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Colour Me Blood Red	By : DragonBlade Category: Prince of Tennis/Tennis no Ohjisama > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 2324 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own prince of tennis, characters or ideas, and I am making no money from this

Chapter List
- 24
- 25
- 26
I've been on a major roll lately, I don't get it either. And I lied, I told YuukiSan and another person that I was giving Akaya a break ...and I lied. I was originally planning on it, but then I got a new idea and the story kind of snowballed into hell from there ... The motorcycle thing ...total personal experience, I have no idea how many times I caught my earrings on the inside of my helmet before I figured out the trick to getting it on and off. I have 12 earrings, there's a lot to catch.

I have no frigging idea which way Jackal's name goes, I've seen it flipped throughout the anime, but I think his voice actor and the Myu's say "Jackal Kuwahara" so now that I've kind of clued in, I'm using it that way, so my other chapters will look a little odd cause I've changed which name Akaya uses. My computer won't let me edit chapters most of the time, so I'm not going to bother fixing it.

I'm pretty sure it's called a 'pastry chef' but I'm not 100%, and I didn't want to explain to my mom why I as suddenly curious. She's mentioned it to me before and for some reason I wanted to put Marui in that course.

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CHAPTER 25

The atmosphere in the office the next day was quiet; the building empty of its usual bustle. The only noise on the floor came from the hushed voices of Inui Sadaharu and Tezuka Kunimitsu. The two stood at the end of the hallway in front of Tezuka’s office. Four sets of ears hid around the corner from them, listening with baited breath. The conversation up the hallway had started casually, but as soon as Kaidoh’s name was dropped the few ears in the area were pricked.

Kirihara had come in late that morning and wandered into the middle of their conversation. He noticed Ann, Kamio, and Jackal leaning against the wall in the hallway to the offices but when he tried to call to them they all rudely hushed him. Ann pointed over her shoulder, drawing Kirihara’s attention up the hallway. With an apologetic look he crossed the hallway as casually as he could manage and slipped in between the others.

“I’m not asking you as his Doctor Tezuka, I’m asking as your friend,” Inui’s voice was stressed and tired as if he had been up late doing something unpleasant.

“I think that is a choice Kaidoh needs to make for himself …” Tezuka’s voice held the pity his statement didn’t.

Inui chuckled, “you and I both know he’s chomping at the bit to come back. He’ll heal, but it’s not his physical well-being I’m worried about.”

Kirihara wiggled in between Ann and Jackal, the tiny Hunter actually shifted so he could squeeze in between the two. He tucked himself into Jackal’s shoulder and in behind Ann’s hips, he could feel the soft curve of her backside against his upper thigh. Being a few inches taller than her he was able to peek over her shoulder and down her tank-top. The material was tight across her breasts so he could see clear down to the under wire of her blue bra. Ann was a pretty girl, but their mutual hatred killed any attraction he might have had for her. He was one of the few Hunters that were not attracted to her, but no one was stupid enough to try anything with her – for fear of her big brother.

Jackal jabbed him in the ribs and raised an eyebrow; he had caught him blatantly staring down her top. Kirihara shrugged. What? They were there! It wasn’t his fault he looked.

“I know. Have you tried suggesting to him that he take some time off?”

“I have, and even though he respects me, he still wants to come back. I think hearing it from you might make it sink in.”

Tezuka remained quiet, as if he was mulling it over.

“I want him to talk to someone, to confide what happened. I think it’ll be good for him.” Inui’s voice threatened to break.

“Why don’t you talk to him? You are the closest to him?”

“Tezuka-“ Inui’s voice cracked and he fell silent for a moment before trying again, “Tezuka I can’t. I know he needs me and I’ll be there for him, but I had to do his physical and see what those …monsters did to him. I couldn’t bear hearing the details. He flinched from me when I tried to examine him Tezuka, he couldn’t stand being touched.”

Tezuka sighed, “I’ll talk to Oishi, I’m sure he’d have no problem talking with Kaidoh.”

“Thank you,” relief. “Oh, I know you have the report, but I think it would be best if you heard it from me first. When they …hurt Kaidoh, they gave him some of their blood.”

Ann’s hands flew to her mouth in shock and Jackal clenched his eyes shut. Kamio’s wide eyes met with Kirihara’s over Ann’s head. Kaidoh was another one now; he was infected, dirty, diseased. He was an outcast now.

The click of heels down the hall made all four scatter, guilty expressions on their faces. They were all concerned about Kaidoh, which was why they were listening in, but now they felt guilty for over-hearing something so personal.

Jackal threw his arm around Kirihara’s shoulder once they were far enough in the office to look inconspicuous, “I hear you haven’t gotten a new weapon yet?”

“No, I haven’t had a whole lot of time to go. I had some back-ups stuffed around, but I don’t have a main one anymore.” He shook his head.

“Look,” Jackal thumped him lightly on the chest, “Tezuka is giving everyone the day off, why don’t I take you to a little place I know?”

Kirihara smiled and nodded, it would be nice to spend an afternoon outside of the Organization; even if it was just shopping for a weapon.

Jackal went to his desk to grab the extra helmet he kept stashed there and they left the building. Jackal zipped his leather jacket up and pulled his full-face helmet on. Kirihara wiggled into his helmet, he hated wearing one but hitting the ground without one wasn’t a better option. The cushion inside snagged on his earrings and he had to stick his fingers in from underneath to jiggle them into a new place. Jackal chuckled at him and shook his head. Kirihara scowled at him as best as he could, even though the effect was ruined when all that was visible were his eyes. He zipped up his sweater and slid onto the motorcycle behind Jackal. He wrapped his arms around the Hunter’s waist and tucked his knees in behind him, feet up on the back pegs.

