• CHAPTER 12 - ENTER: NECROMANTIC HUNTER, AKATSUKI

    There seems to always be a compromise for everything. One falls in love with the other, the other doesn't. The other might love him/her, but there's not really any telling until they come out and admit how they feel. Sometimes you just need a happy medium.

    .:{{Arisa's Perspective}}:.

    "Are you ready yet?"

    Kai knocked on the bathroom door as I was trying to do the bandages myself. Kai had just bitten me, but it didn't really hurt as much as it normally did. I felt a sting but I had grown accustomed to that.

    "Yeah, I'm almost done. I'm trying to figure out these bandages."

    I could hear Kai try to open the door but I had locked it. He teleported in, making me jump slightly and drop my stuff. I turned around and glared at him.

    "A little warning!"

    "Yeah, yeah,"

    I turned my attention back to the medical supplies and rolled my eyes. He was getting cocky again. He always acted that way after we would have a...moment. My attention was taken from me as I felt Kai press his face against my neck where he had bitten me and he inhaled sharply through his nose. He was so cold!

    "What are you doing?! You're freezing!"

    He pulled away and looked at me as if I should have known why he did that, "The smell of blood is gone,"

    "No duh, I cleaned it,"

    Kai rolled his eyes at me and fixed my wound for me. As soon as he did, I turned to the door.

    "Okay, let's go,"

    Kai seemed okay with what I had to say the other day. I guess he wasn't embarrassed at all, just confused. We left the house and climbed into his jet black 2008 Mitsubishi Eclipse and drove down the road at nearly 100 mph.

    ~*~*~*~*~*~

    Kai walked me up to the front door of the restaurant, lightly grasping my right bicep. I turned and looked up at him after we stopped at the door.

    "I'm only going to be a few hours again. Can you handle it?"

    "Yeah. Is it okay if I run a few errands? I should be done by the time you are."

    I nodded and smiled at him, "Of course,"

    He smiled back at me with his beautiful smile and rubbed my head, messing up my hair, "Take care of yourself, kid,"

    Oh, so I wasn't "girl" or even "Arisa" anymore? Kai chuckled as he left me at the restaurant and walked back to his car about 13 blocks away. He preferred to park farther away to an area where less Vampires roamed. It really killed my feet, though. Maybe I'd have him carry me back to the car tonight.

    I sighed and walked into the restaurant.

    ~*~*~*~*~*~

    I started unbuttoning my uniform shirt as I walked into the back of the restaurant where my locker was to hold my uniform. It reminded me of the locker room at school. Oh, I needed to tell Matsuda I was ready to go back to school. I hadn't been back in over 2 and a half months. I'd never catch up on homework. I undressed and redressed myself in my normal clothes and stuffed my work uniform into the locker, thankful that nobody had walked in on me. I usually got dressed in the bathroom, but I was too tired. I pulled the hair tie out of my hair and fluffed my hair. I exited through the side door that all employees were supposed to that led into a dark alley. I'd always had a fear of dark alleys, but that's only a normal phobia.

    I didn't want to wait in front of the restaurant for Kai because I didn't want to risk the chance of any Vampires spotting me out in the open. I leaned back against the wall and pulled out the Razr phone Matsuda had given me and checked the time; 12:14 a.m. I was out a little early because the cleaning didn't take as long. I tucked my phone into my coat and sighed. It was pretty chilly so I crossed my arms to keep the body heat in. I turned my attention as sure as I thought I had heard footsteps. I didn't see anything or hear anything else so I ignored my hallucination. I backed further into the alley, further into the shadows. That was pretty damn retarded of me.

    An arm extended out and a hand slammed against the wall by my head. I glanced up and there was a man smirking down at me with crimson eyes; a Vampire. His smiled widened, showing off his pearly fangs. My voice squeaked at my attempt to scream and I was frozen.

    "You smell delicious,"

    I hadn't realized I had lost my breath, but I regained it instantly and ducked under his arm and ran even further into the alley. I would beat myself up later for running further in, but I just wanted to save myself. I didn't hear the Vampire running after me, so I assumed he gave up already. I stopped running to catch my breath. I didn't even look behind me, but my conscience told me to do otherwise. As I was about to, I was pinned against a different wall and the Vampire pressed himself against me unbelieveably hard. I was losing my breath again. He clamped his ice hands onto my wrists, much like Kai before the first attack. The Vampire backed himself away from me, still holding a firm grip on my wrists and inhaled my aroma.

