to camp.”

Come on, Timothy. We’ve already cleared the Akuma; I’m sure the survivors can hold out fine. You won’t be of any help to them with flu, will you?

“Fine. We’re heading back to camp.”

They spent another hour through the snow before finally reaching a clearing in the dead forest, which was aglow with seal barriers made by the Science Department. There were three sturdy tents pitched up, and Timothy ducked into the biggest one, the Finder and Tsukikami closely behind him.

Inside the tent was warm, and the smell of coffee and curry was strong. There were a myriad of tables and some hastily-set up equipment here and there. Lavi, with his fiery hair, was poring over a coordinate map with Johnny Gill and Reever Wenham and two more Finders. When Timothy drew level he saw that the glowing Innocence fragment was on the map.

Timothy realized that there was a thread of light branching from the glowing fragment. It snaked down the map, bypassing the red cross that was the location of their camp, and went on westward and came to a stop at a spot, which was already encircled with red ink. Calculating the distance…

Four miles west. Deep into the woods.

“Hello Timothy,” General Lavi greeted him without looking up. “Have some coffee.”

A Finder automatically gave him a steaming mug of the beverage. Timothy blew on it before taking slow, careful sips.

“All right. Once the snow relents a bit enough for me to alter it, we will get the survivors and find out who is the host.”

That was done with and everyone drew back. Timothy watched as General Lavi scooped up the fragment and took it into his coat.

“Yes, Timothy?”

“Let me take the fragment, General.” He blurted out. “I want to be the one to see the host and hand him or her that fragment. Please.”

The Bookman-General watched the young Exorcist in a few minutes’ silence. Then he extended a hand and patted Timothy’s head.

“You may hold the fragment, but we will go together.”

“Yes, sir!”

The snow lessened overnight, and it was enough for General Lavi to use his hammer and get rid of it completely. Even at critical rate General Lavi did not alter weather forcefully; he reasoned that you could only interfere with nature to an extent. They headed out as soon as they could, three Finders with them.

Halfway through the dead forest, trouble.

“That Innocence fragment must be destroyed.”

It was the 14^th Noah standing between them and the burned village, behind him some ten level 4’s and twenty level 3’s.

“I will not let any harm befall the Illusion of Noah.”

Timothy braced himself, Tsukikami ready behind him. Near him, General Lavi hefted his hammer.

I knew it. We should’ve gone for them last night, blizzard be damned!

Original: Beyond Flight

2009-02-20T10:47:02Z

"I would love to if I have the chance."

One-shot: Une lettre pour toi

2009-02-05T10:33:01Z

The box was a small one, brown in colour, bearing some sort of crest that Kanda thought resembled a fleur-de-lys.

He had been cleaning the shelves in the library.

It was the smell of blood and roses, that ever-beloved scent, that attracted him to the said box. He didn't see names to know it belonged to Kaname. Glancing at the grandfather clock in the library told him it was 11 in the morning. It was too early for Kaname to come back from the council meeting.

Sitting down, Kanda put the box on his lap and pried it open. Inside were several neatly folded paper; the sort of paper that he had called 'high class' when he'd still been human. It was the sort of paper Tiedoll brought every time he set out to write Christmas cards for everyone in the order. Kanda sort of missed those cards. He wished he kept at least one instead of tearing them right in front of the old man's eyes after getting them.

The letters were sealed with wax, again bearing that selfsame crest. In his long life Kanda knew the crest was that of the Kuran family, but Kaname never really bothered to explain, and he wasn't about to ask about trivial insignias.

And then his own name in Kaname's elegant script attracted his attention.

Yuu

A small chuckle escaped his lips as he tore the red wax.Kaname had never stopped being corny, even after all of these centuries...

---

I never liked the way you looked at me the first time we met. You stared at me like I were shit that stuck to your shoe, and in my long existence, I never had anybody look at me that way. According to a study done by the Akatsuki family, a high percentage of vampires get attracted to their mortal lovers' eyes first thing. I am proud to be part of that 80 percent, Yuu. Your eyes are the most beautiful orbs of gray in the world.

Yes, I know you are sneering right now, but that is the truth. I love your eyes.

I followed you because I wanted to know more about you. Why your eyes were so cold...so sad...

I had never been attracted this much to a human, never, even before my sleep. You were so goddamn hard to read. Well, you still are now. I am still scared shitless when you get too quiet, my love. I can't bear the silence, even after this long.

Maybe because of the things I've done and put you through. I know you never really forgave me for Turning you, my love. And I deserve that decision at the very least. No human has ever really forgiven a vampire once said human has been Turned. It is the greatest sin we vampires commit.

I love you, Yuu.

I love you.

I love you with every drop of blood that flows in my veins, I love you with every sunrise that greets my eyes, I love you with every second, every day, every week, every month and every year.

I love you with all I am.

I love you because you understand my moods like no one else can. Because you can bear to be with me. Because you can speak up to me, spank me, hit me, stab me, hurt me when I need to slam back down on the ground. Because you curse every time I do something stupid. Because you've stayed with me for so long. Because you let me drink your blood, your blood that I desire the most in this world, my only sustenance. Because you make me feel alive. Because you make the burden of forever easier to bear.

I am writing this as you sleep beside me. We are in Spain, in that house that you first brought since leaving the Black Order to be with me once and for all. I notice that you've always loved Spain. That you've always loved biking in Andalusia every spring and summer. I guess you have fond memories of this place. Will you tell me about them sometime? I do want to share your treasured moments.

Yet I have a confession to make.