The motorcycle roared to life with a twist of the throttle and Jackal peeled out of the garage. The store he usually went to was at the far end of the Downtown area, where the shops and lights started to dwindle down to hock-shops and shady looking convenience stores. He didn’t like the idea of parking in that area so he found a well lit parking lot and paid for a ticket for the time they would need.

Jackal locked the helmets to the underside of the frame and they started their trek to the gun shop. The sidewalks were busy with the afternoon traffic and they bumped shoulders with other people every once in a while.

“Akaya?”

Kirihara froze, he knew that voice, and now was not really the time. “Yo, Bunta-san!”

The red-head tilted his head, “what are you doing here?” He shifted the stack of books he was carrying onto his hip.

“Uhh …”

“I’m just taking him to a shop I know of,” Jackal jumped in.

Marui grinned, “tall dark and handsome here someone you work with?”

“Yeah, at the factory,” Kirihara prayed to the gods that Jackal took the hint.

Jackal glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, “ah.”

Marui crossed his arms, “well, since it’s been forever since you’ve called me, I think it’s only fair you treat me to an early dinner.”

He was torn; on one hand he wanted to go, it had been too long since he had spent time with Bunta-san. On the other hand, he was with Jackal-san, and he didn’t want him to blow his cover story. He was going to protect Marui from this life as best as he could, even if that meant lying to his best friend.

Jackal must have seen something in his face because he nodded, “sure, that sounds like fun.” His dark eyes flicked to Kirihara again.

Marui’s face lit up, “nice!” He skipped up to Kirihara and slung his arm around his shoulders, “you’re not, you know, with him? Are you?”

Kirihara flailed, “no! Nothing like that! We’re just friends!” He felt a smile creeping across his face, he was glad Jackal made the decision. He didn’t like that the other Hunter could read him so well, but to hang out with Marui, he’d forgive him just this once.

“Ah!” Marui jumped in front of the pair again, “I’m being rude! Marui Bunta,” he held out his hand.

Jackal took it, “Jackal Kuwahara.”

Instead of the gun shop they found themselves in a small restaurant. The bell over the door rang joyously when they entered and a few patrons raised their heads to watch the trio.

Jackal hooked his arm around Kirihara’s waist and whispered with his mouth pressed to his ear, “Marui-kun doesn’t know?”

Kirihara shook his head, just a small jerk of his neck. Marui knew nothing about the creatures that prowled in the dark, and he would like to keep it that way.

Marui found a small table and pulled out two of the chairs, he patted the backs of the chairs as Jackal and Kirihara made their way through the maze of other tables to him. Menus were brought and Kirihara stuck his nose into the book so he could pretend he wasn’t listening to their conversation.

“So you work with Akaya, what do you do there?”

Kirihara stared hard at the page; please don’t let Jackal-san fuck it up!

The Hunter chuckled, picking up his own menu, “I’m not that interesting. I’ve only known Akaya for a few years, I have a feeling you’ve known him for longer?”

Marui nodded, “since we were …well, he was twelve and I was thirteen, I think?”

Kirihara let out a sign of relief, “something like that.” He bumped his knee against Jackal’s under the table and the other male reached down and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Marui chuckled suddenly, “I still remember the day I first saw you.”

A deep groan crept up Kirihara’s throat, “don’t even go there Bunta-san.”

Jackal leaned across the table, “do tell.”

“Little shit jumped up on the wall outside the school and proclaimed as loudly as he could ‘I am number one!’.” The red-head laughed, leaning back in his chair, “I think he got a week’s detention after the teacher caught him!”

Kirihara gave the waitress his order from where he had his face pressed to the table. Of course Marui would remember that, he barely even remembered it! The other two gave their orders and Marui dove back into his story.

“In junior high we played tennis together, believe it or not. Akaya was actually pretty damn good, our little star Ace. But I don’t mind saying that I was better, at least I didn’t injure my opponents,” Marui ruffled Kirihara’s hair.

“That only happened once-“

“Twice.”

“-Maybe a couple times, and they were usually by accident!” Kirihara tilted his head back enough to frown at Marui, he wasn’t about to explain to him that his bouts of anger when he was younger were because he couldn’t control the rage the Vampire blood caused in him.

Jackal laughed, “that sounds like the Akaya I know.” He nodded to the books stacked at Marui’s feet, “you went on to college I take it?”

“Yeah, couldn’t talk him into going to college with me,” Marui shrugged and ruffled Kirihara’s hair again.

He was starting to think he needed a hair-cut, everyone was ruffling his hair a lot more recently. “I had other things to worry about.” Like paying his rent and killing Vampires.

“What are you taking?”

Marui blushed, thrumming his fingers on the table, “I’m going in to be a pastry chef …”

“So that’s why you were eyeing the cake display on the way in?” Kirihara teased.

“Research!”

All three laughed, settling into an easy conversation about school and the good old days. Their food was hardly touched as they laughed and joked. Without realizing, the restaurant had slowly emptied in preparation for the late dinner rush and the sun had started to go down.

When it came time to pay Marui patted his jeans and sweater down and Kirihara turned his empty wallet upside down.

“I’m broke,” they said in unison.

Jackal sighed and paid for all their dinners, he had a feeling he’d be seeing a trend if he went out with the two again. They left the restaurant as the street lights started to come on, the sun disappearing just past the horizon. Not wanting to leave Marui alone in the dark they accompanied him to the bus stop.

With the stop only a block away and in perfect sight a small red-headed figure stepped out of an alleyway, keeping himself in the shadow of the building. His left arm and shoulder went past the edge of the shadow. Where the last remains of light touched him his skin darkened and tendrils of smoke rose from the blackened flesh. His wide eyes were crazed, but no pain showed on his face; he didn’t even realize he was burning alive.

