Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-Man

Chapter 2: Chance

"When she wakes up…"

"I know. You don't need to say it." Yuu muttered, his voice muffled behind his hands. He pulled his face away from his hands to look at me, his coal eyes showing the questions that he didn't want to ask. Maybe it was because he had lived for over seven hundred years, but Yuu had changed. When I had first met him, he had been someone nobody could reach, nobody could touch.

Now he looked so vulnerable.

"Everything will work out fine." I reassured. "Her injuries are already beginning to disappear. If things keep going the way they are, she'll turn out perfectly. You can feel it, can't you? Your bond intensifying."

"Why her, though?" Yuu whispered, once again covering his face. He was acting like a stressed human.

"No one has a choice of who their other half is." I muttered.

"I don't even know her name, Lavi. She's only been hanging around the place for the past couple of weeks, and we've never even spoken, and yet here I am praying she doesn't die, because it feels like I'm going to die with her! The only reason I know anything about her was because I overheard her conversation with some girl she was with." Yuu snapped, his voice getting more and more frustrated with every word. "I don't know what to do anymore."

I stared at Yuu, vulnerable and shaking, curled up on the steps leading into the house. I was the only one who would ever see him like this, I knew. Anyone else, and he would continue being the selfish asshole he usually was, but with me it was different. I suppose over six centuries of traveling together could do that.

"Well, everything will be fine once she's one of us, won't it?" I asked rhetorically. "I'm sure she'll help you figure it all out. After all, if she's meant for you, she has to be smart."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean, you stupid rabbit?" Yuu snapped, pulling his hands away from his face to hit me. I laughed, evading, landing on top of the roof. "Oi, get back here!"

"If you want to hurt me that badly, then come after me." I called back, smirking down at him. A growl erupted from his lips as he perched, but just as he was about to pounce he stopped. Hesitation crossed his features, and then his body relaxed, so that he was sitting again. I frowned. "Well, that wasn't fun."

"Shut up." Yuu muttered. It was half-assed, weak. I sighed, falling on my butt and sticking one leg out, keeping the other one up for an arm rest, keeping one arm on the ground to keep from falling completely back. I looked up at the night sky, the half moon lighting up the sky and illuminating the stars.

"We have to leave here." I said.

"I know."

"Are you prepared?" I asked, looking back down. Yuu was now sitting properly on the stairs again, staring up at the sky too.

"Tch. Why should I care? It's just another country. Besides, to keep her safe, we have to leave…" I winced. It would be odd, and difficult to get used to, to have him actually caring about someone. What was I supposed to do now?

"Where should we go next, you think? Where do you think will have changed the most in five years?" I asked, looking back up at the sky.

"I don't know. What about England?" Yuu asked, and my stomach squeezed.

"…I'm from England. I live in America, though, so I don't have an accent. I've lived there since I was three."

I let out a small laugh, pulling out my arm from under me and letting myself fall, my head hitting the roof smartly. There would most likely be rubble in my hair when I had a shower.

"Yeah, sure. Let's go to England." I whispered.

"England? Great!" I jumped, looking to the side. Rhode was just landing on the roof, most likely having jumped up from the back yard. "I love that place! Their accent is so awesome. America and Canada don't have that kind of English."

"Well, it's good to know you want to go." I muttered, though I didn't really care. Whether Tykki and Rhode wanted to go somewhere or not never really mattered to Yuu and I, though I doubted they would ever complain, so long as it was never Venice.

"When are we leaving?" Tykki asked, appearing behind Rhode. I frowned. Who did they think they were, interrupting our conversation? Now Yuu was going to get all cold again.

"Whenever she's ready." I raised a hand and pointed down, where I knew the girl was currently squirming in pain and still unconscious.

"That'll take another couple of hours at least…it gives us enough time to pack and get the tickets and everything." Tykki muttered, mostly to himself. "I'll get on that now."

Tykki jumped down from the roof, and Rhode gave me one last look before following after him. When they were gone, I sat up again and crawled to the edge of the roof, looking down to where Yuu was.

"Are you ready to leave?" I asked.

"Only if she is." He gestured behind him sluggishly before returning to his curled up position.

"Doing nothing's just going to make you more nervous about it. You should help with the packing." I suggested, pulling myself off. With a few swipes of my hand, the dirt and rubble that had gathered on my clothes disappeared.