I can feel the weakening in my bones, the thinning of my blood. I feel the pull of the centuries weighing me down, and this can only mean that I will need to fall into the Thousand-Year Slumber soon.

But I am scared of sleeping, Yuu. I am deathly frightened. If I could die out of sheer fright, I would have dropped dead.

You know why...

Supongo que es por eso que estoy tan maldito en el amor con usted - no puedo entender todavía.

Peu importe combien j'essaie, peu importe combien de temps nous avons été ensemble, tu es toujours un casse-tête à résoudre.

しかし、その後再び、私は時間の終わりまであなたを愛しれます。

(Pardon my Japanese, my love, I am getting terribly rusty.)

You drive me crazy.

I have told you many times the story of Shizuka Hiou, the unfortunate pureblood woman that I have killed out of impulse and stupidity. I’ve always had this funny thought that if I hadn’t killed her, we would have been really good friends today, talking about our loves. I would have had loads to tell her about you…

You know, I—

---

The letter had ended.

It was with thoughtful silence that Kanda folded the letter again, strands of his long blue-black hair cascading prettily down his shoulders. He looked up just as he sensed a car pull up, as he vaguely heard the laughter of Hanabusa and the others, and in the midst of it all, Kaname’s soft-spoken, calm voice.

The voice that meant the world to him.

He rose, smiling softly, and went to greet them welcome home.

Drabble Meme

2009-01-07T08:50:14Z

...because I cannot draw worth shit =))

Ripped off from sagakure 's Drawing Meme, where she kindly drew me this gorgeous piccie:

*dies*
Kaname-samaaaa <3333

*cough*

Anyway, here's the idea:
[EDIT]: First three(3) people to comment on this entry will be entitled to a drabble request.
Preferrably of D.Gray-Man (I can do a lot for this one xD)or VK (central to Kaname-sama and crack!Night Class)

Please remember that when you post, you're expected to have the same meme up your journal (to be fair! xD)
If you can't draw, (like ME xDD), just put up a writing meme or whatever.

<3
*waits*
</lj>

Presents for May

2009-01-07T08:41:41Z

I've been having fun with photoshop lately and decided to try my hand at some SFO and FO banners.
For may_unleashed
If you want to use these as well, ask her too. xDD I'm okay with people using them so long as they give credits.

--

Images scoured from 4chan, cm category.
Textures from EMTextures.
Various fonts from deviantART
I'm not as good as others in making these xDDD;;;; but anyway I hope you like them!

One-shot: Bloody Purebloods!

2009-01-03T06:15:02Z

POV Character: Hanabusa Aido
Warning: Inspired by crack and substantial amounts of toffee nut frappucino.
---

It started as a dare between myself and Ruka, sprouted during the eve of a night soiree in Budapest, hosted by Tohya’s parents. Ichijou had managed to convince both Kaname-sama and Yuu-sama to come, and the crowd of course was forever mesmerized by those two. But after a short speech that Kaname-sama gave, they both withdrew after to the balcony. Seiren stood close by with Akatsuki, the ever-alert guards, while I pigged out on the nearby buffet table.

I knew they were dancing. I could hear their soft laughter and caught a glimpse of Yuu-sama’s dancing hair. Gods. These two were so beautiful they were very painful to look at. I doubted that they would finish the party; they had a knack of retiring early, walking home holding hands and holding their shoes.

I was grabbing myself some chicken legs when Ruka came up to my elbows.

“What?” I said through a mouthful of salad.

“I’m staying in the same hotel.” She almost preened. I was positive she preened at me. The old hag. “And I’m only two doors away.”

I sneered at her. “And you’re two doors away because I’m the one right next to them!”

Hah, her expression turned from smug to downright ugly. It was priceless. I couldn’t have got a painter to preserve her expression exactly as it looked like, but it was definitely priceless.

“Hmph. I’m having breakfast with them.” She countered, folding her arms across her chest.

“Well, I’m driving them all around Hungary for the duration of their stay here.” I smirked.

If there was anything that could make my day, it was breaking Ruka Souen’s composure. How I loved it when she looked so sour. So sour as if she had something very stinky under her heels. Heh.

Akatsuki walked towards us, sensing that we were going to erupt into a catfight if he’d delayed just a second longer. I could sense Ruka getting ready to lash with her nails out at me, and I was getting ready to freeze her nose and swipe it right off her smug pretty face. I looked at my cousin and pouted.

“What?” I said. I was saying ‘what’ a lot lately.

“Even in Tohya’s party you two can’t behave.” Akatsuki said with a mild frown.

Ruka straightened herself up. “Where are they?”

“They’ve gone, obviously.” Akatsuki replied. “Slipped away when Seiren went to check her shoe.”

I groaned. “You let them slip away under your watch? Some freaky bodyguard you are!”

“It’s not like I can stop them if they want to leave, Hanabusa.” Akatsuki answered easily, and I had to agree. “Just one instruction…” he trailed off and shrugged. “They walked home, probably.”

“Of course they bloody walked home!” I exclaimed, realizing what that meant. “I’m their freaking driver!”

I swallowed my salad and put the chicken legs down and grabbed the nearest napkin I could find and started to hastily clean my fingers of oil, mayonnaise and whatnot. I hurriedly went out of the house, fishing my car keys from my pockets. Bloody hell. Some freaking driver I am! I can’t go on like this—

“Hanabusa! Wait up!”

I stopped and turned, surprised that Ruka was running after me, not managing to trip on her heels or step onto the hems of her gown.

“What?” I said. Yet again.

“I’m coming!” she said as if it was the most normal thing to do.

“What the blazes do you think you’re doing?” I snapped as we walked toward my black BMW. “It’s my car and I won’t let you an inch closer!”

