Welcome to the Dark Side

A/N: This is my first attempt at Moon Child Fanfiction. I'd be grateful for reviews to tell me if this is good or, if not, what can be done to improve upon it.

Disclaimer: I don't own the film. I merely an obsessed fangirl with way too much time on her hands.

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Chapter One: Innocence

Aoki Akina glanced down at her wrist watch, the dial illuminated by the dimly lit street lights that surrounded her as she hurried through Mallepa, feeling herself jump at every little sound, the occasional sound a car horn or even the clatter that a dustbin lid made as children living rough on the streets searched through waste as a source of food.

Akina was 18 years old and was due to go to University in Tokyo in September and, until recently, she had been living with her cousin's family in Mallepa. She was very bright and had gone away to school in the capital city and had boarded there, too. What was a bright young woman such as herself doing in a rough town like Mallepa anyway? So often she had been asked this and her reply was a sad one. Her parents had died when she was five years old. They had worked in the Japanese Embassy in China but the building had been subject to a terrorist attack and they had been killed. The Japanese authorities had been very kind to her but rather than have her placed with an adoptive family, they sought out a brother from her father's side to take her in. Her father's brother was a cold man who had fallen in with the wrong crowd when he was younger; the black sheep of the family and whom Akina's own father had never spoken of. Akina rarely saw him as he was too busy working, or so he said, but Akina knew better than that. She was smart enough to know that he was involved in drug trafficking and much worse, she suspected. He slept with a gun under his pillow and even more frequently he slept with a woman who wasn't his wife. His wife was also a bright woman and knew this, but to say anything to him would result in a divorce and she had nowhere to go and no family to speak of to seek refuge with so she stayed.

Akina's cousin was also involved in drugs and gang warfare. He would come home with blood on his shirt and very often was too high to even notice that she existed. Her uncle's wife, Tomiko, was the one who insisted that Akina spent as much time away from Mallepa as possible, thus paying for her private tuition in a Tokyo Private School. Tomiko, who must have fallen in love with the idea of having a daughter, knew that Mallepa would only spoil Akina and wanted the best for her. Her uncle humoured his wife, or at least was glad that he didn't have to bother too much with Akina.

Despite not being very close to her cousin or uncle, Akina loved Tomiko like she had her own mother, although Mallepa had stolen Tomiko's youth and spirit long ago. When Akina had come back home from college in the fall, she had seen just how cruel Mallepa's existence had been to her. Her uncle still played away from home and, of late, had been getting more and more involved in his 'business'. Akina had seen that he now carried his gun with him at all times and rarely slept or even stayed at home. When Akina had arrived and greeted him, he had acknowledged her presence with a disconcerting grunt and the let her be. Her cousin, Rafu, had greeted her likewise, not really caring for the fact that she was back or even acknowledging that she had been away to start with. Deep down Akina always knew that her cousin and uncle's dangerous lifestyles would catch up with the family eventually and she intended on asking Tomiko to come to Tokyo with her. Mallepa was slowly killing her and Akina desperately wanted to show her that there was another life, she herself had lived it.

Tomiko, since Akina had been gone, had grown all the more weak and frail. Despite Akina's uncle's wrongdoings, Tomiko loved him and it was very painful for her to watch her husband and her son go out each night and not know if they would return. At this very moment she was in bed, as the worry had made her succumb to illness.

Hence why Akina would risk travelling through Mallepa at night. There was no food in the house and Tomiko needed to eat if she were to regain her strength. With Rafu and her uncle out, Akina had no choice but to go shopping herself. Tomiko had been asleep when she left, or she would have protested and, for a smart young woman such as Akina, walking through Mallepa at night wasn't a very bright decision and was one that she was already regretting.

