A Sweet Fanged Smile
CHAPTER 1 Forgotten memories,
Meeting a new friend,
Facing an old enemy,
Watching the one you love,
Cross the point of no return,
Faded sweet words,
All lost in time when you,
Cross the point of no return.
"Please, please, please, please PLEEEEEASE!" Kaien Cross stuck his lower lip out and clasp his hands together. Pathetic, that's what it was, an extremely pathetic plea. Anyone but the beautiful, blonde boy in front of him would have at the very least shown their annoyance at Cross's blubbering.
Takuma Ichijo merely sighed lightly and rubbed his temple. "What about the Disciplinary Committee? Wouldn't it be safer if they handled this?"
Cross folded his arms. "They got last-minute supplementary classes," he pouted, sticking his lip out again. "Yuuki was going to show our new student around, but now..." He began bawling and the gloom that hung over him was like a black shadow. Takuma hurriedly tried to reassure him. As always a small smile played across his lips.
Cross's wailing was so loud Takuma worried the peacefully sleeping Day Class students would wake. "What about Kaname?" he tried.
Cross gazed into the distance somberly. "He can't either. He says he has much more important things to be concerned with than this, but I think he's just avoiding me," he whimpered.
The green eyed boy took this as the perfect opportunity to practice the lovely art if silence.
Finally, after the long stretch of quiet was beginning to become awkward, Takuma sighed again and gave in. "All right, I'll show her around. But this is just for tomorrow, after that I assume the Disciplinary Committee will take care of things?"
Cross looked up, eyes shimmering. "Really? Thank youuuuu!" He lunged into the air and attempted to embrace the young man, but he was already at the door
"All right, then I'll be ready to escort our new student tomorrow." He hurriedly flapped a hand, eager to escape the hug.
He turned to leave when Cross slipped into serious mode behind him. "Vice president, remember she is a Day Class student, so the probability of the Day Class learning the secret of the Night Class is high. Be careful."
Takuma nodded, thinking only of his new books back in the dorm that needed reading. "Good night, Headmaster." The door closed with a gentle click.
The Headmaster pushed his glasses up. "Yes," he murmured, closing his eyes. "Be careful."
Takuma stood, somewhat anxiously, awaiting the new students arrival. A small, red car pulled up to the gates where the vice president, with the ever present smile teasing his lips, stood expectantly.
The door swung open and one boot, it's twin following, stepped out slowly, then the rest if the female figure emerged. A tall girl with shoulder length, light brown hair and glasses stood before him. She was pretty, in a simple sort of way. She had good figure, and a slight bookish look about her. Maybe it's the glasses, Takuma thought absentmindedly. He shook his head clear, put on a bright smile, and approached the young woman. "Hi," he said cheerily.
She jumped and whirled around to meet him.
"You must be our new student. I'm Takuma Ichijo, vice president of the night class, and you are?" he asked politely.
"M-Mizuki Natsujina," she stammered, blushing slightly.
He smiled warmly. "Welcome to Cross Academy Miss Natsujina."
A half an hour later Takuma and Mizuki sat peacefully under a tree waiting for the very kind girl from the day class to finish putting Mizuki's things in the dorm. The beautiful girl took out a pencil and wrote a few words on a notebook she had been carrying the whole while.
Takuma peered over her shoulder. The neat, swirly kanji was written in such a way he knew almost instantly-
"You're a poet."
She gasped and clutched the notebook to her chest.
"Sorry, sorry, that's really none of my business." He paused thoughtfully, thinking back to a specific book he had borrowed. "Miss Natsujina, have you ever heard of a man named William Shakespeare?"
She relaxed her grip on the poem book. "Shakespeare? No, I don't think so. He doesn't sound Japanese, who is he?"
Takuma tilted his head back against the tree and looked at the sky. "He's a British playwright from sixteenth century, but the plays he wrote were written in poetic form." He closed his eyes and thought back dreamily to a passage from his book.
"To be or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;..." he trailed off.
Mizuki leaned back. "That's beautiful," she said breathlessly.
Takuma smiled and opened his eyes. Gazing at the sky he said, "That was one of Shakespeare's most famous passages, from a play called Hamlet. I borrowed a book on him from the library because I was going to see one of his plays." He turned to face Mizuki. "If you like his style of writing, would you like to see it with me?"
A small flush crept up her cheeks. "Really? You would take me to see it?"
