Dracula AU

16 April 1897.

Yuichiro Amane hummed to himself as he fetched a large bag from a closet. Most of the Ichinose servants had worked for the Ichinoses for generations. However, there was an explosion a few years ago, and many of them were killed. Since then, the clan put forth effort to pick up several Japanese orphans off the streets. Since they immigrated from Japan to England, they were especially partial to Japanese orphans. Yuichiro and his two roommates were orphans brought in by the Ichinose, and they lived in the dorms of the Ichinose's London estate. Each of them was at least part Japanese, but these features were most prominent in Yuichiro, who was dubbed "Yu" by those who knew him.

Yu merrily walked down the hall and entered his room, throwing the bag onto his bunk.

He struck a match and lit an oil lamp on the desk. The sixteen-year-old boy had short, messy black hair with shocking green eyes and a youthful face. He quickly unclasped the bag and then dashed to the drawers beneath it. He opened one and threw an assortment of stockings, small clothes, and night clothes onto his bed. After a thought, he grabbed several more stockings and added them to the pile.

He shoved the drawer shut and moved onto the next one, not worrying about the noise. This time, he grabbed several fistfuls of shirts and pants.

A curly mess of brown hair peaked at him from the top bunk. This was Yu's smaller and nicer roommate, Yoichi. He was so sweet, ladies thought he was cute and charming, but bullies sometimes saw him as a target until they realized he belonged to the Ichinoses. "Yu, are you going somewhere?"

"Yep!" said Yu, roughly throwing his clothes into his bag. "Guren is taking me with him to sell some real estate to some rich old fogey in… in Tranyville."

A snort mocked him from the other side of the room. "I am pretty sure that is not what it is called," said a teen with a much deeper voice. He was Yu's taller, nit-picky roommate, Kimizuki, who got in a fist-fight with Yu at least once a month. "Don't you mean Transylvania?"

"Tranyville, Transylvania… There's not much difference."

"No, there is a huge difference, Yu."

Yoichi chuckled. "I have to agree with Kimizuki this time, Yu. Anyway, you're going all the way from London to Transylvania, huh? That's quite a trip. We'll miss you."

"I don't get it," complained Kimizuki, sitting up in his bunk. The flame from the oil lamp barely revealed his striking pink hair. "Why does Master Guren favor you? You flunk most of your tests and only began studying a year ago. You're an orphan just like the rest of us. You're weak at studying," he said, holding up a finger. "You're no good at cleaning or cooking." He raised two more fingers. "You suck at being polite." Another finger. "You disobey orders—"

"Maybe he likes me," quipped Yu, "because I'm not a wet blanket."

Yoichi giggled. "Yu kind of looks like Guren. Maybe that's it. Maybe he's Guren's secret love child."

"That would make Guren a dad when he was like, what? Ten?" asked Yu.

"Eight," answered Kimizuki. "A little young to be a parent."

"Maybe he reminds Guren of himself when he was little," said Yoichi after a thought. "Wow. Can you picture that? Guren sneaking out and getting into brawls with ruffians, Guren requiring extra tutoring after flunking his exams, Guren going in and out of suspension after breaking rules…" He paused. "I can't see it."

"Me neither," said Yu.

"Guren is lazy, but he has such a high position in the Hiragi Real Estate Company for a reason. He's said to be a genius the other employees look up to. He aced all of his courses and even graduated early," said Kimizuki. "For people in the business, he's famous even outside of London."

"He really is too good for Yuichiro," commented Yoichi.

"Hey!" said Yu. "Not you, too!"

Yoichi laughed.

"Anyway," said Kimizuki with a sigh, "that's not how you pack."

"I can pack however I want," said Yu.

"You're going to run out of room. You should roll your clothes up first."

"Yeah, yeah…"

"And don't forget your summer homework."

Yu stiffened.

"I don't want to put up with you whining about it all night when you return and try to do it all at once."

"Ahaha," began Yu with a weak laugh. "You would help me, right? Right, Kimizuki?"

"No way in hell."

"Oh, come on!"

The boys chatted for several minutes as Kimizuki helped Yu reorganize his luggage. When Yu was finally ready to leave, Yoichi bid him good luck, and Kimizuki told him good riddance. Yu waved at his friends as he blew out the light and stepped back into the corridor.

He took his first steps on his journey that would affect him and his friends for the rest of their lives.

A foreboding castle peered down a mountain side, glowering at all who dared venture near. Although it was battered from age, it had an immortal majesty that implied it would not crumble even after another century. A string of mountains protected the castle from outside invaders. Small villages decorated the landscape mere hours away, but several of the smaller ones had already turned into ghost towns and hunting grounds. Locals insisted these hunting grounds were not stalked by beings of nature but rather by insidious beasts and creatures of legends and nightmares.

A teenage boy with pale skin and gloomy eyes slowly unlocked a window of the castle. Raindrops splattered onto his wavy blond hair as human screams met his ears. Thunder drowned out the screams as lightning illuminated the living nightmares before them. Mika saw a rush of shadows surge toward a tree and then undulate as they met their target, and another set of screams quickly began and abruptly stopped. No matter how quickly they ran, no matter how far, no matter how cleverly, there was no escape.

Bitter air bit the skin of his nose.

He leaned against the wet windowsill, wondering if his situation was better than the predicament of those below.

"Mika dear," rang a man's sing-song voice as he abruptly brushed his ice-cold fingers against the boy's cheek, making him flinch. "You don't taste as good when you're soggy."

The boy brushed off the hand and glared at the silver-haired man.

The man grinned, and a pair of fangs poked into his lower lip.