The old hag stuck her tongue out at me and seated herself in the passenger’s seat. “Hurry, Hanabusa, or we won’t catch them!”

Bloody hell! Bloody freaking hell! Now she was ordering me around, this stupid little—

Okay. Breathe, Hanabusa. Breathe.

I glumly went into the driver’s seat and started the engine, and beeped my horns impatiently until the butler came a-running. We sped off into Budapest’s night streets, driving, looking for two tuxedo-clad pureblood vampires walking barefooted toward the hotel.

***

We couldn’t find them anywhere. We checked out the highways, the shopping districts, the cafes, the bookstore avenues – no trace of them could be found anywhere. We drove until three in the morning I think, our tempers going up, until I actually threatened to dump Ruka out my car and Ruka threatened to chop off my head. In the end we drove back to the hotel and decided we would wait for them.

I was brushing my teeth when I heard a movement in the next room.

Were they back? They probably were. Now I could rest and sl—

Wait a goddamn minute.

I knew that awful perfume—

RUKA!

I spat out a wad of bubbles and hurriedly wiped my mouth with a towel and, clad in my pyjamas, went to the next room. The door was open. I gaped soundlessly at the doorknob when I realized that the old hag had a spare key. Bloody blazes, how did she get that?!

I entered the dimly-lit presidential suite and found Ruka in there, still in her party dress, looking at the paintings. She turned around and saw me standing furious by the doorway. I swear to god she smirked at me in the darkness. Bloody hag!

“What the hell are you doing?” I demanded, walking up to her, fuming.

“Checking on their things, someone might’ve broken in and stolen something!” she said defiantly, thrusting her jaw out at me.

“Bloody hell how did you manage to get a spare key?” I snarled.

“If you must know, my grandmother owns this hotel!” She hissed, dancing away from my reach.

“Oh yeah?” I snarled, still trying to get the card key from her left hand. “If you owned this hotel, why couldn’t you get the door next to theirs, eh?”

“Because poor childlike Hanabusa would surely throw a tantrum!” She snapped.

“I don’t throw tantrums!”

“Yes you do, dork!”

“Give me that key!”

“Get off me! You perverted jerk!”

“Bloody hell! If I’m going to jump someone, it most definitely will not be you, you old hag!”

She tried to claw my eye! The bloody had tried to claw my eye—I grabbed her wrists and shoved her against the wall, and in our wrestling she knocked down one of the vases and it fell to the floor and broke with a crash. I got distracted – damn, Kaname-sama and Yuu-sama would notice that! – but the old witch took advantage of me and bit my ear.

“OW! OW SWEET JESUS OF PAIN!” I yowled.

She sank her teeth more and I could smell my blood. And then her tongue came a-licking. I yowled some more, furious, and managed to throw her off me.

“OOH, I’LL KILL YOU---!”

And then we both stopped dead as we heard soft voices coming our way.

***

Ruka and I looked at each other, and I saw fear in her eyes too. Without saying anything we both ran toward the nearest door we could find – the bedroom. I jumped for the closet but the bloody hag slammed her body into me and sent me crashing to the floor. Spots of color in my eyes. I heard the closet door slam shut. I snarled and looked wildly around for an escape.

AH!

I immediately rolled under the king-sized bed and curled up into a fetal position, using all of my abilities to hide my presence. For a moment the world had gone silent. Then I heard the door click open and sensed Kaname-sama and Yuu-sama enter. They were talking so softly even I couldn’t hear them. A moment later, Kaname-sama laughed.

I could hear their footsteps. Shit, if they found us, we would be dead, no questions. No bloody questions at all. My thoughts strayed to the broken vase, but as I strained myself to hear, neither Yuu-sama or Kaname-sama commented on it.

Another smell invaded my nose. The tangy scent of martini and vodka.

Wait a bloody minute.

They were drunk!

The footsteps inched closer and closer, and I was still as a rock under the bed. I stopped breathing, fearing that maybe if I inhaled they would hear me.

“Stop that, Kaname! Behave yourself!”

“Yuu…Yuu…”

And then there was no talking. Yuu-sama’s feet vanished and I assumed he was clinging to Kaname-sama. I tensed. Sweet Jesus, this wasn’t happening to us! We have to get out of here!

I blushed furiously as I heard the wet sounds of furious kissing. I curled up some more, shutting my eyes. I nearly yelped when the bed bounced above me. There was the sound of clothes being hastily stripped. My heart skipped a beat when Kaname-sama’s pants landed not far from me.

BLOODY HELL! WE’RE TRAPPED!

I could only imagine what Ruka was seeing from her vantage point in the closet. I knew my face was probably burning; I could feel it. But I didn’t dare move.

Until the bed started bouncing above me.

Oh god – this isn’t happening! Oh god oh god! Sweet papa Jesus, please spare me!

I cringed and shielded my head with my arms.

“Haah – ahh – aah – ahh, fuck, yes! Yes yes yes yes yes yes! Ah gods – ahh! AHH!”

“Move – ahh – move your legs around me – yes, like that – ahh, yes!”

“S-sweet lord! O-oh! OH! AH! AHH!”

“Haaah – oh, I love you! I love you! I love—ahh, fuck--!”

“Oh my god---!”

“AHH, shit, YES—YES—OHH---!”

I rolled to my left, my hands covering my ears now, my eyes remaining shut. Above me, the world rocked and bounced and quaked, and I suddenly wondered if this was going to be my end. Poor Hanabusa Aido, found dead, his ashes squashed under a bed.

