Anniversary by senshi_of_ruin
Part Eight:
Forcing himself to look up, Sho saw another figure standing at the alley’s entrance. With his vision swimming before his eyes, he only realised who it was when Kei moved closer. The men, almost as though they understood what Kei really was, moved away, except the one who had been holding Sho. He stayed where he was and tried to block Kei from coming to his lover’s side. Kei pushed him aside and looked Sho up and down silently. The blonde’s eyes were dark. Sho had never seen him like this before and something inside of him actually felt some fear.
The men, having recovered from their shock,
yelled something angrily at Kei and seconds later there was gunfire. The rest
happened as a blur. Sho didn’t even register that Kei had moved until the man holding
the gun was on the floor, pinned down by the vampire. The man thrashed about
for a few seconds before his shouts were cut off with a strangled cry. Sho,
from his close proximity, saw exactly what Kei had done and so did the
remaining men. They turned and ran and Kei went after them. It should have been
the end of it, it would have usually been the end of it but Kei had seemingly
forgotten Sho completely in his blood lust.
As he lost sight of Kei, Sho heard the men’s
screams confirming that the vampire had caught up with his victims.
Sho stood in silence, staring down at the man at
his feet and the gash in his throat. A gash that Kei had made. It was bleeding
quickly and heavily. The crimson river soaked the man’s chest and then pooled
beneath him and into the cracks in the pavement until it began to creep along
to where Sho was standing. The man’s eyes were wide and staring up at the dark
sky. His hands gripped tightly at the stone under him until, after a few
agonising seconds, his body relaxed. His eyes began to glaze over and it was at
that moment that Sho forced himself to look away.
Growing up in Mallepa, he had seen so much
death, and most of it violent, but this had been different somehow. His stomach
clenched and he doubled over, vomiting into the pool of blood as his mind spun
with unanswered questions.
Just what had happened to Kei to make him do
such a thing? How could he do this? Of course he had killed hundreds of times
before but he always made the process quick and clean, compassionate almost.
What had made him turn so suddenly? And where was he now?
This last question had barely come to the
forefront of Sho’s mind before he heard footsteps close to him, and getting
closer still.
Spitting to rid his mouth of the last taste of vomit,
Sho looked up, wiping his mouth he took a step away from the body and away from
the vampire who now stood before him.
As they faced each other, Sho was suddenly aware
of the pain his body was in and he bit his lip stubbornly to prevent himself
from crying out loud.
“Sho” the man that spoke to him was not Kei, was
not the Kei that Sho knew and cared about. The darkness in his eyes was still
there and it shook Sho to the core.
He flinched back until he was pressed against
the wall, but Kei continued forwards and suddenly there was nowhere left to go.
Then Kei’s lips were on his cheek, his tongue
licking away the blood there. Sho held himself still as Kei reached up with a
hand to hold Sho’s face still as he then caught his lips in a forceful kiss.
Sho could taste blood on Kei’s lips and his
first instinct was to pull away in revulsion but somewhere in the back corner
of his mind there was a daring voice telling him to return the kiss, to see
where Kei was coming from.
So he did. Sho pulled the vampire closer,
parting his lips to accept Kei and ignoring the pain that followed as Kei moved
forcibly against him, grinding his hips against Sho’s and forcing him harder
against the wall.
After a few seconds, Kei pulled back to growl
possessively into his ear “Mine” before Sho then felt lips on his neck, nipping
at his skin until the pressure became harder and fear overcame pleasure.
“Kei” Sho’s voice came out as a dry whisper,
“Kei, stop.”
For a frightening second, Sho didn’t think that
Kei was going to heed him. For a second, lips remained at his throat and Sho’s
heartbeat thudded almost painfully in his chest. For the first time he felt
afraid of Kei but then the vampire pulled away, putting some distance between
them as he regarded Sho with regretful eyes.
