Kingdom Hearts 1. Salted Butter Caramels

Setting Notes: Modern day alternate universe. Borrows/references 'Supernatural' in places, but it's more a homage than anything. Uses my own monster lore, but I've set out to explain most nuances through character dialogue and interaction.

Warnings: Language. Rating may go up later due to lemons.

Pairings: Cleon, Soriku, and a mild dusting of Vaniku.

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**Chapter One: Salted Butter Caramels**

"Why the _fuck _am I wearing shorts?"

"Don't ask me."

"No. I know why. I woke up in a _fucking good mood. _Fuckin' good moods. I dress like a seven-year-old when I'm in a good mood, I have a half a mind to throw these stupid pieces of clothing out-"

"We both know you wouldn't do that. Next good mood would be completely ruined by you bawling and ringing me up with 'WHY DID I THROW OUT MY FAVOURITE SHORTS RIKU'. No thanks, Sor, don't wanna hear it."

His brunette companion snorted angrily, but he knew he was right. At least he'd picked out a black pair that came down below his knees a decent amount; he had a red set that kinda looked like he was strutting around in two bright crimson pumpkins.

Riku resisted snorting in laughter at the mental image, knowing it'd probably get him punched in his friend's current mood. Hard.

Sora was a basket case.

He liked to freak people out with that fact, so it wasn't like it was uncommon info. He had a fairly severe case of bipolar disorder that was borderline split personality. The thing was that he didn't forget any of his escapades; he just couldn't reason why he'd do a particular thing on the other side of the mood swing. For example, he'd had this very same conversation with him not all that long ago, except reversed; he'd been pouting about the fact he was wearing a tight pair of black skinnies and his nads were being crushed, whining about how he should've put on his favourite shorts on that morning. But he'd had a nightmare and woken up in a terrible mood, so he'd decided his poor family jewels needed a good mincing.

Riku had grown up with him, so he was used to the dramatic swings- he just wouldn't be Sora without them, in fact. It kept him on his toes, kept his life interesting. Normally it was ok to deal with, but when he was a bit younger he'd have difficulty coming out of the darker moods.

High school had come around, and he'd sworn of the permanent dark mood, ditching his given name in favour of Sora and its meaning- sky. Riku still remembered that night, the brunette both angry and tearful as he raved about being sick of wallowing in the dark. Riku had sworn to help him in any way he could, thick as thieves til the end, and thus the grounded, level-headed half of the two became something akin to a retainer for the unstable kid. He took it upon himself to shake out Sora's dark moods and keep him out of trouble, and the circumstances just served to make their relationship stronger. Riku had to learn to understand both sides of Sora's ever-swinging mood set; the happy-go-lucky cheerful teen who loved sweets, and the violent and temperamental sadist who liked to kick puppies (preventing that from occurring was one of Riku's many 'retainer duties', since the moment Sora wasn't in a pissy mood he'd start bawling about hurting the animal). There was probably no one out there who knew Sora better than Riku did; it could basically be summed up in that Riku was and would always be the only one permitted to use Sora's given name as a means of scolding him. Anyone else attempted it, and they'd be nursing a broken jaw _if they were lucky._

That was where they found themselves that Thursday afternoon, Sora puffing on a cigarette in an effort to calm the hell down and not continue to rant about his _balloon pants. _They were out the back of the school near the end of lunch; the first warning bell had already rung, but Riku and Sora weren't going anywhere while Sora still wanted to rip his own clothing off and strut about the school yard naked, public decency be damned.

"Just try and talk some frickin' sense into me about these things, man" he muttered, shaking his leg. "I feel like I'm swimming in my own clothing."

"You like the breeze" said Riku, blowing a smoke ring. He smoked socially with Sora so his best friend didn't feel ridiculous once his mood eased up, but that was all. Good-mood Sora actually hated the cigarettes, but if he was in a dark mood for long enough he'd start smoking like some kind of spiky-haired chimney.

"Screw the breeze" he muttered, flicking some ash before taking in a deep breath. Riku knew his mood was going to ease up pretty soon- he already looked less infuriated in the pants.

His nose twitched a bit, before he dropped the cigarette on the ground and stomped it out.

"Y'know what, Riku, you're right. The breeze is great" he said, thumbing his nose. "Forgot that was why I put them on this morning. We'd better get to class."

Riku smirked, dropping his own cigarette and putting it out before following his shorter friend through the school yard.

The other students avoided Sora like the plague, and for good reason. It was nigh-impossible to tell what kind of mood he was in. There was no physical evidence; just because Sora had worn shorts didn't mean he wouldn't cuss and scream like a banshee and threaten your mother.

He'd never actually hurt anyone at school. His temper was just…infamous.

They pulled their stuff out of their lockers and meandered into their classroom; the bell had rung only a few minutes ago. Sora and Riku took the back corner; nobody wanted to occupy the seat Sora usually took, and Riku was his 'retainer'. The class had been chatting loudly until the two had walked in- now they'd quieted a bit, most likely scared of pissing Sora off.

"You know, I had wanted to avoid being the scary-ass mofo in high school" Sora admitted glumly. "I didn't do so well, did I?"

"You told that one kid you were going to stick your hand down his throat and rip out his intenstines, then hang his dog with them."

"Oh come on. It's not like I could actually do that. There's too many organs in the way, I'd have to go in the back and that's just gross-"

"They don't know that" Riku said with a shrug, pulling out a pack of melon caramels and handing one to Sora before eating one himself.

"Do you have any salted butter caramel?" Sora asked, though he still ate the melon one.

"Giving them to you while you're in a good mood would destroy their effectiveness, Sor" said Riku, patting the brunette's spiky mess.

"So I just have to get into a bad mood, then you'll give me the salted caramels?"

Riku rolled his eyes and ignored the comment, the familiar _clack clack _of their teacher's heels echoing from outside the classroom door. The door swung open to reveal their teacher; a middle-aged woman with brown hair, neatly down up in a bun behind her head. She was average in height and a little plump, most of her perceived beauty being derived from the make-up she wore. Still, she wasn't an eyesore, and her eyes still had the warmth and consideration it took to be a decent teacher. Riku knew all too well from his other educational experiences that the jaded, bitter teachers were the worst ones to be around; the ones in the middle, the ones who had gotten over the stage where the students walked all over them, they were the ones who had his respect. Even if he was only just scraping by in his classes.

"Good afternoon, class" she said, placing a thick manila folder onto her desk. "I have a few announcements before we'll return to our reading of _Hamlet. _I trust you all annotated our last chapter- remember, pencil, not pen, unless you intend on keeping the book once you finish school."

There was a small chorus of chuckles and grumbles; Riku knew that at least four students had used pen despite the teacher telling them to use pencil. Pencil could be rubbed out- pen could not. Suffice to say, those who ignore the teacher's instructions were also the ones who would've liked to sell their school books, so it was their own silly loss in the end.

"Ok. That time of year has come around again, and our school will be hosting several student teachers to show them the ropes. They will be overseeing your classes while I monitor them from the back row."

Sora started muttering cursewords under his breath, and Riku, almost by force of habit, instantly had whipped out his box of Morinaga Salted Butter Caramels, passing one across the desk. Sora immediately ate it, chewing with a bit more aggression than what was necessary, but the scowl on his face eased up.

"I expect you all to be on your best behaviour when they arrive. We will still be watching, and acting like brats will earn you automatic detentions, is that clear?"

Sora raised his hand, and Riku resisted the urge to grumble to himself. He knew exactly what this was going to be about. He kept his hand near the salted caramels, ready to go into damage control if necessary. This was Sora's touchiest issue, and if not handled well it could result in some severe temper tantrums.

"Yes, Sora?" the teacher said, a knowing glint in her eye.

"They've been told about my name preference, right?" Sora stated, surprisingly calm.

"It's written on the roll call. Feel free to correct them if they don't use Sora, just keep it civil."

"Fine" Sora said, his tone a little sharp as he folded his arms. Riku exhaled, dreading the student teacher's arrival; some were ok, but there were those who insisted on being 'harsh' during their first teaching role, and he'd found that a few refused to use nicknames. Sora had grown quite attached to his name and what it represented, and he'd always had an innate loathing of his real name once they studied it in an etymology lesson. If a teacher ended up telling him he couldn't go by Sora, the brunette would probably just walk out of the classroom. If everyone was wearing lucky items or something. God forbid they try to call him back, too.

The announcement over, the teacher proceeded to start the lesson. One student was given the task of reading out loud, while the other students took notes and made discussion over the lines. Everyone's annotations were different, so buying a second-hand book with the notes already written was out of the question. Sora and Riku usually shared and compared their notes, trying to get as much work done during lessons as they could. Neither of them had time for homework beyond school, which was why they were both scraping by on precarious Cs. They got Bs in sport and occasionally in English, but that was as high as their marks went. After-school duties prevented anything higher, really.

Sora particularly enjoyed Hamlet, and had already started scribbling notes and discussion in his book. Most pages were annotated, including a few in red he'd adapted from Riku's notes. They both had different thinking processes, it was part of the reason they were such good friends- they were able to bounce solutions and ideas off of each other nearly infinitely, making them an extremely resourceful team. Unfortunately it meant they didn't work well when put into other pairs or groups without the other. Riku could cope, since he had a natural leader instinct and was able to allocate work effectively, but Sora tended to just get grumpy with the set-up and do all the work himself, or he'd slack off the entire time. He did not work well in groups. On his own, or with Riku- the teachers had learnt that fact the hard way.

Riku also pulled out his Hamlet book as the class began to debate a certain passage and its meaning, his ball-point black pen scribbling down shorthand notes on the conversation. He dog-earred his book and wrote in pen, since didn't mind not being able to sell it, and the dog-ears meant less leafing through pages to find where they were up to. Riku didn't see himself as a person with a lot of time on his hands, so the less time he spent doing mundane things, the more time he had for other aspects, like the note writing.

Their English class and the rest of the day went by smoothly. Sora didn't have any mishaps (they were actually pretty rare, he'd been dealing with it long enough to have some control) which meant Riku could go the rest of the school day saying less than twenty words. Riku was never particularly talkative- didn't need to be, he had Sora to blab on until people's ears bled and their minds were reduced to a greyish putty only capable of processing what flavours of Morinaga caramel Sora enjoyed. The silverette kept his thoughts to himself, and besides that, he struggled to have an active conversation with a regular person. He just didn't have the common ground; while others could talk about their sport picks or the like, Riku didn't even watch TV, let alone follow or play sport outside of school.

The final bell rang, announcing the end of Thursday, and Riku made his way over to his locker, fumbling around with a few of his books as he opened it and shoved them in, extracting his school bag.

"Yo!" came a cheerful yell, as his blue-eyed companion rounded the corner and nearly smashed right into him, halting mere inches away from Riku. "What's on the agenda tonight?"

Riku rolled his eyes and Sora grinned. They went through this charade most days, since they couldn't actually spout on about their after school agendas to everyone else. The silverette thought about his answer for a moment, checking his school bag's contents before shutting the locker with a bang. "Might go home and watch some movies. I think I have popcorn in the cupboard."

"Riku, do not tease me with popcorn" said Sora, getting his own things out. "Of all the things to say, seriously."

"We do have popcorn?" Riku said with a raised eyebrow. "Do you even pay attention when we do the shopping or what?"

Sora blinked a few times, before grinning sheepishly at his silver-haired friend. For good reason, Sora was not allowed within ten feet of the shopping list unless he had a genuine need, like razors or something. Riku honestly didn't know why Sora bothered with the razors, since his facial hair was very sparse and grew sporadically, but he suspected the brunette shaved regularly in the hope it'd grow faster. Either that or he was using the razors somewhere else, but Riku had no intention of asking.

The two headed out of the school, beginning the walk toward Riku's home, which was where the both of them lived.

Riku, to put it bluntly, was neglected. His parents worked jobs he didn't even care enough to ask about anymore; something like CEO of a huge company and a movie star. Riku didn't really care, honestly. They wired him through a personal allowance that was dependant on the state of their household, which they asked for photos of. The allowance was much too high, so Riku never spent it all, keeping it in a personal bank account for emergencies. As a result of the jobs they worked, they were never home. Riku had basically lived on his own since he was around twelve years old, and Sora had been living in a spare room since he was thirteen. Essentially, Riku was much less his parent's son and more like a house-sitter. They rarely, if ever, inquired on their son's behalf, and what they did ask was so pointless and ridiculous to the eighteen-year-old that he never bothered to answer properly. They hadn't even called on his birthday, which was probably a good thing; he and Sora had gotten their hands on a variety of mixers and spent their night playing Mario Kart and drinking shots every time one of them fell off of Rainbow Road. The memory was one very dear to Riku, even if a big chunk of it was hazy after he'd had the Bowser shot- Thai bird chili and cinnamon candy infused bacardi 151, with a cinnamon sugar rim, which they had then _lit on fire. _

It was a good night, let's put it that way.

Once they'd rounded the corner and were out of earshot to the rest of the school body, Sora put his hands behind his head. "Ok, Riku, what's actually on the agenda tonight?"

Riku bit his lip. The moment he said what they were doing that evening, Sora would become a glowering thunderstorm, and he really didn't want to deal with it just yet. Most of today had been a good one mood-wise, and these kinds of streaks never lasted…but Riku was always trying to prolong them as long as he could.

"I'll tell you once we get inside" said Riku firmly, and Sora pouted a bit but said nothing. He knew better than to argue with Riku's 'firm' tone. At least this way, the moment Sora's bad mood kicked in at the news, he'd go change out of his shorts and put his nut-crunching skinnies on. Riku still didn't understand why he wore them, though.

They came up to Riku's house, a largish grey post-modern building- all sharp lines and straight edges, with a two car garage and double front doors. It was almost sterile, which suited the loveless place; the only rooms inside that didn't follow the same pattern were the lounge (which had a few coloured bean bags) and the boy's bedrooms, which had their personal possessions. Sora's room was eternally a rainbow-black mess, since it didn't matter what mood the kid was in, he loathed cleaning. Thankfully most of the house's cleaning was automated, and what wasn't Riku could pick up for. That said, he still made Sora do some of the household chores to earn his keep, but they weren't your run-of-the-mill chores, so to speak.

Riku pulled out his keys and they headed inside, dumping their school bags at the front door and stripping out of their school jumpers. Sora exhaled, throwing himself onto the couch in the lounge room and putting his legs up on one of the arms.

"K, Riku. Spill."

"Inventory" Riku muttered, and Sora's eyes immediately narrowed.

"Can't you do that tomorrow night?" he asked, huffing a bit.

"He's got a…friend coming over. One who'll be staying awhile, and one we need to meet. Yes, I said we. Yes, you have to come. Yes, you have to refrain from punching things."

Sora scowled angrily, pushing himself up off the couch and storming upstairs to his bedroom. He spent a few seconds in there before thundering into the shower, clearly livid. Riku felt a small smile twitch up onto his lips, though he wished Sora wouldn't react so badly to something that was such a core part of both their lives.

Riku headed upstairs to get changed; he wasn't about to show up in his school uniform. When people see a school uniform, their first impression is 'kid' and that impression usually sticks. And he was not a kid in any way, shape or form.

Riku stepped up onto the landing and ignored the grumbled curse words streaming from the bathroom, heading into his own bedroom. It was medium sized, most of the furniture matching the rest of the house. However, the shelves were stacked full of memories and objects; an entire shelf sat gleaming with photo frames, most of them pictures of himself and Sora doing stupid shit. But that was the stuff that created the memories; you don't plan or intend for things to happen, they just do.

The silverette rifled through his wardrobe for some comfy jeans, a vest and a jacket. The weather was beginning to cool down, and he could always take the jacket off if he needed to. He threw on a few belts and slipped on a pair of comfy black sneakers, before checking his appearance in the mirror. Functional enough, with a hint of style. Good enough for meeting new people, he supposed. He liked to keep his fashionista nature a personal secret.

Riku walked out as the water in the bathroom shut off, Sora's muttering now very clear. The silverette rolled his eyes and headed back downstairs, grabbing his bag from out of the cupboard and equipping himself. Small knife on the side of each ankle, blade in the sheath underneath his jacket, small, makeshift bombs in his pockets. They weren't really bombs, and would do zilch to an ordinary human being, but Riku had no intention of fighting 'normal human beings'.

There was a loud bang as the bathroom door flew open and Sora walked out, still towelling his hair. He hadn't bothered with a shirt and was only wearing a pair of black skinnies, a belt and some socks, clearly exposing his toned chest and the tattoo that adorned it. It was a series of words in a half circle pattern, starting from just underneath the middle of his left collar bone and arching up and ending in the same place on his right collarbone, and read '_vanitas vanitatum, omnia vanitas.' _It essentially meant 'everything is meaningless' or so Sora had said. He wasn't quite sure when Sora had gotten it; Riku fuzzily recalled a tattoo parlour at some stage but he had no idea how Sora had managed to tell the tattooist what he'd wanted. Sora was notorious for slurring his words while drunk, to the point you couldn't physically understand him.

The brunette rubbed off the rest of the water in his hair, carefully drying each spike. Even while wet, his hair had a strange way of defying gravity; it was apparently genetic, since Sora's father's hair seemed to do the same thing. How, though, remained unexplained and unspoken. It was just a _thing. _

"You intending to go out without a shirt?" Riku quipped, and Sora snorted.

"In your dreams" he snapped in retort. "Are we going to pick up some food on the way there or will we wait until this bullshit's over and done with?"

"On the way. Who knows how long this'll take?"

"Ok. Chinese" said Sora shortly, turning back to the stairwell. "I want peanut satay sticks, beef and black bean and fried rice."

"Oi, it's my money" said Riku sharply, and Sora snorted again, spinning on his heel with a nasty smirk on his face, though anger was still playing in his surreal-blue eyes.

"I clean the blood out of our clothing. I get to pick what we eat."

Riku rolled his eyes, pulling out his wallet and counting the notes as Sora headed upstairs to finish changing. He could just get his own meal anyway, it wasn't like he and Sora had to eat the same thing. Riku wasn't particularly fond of peanut satay or black bean, and Sora always hogged the fried rice, especially if it was ordered with extra prawn. Their city was a beach front town, so it was well-known for its seafood, and Riku and Sora had basically been brought up on it. Sora was big on the shellfish and the crustaceans- prawns, scallops, oysters, bugs, etc, while Riku preferred things like calamari (one of his personal favourite dishes was salt and pepper squid). Both of them enjoyed proper fish, though neither had the attention span to actually go out and catch it themselves. Sora was very fond of flounder, while Riku didn't really have a preference. He didn't know what kind of fish was in a Fillet-O-Fish, but he knew it tasted good, and that was the point.

After much deliberation, Riku mentally decided that he'd get some of the lemon chicken and sweet and sour pork, and an extra container of fried rice. They were better off if they didn't share it.

Another five minutes passed, and Sora came sauntering down the stairs, wearing a pair of clunky biker boots, a grey and red wife beater that started red at the bottom and faded off, and a black leather jacket. He already had a cigarette in his mouth, but he knew better than to light up inside; Riku didn't pay enough attention to his parent's schedules to know when they'd randomly pop in, but he definitely didn't want any kind of cigarette stink sticking to the furniture.

The brunette rifled through their equipment cupboard, equipping himself similarly to Riku. Neither risked bring their dedicated weapons, which consisted of one gun and one fairly large blade each. If they got pulled up by the cops, it took a hell of a lot of explaining, and neither felt like having to go through it. Reiterating 'they're props' or 'we're performers' got very old very quickly and both of them knew it. Thank god they had a contact in the police station.