    "Kai?"

    I wanted to call out for him louder, but I was much too scared. The Vampire was preparing me to be his next meal. I remembered what Kai had told me about my blood being so much easier to detect than normal blood. The Vampire's breath blew a few strands of my hair around as he chuckled.

    "Looks like somebody got to you before me, eh?"

    He ripped off the bandage with his teeth and spit the bandages onto the ground. Before I even had time to blink again, he dug his teeth into my neck where Kai had bitten me just hours before. I screamed.

    "No! No, get off!" I shook myself frantically, trying to shake him off, "Stop!"

    I felt tears building up as he bit me again in a different spot. I continued to attempt to fight him off, but he was just as strong as Kai.

    "Get off!!"

    I looked over to my left, where the Vampire had bitten me, and saw a marble-sized ball roll onto the ground and landed near my feet. The Vampire stopped feeding off of me and stared at the ball.

    "What the hell?"

    In an instant, the little ball exploded and a ton of smoke sprayed out. The Vampire covered his mouth with his arm and ran off. I covered my mouth and sat myself on the ground and curled up. I didn't know what this bomb thing was, but I was terrified. I knew it was no normal smoke either; it was a purpleish-gray. As the smoke cleared up, I glanced over through the smoke and a boy came walking towards me. I tried to back up but I was already against the wall. I continued to hold my breath and cover my mouth.

    I could see the boy clearly as the smoke continued to extenuate. He stopped himself just about 3 feet from me. He was tall, about 6 feet I would guess, so around Kai's height. He was a little thinner than Kai and Kira and had a little more color to him. His hair was a bewildering silver and it blended into a jet black at the tips. It grew down to the bottom of his ears but at the back of his head, it was a tad bit longer, like Kira's hair. He looked around my age, if not, a year older. He was holding in his right hand a metallic silver pistol. He looked down on me with stunning dark brown eyes. He had a series of little silver hoops in his right ear and a gauge about the roundness of a pen in his left ear with a couple more little silver hoops. I tried to catch my breath, afraid of inhaling the smoke.

    "Don't worry, the smoke doesn't affect humans,"

    I lowered my hands slowly, trusting his words. The smoke obviously didn't affect humans if he were still standing fine, "Who are--?"

    I was interrupted as I heard racing footsteps around the corner of the alley. Kai turned the corner and stared at me, then at the boy in front of me, then back at me.

    "Arisa?"

    Kai rushed up to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. He moved my hair from my neck and saw the new puncture wounds.

    "Arisa, are you okay?"

    He was ignoring the boy for now, but I could tell he wanted the boy away from us. I nodded and brushed away my tears. I didn't understand why tears had come out. I didn't even have the feeling to cry when I was being attacked. Kai continued to stare at me.

    "What happened?"

    "I was attacked," I looked past Kai and to the boy in front of me, "and that boy saved me,"

    Kai turned his attention to the silver-haired human boy. Kai examined him closely, noticing the boy kept staring at me with a bewildered look on his face. Kai growled, helped me up, and stood in front of me, still growling.

    "Kai, it's okay,"

    "No it's not," Kai said as he looked back at me and hissed. He looked back at the boy, "He's a Necromantic Hunter."

    It took me a moment to process and remember what a "Necromantic Hunter" was. I gasped. I should be the one defending Kai! It shouldn't be the other way around! I pushed my way around Kai and stood in front of him.

    "Then why are you defending me?" I figured it'd only feel right if I were protecting him.

    As I turned around to face the boy, he was standing several more feet away and was pointing his metallic silver pistol right at Kai. I gasped and interevened again.

    "What are you doing?! Don't shoot him!"

    "Die, Vampire," the boy whispered. The gunshot went off right as I closed my eyes.

    I opened my eyes again and noticed Kai was still standing. Kai's face looked confused and almost on the verge of laughing. I looked back at the boy who had an embarrassing expression. Kai smirked.

    "Not much of a hunter, are you?"