Gripping onto her bags, Akina subconsciously sped up, recalling her cousin's half slurred warnings about travelling through Mallepa at night. Already she could hear gunshots in the distance and desperately hoped that her family weren't somehow involved, for Tomiko's sake more so than anyone else's. Tomiko hadn't asked for this life, it had been thrust upon her when she, like Akina, was orphaned and her husband had taken her in. Tomiko wanted to go and at the same time wanted to stay with the ones that she loved and Akina couldn't fault her for that.

It was starting to rain now, just lightly, but Akina still felt the acidic bite that the water had on her bare skin. Pollution all over the world had increased after the turn of the century and, more often than not, the air was difficult to breath due to the smog and the acid rain killed more than a third of the world's crops. Disease was spreading too, especially in the country's poorer areas. The pollution was having an impact on the wealth of all nations and in the big cities the richer areas made sure that they tapped into the little resources that were left and thus the worse off parts went without. The world was dying, Akina knew, and, by now, most nations knew this too, but the path of destruction had been set in motion long before the world leader's were born and now little could be done to reverse it. They could only save what was left.

Pausing, Akina set her shopping bags down and started to button up her raincoat. Although it was passed 9pm, the evening had been relatively warm. It was nearing summer but in Mallepa the darkness still encroached far quicker than anywhere else. Akina often wondered whether it had something to do with the evil that plagued its streets.

Involuntarily, she shivered at this prospect, recalling her cousin's words. He often, when they were both children, told her stories, stories of violence, of creatures that couldn't possibly exist in this world. He claimed to have seen one, fought against one. Akina had laughed at the time. Monsters were reserved for children's fairytales for heroes or heroines to do battle and triumph over.

But now, as she again started out for home, she thought that she could hear someone following her. She could sense a presence in the alley that she walked down and all these childhood memories began to flood her mind once again.

Again pausing, Akina listened hard over the sound of the rain splashing onto the pavement, noting in the back of her mind that even the gunfire appeared to have ceased. She couldn't hear anything but the moment that she started on her way again, the feeling returned.

Unsure, Akina estimated that she was about a block from her home. She was probably being foolish, she told herself, but in Mallepa the idea that someone was following you wasn't altogether an alien concept.

Or something….

Forcing out a small laugh at how ridiculous this notion sounded, Akina decided that the best thing she could do would be to pick up her pace. She shouldn't have stayed out so late anyway. Tomiko would be worrying about her, too, should she have woken. Thinking of Tomiko spurred Akina on and she tried to ignore the soft footsteps behind her that were gradually getting closer and closer.

Akina's breath was coming out in small gasps as she quickened her pace even more, the fastest that she could go without breaking into a run. The pace of the man behind her did not alter and still he was gaining on her.

Keeping her fast gait, Akina knew that she had two options. She could either run, but the chances were that a man could out run her anyway and to do so would simply make him aware that she had sensed him, if he wasn't already so.

Her second option would be to stop and face her pursuer. Her uncle had given her a switchblade last summer for her protection, which Akina carried in her coat pocket. Although she hated violence, Akina was old enough to know that in Mallepa such protection was necessary.

Akina dismissed this option as soon as it crossed her mind. She was not like her cousin. She would not draw a knife on another human being. So she ran. Her boots splashing loudly in puddles as she did so, the water soaking her trouser legs. Akina's heart thumped painfully loud in her chest and her breathing's heaviness increased thus slowing her down.

She had always regarded herself as being pretty healthy but fear had a habit of creeping up on you unawares and Akina's sense of fear was beginning to overwhelm her. Her body was trembling and her shopping fell from her grasp. It crashed loudly to the ground, eggs breaking and the carton of milk spilling at her feet. This clatter forced her to stop as she slipped on the already soaked ground.

Akina uttered a surprised cry as she toppled forward before she felt a rough arm around her waist, steadying her before she could hit the ground.

Deep down she knew that it was her pursuer who had her, but Akina, still anxious to belief that this was all just a figment of her over active imagination, couldn't help but said in a high-pitched tone:

"Domo arigatou."

The man holding her chuckled slightly and released her before murmuring "You're welcome."

