This is a Yaoi Fanfic, and there will be SLASH in this. Meaning "very,very juicy male on male sexy time."

You have been warned.

Feverish

It was raining. It felt good for Nero's temperature - probably not in the long run, but for the moment it was a great relief. It soaked his hair; his bangs irritated his heated cheeks. His clothes stuck to him with a sort of suction. The combination of icy cold rain and abnormally high body temperature made him steam.

His fever was clearly on the abnormal scale.

He stood outside his door for a moment, letting the downpour drench him to the bone. It didn't work. With a groan, Nero shoved open the door and walked in, boots squelching.

he shook his hair like a wet dog, closing the door, his hair was dry within seconds. His clothes were still damp, but were now trapping the heat into his skin, giving the feel of a swampy, humid climate. he kicked his boots off with great struggle and raced to the shower upstairs.

He peeled off his clothes - coat, vest and jeans - turned on the cold water and stepped in. His body didn't lurch or shrink away from the cold, but instead welcomed it. the knots in his back seemed to melt away, the heat leaving him in gradual waves. It was a flurry of hot and cold, like in a summers night when you kick the bed sheets off. Warm. Cool. Warm. Cool. Eventually you ease into something comfortable.

Kyrie wasn't home that afternoon. She's usually at the door, waiting for Nero with her hands clasped in front of her chest as if she was praying, or holding a butterfly in her hands and trying not to let it go away. She would smile to. She always smiled. She was the only one who ever did smile at Nero. Except for…

Well, Nero hadn't seen that man since The Saviour incident. Dante, he remembered as his name, hadn't exactly kept in touch over the past year. A shame, Nero was starting to miss a bit of fire in his life, seeing as there weren't many demons left in Fortuna. A few sparing matches with the older hunter would be just fine and dandy.

The heat came back; it seemed to hit Nero in the face.

The cold water was no longer helping. He sighed in defeat, and turned it off. He went to bed, with only bothering to put a pair of jocks on before crashing, his sheets long since discarded in the corner. He tried to get to sleep, but the boil rising in his blood was keeping him up.

He wondered to himself when Kyrie would be back.

H wasn't entirely worried, Kyrie goes to her friend's house sometimes to sleep over, a lot like a little girl, but she doesn't care. There are also days when she visits her parents and doesn't come back till the following morning.

Despite past concerns; Fortuna is a safe place. All demon gates have been eradicated, and only the rare stray demon comes around and even then it's only in the jungle or in the mountains. Totally safe.

Still, Nero sometimes had his moments. But for now, he was fine.

Fine enough, that he eventually melted away into a dream.

He saw a forrest: healthy, flourishing, green…

…demonic.

His vision blurred as it followed a path. He knows it nearly off by heart; he took it to close a Hell Gate.

And there it was, the Hell Gate, in pieces, chunks of decorated stone spread across the clearing. However, erected in it's place, was a New Gate: a fleshy oval, with Dark red stone's acting as pillars. The centre of the oval sparked, like a firecracker, before bursting into purple flames. It stayed within the Oval, as if pressed by glass. The purple flames stilled burned, flat and deceptively beautiful.

Nero, for whatever reason, reached out with his devil bringer to touch it. The scene melted away into something else.

Dante rode his motorbike through a huge ravine. The rocks were a very dark red; glistening like polished garnet. The sounds of the roaring machine echoed back at him. His red trench coat flailing behind him. His body was as fine as always, the black and red leather he was clad in was nice on the eyes, too bad no one was looking, for the terrain was vacant of any form of life.

Eventually the ravine made way to a gully, where dead trees of a demonic natural arched over him in a tunnel-like formation. As cool as it was to ride on such a sleek looking beast, this baby wasn't made for dirt tracks.

Dante got off his bike, dusted off the metal lovingly and left it there as he walked further up the gully. It was a decrepit and ominous sight, it looked as if water hadn't flown through here for thousands…no, maybe even millions of years. Dante would not be surprised if that was a fact.

The scenery beyond was much worse.

There was no doubt, not even a spiders thread of doubt in his mind:

Dante was in Hell.

Dante had seen his fair share of demons…but down here in the motherland…well, imagine the largest mosh-pit you've ever seen at a concert; thousands of fans filling a football field. Now times that by ten and you still have no idea.

For once in his life, he doubted his abilities. But it was a fleeting doubt - there and gone. Maybe call it arrogance, or suicide, but Dante would call it natural persistence. He'd already closed the gates he needed to, now he just need to find a way out, one that he can close from the outside.