    He missed? How could he have missed him? Nobody moved when he shot. The boy snorted and put away his gun. He pulled out a folded up photograph from his pocket and unfolded it. He stared at the photo, then me, then the photo again, then me again. He smiled widely and put his picture away. Kai barely lowered his arm in front of me after stepping ahead of me, just in case this boy would go crazy.

    "You look just like Aya! You must be Arisa, right?"

    Kai and I stared at each other with dumbstruck looks. We both knew what each other were thinking, well, he knew what I was thinking, I only assumed what he was thinking; What the Hell?!

    ~*~*~*~*~*~

    I wrapped myself in a fleece blanket and sat myself down on a breakfast bar stool as the boy handed me a cup of hot chocolate. I lightly grabbed the mug and blew the steam off. Kai stood against a wall by the front door with his arms and ankles crossed and glared at the boy. I ignored Kai as I could feel him stare at me after a while.

    "So, uh, what's your name again?"

    "Akatsuki Sangatsu. As your little friend said, I'm a Necromantic Hunter. The youngest, I might say, at 18 years old."

    "Um, aren't you supposed to be professionals?" it was funny to ask that question and hard to suppress the laughter that he was capable of missing Kai at that distance. Of course, with my klutzy self, I'd miss him too.

    "I'm still in training," he grumbled, annoyed.

    "You'd still think that even if you're the youngest, you'd still be one of the best," Kai snorted from the shadows against the wall.

    "You know what, maybe I just let you off easy, Vampire. Seeing as you have a girlfriend." when Akatsuki said that last word, he gestured to me with a wave of his hand.

    "I'm not his girlfriend," I protested quietly, sipping my scalding hot chocolate.

    "Yeah, that wasn't on your mind," I could feel Kai smirk at Akatsuki.

    "So, um, change of subject," I stirred around my hot chocolate timidly, "How do you know Aya?"

    Akatsuki paused. I looked in front of me after a couple of minutes and saw his face was almost unreadable, but a hint of sadness in his eyes.

    "I was a Nectomantic Hunter assossiated with your parents for a few years. The first night I entered your house, I kept my eyes on your sister. She was absolutely stunning." he smiled at the memory, "Your parents introduced me to her. You were sick in bed. They told me the hunting was much too dangerous for me at the time, being 17 years old, and so they decided I stay every night and watch you and Aya.

    "You weren't introduced to me because your parents knew you'd be stubborn at having somebody watching over you. They were planning to tell you eventually, if the bad hunt continued any further and I would have to stay longer. Of course I wouldn't mind that. Your parents were basically like family to me. My parents were born Necromantic Hunters and died Necromantic Hunters. Your parents knew my parents very well.

    "Anyways, I stayed at your house every night for hours at a time and Aya was always awake with me, always asking if she could do anything for me. We would also watch over you in your bedroom for several minutes every hour too. After a couple of weeks, I noticed myself becoming infallibly attatched to Aya, and she was becoming attatched to me too.

    "We started having a secret relationship behind your parents' back. We only acted like close friends around them, but when they left, all Hell would break loose." Akatsuki chuckled as his metaphor, "It wasn't until after about 8 months of knowing each other that we took our relationship to the next level." a subtle tint of red saturated his cheeks.

    "About 2 months later, your sister ended up getting diagnosed with Leukemia," he paused, "I sill went to your house every night, but the atmosphere was somber. Every night, Aya would fall asleep in my arms after crying, fearing for her life, what would happen to you if she died, what would happen to me. It was soon after that when the doctors confirmed there was no treatment for her so-called 'odd blood'. And as you know, she ended up going to the hospital. She refused chemotherapy because she knew she'd be on it the rest of her life if she did.

    "She became indredibly pale and weak. Her eyes were dull and her skin was fragile, but her heart was strong. After you and your parents would leave the hospital, I would sneak in and sit in the chair next to her every night unless she asked me to sleep on the bed with her. I refused to sleep. I always had the phobia in my head that she would die in my arms and I wouldn't even know. I would whisper sweet nothings to her as she cried and slowly fell asleep.