Spurred on by a faint hope that he was simply a passer-by, Akina reached down to gather up what remained of her shopping. Whilst she did this, he watched in silence, his features masked by the darkness that blanketed the alleyway. The street light overhead was not working and this added to the fearful atmosphere and situation that Akina found herself in.

She crammed her things into the bag, all the while trying to mask the trembling of her hands and the fact that her breathing was still coming out in shortened gasps.

Finally she was finished and still the stranger stood before her, almost as though he was toying with her.

Akina gave him another shy smile and turned to continue on her way.

It was then that it happened and, if she were completely honest, it was almost a relief when he struck for waiting for the inevitable is always worse, much worse.

She didn't even have time to scream when, once again, she felt his arm around her waist, swinging her around to face him before dragging her to the side of the alleyway and slamming her up against the wall.

Then Akina opened her mouth to scream despite knowing that screaming did you little good in Mallepa where screams were heard every waking moment of the day and people were too afraid to rush to the aid of the unfortunate victim.

But now even screaming wasn't an option as he clamped a hand over her mouth, whilst using his body weight to keep her pinned against the wall. Akina squirmed under him, one hand fumbling for her switchblade.

Not even noticing her efforts to break free, he reached up with his free hand and grabbed a hold of the collar of her raincoat, tearing it from her body. For Akina, in those few seconds that he paused to study her, she dared hope that all he would do would be to rape her, for this in itself would be a mercy she knew.

Indeed it certainly looked that way when he lifted his hand from her mouth and gently caressed her cheek whilst murmuring: "Kirei"

Akina closed her eyes when he, again roughly, pulled her head to one side. She whimpered when she felt his mouth on her neck, but this whimper turned into a scream when she felt him bite down.

Forgetting all thoughts of her knife, Akina struggled, striking his back with her fists as she felt twin stabbing pains shooting down her neck. It felt as though someone had jabbed two very sharp needles into the artery itself.

Squirming against him, Akina felt blood running down her throat and her fear turned to blind panic at this realisation. That and the chilling knowledge that she could still feel him against her, his mouth still pressed tightly against the severed artery.

Akina felt herself growing weaker, her struggles becoming slower as she sensed that her body was shutting down. Her breathing was lighter now, and the pain had receded until it was no more than a dull ache and somewhat detached from herself. She allowed her body to slump forward, fully against her attacker but she was now passed caring. Not all monsters are reserved for fairytales after all…

Thunder rumbled in the distance and then forked lightening streaked across the sky, lighting up the district. Akina felt herself again falling, this time striking the hard ground. Her eyes numbly followed her attacker as he walked back the way he had come.

Then a violent tremor seized her body, claiming what little was left of her consciousness as she closed her eyes for what she knew would be the last time…

---

"Those things will kill you, you know" Kei commented quietly as Sho took a prolonged drag from the cigarette between his lips. Then, giving his companion a hard stare, he took it from his mouth and blew a cloud of smoke into the already smokey atmosphere.

Occasionally the power flickered on and off as the storm rumbled overhead and Sho observed Kei in silence for a few minutes more, before shifting his position on the sofa to stub out the cigarette in the ashtray on the coffee table before reaching for another. He scowled when he found that the packet was empty. Throwing this back down, he glanced up at Kei who was seated on the floor by the window his knees tucked up to his chest and one hand was pressed against the glass whilst the other held his own cigarette as he looked out over the dark streets. The expression on his soft features was almost melancholy but these bouts of silence and brooding were not uncommon and Sho knew it were best to let Kei get on with it. After all he would come around in his own time.

Instead he simply caught Kei's eye and nodded towards the other packet of cigarettes at the man's feet. Kei shifted his own position and leaned over to pick up the packet and toss it in Sho's general direction. Despite this, he managed to catch it but was somewhat annoyed further when he discovered that this packet was also empty.

"Thanks" he said sarcastically, and then added, "Do you want to go out and get some more?"