Kirihara’s eyes widened in shock and out of reflex he grabbed Marui and shoved him behind him. His other hand went to the back of his jeans to his gun. Now was not the time to worry about Marui finding out he carried a concealed weapon.

“What the hell-“ Marui started, but Kirihara hissed at him over his shoulder to be quiet.

“Kirihara Akaya?” The twin fledgling tilted his head, eyes narrowing as he stared down the Hunter.

The Fledgling wasn’t old enough to have gained the telepathy older Vampires had, so how did he know his name? “Yeah?”

Jackal’s eyes narrowed as he watched him out of the corner of his eye, expression blatantly asking if he knew what the hell he was doing.

“I’m going to kill you …”

Marui gasped in shock, “what the hell is going on here!?”

Kirihara hissed at him again and pulled his gun out of the back of his jeans.

Marui gasped again. “Why the hell do you have a gun!?”

“Bunta-san, I swear to the gods if you don’t shut up I will pistol whip you!” He didn’t want to threaten his friend, but he also didn’t want Yohei to switch his attention.

The Fledgling’s eyes were wide and crazed; his skin looked paler and sunken from being awake too early. He let his head fall to his shoulder as his gaze lazily slipped to the human hidden behind the two Hunters. “Hmm …I was going to kill you, Kirihara-san, but now I may save that for my grand finale. You killed my brother, I’d like to see you in as much pain as I am in before I rip you limb from limb.”

Kirihara realized that he shouldn’t have blocked Marui, without thinking he had slipped into the role of protector. His own hand painted a big red target on Marui’s forehead. He had no family for the Vampire to go after, and no one who couldn’t defend themselves …except for the confused and scared human behind him.

“Akaya, I don’t fucking care, so you better tell me what the hell is going on here before I start screaming for help.”

Attention was the last thing they needed, “I’ll explain it later Bunta-san, please, just stay quiet.” He’d explain it if they all survived.

“He smells so good though, he smells really sweet.” Yohei licked his lips, grinning wickedly at Marui.

Kirihara glanced around; there were people everywhere so he couldn’t exactly shoot at the Vampire. How was he going to explain that to the police? Vampire, yeah, they’d buy that.

Marui’s voice had become shrill, “this guy is freaking me out! Can we leave?”

“Trying,” Kirihara sang. This was really not his day. There was no way in hell he was turning his back on a crazed Vampire, but he couldn’t attack him in broad daylight in the middle of downtown either. He grabbed a handful of Marui’s shirt and started to slowly push him backwards.

Jackal seemed to take the hint and stepped in front of the two, “take him back to your place, I’ll meet you there.”

Kirihara nodded and shoved Marui hard to get the other moving, they slipped into the crowd coming out of a store and ran down the street to the next bus stop. He didn’t like leaving Jackal behind, but they were trying to protect Marui. Jackal would be fine. He had to believe that.

Jackal grinned at the Vampire, “so you’re the infamous twin fledgling?”

Yohei nodded, “I am.”

“I hear you have a new partner?” Jackal tilted his head, his eyes flicked to a couple passing by them. This was the wrong place for this. He wondered if the insane little Fledgling did it on purpose.

The Vampire smiled, flashing fangs, “I do.”

“And where is he?”

Yohei tilted his head the opposite way, “around.”

The other bus stop was on an empty side street and Kirihara cursed when they reached the end of the street lights. It was growing darker by the moment and he really needed to get Marui to some place safe. The sound of rushing wind made Kirihara stop. He swung his arm behind him to grab the front of Marui’s sweater. There was no breeze; meaning something moving faster than a human just passed by them.

A tall red-head had jumped from the nearest house, landing on the cracked pavement in front of them. He stood up slowly, stretching himself to his full height before letting his gaze fall on the pair.

Marui screamed, “where the fuck did he come from!? How the fuck did he do that!?”

The Vampire’s mouth stretched open wide as he growled at the two. His red hair was cut longer on one side and flipped up at the edge’s, it wasn’t a deep red like Kamio’s or the almost pink red of Marui’s, he was your standard ginger. His pale skin was turning red where the last rays of the sun hit him. In a few minutes there would be no sun left and that meant there would be nothing to slow the Vampire down. His face at least registered that the light hurt him, every movement stretching his burnt skin.

“Fuck!” Kirihara cursed, he didn’t know how many people were in their houses and a gun shot going off on a residential street would echo. What was with these Vampires and cornering him in a populated area? Fuck!

A white blur passed his vision and suddenly the red-headed Vampire was gone. What sounded like two large animals fighting drew his attention to the front lawn of the large dark house next to them. Niou Masaharu slammed the fledgling to the ground, hands clamped around its throat.

“Yagyuu found your partner. Sanada had a bad feeling and sent us out to find you guys. Lucky he did too.” He slammed the Vampire’s head against the ground again. “You two picked a bad spot to be ambushed.”

Kirihara rolled his eyes, “yeah, I noticed that.” Sanada sent them? What the hell?

“Okay, Akaya, this is officially fucked up.” Tears trailed down Marui’s cheeks, “I’m scared and I just want to go home.”

Niou hauled the other Vampire to his feet, arms locked behind his back. He looked back over his shoulder and noticed porch lights turning on a few houses down.

“You two get to the bus stop, I’ll deal with him and then I’ll catch up,” Niou nodded back to the bus stop in a large pool of light from the next street lamp.

Kirihara grabbed Marui’s arm and pulled him up the sidewalk. Now was not the time for hysterics. If he had been alone he wouldn’t have hesitated, but he didn’t want Marui to get pulled into his mess. He would have had no problem putting a bullet into the Fledgling’s forehead, but he didn’t want Marui to see that side of him. He already had a police record, but he was pretty damn sure Marui hadn’t even seen the inside of a station.