"You make it sound like you're not going to." Yuu observed, sitting up again to look up at me. I grinned.

"That's because I'm not. I'm going out for a bit. We've been sitting around here for a whole day waiting for her to wake up—I want to go out." I winked, jumping down from the roof and landing gently on the sidewalk beyond. "I'll do some research for you and break the news to your band while I'm at it."

"Tch." Was all Yuu said, and I listened as he stood and went into the house before taking off.

My destination was a little foolish, maybe even a little predictable, but I couldn't help it. All day I had been thinking about it, and when Yuu and I had been talking a few minutes ago I had once again become curious. No matter what way I looked at it, I needed to see that boy again, to satisfy the curiosity that was building up in me every time I thought of him.

I at least wanted to know his name.

I would arrive there at the exact same time I had arrived last night. If irony had anything to do with it, then he would most likely be there again. Maybe he, too, was waiting for me to come back.

Never before had I felt full of myself thinking this, since it was always true. No human had ever not appeared in the same place they had met me at the same time, as if they were still silently waiting for me. I had even found some of them there two weeks later, staring out into the distance, looking almost…dead. I never went back to any of them.

This time, though, I couldn't help but feel a little silly. Maybe it was just the boy, maybe it was because he had probably been so scarred that it was doubtful he would ever want to go back there, maybe because of the odd feelings that churned in my chest when I thought of him. Whatever the reason, I didn't feel so confident of myself this time.

I stepped down the first step of the stairs that led down to the river. The bridge I had jumped from last night was silent, no one walking along it or driving along it. The only noise was the distant cars, the crickets, the flow of water, and the sound of the wind blowing through the grass, something only my sensitive ears could pick up.

However, there was no sight of the boy.

I felt like something was tugging at my chest, making it hurt. Why had I been so hopeful? Why did I want to see him again? What was the point?

With a sigh, I walked down half the steps and came to an abrupt stop, plopping myself down. I rested my elbows on my knees and folded my hands together, watching the river flow.

In a way, I was sort of like that river. Always changing, but never dying. Watching as the things around me changed, the people around me grow older and be replaced by their children, yet never able to have a family of my own, to die of old age, to live a natural and happy life with everyone around me.

Immortality sucked.

"You're here." the surprised voice shocked me, in more ways than one. It was like an electric jolt went through my body.

I turned abruptly, looking up the steps, where the white haired boy stood, staring down at me. His expression was completely calm, not a hint of the fear he had been showing last night anywhere on his features.

I couldn't help myself; I grinned.

"Hey, twerp." I said. The boy's cheeks reddened, and he stubbornly turned away, about to leave. Surprised, I stood up, running up the steps. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, suddenly appearing by his side with a speed he probably didn't think existed, but I didn't want him to turn his back on me. "Don't go, I was only joking."

He jumped, obviously not expecting me to be right beside him, and turned. His gray eyes were wide with fear when he looked at me, and I suddenly felt guilty. "How did you…?"

"Sorry." I whispered.

"You're not…?" I could guess the rest of what he wanted to say, but he didn't finish, instead brushing my hand off his shoulder and turning to face me fully. "Why don't you want me to go?"

"Well it's not exactly like I intended to push you away from your spot. That's kind of rude. I might be cruel, but I hate being rude." I smirked, and the boy frowned.

"For some reason I highly doubt every word you just said to me." He stated bluntly. I winced.

"That's not very nice. You don't even know me and you're already doubting me. Do you even know my name?" I asked, crossing my arms stubbornly.

"Lavi." I think he tried to say it stubbornly, but his voice faded, and a brief flash of the fear I had seen mingled on his face last night reappeared.

I was silent, both surprised and worried. He had remembered my name, but what would that entail?

"Your name is Lavi." The boy whispered, and looked away from me. "I heard…that guy saying your name."

"Are you okay?" I asked, feeling my hand as it began to rise. I stopped midway, unsure of what my touch would do to him this time, now that I didn't have being soaking wet as an excuse for being so cold.

"I'm fine," the boy said, quickly slapping on a smile and looking at me. "Well, I only came here to see…well, to be honest, to see if you were here, to say goodbye."

"Goodbye?" I asked, frowning.

