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Colour me Blood red: Human after all	By : DragonBlade Category: Prince of Tennis/Tennis no Ohjisama > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 2135 -:- 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
- 5
- 6
- 7
I'm so sorry, I've been meaning to upload these chapters but I haven't been able to get my internet working for almost a month now. I hate paying money for something I can't even use.

If the beginning sounds familiar its because I'm kind of reusing an older fic of mine.

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CHAPTER 6

The room was dark, at least, he assumed it was a room. There were no doors or windows, or even walls for that matter. He was surrounded by darkness, the kind of darkness that swallowed everything.

If he stayed there any longer he knew it would drive him mad. The only problem was, he didn’t know where to go. He’d already tried running, and walking, but no matter how far he went, he always felt like he was in the same place.

All he could hear was his own breathing; the heavy, frantic draw of his lungs.

The silence was deafening.

Just when he thought he couldn’t handle it anymore and would break out in hysterics a sound started off in the distance. It was hard to make out, just a quiet tap tap tap. As it grew louder he realized it was footsteps and they weren’t just getting louder, they were coming closer. The closer they got, the louder they grew until he knew they were running at him. He wanted to move, afraid that he would be crashed into, but also afraid that if he moved he might miss whomever was out there.

“Hello?” His voice cracked in nervousness.

The running stopped immediately.

Kirihara swallowed thickly, fear turning his stomach. He didn’t like this turn of events.

The walking picked up again, slowly, almost cautious. Then, the giggling.

He was getting really tired of that.

The sound had a note of hysteria to it, a slight insanity.

Who shared the darkness with him?

The walking seemed to circle him, the laughter grew louder and more high-pitched as it crossed the line into full-blown insanity. Now there was no doubt about it, whoever circled him in the dark was dangerous.

Kirihara clenched his hands into fists, there was no point in checking to see if he had a weapon, he couldn’t see to fire it anyway.

Something to the side caught his eye and he slowly turned his head towards it. It felt like he had stepped into a really bad horror movie, turn slowly and the shock of finding the monster next to you will be somewhat lessened. Yeah right, it just gave the audience the chance to start screaming.

Something was emerging from the shadows. The darkness bled away from it, like something slowly crawling from water. Horns, and teeth. Two things he did not want to come across alone in the dark. The more the darkness receded the more the demon emerged. Kirihara tilted his head, this was no normal demon. It wore the mask of an Oni, a pale demon with a distorted yet humanoid face, but the body was human and strangely familiar. The long thin limbs, the broad shoulders …with a shocked stumble he realized he was standing before himself.

The mask, which he realized was not actually a mask, curled its lip in an eerie smile and lunged.

Kirihara opened his mouth to scream as long claws stretched from his doppelgangers hands and plunged through his chest.

Kirihara bolted up-right in the bed with a ragged scream. His blurry eyes darted around, looking for his attacker. Hands grabbed his shoulders and arms to stop him from flailing and hurting himself. Soothing noises were whispered in his ear as he was firmly pushed back to the bed.

His eyes adjusted to the darkness and the blurred silhouettes around him started to form familiar shapes. Hunters, all coming to protect him.

He remembered where he was; in the dormitories in the upper floors above the offices. It was night time, they had gone to the Vampire safe house and then with nothing more to do they returned to their homes and the Organization.

With his hysteria subsided the Hunters returned to their cots, trying to catch a few more hours of sleep before it all started again.

Kirihara’s cot dipped as someone slipped in beside him. The warm body beside him seemed to calm him even more, soothing his nerves and burning off his adrenaline. Another Hunter slipped into the empty cot next to his, extending his hand to rest on Kirihara’s arm. A warm energy seemed to dance over his skin, calming and reassuring.   He snuggled back down into the cot and let the other occupant of the small bed curl around him.

When Kirihara awoke again it was daylight and the Hunters that had stayed the night were already up and about. Yuuta sat up, stretching out the kinks in his back. He had been the Hunter that had taken the cot next to him. Kirihara glanced down to find out who had crawled in bed with him and found an unfamiliar mop of curly black hair. He quickly flashed back to his dream and panic laced through his guts before he calmed himself. Gently he brushed back a lock of hair and the Hunter stirred.

“Mizuki is a mild empath, he’s good at calming people down,” Yuuta explained

“Mizuki?” Kirihara frowned. He didn’t know the Hunter well enough to be comfortable with crawling into bed with him; contrary to popular belief.