"Not really" Kei replied, not even turning to look at his best friend, "As I said before, those things will kill you one day."

This comment irked Sho more than he realised and snapped back, "We're not all immortal you know."

Kei chuckled softly and turned his attention back to the rain.

"Are you going to go out tonight?" Sho didn't know why he was intent on pressing this issue. Perhaps part of it was concern for his friend. Kei had stayed in last night, too, and just watched the rainfall for the duration of the night.

"You need to feed" Sho added when Kei refused to grant him with a response.

Kei looked up, meeting Sho's gaze before stating quietly, "I don't like the rain."

Sho wasn't quite sure how to take this statement and, for a while, debated his own reply. Neither of them liked to talk of Kei's vampire nature. On occasion, Sho would even forget that his best friend wasn't human, but then little things, such as the threat of dawn, would remind him of Kei's true nature. Sho had never been scared of Kei, not even when they first met when he was a young boy. Kei had never done anything to hurt him. In fact the first time they had met was when Kei saved Sho and his friends' lives. Kei, as a rule and taught by his sire, Luka, never fed on innocent victims. He only fed on the evil that plagued Mallepa. Men with evil in their hearts who no one would miss should they one day be gone. Still, it didn't mean that Sho was completely comfortable with this, especially when Kei himself hated what he had to do in order to survive. The men Kei fed on were usually dead before the vampire touched them. Kei had once described his own turning at Luka's hands and he said that there was nothing more terrible for a mortal than having their blood drank whilst they are conscious enough to know what is going on. A compassionate vampire, Sho had mused at the time. This had always struck him as being a little ironic.

Sho couldn't bring himself to watch whilst Kei fed. What his best friend did went against Sho's own human nature and even Kei's own, the part of humanity that he had retained when he was turned. Kei did not enjoy going out to feed, especially these last few years when Sho had grown old enough to look after himself and didn't need Kei's protection anymore.

Kei had taught him well, Sho had to admit. He could fight just as well as the vampire could, albeit he did not have the abilities that Kei did and had to be a little more careful. But Kei had taught him so much more than just how to fire a gun. Mallepa was made up of gangs whose leaders were ruthless and deadly, but lacked any real intelligence. Kei had taught Sho that if he thought carefully about his every move and was a quick thinker then none of these small time guys could pose that big a threat and this was true. There was only one gang who posed a real threat to them as its leader had also learned the lesson that Sho himself was taught at a young age. This meant that they had to be careful. Even though Sho could look after himself and, if he needed him, he could always count on Kei to watch his back, he had friends and family who could not look after themselves as well. This kind of threat was one that Sho knew you had to respect, even if you didn't like it.

Coming back to Kei's comment about the rain, Sho decided not to push the matter. Kei would go when it suited him. He was just tired and needed another cigarette, which brought him back to Kei's earlier statement.

"Why are you suddenly worrying about my health anyway? You were the one who got me hooked on these things" he nudged the empty packet with a toe after speaking.

Kei didn't reply. Instead he gave his friend a soft smile before stubbing out his own cigarette on the windowsill and flicking the dying bud out and down onto the street below.

"Maybe I will go out after all" Kei commented after a few minutes, "The rain is beginning to ease."

"And you will get what you need?" Sho prompted.

Kei shook his head in amusement, "I'll get the damn cigarettes, okay?"

They both knew that Sho was not referring to the cigarettes but this was a game that they had played for years and one of which they were both masters of.

"I thought you said they would kill me?" Sho answered slyly, now just out to rile his friend.

"As long as they don't kill me" was the reply.

"Well we both know that will never happen."

Kei rolled his eyes, "They will if I don't get back before dawn. The rain would have kept most people inside."

But he didn't move from his position by the window. Sho heard another rumble of thunder overhead and then the heavens opened once more. Sighing, he shook his head and stood up. "I'll go and get some."

