War and Peace and Vampires -- Chapter 02
Title: War and Peace and Vampires
Chapter: 02/??
Author: invisiblehabits
Beta: tingedwords
Genre: AU/Angst/Romance
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Blood, violence
Pairings: Tora/Hiroto, Aki/Kenzo
Disclaimer: Don’t own, don’t know. Won’t make money unless you feel like paying me to read.
Summary: He didn’t even care if his cries of pain and fear and panic woke people up, made them look out the window and see a burning man crash to the ground in the early hours of dawn.
Comments: More pretty people, a tiny bit of background, and probably one of my favourite scenes I’ve ever written! I like this chapter, I hope you do too. And a giant thanks to tingedwords for betaing this for me even when she really didn’t have the time. Thanks hun! <3
Prologue, Chapter 1
Aoi returned to the warehouse and threw his jacket hazardously to the side. A tsking sound could be heard from the roof and sensual eyes rose to see a bundle of black hanging from the roof. Black clothes, black hair, black eyes, well almost black eyes at least. To be honest Aoi’s own eyes were a shade blacker still and that was pretty much the only thing that set them apart, for their clothes and hair were the same dark midnight. Of course, he didn’t have studs of silver breaking out of the darkness.
“Such a bad boy, Aoi. What would Shou say if he saw you now?”
The body, literally hanging upside-down from the roof, swung back and forth a few more times and then dropped like a cat to the floor, twisting midair and landing gracefully on his feet. A fall of about 17-20 feet and yet the man strolled towards Aoi like he’d just skipped down from a threshold.
“He didn’t flog you for the stunt you pulled last week,” Aoi replied, a hum to his voice that had become almost a trademark for him. “I never leave things unfinished, I’ll clean up any traces before dawn and you know it.”
“It was Yuuya who staged that girl, thank you,” the slightly taller brunette exclaimed.
“Like you weren’t there, Aki.” Aoi didn’t even have to raise his voice to speak volumes, there was no need to with eyes like his. “It might’ve been Yuuya’s kill, but it’s your sense of humour too.”
Aki just grinned and stuck ringed fingers into the pockets of his black coat. A black coat left open to give each and everyone a perfect view of his toned upper body and piercings. If Aoi had been informed correctly Aki had once been a prostitute and it seemed very likely to him, the older was a complete slut most of the time and loved to show off his physical assets. Unfortunately, for Aoi and everyone else, there was no denying the fact Aki was absolutely gorgeous.
“Maybe I was, maybe I wasn’t,” the praised man said and clicked his tongue piercing against his teeth, a sound he knew annoyed the heck out of Aoi. “Shou thought it was hilarious, so even if I wasn’t I might say I was.”
An almost pained groan escaped Aoi’s lips as he moved across the floor to pick up his coat, hoping it would get Aki off his case already. Most of the time Aki was a very entertaining individual, but sometimes he was just a little bit too much.
“You’re confusing,” he mumbled under his breath, well aware of the fact that Aki would hear him no matter how low he kept his voice. “How do you even remember to find shelter before dawn…”
A sound Aoi could only identify as a hissed whimper was the only reply he received. Looking up with confusion lacing his eyes he saw a look he’d never thought he’d see; Aki looked almost terrified. Not much gave him away, but when you live with someone for long enough you learn to read them well. Aki was shivering just slightly and there was a spark in his eye so different from the normal teasing seduction found there.
“I don’t always,” he finally whispered, the confession echoing off the walls of the warehouse.
“You mean…?” It was hard to believe, but Aoi knew the other wasn’t lying.
“Once I…” Aki swallowed hard, trying to shake the unwanted memories. “A long time ago I…forgot, found myself caught in… I wouldn’t recommend it.”
An attempt at a joke and clearly a desire to drop the subject, one Aoi was about to accept. He smiled slightly at Aki, sort of mirroring the expression already on the other’s face, and nodded slowly. If anything such an accident could explain Aki’s unusually dark complexion. With his age he should be marble, but he was darker even than Aoi himself. It had never made sense, until now.
“I’ll remember that,” he said softly.
“Good.” The grin was back on Aki’s silver studded lips. “Not an experience I care to repeat, so if you excuse me I think I’ll go hunt now to ensure I’m back well before dawn.”