"Oh, this is gonna be _great_" Sora hissed, as they walked out the front door and locked up. "So lookin' forward to it. I'm fuckin' ecstatic."

"Don't make me break out the salted butter caramels."

"I'm way beyond salted butter caramels, Ri. Like, so fucking beyond it's not funny. Why the hell does he want me there?" Sora grumbled, the both of them heading to the car. Riku already had his license, and Sora's license wasn't for a four-wheeled vehicle. Riku hated riding on Sora's motorbike, and the brunette teen knew well enough that Riku wouldn't step within ten feet of the damn thing while Sora was in a bad mood. He drove like a drunk maniac on a good day. Bad days were what nightmares were made of. Riku was fairly certain he'd had at least three nightmare variations of riding a motorbike with Sora and all three had left him horribly mangled, waking up in cold sweat.

Riku exhaled, pulling open the driver's side door as Sora lit up. Unlike the house, the car belonged to Riku, and it stunk of cigarettes. Sora always smoked on this drive, and he didn't take a break from them either. He'd go through something like four in half an hour.

"Look, I can't read his mind" Riku stated as Sora slammed the passenger side shut and Riku started up the car. "Must have something to do with the new guy. You almost never come on inventory runs, so stop being such a sourpuss."

"I'll be as fucking sour as I damn well like" Sora growled in retort, dragging lengthily on the cigarette before tapping out some of the ashes. They'd rolled out of the driveway now and were headed down the road, a path Riku knew all too well. Sora knew it too, and hated it, especially coming in this direction. The opposite direction, to Riku's, spelt safety and friendship, while this way promised darkness and misery and that _idiot_.

"He might have some new stock in, you never know" said Riku with a shrug, trying to find something positive for Sora to focus on. "And the new guy might not be a d-bag."

"All hunters are fucking douchebags, Ri. _We_ are fucking douchebags and I'm not even supposed to be a hunter."

"I'm hurt" Riku drawled, feigning physical harm. "I can't believe you called me of all people a douchebag. Me. Lovely, little ol' me."

"Can it, Riku" snapped Sora, but there was a slight smile playing on his lips. Riku smiled slightly, before turning a corner in the direction of the chinese take-out.

"So Leon's a douchebag too, then?" Riku inquired, and Sora rolled his eyes, extinguishing his now-finished cigarette and lighting up a second.

"A bit. Gotta be a douchebag to demand a name change. Takes one to know one, Ri."

"You have a legitimate reason" Riku retorted lightly. "We still don't know what his actual name is."

"Leon said it was a 'thing' and being named after a 'thing' wasn't masculine enough. I guess 'Leon' is the epitome of manly."

"Leon is the epitome of ADA, WAIT. ADA, WAIT!" Riku stated, and Sora let out a loud, hollow laugh. If he was in a bad mood they always sounded like that, even if it was genuine. His good-mood laughter was nearly girly, a spout of giggles almost. There was no evidence of that in the laughter currently coming out of the brunette's mouth.

"Y'know, we should try and get him to start spouting 'Sora, wait!' and 'Riku, wait!' I wouldn't be able to stop laughing" Sora chuckled, blowing a smoke ring.

"I don't agree with that manly thing, you know" Riku said with a shrug. "Plenty of people are named after objects or things. At least he isn't named something ridiculous like Chair, or Grass, or Cup, or Cloud…"

Sora snorted under his breath. "My name means sky, d-bag."

"It's translated. Doesn't count" said Riku, sounding authoritarian. Sora only responded by snorting again, except this time he inhaled too much cigarette smoke and started hacking and coughing loudly, puffs of grey coming out. It happened often enough that Riku didn't even spare him a second glance, let alone attempt to help him.

They pulled up at the chinese take-out about ten minutes later, the both of them stepping out of the car. Sora put out his third cigarette, heading inside with the silverette to make sure he ordered what he'd asked for.

The place had two sections- a dining hall and a take-out waiting room. The take-out section was a lot less flash than the dining area, which was all potted plants and sleek black carpet with fancy white table cloths. Meanwhile the little off-shot room had tiled floors and wallpaper made to imitate wooden panels, and neither of the two teens could fathom why someone would want that kind of wallpaper. It was a bit dingy, but the food smelt good, and the red plush waiting chairs weren't uncomfortable.

Riku walked up to the window, checking his cash again to make sure he didn't have to use his card. The cashier was a petite Asian woman with her black hair done up in a fishnet, her face clearly showing signs of age.

"How can I help you?" she asked in thickly accented English, and Riku made one final check of his order before nodding to himself.

"Can I get two large fried rice with extra prawn, one beef and black bean, one container of peanut satay sticks-" Riku clearly heard Sora's leather jacket shuffle, and he already knew his friend was grinning- "one lemon chicken and one sweet and sour pork."

"The sweet and sour sauce comes with paopu fruit-"

"Only if it's from the one fruit and the rest is thrown out" Riku said firmly, "or you give the rest to me or something."

"That's fine" said the lady, to Riku's surprise. It must've been a common demand. Everyone knew about the 'power of the paopu fruit' and its ability to weave destinies. As someone who knew all-too well that sometimes the fictional was a little too real, Riku was not going to take his chances and have his destiny interwoven with someone he'd never even met and might not even _like _paopu or chinese food.

The lady presented her price and Riku handed over cash, the two going to sit down on the waiting chairs. Sora let out a low chuckle.

"Ri, you could've just ordered something we both like instead of actually listening to me" he said.

"Now why would I disrespect my laundry-man like that?" Riku quipped, feigning politeness. Sora scowled a bit, but he knew it was a joke, more or less. They went quiet for the rest of the waiting time, the things either wanted to discuss not appropriate for public listening. Eventually the lady called out his order, handing over two steaming bags of food. The smells wafting from them were delicious; he hadn't had chinese in a long while. Riku only ever picked up crappy snacks on these drives- usually a fillet-o-fish or some kind of wrap. He'd never tell Sora, since Sora hated these trips, but he loved having Sora's company for the ride. The silence in the car was stifling while he was alone, especially on the way back. It was very raw, and very tense. Constantly reminding him of every single close call and near miss right up until he pulled up at the driveway.

They headed out to the car and put the food in the backseat, driving the rest of the distance to their destination. They parked down the block, fishing through the food and beginning to open it up, taking deep whiffs of freshly cooked rice and the delightful tang of sweet and sour sauce.

There was one bag Riku couldn't identify, so he looked in it only to feel rather confused. It looked like half a star, with a leafy frill. Poking it revealed it to be firm but juicy, and it smelled very sweet.

"Sor, what's this?" Riku asked, handing over the bag. Sora looked in it and burst out laughing.

"Riku, she actually gave you the friggin paopu fruit! That's hilarious!"

"That's an actual fruit?"

Sora snorted, highly amused. "You didn't know? Paopu fruit are shaped like stars, man. Well, you know, the human interpretation of a star. The shape of a star is probably much closer to an orange."

"But what about _starfruit?" _Riku stated. "These are much closer to a star shape than a starfruit- you have to cut those to get a star."

"Don't ask me."

Riku wrestled with the incongruity of it all for a few more minutes before dismissing it and beginning to eat. As usual, the food from the place was superb; the lemon chicken had just the right amount of tang and they'd remembered the extra prawn. He was careful about sampling the paopu in the sweet and sour, but he found the sweet yet tangy fruit complemented the sauce perfectly, and was great with the deep-fried pork balls.

The two ate mostly in silence, since the car got enough filth and grime through it without both of them trying to talk with their mouths full. They both ate like dump trucks, unfortunately for their shopping bill. It meant that providing either with a decent meal basically guaranteed silence, though Riku was usually polite enough to make conversation if he was in a friendly-dinner meal sort of situation. The silence wasn't awkward or anything, they were both very used to it.

"Hrm" said Sora, munching on one of the satay sticks. "We should've grabbed drinks. I could go for a soda right now."

"You have a point" said Riku, swallowing a mouthful of rice. "There's a convenience store down the road?"

"Nah…I'll just nick some lemonade from the old man's fridge. He's always got some" said Sora with a shrug, though the scowl had returned a little. Riku exhaled, continuing to eat, not really paying much attention to what Sora was doing.

A few minute passed, and they'd mostly finished off their meals. He'd missed that chinese, and he'd missed coming on these runs with Sora, even if the brunette did loathe them with a passion.

He was happily enjoying his contented, full state right up until he realized Sora was eating something both firm and juicy.

"SORA, ARE YOU EATING THE PAOPU FRUIT?!" the silverette shouted, almost jumping right out of his seat. The brunette gave him a wide eyed look, already half way through eating the yellow fruit.

"Oh my god" Riku whispered, collapsing into his chair. "You do not understand what you just did."

"We're gonna be best friends for life anyway, so I didn't think it'd matter?"

Riku sat up again, looking entirely serious as he pried the fruit from Sora, knowing the damage had already been done. "Sora. Destiny isn't just this life, or this circumstance, or anything like that. Destiny is timeless and ever flowing. You eating that fruit means we are now tied together for ever and ever and into eternity. That doesn't mean just this lifetime, Sora. That means past, and present, and future, and everything in-between. In every parallel and possible universe we are now bound to each other. This is more permanent and more solid than marriage or anything like that. Every single instance of our existence, and not necessarily in a good way. One universe might have us as enemies, one might have us as friends, one might have us in a different gender, or a different age- god damn, in one universe I might be a paedophile or something and you're like, eight!"

"…I think you're freaking out way too much, Riku. Just focus on our own circumstances!" said Sora, giving him a withering look. "It's ridiculous to consider the amount of parallels, because we're never gonna know, are we? Fuckhead."

"Way to underplay the fact you just basically married me" Riku grumbled, folding his arms and leaning in his chair. Sora rolled his eyes, picking the paopu fruit back up.

"Damage's done, I'm gonna finish this thing. They're pretty tasty, you know" Sora said, smirking a bit as he ate the fruit. "Juicy, too."

"Uh huh" Riku muttered, before checking his watch. It was nearly five'o'clock- the sun would be setting soon. "We'd better head down there in five or so minutes, he said the guy would be there at five."

"Oh goodie" muttered Sora sarcastically, finishing off the paopu fruit. "I can't wait."

Riku rolled his eyes and jumped out of the car, his brunette companion doing the same. The silverette locked up the vehicle before putting his hands in his pockets and beginning the walk toward their destination.

The walk wasn't far, and eventually they arrived at the building. It was a two storey shop, with an apartment up top and the sales area down below. The sign hanging above the door simply said 'ARMS', and the windows displayed a variety of modern and older weapon tech. A few signs were posted up on the inside; a notice about a missing dog, someone trying to sell their bike, and a larger poster saying that the store was going to have a sale pretty soon to get rid of older merchandise.

Sora was staring at the door with an unpleasant expression on his face. Although it made him look unapproachable and angry, Riku knew this particular expression, and it was the one Sora made when he'd give anything to not be where he was. His blue eyes glinted with pain and the desire to turn tail and flee. Riku exhaled, and reached out and put a reassuring hand on Sora's shoulder.

"You're a better person than he is" Riku said quietly.

Sora bit his lip, before grimacing and nodding firmly. "Yeah. Let's go."

The taller boy gave him a half-smile and they stepped into the shop. Racks and rows of everything from guns to swords lined the walls, but Sora and Riku had spent enough time in the room to know exactly what it had; they were headed for the back room, which was to the side of the counter, the wooden door bearing a little sign stating 'Staff Only'. They pushed through it to find it already occupied by two brunette males. One was seated, and had an unruly mess of spikes, his eyes completely fixed on whatever he was reading, not even looking up to acknowledge the two new occupants. The second male was a couple of years older than Sora and Riku- around early twenties- wearing a pair of black jeans, a white singlet and a leather jacket. His hair was a little bit shorter than Riku's silver mane, and flicked upward a bit before travelling around the side of his head. He, too, had blue eyes, but his were darker and murkier than the intense pair both Sora and the seated man bore.

"Good to see you, Leon" said Sora, giving the taller man a short wave, which he reciprocated.

"Hey. How are things?"

Sora shrugged, taking a seat at the conference table and immediately putting his shoes on it. Riku knew he was trying to get the other man's attention, but he didn't even look up. "They could be better. We've got a group of student teachers comin' in soon, and you know what the newbies are like with preferred names."

Leon nodded sympathetically as Riku walked further into the room and out of the doorway, knowing that they had one other guest still to arrive. If he was honest, he was anxious for them to get here; the tension in the room was stifling, and there was nothing he could do to ease it. Sora hated his father, his father didn't care about Sora, and unless something drastic changed between them, that was how their relationship was going to stay. The silverette glanced at the clock, which read 4:58- he and Sora had eaten dinner pretty early, but there was popcorn at home, after all.

The clock ticked by, the only sound being that of papers shuffling and Sora drumming his fingers on the table. Each tap of fingertip caused the older man's eyebrow to twitch slightly, but he was obviously avoiding exploding just in case the guest walked in. Thank god for appearances; Riku knew the two weren't beyond stooping to brawling, as terrible as that was.

The clock clicked by onto five 'o' clock and within three seconds the doorbell from outside tinkled. There were heavy footsteps, before a surprisingly delicate knock echoed through the room.

"Leon, can you get that?" asked Sora's father, and the man nodded, heading over to the door and opening it.

In the doorway stood a blonde male who would be an inch shorter than Leon, if not for the unruly mass of blonde spikes jutting up from his head. They extended mostly upward rather than outward, like Sora's, making the two styles fairly different. He had the same coloured eyes, an unnatural blue, somehow still intense despite the lack of pigment contrast. He was wearing a black turtleneck, the sleeves rolled up just above his elbow, with a pair of black jeans tucked into brown construction boots. A bag was slung over his shoulder, which clanked ominously every time he moved. He looked a little anxious, his mouth pursed slightly as he surveyed the four men in the room.

"...I thought there were only three hunters?" was the first thing he said, his voice relatively quiet. Still, the tone held an air of someone who could lead if necessary; there was conviction in his cerulean eyes.

"Sora's not a hunter. Come in, Cloud, take a seat" said Sora's father, standing up. The blonde walked in, still looking a little fidgety as he took a seat.

"Introductions are in order. This is my first pupil, Leon, the one who answered the door" he said, gesturing to Leon. "The one with grey hair is Riku, I taught him almost in tandem with Leon, only a few years difference. Both are capable hunters in their own right."

The blonde male glanced over to Sora, who gave him a dark smirk.

"Pops says I'm a nutter, so he won't teach me" he said, folding his arms. The other raised his eyebrows, while Sora's father adopted a cold sneer, giving Sora a glare, but ignoring his comment.

"Everyone, this is my nephew, Cloud. He'll be hunting with me for a time."

Riku covered his mouth the moment he heard the name, resisting the urge to snort out loud. Sora's face had twisted up oddly, and Riku could tell the brunette was resisting laughing too. Leon caught both the expressions, but given he had no idea why they were acting that way he said nothing, just giving them both a raised eyebrow.

"So he's my cousin, right?" Sora asked.

"I really think you should've told me about Sora, Uncle Aris" Cloud muttered.

"I must have forgotten. I know I made Riku drag him along to meet you, so I didn't intend to hide him. I wouldn't bother with him, though. The only person who can handle him is his babysitter, the one standing behind you."

"Why don't you shut your fucking trap and get on with it?" Sora hissed, his eyes narrowing.

Aris gritted his teeth, his expression nearly mirroring the one his son currently bore, before he let out a long sigh. "I wanted to get at least one more hunter into this region. I've gotten some fairly reliable intel saying a nest moved in within the last two weeks."

"An entire nest?" Riku stated, walking over to the table so he could see everyone better. "Why haven't we gotten wind of this before?"

"Simple" Cloud murmured, placing his elbows on the table and folding his hands over each other, holding them in front of his face. "They're not killing people."

Aris nodded. "No deaths. Not one. Just the usual turn out of human-caused attacks and accidents, but nothing to indicate a vamp."

"A nest with no attacks?" Leon murmured quietly, thinking to himself. "What about hospitals? Have they reported any blood thefts?"

Aris smirked, before nodding. "Massive. And there have been complaints of rose gardens being destroyed, all the buds being removed."

"This city has a high concentration of blood rose plants, so it's no surprise if there haven't been any attacks" said Riku, nodding to himself. "The question is why? It's in a vampire's nature to seek destruction and they're not very good at resisting their urges, so why haven't any slipped up?"

"Yes. It's extremely suspect."

"They're recruiting" said Cloud, leaning back and folding his arms, his eyes closed. "If they were laying low they wouldn't have taken so many different sources of blood, but that's clearly not the case. They must've turned to a town with a high population, small number of hunters, and large blood rose growth to breed up a new horde."

"Damn" hissed Riku. "It's bad enough when they're killing people and trying to kill us."

"Yeah. Vampires love nothing more than turning hunters" Leon muttered. "We'll have to be extra careful."

Aris nodded firmly. "And that's why I wanted to make sure we're all travelling in pairs in every hunt from now on. That way, if anything happens, there's a failsafe."

"Staking a friend. Pleasant" Cloud muttered. "I can see why you had such a poor turn out."

"That, and nobody likes him" Sora snarked.

"If you're going to be a little shit, you can leave" Aris hissed, putting his hands down on the table.

"Going to kick me out again? I'm so scared" Sora retorted sarcastically. "I'm totally still a skinny thirteen-year-old who couldn't beat your skull in. Try it, old man."

"Enough" Riku said sharply, pinching the bridge of his nose. "The both of you. We have a very serious problem on our hands. Newborns means massive appetites. If the leader of the group doesn't keep a tight leash on them, the death toll will rise very quickly. Not to mention that all of us are at an extreme risk in our own right. So can we please keep a steady head on our shoulders and not act like a pair of fucking teenagers? Thanks."

The two brunettes gave Riku a sharp stare, but it wasn't the first time the silverette was forced to step in between the two's nasty bickering. It'd only gotten worse the older they both got; Aris was get crotchety, and Sora's repertoire of cusses had expanded immensely.

"Alright. We need to avoid inciting conflict too much at this point. We'll do our normal rounds, we just need to be hyper aware. They will be going for the bite, not the kill."

Riku nodded, putting his hands in his pockets. "I need to do inventory before I go home. Is the meeting over?"

"Yeah. Take whatever you need."

Sora and Cloud stood up, and they all shuffled out of the room. Riku went into the back storage room, Sora following close behind- though Cloud seemed to have also accompanied them.

"Can I help you?" Sora asked, raising an eyebrow, and Cloud smirked slightly, closing the door to the storage.

"I was mentored by a man named Angeal rather than my dad, who happens to have some connections, so I brought along some of his spare stock."

The blonde shrugged the pack off his shoulder and opened it up, revealing several blades. One sort of resembled a scimitar, with the back edge formed in what looked like a bat's wing and a dark purple-red colouration. There was a second, more traditional blade, made of cold grey steel with a bandage near the handle. Parts of the blade were notched out, and the red handle had a square-shaped guard around it. The third blade was buried a bit deeper in the pack, so neither boy could see it.

"Since your father's being an ass, you can have the one intended for him" said Cloud, patting the brunette's mess of spikes. Sora's eyes widened, looking at the blonde in absolute shock.

"Wh-wha? Dad told you I'm not a hunter though!" Sora said, keeping his voice down despite the exclamation. Riku raised his eyebrows slightly; Sora only called him 'Dad' in a good mood, so he must've just switched after what Cloud had said.