Kei didn't answer. His eyes were narrowed slightly and he was staring intently at the glass and the reflection of the room behind them.

"Sho" he stated softly, "Duck."

Sho automatically ducked, never doubting Kei's instincts for a second and the bullet whizzed over the top of his head to strike the window. Kei didn't even flinch and calmly stood, giving the two men that stood in the doorway a bored stare.

The men were in their early twenties and wearing suits that were soaked through from the rain. One man had a cigarette in his mouth but allowed this to fall to the carpet as he let fire a round of bullets. Sho, being unable to reach his gun holster after taking it off earlier in the evening and leaving it on the chair next to the sofa, rolled to one side, putting the aforementioned sofa between himself and the men, whilst Kei simply dodged each bullet that was fired at him in turn with the same calm attitude that sometimes frustrated Sho no end. Despite the fact that the vampire was immortal, Sho wished that he would show a little more concern. Bullets, like most weapons, could not kill a vampire, but if he was hit he would still bleed and it would cause him discomfort.

These men obviously did not know this and continued to let off round after round whilst Kei merely dodged them all, even allowing the men time to reload their guns!

Aggravated at this, Sho used the distraction to go for his guns. Being careful to keep the sofa and then the chair between him, he had hoped to reach round without being spotted but it would seem that the men had, had enough of Kei's games. Sho yelled loudly and threw himself backwards as the coffee table exploded in a shower of wood and bullets, a piece of wood snapping back to embed itself in his right hand.

Cursing, Sho managed to hang onto the holster and drew his own gun, returning the favour and one bullet struck home, hitting the first man in the thigh. He went down, his own gun spinning out of reach and was quickly snatched up by Kei who had, had enough playing around at this point. He unloaded the bullets at the second man who, by some miracle on his behalf, managed to take cover behind the other chair.

Kei, very much disgruntled, tossed the now useless weapon aside and started to make his way back towards Sho, whilst again dodging the bullets that the second man was firing at him, when it happened. Thinking that the injured man was helpless, or perhaps Kei was starting to get careless, he chose to walk back round passed him, the longest way round, as this gave Sho the time to reload a second gun and get into a better position to be able to fight.

The injured man all but threw himself at the vampire. Being heavy and bigger than Kei, who had always been slightly built, the force of the tackle propelled them both into the adjourning kitchen, where they landed with a crash.

Sho heard the man scream and turned his attention back to the second, who was also edging towards the fight. He hurriedly fired two shots in succession, just to keep the man's attention before moving round behind the sofa to place himself between the kitchen and the second man. Sho knew that, judging from the screams, that Kei could handle himself.

The man, now keeping his attention on Sho, fired another round of bullets before pausing to reload. Sho did likewise, but this stalemate was fast becoming ridiculous.

Glancing around the room, Sho fired a couple of the bullets at the light fixture above the man's head. Not being familiar with the layout of the apartment, the man made the mistake of looking up, just as the glass from the light came crashing down around them.

He screamed as the glass struck his face, several shards embedding themselves in his flesh and one piece in his right eye.

Sho leapt out from the behind the sofa and made his way towards the man. His face was covered in blood and his left hand was clawing at the shard in his eye.

His gun was still clasped in his right hand, but Sho easily kicked this away before putting a bullet in the man's head. His screams cut off in mid-point and he fell back, dead instantly as the bullet lodged itself in his brain.

Breathing hard, Sho slipped his gun back into the holster and fixed it around his waist once more before making his way to the kitchen. He pushed the door open slightly and looked in. The other man lay on his back, unmoving, and Kei was knelt over him and failed to look up at Sho's presence.

Sho stepped back and closed the door again, knowing better than to try and talk to Kei when he was feeding for it was the only time when his vampire instincts completely dominated his human ones.

Wincing as he shut the door, Sho looked down at the jagged piece of wood still sticking out of his hand. Cursing himself for being slow, Sho pulled this out and tossed it to the floor and immediately blood started to well up around the wound. Seating himself on the sofa, Sho tore the sleeve of his shirt and wrapped the fabric around the gash, waiting patiently for this to staunch the blood flow.