A wink and a flash of white teeth, then Aki was gone with a swish of air. Aoi looked after him and tried to imagine what it would be like. Shuddering violently at the thought, the heat and the pain that must come with it, he looked in the direction the other had taken off and found himself hoping Aki would be back well before dawn. He wouldn’t wish such a fate upon anyone. Making sure he had the coat with him, Aoi headed further into the warehouse and down into its secluded basement. He had business to discuss with Shou, if he could find the man.
Aki, on the other hand, moved away from the warehouse and into the city. But he didn’t go hunting like he’d intended to. Instead he took to the rooftops, an easy task for him, and ended up seated at the top of Tokyo looking out over the neon glowing capital. Unintentionally Aoi had dragged up Aki’s worst memories. It was about 300 years ago by now, but he still remembered it like it was yesterday…
It was so easy nowadays, just thinking he wanted to do it and his body rose off the ground and into the air. At first it’d taken a lot of concentration and he’d only been able to do it for short periods before his energy ran out and he felt completely exhausted. But it was so much fun! As a little boy he’d looked up at the soaring birds wishing he could join them among the clouds. Now he could, by pure chance that was the ability he’d developed! It was so ironic, in the most positive sense of the word.
After he first realised he could do it he’d practiced and practiced and practiced, until he could rise up over the tallest building in the city and soar around as he liked. Levitation they called it, the ability to float through midair by pure willpower. Aki was a levitator and he drove the others half crazy by never walking, always hovering. And it made hunting fun to, in a morbid kind of way. Once, a long time ago, his mother had told him to not play with his food, but that was exactly what Aki was doing by scaring his victims half to death before actually killing them.
He never realised the hours past by so quickly. He’d hunted and fed for the night, all he had left to do was play. Aki was a very playful individual, easily amused by simple things and able to keep doing the same thing for hours and hours. Like now, when he’d just been hovering and floating around, making sharp turns and flips, even somersaults, just because he could. It was a feeling of freedom like he’d never felt before. Aki had never been free, his parents sold him to a kagemajaya as a kid and he grew up a kagema - a male prostitute, a body owned and used by others. But he was free now, thanks to Shou he was free to do as he wished with his life, body and time.
When the first rays connected with his back he didn’t recognise the feeling for what it was. It’d been more than a century since he last felt the warmth of sun on his skin, perhaps that was why he had to twist on the spot in midair and see the blinding light to know what was happening. It was beautiful, the very first rays of the morning sun creeping over the horizon oh so slowly. Whether it was that beauty or fear that paralyzed him for the second it took before the inevitable happened Aki would never know. He gasped at the sight, at the warmth of the colours suddenly seeping over the world and with that gasp it was as if he inhaled the lethal rays.
It was a pain unlike anything he’d felt before, starting at his skin and quickly eating its way into his body. Fire, he was quite literally on fire! Golden flames rising up from his pale white skin, excruciating pain and panic making him lose his focus and tumble towards the ground, piercing screams echoing throughout the city as he clawed at his clothes and skin to get the fire away from himself. Aki didn’t want to die, not for real. He wanted to soar through the sky and be free, not gone and inexistent, forgotten and lost in the history of a society that had never cared about his individual.
Not that those thoughts more than crossed his mind for a second, it was impossible to focus on anything but the pain. He didn’t even care if his cries of pain and fear and panic woke people up, made them look out the window and see a burning man crash to the ground in the early hours of dawn. Only he never crashed. Something or someone leapt through the air, higher and in a way no human could’ve done, and caught his burning body. Next thing Aki knew he was dumped into one of the many constructed lakes littering the city, held down deep under the cool water long enough to drown him had he needed to oxygen to exist. But also long enough for the water to seep through the fire. Slowly, oh so slowly, the burning heat coursing through his body ebbed away and his violent thrashing turned into even more violent shivers. The fire might be extinguished, but the pain remained almost unchanged.
A flash of black eyes was all Aki got of his rescuer before he was lifted out of the cooling water and had to face the heat of a dawning day once more. Not sunshine, his saviour quickly crept through the many shadows remaining and skilfully avoided any patches of direct sunlight. Of course, his life was at stake as much as Aki’s own. But the mere idea of being caught in the warm glow again had Aki whimpering, not to mention how the budding heat of day scorched his already scalded skin. Burying his face against a distinctly male chest he tried to keep his noises at bay as the other man reached a building and easily broke into it. Into a small windowless room they went, a storage of sorts perhaps, the only thing that mattered was that there were no windows.