Maybe he'd be good to keep around.

"Sora, I know a hunter when I see one" Cloud said slyly, smiling a bit. "Did you learn off Riku?"

Sora nodded, swallowing and rubbing his hair. "If my dad finds out he'll flip. It's why I hate coming here…there's always a chance there's blood still on me or I've forgotten something."

"Between you and me, Uncle Aris is pretty dense" murmured Cloud, shrugging. "Honestly, I'd rather he not use one of them- he's the type to forgo the TLC and leave them subject to wear, tear and rust. So, so long as you two can promise to take care of them, I'll give you these two and the third to Leon."

"There's a catch, isn't there?" Riku asked, raising one silver eyebrow. Cloud smirked slightly, before turning his on his heel.

"The catch? Stop the bloodsuckers. That's all I want" he said quietly. "A man's only as good as his equipment, you know. Dress for the part."

The silverette folded his arms as Cloud stepped back out of the room. Sora let out a low whistle.

"He's intense. I like him" he said cheerfully. "Well, we'd better get this inventory over and done with, eh?"

"Yeah. I need more anti-vamp bombs and ammo…we're running low on medical supplies, too" said Riku, thinking of the inventory check he'd done the night before. Sora immediately nodded and the two began rifling through the storage, packing up a set of supplies. Riku always took a little extra whenever he did inventory; he claimed spares, but the truth was that they were for Sora to use. As such the two were usually slightly undersupplied, in order to not raise Aris's suspicions, but both were naturally talented fighters and they managed to scrape by. Truth was, neither boy knew what Aris would do if he found out Riku had taught Sora everything he'd learnt at the same time. Aris was far from an even-tempered man, and the circumstances in which Sora had been kicked out weren't pleasant. Aris wasn't really an accepting person. He had a long, long list of prejudices, ranging from inherent racism to dehumanisation of gays and transgenders. This same sort of intolerance carried through to his hatred of vampires, and is inability to understand mental illness. Sora's mental illness was properly diagnosed, and yet his father treated him like his 'dark' mood was Sora being possessed. Riku knew better than most that the thought was a load of crap, since at his core Sora was always the same person, but Aris wouldn't listen to reason, not from the doctors, not from Riku, not from Sora himself. The last night Sora had lived in this place, Aris had attempted to exorcise him, and not gently, either. Riku had rescued him, and that was the same night Sora swore off his dark moods.

Riku shook off the memory, exhaling loudly and silently checking the items both he and Sora had grabbed before nodding.

"Alright, I think that's it. Let's head home."

"Yeah. I think Cloud's waiting until we're at our car to give you that sword. It was pretty cool looking, actually. Like a bat wing."

"I agree. Kinda dark for a vampire hunter to be using, but it'll be easier to claim collectible with that kind of shape" said Riku with a small chuckle. "Good thing we have such a good set of connections though."

"Mhm. If that guy we've got at the police station wasn't with us you'd have been imprisoned years ago."

Riku shuddered at the thought. He wasn't exactly an ugly guy and the things they did to pretty boys in prison weren't pleasant.

The two stepped out of the storage room, heading for the exit. They stepped outside to hear voices, and the two found Cloud and Leon chatting idly near the doorway, Leon now holding what looked like a combined gun and pistol. Although his face was neutral, Sora and Riku knew the older man well enough to see when he was pleased; the near-permanent scowl on his features had eased up and his eyes were twinkling merrily.

"You know how it works then?" Cloud asked, a hand on his hip. Leon let out a low chuckle.

"I trained with gunblades before I became Aris's pupil. Circumstances" said Leon, ending the sentence with an uncomfortable shrug. Nobody really liked talking about how they'd ended up in the supernatural business. If it wasn't vamps, it was something worse. Vampires were just very common since they were easy to spot and their conversion process was very short. The world was full of other nasties, they just didn't rear their ugly heads as often. Even then, Sora, Riku and Leon were content to let vampires slide by if they were keeping to themselves and managing their appetites. A vampire doesn't have to infect a victim, and vampires could survive solely on blood roses if necessary. The weird plant had a sort of 'blood bag' at the bottom of the rose, but the entire flower was food to a vampire. Nowhere near as satisfying as a proper meal, but for those who didn't want to hurt others they had to suffice.

"Right" said Cloud quietly. "Well, that's good. I was worried when Angeal gave me that- I know they're not easy to master."

"Yeah, if you don't know what you're doing the recoil is hell" Leon agreed with a nod. "But I feel more comfortable with a gunblade than a regular sword, so I don't think you have anything to worry about."

"Can it shoot bullets?" Sora piped in, looking very curious. Cloud raised his eyebrows, before shaking his head.

"The gun part creates a shockwave through the blade, making cuts uneven and more damaging. You seem cheerful."

"We're heading home, I'm always cheerful on the way back" Sora said with a grin. "Plus we've got popcorn!"

Leon chuckled a little at the grin, noticing Cloud's slightly confused face. "Don't worry, you get used to it. Where are you staying, Cloud?"

"Ah, Aris has a room" Cloud said, fidgeting a bit. "I don't really like the idea of staying here but I don't have much of a choice."

Leon folded his arms, thinking to himself for a few minutes, before exhaling. "If Aris gets to be too much of a handful, I do have a spare mattress or a couch…my house isn't very big though."

Cloud shook his head. "I don't want to intrude. Plus you barely know me."

"I think after we hunt with you a few times, it'll be ok" said Riku with a shrug. "I'd offer, but the only room I have spare is my parent's- Sora already lives in the other room. I could shift around some stuff in one of the others, but…"

"Seriously, it's ok" said Cloud, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "Though I'm getting a little worried about Aris if you three are jumping at the opportunity to offer me a room."

"He tried to exorcise me" Sora said flatly.

"Oh" said Cloud, looking a bit shocked. "…right. Ok. I'll…think about it. I don't think he'll be too bad with me, though…my dad would be pretty pissed if that were the case."

"Yeah, it shouldn't be too bad" said Leon, patting the blonde on the shoulder before turning and walking toward his car. "Remember to lock your door at night. Get out of the house if he starts drinking, too" he added as he walked.

"…Sora, Riku" Cloud said, watching Leon as he walked away. "If you were given the option between a hungry vampire and Aristotle, what would you pick?"

"Hungry vampire" they said simultaneously.

Cloud's shoulders sagged dramatically. "I was afraid of that."

The blonde accompanied them on the walk to their car, where the silver and brunette males loaded up their supplies. Cloud pulled out the blades from his pack, placing them in the back of Riku's car.

"Ok" said Cloud, indicating to the bat-wing one. Out in the open, Riku could see it also had a turquoise gem set in the hilt. "This one is called Soul Eater. Obviously, you strike with the back edge, but the wing tips are sharp as well; they're used for gouging, handy with certain supernatural types."

"I see" said Riku with a nod, as Sora peered around from behind the taller two men. "What about my one?" he asked curiously.

"It's called Fenrir. The blade's embedded with silver, so it's damaging to both vampires and werewolves, but the sword was designed for taking out the latter. Still, it's just as effective on the children of the night. It's more or less a traditional sword."

"What do you use?" Sora asked. "Just wondering."

Cloud smiled slightly, but there was pain in his eyes. "…A weapon called the Buster Sword. It was a friend's…but he died."

"…Vampire attack?" Riku asked quietly, and Cloud chuckled quietly as he shut the boot of Riku's car.

"If only" he murmured. "…Zack was shot to death. A hunter group from across town found out he was a werewolf."

"You were friends with…?"

Cloud sighed, adjusting the now-empty pack on his shoulder. "He got turned about a year before he died. He was managing it pretty well, actually. Had some hiccups, but…well."

The blonde shrugged, before giving them a short wave and walking back toward the shop. Sora and Riku looked at each other, wondering what it'd be like if one of them died at the hands of the people they trusted. Silently, they both agreed they never wanted it to end that way, as they headed back into their car and drove home without a single word spoken between them.


	2. Biology Lessons

**Chapter Two: Biology Lessons**

Cloud ended up spending most of his Friday exploring his new surroundings. He knew that getting a feel for the environment was one of the most basic foundations for a hunt, and with the situation as it was Cloud didn't want to take chances. He'd been on the butt-end of a recruitment drive before, and though he remained friends with the unfortunate souls who'd been swept up into it last time, Cloud didn't want the same situation reoccurring. Because after a recruitment drive, _they _showed up.

The hunting group known as _Shinra_. Spoken in whispers amongst the supernatural community, they were ruthless and unforgiving, and had no reprieve for the 'harmless' types; dhampirs, faeborn, no-one was safe. And if they couldn't get this nest under control, Shinra would appear to clean up the mess, and would leave a string of corpses and dust in their wake.

Of course the group were a bunch of filthy hypocrites as well and it had earned them a lot of enemies. Cloud included. Back when Shinra had been a pinnacle of hunting ability to the blonde, rather than a group to be feared and despised, there had been an extraordinarily talented hunter named Sephiroth whom he'd admired. However, the man disappeared when the truth came forward; Sephiroth was a faeborn raised by Shinra. The knowledge that he had the blood of the creatures he'd been raised to hate drove the silver-haired man into madness and he'd burnt down some of Cloud's hometown. Thankfully his own hunter group had managed to get him to back off and the town had been saved, but the incident still remained fresh in his mind.

Then, of course, there was Zack's death.

The memory made Cloud's chest constrict painfully, and he quickly dismissed the thought, assessing the area he'd found himself in. It was a café strip somewhere downtown, shadowed by tall buildings. Cloud's gut immediately told him this was most likely a hang-out for vampires later at night, but since it was mid-afternoon it seemed unlikely many would be around, if any at all.

The blonde walked through the street, thinking maybe he'd grab a coffee before heading back to Aris's place, when he spotted a familiar curtain of brown hair.

Cloud's eyebrow perked up, curious as to why the other hunter was this far into town, but then, Cloud had no idea where Leon lived. There was a strong possibility the other male just drove out to Aris's place for inventory. He wouldn't be surprised if the three other hunters lived as far as possible from Aris's place, if their descriptions of the man were to be believed.

"Leon?" Cloud inquired curiously, and the brunette turned, looking surprised and a bit off-guard. His stormy-blues looked wary, so Cloud gave him a reassuring smile.

"Didn't expect to run into you…I'm not familiar with this city, so I was getting a feel for my surroundings."

Some of the tension in Leon's shoulders eased, and he gestured to the chair opposite him, taking a sip of what appeared to be a latte. Cloud obliged, sitting down and giving the quaint coffee shop a glance over. It was cosy, the coffee smell strong and flavoursome. There were only a couple of tables outside the shop, one of which was occupied by Leon, and another few inside. The lady working as the barista was a thin woman wearing half-moon spectacles, her blonde hair hanging into two long bangs alongside her face, the rest clipped up on the back of her head. Her blue eyes were a shade lighter than his own, reminding him a little of an icy-cold morning, but she gave him a smile that instantly warmed them up.

"That's Quistis" said Leon, noticing Cloud's look. "She's an old friend of mine."

Cloud raised his eyebrows, before giving Quistis a smile of his own. She finished serving the man at her counter before sliding around it, walking up to their table.

"Oho, are you making friends, Leon?" she asked cheekily, and the brunette man exhaled.

"That's none of your-"

"-Business" she finished for him, grinning widely while her eyes glinted with mischief. Leon let out another long, exhausted sigh, and as he put his head in his hand.

"Did I say friend? I meant horse fly."

The blonde woman laughed quietly, obviously used to Leon's attitude, but the brunette seemed unamused. Quistis, however, was completely unfazed, turning to Cloud with a knowing smile.

"Are you a business friend? Leon never seems to meet anyone outside of it."

"Yeah, he's new" Leon said quickly. "We've only talked a couple of times, mainly warned him about Aris."

Cloud raised his eyebrows at the statement and how quickly he'd said it, and he caught the knowing nod from the female blonde. "So, what's his name?"

"I'm Cloud" the spiky-haired blonde introduced, offering his hand. Quistis shook it, her grip quite firm but revealing that she used moisturizer. "So you know about Leon's job?"

"Leon doesn't make many friends, so those he's close to know a lot about him" Quistis explained with a small smile. Leon rolled his eyes, propping his elbow on the table and resting his chin in his hand, developing an expression that could almost be called a pout. The man clearly wasn't enjoying the attention, and the tense look from before had returned. Cloud couldn't help but be curious, but he decided it would be in his best interests to not immediately put himself in Leon's bad books. After all, the man knew how to use a gunblade, for pete's sake.

"Well, I don't know him well yet, I guess" said Cloud with a shrug.

Quistis smiled a bit. "He's a good guy when you do get to that stage. Don't let his stoic persona fool you."

"Quis-tis" Leon growled under his breath. "Aren't you supposed to be working?"

The blonde smiled brightly, spinning a little on her heel to face Cloud fully. "What can I get you, Cloud?"

"Oh, um…do you have barley tea?" he asked cautiously, and the blonde raised her eyebrows before nodding. "Ok, one barley tea and a sweet of your choice."

Quistis smiled again at being given her own decision, before mentally jotting down the order. "One barley tea and a sweet. Coming right up. I'll leave you two alone, shall I?"

She smirked slyly, before waltzing back into her shop.

"You drink barley tea?" Leon asked, raising his eyebrows.

Cloud fidgeted a bit, rubbing his hair. "Yeah…a friend of mine makes it. I like the taste, but she puts way too much sugar in it."

Leon's lips crept up a little bit, but his blue eyes glinted with a deeper smile hidden behind them. "I think I might know said friend."

"Aeris Gainsborough?" Cloud said cautiously and Leon nodded.

"I do know a few members of your group…just not you, now that I think about it. Aeris is faeborn, correct?"

Cloud shrugged. "I'm not _entirely _sure on that one. From what I've heard of her mother, she didn't sound like the type to sleep around with a fae and then get knocked up by someone else. And I've never heard of faeborn occurring any other way."

Leon raised his eyebrows at that statement, before nodding to himself, sipping his latte. "You're right. Aeris talks of Ifalna like she was some kind of saint. There's a possibility that Ifalna herself was faeborn and it passed onto Aeris. Or perhaps she's simply a naturally talented mage. It's rare to see such strong potency with healing magick, though."

"Or any magick, really" Cloud conceded, thinking about it. All humans had the potential to use magick, as did most supernatural creatures. For a human, they needed to find a life changing goal to tap into the ability, and it took years to master. Werewolves struggled with it, and normally didn't bother. Vampires were innately able to use magick, but only the older type took the time to hone their abilities. Faeborn were the most magically potent; born from human women who still had the seed of a fae within them while copulating with a human, they could channel magick in ways others couldn't even dream of.

Leon cleared his throat a bit awkwardly, drawing in a deep breath. "I don't mean to pry, but-"

"I can use magick" said Cloud with a short nod, already knowing what the question was going to be. Since goals were usually quite personal, and often had an element of pain, asking was considered a little bit impolite and invasive. "I haven't learnt much, though…it's only been a year since I gained the ability" he admitted, before looking sheepish. "What about you?"

"Yeah. I don't know much either, though. Aeris taught me a few basic healing spells and I know one for projectile fireballs, but that's about it."

The blonde raised his eyebrows, just as Quistis was coming back out with his barley tea and what looked like a blueberry scone. "The fire spell sounds handy."

"Not easy to aim" Leon admitted wryly, as the woman put his food down on the table, giving Leon a curious look.

"You two are getting along well" she said, smiling a little. Leon shot her an annoyed look, but as with all of Leon's warnings and nuances, she didn't even acknowledge it. "I haven't seen you talk this much to someone in a long while."

"Cloud is actually pleasant company, unlike certain people" Leon said snidely, sipping his coffee. Quistis merely smiled at this and left the food on the table, returning to her post. Cloud took a cautious sip of the barley tea, noticing it wasn't quite as good as Aeris's, but it was alright all the same.

"I don't drink barley tea unless Aeris gives it to me, and even then it's rare" Leon admitted. "The sugar gets on my nerves...I don't react well to it."

"Not a sweets fan?" Cloud asked, taking a bite out of his scone. Leon shrugged a bit, draining the rest of his latte.

"I can stand a bit of sugar here and there but I really don't have a much of a sweet tooth. I don't understand the appeal to be honest. I prefer bitter or salty foods."

Leon grimaced lightly, looking a bit annoyed at something, before he leaned over the table, looking over to Quistis.

"Long black!" he called, and she gave him an eye-roll and started prepping the drink.

Cloud raised his eyebrows, looking at Leon from over the rim of his cup. "Latte not your usual, then?"

"I wanted something frothy, but mentioning bitter stuff made me want my usual" Leon said, folding his arms. Cloud shrugged.

"Not judging you" Cloud said dismissively, noticing how uptight Leon had gotten. However, the comment only served to make Leon tense up further, which caused the spiky-haired blonde's eyebrow to quirk up again. He hadn't noticed it the night before, but Leon was very defensive. Or perhaps it was the fact Cloud had run into him outside of a hunting situation. He certainly was a bit different to the heavy-handed, gruff man he'd met in Aris's store. He'd firmly believed Leon was his elder by quite a few years at the time, but his nigh-childish behaviour was dismissing that thought.

"How old are you, Leon?" Cloud inquired curiously, sipping his tea. The question seemed to surprise Leon enough that some of the tension in him eased, and he exhaled.

"I'm twenty" the brunette admitted, and Cloud immediately choked on his tea, immediately putting the cup down and coughing loudly, knocking his fist against his chest to get the liquid to go down right.

"Jeez, are you alright?" Leon asked quickly, getting up and tapping Cloud on the back. The blonde gave him a sheepish smile as he recovered, rubbing his hair, and the brunette returned to his seat.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Your age just shocked me, that's all" Cloud said, waving his hand dismissively. Leon raised his eyebrows.

"Why? Sora and Riku are seventeen and eighteen respectively" Leon muttered, and Cloud shrugged.

"I'm twenty-two" Cloud replied. "When we met last night, I was sure you were mid-twenties."

"Oh" said Leon, rubbing the back of his head, as Quistis came out with his long black coffee, having overheard their conversation.

"Leon's always acted a bit mature for his age" she said, and Leon gave her a disgruntled look as he sipped his coffee.

"I see" said Cloud, as his phone buzzed loudly in his pocket. He pulled it out, reading the message quickly. It was from Aris; he wanted to talk to him about the night's hunt, as well as get an update on his current activities. His brow furrowed a bit at the last part- Cloud was a grown man by anyone's standards, he didn't need to report his activities to anyone, even if they were his uncle.

In the end, though, Cloud texted him back saying he'd been exploring the city and bumped into Leon, and that'd he'd be home in an hour or so.

"Aris?" Leon inquired casually, sipping his coffee. Cloud gave him a wry smile.

"Yeah. Wanted to know where he was."

"He's checking that you're not conspiring with vampires" Leon said flatly, and Cloud raised his eyebrows, giving Leon a confused look, which the brunette seemed to understand perfectly. "Aris knows Sora, Riku and I are willing to let a vampire slide by if they're not harming anyone. That man, however, is just as unforgiving as Shinra and then some. I've heard some stories. And they're not pleasant."

"Can I hear?" Cloud asked, and Leon froze for a moment, before exhaling.

"You probably already have, you know" Leon said with a shrug. "Killed a vampire and her husband in cold blood. They hadn't done anything to him, he just didn't approve of their relationship. The husband was human, for the record."

"…Oh. I think my dad did mention that one" Cloud mumbled awkwardly. Leon nodded, before standing up, adjusting his jacket.