Once he had done this, he started to clear up. Firstly picking up the shards of glass from the light and wrapping them in an old newspaper before taking them downstairs to the dumpster outside. Once he had done this, he came back up and started collecting the gun and bullets that were littered around the front room. Sho took his time in doing this, conscious of the fact that they couldn't leave any evidence that anything had happened here. Of course, someone was bound to have heard the gunshots but they would be too afraid to say anything, or so Sho hoped. He paused beside the body of the man he had killed, wondering who these guys had been or who they had been working for.

Kneeling down, Sho saw a wallet sticking out of the dead man's pocket and he took this out, hoping to find a clue as to his identity. There was nothing. It would seem that whomever he had worked for had taught him well.

But whom had he worked for? This thought troubled Sho somewhat. The obvious suspect would be Chan, but this random shooting was not Chan's style at all and Chan, as far as Sho knew, was the only one who had enough balls to take Kei and himself on, even indirectly.

Throwing the wallet back down, Sho looked up as the kitchen door was pulled open. Kei stepped into the room, and tossed Sho a packet:

"I found you some cigarettes," he stated quietly before sitting down in an armchair. As always there were no signs that he had just fed, as Kei was careful to wait until his human nature had fully reasserted itself before rejoining Sho.

Sho caught the packet that Kei tossed to him and lit one before saying that they had to clean up, meaning that they had to get rid of the bodies.

"I can't" Kei answered softly, nodding towards the window. Already there were signs of early dawn in the skies.

Sho knew better than to comment and said instead that he would give Toshi a call. Kei did not answer this and got up, thus leaving the room. Moments later Sho heard the bedroom door click gently shut.

Knowing that, with the dawn, they were fast running out of time, Sho went to call Toshi, giving Kei's behaviour no extra thought as the vampire's moods were often a little unpredictable after he had been feeding.

---

"What in hell happened here?" Kei heard Toshi exclaim loudly as he entered the apartment, as noisily and carefree as ever, until he saw the bodies that was. Kei's extra sensitive ears picked up on the slight intake of breath after Toshi had spoken, but the vampire did not leave his bedroom to greet his friend.

His bedroom, he mused as he glanced around, taking in the off-white walls, the heavy black curtains that were always pulled across the window and the mahogany carved bed with a deep blue duvet and white pillows folded neatly at one end of it. Kei himself sat in a wicker back chair by the door, his knees again drawn up to his chest and his eyes narrowed into slits as he lost himself in the feelings of contentment that he always experienced straight after a feed. Kei rarely used his bedroom, preferring to sleep upon the cot-sofa or curled up in a chair. He supposed that this habit stemmed from the fact that when Sho-tachi were still children he had to guard them, even during the daylight hours and a chair in an darkened corner of a room had been the only option for him. Kei had never once minded or questioned why he had taken it upon himself to look after them. True, Sho had saved his life, but he had always felt that there something else that drew him to his friend. When Luka died, Kei had lost his purpose, his meaning for existence and, awaking to see a young Sho staring up at him and innocently trying to help him, despite the monster that he was, had given him a purpose again. Kei had resolved to stay until Sho no longer needed him, and now that day was fast approaching.

He had taught Sho everything that he knew. All that he had learned from Luka, he had passed on to his best friend. Sho was by far the most skilled human when it came to combat in the whole of Mallepa, and all thanks to Kei's training. Sho could more than defend himself and his friends and thus Kei's purpose was almost complete.

Kei allowed his eyes to completely close, listening as Sho instructed Toshi in assisting him of riding their apartment of the bodies. The scent of blood still lingered in the air and Kei couldn't help but focus on this and hating himself for it at the same time.