“I’ll be right back,” someone whispered and then Aki was alone. He couldn’t hear anything but the blood rushing through his ears, not feel anything other than the pain. But the other man returned soon enough, the scent of fresh blood oozing off of him in a way that indicated fresh kills. A bloody wrist was pushed against Aki’s lips. “Drink.”
And he did, drank greedily of the blood the other offered and let the feeling fill him for as long as the other man allowed him. It wasn’t until he’d had his fill many times over that he looked up, looked at the man who had undoubtedly saved his life and saw who it was. Kenzo, one of Tora’s young fledglings. Aki had heard the younger was unusually durable to the light of day, especially considering his young age, and it had definitely been proven to him this day.
“Thank you,” he whispered even though the pain of speaking was beyond words.
“Don’t speak,” Kenzo shush. “Save your strength, sleep. I’ll keep watch and tonight I’ll bring you home. Don’t worry Aki, just sleep. Heal.”
“Thank you,” he repeated once more before allowing his body to sink into a blissful painless blackout.
A stray tear rolled down Aki’s cheek at the memory and he let it. Kenzo had kept his promise, he’d refused his body sleep and kept watch all day long. Later, once Aki was coherent enough to ask questions about the day, he learnt that Kenzo had gone and killed the entire family living in the house right after their arrival, that was how he’d been able to give so much blood. During the day he’d also killed a few stray people who had come looking for the missing family. No one had ever been there for Aki in such a way, not before and not after. Kenzo had stayed by his side for decades, nursing him back to health as best he could. Looking down at his still tanned skin Aki knew it was blood far stronger than Kenzo’s that had really helped him heal as quickly as he’d been able to, but it didn’t change the fact that it was thanks to the younger he was alive in the first place.
“Thank you,” he whispered out into the night, much like he’d done that morning. He didn’t like thinking of the night itself, preferred to think of the many years following. The healing process had been long, slow and far from painless, but unlike the night that brought it on it was filled with happy memories. Memories including black eyes and infectious laughter. Memories of Kenzo.
Shaking his head Aki stood up and easily jumped off the building, falling twenty stories or more before landing smoothly on the ground. It was so easy, still one of the most liberating feelings he knew of. He would hunt and kill, take a look around town to see what was going on, and be back at the warehouse in good time before dawn. His injuries of that night were mostly healed, the only real proof remaining the tinted colour of his skin and an immense fear of daylight. There were those who could walk in the shadows even at day, like Kenzo, but to Aki that would be near impossible. Any hint of sunlight or heat of day caused his skin to prickle uncomfortably, not to mention the onslaught of memories it brought on.
“Stop it,” he told himself and began walking along the street. Forcing his mind to focus on other things he pushed the unfortunate events to the back of his mind. It was in the past, nothing to be done about it now. But he couldn’t help but to wish that a certain someone would walk next to him again at night.
- - -
Eyelids fluttering open Hiroto slowly came to, awakening to a new day with a low groan pushing past his lips before he’d even checked the time. His alarm had not gone off, meaning it was not yet 7am. He honestly couldn’t tell which was the worst; the fact that he’d dreamt about Tora again, or that he was hard because of it. Ever since that night six days ago he hadn’t been able to get the tall man off his mind, or out of his dreams. It was frustrating to say the least, Hiroto felt like a teenager with how he had to take care of himself every morning or he’d walk around with a very noticeable erection for hours. A grown man was not supposed to lust after complete strangers, was he?
Pushing the covers aside he got out of bed, hissing as his boxers rubbed over his hard flesh. It felt a bit too good to ignore and he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop himself once he hit the shower, he hadn’t the past mornings either. Every time he got off with Tora in his thoughts it felt better and the longing got worse. A longing to see the other man again, feel his chilled fingers on his skin again. What would it feel to have such a cold hand wrapped around him down there? The thought had him groaning again.
“Fuck!” he swore lowly. “Get a grip on yourself, Hiroto.”