And then there was this particularly violent bounce above me, and I felt the mattress hit my head. I clamped my hands over my mouth and remained curled up.

Oh sweet papa! What have we done to deserve this?!

Bloody shit, the sounds were insane. I knew I watched enough porn and hentai with Akatsuki but this was beyond my reach. I swore to god right then and there if he would spare me another day I would never EVER tail Kaname-sama and Yuu-sama like a puppy EVER again.

“I’m – ohh, I’m c---!”

“Closer! CLOSER! AHH, GOD--!”

I curled up again. Curled up so bad, my arms all around my head as I tried to shut out that sound. Gods I didn’t need to hear it. I didn’t. I didn’t I didn’t I didn’t. Please spare me. Please spare me.

Please.

Please?

PLEASE!

***

I don’t bloody know how long I remained curled up under the bed. I must’ve fallen asleep as morning came. I don’t know. I woke up, my body told me it was probably around 5 in the afternoon or so. I tensed. The suite was quiet and smelled fresh. Room service had already come and gone. I slowly tried to ease out and straighten my tired, cramped muscles. My joints popped. Owch.

“Hanabusa…?”

It was Ruka, her voice small.

“Here.” I was surprised to find my voice hoarse. My throat burned with thirst.

I crawled out from under the bed, realizing I was still in my pajamas and still had a towel draped over my shoulders. I scrambled up just as Ruka opened the closet and peeked out. Sweet papa, she was pale. Her manicured nails were all jagged and ruined from where she bit them. We were alone in the suite.

I helped Ruka out of the closet, and then we walked toward our respective rooms in silence.

“That was…” she’d tried.

I didn’t comment. Hell, I didn’t know what to say. We parted by our doors and I hurriedly cleaned myself up and popped my blood tablets. An hour later I got an sms from Akatsuki demanding where the bloody hell I was and that informed me they would be having breakfast in the buffet the hotel offered. Just in time.

***

Everyone was there. Even Tohya. We all had a long table to ourselves and the humans pointedly tried not to look at our crowd so much, but of course they’d failed. It won’t be a stretch to say that I got my own share of appraising looks, and some girls even asked for a picture and an autograph, and I gladly obliged them. It’s one of my principles to be always nice to fans and admirers.

I sat down between Akatsuki and Ruka. I eagerly dug into the shrimp pasta and the slice of tira misu.

I glanced up the table and found Kaname-sama and Yuu-sama eating but still holding hands. Merciful papa, they were so sweet, you know. Never let go of the other if they could help it. You’d think they’re stuck with adhesives or something.

I felt my cheeks flush up with the memory of what I’d witnessed.

Shit.

“Oy, Hanabusa?” Akatsuki inquired. “You ok?”

“Yeah. ‘Course.” I stuffed my face with more food to cover it up.

My eyes glanced up the table again, and for one split second I was so goddamn sure Yuu-sama and Kaname-sama were looking at me and Ruka, a knowing smirk on both their lips.

One-shot: A Gift of Blood

2008-12-30T00:15:10Z

“Stop staring, you’re unnerving me.”

The sleepy scolding merited a soft laugh from Kaname Kuran before the pureblood vampire extended a hand and touched the bare shoulder of the person who shared the bed with him. He trailed his finger down a finely-formed but not overly muscular bicep, enjoying the texture and the unnatural coolness of the skin. The gesture was answered by a grunt and the person rolled over, dark hair dancing, and presented an ageless face for Kaname’s scrutiny.

Smiling, Kaname leant forward and planted a soft kiss onto thin lips, lips that still faintly tasted of his blood. It was an honor, a pleasure and a responsibility to provide his blood for this person. Even if this person sucked him dry, he wouldn’t have minded. He would’ve died with a smile of happy etched on his face.

The digital clock and calendar on the nearby nightstand flashed 4:00 pm and June 6 in neon green light.

“You got lots of engagement tonight, Yuu.” Kaname reminded, his smile turning playful.

“Che.” The other answered, eyes still closed.

“They would be dying to see you, and then try to introduce their daughters to you.”

Winter gray eyes cracked open and stared at him. Kaname stuck his tongue out.

“Why the fuck are you pushing me to those goddamn ridiculous parties when I’ve cancelled all prior appointments?” Kanda said.

“I need you to go away.” Kaname said, blinking.

“Huh.”

“Yeah.” Smile.

A pillow smashed onto his face.

“You asshole. Now go away and let me sleep!”

---

Yuu had at least gone with Aido and the rest of the Night Class, but knowing his lover, Kaname knew that the other pureblood would be back in…oh, five hours’ time. Centuries and still Yuu never socialized properly with anyone except his selected circle, which consisted now of Kaname’s batch of the Night Class only. And even then he had been hearing word from Seiren that his lover was still aloof, no matter what they did.

He knew that Yuu wouldn’t change in that aspect. After all, it was the aspect that attracted him in the first place.

He walked to the bathroom and inspected the tools he had prepared, but not after leaving himself shirtless. There was a fluffy white towel spread near the edge of the huge tub, and on it was a fine selection of some scalpels. Kaname carefully went into the empty tub and selected which scalpel to use.

Vampires were so lucky that they didn’t scar.

---

Kanda was quietly sipping from the glass of blood provided for him by Senri Shiki as he looked politely around at the club owned by the former model. They were in Austria, in Vienna to be exact, and the sprawling, modern nightclub was filled to the brim with partying aristocrats and D-class vampires from all around the planet. Rima Tohya was busy managing the DJ’s corner, waving now and then to the crowd, and to him. He smiled at her at least to acknowledge her greeting.