"I have to get ready for tonight, and you'd better head back to Aris" Leon said, his tone icy. "Don't trust that man, Cloud. Blood or not."

The brunette gave him a shorthanded wave, taking his coffee with him as he disappeared around a corner. Quistis had given him a take-away cup; she seemed to have known that he was going to leave soon. Cloud watched the corner Leon had just disappeared around, grasping at the fragments of memory he had about that story. He couldn't remember much of it, his father refused to talk about it these days since it was such a black stain against the family, and it'd been what…fifteen, sixteen years ago? He'd been a little kid at the time. But it'd devastated his father, the fact his brother had gone and done something like that. He and Cloud had never been close- the man kept distance from his family because of his job, and even once Cloud took up the occupation he was on errands most of the time- but Cloud distinctly remembered that night as being the first and last time he'd seen his father cry.

Cloud left some money on the table for Quistis, and he left to go find his bike, a beaten-up eighteenth birthday present. It was an older model of a Hardy Daytona, but for its age, Cloud had taken care of it very well. As he got on the bike, one name kept cropping up as he thought of that story of the vampire and her human husband, a name he couldn't put a face to at all despite feeling like it was important. He couldn't even remember the name itself.

He knew, however, that the name started with an 'S'.

As it turned out, one Uncle Aris did not take well to extended absences. When Cloud arrived back at the ARMS shop, the first thing he heard was a violent smash from upstairs. The young man's torso tensed, suddenly wishing he'd taken the Buster Sword with him, but it wouldn't do to have the massive weapon with him all the time. Cloud was lucky he could even use the thing, carrying it around all the time would just give him headaches. And sore muscles.

Zack had used regular swords up until he'd been turned. Despite the blade being made of silver, the wrapping around the handle made the weapon perfect for the suddenly super-humanly strong male. Cloud, however, was of no such persuasion. He had told the truth when he'd informed Leon that he knew very little magick, but the first spells he learnt were ones to make heavy objects a bit lighter to use. Air and levitation spells, basically. It'd taken a long time to master the act of wielding the weapon effectively both for himself and to deal damage, but he was confident enough now to hunt with the weapon. It would, most likely, be an ongoing process.

Swallowing his trepidation, Cloud headed up to the medium-sized flat that sat above the ARMS store. It was tiny, only having two bedrooms, one of which was significantly smaller than the other. Aris occupied the larger room, which was obviously the master, so Cloud had set himself up in the smaller of the two rooms. The room wasn't in great shape- it looked like the previous occupant had made a hell of a lot of fuss as he'd exited.

No wonder, if the previous inhabitant had been post-exorcism-attempt Sora.

The blonde cautiously eased the front door open, finding it unlocked, only to have a near-miss with a flying dinner plate, which exploded against the building behind him into a waterfall of tinkling ceramic.

Peering inside, the damage was apparent; there was smashed crockery and glass everywhere, the furniture had been upturned, and Aris was holding what looked like more plates. His eyes were bloodshot and the room stank of alcohol; the man was drunk, that much was obvious.

"Where the hell have you been, fucktard?" he cursed, slurring his words as he threw another few plates, but the drunk man's aim was off and Cloud dodged them easily.

"I told you" the blonde said calmly, but underneath his stoic mask a part of him was freaking out. He was supposed to be living with this man? What the hell was his father thinking?

"Text tells me nothin'" the man hissed, throwing the last plate. "I knew I shuldn't a trusted yer fuckin' bleedin' heart fuckin' father. Vampires aren't monsters ee says. Fuckin' still ravin' on at me about that fuckin' vampire bitch slut and her manwhore."

Cloud wasn't sure where it had come from. One moment he was listening to the man rant on about his father and resolving not to pay attention to him, and the next he was stepping forward and swinging his fist with such force that he was sure the impact with the man's jaw had shattered some of the bones in his hand. The punch had been at such an angle that the hit knocked the drunken man out cold. The man fell to the floor in a limp heap, leaving Cloud standing over him, his breath coming in short gasps as bruises formed on his fingers.

Cloud swallowed, relaxing his posture and running a trembling hand through his hair, trying to process his thoughts. All he could amount it to was that maybe he'd ended up associating the rant with Zack. It was probably how the drunkard would've thought of the other man, if he'd known him after he'd been turned. And that genuinely pissed Cloud off, along with the fact the man had no respect for the dead whatsoever.

Exhaling, Cloud looked through Aris's pockets to find the old man's phone, which he hadn't even bothered to put a passcode lock on. He found Leon's number first, then Riku's, tapping both of them into his own phone, but couldn't find Sora's, which Cloud found strange. Even if they hadn't been talking, surely the man had Sora's phone number, at least?

He drifted through the numbers, sighing when he couldn't find anything relevant. There were only a few S's anyway. Sally…Sazh…Seifer…Serah…Shera…Snow…Soritas…only the last one even came close.

Cloud sighed and dropped the phone, heading back outside, locking the door and calling Leon's number as his footsteps echoed down the stairwell. It rang twice before he picked up.

"Who are you and how did you get this number?" he hissed.

"It's Cloud" the blonde said shortly, and a small 'oh' echoed from the other end of the line.

"…Last question's still relevant."

"Took it from Aris's phone. He got drunk and attacked me so I punched him out" Cloud said, shrugging despite the fact he knew Leon couldn't see him.

"…Nice one" said the brunette. "Guess that means he won't be hunting tonight."

"Nope. Don't think he'd be sober enough to even if he did wake up" Cloud replied flatly. "Wouldn't want him too, either. Want to partner up for tonight?"

"Let's just do the patrol in a group. I usually end up hunting with the other two anyway."

"Afraid of being alone with me?" Cloud snarked, grinning mischievously as he headed into the ARMS shop to grab his sword. He heard the man on the other line splutter a bit at the suggestion.

"W-what's that supposed to mean?" he grumbled.

"Aw, Leon, are you blushing?" Cloud teased, sure he'd get a snide remark in return, but all he got was another loud splutter and the line going dead. Cloud stared at the phone for a few minutes, before chuckling to himself. Somehow, the younger man was _really _easy to tease.

The blonde grabbed the Buster Sword from the back room, quietly murmuring a lightening enchantment on it as he strapped the weapon to his back. He grabbed a few supplies from the storeroom before heading outside. Deciding that this was most likely _not _the place the other three met up to start hunts, Cloud decided to call someone else- that Riku kid.

The dial tone sounded about four times before he picked up, sounding a little cautious.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Riku, it's Cloud" the blonde said.

"Oh, hi. Did Aris give you my number?" he queried, sounding a little confused.

"Sort of" Cloud said wryly. "I was calling to ask where you meet up to start patrols."

"Oh…aren't you going with Aris?"

"Out of commission for tonight" Cloud said simply, and the line went quiet for a moment. Cloud could've sworn he could almost _hear_ the eye roll.

"Alright, we meet at…" the silverette rattled off a familiar address, "do you know how to get there? Leon has a car, he could drive by and lead you there if you need it."

"Nah, I'm alright" said Cloud. "I know where it is. Half an hour?"

"Sounds about right. See you there."

The silver-haired male hung up, and Cloud pocketed his phone, heading for his bike. The blonde pulled his goggles off the bike's handles, slipping them over his eyes, before saddling the beast of a bike and starting it up, taking pleasure in the sound of the engine revving. He loved this thing, even if he did drool all over the latest models in the _Fenrir_ line.

He quickly drove up to the meeting spot, parking his bike off the corner in some secure parking he found. His eye immediately caught the very much out of place 1958 light blue Cadillac Coupe DeVille- what the hell was a car like that doing here? He stared at it for a few moments, as though the blue paint was going to reveal some kind of secret to him, but all it did was make him notice the toy chocobo figure hanging from the rear-view mirror.

Whoever owned that car had mighty fine taste.

Cloud headed back outside to find that Leon was already waiting at the spot, clad in black leathers and a white shirt, a set of red, crossed over belts overlapping his waist. His gunblade was strapped to his belt, and his arms were folded, his face set into a cold frown.

"Hey" said Cloud, waving slightly, and the brunette's eyes flicked in his direction for a second, before he shut his eyes and ignored him. Cloud folded his arms, giving the other man an annoyed stare. What was his problem, anyway? They'd gotten along just fine earlier while having coffee.

Well, he could be mad about the blushing comment, but this didn't feel like anger. It was more like indifference, like Leon didn't care if the blonde was with them or not. It gave Cloud a decisively cold feeling, one he didn't like, one that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

The vibe Leon was giving off now, compared to the one from earlier, was completely different. This was a man focused, determined, prepared for the challenges ahead. This was the kind of hunter who didn't muck around with formalities. Well, fine, if Leon was going to be that way, Cloud would match him. It wasn't like Cloud didn't have experience of his own; his father wouldn't have sent him into the heart of a recruitment drive if he didn't.

"Has there been any activity tonight?" Cloud asked, and Leon opened his eyes, shaking his head slowly.

"No. Not a peep. But something doesn't feel right. I'm not sure what it is."

Cloud nodded. There was something off about the air tonight, a strange sort of tension. Like Leon, Cloud had no idea what could be causing it, but he wasn't about to let his guard down for a second.

Their thoughts were interrupted by the rumbling of an SUV, one Cloud recognized to be Riku's, as it also parked in the secure parking. Cloud watched it roll down, before an idea popped into his head.

"Hey, is that 1958 Coupe DeVille yours?" he asked, and Leon blinked in surprise, giving the blonde a curious look.

"Yeah. My mentor gave it to me for my eighteenth" Leon said, raising an eyebrow. "Car enthusiast?"

"Kind of" Cloud admitted, thumbing his nose. "It was more Zack's field. He was obsessed with one in particular- I think it was a 1968 or 9, Chevrolet Impala? SS, if I recall correctly. I'm more into bikes myself."

Leon smiled slightly. "Your friend has good taste. The Impala's a sexy car. The Eldorado Cadillac from the same year's pretty nice too."

Leon had a dreamy look on his face as he said it, obviously thinking of the cars. It amused Cloud a little bit; Leon had yet to express interest in anything up to this point. Cloud was enjoying the chance to learn about someone who attempted to be an enigma. So far, he wasn't doing so well.

From behind them they heard a cheerful 'Hoi!' and the two teenagers ran up to them, both of them equipped with the blades Cloud had given them. Sora took the opportunity to gape widely at the sword on Cloud's back, stunned by the size of it.

"Can you even lift that thing?!" he exclaimed. "You're not a halfa or something, are you?"

"Nope" said Cloud, lifting the blade off his back. "I just have a few tricks up my sleeve."

"Just because someone can wield a heavy weapon doesn't mean they're half-something" Leon muttered darkly. "Have a bit more tact, Sora."

The younger brunette gave him a sheepish grin, rubbing his mess of spikes. Riku exhaled.

"Sorry. He's going to be a bit overexcited about Aris being 'out of commission'" he explained. Cloud raised his eyebrows, before remembering he didn't have Sora's number. He pulled out his phone, making a new contact.

"Hey, can I grab your phone number? I got Leon's and Riku's from your father's phone, but he didn't have yours."

"...Aris doesn't have Sora's number?" Leon asked in confusion. Cloud shrugged.

"There was no Sora in the phonebook."

Sora took the phone and tapped in his number, before giving his own phone a call and handing the phone back. "There. One Sora, call me before midnight and your pizza is free" he said cheerfully, thumbing his nose.

"Don't feed him after midnight or get him wet though" Riku murmured, and Sora punched him in the shoulder. Cloud chuckled, immediately getting the _Gremlins _reference.

"Alright, we'd better move" said Leon, taking charge as he stepped away from the wall he was leaning against. "Keep on your guard. There's a bad vibe in the air."

The two nodded, and Cloud also gave him a short nod. And with that, they were off.

The night-time patrols always earned them weird looks from passer-by's; after all, all of them were carrying various very sharp, very dangerous weapons. Thankfully, years of training as hunters had given them a purposeful way of moving. The streets were mostly empty at this time of night, anyway; despite the fact vampires hadn't been very active as of late, there had been times where they were, and most people did know of their existence. Even if the police and government did refuse to formally acknowledge them as real.

There was absolutely no sign of supernatural activity for the first four or so hours. They even ended up idly chatting among themselves, though it was mostly Sora asking Cloud various questions about his life prior to moving in with Aris. Cloud kind of appreciated his younger cousin's enthusiasm, though his ability to flip between moods remained semi-unexplained and a little confusing. However, the blonde didn't feel as though it was his place to pry into his life, so he decided to drop it.

They were rounding a corner somewhere in downtown when Leon stopped suddenly, his expression unreadable. He indicated for silence by pressing his finger to his lips, before gesturing in a certain direction. Not exactly sure what the brunette man had noticed, the group followed him anyway; Cloud might not know him all that well, but he was the guest in this hunting unit, not the other way around.

He stopped at the entrance of an alleyway, glancing inward for a few moments before cursing quietly and covering his mouth. His face had paled, and Cloud raised his eyebrows- this man was in the _wrong_ business to be feeling squeamish.

Leon had noticed the look Cloud was giving him, and his stormy blues narrowed in his direction. "You have a look and tell me whether or not you want to be sick, then give me that expression" he hissed in a frustrated voice.

That did not bode well.

Cloud swallowed thickly, before stepping forward and peering into the alleyway. It was a bit dark, so he couldn't see it clearly, but the smell of blood hung thickly in the air, so thick it was almost choking him. He hesitated for a moment, before pulling out his flashlight and flicking it on, aiming the beam toward the dark shape resting against the alleywall.

The blonde immediately span around, also covering his mouth. "Fuck" he whispered. "Fuck!"

"Bad?" asked Riku, looking hesitant. Cloud nodded, forcing back bile and pointing the flashlight back into the alleyway.

The term 'mutilated' was an understatement. The former human- because it really couldn't be called that now- had been torn to shreds, its skin ripped upward from the muscle, which was full of a variety of teeth marks. The ends of veins and arteries had been ripped from their positions inside the body, and were splayed outward; to do something like that, most of the joints had been split open, and a variety of organs were torn out and thrown around as well.

"What the hell?" Riku whispered.

"Desperate newborn" Leon growled under his breath, his fingers lingering on the hilt of his gunblade. "Not a drop was left, but the whole alley smells of it. And if they were that desperate, this won't be the first victim tonight."

Seeming to possess a stomach of steel or something along those lines, Sora took the flashlight off of Cloud and peered around the alley, looking at the concrete and the objects carefully.

"They headed up this way, I think" he said, indicating up the alley. "We're going to have to go past this."

"I'll call it in quickly" Leon said, dialling a number into his phone. He rattled off their position only before hanging up and turning into the alley, taking a deep breath.

"I know it's bad, but it's not the time to be getting squeamish" Cloud said quietly, and Leon exhaled.

"I'm not squeamish" he muttered, heading inward and stepping around the corpse, Cloud and Riku following suit. The blonde wanted to say something, anything, to make this feel more like an actual death, but he knew mourning over everyone who lost their lives to out of control supernatural creatures would break him faster than the vampire would've broken the poor person's bones.

He drew in a deep breath at the thought, dismissing it as they came out of the alley. Both Leon and Sora were looking around, trying to get a bead on the vampire's next direction.

"You'd think a vampire in this kind of state would be a bit more obvious" Sora muttered in an annoyed voice.

"I'm pretty sure it went that way" said Leon, indicating across from them. Sora looked at it for a few moments, before nodding.

"Right. K, that body's still fresh, so weapons out the moment we get close" Sora said, folding his arms. Leon nodded, and the four of them headed across the road, hands near the hilts of their swords. There was a scuttling sound, close by, maybe five or six metres, and before Cloud could even draw the buster sword, Leon had his gunblade in his hand, heading down the alleyway.

"Damn, the fuckhead's playing hero again" Sora muttered, drawing Fenrir and following suit. Cloud gave Riku and intensely confused look, and Riku responded with an apologetic smile.

"Would 'bipolar' be a good enough explanation for now?" he asked, pulling Soul Eater out of his sheath.

"I guess" Cloud muttered, hand on the Buster Sword's hilt as they followed the other two. However, there was no need; Leon was in the process of playing pong with the vampire, knocking it between the walls of the alley with speed Cloud never would've expected out of the man. Normally his movements were deliberate and obvious, here the vampire didn't even have time to respond. The hunger had probably slowed down its reaction times, but even then, Leon would be a fair match to a well-fed vampire with how he was moving.

There was a loud _crack, _the noise of the gunblade being discharged, and the vampire was smashed into the leftmost wall, the brick cracking beneath it as the figure slipped to the floor. The brunette male walked up to the vampire, sliding the gunblade into the vampire's shoulder with a sickening squelching sound and the hiss of sizzling muscle. The creature shrieked, trying to get the weapon out, but it had already been worn down, the blade remaining firmly stuck inside the burning flesh.

"You're not a full vampire" Leon said firmly. Not a question- a statement. The vampire hissed at him. The three other members of the group kept their distance, knowing it was dangerous to go too close to a vampire in such a state, but they kept their weapons ready, prepared to back up Leon the moment he needed it. The creature's eyes were glowing maniacal red, glaring at Leon with hatred.

Leon seemed unfazed by the vampire's hiss, as he grabbed his hair with his left hand and yanked the vampire's head sideward. Even from this position, Cloud and the others could clearly see the glowing, greenish drawing on the vampire's neck.

"…What's that?" Riku asked, looking at Leon.

"A mark" Leon muttered. "Are you under orders?"

"Go to hell!" the vampire hissed, trying to get free.

The brunette smirked at the comment, but said nothing. "Don't make me repeat myself" he murmured, twisting the gunblade a little, his finger playing on the trigger.

"No" the vampire growled. "I'm not under orders."

"So you slaughtered that person under your own whims?" he asked, his blue eyes cold.

"I-I didn't want this!" the vampire shrieked, and Leon pulled the trigger, another violent bang echoing through the alley as the vampire screamed, shockwaves coursing through its body.

"Nobody chooses!" Leon growled. "No vampire, no werewolf, half or not! You make do. You keep your hunger regulated no matter what it takes. That-"

Leon pointed out of the alley in the direction of the corpse. "That is not how you fucking make a point of not wanting to be a vampire. That is the work of a monster. _You are a monster_."

"I'm not!" the vampire howled. "I didn't have a choice! I was so hungry!"

"You're only a fucking Marked vampire, you piece of shit" Leon hissed under his breath, his eyes glinting with fury. "You can go three fucking months without feeding before it starts getting bad, and there's no way a pureblood's been in town for that long. So no, you're just a weak-willed son of a bitch who didn't listen."

"No…no, please. I didn't…I didn't want…" the vampire pleaded, still struggling, but compassion had completely left Leon's eyes. The brunette put a firm foot on the vampire's chest, triggering the gunblade one more time before removing it. Still trying to recover from the shockwaves, the brunette dug the blade right into the vampire's chest, elicting a bone-chilling scream as the vampire's figure crumped, falling limp against the stone of the alleyway.

Leon pulled out a cloth and wiped the blade clean, his expression still cold as he sheathed the weapon and pulled out his phone, sending a quick text before pocketing it.

"I guess that body really got to you, huh?" Sora asked, and Leon drew in a deep breath.

"He had no excuse" the brunette muttered.

"How long have you been hunting vampires for?" Cloud asked curiously. "I've never seen a Marked, at least not before tonight."

"Purebloods aren't common" Leon murmured, as they headed out of the alleyway. "So Marked are even rarer. Basically, they're half-vampire slaves; they only transition part of the way instead of fully. They're kind of a mid-point between dhampir and a half-breed."