And that was exactly what he would do, wasn’t it? Grip himself and imagine other fingers instead. Shaking his head he stood up and walked over to the bathroom, turned the shower on and stripped out of his only garment. Looking at himself in the mirror Hiroto felt slightly dirty as he took in the sight of his body and the state it was in. Would Tora find him attractive? He knew he didn’t look too bad, but it was a completely different kind of attractiveness than Tora gave off. Maybe the taller man preferred someone more like himself, someone tall and dark and mysterious. Hiroto was none of these things. His hair was lighter than most Japanese people’s, a brownish colour that had had teachers suspecting he was dyeing his hair back in school when he was in fact born with it. In high school they’d even made him dye his hair black just so he would fit in more with the other students, rather ridiculous if you asked him. On top of it he was a lot shorter than Tora and his skin held a warm glow to it rather than the paleness he knew many Japanese found attractive. The only really good traits he had were his eyes and lips, at least he’d understood that people found those tempting.
“Just stop it, okay?” he told his reflection. “You’ll probably never see him again, and even if you do it’s not like he’s going to attack you in an alley!”
Unfortunately that thought was rather appealing. He wouldn’t mind having Tora pushing him up against the wall like the first man had had, his fingers trailing over skin before lips followed. Would his lips be as cold as his fingers? No, that was a ridiculous thought. Tora was probably an excessive smoker or something like that, it would explain his cold hands. And there his mind went spinning again with what it would be like to have those hands on him. Groaning for the third time since waking up not ten minutes earlier Hiroto stepped into the shower and let the warm water wash over him. Wrapping his right hand around the coldwater pipe he waited a few minutes before bringing it down and gripping himself, eyes shooting open as he gasped at the feel. It was so easy to imagine it was someone else’s hand when his fingers were numb from the chill and he felt the touch a lot more in his overheated areas than he did in his hand.
Closing his eyes again he thought of Tora, imagined him leaning over his own shorter frame as he began to pump himself slowly, whimpering at the feel. In his overactive mind, Tora’s other hand flew across his body, touching and caressing every patch of skin it could reach, while his lips kissed and sucked and nibbled at Hiroto’s neck. Tilting his head to the side slightly he wished Tora would bite him harder, he didn’t know why but it seemed like something he would be into, marking his lovers. A low moan slipped past his lips, an obscure version of Tora’s name. It was something he’d never done before, allow himself to actually name the man he was fantasising about. He knew it was Tora, of course he knew, but actually saying the name made it real in a way he still wasn’t sure he wanted it to be.
Moments later he pushed over the edge with a groan turning to a gasp as he, in his imagined reality, clearly felt Tora’s teeth sink into his skin. He wasn’t normally one for pain in sexual encounters, but this fantasy felt a bit too good to ignore the sting that mixed with the pleasure of spilling himself into his hand. Leaning back against the wall he let the water wash away the traces of what he’d done and hoped his knees would not give out on him. No fantasy had ever left him quite as weak afterwards as that of Tora did and all it served to do was make him wonder what it would be like to have it come true. Logic told him that every time he gave in to it he put Tora on a higher pedestal and that reality would most likely be a disappointment, but Hiroto had always been a dreamer. Every morning spent this way made it harder to ignore the fact that he wanted Tora, wanted to be touched and held and loved by him. Or at least fucked, thoroughly fucked in the dirtiest sense of the word.
“Get over yourself,” he hissed angrily at himself. His mind was constantly playing tricks on him, but this one just might take the cake. “You’re never going to see him again, so just get over him!”
It couldn’t possibly be a good sign when you started talking to yourself like you were someone else, like your mind was no longer a part of you that you could control. Pulling a hand through his hair Hiroto pushed off the wall and decided to wash his hair and get on with the day. Maybe he ought to go out to a club or something tonight, find a tall dark stranger and let him fuck him just to get it over with. Perhaps that would make the continuous dreams of Tora go away. He doubted it would, but by now he was willing to try because every night just got worse. Or rather better, since the dreams just kept getting more and more graphic until he could practically feel the cold touch linger on his skin when he woke up. It was such an intense feeling it was almost starting to scare him simply because he’d never felt anything like it before. Shuddering at the thought Hiroto pushed it aside and focused on washing his hair instead, something real to anchor him to reality for once.