“I’m sorry”
He was going to leave. Sho could tell this and
took a step towards him when he was reminded of his wounds by a fierce jolt of
pain that shot down from his shoulder. Stumbling, he hated to appear so weak
and forced himself to lean back against the wall again, taking in a few deep
breaths.
“Sho?” Kei came to his side hesitantly, as
though afraid that he might lose control again.
“I’m fine,” he protested, unintentionally
flinching away when Kei reached out for him. If this action hurt the vampire,
he gave no sign of it and let his hand fall back at his side.
“Can you walk?” he asked instead.
Sho nodded.
“The car’s in the main street” Kei said, his
voice almost cold as he turned away. Sho took a couple of tentative steps,
ignoring his pain for he didn’t wish to appear any weaker in front of Kei.
He clenched his teeth and followed the vampire,
silently getting into the passenger seat when they reached the car. It was only
when Kei started to engine that Sho decided to speak.
“What were you doing out here?”
“Looking for you. I waited but you were a long
time so I decided to go and find you.”
“I can take care of myself” Sho couldn’t help
but declare at this.
Kei raised an eyebrow as he put the car in gear,
“Really?”
“Really” Sho echoed and they continued to
journey in an uncomfortable silence.
Sho was well aware that he was still bleeding,
albeit only a little and he also knew that Kei could smell his blood. This made
him very uncomfortable in a way that it wouldn’t do normally. In a normal
situation Kei wouldn’t have lost control like that and Sho didn’t understand
why. He had fed recently so that couldn’t be the reason for it. His forehead
creased into a frown as he struggled to decide on a reason and, when he
couldn’t, he chose to ask Kei out right.
For a long time, the vampire didn’t reply. He
concentrated on driving but Sho repeated his question and he was forced to
answer.
“Because it was you. Because they attacked you.”
There had rarely been any close calls, Sho thought
to himself. Usually, on the jobs, if it looked as though he was getting into
trouble, Kei would step in before anything could happen.
Sho subconsciously raised his hand to his neck
as he thought of what had happened that night.
The recollection of Kei uttering that one word
threatened to arouse him again and Sho looked away, even as Kei spoke again.
“I wouldn’t have killed you.”
Sho wasn’t altogether sure about this. The
memory of Kei’s teeth pushing harder and harder against his throat was
difficult to ignore.
“Why not?” he asked quietly.
It was difficult for Kei to reply and he took
another few minutes in doing so and, by this time, they had pulled into their
road. “Because you’re mine.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Kei stopped the car and turned off the engine,
“That is how my vampire instincts see you. The vampire inside of me knows that
you are mine and that is why I lost control. I could have turned you then and
there, Sho” Kei’s voice suddenly turned angry, and Sho could have sworn that he
was trying to blink back tears, “That is how much you mean to me. To the
vampire in me. Luka could never come close to that.”
Sho wasn’t give time to register this properly
as Kei got out of the car and, without waiting for him, hurried inside.
“Baka” Sho whispered to himself as he realised
what a fool he had been. Kei had been hurting and he had unintentionally made
it worse with his petty jealousy. Ashamed, Sho now knew that he had, had
nothing to be jealous of and this made things worse.
He also got out of the car and hurried inside.
The door to Kei’s bedroom was closed and Sho walked passed this, instead going
to the bathroom to clean and bandage his wounds. As he worked on this, he
thought back again to the pain that he had caused and he knew that he had to
try to make it up to Kei somehow. The last thing he ever wanted to do was hurt
him and he had done this. Kei had dragged up the subject of his past so that
Sho could understand and become closer to him and all Sho had done was focus on
his envy towards the relationship that Kei had once had with Luka. Even when
Kei had said that he didn’t love Luka, it hadn’t been enough for Sho.
Angrily, Sho ripped off his bloodied shirt,
wincing as he did so as the fabric had become stuck to his skin with semi-dried
blood. Thankfully none of his wounds were too deep or serious, although they
did hurt. The gunshot wound was the worst, although he had only been grazed,
and Sho took extra care to bandage it properly as Kei had taught him to the
first, and only other time, that he had been shot.