"You're going to have to explain that particular dichotomy someday, 'cause I didn't think there was any difference between a dhampir and a half-breed" Cloud said, folding his arms. Leon exhaled, shrugging a bit.

"Someday. I'm not in the mood for a biology lesson" he muttered, looking a little annoyed. The blonde exhaled- he didn't like Leon's attitude one bit, and his mind was sounding a 'caution' alarm in regards to the man. Though, if he'd been working with Aris this long, the alarm was probably misplaced, but still...

The rest of the night was entirely quiet. Very few words passed between the four of them, the previous atmosphere completely killed by the sight of the vampire's mutilated body- and partially by Leon's anger. Around 6AM, the four of them headed back to their vehicles, as the sun began to peer over the horizon.

Leon left before Cloud could even speak to him, the man seemingly wrapped in his thoughts. The distinctive sound of an old engine sounded from the parking lot a few minutes later, and the Coupe DeVille rolled down the road, heading east.

The blonde inwardly scolded himself. Even if there wasn't something 'wrong', that kind of behaviour from a hunter needed to be addressed. Getting overly emotional like that could easily lead to mistakes in the field. Not like Cloud could really say anything for his actions earlier in the night, but sometimes it didn't click unless someone pointed it out. Well, maybe he could talk to Leon the next night.

"Cloud."

The blonde turned to see Riku giving him a stern look, his arms folded. Sora had gone off with his and Riku's weapons to get them packed up…but thinking about it, it probably would've been more convenient for the both of them to have just gone together. Which meant the silver-haired boy wanted something.

"Yeah?" Cloud asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't tell him we told you, let him tell you first" Riku said, never breaking eye contact.

"What?" Cloud asked, also folding his arms.

"Leon. It was pretty clear you had no idea why he reacted to the vampire the way he did, so I'm telling you so you don't end up pissing him off. So long as you can swear not to tell Aris."

"…I don't plan on telling that man what kind of underpants I wear, let alone anything I consider remotely important" Cloud said flatly.

Riku raised his eyebrows, before he shrugged. "Just as long as you know his death would be on your hands if you did."

Cloud's eyes widened a bit. "What are you saying?"

"Leon is a dhampir, Cloud. He's harmless in the vampiric sense, but he's got his quirks. You need to know this if you're going to be hunting with him, which is why I'm telling you now."

Cloud rubbed his hand through his blonde locks. "That explains a lot" he mumbled, trying to recall what he knew about dhampirs. At least, it clearly explained how Leon could endure the recoil from the gunblade. Firing at that range should've broken his wrist, but Leon seemed fine.

"So you won't say anything?" Riku asked, and Cloud shook his head. The silver-haired male gave him a small smile.

"Guess we'd better head home" Riku said with a shrug, and the two headed into the car park, where Sora had finished up the weapons packing and was gawking and Cloud's Hardy Daytona. Cloud could almost see the teenager's fingers itching to grab the handlebars.

"It's really not all that impressive" Cloud said, and Sora gave him an angry look that morphed into surprise when he saw the keys in Cloud's hand.

"This is yours?" he asked, gesturing to the bike, and the blonde nodded.

"You should have more confidence in yourself, Cloud" Sora stated. "It's pretty clear this Hardy's been through the ringer, but you've managed to put her back together nicely."

"Yeah…she's been good to me" said Cloud affectionately, patting the bike's seat, before yawning widely. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I think I need to go and sleep a bit."

Sora seemed to have caught the yawning infection, as he stretched his arms out, rubbing his hair. "Mhmm, agreed. See ya later, Cloud."

He and Riku got into their SUV and drove off, as Cloud mounted the Hardy Daytona, the engine whirring to life. He drove out of the car park and back in the direction of the ARMS store.

Honestly, Cloud was not looking forward to the reception he'd be getting back there. After all, he'd punched his Uncle clean out. Even if the old man had been ranting like a lunatic, it probably wasn't the smartest move, and it could most definitely result in some trouble on his part.

The blonde sighed reluctantly, as he arrived back at the ARMS shop, the street quiet except for some disgruntled yells down the road at from the noise of his motorbike. There wasn't much Cloud could do about that; Hardy Daytona's had massive exhaust pipes.

The blonde parked the bike, swallowing hard as he dismounted and headed for the stairs leading to the apartment. There was a chance that Aris hadn't woken up…but he doubted it. Despite his shortcomings and misdeeds Aris remained a hunter, and a good hit like Cloud's would only keep a hunter under for so long. Aris had probably been hit like that more times than he could count.

The blonde found the front door was (still?) locked, so he gently slid his keys in, slipping inside the room. His nostrils were greeted by the smell of instant coffee and cleaning product, and a quick scene-sweep showed that Aris had tried to tidy up from his rampage the night before. The man in question was seated at a table in the middle of the room, sipping a cup of coffee, the spikes of his hair limp and painting a picture of man who clearly felt sorry for himself.

"Did you hunt with Riku and Leon?" Aris asked quietly, and Cloud nodded, going for the fridge to find some food. All-night hunts like the one he'd just engaged in did a number on one's stomach, even though they'd brought silent snacks (chips were a big no-no). He found very little in the man's fridge, but there was a bag of apples, so he took two, biting deeply into one to find it crunchy, thankfully.

"Sorry…about last night" Aris muttered. "I didn't realize how much I'd drunk. It won't happen again."

"It's ok" Cloud lied. In reality, he suspected this was a regular thing. That Aris got drunk and smashed plates at people, swore at them for sympathising with supernatural creatures. At this point, Cloud kind of did.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and chills coursed over him for a moment as he remembered what Riku had told him. _Leon is a dhampir. _Half-half. He should've caught it earlier, with how the man had reacted when Sora had asked Cloud if he was a 'halfa'. No wonder he'd seemed so casual about it, though. Sora and Riku trusted Leon with their lives on a regular basis.

"Aris, do you know the difference between a dhampir and a half-breed?" Cloud asked, trying to make the question sound casual. "I thought they were the same thing?"

Aris raised his eyebrows, before pondering it for a moment. "Hrm…I'm not sure, unless they're referring to that old legend…yeah, probably are. You know that some male vampires retain fertility, right? Well, there's some who say if a vamp is bitten at a really young age or something along those lines, they go through puberty as a vamp. Which is insane, since the bite stops the aging process, but the idea is that their seed is fully vamped out, and their kids aren't what we know as dhampirs, they're called half-breeds. They're proper vamps in every way, almost. They can bear the sun, and their weaknesses aren't quite as bad. Plus they still feel emotion properly. But I've never seen one. Dhampirs are rare as hen's teeth to begin with- who in their right mind would have sex with a vampire anyway?"

Cloud nodded, though he'd inwardly winced at the comment. "Could you tell them apart from a vampire, though? Provided they attacked at night, I guess."

"…Rumour goes that half-breed blood is basically human. Dhampirs, you can smell it in there, but you can't tell with a half-breed. But I don't think they exist, Cloud. Unless you saw one?"

Cloud shook his head. "A friend of mine from back home mentioned them once, but he didn't know much and nor did anyone else." Great, he was already lying for the others. The situation was going swimmingly.

"Ah. Well, you know what vampire lore's like. Some of it's a load of bologna, some of it's true. I think half-breeds are the former. Like I said, vamps don't age once they're bitten. Only dhampirs age."

"I see" said Cloud, polishing off the rest of his second apple and dumping the cores in the bin. "I think I might head off to sleep" he said, and Aris nodded, sipping his coffee.

"Sleep well, Cloud" he said. "Sorry again for last night."

The blonde nodded, heading into the other bedroom. He gave Aris a glance from his doorway to see the brunette was watching him warily, and Cloud suspected he may have treaded on his toes a bit with the question- however, despite the lie, the question itself was completely genuine, even if it had brought more questions than answers.

Cloud shut the bedroom door, laying down on the bed. He'd brought his own sheets, so despite the thin mattress at least the duvet and the pillows smelt like home. He snuggled into them, his mind still abuzz.

Dhampirs. Marked. Half-Breeds.

Dhampirs, he knew, were mostly human. A bit stronger, a bit better with healing, and some had a bit of difficulty around the smell of blood. They didn't have the ability to process it, though, so they didn't need to drink it. Marked he knew nothing about, except they seemed mostly vampire from what he'd seen last night. Half-breed was apparently a step above that, with barely any difference between one and a fully-fledged vampire. Aris said they didn't exist. Leon had acted as though their existence was complete and total fact. But the last thing he wanted was a repeat of the night before, where Leon had completely closed off and shut down any attempts to talk to him about anything, and he highly suspected that'd be what would happen if he asked about Marked or half-breeds.

Then again, Marked seemed relevant to the current situation. Leon had called them 'half-vampire slaves' to pureblood vampires, another type Cloud knew next-to-nothing about.

The blonde groaned, burrowing himself deeper in the warm sheets, trying to get his brain to shut down. If Leon knew so much, he'd pick up the pieces eventually.

Had Leon's vampire parent told him about vampires?

Cloud silently and repeatedly willed his brain to shut up. He did not need to be thinking about the vampire equivalent of a history lesson. He couldn't even imagine Leon as a little kid. He was one of those people who you believed had been an adult their whole lives, and attempting to imagine them as small children was nigh impossible.

Eventually, the young man's brain got the hint, and nursed him into an uneasy sleep full of staring red eyes.

* * *

Chapter Two over. Whew! For those reading this and_ Tornado_, I'm still working on the next chapter- I'm kind of worried about how I'm portraying Vanitas, since he keeps doing nice things.

Reference Guide for the main characters dispositions:

"Sora" – Human, mentally ill, Hunter.

Riku – Human, Hunter.

"Leon" – Dhampir, Hunter.

Aristotle "Aris" - Human, Hunter.

Tifa – Vampire, Hunter.

Vincent – Vampire, Hunter.

Quistis – Human, Neutral (supports Leon).


	3. Back in Black

**Chapter Three: Back in Black**

The rest of Sora and Riku's weekend went fairly well. There were no more vampire incidents, which was more disturbing than comforting- it meant either the vampires weren't out, or they'd simply missed any and all incidents where innocents were being infected. If it was the latter, it was a severe failure on all their parts, and all four of them knew it.

The patrols on Saturday and half of Sunday night were a lot smoother after Cloud had found out about Leon's origins. The issues they'd had Friday night, namely where Cloud had accused the brunette male of being squeamish, seemed completely dusted under the rug. Riku was glad he'd told him, but he wondered if he'd kind of betrayed Leon's trust by doing so. Maybe a little, but the blonde was bound to find out eventually- he seemed pretty on the ball regarding supernatural issues, and Leon didn't make the effort to hide it around anyone but Aris. Or, more accurately, didn't bother. Peer close enough at the brunette, and the throwbacks to his vampire bloodline were obvious.

Riku had found out about Leon quite early into their training, since the older man had been frank with him. They weren't evenly matched, pretty much; they couldn't spar seriously, so they'd have to pretend in front of Aris. Riku had also been frank with him, informing the brunette that Sora was going to find out the moment he got home- which Leon had accepted and had been entirely true. Sora had seemed more excited about it than was probably a good thing for someone training in the art of killing Leon's bloodline.

And that was where the information about Leon ended. The brunette seemed complete; had his mild hobbies, food preferences, a job, a strong personality. But Riku and Sora knew nothing more than those things and the fact Leon was half-vampire, which was almost negligible. The man didn't even have fangs, for pete's sake, and the slightly enhanced healing wasn't all that noticeable since it wasn't instant. Anything from Leon's past before he began training with Aris was a well-guarded secret. Despite his curiosity, Riku had long ago decided that this was one of those instances of 'curiosity killed the cat'. He trusted Leon with his life, but Riku wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know what kind of demons a dhampir could hold.

Monday morning, however, Riku's sleep was interrupted by two things. One was pleasant- the smell of freshly brewed coffee. The other, however…

"GET THE FUCK UP, RI."

The silverette sat up, his eyes still full of gunk and a scowl on his face. "Fuck off, Sor! I have a fucking alarm for a reason!"

"Move your translucent-white ass out of bed or I'm tipping fucking coffee on it" was the irritated reply, and Riku let out a long sigh. Sora seemed to have remembered the promise of student teachers, and now he was in a very pissy mood.

The silverette clambered lethargically out of his covers, stumbling over to his cupboard and beginning to pull out an outfit. He hopped into his trousers before he opened the door, and Riku immediately felt his jaw slip open.

"Oh, I am not looking forward to the reaction to that" Riku said numbly, staring at Sora's hair. At some stage, and Riku didn't know when, his blue-eyed companion had gotten a hold of hair dye. Blue-black hair dye. And now his formerly-brunette friend was completely black-haired, though he- thankfully- hadn't bothered with his eyebrows. For once, Sora had read the instructions on the pack.

"Who's reaction?" Sora muttered, handing over the cup of coffee, which Riku immediately sipped at.

"Yours" he retorted, heading downstairs for breakfast.

Sora turned and rolled his eyes, sticking his tongue out. "I'll like it either way, you'll see!"

Riku snorted under his breath. "Yes, you say that now" he replied, Sora following behind him as they headed into the pristine, almost futuristic kitchen. "But I'll be the one trying to make you stop crying at some stage today. 'Riku, why would I ever dye my beautiful hair?! Waaaa'" Riku mocked. Sora's nose screwed up at the imitation as he headed over to the toaster.

"I look like a _badass_" he said firmly, sliding in a couple of crumpets.

"You look like an emo" Riku retorted. "The skinnies aren't helping, and you need a haircut."

Sora growled under his breath at him. Riku knew he was playing with fire, but jesus christ, there was a reason these kinds of decisions went through him first. And that was the reason Sora had gone behind his back to do it. The silverette let out a long, exhausted sigh, searching through his cupboards for their wheat-o's. Sometimes, he really wished the school had extended their uniform policy behind the school shirt, but Riku wasn't about to make life harder for himself by bringing it up and then getting Sora whining about it for the rest of the year.

"You're just jealous of my ass, Ri" Sora commented, wiggling his hips a bit.

"I am not jealous of your ass" Riku snapped, perhaps a little too sharply. Ok maybe he was a little jealous. Only Sora could pull off skinnies like that. Riku was not stupid enough to try- he quite simply did not have the build for that cut of jean.

Sora said nothing, but the former brunette knew him well enough to catch irritance, and so continued to wiggle his butt back and forth as he pulled out the jams and a butter knife, whistling to himself.

Arrogant prick.

Riku poured his cereal into his bowl, adding a splash of milk and grabbing a spoon before beginning to eat in silence. He couldn't think of a good comeback at that point, besides childish ones involving mocking Sora's feminine hips. And Riku liked to think he was above doing things like that.

Sora eventually sat back down, munching on his crumpets and taking a sip of coffee, before giving Riku a smug look.

"Y'know, I won't be upset about the hair" Sora said slyly, a grin playing on his lips. Riku raised his eyebrows, swallowing his mouthful of cereal.

"Ok, what makes you so utterly convinced?"

"I came up with it while I was in a good mood" Sora said with a shrug, and Riku almost choked.

"No way."

The raven-haired boy grinned. "Yes way. This one's mutual, Ri. I don't like looking like that fucktard."

Oh, that explained everything.

The silverette sighed, sipping at his coffee. Sora might call him 'Dad' while in a good mood, but Sora hated the man no matter what mood he was in. The resemblance to Aris was very clear- Sora had inherited both his hair and his eyes, and mostly resembled him facially, too. If the dye job had been to eliminate that resemblance, Sora probably wasn't lying.

"In fact" Sora said, munching on his toast, "I'm looking into coloured contacts for my next set. Y'know, my prescription needs upgrading."

"If you didn't keep leaving them out-" Riku started with a grimace, but Sora held his hand up.

"If I get coloured ones, I won't leave them out" Sora stated, his expression deadly serious. Riku raised his eyebrows.

"What colour?" he asked cautiously.

The shorter teen rubbed his chin, thinking about it for a few minutes. "Hm…I don't want green or brown. Red'll get me stabbed, and purple is a bit…well. Maybe amber?"

"Yellow'll get you stabbed too, Sor" Riku said flatly. "Werewolves have yellow eyes."

"Only while transformed" Sora corrected, holding up a finger. "If I'm normal and they're yellow, they've got no reason to do so."

"…You're not planning to start using your other name again, are you?" Riku asked quietly. "I can't call you Sor if you use that one."

Sora snorted at this. "Is that the reason you don't want me to use it?"

"No, I don't want you using it because it means _futility _or _emptiness. _We've discussed this."

Sora rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to start using Vanitas. It'd be too much of pain to get my teachers to use it. Still, it's a mile better than frickin' _a collection of falsehoods intended to deceive._"

"Sora is better than both of those" Riku said firmly.

"Riku, the sky is still technically empty" Sora said with a shrug. "You know, unless there's a plane, or it's full of cloud…s."

Riku snickered behind the rim of his mug. "He wins that regarding the silly name competition."

Sora rolled his eyes a bit, polishing off his breakfast and coffee, going to dump both in the sink.

"Rinse and put them in the dishwasher" said Riku, eating a mouthful of wheat-o's. Sora mimicked him condescendingly, but did what he was told, putting the dishes away.

"I'm gonna go do my teeth and grab my jacket" Sora said with a shrug. "Hurry up or I'll leave without you, slowpoke."

Riku rolled his eyes, continuing at the same speed with his wheat-o's. It would be an amusing and unexpected first for Sora to leave a) before Riku and b) without him, so much so that the silverette was considering seeing if he could push him to do it. In the end, though, he decided against doing something like that, so he eventually polished off his bowl and put his dishes away, before finishing getting dressed and doing morning preparations. He met Sora at the front door about ten minutes later, the dark-haired teen looking disgruntled. Somehow, the black hair made him all the more imposing, despite the fact he was wearing a school shirt and jacket. He'd foregone the clunky biker boots, opting for a pair of black skate shoes with red laces and silver edging. The skate shoes and his skinnies didn't quite match up, revealing Sora to be wearing odd socks- one with alternating red and black stripes, and the other red with yellow and white polka-dots.

"Brace yourself, student teachers are coming" Sora muttered, a cigarette between his lips. Riku exhaled, the two leaving the house and the silverette locking up.

"I really think we should consider giving up the cancer sticks" Riku suggested, and Sora shot him a nasty glare.

"Ri, we're not going to live past twenty-five, what's the point?" the raven-haired boy asked heatedly, lighting the cigarette up and blowing a smoke ring. "In case it's skipped your mind, we don't exactly work the safest of jobs. We're a hair's breadth from death the moment the sun's down."

"Both your father and your Uncle Socrates lived well past twenty-five, and I'm pretty sure that Angeal guy who mentored Cloud is older than that, too. Even if we do end up dead before then, I'd prefer to go the violent way than be sitting in a hospital bed hacking a lung up" Riku reasoned. He knew Sora used them as a sort of pacifier while in dark moods, but Riku was the one who bought them and their horrendous packaging, covered with gory images of the various cancers and maladies they caused. And honestly, the advertisements were doing their job.

The idea seemed to resonate a bit with Sora, as he now had a pensive look on his face. He blew out another puff of smoke, watching the tendrils curl through the cold morning air. "…I'll think about it" he finally said.

"Alright" conceded Riku. He knew that this was one thing he'd have to take slowly with him, but he was sure the other teen would appreciate it eventually. If anything, dodging the bullet that was emphysema was worth the pains of quitting. The silverette knew for a fact his best friend would have a lot more difficulty quitting than he would.