Niou dug one hand into the red-heads scalp and the other twisted his arm up behind him as he crouched and then jumped. Superhuman strength propelled him from rooftop to rooftop until he found an empty parking lot behind one of the restaurants. He threw the fledgling into a trashcan, the metal crumpled under his weight.

“Never met you before,” Niou stood over the Vampire, hands on his hips.

“Wakato,” The Vampire growled.

“I can tell you’re new at this Wakato, so I’ll give you a little hint. You’re not supposed to enter another Vampire’s territory without permission. You’re also not supposed to go around killing humans and turning them into puppets.” Niou shrugged, “just so you know.”

Wakato grinned, “you haven’t been able to stop us.”

Niou tapped his chin, “you see, now that’s what puzzles me. I was following some other Vampires and for some reason I lost the trail …now, I never lose a scent. It was almost like my senses were confused. Do you know why that is Wakato?”

“I do, but I’m not going to tell you.”

Niou shrugged, “you might as well, who ever was protecting you has clearly stopped since I was able to find you this time.”

Wakato’s eyes widened before he masked it with a sly grin, “and what are you going to do if I don’t tell you?”

“Oh, kill you of course. Well, I’m going to kill you whether you tell me or not, I would just prefer you told me before I do. I have strict orders from the Master of the City to kill both of you Fledglings as soon as we find you.” Niou shrugged matter-of-factly.

Wakato’s eyes widened and he didn’t bother hiding it.

“No one taught you about Vampire politics I take it?”

Wakato hissed and attempted to scramble to his feet but Niou was faster. He grabbed the Vampire around the throat and threw him into the side of the restaurant. The bones in his shoulder and collar shattered and he screamed in pain. Niou crouched down beside him and grabbed his busted shoulder, clawed fingers digging into the skin.

Wakato screamed, “she’ll kill me!”

“And I won’t?”

“You don’t understand, she’s powerful! More powerful than anyone!”

Niou released the pressure on his shoulder, “she?”

Wakato nodded, “please don’t make me tell you.”

Niou frowned, “either I kill you now, or you go back and she kills you? You’ve got a lose-lose situation here buddy.”

“But you’ll kill me right away, she’ll make me beg to be killed.”

Tortured or killed right away, what a choice.

“This Master of yours, she’s behind all of this?” Niou suddenly felt guilty about having to kill the Fledgling, but not guilty enough that he wasn't going to do it.

Wakato nodded, “I don’t know exactly what she’s up to, I don’t know all that she’s done, I just know that she had the Tanaka twins mess with the Hunters so she could see how they react. When Kohei was killed she found me and made me work with Yohei …I don’t know much more than that …”

Niou sighed, “just so you know, I owe Sanada your head either way.”

Kirihara watched Marui out of the corner of his eye. The red-head stared blankly out the window; the lights in the bus made his skin seem paler. Marui hadn’t spoken a word since they had gotten onto the bus. Shock must be setting in.

How does one say I’m sorry for shattering your happy little organized life?

Marui’s voice snapped him from his dilemma, his normally strong hyper voice was hushed and cracked, “when we get to your place, you’re telling me everything.”

Fair enough.

They got off the bus at the stop a block from his apartment and jogged the extra distance. A few people milled around the front entry and Kirihara nodded in greeting. Marui tried to smile and nod like nothing was wrong, but his eyes still held the haunted look. The elevator ride was as silent as the bus ride. Marui’s shoulders were slightly more slumped than usual, his hands fidgeted with the edge of his sweater. The door opened on his floor and Marui shuffled out behind him, eyes downcast.

They found Niou and Jackal waiting outside his door.

“I sent Yagyuu back with the head to prove to Sanada we got at least one.”

Marui winced and Kirihara glared at the Vampire. Was that really necessary? Niou’s eyes flicked to Marui and he had the grace to look embarrassed.

“The other one was gone by the time Yagyuu got there.” Niou continued, choosing his words carefully, “I called Sanada on the way here and he wants me to stay for the night, just to make sure you don’t get attacked again.”

Kirihara frowned; his apartment was totally not big enough.

Marui sat in the very middle of the small couch, knees tucked up against his chest. Niou was at the far end of the living room, leaning against the patio door. His eyes followed the reflections in the window, but with his back turned it looked like he was merely watching the outside streets.

Kirihara didn’t want to do this, and as he paced the kitchen pretending to make coffee he couldn’t think of the best way to start it.

“I’ve never seen someone move like that, that wasn’t human,” Marui watched Niou out of the corner of his eye.

Niou chuckled, “yeah, well, funny story …”

Marui snorted, “what, you’re not human?”

The Vampire shrugged, “once upon a time I was …but that was quite a while ago …”

Marui dropped a foot to the ground so he could turn to face him, “you some kind of immortal?”

“Undead is the proper term. Immortal would insinuate that we can’t be killed.”

“A Vampire?” Marui scoffed.

Kirihara decided he had hid long enough and went into the living room. He leaned against the side of the couch, “he is. That’s actually where I work, I work with other guys like Jackal-san and we hunt renegade Vampires and the re-animated.”

Marui whipped around to face him and his expression made Kirihara flinch, “look, I’ve had a rough night, but I’m not completely out of my mind. This joke isn’t funny, just tell me what the hell is really going on.”

No one laughed or said ‘the joke is up’ and Marui’s frown slowly softened. “You’re not fucking kidding me …you guys really believe this …I love you Akaya, but you guys are fucking crazy!” He threw his hands up and jumped from the couch. He made it as far as the door and Niou grabbed his arm and spun him around. Marui yelled in surprise, eyes wide. Niou pinned him to the door, mouth wide as he hissed.

Marui’s mouth opened and closed a few times but he was unable to get his voice working.

“Niou-san, that’s not necessary.” Kirihara sighed. He wasn’t worried that Niou would hurt his friend; no Vampire was that stupid with two armed Hunters in the room.