Neon lights flashed everywhere, and the sound of music blared from speakers carefully situated in the club. Seiren had remained seated near him, quiet as a rock thought finely dressed in a purple long qi bao that complimented her curves perfectly.

Then Kanda turned to her, and she automatically leant forward.

“What time is it?”

Despite the laughter and the loud music, Seiren never failed to hear his voice.

“Three in the morning, Yuu-sama.”

Ah.

“Let’s go home, Seiren.” He said, rising and pulling his dark ermine fur coat close.

“As you wish.”

“Oi, oi, where are you going? It’s too early to leave!”

Kanda half-turned to find Takuma Ichijou, Ruka Souen and Senri Shiki approaching them. Ichijou had been the star of the dance floor for the past four hours now, and his printed shirt was drenched with sweat, but his ageless face didn’t show any sign of fatigue. Ruka looked equally pretty beside him, dressed in a black slip camisole and rocker girl skirts.

“You haven’t even danced yet!” Ichijou protested. “And I’ve been distracting the audience for you until you get your heels up and dance yourself!”

“Sorry, Takuma. I want to take a walk.”

That done, Kanda easily brushed past them and walked toward the exit with Seiren, causing the crowd to part like the red sea and flourish a bow or a curtsey for him as he passed.

He’d been away long enough, and hoped whatever Kaname had in mind, he was done with it.

---

Kaname looked up from where he had been reading a book on the couch just as Yuu entered the door. He rose and took his lover in his arms, and kissed him deeply. Yuu’s hand was warm on his cheek, and they parted lips a minute later.

“How was Shiki’s club?” He said, smiling as he rested his forehead against Yuu’s. “I hear it’s one of the world’s best.”

“It is.” Kanda replied. “At least, as far as the ambience and sound system work for me. But then again I’m not into clubs that much.”

“You never change…” Kaname smiled softly as he pulled out a small gem from his pocket.

It was the size of a thumbnail, blood red in color, at first glance it would seem to be a ruby, but then again of course something was off with it’s redness and how the light reflected on it. Kaname put it onto Kanda’s hand and closed his fingers over it.

“What is this?” Kanda asked.

“Heartblood Crystal.” Kaname replied quietly, lips on his lover’s forehead. “A rare stone, one even more precious than diamond. It is made from the blood taken directly from a pureblood’s heart.”

“Kaname!”

He placed a finger over Kanda’s lips and kissed his nose. “It is the most intimate gift a vampire could give. Not many survive it’s manufacture. But here I am, humbly presenting you my heartblood, hoping you would take it and wear it.”

“You big baby…” Kanda said softly, throwing his arms around Kaname’s neck and kissing him furiously, deeply.

“Happy birthday, love…” Kaname laughed as he kissed him back, with all the eagerness his being could muster.

Writer's Block: Crepuscular Drama

2008-11-21T11:47:59Z

The Twilight movie comes out today. A lot of people are really excited about seeing Bella and Edward on the big screen. Others couldn't care less. Where do you fall on the issue?

View 500 Answers

I, for one, can't care less.
I mean not to offend anyone, but I think the whole thing's overrated anyway.
I managed to read Twilight only but failed to finish the book because it failed to hold my interest. I mean sure, setting the whole vampire and werewolf conflict in a high school setting is quite unique and fresh in a way, but then the whole thing revolved more around a very lacking female protagonist and wasted all the awesome potential the series could have had.

I never managed to read the other books. Regarding series, the first book alone is very crucial for me, along with the plot and the play up of the characters. I guess I have to blame my standards to my course, I'm a senior year student in Creative Writing, and all my years in the university, my professors have drilled into me that a complex plot and well-developed characters make the story a whole lot different than half cooked books.

I think the books after Twilight were all half-baked. I mean no offense to Stephenie Meyer, I got to credit her for pulling off the first person POV in all four books *that alone is a feat in writing, hey* but her plot just failed me.

For one, I hate character types like Bella. Female protagonists who can't seem to decide, who are suddenly important and who got to be saved most of the time are a big embarassment and a waste of character potential for me. She just negated Edward Cullen's massive potential. Jacob Black's too. Also annoying how in the saga she can't seem to decide between Jacob and Edward in the second and third books. Eugh.

The Cullens I have no worries. They were all awesome in a way. The Blacks too. The whole saga could have just been about the feud between these two ancient races.

Another thing that got me was that in Breaking Dawn, Bella managed to concieve and even give birth. Being an age-old fan of Anne Rice and Bram Stoker, the whole idea of Renesmee Cullen destroyed the vampire lore for me. How the fuck can a dead guy impregnate a human girl? In Anne Rice, in Vittorio the Vampire, specifically, it is mentioned that Florian had a 'rock-hard but seedless' organ. That's the whole idea of the Turning, isn't it? The venom/blood that courses into your system in effect kills you and yet alters your chemical make-up.

Okay, so vampires in Meyer's world could have kids.

How come Carlisle and Esme got no baby? Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper and Alice too? All the other vampires?

Wow, for a moment there you got to doubt who the father of Renesmee Cullen is.

That is a big effing plot hole right there.

And yes, I don't deny that I haven't read books 2-4, I may be forming my judgements wrongly. But what the heck. That is the canon of the vampire lore. Dead guy = no sperm. Period.

So, what I'm saying is, Twilight saga could have been much much more. But then the author didn't make up for it, couldn't live up to the potential of her own world.

So I guess I don't care what happens to the movie. It can be a block-buster or a failure, but my world won't stop spinning. Heck, the whole world won't stop spinning.