They reached the school gates, and Sora put out his cigarette, throwing the butt into a bin. Groups of students dotted the front lawn, and Riku could already see looks of shock from fellow students, their gazes set directly on Sora's now lush head of black hair. Riku could smell the thick tang of hair dye from here, and he sorely hoped he'd actually rinsed it out properly. Although, it did look properly rinsed, and had the sheen of freshly dyed hair- the one that occurred when one hadn't dyed it successively to the point their hair _died_.

They were stopped when they entered the school hall by a group of giggling girls, all with a faint dusting of pink on their cheeks at Sora's appearance. Riku's eyebrow raised at this- usually people found Sora hard to approach, but now they were getting all flustered over the fact his hair was black?

Weirdos. Who'd have thought a recolour would increase his appeal to the opposite sex? Certainly not Riku.

"The colour really suits you, Sora" said a red-haired girl, who Riku remembered to be in their Maths class. If he recalled correctly he and Sora had been friends with her during early primary school…but her friend Naminé had convinced the wine-haired girl that Sora was bad news by the time high school had come around.

"Hm…he looks like a bad boy. Your parents would probably flip if they saw you with him, Kairi" one of her friends mused. This one had blue hair- what was her name again? Aqua?

"Who cares? It's sexy as all hell" murmured Naminé, saying it with such innocence that the actual content of the sentence caught Riku off-guard. The silverette already knew Sora's ego had inflated to monstrous proportions with the comments, and if this kept going Riku would never hear the end of it.

"Aw, ladies. You flatter me" Sora cooed, putting his arms behind his head. Riku placed his own head in his hand, shaking it slowly.

The three giggled a bit, and Riku decided he'd had enough. He grabbed Sora's sleeve, harshly tugging his friend in the direction of the locker.

"Aw, Ri-ku!" the teen whined. "I might've had a chance!"

"You can go skirt-chasing when I don't have to be there for it" Riku said as they reached their lockers. "I don't like people who are shallow, and they were only interested because you look different."

"Oh come on!" Sora said with a roll of his eyes, beginning to rifle through his locker as he fidgeted awkwardly in his skinny jeans. The silverette hid his knowing smirk behind the door of his locker. "It probably wouldn't be serious, anyway. Besides, you're my wingman, Ri! I reckon you'd pair up nicely with Aqua, too."

"She's not my type" said Riku, checking his timetable. Double English. He sighed and grabbed his Hamlet book and binder out.

"What is your type then?" Sora asked curiously.

Riku shut his locker, an odd look on his face. "You know…I've never really thought about it."

Sora looked completely appalled with the answer, as they headed toward class. "You don't know your type? How do you jerk off, then?"

The silverette gave him a disgruntled look. "I've never really taken to imagining things while I do that."

"You, sir, are more insane than I am" Sora said flatly. "You seriously need to find out what your type is. It'll make your life a whole lot better. So none of those three? How about Olette?"

Riku thought of the brunette, green-eyed girl. She was the homely type, generally a good girl who got good grades. He definitely couldn't see himself with her, though.

"Nope" said Riku, pushing open their classroom door. A group of students had already migrated inside, and all of them turned and gawked at Sora's hair, beginning to whisper among themselves.

"I didn't think everyone knew you that well" Riku admitted as they sat down, and Sora adopted an evil smirk as he lent back on his chair.

"What can I say, Ri? My ass attracts a lot of attention, and now I've got epic hair to match."

Riku smacked Sora on the head with a flat hand, not hard enough to hurt, just enough to deflate his head a bit. And though Riku would never admit it, he had wanted to touch his best friend's hair since he'd noticed how soft it looked. Indeed, it was very soft. He kind of wanted to weave his fingers in the black locks and just mess around with it for ages, but he doubted Sora would appreciate making his messy head of hair any worse than it already was.

The bell rang in tandem with Sora's yelp, and more students shuffled inside. Both Riku and Sora pulled out their Hamlet books, though Riku could see Sora preparing for the 'trial' ahead- student teacher.

A few moments later, their teacher walked in, closely tailed by a young woman with long black hair. She was wearing a black pencil skirt with a white blouse, the frilly décor failing to hide the woman's large bust. Riku doubted they were implants, but one could never be sure. Her face was softly rounded, with almond-shaped brown eyes and a small, nervous smile on her lips as stood before the class.

However, both Sora and Riku were now completely on edge, their entire bodies tense. The woman seemed normal enough, but there was no mistaking the armband around her right bicep; a silver band depicting a bat with closed wings, a purple gem set in the centre. If it weren't for the fact Riku knew what it was for, he would've thought it was bad taste- but unfortunately it served a far more sinister purpose than triggering Riku's fashion alarm.

The piece of jewellery was something known as a suppression band; basically, it was able to suppress any and all traits of vampirism, rendering the wearer an ordinary human. They were rare, impossibly rare- Riku had only heard of two being in existence- and had no benefits to a vampire. Besides enabling them to go out in the sun, the suppression band made them unable to feed while it was worn, reduced them to an ordinary human's standard, and given the jewellery was painfully obvious, it made them gigantic hunter targets.

In short, their student teacher was a vampire. Why she was here, or what she wanted- that was the question now poised in front of Riku and Sora.

"Good morning, class" their normal teacher stated, her eyes sweeping over the room in a wordless demand for silence. The room had gone quiet, all focusing on the woman standing before them. Riku could feel the nervous, angry energy of the friend sitting next to him, and the silverette silently passed some caramels under the table.

"Keep calm and stay focused" Riku murmured, and the raven-haired male nodded.

"As you're already aware, we have a group of student teachers joining us for several weeks. This young woman is Tifa Lockheart, and she'll be teaching you English in my stead for the duration of her stay. Please give her the same treatment and respect you give me. Is there anything you would like to add, Ms. Lockheart?"

The woman shook her head, so their normal teacher gave her an encouraging smile and headed to the back of the room, sitting in the opposite corner to Sora and Riku.

"Good morning, class" said Tifa, giving everyone a warm smile. "I've been told of your curriculum, so we'll be continuing with Hamlet today…but first I want to know you a bit better."

She walked around to the desk, her high heels clacking a bit as she picked up the roll. "When I call your name, please raise your hand so I can learn your faces, and tell me one thing about yourself."

There was a half-hearted grumble, but the general miscreants in the class seemed a bit smitten by the busty woman, so no major protest occurred. Tifa slowly went through the roll, each student giving a fact about themselves. Riku's name came up, and the silverette raised his hand.

"Ah. So, what's one thing you'd like us to know about you, Riku?"

_I'm a vampire hunter and I'm watching you like a hawk _came to mind, but Riku, having a fair amount of tact and a strong sense of self-preservation, refrained from such a dangerous statement. "I have a phobia of motorbikes."

Sora chuckled a little at the statement, and even Tifa had an amused smile on her face.

"You probably wouldn't like a friend of mine, then" she said, before continuing with her roll. Eventually, she reached Sora's name, and Riku tensed up. It was bad enough that she was a student teacher, but a vampire as well? Riku wasn't sure how this was going to go down, but he was preparing for the worst.

"Hm…I see, so you prefer to be called Sora. That's fine" she said, and Riku breathed out a sigh of relief. "Sora?"

The raven haired young man raised his hand, and Tifa gave him a smile. "Got anything interesting to tell us, Sora?"

Sora grinned, nodding. "Yep. I've shared a paopu fruit with someone."

Riku had never wanted to melt into the floor more than in that one moment. Of all the things to proclaim to a class full of people, he had to mention the paopu fruit!?

Tifa looked mildly elated at the idea. "Really? They must be really special to you…you know that sharing one's an eternity-long commitment, of course? It's kind of like a truly permanent form of marriage."

"I know" said Sora cheerfully, and Riku prayed for a Meteor to come crashing down on his head, or some random student to suddenly blow up the classroom with a fireball, or Tifa to remove her armband and start mauling people, _anything. _Anything would be better than listening to Sora casually prattle on about his eternity-long commitment to Riku like he was talking about breakfast.

"Was it your girlfriend?" someone pipped in from the classroom, and Sora shook his head.

"The person is very special to me though. Enough that I felt that there should never be any world or circumstance where we're not connected, I guess. If it wasn't for them, I probably wouldn't be here today."

Riku blinked a few times, swallowing and instantly feeling bad. He'd ripped into Sora for eating the paopu fruit, but hearing him put it this way made Riku wonder if the teen had seen the opportunity as an once-in-a-lifetime chance. After all, they were both guys; it'd be awkward for him to ask about sharing a paopu fruit, even if it was in a strictly platonic manner. He'd have to apologise later.

"That's so beautiful" Tifa murmured, looking almost smitten. "Whoever they are, they're very lucky, Sora. You seem like a really loving person."

Sora flushed bright red at the comment, rubbing his hair. It was very rare for him to get comments like that, despite how true they were, and he had a small, joyful smile on his face. Inwardly, Riku hoped Tifa wasn't actually a bad person or a bad vampire, because Sora deserved to hear those kinds of comments and not have them instantly marred by the speaker.

Tifa eventually finished the rollcall, and dove straight into class. She read the first part of the play, and then instantly launched into a discussion. Sora was more involved in the class than he had been at any other stage of the year- obviously spurred on by the idea that this student teacher had yet to hear of Sora's reputation. It had been one of the more enjoyable lessons of the year, in fact; Riku hoped the trend continued. Perhaps Sora dyeing his hair had really been a good idea.

After class ended, Sora and Riku gave each other silent nods, and they followed after Tifa, books still in hand. Eventually, they stopped her just outside the teacher's lounge, and she gave them a curious look, though Riku could instantly see a bit of worry playing in her eyes.

"Ms. Lockheart" said Sora politely. "Can we please speak to you in private for a moment?"

"It won't take long" Riku said calmly.

The black-haired young woman bit her lip, before exhaling and nodding. She checked a nearby classroom, finding it locked, so she used her key and the three slipped inside.

"What is it?" she asked, her voice clearly on edge as she shut the door.

"We're just wondering why you're in a high school" Sora said. "We mean you no harm so long as you're of the same mindset."

Tifa raised her eyebrows at this. "…wait, you know what I am and you haven't tried to stake me yet?" she questioned. "Are you sympathisers or…?"

"No, we're hunters" Riku said with a shrug. "But we're not the type to hunt someone down based only on what they are."

"That's my dickhead father's job" Sora muttered, folding his arms.

"Oh" said Tifa. "Well, I'm technically a hunter too. Or I was. It's a bit complicated, but in short I got caught in a recruitment drive. Another one of the student teachers is a friend of mine in the same position- you'll know him when you see him. He's always kind of screamed vampire."

"So you're here because of another recruitment drive?" Riku asked. "How'd you find out about it?"

"I have human friends who keep me in the loop. I offered to help with the situation, but I can't because of the head hunter in this town…so my friend Aerith gave me and Vinnie- he teaches phys ed- suppression bands, and we're backing up Cloud from the sidelines."

"Oh, so you're Cloud's friend?" said Sora, instantly perking up. "Cloud's my cousin."

Tifa blinked a few times, before looking at the spiky mass of hair Sora possessed. "…You know what, I can actually see that. So we're not going to be having problems?"

"No. Like I said, we don't hunt based solely on species. It's actions that are important."

Tifa nodded, flicking her hair a bit. "Ok then…I might ask Aerith to call Cloud and ask him over. I haven't seen him in a little while, and I wouldn't mind a chat. You two go enjoy the rest of your break, hm?"

The two teens nodded, and they left the classroom. Sora gave Tifa a small, cheerful wave as they headed to their lockers to grab some food.

"She actually seems nice" Sora said. "I'm not liking the sounds of her other friend though."

"Yeah…and we've got double phys ed next" Riku muttered, looking at his timetable. "We should stay on our toes."

Sora nodded, pulling out an apple, before looking longingly at the pack of cigarettes he kept at the back of his locker. He exhaled, opting to shut the locker door on them and head for the break areas.

The school was mostly circular in shape, with branching sections and a grassy area in the centre. Sora and Riku flopped down on the grass, relaxing a bit as they munched into their food. Mentally, Riku began to plan out the route for the night's rounds; they'd found that vampire on the eastern side of town, so there was a strong chance the activity could be originating from that area. The situation was beginning to get on Riku's nerves; he very much doubted this recruitment drive had yet to start, so they were obviously missing the vampires who were abducting and infecting people. However, there was a strong chance they were being careful in that regard. These weren't starved, rabid vampires who acted obviously- they had an intent, and they were obviously doing their best to hide it.

"Oiii" came a voice from above them, and Riku looked up to see Hayner, one of Olette's friends. The final member of the trio, Pence, was lagging behind the dirty-blonde male, looking a little intimidated by Sora's hair.

"Yo" said Sora, sitting up. "Sup?"

"What the heck did you do to your hair, Sora?" Hayner asked, raising an eyebrow. Sora giggled at the question, grinning broadly.

"I dyed it. Pretty awesome, huh?" said Sora.

"It's freaky" Pence admitted, and the grin on Sora's face just got wider, sadist glee glinting in his eyes.

Riku rolled his eyes, and leaned back on his elbows, crossing his legs. "So, there a reason for this visit?" he asked. Riku and Sora were very much outside of the social loop- their group of friends had left the school a few years back.

"Selphie's having a get-together this afternoon, and she told me to invite you guys" said Hayner with a shrug.

"Oh, cool. Wanna go, Ri? We haven't seen Sefie in ages" said Sora, raising an eyebrow.

Riku thought about it for a few moments, considering his options. They did have rounds to do tonight, but he wouldn't mind seeing Sefie again. She'd been one of the group Sora and Riku hung out with; Leon had been in the group, too, but he was rarely at school. He'd still gotten some of the highest marks in that year's exams, to everyone's surprise.

"We might drop by" said Riku with a nod.

"Will there be food?" asked Sora curiously, and Hayner chuckled.

"Yeah, Sefie's got a bunch of pals coming over, more than just school friends, I think."

Sora grinned. "Then we'll definitely be there."

"Cool. We can't make it, so I told her I'd definitely pass the message along. Catch you later, guys."

The two walked off, leaving Sora and Riku alone. They ended up finishing their break in silence, standing up and heading back to their lockers to grab their phys ed clothes.

"Are you really going to wear that?" said Riku, pointing to the red jumpsuit Sora had just pulled out. The raven-haired male pouted, looking at it.

"What's wrong with it?" he asked, looking like a sad puppy.

The silverette sighed, putting his head in his hand. "It's an atrocity to fashion, that's what."

"Well I like it" said Sora, stalking off with the jumpsuit, his school jacket and a pair of bright yellow sneakers.

"God help me" Riku muttered, pulling out his own sneakers, a pair of blue sweats and a yellow singlet.

The pair headed into the change rooms, where the rest of their classmates were already pulling on casual clothes. Sora was already halfway in the red jumpsuit, tugging up the zipper around mid-torso when Riku walked in. As he predicted, it was one of his more ridiculous garments; the shorts came up _above_ the knee, and it was a very saturated red, even lighter than his pumpkin pants. Though these also seemed to be pumpkin pants...he probably got them from the same store, thinking about it. Whatever store Sora shopped at that made balloon pants in saturated colours.

Riku exhaled and began changing, pulling off his jeans and putting on the sweats, folding up his clothes in a neat pile as he pulled on the yellow singlet and his sneakers. He turned to see Sora and stopped himself before he actually burst out into laughter.

"Sora…you know you look like Mickey Mouse, right?" he asked, and Sora raised his eyebrows, looking at his outfit. Indeed, the red jumpsuit, paired with their black school jacket and the yellow shoes, made the black-haired boy looked like he was Mickey Mouse in human form.

"Well waddya know" said Sora, trying his best to imitate him and failing. Riku snorted through his nose, getting up and stretching out his toes in his sneakers.

"We'd better go meet this student teacher" said Riku, and Sora nodded, putting his hands in the pockets of his jacket, while Riku kept telling himself not to laugh at his friend.

The class had gathered on the basketball court in the gym to wait for their teacher, and as had become a trend for the day, Sora was getting stared at. This time, though, Riku was sure it was either the red jumpsuit or the shoes, not the hair. Banana yellow shoes were not something you saw every day.

The gym's door opened up, their teacher walking in, trailed by a man with longish black hair. Riku immediately felt his eyebrows rocket upwards; this man was as pale as a sheet, his hair framing his face and making him appear gaunter than he already was. His brown eyes had a hint of red in them, despite the suppression band glinting on his wrist, and he was clad entirely in black save for a red jacket that was slung over his shoulders.

A student standing somewhere in the back easily summarised his general appearance with a single comment, which happened to be "Woah, is that guy a vampire!?"

The man's eyes narrowed slightly, but he said nothing. Their normal teacher shot the student a heated look before clearing his throat. "Hello, class. As you're all aware, we have a group of student teachers joining us for a few weeks. This young man here is Vincent Valentine, and he will be running classes in my place. Please give him the respect he deserves."

"We have summoned him here to pay him tribute!"

Both Sora and Riku put their heads in their hands, shaking them slowly. If only they knew how right they were, and how they were playing with true fire by making those comments.

Most of the class hadn't understood the Castlevania reference, though, and it left the room full of an awkward silence. One that Vincent eventually broke.

"You two at the front, and the smart-alec at the back" he said calmly, gesturing at Riku and Sora. "Three laps around the gym while everyone else does warm-ups."

Riku raised an eyebrow at him, while Sora rolled his eyes. Either Tifa had told him about them, or he'd guessed. Or he was just being a dick because Sora looked ridiculous and Riku was the only one with enough balls to stand next to him. Either way, Sora and Riku didn't protest, and casually began jogging around the gym while the rest of the class started their warm up.

"How do you even move in those things?" Riku asked.

"Shut up and race me, fatass" Sora quipped, breaking out into a proper run and dashing ahead of him.

Riku gave himself a split second to look appalled before running to catch up, silver hair flapping like a banner.

"Who the hell are you calling fatass, pumpkin pants?!" he retorted. Sora laughed maniacally, grinning like a madman despite how quickly Riku was gaining on him. It was basically an accepted fact between the two boys that Riku was faster, but that didn't mean Sora wouldn't try.

The two dashed around the gym, easily leaving their dumbfounded classmate in the dust. Three laps saw Riku ahead by a fingernail, but it was enough to earn a loud groan from Sora.

"Damnit, Riku. I'll win someday" he muttered, as Vincent walked over to them, giving them a scrutinizing gaze. Riku met it, his own eyes narrowing.

"Can we get on with class now?" Riku asked, folding his arms. The other man sighed, spinning on his heel.

"Join the rest" he said shortly, before stopping and looking Riku dead in the eyes, causing the silverette to wince slightly.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Riku" he murmured, before turning back and calling out to some other students.

"What was that about?" Sora asked, ruffling his hair a bit. "He's buds with Cloud, so it wouldn't be a threat, right?"

Riku swallowed, thinking about it. "I think it was a warning" he said quietly, before joining in with the rest of the class.

The end of the school day saw Riku leaving the school on his own to find his black-haired friend sitting on the curb, chain smoking as though his life depended on it. His bag was already packed, and his eyes were still dark with fury. Riku immediately handed over the entire packet of salted butter caramels, and Sora put out his cigarette, blowing out his last inhale of smoke in a puff of circles.