“Nice caps buddy, I can probably point you in the direction of a few dentists that can do a good job like that too!” Marui finally managed to find his voice, albeit a bit shaky, “but how the hell did you get here faster than me! You were by the door frigging over there!” He pointed past Niou’s shoulder.

Kirihara ran his fingers through his hair; this was going to be a long night.

Niou suddenly tilted his head and chuckled, “thank you, but I can assure I’m completely sane …at least most of the time.”

Marui’s eyes widened in shock, “how did you …”

“Telepathy,” Kirihara explained, “Vampiric telepathy is very different from human telepathy. Humans only get impressions of what people are thinking about, like a face or a feeling, but Vampires can hear word for word what you’re thinking.”

“You’ve been talking to Yuuta I see,” Jackal chuckled.

Niou grinned as he leaned over Marui, “I do believe it was ‘why are all the hot ones crazy?’ right sugar?”

Marui’s eyes actually managed to get wider but he masked it with a scowl, “the names Marui Bunta.”

Niou buried his nose into the hair behind his ear, “but you smell so sweet.”

He pushed the Vampire back, “okay, let’s say I believe you,” he eyed Niou warily, “what the hell happened tonight?”

Kirihara sighed, “it actually started …jesus,” he ran his hands over his face, “a couple months ago? I was on a job to take out a starting nest of Re-animated. They’re vampires that aren’t as-“ he gestured to Niou who beamed proudly, “-sophisticated as the regular Vampire. They’ve lost their humanity and react more like an animal. They’re only created by a fledgling; which is a Vampire usually under one hundred years. Their powers or abilities or whatever you want to call it aren’t strong, so they can’t transfer their powers properly enough to create a humanoid Vampire.”

Marui slipped around Niou and went back to the couch, “I think I need to sit down for this.”

“On my job I met the twins, and then a month or something later they started attacking the younger Hunters. Everyone that was still considered a Rookie, myself included, received a night visit. I got the other twin from the one we met tonight. I managed to kill him, because it was either him or me. In this world it’s kill or be killed.”

Marui shook his head, eyes wide, “you’ve been lying to me for years about this haven’t you?”

Jackal interrupted before Kirihara could try to explain, “after what you’ve seen tonight, can you blame him for trying to protect you?”

Kirihara flashed thankful eyes to the other Hunter, “I never wanted to lie to you Bunta-san, but I also didn’t want to get you involved …looks I couldn’t even do that properly.”

Marui’s face fell, “I didn’t mean it like that …” he rubbed his hands together nervously, “so you, what? Fight Vampires?”

Kirihara chuckled; leave it to Marui to make it sound like he was a superhero. “Something like that. When I first started at this, I was doing it to destroy them all. Then I joined the Organization and realized that the actual Vampires aren’t the problem. It’s the renegades, the young ones that have detached from the real way of life and just want to wreak havoc. It was a group of them that killed my parents.”

Marui reeled back, “you told me it was a bad break and entry!”

“Would you have believed me if I said Vampires killed my parents?”

Marui sank back into his slouch, “no, I guess not.”

Niou crossed back to the patio door, “Vampires are kind of like a hidden society, we have a higher governing body, a council, and every territory is guarded by the most powerful – the Master of the city. It keeps us safe from you, and you safe from us.”

“Blood banks are set up throughout the cities so they don’t have to feed directly from humans; it keeps them from being found. Hundreds of years ago their existence was found out and they were almost wiped out by human Hunters. So, as you can imagine, they don’t want that to happen again.”

Marui whistled, “I’m actually starting to believe this …”

“Have you heard of the Sanada family?”

He scoffed, frowning as he shrugged, “everyone has.”

“He’s the Master of the city,” Niou grinned.

“What?” Marui turned to face Niou again, “how? Sanada-san did a seminar for my business class? He was old and had grey hair and everything! He said his son was the new head of the family business.”

Niou’s grin grew wider, fangs pressing into his bottom lip, “that was my handiwork.”

All three turned to face him, “what?”

Niou shrugged, “a little dark make-up, some wash-out grey colouring, and Sanada looks like he could be his own father. I’ve seen paintings of his actual father and they do look identical, Sanada just has his mother’s eyes.”

Kirihara flinched, hearing about Sanada’s parents made seem almost human. He had his mother’s eyes too. Sanada’s dark brown eyes flashed in his memory, he couldn’t imagine a woman having those cruel eyes.

Marui shook his head like he was trying to get rid of an irritating fly, “this is messed up …Vampires live among us, it was a Vampire that attacked us tonight, and there’s a Vampire standing next to me!” He pointed dramatically at Niou.

“Uh …it’s more than Vampires …”

Marui frowned at Kirihara, “you’re not saying that things like werewolves exist too?”

Niou snickered and Kirihara nodded.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!! Next you’ll be saying dragons exist!”

Kirihara looked past him to Niou, who shrugged.

“I only know of one, I think he’s the last of his kind. He’s a cranky old worm too. He likes causing storms when the fishermen have taken too much from his waters.” Niou shrugged again. “That’s just what Sanada tells me anyway, I’ve personally never met him.”

Marui’s head fell into his hands, “you’ve got to be kidding me …Faeries-“

“Ann planted a garden in her backyard and apparently it attracts lots of flower faeries,” Jackal explained.

“-Psychics, telepaths, all that shit actually exists!?"

They all nodded.

"I don’t frigging believe this, and all this stuff just, hides from us humans?”

“Most of it blends in, all Shape-shifters and Were’s look completely human. Were’s tend to hide during a full moon so there’s no chance of them accidentally shifting in the middle of the street or something. Their animal characteristics are easily hidden; I once saw a shape-shifter with his animal pattern actually on his skin, so he just covered it with movie quality make-up. Contacts work wonders too.”