It doesn't help that Edward Cullen, described as 'drop-dead gorgeous', is played by Pattinson. No personal issue against Pattinson and his fans, but he isn't gorgeous enough to deserve the name and role of Edward Cullen. He is UGLY. EUGH. Shia leBeouf is prettier.

THIS is Edward Cullen:

Case Closed.

These Lovelies Inspire Me for DGM

2008-11-16T00:48:33Z

I've been playing Ragnarok Online since I was in sophomore year in high school, and lately the updates and patches have come along with very beautiful music. These two BGMs inspire me so much and I can't help but get D.Gray-Man (and a bit of Vampire Knights) vibe from these sounds.

Monastery In Disguise
Title: Monastery in Disguise
This is really really cool for a DGM movie. I sort of imagine it like the music when ending credits roll on the screen.

Good Night
Title: Good Night
Reminds me of Noah and their schemes.

These babies help me a lot when I get down to write my fics, hence I share.
Both are sounds from Ragnarok Online game, by GRAVITY.

One-shot: Yet The Hands Of Time Move Onward

2008-11-15T08:06:40Z

Title: Yet The Hands Of Time Move Onward
Fandom: D.Gray-Man AU Noahverse
Timeline: Before L'autre côté de l'échiquier

==

It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in.
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn't believe what I'd become

-- Viva La Vida, Coldplay

She still dreamed about it a lot. She would remember all the blood on the floor and the frigidity of the corpse, and the way the gray eyes were glazed as they stared dully, openly at the door where they came in. She could remember how his pale, cold lips formed a huge ‘O’, a silent plea for help, frozen in the last agonizing moments of his life. She could remember how her knees failed her, how they buckled and refused to support her weight. How she collapsed into Marie’s huge frame behind her, how with his enormous hands he helped her up and kept her there.

Linali wasted no moment; she could remember vividly how the Chinese girl turned on her heels and ran, her voice echoing down the walls. She and Marie had stayed behind, and she crawled toward the corpse, extending her Innocence arm, activating Time Record, whispering for her Innocence to somehow find a way to reverse this, this was just a mean joke – she could take it back, and he would be all right again, he would be all right, and he would get up and eye her with sheer displeasure and rudeness for discovering that he had been kidding, and he would snap at her again for being stupid and clumsy. That was what she wanted to happen. At the first few moments Noise Marie had let her, until Allen Walker and Lavi came running, and by then she had been screaming, crying, begging for her Innocence to work, asking for a check-up, maybe it had taken a damage in that last raid.

But of course, deep in her mind and heart Miranda Lotte knew the look of death. She had been long enough into the Black Order to recognize death. And her Time Record didn’t work on death. Death was the sole opponent not even she could make to bow.

When the Fallen arose, she had worked at the sidelines. She had always been weak; she doubted she could do much to help except take away the injuries of the less fortunate ones. For four days she stayed up, absorbing all the time the others had, taking away their pain and injury if for a moment only. She maintained that it was the only thing she was good at. It was the only thing she could do. She had never seen a Fallen before; never knew Suman Dark and the story behind that tragedy. Every now and then she paused to watch as jets of power fired from where Allen and the others tried to contain the critical rater Fallen, feeling shivers of fear down her spine everytime.

And on the fifth day, silence. The rain started as a gentle, cold drizzle.

---

It wasn’t just Chaoji Han who noticed that Yuu Kanda never got any presents for Christmas. Though Miranda knew that she was a simpleton, she was a bit smarter than the other Exorcists and officials of the Black Order. It had always been her strength that she could notice others – even back in Germany before Allen and Linali found her, she had always been observant and knew more of her neighbors and her town than the worst gossip monger in the place.

Unlike her neighbors, Miranda didn’t rely on stories and word-of-mouth. Well, not exactly rely on them per se. She liked to observe people by their actions, because she was a firm believer that actions spoke louder than words, especially in her case. No matter how many plates she broke, no matter how many coins she lost to the thief, she always tried to get them back, never mind the complains and the shouts and the scolding. But people in her town were never observant. Which was why when Time Record activated that first time, Miranda was the only one who noticed that the whole town started repeating a single day over and over.

She could remember it well. January 2^nd, at around two in the morning. Her regular bouts of insomnia had decided to bother her again, and her remedy for it was a glass of warm milk from Jerry’s kitchen. Home was quiet and half-shrouded in darkness by that time, and Miranda wrapped her shawl closely around her as she walked downstairs to the cafeteria, jumping at every slight noise and movement. She had always been afraid of ghosts. More so now, after the disastrous moving of the HQ, when they all got infected with the Komuvitan D virus. Since then Miranda was extra twitchy in the darkness.

She got her glass of warm milk and some cookies without incident, but on the way back to her quarters, she paused because she saw light flitting from underneath Kanda’s door. She stood there, unsure of what to do. In all of the years that she and Kanda had been neighbors, she was still to observe the Japanese exorcist sharply. She knew for a fact that Kanda preferred to stay in the field rather than sleep in HQ, contrary to most of the Exorcists and Finders in the field. She thought she heard coughing. That was it, Miranda raised her hand and knocked.

To her tremendous surprise Kanda opened his door with a creak, causing her to yelp and jump, her plate of cookies flying. He’d easily caught the little bundles of oatmeal love and handed them back to her, making her blink.

“What do you want?” he demanded. Miranda wasn’t sure if it was the semi-darkness in that part of HQ, but she thought his eyes were amber or golden as he looked at her.

“I-I was w-wondering if you w-wanted to…share m-my c-cookies?” she said in a small voice. “They’re n-not really s-sweet, but…”

There was a moment’s silence.

“Come on in.” said Kanda, stepping back.