He had always been uncomfortable with how he survived and what he had to do, but since Luka died and meeting Sho, this unease had turned into hate. Kei hated the fact that he drained the lives of others in order for himself to live and he hated it even more that Sho had to know this. It was painfully obvious that Sho hated it almost as much as Kei did and the fact that he tried to hide it hurt the most. Kei sometimes toyed with the idea that, if Sho could fully accept it, then perhaps he himself could also.

Of course it was not Sho's fault. How could it be? Kei starved himself for as long as he could, for as long as he dared for, when the hunger grew too great, he feared that he might even turn on his best friend.

His existence was a cruel one and, more often than not, Kei wished that he had possessed the courage to end it that Luka had. Then, he would remind himself, he would never have met Sho. Sho who had just celebrated his twentieth birthday and, in no more than a few years, would no longer need him.

Years, to a vampire, were mere minutes and centuries mere hours. Of course, Kei had not lived for centuries and he had no intention too. Luka had lived long enough to see all those around him that he loved wither and die and it was partly what had destroyed him. Kei had no wish to see Sho die. He knew that their friendship would grow into a resentful one long before then. Sho would start to hate his friend for retaining his youth whilst he grew old and frail. The friendship would be destroyed and, deep down, Kei knew that Sho might ask the impossible of him and this terrified him.

A gentle tap on the bedroom door drew him from his dark thoughts and Kei looked up, brushing some of his blonde hair back from his eyes as Sho peeked his head around the doorway and said:

"Toshi managed to get a car, which will make things a lot easier for us. We're going now before it gets too light outside."

Kei nodded. He did not have to instruct Sho on how best to rid them of the bodies. The young man had done so many times before now without Kei's help.

The vampire expected Sho to leave, but hesitated, studying Kei's face as though wanting to say something else but then thinking better of it.

This irked Kei a little and this, and the fact that the scent of blood was still lingering in the air, gave him cause to snipe out: "You should know what to do by now. Why are you still seeking my approval?"

Sho was taken aback by his tone and said quietly, "I'm not. I only wanted to let you know that we were going now."

"Of course" Kei made no effort to stifle a delicate yawn, which revealed several pointed teeth; "I didn't expect you to leave the bodies here where Ishii-san could find them."

Ishii-san was their landlord.

Very much annoyed, Sho turned around and left the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

Kei curled up in the chair once more, angered at himself more than Sho. It wasn't Sho's fault that he was feeling this way. Sho didn't know what it was like to watch someone you cared about growing up before your eyes whilst you yourself remained the same. Soon Sho would be older than Kei himself before he was turned. Sho would meet a young woman and marry and possibly have children of his own. Kei would have, long before, ceased to be needed, but still he would remain, watching Sho grow older and eventually die.

Kei couldn't bear this but there was no alternative. Sho would age and die; it was inevitable. Sho would die and Kei would be alone again.

---

It was almost mid-day when Kei heard Sho return. When he sensed Sho return. Kei, being the creature he was, could sense humans, or rather sense the blood pumping through their veins, long before they were even within normal earshot. It bothered Kei a little that he could sense Sho's blood like he could other victims and, of course, had never admitted this to his friend.

Kei had been confined to his room until Sho had returned, the sunlight streaming in through the windows had kept him imprisoned here until he heard his friend pulling the curtains back over and then flicking on an artificial light source.

He tensed slightly, waiting for Sho to come in and announce that he was back, but his best friend did not do this, instead Kei heard the sound of the television being switched on and a cigarette being lit.

Slowly uncurling himself from the chair, Kei pulled on his red jacket that had been slung on the bed and made his way back into the front room. Toshi and Sho had done a good job of cleaning up the place, Kei mused, but his gaze could still make out microscopic traces of blood on the carpet. They would have to find another apartment and he said as much to Sho before seating himself beside his friend on the sofa. After all they were no longer safe here.

Sho did not answer this, pretending to be absorbed in flicking through the channels on the television with the remote before finally selecting a film involving shooting, a little like their real lives, and turned the volume up.