"Yes. I wasn't so sure you would end up being here, but I took my chances. Anyways, I have to leave tonight. We're leaving early, because my…someone died, and we can't stay here anymore. I have to get going, though. I have a lot to do and only a little time to do it. Most likely I'll never be coming to Japan again, since this was just a business trip. So…goodbye."

He stuck his hand out like a professional, and I stared down at it, grimacing. "You came looking for me just to say that? This late at night?" I whispered.

"Well…this was the same time you appeared last night, isn't it?" the boy whispered, his hand closing and swinging nervously by his side. "I thought you might want to try and jump off the bridge or something again…and, well…it wouldn't do for you to get hurt…and I thought maybe if I didn't see you again…I could be sure last night was a dream…"

My throat clenched. I shouldn't have come.

"About last night…" I began, but he shook his head.

"It's not…it's not the first time I've seen it. Seen that kind of scene." He whispered, giving me a weak, unconvincing smile. "Well, Lavi, be safe. Wherever you go next, don't jump into too shallow of a river."

I chuckled softly, sticking my hands in my pockets. "You're an interesting kid," I stated, and he looked a little surprised before giving me a cocky smile.

"Well, I have an interesting life." He said, confidently and in an almost amused manner. He turned, walking off slowly, sticking his hands in his pockets. As he walked, I heard a soft tune being whistled, one I had never heard before.

I watched him go, ignoring the part of me that said to follow the boy.

It had been hard enough ignoring that scent just for that brief conversation. If I were to actually follow after him, most likely the boy wouldn't be making it back to his hotel. This one time, I wouldn't let my instincts kick in, not with this boy. It would be better if I never saw him again.

After all, he lived in America. If we were to stay in England for the next five to ten years, if I ever saw the boy again, he would probably have no memory of me at all.

When his scent was completely washed away by the wind and the haunting tune no longer reached my ears, I crouched. I had somewhere else I needed to visit before we left Japan.

"Why are you so pissed?" Yuu asked as soon as he saw me. I glared at him, stepping by him and into the house.

I felt frustrated with myself. I hadn't even gotten his name. That had been my original purpose, was get his name. Yet, as soon as I reached my second destination, what was the first thing I remembered?

I didn't know his name.

I had that whole conversation to ask him, I could have called it out to him as he was walking away, I could have followed after him and waited until someone said it, but no. Instead, when I had finished my business and gone looking for him, I couldn't find him anywhere. His scent had led to a hotel, and lord knows how hard it is to find someone in a place with so many different scents mingling together.

"Lavi, what the hell happened?" Yuu's voice broke through my angry train of thought, and I looked over at the angry feminine man.

"I went to go and see your band. I told them you're leaving. That guy, the vampire, wasn't there." I said stiffly, turning away from him again and going into the living room. I stopped in the doorway, staring at the couch; or rather, the person on the couch, her eyes now open.

"Lenalee, this is Lavi. Lavi, Lenalee." Yuu muttered, stopping next to me. I looked at him, so many questions suddenly rushing through me.

"Lavi's your name, huh?" The girl's soft voice asked. It was a lot more delicate than it had been at the concert. It was quieter, more subdued.

"Yeah, I guess we never got a chance to introduce each other. Guess you really did get the night of your life, too." I commented, smiling.

"Well, it's good to know that you really were a part of the band." Lenalee whispered, and then glanced down at herself. "This really is curious…"

"What is?"

"Being…immortal. It's very different." She looked up at me, and then her eyes strayed to the side. I could tell her eyes met with Yuu's at that moment. "It's very electrical."

"Now, that's only because it's Yuu. Trust me, electricalisn't a word to describe us." I smiled, using a light tone. Lenalee looked over at me, and smiled.

"Maybe you will tell me why…?" she whispered, leaving the rest unfinished. I glanced at Yuu, but he just shook his head.

"Well, you're pretty calm for a new born. Looks like we wont have to train you." I commented lightly, looking back at the young girl, but the sudden growl that emitted from Yuu's throat made me frown.

"She's already fed." He whispered. "Rhode brought someone for her."

Why did my heart suddenly clench? Why was I suddenly afraid?

"Who?" I demanded. "Did you know who it was?"