Mizuki rolled onto his back as well as he could, “sorry,” he drawled, “but I was outvoted. We didn’t want you going berserk on us and so they got me to calm you down.”

Kirihara nodded, trying to untangle his legs from the blanket and Mizuki. He understood where the other Hunters were coming from and wasn’t entirely sure he was comfortable with it. Was it just general worry, or were they afraid of what he was? He threw the blanket off himself and onto Mizuki and scrambled out of the cot.

Grabbing his bag he headed for the showers, trying to push away the thoughts creeping up on him. There were so many that were infected with something, one would think the Hunters would be used to it. He threw his bag with a little more force than necessary onto the bench and sighed heavily.

“Fuck!” He threw a fist at the tiled wall, not caring if it connected or not. The tile shattered on impact, sharp edges slashing his knuckles. He pulled his hand out of the wall with a startled blink, no broken bones. His hand should have been crushed.

No, he wasn’t going to let it bother him. Maybe they were right; looking at the hole in the wall he kind of sided with them. On the other hand, even if it was to stop him from going crazy, they were still thinking of his welfare. They couldn’t have been THAT scared of him if they were willing to climb into his cot to try and get his body back to normal. He snorted and rested his head against the tiled wall.

The warm water ran down the back of his neck, he closed his eyes and breathed deep. They were wrong, he wasn’t a monster. Unfortunately, the hole in the wall next to his head whispered a different tale. He needed to talk to Sanada, to someone who understood. He was going to prove to them that he wasn’t a monster, he just needed to prove it to himself first.

The showers were basically one open room with shower heads all along the wall, a wall separated one side from the other, for all the good it did. He showered quickly, just trying to wake up, and threw a clean pair of clothes on.

The shower helped him calm his inner turmoil, but something else began to surface. The dream hung at the edges of his subconscious, making him jump at every reflection of himself. He made it to the cafeteria without drawing his gun on a window and found it almost as empty as the showers. Grabbing a coffee and a bagel, just something so the coffee wouldn’t fight back, he found a table in the far corner.

What did the dream mean? Did it even mean anything, or was his imagination just running amok? He wanted to talk to Ryoma, but he felt kind of foolish panicking over dreams. Would Atobe understand his dream better, being a master of dreams himself? Did he really want another run-in with the Incubus?

The chair across from him pulled back with a screech and Kirihara looked up from where he had been focused on his coffee.

“This seat taken?” Marui smiled shyly.

“Go ahead,” Kirihara gestured to it.

“Listen, Akaya …I think we need to talk …”

Here we go, something else I have masterfully fucked up. “I think so too …” Kirihara tried not to sigh in defeat, he had been waiting for Marui to approach him. It was already a shitty day, what was one more to the pile?

“I’m sorry, but –“

“I understand. This life isn’t for someone like you, I’ve put you in too much danger. I don’t know how to keep you safe, I don’t even know if avoiding me would keep you safe-“

“Would you shut up and stop interrupting me!” Marui slapped his hands on the table.

Kirihara jumped, nearly spilling his coffee, “uh …”

“You’re an idiot Akaya, you know that?” Marui grinned and cocked his head.

“Uh …” wow, he sounded intelligent this morning!

“I know I’ve been avoiding you, I needed time to think. I’ve been talking a lot with the other Hunters and with Jirou. They kind of helped me to understand what you’re going through. And Jirou’s just been there for me,” Marui smiled fondly, “so, I have come to a decision!” He slapped his hands on the table again. “I found some condo’s in the paper, close to here, two bedrooms, that way we can have a guestroom, and half my room, for when the other Hunters need to stay over, instead of trying to spread them all out on the floor-“

“What?” Kirihara interrupted him again, afraid that he wasn’t hearing Marui correctly.

“I know we need to get a new place cause the other one was compromised, and we needed a bigger one anyway, and I found some nice condo’s …” He frowned, repeating himself.

“You’re not moving?”

“Uh, yeah, that’s why we’re looking for a new place …” Marui frowned harder, confused.

“I mean, you’re not moving AWAY from me?”

“No, idiot.” Marui grinned and shook his head. “I’ll admit, I thought about it, but then I realized that I don’t want to. Sure, I’ve been scared shitless since you came back into my life, and I’ve actually been in danger, but if that’s the price of being your friend, so be it.”

