TCM Act 1: Hunger
JENNI: Haaai~ Our first chapter is HUNGER. When people are desperate for food, what do they do? Hmmm? Well, for Kyo, he would kill, kill, kill.
[Scene 1]
It’s the middle of summer, and he was starving. Kyo didn’t even care if his meal was human or dog or horse. He was hungry, and he wanted food immediately. However, he wouldn’t get paid until the end of the week, and his paycheck would only be able to give him a cup of ramen. Life as a convenience store clerk was difficult…especially when he didn’t make much because he was always screwing around/up (according to his boss).
He should kill that stupid manager one day. It wasn’t that difficult.
A pair of shiny leather shoes invaded his staring competition with the concrete ground. His dark brown eyes lifted up and met translucent orbs. In fact, they were like a demon’s. Those eyes held a knowledge Kyo wasn’t aware of, nor did he really want to know. Pulling the cigarette away from his lips, he exhaled a cloud of smoke. The demon did not mind. He didn't flinch. He didn't crinkle his nose. There was absolutely no reaction. Instead he raised a hand and placed it in front of Kyo. Kyo raised an eyebrow before throwing his cigarette to the ground and grinding it against the concrete with his foot. The blonde scoffed upon seeing a card slip out of the long, white sleeve into the glove-covered hand. A business card, to be exact.
Kyo raised his head and stared at the figure in front of him. The demon had wavy brown locks that were sculpted to stay in the exact same place. He had ghostly-pale skin and pale lips. His wardrobe was nothing like Kyo's. It was much more elegant. He wore a white button down under a black vest with black dress pants and a pocket watch. On his hands were black dress gloves. He was quite gentlemanly, if Kyo had to choose a word to describe him.
On the other hand, Kyo wore a white baggy t-shirt, blue jeans, and black steel toed boots. Simple and nothing like the demon.
"Who the hell are you?" Kyo snapped before slapping the business card away from his face. The card fell several feet away on the ground before being blown away by the wind. Even the wind couldn't move the demon's hair by even a centimeter. Kyo's aggression was soon blown away as well. The demon was chuckling...amused, humored.
"I am Kamijo," he introduced himself, "and you are, in fact, the great murderer who is called Uroboros, correct?"
A sigh escaped Kyo's lip before vanishing into thin air. "Uroboros, Uroboros, Uroboros... What the hell?" he grumbled. "I happen to kill a guy with a book on Uroboros that he was reading before and a woman who had an Uroboros tattoo, then all of a sudden I'm called Uroboros? I then played a joke by killing a random drunk on the streets and drawing an Uroboros with his blood, and the media takes it so seriously..."
Kamijo smirked ever so slightly before commenting, "Your killing style, too. You make it so that the maggots have something to eat for a long time before the police officers get to the scene. It's easy to identify. You always have to rip something open. It's never a clean kill with you."
Kyo narrowed his eyes at this stranger, who had a lot of information for some strange reason, and inquired him of his business. Kamijo only handed him another business card.
"Versailles Pharmacy
CEO, Kamijo"
Kyo crumpled up the card and tossed it into a nearby trashcan. "Well, you're a doctor, then. Isn't that something?"
"Actually, I have a job for you, Uroboros-san," Kamijo stated. "I need you to kill some people for me."
Kyo's ears twitched. He fought the urge to grin sadistically before questioning the CEO about that job.
"Killing?"
Kamijo nodded. "Oh yes, that's all this job is--killing. I have a special request for you. You're the only one I can think of. Rather, I have a secret that I'm sure you will keep all to yourself. I'd rather tell you elsewhere...somewhere more secluded."
[Scene 2]
"What the hell is this place?" Kyo spat out as the limousine pulled up to a large white mansion rivaling the Versailles castle in France. If one was not careful, they would easily get lost in such a "home." Kyo had no intention of staying there, however. He hated big places like these. Kamijo's door was opened, but Kyo had already stepped out of the automobile. No way in hell was he going to wait for some guy to open his damn door when he could have been out forty seconds earlier.
"This is where I live. Of course, I don't live by myself. My family also lives here," Kamijo answered the assassin. Kyo rolled his eyes. He wouldn't be surprised at such a thing. Spoiled rich aristocrats with their infinite amount of money. "I'll inform you of our situation inside, where it is much safer. We can't even trust the security guards with this information." Kyo raised an eyebrow. Wasn't the fancy aristocrat just being paranoid?
They made it inside (it was about a mile walk, from Kyo's view, from the car inside to the grand stairs). They traveled up several flights of stairs to the large dining room. Kamijo sat at the end of the long rectangular table that stretched about a mile or two long. Unable to walk anymore, out of pure exhaustion (it was the cigarettes), he sat to Kamijo's right.
"I shall start with this... My family and I are vampires."
Kyo choked on his spit.
"If you do not believe me, I do have proof."
"Nah, it's a weird world, I'll take your word for it," Kyo reassured the aristocrat.
"Unfortunately, we are starting to grow weak. The chains of death are trying to reclaim us. In order to remain in our solitude, we seek an elixir... The elixir of eternal life. Of course, as vampires we can drink blood all we want and gain years of life; however, it has become much more dangerous to attack an innocent human. My brother was nearly caught if he was not quick enough. That is why I seek your hand in this quest for the elixir," Kamijo explained, "because a murderer can kill all he wants, and we will receive the blood through his preys."