Yuu looked at me, a very serious look taking over his features as he peered at me, searching my eyes for answers to questions that were probably running through his head a mile a second at the moment. He remained silent, and I could almost hear the gears in his head working away. Finally, he opened his mouth. "A young girl, somewhere around her age. Rhode found her walking around this area and brought her here."

Relief flooded through me, and I was quick to put on an indifferent expression. "Why was she wandering around this area?"

"Rhode guesses she was looking for me." Yuu replied, looking away from me and instead locking gazes with the oddly dazed youngling. "She seemed eager enough to follow Rhode, anyways. Apparently she said something like 'I know I've seen you around him before', or something along those lines."

"Oh ho, Yuu's got stalkers." I teased, grinning and leaning my arm on his shoulder. "Welcome to my world, buddy."

"Yeah, you actually likepeople stalking you." Yuu snapped, shoving my arm off before turning and walking away. I looked at Lenalee, confused, before going after him.

I followed him outside, where he sat down on the front step, staring up at the night sky.

The sky that only changed every so often, and was just as immortal as we were.

"Did you drug her or something?" I muttered, sitting next to him. "She seems sort of out of it."

"Is it even possible to drug a vampire?" Yuu replied, his eyes leaving the stars as he once again cradled his head, like he had only a few hours ago. "Tykki figures that the girl she drank the blood from was high on heroine or something. She was American, so it's not like it's weird that heroine would be involved, but most likely it affected Lenalee, who still has some human left in her."

It takes more than just a couple of nights to fully become a vampire. For about a month, we continued to have our own human blood running through our system, until it became completely vampiric and the only human blood that would run through it would be the blood of our victims.

Vampires had their own type of blood. It was darker, thicker, and much, much harder to extract. Basically, it was our old human blood, frozen in our veins, never to move again, turning, in a way, stale. The only time it was refreshed was when we drank blood, when it would briefly flow again, briefly run through our veins again. It kept us from drying into prunes.

That was why a vampire needed blood to survive.

I wasn't really sure if we actually dried into prunes, but I knew that if we let all of our original blood disappear then we would most likely die.

This didn't mean if someone were to cut us open once a day we would die from losing all of our original blood. Every time we drink blood, some of it gets added to our original blood, where it becomes part of it. Every time we drink blood, our original blood, or OB as I liked to call it, grew in amount. That made it impossible to run out.

Which is why it's possible to make as many newborns as a vampire wants.

"Did Tykki get the tickets?" I asked.

"We're leaving at six." Yuu replied.

"You mean the plane's leaving at six, or we have to start heading for the plane at six?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

"We're leaving here at six. The plane leaves at six thirty. Rhode's already made preparations for our stuff, and Tykki's just left to go and get our bank account figured out." Yuu muttered, and lifted his head from his little nest. "Who did you go see?"

I tensed, the light expression I had been carrying immediately falling away.

"No one." I said stiffly.

"You saw that kid again, didn't you?" Yuu asked, ignoring my answer. "That boy that you were talking to when I found you that night."

I changed the subject, slapping on a grin and nudging him on the arm. "How'd you find me, anyways?"

"Don't change the subject, Lavi." Yuu snapped, obviously not amused. I winced.

"It shouldn't matter to you who I go see and who I don't." I muttered. "You're not my mother."

"You've never done this before. Why did you go see him again? Was the bean sprout really that interesting to you?" Yuu snapped, obviously taking this a lot more seriously than he should have been. So what if I was letting a human live and having normal conversations with him? I was allowed to at least have something of a normal, human life, wasn't I?

"Why are you calling him bean sprout?" I asked, feeling offended for the boy.

"Because he was a short little shit, that's why!" Yuu snapped, then paused. He sighed. "Look, Lavi, seeing that kid again wasn't the best idea. We pretty much screwed ourselves over in front of him. He probably thought we were murderers or gang members or something. Plus, you knocked him out. Even a human can get suspicious after a scene like that."

"You underestimate humans too much, you know." I interrupted with a sigh.

"Shut up, Lavi." Yuu snapped. "You showing up probably only made him more suspicious. What kind of person would end up showing up in the same spot after just being seen with a girl half dead and knocking out the person who saw? And I don't even know what you did when you ended up talking to him tonight. For all I know, you could have pretty much just said flat out 'I'm a vampire'."