Chapter: 02/??
Author: invisiblehabits
Beta: tingedwords
Genre: AU/Angst/Romance
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Blood, violence
Pairings: Tora/Hiroto, Aki/Kenzo
Disclaimer: Don’t own, don’t know. Won’t make money unless you feel like paying me to read.
Summary: He didn’t even care if his cries of pain and fear and panic woke people up, made them look out the window and see a burning man crash to the ground in the early hours of dawn.
Comments: More pretty people, a tiny bit of background, and probably one of my favourite scenes I’ve ever written! I like this chapter, I hope you do too. And a giant thanks to tingedwords for betaing this for me even when she really didn’t have the time. Thanks hun! <3
Prologue, Chapter 1
Aoi returned to the warehouse and threw his jacket hazardously to the side. A tsking sound could be heard from the roof and sensual eyes rose to see a bundle of black hanging from the roof. Black clothes, black hair, black eyes, well almost black eyes at least. To be honest Aoi’s own eyes were a shade blacker still and that was pretty much the only thing that set them apart, for their clothes and hair were the same dark midnight. Of course, he didn’t have studs of silver breaking out of the darkness.
“Such a bad boy, Aoi. What would Shou say if he saw you now?”
The body, literally hanging upside-down from the roof, swung back and forth a few more times and then dropped like a cat to the floor, twisting midair and landing gracefully on his feet. A fall of about 17-20 feet and yet the man strolled towards Aoi like he’d just skipped down from a threshold.
“He didn’t flog you for the stunt you pulled last week,” Aoi replied, a hum to his voice that had become almost a trademark for him. “I never leave things unfinished, I’ll clean up any traces before dawn and you know it.”
“It was Yuuya who staged that girl, thank you,” the slightly taller brunette exclaimed.
“Like you weren’t there, Aki.” Aoi didn’t even have to raise his voice to speak volumes, there was no need to with eyes like his. “It might’ve been Yuuya’s kill, but it’s your sense of humour too.”
Aki just grinned and stuck ringed fingers into the pockets of his black coat. A black coat left open to give each and everyone a perfect view of his toned upper body and piercings. If Aoi had been informed correctly Aki had once been a prostitute and it seemed very likely to him, the older was a complete slut most of the time and loved to show off his physical assets. Unfortunately, for Aoi and everyone else, there was no denying the fact Aki was absolutely gorgeous.
“Maybe I was, maybe I wasn’t,” the praised man said and clicked his tongue piercing against his teeth, a sound he knew annoyed the heck out of Aoi. “Shou thought it was hilarious, so even if I wasn’t I might say I was.”
An almost pained groan escaped Aoi’s lips as he moved across the floor to pick up his coat, hoping it would get Aki off his case already. Most of the time Aki was a very entertaining individual, but sometimes he was just a little bit too much.
“You’re confusing,” he mumbled under his breath, well aware of the fact that Aki would hear him no matter how low he kept his voice. “How do you even remember to find shelter before dawn…”
A sound Aoi could only identify as a hissed whimper was the only reply he received. Looking up with confusion lacing his eyes he saw a look he’d never thought he’d see; Aki looked almost terrified. Not much gave him away, but when you live with someone for long enough you learn to read them well. Aki was shivering just slightly and there was a spark in his eye so different from the normal teasing seduction found there.
“I don’t always,” he finally whispered, the confession echoing off the walls of the warehouse.
“You mean…?” It was hard to believe, but Aoi knew the other wasn’t lying.
“Once I…” Aki swallowed hard, trying to shake the unwanted memories. “A long time ago I…forgot, found myself caught in… I wouldn’t recommend it.”
An attempt at a joke and clearly a desire to drop the subject, one Aoi was about to accept. He smiled slightly at Aki, sort of mirroring the expression already on the other’s face, and nodded slowly. If anything such an accident could explain Aki’s unusually dark complexion. With his age he should be marble, but he was darker even than Aoi himself. It had never made sense, until now.
“I’ll remember that,” he said softly.
“Good.” The grin was back on Aki’s silver studded lips. “Not an experience I care to repeat, so if you excuse me I think I’ll go hunt now to ensure I’m back well before dawn.”