"Pair of fuckin' vampires show up, and they have enough brains to read the fucking roll and respect someone's decisions. But no. No, the day couldn't end well, could it? Stupid slut. What the fuck makes her think she has the right to dictate what I can and can't be called? Man, Riku, I tried. I actually fricken put up with the first few iterations of that damn name. But she had to make a point of it. _Soritas, come to the front. Soritas, stop eating in class. Soritas, if you continue to cuss like that I'll give you a week's worth of detention"_ his friend mimicked, hate dripping from his voice. "I hate that name!" he spat, kicking thin air.

"I know, Sora" Riku said, putting his hands in his pockets, and Sora growled under his breath. Riku knew what was coming, and he didn't like it one bit.

"Vanitas" he muttered. "Might as well be fricken pointless after all, 'cause it's pointless repeating it."

"You know Sefie's not going to like it" Riku said, raising an eyebrow.

"She can fucking deal! It's Vanitas! As far as I'm concerned it can fucking stay that way, too!" he hissed. "They can whine all they like. I'm calling myself Vanitas, and it's sticking this time."

Riku raised his eyebrows. "You're seriously ditching Sora?"

He groaned, kicking the curb and folding his arms. "No. I don't want to ditch 'Sora'. But fucking hell, Riku, you and I both know 'Sora' is the idiot who wears pumpkin pants."

He sighed, rubbing his hair. "I dunno anymore, Ri. 'Sora' doesn't feel right when I'm like this."

"What, you want me to start calling you Sora and Vanitas interchangeably, depending on your mood?" Riku asked, looking annoyed. "That's not going to help your situation. Fuck, it might be the last straw between you and a proper split personality."

"I don't fucking know, Riku!" he snapped in frustration. "Would I be better off if my personality was split?! I dunno, it'd be nice not to fucking cringe every time I remember putting on that stupid red jumpsuit and I'm like this! But at the same time I know for a fact this _me _only gets his fucking jollies out of seeing others suffer and I _hate _that. If my personality split that would be it for this side, 'Vanitas' would be wallowing in darkness for the rest of his existence, never really feeling happy unless he's being a fucking asshole. And I have enough of a damn conscience to know that's _not _a good thing. But at the same time I hate the fact I dress like a bumbling idiot and act like one too whenever someone compliments me."

He exhaled, swallowing and closing his eyes. "I'm tired, Ri. It's exhausting. I just wanna be able to make a decision and not regret it eventually in some way or another. I dunno how much more I can take of these mood swings- it's driving me crazy. Er."

Riku sighed, putting his hands in his pockets. "You've got options. You can go on meds, and they'll balance you out. Or you can try and pick a persona and stick to it."

"And then what, Ri? Go back to that stinking name? You and I both know I got Sora and Vanitas from separating it. I don't like being in the middle ground, 'cause that's _Soritas, _not Sora, not Vanitas."

"Having a certain persona doesn't mean you have to be in the middle" Riku said with an eyeroll. "What do you enjoy more, really? Would you rather be a happy-go-lucky, friendly guy who has his share of temper tantrums, or a cocky, confident badass with a soft spot?"

"Oh come on, you're making your preference pretty obvious" he muttered. "But I suppose I can give it an attempt. If worse comes to worst…I'll try the meds."

Riku raised his eyebrows, not expecting him to agree to them. He'd only been on the meds for a short while when he was younger, and he'd absolutely loathed it. They kind of numbed him out and made it difficult for him to emote anything at all. In the end he'd picked the violent mood swings over being a zombie. If he was thinking about trying again, the situation really did seem desperate to him.

"It's still Vanitas for today, for the record" he said, heading back toward the house.

"Uh huh. I'm still going to mentally refer to you as Sora, and verbally as Vani."

"Oh come on" Sora hissed. "Vani is a stupid nickname-"

"Suits you" Riku quipped, and he verbally growled at him, kicking an invisible stone as he stalked off faster. Riku sighed as he followed, quickening his pace just a little to make sure he kept up with the black-haired teen. He pulled out his phone, quickly tapping out a message to Selphie.

_Hey, Sefie. Looking forward to seeing you guys. Me and 'Vanitas' will be there in about half an hour or so. _

He read over the message a few times, before rolling his eyes and sending it. He slipped it back into his pocket, continuing down the street as Sora headed up the driveway, pulling out his own keys and stomping inside, slamming the door behind him.

Riku exhaled again, walking up to the door and checking Sora hadn't broken anything, before heading inside himself. He hadn't decided to go shoving things over on his way through, but Riku could clearly hear the other boy stomping around upstairs, so he headed up and went into his room, beginning to change his clothes. He left his trousers on, but slipped on a zip up vest and a studded belt to go with, along with a pair of fingerless gloves. He gave his hair a brief check in the mirror and gave it a quick comb before going back out into the hallway, only to be shoved sideways a bit by Sora walking past him. Riku raised his eyebrows, folding his arms as the other teenager stopped in the hallway.

He was clad in his biking leathers- a black leather jacket with a red-line design down the front that mimicked the flow of muscles, a heart-like shape at the top of the design, a pair of black leather pants equipped with three red belts- one to hold them up, and two crossed over in a similar style to how Leon wore his. The pants were tucked into a set of knee high dark red boots with silver trim that had a downward line pattern. The jacket was partially unzipped, revealing a black singlet and the black and silver crowns he wore, though usually he had them under his shirt. He also had his helmet tucked under his arm- although it met biking regulations, it didn't actually look it- it looked like it was made mostly of black glass aside from the silver jaw piece that came up around the back of the helmet, with a thorny design on the front part.

Sora gave him a sly grin, a silent question as to whether Riku was going to stop him from taking his motorbike. Riku, however, had no intention of doing so today; honestly, the silverette would relish the opportunity to be alone in his car, and it wasn't like the trip to Selphie's was very long anyway. More or less, Sora was being a show-off.

Riku's phone buzzed, and the silverette pulled it out, checking his messages. A smile crept up on his face.

_Ohh, vanilla bunny! Haven't seen you guys in ages, can't wait! I have piiiiizza. Nothing with garlic though. Eating Italian is so hard whenever Leon's around ;C_

Right. Garlic gave Leon indigestion.

"Who's it from?" Sora asked, peering over to look at the phone but Riku had put it away before he could see Selphie's nickname.

"Just Selphie" said Riku with a shrug, heading down the stairs. "Hurry up. I told her half an hour before we got home."

Sora rolled his eyes, heading down the stairs as he zipped his jacket, which came right up to the bottom of his jaw. "Yeah, yeah. We'll be there in five."

Riku's expression immediately became very serious. "If you're planning to go more than 20 over the speed limit I'm veto'ing this outing right now, Vanitas."

He chuckled darkly, slipping the helmet over his head before he opened the front door. "You're a fuckin' worrywart, Ri. Ok, make that ten minutes. Killjoy."

Riku sighed, following him out as Sora headed to the garage. Riku never went in there, so only Sora had a garage opener; it was where the raven-haired teen stored his beloved motorbike.

Sora and Riku's birthdays were on the opposite ends of the year, which meant Riku was _almost _a year older, but the two were in the same year level. Additionally, there was a short period of time around New Years were the two of them could both say they were the same age, which was Sora's favourite time of year. Even if they'd given up the notion of Santa at young ages (entirely Riku's fault. Sora had cried at first, before getting mad at him and giving him a black eye), the two still enjoyed Christmas, and it was one of the few times of year Sora would consistently be in a good mood. The thing about Sora's birthday being at the other end of the year was that the teen went without all the goodies others would be getting for their birthdays. So, the year before on Riku's seventeenth, when he'd gotten his black SUV, Riku had pooled together a good pile of the excess money his parents gave him and bought Sora a Fenrir.

The then-brunette had quite literally sunk to his knees and sobbed for about an hour, hugging the bike's seat and calling Riku a god among men. Needless to say, he'd wanted the bike for a while.

Riku locked up the house and headed over to his SUV, climbing inside and starting the vehicle up as the roar of a motorbike engine echoed from the garage. Riku turned his head to see a sleek black and red motorbike zooming out of the garage, the garage closing behind him as Sora sped off toward Selphie's.

Riku rolled his eyes and reversed the car a bit, before turning it back into the correct direction and following after his best friend, his fingers drumming against the steering wheel. He doubted Sora had listened to what he'd said about not going over the speed limit, but hopefully he had enough brains to bring it in a bit. Sora may have had amazing reaction times, but the idea of him getting into an accident made Riku shudder, goosebumps coursing up and down over his arms.

The trip, however, was uneventful- no ominous sounds of ambulance sirens or tires screeching, and when he arrived at Selphie's, Sora's bike and its owner were calmly parked on the grass outside her house. He'd torn up her lawn a bit as he'd done so, leaving chunks of grass scattered across the footpath.

Riku parked his car a little way down- Selphie had apparently invited the entire crew, so there were a few cars in the street, including Leon's blue Coup DeVille. Riku walked over to Sora, who had his arms folded, his butt slightly perched on his bike seat and his helmet still on.

"Took you long enough" he commented darkly.

Riku rolled his eyes and Sora tugged off his helmet, shaking his black locks loose and running a hand through them, though they'd instantly bounced back into their trademark spikes the moment he'd removed the helmet.

"We going? I can smell pizza" he said shortly, unzipping his jacket a little.

"Yeah, Selphie ordered Italian. I have no idea why, since she had to order it without garlic."

"Oh yeah, Leon's here" said Sora, glancing over the road to the blue car. "Damn. I love garlic bread."

"We'll get some on the way back or something" Riku said, and they walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. A sound very similar to a train's whistle rang from the device, and after a few scuffles from inside the door swung open, revealing a young woman with brown hair that curled upward on either side of her head, and bright, cheerful green eyes.

"Yooo!" she called, before leaping on Sora. "Vanilla bunny~! I haven't seen you in forever!"

Sora's blue eyes instantly swung to Riku, narrowing in fury. Riku shrugged, feigning innocence.

"Get off me" he hissed, pulling her off. She grinned widely, winking at him.

"Don't worry, I haven't told anyone else about that name. It really is good to see you both. How's school?"

"Student teachers" Sora growled under his breath, and Selphie gave him a sympathetic look before ushering them inside and into the lounge room.

Selphie's lounge was the largest room in the house; she loved to entertain so she'd made sure the house she'd rented had plenty of room. The large room was full of cushy sofas, a number of which were occupied. Zell and Irvine, who Sora and Riku both knew quite well, were in the middle of a heated video game, and Quistis was pretending to read from a sofa nearby- though it was pretty clear she was watching them play. The blonde woman was in the year above Sora and Riku, so they didn't know her as well as they knew the others. Leon was on the phone, his legs stretched out as he talked animatedly with the person on the other line.

"Seriously, I think fuchsia's your best bet- maybe paired with a cream blouse…no, it's not about faking who you are, Rin, it's about showing him you're willing to go out of your comfort zone…ok, send me a picture once you've picked something out."

"Fashion advice?" Riku asked as Leon hung up, sitting straight on the couch to face the two boys.

"Yeah. Rin's got a date tonight so she asked me to help her out."

"Why didn't she ask one of the _girls?_" Quistis asked, looking a little peeved as she leant against the arm of the couch she was on. Zell chuckled under his breath, not taking his eyes away from the screen.

"Honestly, Quisty, I'd never let you and Sefie near my wardrobe" he said frankly.

"Eyup" agreed Irvine. "Riku and Leon all the way."

Sora laughed. "Riku would probably get flustered if you actually asked. Doesn't change the fact he's the most fashionable hunter…well, ever."

The raven-haired teen shrugged and threw himself onto a free couch, plucking a slice of pizza from the table in the center of the room as Riku folded his arms.

"I think you're exaggerating."

"'It's an atrocity to fashion'" Sora mimicked. "Though that jumpsuit is an atrocity to fashion, but it doesn't change the fact you said it."

"Speaking of fashion, what happened to your hair?" Irvine asked, as Zell yanked at the controller a bit, looking frustrated.

"He probably wanted a change" said Selphie brightly, walking into the lounge room with some plastic cups and bottles of soft drink. "Isn't that right, Vanitas?"

"Vanitas today, eh?" asked Zell, turning his head a bit to look at him just as Irvine got the final hit in. The blonde let out a stream of swear words while an evil grin formed on Sora's face.

"After the shit I copped from a student teacher this afternoon, I was sick of hearing the 'Sor' part" he said, lying on the couch and putting his feet up on the arm. "Anyone else coming, Sefie?"

"Rinoa's going to come over once she's bought her outfit, but she's got a date tonight so she'll be leaving pretty quickly."

Irvine leant back on the couch, ignoring Zell's berating for a rematch. "It's kinda cold of her to ask for dating advice" he commented, and Leon shrugged.

"It was mutual" he murmured, leaning against the arm rest. "These days she's more like my best friend than anything else…I'm not capable of seeing her in a sexual manner. And it's not really safe for me to be in those circumstances with someone who's not a hunter" he said, before adding "or in general" quietly. Riku held back his sigh; it was a well-known fact amongst them that Leon had deep-seated issues regarding his vampire heritage, many of them stemming from the idea that Leon didn't deserve to be around other people because of what kind of blood flowed through his veins. They'd all told him it was bullshit, but he'd had the idea well before they'd met him, and they hadn't managed to dislodge it.

"Uh huh" said Irvine, rolling his eyes. "So you're going to live your whole life alone with your virginity intact?"

"If it comes down to it" Leon said, folding his arms and looking annoyed.

"Oh, but what about that person I met at the coffee shop the other day?" Quistis suddenly asked, and Riku had to double-take at the faint flush that appeared on Leon's cheeks. He'd heard stories, but was this the ever-famous _Leon Blush!?_

"A comrade" he muttered. "I can't even call him a friend yet. Though I really should tell him, before I do something obvious that gives me away."

Riku stiffened, and though he tried to stop it he immediately felt his face form into an expression of guilt. Sora suddenly burst out laughing from across the room. When you've lived together for as long as Sora and Riku have, knowing the other person was inevitable. And Sora knew exactly what a guilty-Riku expression looked like.

"I think Riku beat you to the punch" he said slyly, and Riku wanted nothing more than to run out the door and not have to face Leon about this.

"…Riku, you didn't?" Quistis asked, looking a little appalled.

"Well…I…uh…Leon gets all huffy and pissed off if you actually ask him about it so I thought I'd spare Cloud that ordeal! He'd basically figured it out anyway!"

Riku knew he was getting upset, and it was completely unlike him, but he was being overwhelmed by a feeling of betraying Leon's trust- at the same time he still deep down believed he'd done the right thing by telling him as early as he had, and didn't really regret it. He was just worried about Leon's reaction.

Leon's expression was unreadable. He swallowed, before licking his lip, as though he'd suddenly gotten very nervous. "When…when did you tell him, Riku?"

"Friday night" Riku mumbled sheepishly, and Leon breathed out a sigh of relief, leaning back into the couch.

"I didn't even notice" he said, sounding a little surprised. "He didn't act any differently around me at all."

"Nope, didn't seem to really care when I told him, either" said Riku with a shrug, as he put his hands in his pockets. Tension had flowed out of him now, especially seeing that Leon didn't seem mad about Riku telling Cloud. "He just said 'that explains a lot', which is where I got the idea he basically already knew."

"I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume he didn't know during Friday night's hunt" Leon murmured. "No wonder you told him. I would've preferred to tell him myself- please don't do that again, Riku- but I'm glad it's out of the way."

Riku nodded. "Sorry" he mumbled.

"Maybe you should ask him on a date" Quistis suddenly suggested, and Leon basically hit the roof.

"WHAT?!"

Zell stuck his tongue out. "C'mon, Quisty, Leon's not into other guys!"

"Well he doesn't find Rinoa sexually attractive" mused Selphie suddenly. She'd been surprisingly quiet- probably because she'd been eating most of the pizza while everyone else was preoccupied.

"As much as I would prefer it to be the other way, I think Leon would do better relationship-wise with another man" said Quistis sagely.

Leon let out a long sigh, placing his head in his hand. "I don't even know Cloud. Us getting along doesn't mean I should ask him on a date."

"No man on man protest?" Zell asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't want to get into that kind of discussion while Selphie and Quistis are in the room" he said sullenly, folding his arms.

"Yeah. Selphie once gave me the full, comprehensive rundown on how two guys fuck. I didn't even ask" Sora commented, eating a piece of pizza. "I dunno how she even knows that kind of shit."

"Well, I know exactly how lesbian sex works" said Irvine with a shrug, shoving Zell so he'd stop nagging about the game. "Why don't you ask Vani to play against you, dumbass?"

"Because he'll kick my ass even worse than you did" Zell retorted, and Sora's face split into a malicious grin.

"Oh, come on, Zell. How about it? I'll have a ¼ full life-bar" he taunted.

The blonde exhaled, slumping a bit in the gaming couch before shrugging. "Ok, Vanitas, you're on."

The grin somehow got wider, and the raven-haired teen basically swaggered over to the couch, throwing himself into it and prying the controller from Irvine.

They started up the game, and Riku was about to settled down to watch Zell get his butt royally whooped- Sora was infamously good at videogames, it was almost like he was from one- but the doorbell rang. Selphie instantly perked up.

"That's probably Rinoa" she said, clapping her hands together.

"I'll get it" offered Riku, since he was standing closest to the exit of the lounge. The silverette turned on his heel, opening the front door to reveal Rinoa. The dark-haired girl was wearing a pair of jeans and a tank top, but she was also equipped with several shopping bags. She gave Riku a warm smile the moment she saw him.

"Hello, Riku" she said. "I haven't seen you in ages."

Riku let her in, giving her a small nod. "Yeah. Vanitas is here, too."

Rinoa raised her eyebrows at the name, but she understood the meaning behind it, heading into the lounge room where everyone else was, just as Zell violently threw the controller across the room.

"I couldn't even hit you! What the hell?!" he shouted, tugging at his hair as Sora let out a hollow, condescending laugh.

"Too slow" he quipped, getting off the couch and stepping over to Riku, raising his eyebrow at the amount of shopping Rinoa had with her. "Couldn't pick?"

"Nope" she said brightly. "I hoped Leon might help me pick something. I'm not very photogenic, so I thought it'd be better in person. And with Riku here, I'll definitely look amazing."

Sora chuckled darkly, before walking back over to the couch he had occupied earlier, grabbing an entire bottle of cola and two slices of pizza as he did so. Riku rolled his eyes, but Rinoa looked a little concerned.

"What happened, Ri?" she asked, and Riku sighed. He was getting a little tired of explaining this today.

"A student teacher kept using his real name" he said simply, and Rinoa looked a little sad. The expression quickly disappeared as Selphie skipped over to her, looking eager.

"I wanna see the clothes you got!" she said cheerfully, and the dark-haired girl nodded. The two headed upstairs to change, leaving Quistis as the only female in the room, which changed the moment she realized this, the blonde following her two friends up the stairs.

"So why exactly do you know how lesbian sex works?" Zell asked, as Irvine began rifling through Selphie's videogames, looking for something that was less likely to cause a hole in the wall.

"Because I watch it, stupid" Irvine huffed. "Did you really need to ask?"

Zell's eyes widened, and he looked around the room. "Are guys supposed to watch that kind of stuff?"

"You're asking the wrong crowd, Zell" drawled Sora, putting his arms behind his head. "Riku doesn't even know what kind of girl he likes, like he'd be watching porn that involves two of 'em. Leon doesn't strike me as the type, either."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm the only one here who watches it" Irvine said with a shrug. "The point is that Selphie and Quistis like the opposite end of the spectrum- i.e gay porn. Which is why they'd know."

"Yep. They're hella informed" Sora muttered, rubbing his hair. "Half of it made my hair curl."