“I have no idea how I’m ever going to walk down the streets or sit in class without wondering who is some sort of …supernatural creature or something.”

Kirihara chuckled, “welcome to my world.”

Jackal tapped his watch, “it’s getting late, Marui-kun looks like he needs to sleep. I think he’s learned enough for one night.”

Marui’s normally lightly tanned skin was ghostly white and his vibrant purple eyes looked dull and almost blue without their natural light. He yawned to emphasize Jackal’s point. Kirihara offered him his hand to help pull him from the couch.

He led Marui to his room, ”I’ll find you some pajama pants. Jackal-san’s right, we’ve rocked your world enough for one night.”

Kirihara stood outside the door as Marui changed. Niou bustled around his apartment, opening drawers and checking in doors. Jackal took Marui’s place on the couch and turned the television on, volume kept low. Feet shuffled behind the door before it opened and Marui held onto the doorknob as he stood in the doorway. Kirihara had forgotten how thin Marui actually was until he saw him framed in the baggy white tee-shirt and loose blue pants. Marui’s hips and shoulders were thinner than his so the pants sat low on his waist and the collar of the shirt slipped over the curve of his shoulder.

“Can I sleep with you,” he asked quietly, eyes staring intently at his bare feet. He rubbed his left foot over his right, a nervous habit.

“Sure,” Kirihara nodded. He didn’t want to know what it cost Marui to admit defeat. The other male took pride in being able to charge through anything that scared him.

Before retiring Kirihara checked and then double checked all the locks in the apartment, especially the window in his bedroom. He slid his gun under his pillow and climbed in, taking the side of his small bed closest to the window. The bed dipped as Marui crawled onto it, Kirihara felt him wiggle up close to his back, legs entwining with his. There was enough room for them to lie side by side without having to touch, but Marui seemed to need the comfort of another. He wasn’t going to argue. The warm breath against his neck began to slow as Marui slipped into exhausted sleep.

He was slipping into that floating state right before sleep when frantic banging on his bedroom door startled them awake. His hand grabbed the butt of his gun just as his bedroom window shattered. Spinning onto his stomach he used his body to shield Marui from the rain of glass. Something heavy bounced on the bed at their feet. Marui’s fingers dug into his upper arm and he felt him take a sharp breath.

Niou burst through the door, Jackal on his heels.

When nothing attacked him Kirihara raised his head cautiously. Lying propped against Marui’s calf was a severed head. The blood from the butchered neck soaked into his sheets and splattered their legs. The eyes were still wide open, the cheeks sunken in and the lips had receded enough to show long fangs and blackened shriveled gums.

A Re-animated.

“Akaya, get off me,” Marui’s voice was deep from sleep.

Kirihara pushed up on his elbows but kept him pinned to the bed. Niou crossed to the window, hanging out over the broken glass.

“Shit, if only I had felt him sooner. I’ll go see if I can find him,” with that he threw himself out the window.

“Akaya, I swear to the gods if you don’t let me up I will hurt you.”

He felt Marui’s thigh brush against his crotch and realized he had straddled his friend’s hip. Wisely he rolled off of him.

Marui screamed in fear, “what the fuck is THAT!?”

“That is why I didn’t want to get off of you,” Kirihara sighed; he loved his friend, but he loved certain parts of his anatomy more.

Jackal grabbed a handful of hair and lifted the head, “there’s something in its mouth.” He pulled a rolled piece of paper out from between its pointed teeth. Unrolling it he read out loud, “I’m going to take my revenge a piece at a time …it’s written in blood Akaya.”

“Has no one ever heard of a freaking pen?” Marui shrieked. He looked around at the two Hunters and realized he was the only one in hysterics, “a severed head was just thrown through your window, how the hell can you not be freaking out!!”

“Last time something came through that window, it had friends and the all tried to kill me. At least this head isn’t biting anymore. I’ve seen some heads so fresh in the blood that when they were decapitated they didn’t realize they were dead and continued to bite.” Kirihara shrugged.

“Oh …” was all Marui managed to say.

“I’ll get you another pair of pajama’s …you might want to shower,” Kirihara pointed to the blood splattered up Marui’s leg’s.

Marui’s white complexion turned green as he bolted off the bed and rushed into the bathroom. The door slammed closed and they heard him cough as he threw up.

Jackal gently rubbed Kirihara’s back, “you’re doing the best you can for him, this isn’t easy for anyone.”

Niou leapt back in the window, “can’t find him. Fledglings powers are so weak they’re hard to track.” He stepped gingerly onto the carpet, careful of the glass. “Do you have a board or something we can use to cover this up, I can smell a storm coming.”

They boarded up the window as best as they could and cleaned up the glass while Marui was in the shower. Kirihara placed another pair of pants on the bathroom counter for him after he changed his own bloodied pajamas.

“Tomorrow we’re telling Tezuka.” Jackal reclined on the couch, “for tonight we’ll just keep watch on Marui. During the day he should be alright without us.”

Kirihara nodded, he wasn’t sure if Marui was in danger, but he wasn’t taking any chances. He didn’t like the way Yohei had watched his friend.

Niou had excused himself and went into the kitchen to phone Sanada.

The bathroom door closing made them all turn; Niou even popped his head out of the kitchen. Marui shuffled into the living room, a towel around his neck.

“You cleaned up the bedroom,” his voice was hoarse.

Kirihara nodded, “you can sleep out here on the couch if you don’t want to be there again, Jackal-san and I can just share the bed.”

Marui shook his head, his wet hair sticking to his cheeks, “no, I still wanna stay with you.”

Kirihara shrugged, “that’s up to you.”

Niou hung up his cell phone and stepped out of the kitchen, “Sanada wants one of us to be with you at all times, he’s going to talk to Tezuka about what that Fledgling said to me and see what they can come up with.”