"Well, I didn't go that far…" I muttered, rubbing a hand over my face. "Look, Yuu. Everything's fine. The kid doesn't suspect anything. He came tonight so he could say goodbye to me. He said he's seen that kind of scene before and didn't say anything else."

"Tch. You're too careless, stupid rabbit." Yuu stood up, about to walk back into the house, but stopped. The angry expression he had been wearing suddenly faded away. "Lavi…"

"What?" I asked, leaning back so I could look up at him.

"I can't go anywhere near her right now." Yuu looked down at me, his nose suddenly scrunching up. "The way she's acting, the way she's so… blank, I can't be near her. It scares me."

"So that's why you were lecturing me," I sighed. "You were trying to make yourself feel better, huh?"

"Shut up." Yuu whispered, only half heartily.

"Look, by the time we get to London she should be fine. You know how all newborns sleep for the first day and a half after they've fed. When she wakes up again, she probably won't remember a thing about tonight, especially if there's heroine in her veins. Then, we can do this all over again, but she'll be acting a whole lot more human. Trust me."

"You make it sound like you've raised a newborn before." Yuu muttered.

"No, I've just done plenty of research on them. What else am I supposed to do, living for all eternity? I've got to have some sort of pass time." I replied, smirking. "Look, just go in there. If she's not asleep already, help her go to sleep. Put her in your lap, sing to her, stroke her hair. Comfort her, and lull her into sleep. We still have another four hours until we have to leave."

"Tch. You think I'm going to lull someone to sleep?" Yuu asked, incredulous. I grinned.

"Well, sure, if it's your mate." I said airily, standing up. "Well, I'll see you in a few. Put her to sleep, or else we're going to have a hard time with her on the plane. That should give you enough incentive to put away your pride for a little while; just think about the huge crash having her awake would cause."

Rhode had been in here again.

I could smell her everywhere. Nothing had been moved, but she must have been rummaging through my things, because there was no way it would smell so much like her otherwise.

I had to admit, Rhode was pretty good at putting absolutely everything back into place, though.

I sighed and threw my jacket onto my bed, dragging my feet to the bed that was unnecessary and throwing myself down onto it. Vampire or not, a bed was comfy, and considering how pissed off I was, it was pretty relaxing too.

I still couldn't get over the fact that I had forgotten to ask his name. He had been right there, the whole purpose of my appearing there again to ask one little question, and I had completely forgotten it. How was it that he could get off knowing my name, but not introduce himself?

I sat up, sighing. It would be bad to just sit here and sulk, and I needed to pack my things. That was a rule of ours; everyone packs their own things. It wasn't really because of privacy, but more because it just took less time to get it all done at once. Plus, it saved a lot of grumbling from the person who ended up having to do it all.

Sometimes I wondered if maybe we were more like a pack of children, rather than centuries old living as a coven. We definitely acted immature enough.

I was slow in sorting through my things, leaving the things I knew I didn't want anymore and throwing everything else on the bed. I didn't feel like being any faster than human pace at the moment; we still had a few hours, and I knew that Yuu wouldn't want anyone downstairs at the moment, what with the circumstances.

I stopped when I came across the inside of the middle top drawer of my dresser.

My fingers traced over everything lightly, barely grazing the items that sat there, so innocent yet so full of sin.

I closed my eyes gently, letting a small smile relieve my features, and closed the drawer.

Why did I have the strength now, to leave those items behind?

The answer was I didn't.

I knew that I would come back, I knew I would grab them right before we left. I knew I would end up refusing to let them go anywhere but my lap on the plane, just like every other time.

They were too precious to lose, but at the same time I wanted nothing more than to lose them, shatter them, break them.

I was pitiful.

I turned away from the dresser, closing my eyes before I went back to my bed, opening my eyes to stare blankly at the items sprawled across it. My suitcase was under the bed. All I would have to do was bend down to grab it, but for some reason that little action suddenly seemed like it would be the most difficult task in the world.

Why? It wasn't like I liked Japan. Actually, it kind of annoyed me. It was stinky, polluted, and over populated. Their culture was too formal for me, and finding a decent high school girl to seduce was actually kind of difficult. The only reason I put up with it was for Yuu. Way back in the day, it was peaceful and easy. Now it was just a pain.