Miranda entered the room with as much nerves and curiosity. She put the plate of cookies down on the only table in the room, noting with fascination the golden hourglass that stood on it. The lotus was pale pink, ethereally beautiful despite the fallen petals at the bottom of the glass. Kanda didn’t close the door and sat down on his bed.

“I haven’t got a chair, you can sit on the table.” He said.

“Oh, I’m f-fine, really…” Miranda said, offering him the plate. He eyed the cookies suspiciously before taking one and sniffing it, making her giggle. Then, convinced that the cookie couldn’t possibly harm him, Kanda proceeded to take a nibble. Miranda noted how prim and proper he chewed; not a crumb out of place. Encouraged, she sat down on his desk and proceeded to eat too.

“Y-you really s-should ask some cleaners to r-remove the spider webs, Kanda…” she suggested after a moment, after they consumed some two cookies each. “A-and have some lights i-installed. And your w-window needs fixing.”

Kanda only watched her in silence. “What are you doing awake at this fucking hour?”

“My insomnia.” Miranda replied. “W-well, it always does come at inconvenient t-times.”

“Oh.”

A few minutes passed in quiet, and Miranda berated herself mentally for being unable to hold a cheerful conversation. Not that attempts would do much against the teenager in front of her. Yuu Kanda had always been the more difficult of the people in the Black Order, perhaps more difficult than Malcolm de Leverrier, even. In the end the woman ended up fumbling in her pockets and drawing a reel of nylon. She handed it to him.

“The fuck will I do with nylon?” he’d said, taking it. “It won’t do much if I want to hang myself, you know.”

“I n-notice that you have a b-bracelet.” She explained. She gestured with her empty glass of milk.
“And I n-noticed that it needs r-restringing s-soon, so…”

He blinked at her once, twice, thrice.

“I-I’m so sorry!” Miranda squeaked. “It was too a-assuming of me! I just t-thought your bracelet is v-very pretty!”

“Thank you.”

That statement threw Miranda off-guard. She twisted her leg and ended up as a heap on Kanda’s floor. He’d helped her up, and she bowed and apologized over and over, saying that she didn’t mean to spy, oh no, she only noticed how much his bracelet had loosened, and that she only wanted to help and because he never bought strings or so she thought, and because she wanted to give him a small something and—

She shut up when Kanda had a hand on her mouth. This close, Miranda was sure that his eyes were golden under what light the hourglass gave.

“Thank you. For the string.” Kanda repeated, looking at her. “Thank you.”

He removed his hand, and she smiled at him. But he didn’t smile back.

---

She fiddled with the beaded bracelet around her wrist as she watched Allen Walker, Lavi and Krory by the adjacent table. The past few months had been no joke for them all at the Black Order. When the formal announcement and order from Central came that the Illusion of Noah was active in the field, Miranda did not know what to make of it. Her fingers automatically flew to the bead bracelet that she had found among the ashes of the Fallen, after everybody had gone away and let the rain try to wash away the mess and the bad memories. She had picked it up and slipped it onto her wrist, discovering that the strings were taut and tight. Kanda had replaced the strings. It was in fact the last thing he ever did, before his Innocence started to consume him alive. Since then Miranda kept the bracelet.

It saddened her that nobody remembered to look for the trinket. In the weeks after the Togaochi’s occurrence, she had been keeping an ear out if someone else wanted it. But nobody ever looked for the bracelet, and she was greatly disappointed by that. In the end she decided that she would keep it, care for it and cherish it as much as the owner did when he was still alive. If by chance someone remembered and asked for it, Miranda Lotte would be selfish just this once, and refuse to hand it over.

“LEAVE ME ALONE!”

She watched as Allen left the cafeteria, head bowed, leaving the heaps of food that Jerry and his cooks supplied virtually untouched. She returned to her own chicken sandwich and forced herself to eat, but the thing tasted like ashes in her mouth.

Was the Black Order going to make it out of this hole alive?

---

It was not always that Allen Walker asked advice from her. They were by one of the spy turrets of the new Headquarters, inspecting the city with the aid of the reinforced telescopes mounted by the windows. She had worn her overcoat because the air was growing cold again. Allen had been busy peeking by one of the telescopes.

“Neh, Miranda…”

“Y-yes, Allen?” she replied, pulling her coat a bit more close. Her breath was a white mist in front of her face. Golems fluttered in and out of their spy turret, some having icicles forming on their wings.

“Miranda…have you ever had to deal with the trouble of wondering if you should tell a person whether you like him or not?”

The question stunned her. Not that Miranda needed to rack her brains for any run-ins with romance; her experience with that was close to zero. However she smiled at Allen and clasped her gloved hands together in front of her.

“Me, Allen?” she said. “I w-would never have the courage to do something l-like that. I’m a c-clumsy woman, and if I a-approach someone I live, my nerves only become more s-shot, and I end up doing all sorts of stupid t-things. I would n-never manage to tell how I feel. Maybe I w-would take a chance with a l-letter, but then, I’m n-not so good with words. A-and anyway, the person might t-think it was a joke.”

Allen drew back from the telescope and looked at her. Everything about him was serious, and despite herself Miranda felt a tingling curiosity as to whom this lucky person was, who Allen decided he liked.

“But you would still take the risk to let them know, right?” He said. “Even if it’s just a letter?”

Miranda nodded, making her wavy hair dance. “I r-read from a book that if it c-comes to love, it’s worth risking a c-chance, even if you r-regret it forever.”

“Regret forever, huh?” Allen muttered, and then returned to the telescope.

“Allen…may I know…” she hesitated. “Who?”