Kirihara frowned, personal guards, great. What the hell was with Sanada anyways!? He didn’t appreciate this random protective bullshit.

He followed Marui back into the bedroom and crawled back onto the side closest to the window. Marui looked around cautiously before climbing into the bed beside him.

“Jackal got rid of it,” Kirihara said, knowing full well that Marui was looking for the head.

“Oh, okay, that’s good.”

What he wasn’t telling Marui was that Jackal had put the head in a garbage bag and it was currently sitting in his kitchen. What Marui didn’t know couldn’t hurt him.

An hour later and Kirihara was still staring blankly at the wall. He just flat out couldn’t sleep. His mind jumped at every sound, every shift of the body behind him. Detaching himself from his friend he slipped out of the room, leaving the door cracked so he could hear anything that went on in the bedroom. Marui mumbled in his sleep and rolled onto his opposite side, never waking.

Out in the living room Jackal was asleep on the couch, he had drawn all the blinds to keep out the street lights. He slept in only his jeans; his naked upper body was stretched out, the blanket gathered around his waist. His chest rose and fell with his deep breathing, arms pillowed under his head. Kirihara knew for a fact that Jackal’s gun was under the pillow, his fingers were probably against it as well.

He heard a cupboard close and looked curiously at the kitchen; he was starting to wonder where Niou had wandered off to. When he walked into the kitchen the Vampire froze, the light from the open fridge thrown over his front.

“Didn’t hear you get up,” He cleared his throat and closed the fridge, the darkness enveloping them again.

Kirihara resisted the urge to flip on the kitchen light; he didn’t want to wake Jackal. He knew that just because he couldn’t see didn’t mean the Vampire couldn’t. That thought alone made him wish he had grabbed his gun, he suddenly felt very naked in only a pair of pajama bottoms.

“Why were you in the fridge?” he asked, trying to ease his own nerves.

He couldn’t see it but Niou shrugged, “it’s been a while since I’ve been in a kitchen …”

“So you’re feeling nostalgic?” Kirihara chuckled.

He heard rather than saw Niou move, a whisper of bare feet on the tile. There was a slight click and the kitchen was suddenly washed with pale white light. The nightlight wasn’t bright enough to bother anyone, but it was enough to let him see what was going on.

“Where did you find that?” he asked.

Niou pointed to a large tin with ‘random shit’ scratched across it in black marker, “in there.”

Kirihara blinked as his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he should have known it would be in there. He had a tendency to throw things in that tin when he couldn’t find anywhere else to put it.

Niou went back to looking through the cupboards. Kirihara was trying to feel insulted or something, but he knew Niou wasn’t trying to be rude, he was just genuinely curious. The Vampire would reach into a cupboard and pull something out, examine it, and then put it back before moving onto the next cupboard. Kirihara leaned against the doorframe and watched the Vampire putter around his kitchen, it was actually rather cute.

“Why did Sanada send you?” His whisper was barely loud enough for his own ears to hear, but he knew Niou would hear him.

Niou bent as he looked in the cupboard under the sink, “he had a bad feeling and wanted us to find you.”

“A bad feeling? That doesn’t sound like Sanada.”

Niou closed the cupboard and stood up, “I forgot you’ve had a few run-in’s with Sanada.” Niou sighed and scratched his head, “Sanada’s going to kill me for telling you this but he heard word from a young Vampire that some other Fledglings were talking about that twin. He was bragging about going to kill a Hunter, Sanada figured it would probably be you so he sent Yagyuu and I to find you. Your scent is all through our building so you’re pretty easy to follow. Didn’t take me long to find you, took Yagyuu longer to find Jackal though.” Niou crossed the kitchen and leaned against the opposite side of the doorframe, facing Kirihara, “you know, this is the second time I’ve saved you.”

“Only this time you didn’t kick me in the face, I swear I had boot prints on my face for a week!”

Niou chuckled and shrugged, “you didn’t pull a weapon on me this time.”

“I'll remember that next time. I still don’t get what’s up with Sanada, and now he wants you to stay with me to protect me?” Kirihara crossed his arms.

Niou nodded, “something like that.”

“What the fuck is his problem?”

Niou leaned away from the frame and pressed his hand to the side of the frame just above Kirihara’s head, “in some weird way he cares about you, but being the Master he can’t just come out and be all lovey-dovey. I don’t think he even knows how anyway, he’s old blood. Real old blood, so his brain doesn’t really work the way the rest of ours do. He was raised rough, so that translates into everything he does. He can’t show weakness, and he commands through fear and strength. You aren’t easy to scare so the only way he knows to assert power is through his strength ...and well …you know what happens with that.”

“What about you guys? You don’t seem like the types to scare easily either?” Kirihara tiled his head back so he could look Niou in the eye instead of the curve of his throat. Niou wasn’t that much taller than him, so it didn’t take too much effort to meet his eyes.

“We’re also not stupid enough to challenge him. Sanada has certain buttons that can be pushed; you haven’t found those buttons yet. I found them early so I know just how far to push him. Yukimura is the exception to every rule; he made Sanada so he seems to be immune to all of Sanada’s mood swings.”

Ouch. Kirihara frowned; he wasn’t stupid, he was just stubborn. Yeah, stubborn.

Niou pressed his other hand to the frame behind Kirihara’s hip and slowly leaned in towards him. When their lips almost met Kirihara realized something.

“You’re not wearing black!”

Niou closed his eyes and let his head fall to Kirihara’s shoulder. “No, I’m not …”

Kirihara realized, slightly late, that Niou was actually wearing a pair of blue jeans and a dark grey v-neck tee-shirt over a long sleeved white v-neck. The collar was cut low to show off a triangle of his upper chest. A hemp necklace was tight around the base of his throat, blue beads close in colour to his pale eyes were woven into the twine.