But it was bugging me so much, not knowing that kid's name.

I wanted to go back there and wait for him. Me, wait for some human boy. But at the same time I knew that he wouldn't come back. All the same, I still wanted to go back.

Was this what it felt like to all those people who had been sitting there waiting for me?

With a heavy sigh, I knelt down. Reaching under my bed, I felt around until I grasped the large square item with cloth lining.

Pulling the suitcase out, I placed it on the bed and stared at it blankly.

I refused to listen to the part of me that cried to go back there. No matter how much I itched to.

Almost ignorantly, I began to shove my clothes into the suitcase, grumbling to myself about little boys who were way too young for me and the influence they had when they had such bright and innocent eyes. If anyone were to walk in on me right now, they'd probably start laughing. Although at the moment I didn't really care.

My fingers froze over one of my t-shirts, and I stared with deep concentration at the bed.

Were vampires supposed to feel like this? So human? Was it normal for something that wasn't really alive to feel like this?

The answer was no, I knew. Why would it? Yet I still allowed myself to freely act like a normal human being. I felt like I had no real right to. Like I was shaming the human race by acting like them. I didn't deserve to feel happy or annoyed or sad or angry. I was dead, and those people who were out there living every day weren't. Yet somehow I found myself acting as if I was one of them.

But I am an outsider. I am an undead. I am immortal.

My fist closed around the shirt, and I dropped it into my suitcase, frowning as I finished packing what little I wished to keep.

"Everyone ready?" Rhode asked, standing in the middle of the living room. Yuu sat on the couch, a now sleeping Lenalee nestled into his arms. Tykki was reading on one of the armchairs, one of the encyclopedias he had bought the other day open in front of him. Surprisingly, he had bought the Japanese version instead of finding the English version.

"Are we taking a taxi?" He asked over his book, not bothering to look away from it.

"Why would we take a taxi?" Rhode asked, obviously confused.

"Sleeping newborn." Tykki muttered as a reply.

"Kanda can carry her on his back." Rhode chirped.

"It would save time," I said in a matter of fact tone, sitting cross legged on the floor. "It just depends on if our cuddly little Yuu is up to it."

"Shut it, rabbit." Yuu snapped, not even glancing at me.

"Yessir." I said, giving him a mock salute.

"Lavi, are you completely ready?" Rhode gave me a curious glance, and I grinned.

"Yup." I said reassuringly. "All good to go."

And the items that I had so desperately wished to leave behind sat on my lap in a little black bag. Just like always.

"Well then, the only issue here is Kanda." Tykki put down his book, giving Yuu a very pointed look. The aggravated vampire just scoffed.

"I'll carry her." He snapped, getting up from the couch, barely moving the sleeping girl next to him.

"Excellent. Does this mean we're leaving now?" Rhode asked, clapping her hands together. The loud and abrupt noise caused Lenalee to jump a little. None of us were concerned, however. Newborns slept through nearly everything.

"I'll grab Kanda's stuff, I suppose." Tykki sighed, getting up. He left the book there, not even looking back at it. I was guessing he wasn't going to bother taking it with him. He usually only read books once, and once he was finished with them, I had never discovered what he did with them.

"Well then, let's all get our traveling moods in check," Rhode beamed. I winced.

By traveling mood, she meant prepare to be surrounded by succulent and juicy mortals for the next however many hours, knowing that it was impossible to sink your teeth into them and taste that beautiful red juice.

We all knew the consequences if we couldn't keep our 'traveling moods' in check.

Yuu stood, adjusting Lenalee so he could pull her into his arms bridal style. He gave me one little glance before heading for the door. "Kanda?" Rhode called after him, a little confused.

"You have everything you need with you, right? Tykki's probably already done. Let's go." He said, not missing a beat as he opened the door, balancing Lenalee effortlessly in one arm.

Rhode grabbed her little back pack, two pieces of fabric made to look like cat ears sticking off of it, and picked up her large suitcase effortlessly, skipping after Yuu. I watched them go, then easily slid into a standing position, grabbing the suitcase I had packed and clutching the little black bag in my free hand, not bothering to look back one last time at our living room of five years.

Outside, the morning light reached through the window, the sun reaching farther and farther into the sky.