A wink and a flash of white teeth, then Aki was gone with a swish of air. Aoi looked after him and tried to imagine what it would be like. Shuddering violently at the thought, the heat and the pain that must come with it, he looked in the direction the other had taken off and found himself hoping Aki would be back well before dawn. He wouldn’t wish such a fate upon anyone. Making sure he had the coat with him, Aoi headed further into the warehouse and down into its secluded basement. He had business to discuss with Shou, if he could find the man.
Aki, on the other hand, moved away from the warehouse and into the city. But he didn’t go hunting like he’d intended to. Instead he took to the rooftops, an easy task for him, and ended up seated at the top of Tokyo looking out over the neon glowing capital. Unintentionally Aoi had dragged up Aki’s worst memories. It was about 300 years ago by now, but he still remembered it like it was yesterday…
It was so easy nowadays, just thinking he wanted to do it and his body rose off the ground and into the air. At first it’d taken a lot of concentration and he’d only been able to do it for short periods before his energy ran out and he felt completely exhausted. But it was so much fun! As a little boy he’d looked up at the soaring birds wishing he could join them among the clouds. Now he could, by pure chance that was the ability he’d developed! It was so ironic, in the most positive sense of the word.
After he first realised he could do it he’d practiced and practiced and practiced, until he could rise up over the tallest building in the city and soar around as he liked. Levitation they called it, the ability to float through midair by pure willpower. Aki was a levitator and he drove the others half crazy by never walking, always hovering. And it made hunting fun to, in a morbid kind of way. Once, a long time ago, his mother had told him to not play with his food, but that was exactly what Aki was doing by scaring his victims half to death before actually killing them.
He never realised the hours past by so quickly. He’d hunted and fed for the night, all he had left to do was play. Aki was a very playful individual, easily amused by simple things and able to keep doing the same thing for hours and hours. Like now, when he’d just been hovering and floating around, making sharp turns and flips, even somersaults, just because he could. It was a feeling of freedom like he’d never felt before. Aki had never been free, his parents sold him to a kagemajaya as a kid and he grew up a kagema - a male prostitute, a body owned and used by others. But he was free now, thanks to Shou he was free to do as he wished with his life, body and time.
When the first rays connected with his back he didn’t recognise the feeling for what it was. It’d been more than a century since he last felt the warmth of sun on his skin, perhaps that was why he had to twist on the spot in midair and see the blinding light to know what was happening. It was beautiful, the very first rays of the morning sun creeping over the horizon oh so slowly. Whether it was that beauty or fear that paralyzed him for the second it took before the inevitable happened Aki would never know. He gasped at the sight, at the warmth of the colours suddenly seeping over the world and with that gasp it was as if he inhaled the lethal rays.
It was a pain unlike anything he’d felt before, starting at his skin and quickly eating its way into his body. Fire, he was quite literally on fire! Golden flames rising up from his pale white skin, excruciating pain and panic making him lose his focus and tumble towards the ground, piercing screams echoing throughout the city as he clawed at his clothes and skin to get the fire away from himself. Aki didn’t want to die, not for real. He wanted to soar through the sky and be free, not gone and inexistent, forgotten and lost in the history of a society that had never cared about his individual.
Not that those thoughts more than crossed his mind for a second, it was impossible to focus on anything but the pain. He didn’t even care if his cries of pain and fear and panic woke people up, made them look out the window and see a burning man crash to the ground in the early hours of dawn. Only he never crashed. Something or someone leapt through the air, higher and in a way no human could’ve done, and caught his burning body. Next thing Aki knew he was dumped into one of the many constructed lakes littering the city, held down deep under the cool water long enough to drown him had he needed to oxygen to exist. But also long enough for the water to seep through the fire. Slowly, oh so slowly, the burning heat coursing through his body ebbed away and his violent thrashing turned into even more violent shivers. The fire might be extinguished, but the pain remained almost unchanged.
A flash of black eyes was all Aki got of his rescuer before he was lifted out of the cooling water and had to face the heat of a dawning day once more. Not sunshine, his saviour quickly crept through the many shadows remaining and skilfully avoided any patches of direct sunlight. Of course, his life was at stake as much as Aki’s own. But the mere idea of being caught in the warm glow again had Aki whimpering, not to mention how the budding heat of day scorched his already scalded skin. Burying his face against a distinctly male chest he tried to keep his noises at bay as the other man reached a building and easily broke into it. Into a small windowless room they went, a storage of sorts perhaps, the only thing that mattered was that there were no windows.