“When I first met you, you were dressed in black!”

“Oh, that, yeah, I was just bugging Yagyuu that day. I was practicing my imitations so I dressed like him.” Niou leaned in again.

“Oh-“ Niou’s crushed their mouths together, swallowing Kirihara's sentence. In shock he grabbed Niou’s arms as the Vampire pressed him closer to the doorframe.

Niou’s lips were soft but demanding, pressing at his own until he kissed back. He was careful when he flicked his tongue against the Vampire’s bottom lip not to catch his teeth, the last thing he needed was to entice the Vampire’s blood lust. Niou’s hands were at his waist, fingers trailing under his pajama pants. When one hand slipped into his bottoms and grabbed his backside he broke the kiss with a gasp, pushing Niou back.

“Whoa, no, we can’t do this here!” He could see Jackal on the couch from where they were, the light from the kitchen catching on his exposed shoulder.

“What? Are you trying to say you can’t have sex quietly?” Niou nuzzled his neck, hand squeezing.

Kirihara bit back a moan, “that too but-“ when he saw the glint in Niou’s eyes he knew he just fell into a trap. “What was the bet?”

Niou smiled widely, “Yagyuu doesn’t believe that everyone is a screamer in bed, but I bet him that a little spitfire like you would be wild to fuck.”

Kirihara frowned, he was trying to be offended, but he couldn’t get past the fact that they were talking about what he would be like in bed.

“So I guess that means I won the bet, but I would have preferred to find out from experience,” Niou clicked his tongue.

Kirihara pushed him back and slipped out from under his arm. He had to turn from Niou or else the Vampire would have seen him blush. He didn’t hear Niou move until the Vampire had him up against the cabinets.

“Shit!” He hissed.

Niou’s mouth was on his again, heated and demanding.

Kirihara pushed him back, “look Niou-san-“

“Are you turning me down?”

“No, but …” Kirihara was trying to think of a good way to ask for a rain check without sounding like a whore, but after the past few days it was a little too late for that. He wanted to have sex with Niou, he would be crazy not to, but there was no way his body would be able to handle it. His body needed time to heal, and of course when he didn’t want sex, he was getting offers from walking wet-dreams. Of course.

Niou snorted and turned his head, trying to hide his laughter.

Kirihara rolled his eyes, “stay out of my head then!” He had a sudden mental image of Niou bending him over the counter, pants around his ankles. The Vampire slid into him slowly and he begged to be taken hard.

Niou shuddered and let his head fall back, “damn your mind is a kinky place.”

Kirihara frowned, “I told you to stay out if you don’t like it!”

Niou suddenly grabbed him around the thighs and forced him up on the counter, “I never said I didn’t like it.” He pulled Kirihara’s legs forward enough to press their hips together and kissed him again.

Niou’s strong hands held his thighs open and Kirihara lost himself in the sensations. He threw his arms around Niou’s neck and let him dominate the kiss. Something about Jackal and Marui merely rooms over turned him on. The fact that they could be walked on at any moment had him grinding his hips against the Vampire's.

Niou made a pleased noise in the back of his throat and let his hands slide up Kirihara’s thighs to his hips. He peeled his pajama bottoms away from his erection and wrapped a hand around it. Kirihara pulled away from the kiss and buried his face in the curve of Niou’s neck as he tried not to scream. Niou chuckled and kissed the top of his ear. Thin wrists snapped as he stroked him with quick flicks. Kirihara kept one arm around his neck as he gripped the countertop with the other, without meaning to he spread his legs further apart. Niou kissed him again as he fumbled with his belt with his free hand and pushed his jeans down enough to pull himself free. He stepped as close to the counter as he could and grabbed both their erections in his left hand. Kirihara’s mouth latched onto his shoulder as he swallowed another scream. White hair brushed his cheek as Niou’s head fell back. He moaned softly, hips rocking as he jerked them both off. Kirihara’s other arm fell from his shoulders and he gripped the countertop with both hands, his face buried in Niou’s neck. The Vampire chuckled and grabbed the back of Kirihara’s head roughly, jerking his head back to kiss him.

Kirihara kissed him desperately, mouths panting. Teeth pulled at lips and tongues, moans and whimpers fell from throats.

The feeling of Niou’s erection sliding against his own and his hand wrapped around both of them drove him mad. Their pre-cum made them slick, easier to slide together. It started to build in his lower stomach and he rocked his hips frantically, he wanted to fuck. He wanted to fuck Niou so badly it almost hurt. Unfortunately, he knew in the logical part of his brain that he was too hurt to enjoy it. So this would have to suffice. Stupid logical brain.

His hands snapped up from the counter and he drove his nails into Niou’s back as he sank his teeth into Niou’s collar and came. Niou gasped and followed him, their semen splattered both of their stomach and Niou’s hands. Kirihara felt the warmth of his emission soaking into his pants, a liquid much hotter than his own was on his stomach and bottoms as well. That must have been the Vampire’s; a vampire’s body was so cold, it was strange that their semen would be almost burning hot to the touch.

Niou shuddered and slowly withdrew his hand. With a chuckle he whispered in Kirihara’s ear, “we are definitely doing that again, but next time, it’ll be in some place where I can be inside you, without interruption.”

A moan slipped from his throat accidentally, okay, so he enjoyed that thought a little too much.

Niou grabbed a wad of paper towel from the rack behind him and wiped off his hand and his clothes as best he could. Kirihara sighed and wiped himself off, now he would have to go get changed AGAIN.

A gentle hand tilted his head back and Niou kissed him softly. Kirihara was left blinking, caught completely off guard.

“Go back to bed little demon, I’ll make sure no monsters get you while you sleep.”
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Colour Me Blood Red