Shutting the cabinet door, Sho took a couple of
minutes to stare at his reflection in the mirror. He had two bruises forming on
his face, one around his right eye and another on his cheek.
Sighing softly, Sho took another few minutes to
compose himself before shuffling slowly towards Kei’s room. The door was still
closed and he couldn’t hear any movement from inside although he could smell
the smoke from a cigarette.
Wondering briefly if he should knock, Sho opened
the door and walked into the room before he could lose his nerve.
Kei was sitting on his bed, his legs stretched
out, a lit cigarette dangling between his slightly parted lips. An ashtray was
on the bedside cabinet but aside from that, the cabinet was bare for Kei had
moved most of his things into Sho’s room two months ago.
The vampire glanced up at him, appearing
detached and casual almost as he stubbed the cigarette out and then turned to
face him again, but Sho knew better. As he had become closer to Kei, he had
begun to be able to read him a little better and Sho could tell that he was
struggling to hold things together now.
So, acting purely on impulse, Sho went to him,
climbing onto the bed and encircling the vampire in an embrace. The blonde man
gave no resistance and his head fitted snugly against Sho’s chest, although he
did not return the unprecedented affection that Sho was offering him.
“I’m sorry” Sho murmured softly, “I’m an idiot
and I’m sorry.”
“No you’re not an idiot” Kei’s voice was
slightly muffled by the fabric of Sho’s shirt but the younger man heard him
well enough, “This is my fault. I created this situation.”
At these words, Sho drew back, although he still
clutched onto Kei’s slim shoulders tightly as anger flared up inside him again
and he snapped out, “Don’t you dare shoulder the blame for this. We decided
together to take things further between us. Stop trying to act like my parent
all the time!”
“And stop trying to divert the subject. This
isn’t about us; it’s still about Luka, isn’t it? If it wasn’t love you felt for
him, then what was it?”
“I don’t know.”
“I think you do” Sho answered quietly, “You’re
always teasing me about being so open with my emotions. You see it as weak but
you closing off everything is even worse.”
There was no response to this and Sho got up, sighing
angrily he went over to the doorway intending to leave but he changed his mind
at the last minute. This situation… he had to admit that it wasn’t one that he
felt comfortable with and he was angry with Kei for a lot of things but how
things were at the moment was changing their relationship in a way that being
together hadn’t done. When they had taken their relationship to a more intimate
level, it had changed very little between them. There had been no need to. What
was changing was how things were now between them. Sho knew that he was partly
to blame by bringing up Kei’s past with Luka and his foolish jealousy but he
had got over that and now wanted to make things right between them. He could
ignore it and, in a few days, things would be smoothed over but it seemed to
Sho that unless Kei moved on, nothing would ever be the same for either of
them.
“You never mourned him, did you?” Sho said, very
quietly coming to this conclusion and, judging from the stunned look on Kei’s
face, that he was right. Pressing on, Sho remembered in a flash that tired and
defeated expression that had held him captivated when he had first met Kei.
“You didn’t mourn him” Sho repeated, “You punished yourself instead.”
Kei opened his mouth to deny it but Sho
continued:
“You starved yourself for months and then
collapsed, content to burn to death in that abandoned building. Punishing
yourself was easier wasn’t it?”
Kei stood up, looking angry for a moment and
then only subdued, “I had an eternity of solitude stretching out in front of
me. But I brought it on myself, Sho. I didn’t stay with him. I let him die
alone.”
“Kei” Sho moved closer to the vampire and again
lightly touched his shoulders, feeling Kei tremble as he did so.
“He took me away from everything I knew. He took
me away from my life and a part of me never forgave him for that. How could I
mourn him? He was the one who turned me into this monster.”
“He did” Sho agreed softly, “But he also looked
after you, even when you hated him he stayed.”
“All we had was each other. We cared for each
other. I cared about him.”