    "Then came the day of her death. I was there during the funeral, but I stayed in the back, in the shadows, and was the last one to leave after watching you grieve for almost an hour before your parents had to pull you away. After you left, I also stood at the coffin and mourned for as long as you did. I repeatedly kissed her lifeless husk and almost put myself in the coffin with her. I watched as they lowered the casket into the ground, and buried it in the dirt. I promised to myself afterwords that I would never fall again, never fall for another individual. And so here I am." Akatsuki gestured to his crummy apartment he called home.

    I choked on my breathing and fought back the tears. It was painful to bring up Aya's cancer, my parents, it was so difficult to bring them all up at once. Poor Akatsuki. He was beyond shadow of a doubt in love with Aya. He seemed like he was handling it all well, but I could tell it was impossible for him when he was alone. That probably explained why he was so thin, even after a year and a half since my other half's passing.

    I didn't notice Kai's sudden hovering beside me. He gracefully slid his hand across my shoulders and firmly gripped my left shoulder and held me close to his side. I peeked up under my eyelashes and noted Akatsuki eyeing Kai and I knew Kai was giving him the same look. I didn't like the tension in the atmosphere. I sighed.

    "Arisa, how about we get those bandages changed?" Kai whispered down to me in a gentle velvet tone and I nodded my head in agreement.

    I stood up and made my way to Akatsuki's bathroom with my head down. Kai soon followed after me and shut the door behind him. I sat on the closed toilet seat and waited as Kai searched for the medical supplies again. He kneeled down in front of me and slowly and cautiously removed my bandages which were lightly damp with blood. Kai breathed steadily and I kept staring at him as he started fixing me up.

    "How much control do you have over your craving?"

    Kai smiled half-heartedly, "A lot, but it's hard. How are you feeling?"

    "I'm feeling okay. I'm more worried about you."

    "And why is that, may I ask?"

    I shrugged with my one free shoulder, "I don't like the conflict in the air I feel between you and Akatsuki,"

    Kai chuckled, "He's a hunter and I'm a Vampire. Just like Vampires and Werewolves, we're destined to be enemies. It's just a mere conflict. I'm sure it will pass."

    I flinched as Kai pressed a bandage onto my wound. On the left side of my neck, I now had 8 puncture wounds, 6 of which were deeper than necessary; the ones from the stray Vampire. Kai finished his mending and stored away the supplies. I stood up and I felt a sudden dizziness. I placed my hand on my head and leaned against the wall for support. Kai held his arms out in front of me cautiously, ready to support me.

    "Are you okay?"

    "I'm just a little nauseous,"

    Kai smiled crookedly, "You still don't like the thought of blood, don't you?"

    "That too. I think I'm also getting sick again."

    Kai nodded, "Probably. It was cold out tonight so you could be getting a cold or the flu."

    We turned our attention to the door as Akatsuki knocked on it, "Arisa? Kai? You might want to contact whoever you're with, let them know you're staying here tonight."

    Kai scowled and rolled his eyes and looked back at me. His face softened up when he saw my exhausted expression, "You're probably not up to leaving yet, are you?"

    I shook my head, "No, I'm not. Let's just stay here tonight like he asked us to."

    Kai wrapped one arm around my shoulders and another arm under my legs and picked me up. I rested my head against his broad shoulder and he opened the door and we left the bathroom. Akatsuki stared at us as we crossed the living room.

    "What are you doing?"

    "I'm carrying Arisa to bed; she's sick. Why, is that a problem with you?"

    Akatsuki sighed. Kai continued his way but I grabbed onto his jacket and he stopped where he was, "Hang on, Kai,"

    "Yeah?"

    "I'm getting a little motion sickness. Just hang on."

    Kai stood still as a statue and let me rest my sickness. I observed the room I was in. The carpet was a dark chocolate brown and shaggy. The walls were a dull blue-gray color with white wood trim at the floor and a dull light to brighten the room. A blue-gray couch with navy blue pinstripes took up the middle of the room and an old oak bookcase was placed behind the couch against the left wall. A little oak desk with a dated computer and a rusty bedside lamp sat in front of the window in the middle of the back of the room and the chair was oak as well with a crimson cushion as a seat. Just to the right of the desk was the breakfast bar I was sitting at. It was no longer than 10 feet long and three tall stools stood under it. The countertop on both the breakfast bar and the counter were a very deep blue, almost black and the cupboards were an oak color. The stove was propane and white and the fridge was white as well. A lone ceiling fan lit up the little unkempt space.