I thought of horror movies and books about our race, about how a normal vampire in their minds couldn't touch the sunlight. This, of course, was a lie. We were free to walk in the daylight, free to stare into the sun's rays and bathe in it. The reason the rumor had been started was because we hunted at night; near any animal does. Hunting in the night is more convenient; it provides better cover, easier access, because we can see better than humans in the dark, hear better than them, and the natural fear created from the dark makes them easier targets.

Rhode was humming a tune under her breath, one I remembered her humming long ago, the first night I had met her. She often hummed this tune, maybe as an old reminder of her past as a human.

"How much longer?" Tykki asked the driver of the taxi, his english flawless. After having spoken Japanese for the past five years, some people would find it strange how easily he was able to get back into the habit of english. It wasn't so strange when one knew that he could speak approximately forty languages, and had been alive for over a hundred years.

"Just a little bit longer, sir. Maybe ten minutes." The driver said, a little nervously. Beauty made people nervous, envious. Maybe even a little scared. I could only imagine the thoughts going through this man's head as he was surrounded by four beautiful people.

"Tch."

I looked at Yuu, who looked slightly uncomfortable as he held Lenalee up, an arm around her shoulder, her breaths coming out softly. I smiled gently, before turning to look back out the window. Make that five.

"You're too easily aggravated." Rhode whispered, before continuing on with her song. Yuu hissed under his breath, not commenting.

The endless planes of grass were steadily becoming more bright, more green, more vibrant. Watching the sun rise and bring life to everything was amazing, even to someone like me, who had seen it so many times.

"There's something about the sun rising in England that makes a shiver run down my spine." Rhode said, staring out the window now, the humming no longer occupying the otherwise silent car.

The driver visibly relaxed, grinning widely, glancing at Rhode through the rearview mirror. "It truly is beautiful. I'm grateful for my surroundings every day."

"As well you should be," Rhode chimed, looking into the man's eyes in the reflection. "Life is quite short, after all."

The man didn't seem concerned by the way she talked, the fact that no normal little girl would talk like that, but was instead pleased, charmed by her pleasant tone.

"How much longer?" Tykki asked, and immediately the man's smile faded away, replaced by a nervous frown.

"Just a little longer, sir." He whispered.

"You shouldn't creep the poor driver out. He was doing his job perfectly fine." Rhode complained, sitting down on the waiting couch of the hotel we would be staying at. The sudden contrast of noise from the country side to the city was amazing, and a little annoying.

"He was taking too long. He drove too slow." Tykki replied easily, not fazed by the glare the girl was sending. Yuu sat on the arm chair, Lenalee cradled in his arms, a few people pointing and whispering.

"This isn't Tokyo," I stated. "People don't drive extra fast just because they can."

"We could have run faster." Tykki muttered. Almost whining.

"We could have. That would've meant carrying all of our things, and appearing randomly at the hotel with no car, no mode of transportation saying how we got here, causing possible suspicion. You know humans. They look at everything in a way where we could be dangerous." I replied.

"You give them too much credit." Tykki sighed. "They're not that smart. They're oblivious to pretty much everything around them, just so they can be. They don't see what goes on in the world when they're looking the other way."

"Neither can you." I sighed. "It's difficult to see what you're turned away from."

"Shut up," Yuu snapped. He looked furious. "You keep talking like that and someone will notice."

Tykki scoffed, plopping himself down next to Rhode roughly, glaring at nothing. He was like a steaming child. I looked around, noticing someone who wore the uniform of the hotel, and beckoned the young girl over. Blushing, she made her way through the crowd until she was standing in front of me.

"Hi there, miss. Do you think you could help us out? We need to check in, but the line is really long, and we already have a room booked. Do you think you could speed things up a bit?" I asked, taking her hand, slipping a bill into her sleeve. She smiled sweetly, though clearly dazzled.

"Of course, just come this way and we'll get you all ready." She said, turning, indicating that we follow her. Rhode sighed, clearly not impressed she had to get up, and stood, followed by Tykki and Yuu. I paused.

"Where's Lero?" I asked. I had completely forgotten about the oddity, admittedly since I had last seen him on the night of Yuu's last live performance.

Rhode smiled. "In my suitcase." She said. I shivered.

"He probably wont be very happy when you let him out." Tykki muttered, stating the obvious.