Kei did love Luka, Sho realised as, for the
second time that evening, he pulled the smaller man into an embrace. Kei didn’t
love Luka as a lover did but as a confidant, as a sibling and best friend.
Silently, whilst recalling how often the roles
had been reversed when Sho was little, the younger man embraced Kei again and,
as before, the vampire pressed lightly against him, but this time, Sho felt Kei
hold onto him, returning the embrace.
“I need you, Sho. I need you to rid me of my
pain.”
At last Sho felt as though he was doing just
that.
******
Kei slept for longer that night. In fact, he
slept right through until the following evening. He woke slowly, his senses
telling him that it was almost dusk when he first began to stir.
He had never felt so drained, both emotionally
as well as physically, and had been all too glad to sleep. Luka’s memory still
pained him, but, Kei was surprised to find, there was no overwhelming grief or
regret. He smiled sadly at this thought. Perhaps he really was moving on at
last.
Kei hadn’t spoken to Sho since admitting how
much he cared for Luka, finding himself unable to do so and Sho appeared to
understand as he too held his silence. Filled with some worry over this, Kei
rolled over in bed and was surprised to find Sho beside him, his blue gaze
staring intensely at Kei indicating to the vampire that he had been awake for
some time.
“Good evening” Sho cracked a small smile,
confusing Kei further.
“Sho--”
“You don’t need to say anything and I don’t want
you to. I know last night helped you and I don’t want you saying anything that
might make less of that. And there’s no need to feel embarrassed that I saw
your vulnerable side, either” Sho smirked at this last bit as Kei growled
playfully, all uncertainties rapidly dispersing.
“Vulnerable ne?” Kei nipped at Sho’s neck before
moving to straddle him, unintentionally aggravating Sho’s wounds as he did so.
The younger man shrugged this off and leaned up to kiss Kei, but was unable to
hold back a slight gasp of pain when Kei’s weight fully covered him.
"Sorry" he apologised sheepishly as
Kei immediately moved off of him, "I think we might have to give it a few
days" he gestured to his wounds.
“We could” Kei agreed, smirking, “Or…” he let the sentence go unfinished as he instead moved to lay down beside Sho, one arm reaching out to pull the younger man closer whilst the other slipped between his legs, gently massaging his arousal through his boxers. Groaning, Sho allowed his head to fall back onto the pillows, his eyes fluttered closed as Kei again leaned in for a kiss whilst his hand moved to slip underneath the fabric.
“K-Kei” Kei smiled through the kiss as Sho
moaned his name but the sudden and shrill ringing of the phone from the front
room was quick to reach his more sensitive ears.
“Kei” Sho opened an eye, frowning up at him,
“What is it?”
“The phone” he answered.
“It’s probably Toshi. He said he’d have a job
lined up for us tonight” Sho explained as he got up, readjusting his boxers
before walking down the hall to the front room.
If Kei concentrated, he would be able to hear
both sides of the conversation but he chose to tune it out and, after a few
minutes, Sho came back into the bedroom.
“It was Toshi,” he confirmed. “There’s an
exchange, money for imports in a Chinese owned warehouse across town. Toshi
thinks it’s pretty decent money and we do need it if we want to pay this months
rent.”
Kei sat up and nodded, “What time?”
“In about an hour.”
“So we have a bit of time?”
“We do” Sho confirmed eagerly as he rejoined the
vampire in the bed.
Kei smiled and kissed him. He wasn’t naďve
enough to think that everything had now been put right. There were still many
things that they had to think about. One day Sho wouldn’t be here and that Kei
would be left alone again but he was beginning to see that Sho was right about
that, too. That Kei spent his entire existence thinking of tomorrows. He knew,
deep down, that there would come a day when again he was faced with losing Sho
forever or cursing him and Kei already knew which path he would chose. He had
known it since the day that they had met but, for now at least, he wouldn’t think
of it. Mourning Luka had brought him some relief and he was determined to enjoy
this time with Sho, no matter how fleeting it may be.
End.