He smiled broadly. "Of course, but only on one condition-" He held up a single finger to represent the number, "-Would you write me a poem about the moon?"
The pink in her cheeks became considerably brighter, but Takuma just smiled. "The play isn't until Saturday, if you would like to go then just tell me before then." His mind – and unconsciously, his eyes – floated back toward the dorms. "I'll be right back, don't go anywhere," he said. He stood and quietly walked back to the night class dormitories, passing only Rima at the gates.
Quiet, or rather, desolate, was the perfect word to describe what the dormitory was. No one was to be seen, but Takuma, mind elsewhere, didn't seem to notice the absence of his classmates and proceeded straight to his room.
He clicked the door open, grabbed the book laying on his bed, turned around and almost ran right into Senri. The model was shirtless, stick of Pocky in his mouth, toweling off his hair.
"Shiki." Takuma blinked in surprise. "What are you doing up?"
Senri rolled his eyes to the side "I'm getting ready for a photo shoot," he said expressionlessly.
His roommate smiled. "Right, Rima told me you two were doing a photo shoot today. In case you were wondering, she's waiting for you at the gate." He heard Senri give a grunt of thanks before Takuma pulled open the door and slipped out of it.
He crossed the grounds, passing Rima again, (who was beginning to look annoyed) and slowed from a jog to a walk when he got close to the tree where Mizuki was patiently waiting. He saw her look up thoughtfully, then add a few lines to her poem.
"Miss Natsujina," he said, so to give her a moment of warning to hide her poems if she wanted, "would you like to borrow this for a while? It might influence you to come see the play."
She flipped her poems over and let them rest on her lap. Mizuki accepted the book from Takuma, tucked her hair behind one ear, and flipped to a marked page. The swirled kanji at the top read, Hamlet. She closed the book and pressed it to her chest ."It should be about the moon right? The poem, I mean," she said softly.
Two bright green eyes lit up. The night class student opened his mouth to speak when he was interrupted by a loud series of bongs. Takuma's eyes flicked up. "Classes are going to start soon, we need to hurry," he muttered worriedly. He shot a nervous glance toward the gates of the night class, where eager day class students were beginning to crowd around, put on his best smile, and spoke slowly to the young girl in front of him so she wouldn't think anything was wrong. "Miss Natsujina, why don't you change and then I will show you around the school building?"
She nodded, stood, and began to walk towards the dormitories. Takuma was sure to hurry to her side, the side facing the fangirls crowding around. This was a risky move on his part: on one hand, Mizuki wouldn't be able to see the commotion at the gate, on the other, if the fangirls saw him, well, let's just say he hoped Mizuki was a fast runner.
He breathed a sigh of relief when they got inside the gates and slumped down under another, larger, tree to wait for Mizuki. She was fairly quick, and soon he saw a glasses-clad figure strolling toward him. She looks good, he thought offhandedly. And it was true, the black jacket highlighted her better points, and the skirt, although slightly longer then the other girl's, showed of her long legs nicely. The new, crisp corners of the uniform wrapped around her, and black, new, knee socks and shiny shoes tapped the sidewalk lightly. She approached Takuma, notebook in her hands, and said, "Ichijo, you look worried. Everything all right?"
The latter looked anxiously at a pair of girls crossing the grounds, then smiled reassuringly at Mizuki. "Hmm? Oh it's nothing." He stood walked to the side facing the night class gates and took her arm to guide her.
They managed to make it to the classrooms without being spotted. Takuma gave her a quick tour then stopped at his classroom.
"Should I leave?" Mizuki asked.
Takuma shook his head and smiled. "You don't have to if you don't want to. Classes don't start for a few minutes."
She dug a toe shyly into the floor, but followed him in anyways. They sat talking about unimportant things for a few minutes before Mizuki insisted she should go and headed to the door.
She pulled it open, took a single step, and ran straight into the young man standing in the doorway. She reeled back while an unaffected Idol surveyed her up and down. He gave her a seductive smile, tilted her chin up, leaned his face close to hers, and purred, "And who are you, my lovely flower?"
Mizuki jerked back. Takuma caught her at the shoulders at the same time Akatsuki, who was flanking Idol said, "Hanabusa." And flicked his head back towards Kaname. The latter stood, eyes narrowed, leaning against the door frame, just watching.