    I sighed on Kai's shoulder, allowing him to take me into the guest room. Kai glided cautiously into the room and subtly shut the door behind us; I didn't notice. He lounged me on the queen-sized bed and pulled the midnight blue sheets and comforters over me until they reached my chest. I smiled weakly.

    "I'm not a little kid, y'know. I can fend for myself."

    "You're much too fragile. You always need looking after."

    I giggled in amusement, sleep trying to tug at my eyelids. Kai sat down on the edge of the bed next to me and stared at me with kind, deep, blue eyes. I smiled at the wave of calmness that surged through me as he stared at me. I weakly gripped his hand in both of mine. His large hand relaxed in my fragile tiny hands as I played around with his fingers. He leaned over and rested his lips against my forehead and cupped my cheek with his free hand.

    "You've got a fever,"

    "No surprise," I figured Kai was touching my face to lower my fever with his icy skin. I could feel his lips pull into a smile against my forehead.

    "Yup,"

    Kai slid his other hand forward and out of my hands. He slid it up my arm and lightly wrapped his long frail fingers around my throat and I inhaled slowly, as if I were wheezing. His hands were much too cold that it even slowed my breathing.

    "Sorry, Arisa,"

    "It's okay. You're just really cold."

    "All the better to lower your fever,"

    I smiled softly while absorbing our moment. While Kai was breathing on my forehead, I could smell his sweet breath and even his skin. Kai pulled away slowly and slid one hand onto my forehead and looked down at me again.

    "Feeling better?"

    "Yeah,"

    He smirked, "Liar,"

    I sighed in defeat. Kai looked at me sadly and I avoided eye contact.

    "How much does it hurt to bring up Aya or your parents?"

    I kept quiet for a few long minutes before answering him, "It still hurts a lot,"

    "How much?"

    I inhaled and exhaled slowly, "It hurts my chest,"

    Kai's thumb rubbed against my forehead and along my right eyebrow. He leaned over a little towards me and continued to stare at me. I looked back at him and I felt some sort of current with our eye contact. Just as Kai was pulling himself closer to me, his phone went off. He pulled back and pulled out his cell phone, still keeping his right hand on my forehead.

    "Yeah, Matsuda?"

    I could only hear muffled speaking on the other line of the phone. Kai nodded a few times here and there and then spoke up again, "Yeah, we're staying at his house tonight. Arisa's sick and she doesn't feel like moving right now."

    The other line went quiet for a long moment and Kai waited patiently. Kai nodded after the long moment of silence and then shut his phone and put it away.

    "Matsuda doesn't approve of us being here, but he understands how fragile you are when you're sick,"

    "Am I the only one that does approve of us being here?"

    He chuckled, "I guess,"

    Kai rubbed my head, messing up my hair as he did when he left me for work, "Get to sleep. We're leaving early tomorrow."

    I wanted to protest with Kai; stay up with him all night and just talk. But the tired got the better of me. My eyes closed as soon as he told me to get to sleep. As he was sliding his hand off, I lightly grasped his hand in both of mine again and he paused.

    "Stay here, please,"

    "Why?"

    "I don't want you to leave," sleep was getting the best of me, causing me to speak slower and slur my words, "I don't want you to fight with Akatsuki."

    Kai laughed but it was a quiet laugh, as if he didn't want to wake up a baby, "I won't fight with him,"

    I don't know why I said this next thing, but I would only assume I was more than halfway unconscious, "Sleep next to me,"

    I could feel Kai stiffen under my grip. He slowly pulled his hand from me and removed himself from the bed. I was too tired to be upset at the thought that he might be angry with me. I was nearly asleep when I felt the part of the bed on the other side of me slump down lightly. I rolled onto my left side to face Kai without opening my eyes and I sighed. He pulled the covers up over my shoulders and stared at me while rubbing my shoulder. I could feel his eyes on my face.

    "I'll watch over you, okay?"

    I spread an exhausted smile across my face and it disappeared quickly as I slipped into unconsciousness with the image of a dying Aya in my head.