Kirihara gaped at him; this was not the conversation he was expecting. “Bunta-san, I don’t think you really understand this. It’s not some kind of game, you are really in danger.”

“I’m aware of that Akaya. I know what danger means.”

“But this kind of danger! Bunta-san you could have been killed!”

“But I wasn’t …”

Kirihara shook his head, “what about next time? Or the time after that? It’s not safe around me!”

Marui leaned back in the chair, a scowl on his face, “you know what Akaya, go fuck yourself. I’m not leaving, no matter how hard you push. You don’t give me enough credit. I know exactly what I’m getting into, and I’m prepared for that. I wasn’t talking to the Hunters just to shoot the shit, I know what I’m getting into.” Marui sighed and leaned his elbows on the table again, “besides, I asked Jackal for a favor …I want to learn how to shoot a gun, and get my license, that way if I’m alone I can protect myself.” Marui narrowed his eyes, daring Kirihara to argue.

Kirihara gaped like a fish, voice lost somewhere between his voice-box and his mouth. The little voice in his head, also known as logic, screamed that he should tell Marui that getting a gun was a bad idea and he should just go back to his life and pretend like he had never met anyone. No matter how loud that voice screamed, the little voice of hope warmed his belly. Maybe, just maybe, this could work?

“Then it’s settled! We can go apartment hunting!” Marui stood up.

Kirihara blinked, Tornado Marui had struck again.   He wasn’t sure what he was agreeing to but he nodded and got up to follow Marui out of the cafeteria.

Marui had a newspaper spread out on his lap, red pen dancing through the wanted ads. “No, definitely no, that place was shitty …” he drew x’s through several of the ads. “This one sounds nice, and it’s only a block away from your work!”

And off they went again.

Kirihara followed Marui, dimly listening to him questioning landlords. He was too far into his head to really care about the apartment, he trusted Marui to take care of it. That dream still bothered him. Where had it come from? He had a suspicion it came from earlier that night, shooting an eight-year-old point blank in the face tended to leave a mark on ones subconscious.

His eyes scanned over the room, the one wall was almost completely windows, and in the distance he could see the Organization rising above the other buildings. Marui’s reflection moved animatedly as he gestured and nodded. Kirihara glanced at his own reflection and found the Oni mask of his dreams staring back.

He jumped in shock and cursed. Marui and the landlord turned abruptly to him, startled.

“You okay Akaya?” Marui asked.

Kirihara nodded; yup, just my random jump and swear of the day. “Just …thought I saw something …sorry.”

The landlord frowned at him and returned his attention to Marui. They agreed to take the place and after signing several legal forms and papers the condo was theirs.

The two were left alone in the apartment and Marui laced his arm with Kirihara’s. “Seriously, what’s wrong? I know you’re a spaz but you were honestly scared.”

“It’s nothing, really.” Kirihara lied, and it sounded like a lie. How could he explain his dream? He had managed to get out of the organization before word of him waking up screaming reached Marui, and he would rather keep it that way.

Marui frowned and then sighed, “alright, alright. Keep it to yourself.”

“Sorry,” Kirihara mumbled. “I just want to make sure you’re okay with this. You’ve already been through a lot because of me, and I don’t think it’s going to get any better …”

“I get it Akaya, I do. And fine, I promise that if it gets too much for me I will find some place safe. Deal?”

Kirihara sighed, “deal.” He failed at keeping the grin off his face.

Marui explored the apartment, pointing out where everything would go and the new things they would need to pick up. Kirihara listened and nodded, he didn’t mind. It wasn’t like he didn’t have the money. Tezuka paid his Hunters VERY well. At first Kirihara thought everything came from Tezuka’s pocket or commissions from clients, but even that wasn’t enough. The only logical explanation was they were being secretly funded by the Government. Either way he didn’t care, just so long as he had money in his bank account.

They had dinner and made their way back to the Organization to grab the few things they had salvaged from his trashed apartment. They took the car load back to their new Condo and by the time they had made it back to the Organization for the second round it was already dark. Kirihara met a flustered Oishi in the hall outside Tezuka’s office.

“Kirihara-kun,” he wrung his hands and danced awkwardly on his toes, “Tezuka needs to speak to you but he currently has …visitors. They shouldn’t be long so if you could stay on the floor so I can come get you when he needs you?”