Propping up his feet onto the table, Kyo slouched his his chair and hummed in thought. "I don't really get it," he said, "but it sounds fun. All I have to do is dissemble a human, right?"
Kamijo nodded. "That is correct. I will have someone else clean up your mess, gathering our needed supplies. His name is Ruki, and he will be your shadow. You won't see him, you won't hear him, you won't know him. With this, everything is set. There is one catch."
"Hm? A catch?" Kyo repeated. "What kind of catch?"
"You must only kill those with rich blood. They have a certain smell to them. By rich blood, I mean those who are beautiful in heart and soul, whose beauty seeps through and is displayed on the outside as well," Kamijo responded. Kyo shrugged.
"Ah, whatever."
[Scene 3]
Kyo and Kamijo stepped down the stairs, despite Kyo's dismay. A young man greeted Kamijo and Kyo formally. His hair was curled and dark. His eyes were naturally brown covered by ice-blue contacts. He wore a white button down under a black vest with black slacks and dress shoes. On his hands were black leather gloves and on his head was a black fedora.
"Who was that?" Kyo questioned Kamijo.
"Someone you don't know," Kamijo retorted with a slight smirk. Kyo rolled his eyes, scoffed, and exited the mansion--being dropped off at his rundown apartment.
The words Kamijo said ran through his head once more, "I'll pay you more than you need. Much more than you need. Name a price and I'll give it to you as payment."
Kyo snorted. Snobby, spoiled, stupid rich people.
He slammed the door to his apartment, getting the landlady to scream at him and bang on "his" walls and door.
"So how do I identify this rich blood?"
"Get to know people. It's not that hard."
Kyo fell onto his couch and flipped through the channels.
"Yeah right."
[Scene 4]
"Ah! Ah! Ah--!" the dark haired chef was cut off by his partner sneezing. He flinched before finally swatting the fly.
"Achoo!"
It vibrated and bounced off the walls. Kai frowned and ran a hand through his hair before dusting off his apron and leaning against the counter. His eyes trailed from the cashier to the glass windows to the closed sign at the window.
"I keep forgetting that today was a no-business day because Reita-kun had to visit someone," Kai mumbled. The dark haired barista only shrugged before cleaning the expresso machine. "Nao-kun, what should we do today? There's nothing to do but clean the shop."
Nao only sighed. "Then we should clean the shop! Reita wouldn't want to come back and see this place as a wreck! ...well, he could probably care less, but--!"
"Good morning~!" the younger brother chimed as he pushed open the door into the café. The older brother strolled casually in, with an annoyed expression. "Nao-san! Kai-san! How are you today? I'll have some green tea! Tora-nii, what would you like?"
Tora grunted, "Nothing in particular."
"Then make that two cups of green tea!" Hiroto chirped. Kai chuckled.
"Ah, well, Hiroto-kun, we're not selling anything today--"
"Isn't that fine? We're just visiting. We're not going to buy anything," Hiroto mumbled with a pout. Kai laughed nervously before nodding and running off to prepare the tea. Nao sat on his stool in the coffee corner while the chef began to hurriedly make some last-minute tea. Hiroto plopped onto a stool at the counter as Tora joined him. "Tora-nii, are you okay? You're not sick or anything, right?" Hiroto leaned over to his brother and rested his hand on Tora's forehead. Tora frowned and grabbed his younger brother's hand, resting his forehead against Hiroto's.
"I'm fine. It's you I'm worried about. You're burning up."
"But... Nii-san," Hiroto protested, his face growing warmer by the second, "I-I'm fine. I-I just don't get to go here often a-anymore...b-because of h-high school and h-homework. O-Oh! N-Nii-san! H-How's college?!" Nao rolled his eyes. The brotherly love that causes an uproar with girls was...rather...interesting when you see it first hand. Incest + Boys' Love.
The door opened again. Nao raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, but we're not open today. The sign says 'closed,' right? Oh, sir--?"
"Yeah, it says closed, but all I need is a bottle of water," Kyo said, "there's this guy outside who looks like he's about to die." Hiroto, Tora, and Nao exchanged strange glances before Kai came out with the tea. "Hey, you with the apron, get me a bottle of water while you're serving them."
Kai returned with a bottle of water for Kyo. The assassin strolled outside and handed it to a tall blonde haired man, who wore a black tank top under a white casual vest and faded blue jeans with black ankle boots. He was panting heavily, trying to catch his breath.
"You're lucky I even saved you instead of feeding you to those rabid dogs," Kyo scolded the stranger. "What did those girls want anyways? They ran faster than a bullet on steroids."
"Ah... Those girls were from school...and other colleges and high schools and junior highs and the neighborhood and...elsewhere, I guess," he answered before gulping down the entire water bottle. "So...who are you? I got to know the name of the guy who saved me."
"Eh... Kyo."
"I'm Shou," he said, stretching out a hand to shake, "it's nice to meet you."
Kyo stayed silent. He didn't want to get well-acquainted with people...he didn't like it.