"Did you have any trouble getting rid of the bodies?" Kei asked after a few minutes. Sho's answer was to turn the volume up another few bars. Annoyed, Kei snatched the remote from his hand, with lightening fast reflexes, and switched the television off before Sho could even register that the vampire had moved.

"I see" Sho said, his voice even, but the darkness in his eyes telling Kei that he was still more than a little angry over their exchange of earlier, "You are allowed to lapse into a subdued silence for days on end but I am not allowed to do so for even a few minutes."

Kei weighed his words up and settled on replying with: "I don't like it when you are in this frame of mind. You become restless, and make mistakes. I cannot protect you in the daylight."

He had merely repeated what he had drummed into Sho's head right from the beginning of their friendship and Sho had always taken note of the seriousness and care in his mentor's words, but now all it served to do was anger him further and he sniped back:

"I don't need your protection anymore."

This hurt and Kei immediately withdrew from the sofa, finding himself walking over to the window, the curtains shielding almost all of the suns rays but he could still feel a warmth of his skin and this was enough to make him uncomfortable.

"Then shall I leave?" he questioned, but they both knew that this was an idle threat for Kei could travel nowhere during the daylight. "You are right," he admitted as an after thought, forcing himself to keep his voice calm and free of emotion. "You do not need me anymore, Sho."

Despite knowing that this day was fast approaching, Kei couldn't believe that it was now here, and so much earlier than he had anticipated. Sho no longer felt as though he needed the vampire's protection and if this was so then all that was left for Kei was the ocean.

Moving away from the window, Kei held Sho's gaze for as long as he could before the other man finally stated:

"I no longer need your protection."

Having this confirmed cut deep, and Kei turned away, merely answering that Sho would have his wish and he would be gone after sunset.

Kei decided to return to his room, whilst wondering with renewed sadness where the years had gone. He could still picture Sho as a boy in his mind's eye. He could still recall with vividness how Sho's young innocent gaze had met his own for the first time. Not since Luka had anyone looked at Kei in that way, needing him to hold on to. Why else had Luka turned Kei to start with, but as a companion down the long road of eternity? Luka had thought that by making another it would somehow ease his pain. He had been wrong and now Kei would walk down that road alone once more.

Swallowing hard, he paused at the adjourning door to his bedroom when he heard Sho stand and moved hurriedly round behind him before the young man placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and said: "Kei."

The way he said his name, so different from usual and so guilt flooded. Kei paused and turned back around and Sho's hand did not lax its grip on his shoulder.

"I don't want you to leave," he said, holding the vampire's piercing gaze.

"You no longer need me to stay."

"I want you to stay."

"You can never walk the path that I do."

"Perhaps, but I don't see why you should have to always be alone."

"That is my curse. My condition has ruled your life for long enough."

"If I felt that way, then why would I ask you to stay?"

Kei debated this and then said, "You are grown up now. You are living your life whereas mine is frozen. I will only keep you from doing the things that you were meant to do."

"That is my decision."

"And you make it in fear. I have been with you for a long time, perhaps too long. You have friends. You have Son and Toshi… and Yi-che."

"They are not you. You are my best friend, Kei."

He relented at these words, despite his resolve not, too. Kei was afraid and he hated himself for it.

"I will stay until I am of the opinion that you are truly ready to be alone and when that happens I will leave. I will not tell you when and I will not say goodbye for I will not allow you the opportunity to try to talk me out of it, not again."

Kei hated these words as soon as they were spoken. They did not sum up his true feelings at all. What were his true feelings on the matter? Kei didn't know. He could feel a frightening mix of emotions all swirling around inside his head and, regardless of being able to place them, he knew that if he did voice them out loud then they could well take the both of them to a place where there would be no turning back from.

Sho, satisfied, released the grip he had on Kei's arm and allowed the vampire to retreat to his room once again where he sank down into his favourite chair and began to dream…