Takuma, sensing danger, pulled the young poet toward the door, and the man next to it. "Kaname!" he said cheerily.
The pureblood glanced at the girl, then back to his friend.
Takuma looked down at the body attached to the shoulders he gripped as if he had just noticed what was there. "Ah. This is Miss Mizuki Natsujina. She's our new student, the Disciplinary Committee was busy, so the Headmaster asked me to show her around. It's completely my fault. I kept her too long."
Mizuki, taking the hint, picked up the act quickly and bowed. "I'm sorry to interrupt. I was just leaving." she gave a quick wave and a smile to Takuma. "Goodbye Ichijo. I'll see you tomorrow." she left with a gentle clack of the lock. Takuma, thinking on the spur of the moment, was left with the blame. He gave a weak smile and tried to think of a way to sort things out.
"WHAAAT? You're serious, everyday all of the girls break curfew to make googly eyes at the night class?" Mizuki slammed her hands down onto the desk so forcefully the girl sitting behind it jumped. She whipped around as the bell bonged a few times. "Then I've got to get there first." she muttered. Then, without warning she darted toward the door and raced down the hall.
She reached the gates panting and trying to catch her breath, but even with what little breath she had she was still able to groan. The gates, which were already beginning to open, were swarmed by screaming fangirls.
A tiny girl was trying frantically to keep them back-to no avail-and the boy by her side gave them a glare fierce enough to kill. But even with his look they still screamed wildly at the sight of the boy she had run into last night, ladies and gentleman, Hanabusa Aido. He said something she couldn't hear over the crowd, pretended to shoot one of the girls (he had obviously done this countless times because it was practiced and perfect) and then got swarmed to the point he couldn't be seen.
Mizuki knew this was her one and only chance to get to Takuma. With a practiced eye she spotted him and ran towards him, trying to deliver the letter she clutched in her hand. The swarm paraded around her and in the commotion Mizuki was knocked to the ground. The letter flew out of her hand and landed at the foot if a different boy. Akatsuki stooped down, picked up the letter, read the name on the front, then put it in his pocket for safekeeping. Mizuki silently thanked him. She had wanted to deliver the letter herself, but at least this way Takuma would be sure to get it.
"Vice president." Akatsuki flipped the letter up between his first and second finger "I found this for you."
Takuma took the letter and quickly thanked Akatsuki. The swirled kanji of his name was remarkably familiar, then it hit him, it must be from Mizuki. He tore the top off and with a gleam in his eye read the neat kanji within.
"Ichijo, I haven't quite decided if I will come with you yet, but I figured the least I could do to thank you was write you a poem. I'm warning you it's not your typical moon poem, but I still hope you like it:
A brightly glowing orb Throwing light upon the ground, Blood spilled in its shadows Watching with a gleaming eye Laughing at the meager sun The moon's dark daunting smile The moon calls upon the creatures Safety's not an option
Suspended in the night
Watching, waiting, whispering
Counting down 'till light
Or shadows on the trees?
Pushing creatures back,
Or letting them roam free?
A warning of a war?
A simple glowing lantern,
Or is it something more?
Murder in its shade
Death reflected in its eyes
Cut by its sharpened blade
At the chaos it has caused
And its evil mouth grinning at
The lives that have been lost
Scared of the wretched dark
The moon has claimed its place
The moon has made its mark
The moon's evil staring eyes
The moon's wrath, its reign of terror
The moon's haunting of the skies
And the villains of the night
Flying and unleashing
Its great and terrible plight
Nothing's left for some
You can't run, and you can't hide
Escape will never come."
He finished reading the letter and sat back eyes closed, not smiling this time. It was beautiful, in his opinion, a perfect description of the moon. Not a wielder of light, but a wielder of darkness. A signal to all vampires. Eyes still closed, he let them turn a bright red. He felt his fangs extend against his lips and allowed his tongue to loll over them. Then he stopped. If he kept this up soon he would picture himself drinking blood. He forced his eyes to turn back to green under their lids so he could open them. He tucked a hand in his pocket, pulled out his blood tablets, and dropped one in the cup that sat on his desk. He lifted the glass to his lips and drank it all. There. That would tide him over for now, but he could feel his urge for blood getting stronger. Eventually he would have to drink someone's blood. He just hoped when that day came the person he was drinking from would understand.