He could be waiting a long while for that.

Negative thoughts weren't his cup of tea, so he quickly decided where to go next.

In the distance he saw a dark tower. It was the same red-black stone of the ravine, and had thunderclouds swirling it's peak as if a tornado was begging to stir things up.

That's where he's headed. But the problem is the countless of demons.

mow through them, he thought, don't stop.

he had some orbs, he could feel that his devil trigger was ready to rumble. He had all sorts of weapons on him and he was at prime health. Running through the largest crowd of demons he'd ever seen may count as suicide, even for him, but Dante also had one more thing: inexplicable luck.

After all, he had to try. To see that person again…

He brandished Rebellion, the bloodied steel skull grinning the same way as Dante.

"Fuck it," He said, "Lets rock!"

The moment he came out of the shadows every single head turned to him and got ready to fight, sort of like a freakish Mexican wave; a ripple effect.

He ran at 'em.

As his sword cut through the first few dozens of demons, a claw came at him from nowhere - talons an inch away from tearing straight through his face…

Nero shot up in bed, gasping, alert, and in cold sweat. The Fever burned hotter under his freezing skin. It wasn't until the panic had settled had he realised he'd cried out Dante's name when he awoke.

Dante was in danger.

Nero had to help him.

The gate…he had to find that gate.

With sudden adrenaline pulsing through him, Nero got dressed double time. A swift glance out the window confirmed it wasn't yet daylight hours, it was probably four or five in the morning. He rushed downstairs to where he had left his gear. When he heard the door open, he became more alert, and stared at it. But it opened so slowly it might as well have been the breeze. However, Kyrie entered.

When she saw Nero, she smiled. But her delicate eyebrows knitted in confusion when she saw him dressed and clearly agitated.

"Nero," she said, "You're up so early? I thought you'd be in bed recovering like I told you."

"I'm sorry, Kyrie, I'm just…I'm going to be away for a while on another mission."

"Another mission? Why so soon? Can't it wait?"

"No it can't, you see it's…" Nero hesitated, unsure how she would react, "It's Dante. He's trapped in…in some place. He's in danger, I have to save him."

Her smile melted, "What?"

"Dante, the Man in Red? From back then? He's in danger."

"I-I-I know that bit but…" She bit her lip, before saying, "…this isn't a mission isn't it? It's something you've decided on your own."

Nero bowed his head to avoid eye contact. How could he explain? He couldn't, that's the thing, "It doesn't matter. What does matter is that I have to help him."

Kyrie blinked. As if she was trying process what he just said.

"Why?" she said eventually.

Nero frowned, "He saved me, Kyrie. He saved you! Hell, he saved all of us! This entire Island would've been thrown into chaos if it wasn't for Dante! It is only fair that I repay that debt."

"You'd honestly risk your life for a man you don't even know, Nero?"

His breath caught in his chest. She was right. She was absolutely right: he didn't know Dante at all. For some ungodly reason, that pissed him off.

"I know he's a good man," Nero growled through his teeth, "That's enough reason."

"It's not! He's not worth it! I have a terrible feeling about this!" Kyrie tried to reason with him. She was desperate for Nero to listen to her.

But he'd had enough of this, he turned away from her and received his weapons. She watched, horrified as he got ready to leave, as he would usually do for a normal mission. She really did have a terrible feeling about this; a dark fist grasped at her heart and told her that this would get him killed.

As he opened the door and was just about to leave, she threw herself against the threshold dramatically, as if she was dancing the tango with it.

"You leave," She whispered, eyes tearing up, "and I'll leave as well. But not with you. If you go after that man, you and I are over. I'm sorry, but…I. Just. Cant. Let. You. Do this!"

Nero stared at her in silence. His eyes were blank, almost sorrowful. The Fever rushed through his veins like alcohol, making him feel…differently…about the situation. It made him respond differently then what the old Nero might've.

He adjusted the handle of his sword before leaning in to kiss Kyrie on the cheek.

"Whatever helps you sleep, sis," Nero whispered softly into her ear.

As gently as he possibly could, he pried her fingers from the doorway and stepped past her. She turned, only to see an empty street, slowly greying as another rain cloud descended over the town. She began to cry.

I know you're expecting something dirty, but I'm leading up to that. Be patient.

Anyway, hope you guys like the new story,

Cheers!

Luna.