To her surprise, a blush formed on the English teen’s cheeks. “The most difficult person you could imagine.”

Miranda thought hard about that. She spent weeks trying to figure out if it was Linali or one of the younger nurses and Finders; she took to observing some of the ‘meaner’ girls in the lot, and after nearly a whole month of watching, she concluded that it must be the blonde young Finder from Austria. She was just about the foulest girl Miranda could find; she snorted and spit and drank much like a man, and she couldn’t cook to save lives.

She suddenly regretted telling Allen that piece of advice, if he was indeed going to confess to such a girl. Allen Walker deserved better than this!

---

They…didn’t stand a chance. For all of the combined offense and defense of Miranda, Chaoji and Marie, the Illusion of Noah easily neutralized whatever attack they planned. He got rid of Chaoji first; Noriyo Kyuuya didn’t even need to unsheathe the katana he had – just a glance was enough, and Miranda saw how the young Chinese was transformed into a snail right in front of her eyes, a snail that Noriyo Kyuuya crushed promptly under his boot heels.

Noise Marie was felled with a storm of invisible wind blades that rushed by in deadly speed, chopping him to bits. The Innocence fragments easily flew into Noriyo Kyuuya’s hand afterward, and Miranda watched in defenseless silence and despair as his fingers closed in on the things, crushing them forever.

She cringed and shut her eyes as his footsteps neared.

“I see you have my bracelet.”

Miranda dared to open her eyes then. It was not the 14-year-old beautiful boy that was standing before her now, but Kanda as she remembered him – as they all remembered him. He still looked regal and no-nonsense in that sleeveless shirt, dark slacks and boots. Regal and no-nonsense, as he always was. She could not get the words out; she only stared up at him, knowing that this was going to be her end.

“Deactivate your Innocence.” Kanda told her. “It’s annoying.”

She obeyed with a soft whisper of ‘deactivate’, and Time Record’s golden dome dispersed around them. Kanda gave a satisfied nod and crouched down in front of her.

Silence.

“BOO!” Kanda suddenly exclaimed.

“EEK! PLEASE DON’T!” Miranda squealed, immediately having her arms up to shield her head and face from whatever attack.

But the blow never came. Kanda was now sitting on the ground, one hand on his middle as he laughed, his bare shoulders shaking with mirth. Miranda watched him with fear and disbelief from the gaps of her fingers.

“What? Dirt on my face?” Kanda smiled. It was only now that Miranda came to understand how unusually beautiful the Japanese man was, if he smiled.

“You…aren’t you…going to…kill me?” she dared ask, softly.

“You want to die?” Kanda said, eyebrows rising. “That’s boring.” He snorted. “I don’t kill useless women like you. Tell you what, I’m giving you a deal. Do you want to continue living as an Exorcist or no?”

The answer was easy enough for Miranda. She had observed for three years how the Order degraded upon itself, how she discovered every lie and every dark story, every lost chance and opportunity. While there were people there who made hanging on worth it, Miranda knew in herself that she would not – could not – bear the guilt of all those alone. Much less the guilt for the man who now came to sit before her.

“That’s…that’s unfair of me…” Miranda said. “The Order…is my only family now…if I were given a chance to get away…won’t that be cowardly of me? I’ve always run away all my life--!”

“I’m not making you into a coward.” Kanda said. “I’m giving you a chance to live. Do you honestly think,” his voice lowered into a threatening purr. “That the Order will stand much longer against all 13 of the Noah?” He gave another testy snort. “I will not spare anyone else, Miranda.”

“Why me…?”

Kanda tilted his head and nodded toward the bracelet on her wrist.

“Because you were the only one who cared. And so I will care about you too.”

---

The sound of the crisp back-handed slap echoed sharply in the room, the force of the blow making Noriyo Kyuuya fall onto the floor. The Earl Millennium was not pleased as he surveyed the youngest Noah as he struggled to stand up.

“Oh, I’m asking you nicely, Kyuuya-pon, why oh why did you spare that woman and her Innocence? <3?”

The boy brushed his dress shirt and vest without much care and spat a wad of saliva and blood on the floor. Oh, how the Earl wanted to crush his insignificant skull in his hands. Of all of his precious lambs he was the blackest, the most rebellious, the most insubordinate, the – oh the Earl could think of so many things that irked him.

“I spared her just because.” The boy replied. “Because your schemes get too boring and too repetitive, I thought you could do with a kick in there somewhere.”

“And who gave you the authority to meddle with my plans?!” The Earl had had to hiss out every word. His whole wide frame was shaking with anger.

“No one. Nyaaan!” Kyuuya said, sticking his tongue out.

“INSOLENT BRAT!”

The air thickened and rippled, and the Earl’s eyes widened with outrage as he discovered that he was shrinking impossibly – shrinking, shrinking, until Noriyo Kyuuya towered over him the way a street lamppost towered over a dog.

“Oh don’t make me destroy you, Earl Millennium,” Noriyo Kyuuya purred. “Because I assure you, not even your Akuma can save you if you make me angry enough.” The boy reached up and picked him up by the collar. “I am the real boss here, do you understand? You are nothing except a greedy old fat scientist with his toy machines and his toy Akumas, a big bully stomping on an anthill, do you understand? You do not order me around. I obey my own whim, not yours.”

Then Kyuuya shrank him some more until he was the size of a bullfrog, and placed him inside a huge glass jar that came from nowhere.

“Have fun, Earl-bon~”

That was all and the Illusion of Noah turned on his heels and walked away, laughing his tinkling laughter that drowned out the Earl’s shrill protests and rages.