“I’ll be right back,” someone whispered and then Aki was alone. He couldn’t hear anything but the blood rushing through his ears, not feel anything other than the pain. But the other man returned soon enough, the scent of fresh blood oozing off of him in a way that indicated fresh kills. A bloody wrist was pushed against Aki’s lips. “Drink.”
And he did, drank greedily of the blood the other offered and let the feeling fill him for as long as the other man allowed him. It wasn’t until he’d had his fill many times over that he looked up, looked at the man who had undoubtedly saved his life and saw who it was. Kenzo, one of Tora’s young fledglings. Aki had heard the younger was unusually durable to the light of day, especially considering his young age, and it had definitely been proven to him this day.
“Thank you,” he whispered even though the pain of speaking was beyond words.
“Don’t speak,” Kenzo shush. “Save your strength, sleep. I’ll keep watch and tonight I’ll bring you home. Don’t worry Aki, just sleep. Heal.”
“Thank you,” he repeated once more before allowing his body to sink into a blissful painless blackout.
A stray tear rolled down Aki’s cheek at the memory and he let it. Kenzo had kept his promise, he’d refused his body sleep and kept watch all day long. Later, once Aki was coherent enough to ask questions about the day, he learnt that Kenzo had gone and killed the entire family living in the house right after their arrival, that was how he’d been able to give so much blood. During the day he’d also killed a few stray people who had come looking for the missing family. No one had ever been there for Aki in such a way, not before and not after. Kenzo had stayed by his side for decades, nursing him back to health as best he could. Looking down at his still tanned skin Aki knew it was blood far stronger than Kenzo’s that had really helped him heal as quickly as he’d been able to, but it didn’t change the fact that it was thanks to the younger he was alive in the first place.
“Thank you,” he whispered out into the night, much like he’d done that morning. He didn’t like thinking of the night itself, preferred to think of the many years following. The healing process had been long, slow and far from painless, but unlike the night that brought it on it was filled with happy memories. Memories including black eyes and infectious laughter. Memories of Kenzo.
Shaking his head Aki stood up and easily jumped off the building, falling twenty stories or more before landing smoothly on the ground. It was so easy, still one of the most liberating feelings he knew of. He would hunt and kill, take a look around town to see what was going on, and be back at the warehouse in good time before dawn. His injuries of that night were mostly healed, the only real proof remaining the tinted colour of his skin and an immense fear of daylight. There were those who could walk in the shadows even at day, like Kenzo, but to Aki that would be near impossible. Any hint of sunlight or heat of day caused his skin to prickle uncomfortably, not to mention the onslaught of memories it brought on.
“Stop it,” he told himself and began walking along the street. Forcing his mind to focus on other things he pushed the unfortunate events to the back of his mind. It was in the past, nothing to be done about it now. But he couldn’t help but to wish that a certain someone would walk next to him again at night.
- - -
Eyelids fluttering open Hiroto slowly came to, awakening to a new day with a low groan pushing past his lips before he’d even checked the time. His alarm had not gone off, meaning it was not yet 7am. He honestly couldn’t tell which was the worst; the fact that he’d dreamt about Tora again, or that he was hard because of it. Ever since that night six days ago he hadn’t been able to get the tall man off his mind, or out of his dreams. It was frustrating to say the least, Hiroto felt like a teenager with how he had to take care of himself every morning or he’d walk around with a very noticeable erection for hours. A grown man was not supposed to lust after complete strangers, was he?
Pushing the covers aside he got out of bed, hissing as his boxers rubbed over his hard flesh. It felt a bit too good to ignore and he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop himself once he hit the shower, he hadn’t the past mornings either. Every time he got off with Tora in his thoughts it felt better and the longing got worse. A longing to see the other man again, feel his chilled fingers on his skin again. What would it feel to have such a cold hand wrapped around him down there? The thought had him groaning again.
“Fuck!” he swore lowly. “Get a grip on yourself, Hiroto.”