“Uh, sure.” Kirihara frowned, what the hell had Oishi so freaked out?

Sanada narrowed his eyes at Atobe across the small room. Tezuka sat at his desk, elbows on the table. He had JUST gotten back and found a very anxious Oishi fluttering around outside of his office.

“So Atobe, what is this plan of yours?” Tezuka asked.

The Vampire leaned forward in the chair, an eager light in his eyes, “I want to help you. You want to get into the Underworld, and we’re the only way you can do that.”

“And just how do you plan on doing that?” Sanada growled and rolled his eyes.

“Several ways. First off, this is to help your situation a little as well Sanada, the council believes Akaya is his human servant, so there is a certain place that only council members and the higher families partake in. So if Sanada were to bring Akaya there, and parade him around, I guess you could say, no one would think twice. It would strengthen Sanada’s standings if Akaya were to play obedient slave for a while, and perhaps fend off some advances to show he isn’t passing around his servant.”

“No, absolutely not” Tezuka almost rose out of his chair in his anger.

“Just hear me out Tezuka,” Atobe made a hushing movement with his hands, “along with that, we can sneak in some of your Hunters as blood donors. Naturally, to one of my own Vampires, or Sanada’s, so they’re not actually preyed upon. That way no one will question them.”

“Blood Donors?” Tezuka frowned at the slang

“Humans who hang around Vampires to be their personal food source. I believe your Hunters call them ‘Vampire sluts’.” Atobe explained.

“I don’t like it …but it’s the only plan we have.” Tezuka sighed.

“And about Akaya?”

Tezuka pushed his glasses up and rubbed his hands across his face, “as far as I‘m concerned, he should be kept as far away from BOTH of you as possible. If he’s affecting you so much he shouldn’t be anywhere near you …but he’s as bullheaded as the best of us so I think you should ask him …I do believe, Sanada, you picked up his scent already.”

Sanada’s nose crinkled quickly before he nodded, “yes, I did.”

Tezuka rose with a groan and went over to the door. Cracking it open he stuck his head out and asked Oishi to get Kirihara.

The Hunter slipped into the office, the chill running up his back almost knocked him off his feet. The small room held two Vampire’s, and Kirihara’s system felt the need to remind him that he was in the tiny room with two superhuman beings, and one witch, all of which he’d had sex with. He felt the blood leave his face as he crept across the room.

“You asked for me?” He perched on the edge of the chair between Sanada and Atobe. He felt both of their eyes on him and swallowed thickly. Fucking fabulous.

Tezuka sighed and explained the situation to Kirihara.

The Hunter blinked. “Play Human servant?”

“Correct.”

“And this will help Sanada-san AND us?”

“We’re hoping, yes.”

“And you don’t really have a better idea?”

“Not really …”

Kirihara squirmed in the chair. Oh he did NOT want to do this. At all. But he saw the apology in Tezuka’s eyes, and he heard the defeat in his voice. There wasn’t another option, again. How many times had he been faced with a decision like this? Do something he didn’t want to do, something every fiber of his being screamed at him not to do, or let his comrades die?

“Whatever, I’ll do it.”

All three gaped at him. No one expected him to agree without a fight.

“Are you sure?” Tezuka narrowed his eyes.

“Yeah. On one condition.” Kirihara suddenly felt powerful, he saw Tezuka’s eyes widen and realized he had all three in that room on a leash. They needed him to do this, Sanada needed him to do this. He could have asked them anything at that moment and they would have done it. “Keep Marui safe, he doesn’t need to be dragged into this mess.”

Sanada agreed to make Yagyuu stick to his side; and during the day if Marui wasn’t at the Organization a Hunter or Shifter would be with him. Kirihara bit back a grin; there wasn’t a moments hesitation in their replies. How long would this power last? It may have been a dangerous situation to drag out, but he was going to milk it for all it was worth.

“Then it looks like we have a plan. I take it you wish to discuss this with your Hunters?” Atobe asked.

“Naturally,” Tezuka nodded.

“I would like to sit in on this.” Atobe said, leaving no room for argument.

“As would I.” Sanada added.

Tezuka sighed, “do I have a choice? It may take a few hours to get them all together, but I’ll let them all know we’re having a meeting.”
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Colour me Blood red: Human after all