Mizuki tapped a foot on the sidewalk. She was waiting for Takuma, having agreed to see the play with him. The young man, dressed in a black suit, (surprisingly it looked nice on him,) materialized next to her. She turned around and met him with a smile. "Did you like my poem?"
He returned her smile. "Yes. It was beautiful. Perfect."
She blushed slightly. "It was dark. I warned you it's not exactly your typical poem."
"Well, you're not exactly a typical poet." right then a long black limousine pulled up beside them.
Mizuki's eyes widened. "This is what we're taking? I thought you said this was your family's car?"
Takuma grinned sheepishly. "It is." he had forgotten to consider how rich his family was. The Ichijo name, in both the vampire and the human world, was well known. He pulled open the door and ushered Mizuki inside, himself following. She took off the long black cloak she had on revealing a peach, strapless dress. Takuma looked admiringly at her ability to look pretty in anything. She was wearing just a touch of makeup under her glasses as well. They were somewhat talkative on the drive there, Mizuki showed Takuma a few more of her poems, and he told her a bit more about the play. When they arrived, they were escorted inside and the play began relatively quickly.
The actor on stage extended his arm as if he was holding a delicate rose, then snapping it between his fingers "To be or not to be: that is the question:
Wether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep"
Takuma felt something lay against his shoulder. He inclined his head just slightly to see what it was. Mizuki rested her head against his shoulder and watched dreamily as the actor onstage continued the monologue. Takuma unconsciously wrapped his left arm around her and felt her nuzzle into him. She took a hand and rested it against his knee and he put his on top of it. They watched the rest like that, peacefully.
When it ended Takuma asked her if they could walk around for a bit. She agreed and they strolled around the quaint little town for a while. Takuma felt her hand slip into his own and tried not to seem bitter. It appeared, like most of the other day class girls he had met, she was beginning to fall for him. He hoped it didn't get out of his hands, he liked Mizuki, she was someone he could relate to and have a conversation with. She didn't think he was strange for staying up all hours of the day to read his books, or that his books were silly and stupid. She was a wonderful poet and a kind friend, to have her fall in love with him would only make the relationship they had turn sour.
Suddenly, he froze, eyes wide. No. he thought Not here. Not now.
"Ichijo? Are you all right?"
He didn't look at her and tried to keep his voice free if alarm when he spoke. "Miss Natsujina, head back to the car, quickly. I'll be there in a few minutes."
Her expression grew worried. "Ichijo, what's wrong?"
He did his best to stay calm. If he was out here alone, or even with Senri, this would have been fine, but with a human... "It's nothing. Just a small matter I need to take care of."
She planted her feet firmly on the ground. "I'm not moving until you tell me what's going on." she said stubbornly. "Why do you look frightened?"
Takuma brought his eyes away from the ground and frantically searched the space around him. He could sense it getting closer. Fine. If she wasn't going to leave he wasn't responsible for what she saw. He put a hand under his jacket and gripped the sword hidden away beneath it. He grabbed her arm and propelled her behind him. "Stay back." the smile he wore had vanished.
She looked fearfully at the sky, even though she was a mere human even she could sense the fiend. "What is that?" she said horrified.
Takuma followed her gaze. There it was, a sanity lost, blood-thirsty level E. It gave a scream that could have shattered glass and coursed through the air toward him. He drew his sword and ran forward to meet it. They clashed together and the horrible screech of metal on metal filled the space surrounding them. He insane vampire held a long pipe in it's hand, and it had had quick enough timing to block Takuma's attack. It's dead, crimson eyes flicked over his shoulder and landed on Mizuki. Takuma realized this just to late. The vampire lunged toward the girl, fangs out, saliva dripping from it's mouth.
"No!" Takuma screamed and ran forward, threw himself in front of her, and intercepted the vampire's attack. In those few, crucial seconds two things happened; Takuma skewered the demon and- using his vampire abilities-finished it off. But he was too late, just too late. The beast had run him through with the pipe just before it's evil grin turned to ashes. He stood, frozen for a moment. Then his sword clattered to the ground as he fell to his hands and knees.
"Ichijo!" Mizuki screamed and ran to his side. Takuma coughed and Mizuki saw his blood splatter the pavement. She ducked down and frantically tried to help, but she froze at what she saw.
Takuma's face registered shock. He coughed blood again and felt his arms weaken. His eyes bulged open, paralyzed.
And bright red.
END OF CHAPTER 1