And that was exactly what he would do, wasn’t it? Grip himself and imagine other fingers instead. Shaking his head he stood up and walked over to the bathroom, turned the shower on and stripped out of his only garment. Looking at himself in the mirror Hiroto felt slightly dirty as he took in the sight of his body and the state it was in. Would Tora find him attractive? He knew he didn’t look too bad, but it was a completely different kind of attractiveness than Tora gave off. Maybe the taller man preferred someone more like himself, someone tall and dark and mysterious. Hiroto was none of these things. His hair was lighter than most Japanese people’s, a brownish colour that had had teachers suspecting he was dyeing his hair back in school when he was in fact born with it. In high school they’d even made him dye his hair black just so he would fit in more with the other students, rather ridiculous if you asked him. On top of it he was a lot shorter than Tora and his skin held a warm glow to it rather than the paleness he knew many Japanese found attractive. The only really good traits he had were his eyes and lips, at least he’d understood that people found those tempting.
“Just stop it, okay?” he told his reflection. “You’ll probably never see him again, and even if you do it’s not like he’s going to attack you in an alley!”
Unfortunately that thought was rather appealing. He wouldn’t mind having Tora pushing him up against the wall like the first man had had, his fingers trailing over skin before lips followed. Would his lips be as cold as his fingers? No, that was a ridiculous thought. Tora was probably an excessive smoker or something like that, it would explain his cold hands. And there his mind went spinning again with what it would be like to have those hands on him. Groaning for the third time since waking up not ten minutes earlier Hiroto stepped into the shower and let the warm water wash over him. Wrapping his right hand around the coldwater pipe he waited a few minutes before bringing it down and gripping himself, eyes shooting open as he gasped at the feel. It was so easy to imagine it was someone else’s hand when his fingers were numb from the chill and he felt the touch a lot more in his overheated areas than he did in his hand.
Closing his eyes again he thought of Tora, imagined him leaning over his own shorter frame as he began to pump himself slowly, whimpering at the feel. In his overactive mind, Tora’s other hand flew across his body, touching and caressing every patch of skin it could reach, while his lips kissed and sucked and nibbled at Hiroto’s neck. Tilting his head to the side slightly he wished Tora would bite him harder, he didn’t know why but it seemed like something he would be into, marking his lovers. A low moan slipped past his lips, an obscure version of Tora’s name. It was something he’d never done before, allow himself to actually name the man he was fantasising about. He knew it was Tora, of course he knew, but actually saying the name made it real in a way he still wasn’t sure he wanted it to be.
Moments later he pushed over the edge with a groan turning to a gasp as he, in his imagined reality, clearly felt Tora’s teeth sink into his skin. He wasn’t normally one for pain in sexual encounters, but this fantasy felt a bit too good to ignore the sting that mixed with the pleasure of spilling himself into his hand. Leaning back against the wall he let the water wash away the traces of what he’d done and hoped his knees would not give out on him. No fantasy had ever left him quite as weak afterwards as that of Tora did and all it served to do was make him wonder what it would be like to have it come true. Logic told him that every time he gave in to it he put Tora on a higher pedestal and that reality would most likely be a disappointment, but Hiroto had always been a dreamer. Every morning spent this way made it harder to ignore the fact that he wanted Tora, wanted to be touched and held and loved by him. Or at least fucked, thoroughly fucked in the dirtiest sense of the word.
“Get over yourself,” he hissed angrily at himself. His mind was constantly playing tricks on him, but this one just might take the cake. “You’re never going to see him again, so just get over him!”
It couldn’t possibly be a good sign when you started talking to yourself like you were someone else, like your mind was no longer a part of you that you could control. Pulling a hand through his hair Hiroto pushed off the wall and decided to wash his hair and get on with the day. Maybe he ought to go out to a club or something tonight, find a tall dark stranger and let him fuck him just to get it over with. Perhaps that would make the continuous dreams of Tora go away. He doubted it would, but by now he was willing to try because every night just got worse. Or rather better, since the dreams just kept getting more and more graphic until he could practically feel the cold touch linger on his skin when he woke up. It was such an intense feeling it was almost starting to scare him simply because he’d never felt anything like it before. Shuddering at the thought Hiroto pushed it aside and focused on washing his hair instead, something real to anchor him to reality for once.