"Well, he'll just have to deal with it." Rhode said haughtily, walking past us and following after the clerk, reminding us all what we were doing. We followed the young woman, who stepped up to the front desk and briefly spoke with one of the people, pulling them away from the current customer at the front.

"I'm sorry, what're your names?" The girl asked, turning to us.

"It would be under Tykki Mikk." Tykki said, sounding as bored as always. The girl flinched, turning her eyes to me in order to put a smile back on her face, as if reminding herself why she was doing this. Tykki always scared the humans away.

"Ah yes, of course. Mr. Mikk. Your rooms are ready." This time it was the woman behind the desk, and she turned to her computer, giving her current customer an apologetic smile before cicking away. A few minutes later, everyone sitting in silence as they waited, the woman had five key cards, and handed them to the girl.

"Right. Room 425." The girl said, smiling. "One of the bigger ones."

We said nothing, letting her lead us away, following her as we carried our luggage, refusing a carriage.

"This is a decent room." I said as soon as the girl was gone and we were standing in the middle of the sitting room of our two bedroom room.

"It was a bit pricy," Tykki said, sitting down. His luggage sat next to the brown armchair he had chosen, and it was clear he was not moving it any time soon. He looked tired, for an immortal. We always looked tired to humans, though.

"Well hello." Rhode said, opening her suitcase. Lero jumped out, his orange fur sticking up.

"You stupid bitch!" The cat hissed, claws sticking into the rug as he glared up at Rhode. "What the fuck do you think you were doing shoving me in there?!"

"How else was I supposed to take you with us?" Rhode asked innocently. "Just because it's been five years since I last did that doesn't mean you shouldn't still be used to it."

"You did that to him last time?" I asked. "I'm pretty sure you actually put him in a cat crate so he could be comfortable, but he ended up complaining about the other animals he had been stuck with in the luggage area."

"Whatever." Rhode rolled her eyes before grinning. "It was fun."

"Yeah, maybe in your saidistic little brain." Lero muttered, crawling away, his fur still sticking up. He disappeared under the coffee table, terrible cat moans coming from his body.

I stepped away from the scene, inside the room Yuu had disappeared to in a second. Yuu sat on the bed, staring down at a tucked in Lenalee, his hair curtaining his face from view.

"What do you want?" He asked, his voice that steady, emotionless tone he had perfected over the years.

"She's fine." I said.

"I know that."

"Do you?"

"Leave."

"Fine."

And then I was gone, in the hallway, the door closing softly behind me, my key card tucked safely into my front pocket. I walked slowly, not in any rush, simply finding something to do with the endless amount of time I had before me, not concerned about where we would go tomorrow, what kind of house we would end up living in for the next couple of years, what kind of people I would meet or connections I would make. There was no point in dwelling in the future anymore. I'd done it for so many years.

I hadn't realized how hungry I was getting until I passed a younger maid, her blood fresh, like the sweetest perfume. I swallowed, a pointless habit, controlling my movements with practised skill. Fresh air was suddenly necessary.

There are some stories that are the most predictable stories in the world. Every new event is easily predicted, every chance meeting is already obvious long before it happens. There are other stories that will surprise anyone and everyone, each twist new and original. There are some stories that follow both lines, predictable but with a twist, following a whole new regime. Some stories are just the same as other stories.

My current story, I wasn't so sure which one it was. Was it easily predicted what happened next, as I found my way to the roof?

Should I have been expecting the dangerously familiar smell?

Should I not have been so shocked at seeing the white haired boy standing there on the roof, his back turned to me, staring up at the clear sunny sky?

"Are you...?"

Vampires weren't supposed to feel surprise. Humans were. They weren't the ones who were supposed to be so mysterious, to pop up unexpectedly. That was our job.

End Chapter

A/N: T.T This chapter felt like an absolute failure. For many, many reasons. It was long and boring and sort of like a filler. However, I felt it was necessary to have a lot of these conversations and Lavi's random thoughts, and plus I needed the last moments in Tokyo. But that aside, this was mostly to show a bit more of a connection with Lavi and his coven, and to show that their bonds make them a lot more human than most vampires.

To all those who have been waiting for me to update: I am sorry. Life has been...busy. Very, very busy.