Riku raised his eyebrows, as the three giggling girls came back down the stairs. Rinoa was now wearing a cream blouse with a short purple skirt and heels. Leon came walking out, standing next to Riku and assessing the dark-haired girl's clothing.

"What do you think Ri?" he asked.

"I'm not totally sold on the blouse or the heels. I think maybe a black v-line shirt and a white jacket… maybe some black mid-calf boots."

"Hm…the shirt's the big pain here."

"Yeah, but that fuchsia looks great on her."

"What shirts did you get, Rin?" Leon asked, folding his arms. She thought for a moment.

"I have another cream long-sleeved one..."

Riku made an 'hmm' sound, biting his knuckle a bit as he thought about it. "Maybe a black vest? How far does the shirt come up?"

"I like the vest idea" said Leon with a nod.

"I have a vest!" pipped in Selphie. "I think it'd fit you, Rin, it's a bit too big for me."

The dark-haired girl nodded. "We'll be back" she said, and the three headed back up to change again. Leon exhaled, rubbing his hair. He opened his mouth to talk, but reconsidered what he was going to say and refrained from doing so.

"Never mind" he muttered. "How long do you think Vanitas will be acting like this?"

"He's not as pissed off as he was earlier" Riku said with a shrug. "He's trying to stick to one persona. He…he said that he was tired of the mood swings, and he said if he couldn't get on a grip on it soon he'd reconsider the meds."

"Really?" Leon asked, raising his eyebrows. "That's…pretty extreme."

"Yeah" Riku murmured, unable to keep the worry out of his voice.

"I'm not sure what persona I'd rather him sticking too, honestly" Leon muttered.

Riku shrugged, though his chest felt tight and heavy with anxiety. Honestly, he hadn't stopped worrying about his friend since the incident at school, and his currently level five damage control techniques were more than enough evidence. Riku kind of disliked the way he tended to throw himself into the most ridiculous of situations for Sora's sake, but he couldn't help it. He hated seeing his friend genuinely upset. Not stand-offish and moody, or bawling, but his face when something was genuinely cutting rivets in his heart. The face he made whenever he thought of his father, or his name, or the way his life had turned out.

His name; Soritas. Finding the genuine etymology for the name was a bit of an effort, but in the end one would eventually trace it back to its root. It was connected to the term 'sophism'- loosely speaking, the name meant a collection of falsehoods or not-quite truths, compiled to deceive others. Sora hated lying, no matter what mood he was in; he wasn't very good at filtering himself, and told the truth even when it was probably better to hide it, so the fact that his given name represented everything he stood against infuriated and upset him. Even 'emptiness' or 'futility' was better than a collection of lies- because sometimes things were in vain, as much as one disliked that fact.

Riku swallowed, exhaling. He sorely wished he could've done something this afternoon, but their student teacher was immensely stubborn. And they'd slashed open wounds Riku spent most of his days trying to keep closed.

"You ok, Ri?"

Riku blinked; Sora had come over to them, and was looking at Riku with genuine concern on his face. The silverette gave him a small, regretful smile.

"Just worrying about you, as usual" he said ruefully, and Sora smiled slightly, turning his eyes downward.

"Sorry" he murmured, just as Selphie came bouncing down the stairs, latching onto Sora from behind and clinging to him like some kind of yellow-clad monkey. The green-eyed girl was wearing yellow shorts and a blue tank top, seemingly unfazed by the cooling weather.

"Ok, now kiss and make up, you two!" she shouted gleefully, and both teenagers looked like they'd swallowed a lemon.

"We will not be subjected to your weird man-on-man fantasies" Riku said, pulling the clingy girl off of Sora, who brushed himself off.

"Oh, don't be a homophobe, Riku" she said, patting him on the shoulder.

"I have nothing against them, I just don't like you attempting to categorize me as one" the silverette retorted, brushing Selphie's hand off him. Sora let out a low, conniving chuckle, and Riku gave him a weird look.

"What's up with you?" he asked flatly, and Sora shrugged, sticking his hands in his pockets and grinning.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking of something else" he said, though mischief was still glinting in his eyes. That look always spelt trouble.

Thankfully, Rinoa had come down now clad in an outfit that caused both Riku and Leon to nod their heads in approval. The cream shirt, fuchsia skirt and black vest complimented each other nicely, and managed to show off Rinoa's personality without her resorting to her trademark azure blue.

"How do I look?" she asked, and Riku gave her a genuine smile.

"You look great, Rin" Riku said, and Leon nodded in agreement.

"You'll blow his socks off" he added, and she beamed widely, coming down the stairs and wrapping them both in a hug.

"Thank you for helping me out. I gotta go now though…we're meeting in about fifteen minutes" she said, looking a little nervous. Sora gave her an encouraging smile, waving with the hem of his jacket- he hadn't taken his hands out of his pockets.

"I think you'll do great, Rinny."

She giggled. "Thanks, Sora."

He didn't comment on the name, simply smiled back as she dashed out the door, saying quick goodbyes to the boys in the lounge.

"How'd she know?" Sora asked, looking at Riku with a raised eyebrow. "I know what you're like, and you would've told her I was using Vanitas…so how'd she know I'd switched back?"

"Only pumpkin-pants wearing teenagers would wave through the pocket of their jacket" joked Riku, and Sora pouted, causing a smile to creep up on Riku's face. "Besides, I knew, too. You switched back shortly after we got here, though you did pretty well at sticking to it. Was the Zell mockery an act or not?"

"C'mon, Ri. You and I both know I'm an arrogant prick no matter what side of a mood swing I'm on" he said with a grin. "It was 100% genuine, just said a bit colder than I actually felt."

"Very true" Riku muttered. "You're a giant narcissist too."

"Yeah, you're pushing your luck now" Sora said, punching him in the shoulder.

"You two should probably head home and get your gear" said Leon, checking the time on his phone. "It's getting pretty late."

"I haven't eaten" said Riku, and Leon gave him a deadpan stare.

"There was pizza" he said, and Riku folded his arms.

"I didn't want pizza" he retorted.

The brunette exhaled, rolling his eyes, before walking off and saying goodbye to everyone else. "Grab something to eat on the way, then. I'll meet you at the usual spot."

"Can do" said Riku, and the brunette left. His exit was soon followed by the sound of the blue Coup DeVille speeding off from outside the house.

"I need to pee pee" Sora mumbled. "I'll meet you outside?"

"Pee pee?" Riku asked incredulously. "Seriously?"

"Shut up."

* * *

**Whew. There might be some errors here, I didn't fully proofread it. Yes, still working on **_**Tornado**_**'s next chapter, I'll be posting that within the next week or so. I've gotten a bit blocked on it, to be honest. **

**There's not much supernaturally-stuff going on yet, but I'm establishing everything. This fic is pretty long- chapter four has the word count at 43k- but after this and the next one things start heating up for Riku, Cloud and the rest. That said, reviews would **_**seriously **_**be appreciated, especially any questions or queries! I'll probably be PM'ing answers, though.**


	4. Going Under

**Chapter Four: Going Under**

Cloud was not having an easy week.

Monday had started out fairly normally. He'd woken up late, as per usual, and headed out to go shopping. He bought necessities Aris didn't seem to have, using some money he had tucked away from an off-shot delivery job. Bread, milk, eggs, a bag of fresh apples, pasta, canned tins of soup…he had no idea what Aris had been living on, but if it'd been pizza, like he suspected, Cloud had no intention of following suit. Cloud didn't really like Italian anyway unless he made it himself; they used_ way_ too much garlic in their cooking.

He packed away his shopping and sat down to give the Buster Sword some TLC, intending to tune up the Hardy Daytona once he was finished. However, his cleaning routine was interrupted by his phone buzzing loudly, and he quickly answered it.

"Hello, Cloud Strife speaking" he said, pinning the phone between his shoulder and head as he continued to scrub at a particularly stubborn bit of grime near the weapon's hilt.

"Hello, Cloud, it's Aerith. Can you come over?"

Cloud raised an eyebrow. He hadn't had a chance to visit Aerith yet, so that was probably why she was calling; but there was a slight hint of mischief in the other girl's voice.

"What for?" he asked carefully.

"Vinnie and Tifa want to talk to you."

Uh oh. What the hell were they doing in town?

"I'm kind of busy…" Cloud said nervously, trying to worm his way out of this. If it was both Tifa and Vincent, something was very wrong. And he didn't like the sound of it.

"This is kind of important."

Cloud sighed, knowing he was more or less screwed no matter what he did. "Alright, I'll be there in ten minutes."

The blonde hung up, putting away his cleaning supplies and the Buster Sword, only taking what could be hidden on his person. He wasn't sure how long the interlude with Vincent and Tifa would take, and with the current circumstances he didn't want to be caught unarmed in the dark.

Aris was out, so Cloud locked the flat's door behind him and walked over to his bike, pulling on his goggles and clambering onto it. He started the engine, the bike revving to life and dispelling some of Cloud's nerves. Even if he was in the most dire of circumstances, his bike was his rock.

He headed toward Aerith's house, his mind racing. He was a bit frustrated with Tifa and Vincent; Cloud's father, Socrates, had expressly stated they weren't to get involved in this. He knew Aristotle better than anyone, he'd had to clean up after the incident sixteen years ago, and he didn't want any more casualties to his brother's prejudice.

And now, seeing how he acted, Cloud fully agreed with his father. The last people he wanted in town were the two people Aris wouldn't hesitate to slaughter.

He pulled up in the driveway of a normal-looking house, though the curtains were pulled tight. There were rows of white and yellow flowers growing up the pathway, filling the air with their delicate perfume. Aerith was a master gardener, capable of getting anything to grow if she wished; at home, where Tifa and Vincent's condition was now an accepted fact, Aerith had grown a large patch of blood roses to keep them fed if things got dire. The flowers were notorious for being difficult to grow- which was why this town was such an oddity, they were massively common- so the fact Aerith had a healthy crop first try was more than enough evidence of her ability.

Cloud got off the Daytona, putting his goggles on the handlebars and walking up to the front door. He swallowed the nerves that had now returned in full force and rapt lightly on the front door.

Aerith answered the door, beaming at him.

"Hi, Aerith" Cloud said, looking around to see if Tifa or Vincent were in. No sign of them, which was odd.

She laughed quietly behind her hand. "Good to see you too, Cloud."

The brunette girl stood sideways, opening up the entrance way for the blonde man. "Well, will you come in? I have a freshly brewed batch of barley tea if you'd like some."

"Yes please" said Cloud, giving her a gentle smile. She smiled back, leading him inside. The scent of flowers persisted into the quaint house, which was far too large for a single person to be occupying. The hallway lead directly to the staircase, while on either side doors lead to the lounge room and the kitchen and dining area. Cloud followed Aerith into the kitchen, where she began pouring him a cup of tea. She had her long, brown hair done up in her usual twist and pink ribbon, and she was wearing a flowing dark red skirt, paired with a cream blouse with frills around the edge and a denim jacket in the same colour as the skirt. Underneath her feet were clad in a pair of comfy brown moccasins.

She came over with two cups of tea, sitting one down in front of Cloud and taking a seat herself, sipping at the brew. Cloud also took a sip, and noted that it was a tad less sweet than usual, making it nigh-perfect.

"This is fantastic, Aer" said Cloud, smiling as he blew a bit of steam from the cup. "Sorry I haven't visited before now."

"I can't say I'm entirely surprised" said Aerith with a small smirk. "But it's only been…what, a week?"

"Not even" said Cloud with a shrug. "I only arrived Thursday last week…" he trailed off a bit, glancing around the kitchen before sipping his tea again. "So Tifa and Vincent…?"

Aerith nodded slightly. "Yes, they're staying here at the moment. I offered them the place after I heard you were working on a recruitment drive."

Cloud exhaled, looking a little annoyed. "I appreciate them wanting to be here, but my father expressly told them that my uncle is ruthless. I've met the man now, Aerith, and I don't doubt my father's words in the slightest. He tried to exorcise his own _human _son because he's bipolar."

"Oh dear" murmured Aerith. "I haven't heard that story, and I'd thought I'd heard them all. He's not still living with him, is he?"

Cloud shook his head. "Sora's living with one of Aris's protégé's- a teen named Riku."

"Ahh, that makes sense" she said with a nod, sipping at her tea. "My friend's mentioned Riku a couple of times."

"Do you mean Leon?" Cloud asked, and Aerith blinked.

"You've met?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, we hunted together on Friday night...Aris was…drunk."

The brunette young woman looked pensive, thinking to herself. "I'm not sure how, but yourself and Leon always seem to miss each other. I guess fate finally decided it was time for you to meet."

The blonde raised an eyebrow, sipping at his tea, which was still fairly hot. "Leon mentioned he knew most of our group."

"He does. He visits quite often, in fact. He helped Cid out with that garage while you were off doing deliveries. Every time he came to visit us, you weren't there. It was almost funny."

"Wow, that's…kind of odd. How long have you known him?" Cloud asked. Aerith actually bit her lip at this.

"I've known him a bit longer than everyone else, since they all met him when he visited me once. I've known Leon since he was he was a child…he lived in my hometown a long time ago."

"…and you never mentioned him?" Cloud asked incredulously.

"Leon likes his privacy" Aerith murmured. "He has some dark things in his past."

"Don't we all?" Cloud murmured, and Aerith adopted a sad smile. Both of them were still trying to move on from Zack's death in one way or another; Aerith was pursuing the dream she'd had for a long time, via a grant Zack had left her in his will. Cloud had devoted himself to the goal that had given him the power of magick; to be Zack's living legacy, follow what he started. Protect people from those who are truly cruel and monstrous, and forgive those who deserve it. Even before Zack had joined their ranks, he'd sympathised with them. The battle between those who didn't want to harm others and those who did raged on, but slowly more hunters were adopting Zack's ways. Cloud knew Leon was of that persuasion, even with the incident on Friday night- because Riku certainly hadn't gotten his compassion and understanding from Aris.

The front door of the house suddenly burst open, and with an almighty racket Tifa and Vincent stormed into the kitchen. Tifa looked like she was about to pull the blonde into a bone-crushing hug, but Cloud had other ideas.

"HOW THE HOLY HELL DID YOU JUST WALK IN HERE IN BROAD DAYLIGHT?!" Cloud shouted, jumping out of his chair and pointing at them. "YOU SHOULD BE CRISPY!"

The two of them blinked, clearly not expecting that kind of reaction. Cloud glanced between the three of them, searching for some kind of explanation, his face still clearly painted with shock and disbelief.

"They're wearing suppression bands, Cloud" Aerith explained.

The blonde stared at her, his blue eyes wide with surprise. "…How did they get a hold of suppression bands?"

Aerith smiled slightly. "I'm part of a bloodline known as the Ancients. It is our duty to watch over magickal relics. I've had the two suppression bands in my possession for quite some time."

Cloud raised an eyebrow, before looking over to the dark-haired pair. "…Well, what did you want to talk about?" he asked slowly, his gaze glancing between them.

"…You didn't tell us that two hunters attended high school" she said sheepishly, and Cloud's other eyebrow joined the first.

"…What the hell were you two doing at a high school? Of course I didn't mention it, number one, you two are too old for school, number two, up until this very moment I didn't think you two could be out during the day, number three, I didn't even know Sora and Riku attended high school, number four I didn't know them until four days ago, so why the hell would I know they were attending high school prior to then!? I didn't even know Sora was my cousin, for crying out loud!"

Cloud huffed loudly, and the sheepish expression on Tifa's face intensified. If Vincent hadn't taken so well to a vampire's dampened emotions, he probably would've looked sheepish, too.

"Well, at least that is out of the way" murmured Vincent. "I had figured that it was more of an oversight or something unbeknownst to you rather than a deliberate withholding of information."

The raven-haired man flicked a black lock out of his eyes, closing them and sighing. "They are a…strange pair, in their own way."

"Mhm" said Tifa, nodding.

Cloud sat back down in his chair, taking a sip of tea. "Are you talking about Sora's mood swings?" he asked carefully, and Vincent exhaled again.

"I would hesitate to call something of such severity 'mood swings', Cloud" he said calmly. "Closer to a 'split personality'."

Cloud raised his eyebrows. He certainly had noticed Sora's dramatic shifts in attitude, but never anything bad enough to warrant that kind of terminology.

"…What happened?" he asked slowly. Tifa exhaled.

"When I met him this morning, he was a sweet, cheerful boy. At some stage this afternoon, another student teacher- that's what we are, by the way- did something to annoy him badly enough that he swore at her, flipped two tables and left the school, proceeding to scream at everyone who tried to stop him."

"…Do you know why?"

"She used his real name" Vincent murmured. "Sora isn't his given name. His real name is 'Soritas'. I'm not sure why he dislikes it so much, but it's enough for him to flip out and completely switch temperaments."

Soritas Strife. That sounded way more fitting, Cloud admitted to himself. He was the black sheep his family, in fact; most were named either Latin or Greek names, while Cloud's was…well. Cloud.

"Well, it might be because of his father. Sora and Aris hate each other…there's a strong chance Aris named him since it follows my family's naming conventions, so rejecting the name is another way of him rejecting his father."

"Well, he is a hateful man. I don't blame him" murmured Aerith, and Cloud raised his eyebrows.

"It's rare for you to comment on someone like that, Aer" he commented, and she shrugged.

"He's done terrible things, and I've seen the repercussions of them. If he was even half as bad to his son, there's no doubt in why Sora hates him. And you did mention that he tried to exorcise him."

"What?" spluttered Vincent. "Even the most green of hunters know that only supernaturals are capable of handling possession, and despite Sora's shortcomings, that boy is entirely human. Aris must be some kind of idiot."

"He told me himself" Cloud murmured. "Aris tried to exorcise him, and then Sora moved out and started living with Riku. Riku was the one who taught Sora how to hunt, not Aris."

"Wow" whispered Tifa, swallowing and looking a little miserable. "And I thought we had it bad…I've heard about how exorcisms are performed, and for a human to be subjected to that…"

Tifa shuddered, and the room's other three occupants also felt chills. Cloud hoped Sora had managed to get out of Aris's clutches before he'd really managed to do damage.

The blonde exhaled, rubbing his temples. He had hoped this situation was going to be a little less complicated than last time, but so far it seemed worse. The main hunter of the region was ruthless, but blind; he hadn't even realized there was a dhampir in his midst, and had attempted to exorcise his human son. Tifa and Vincent were now truly in the firing line, with them in the city; they were still very young by vampire standards (they'd been turned just over a year ago) and weren't as good as hiding as those who were older, especially Tifa. Vincent had adapted to vampirism much easier than she had.

"Before I forget" Vincent suddenly said, causing Cloud to look up and rest his hands around his tea cup, which was almost empty. "The other one, Riku. Watch over him."

Cloud raised an eyebrow, blinking slowly. "What does that mean?" he asked, and Vincent sighed.

"Your town's hunter group is small. You have Aris, Leon, Sora, Riku and yourself. Now, let's go through those who are viable vampire targets. Aris is not- vampires loath him and would rather him dead above everything, plus someone has laid claim on his life. Leon cannot be infected. Sora is too unpredictable to be turned- there's no way to say his darker, more violent personality wouldn't immediately become a ruthless killer once he gained a set of fangs. That leaves you and Riku. But you are slightly older and more experienced than Riku, and you carry a larger weapon, making you more formidable to vampires who are concerned for their well-being. So, if a vampire were to be targeting a hunter for their recruitment drive…"

"Riku would be the first choice" Cloud breathed. "Shit. How do you know they'd be targeting hunters this time?"

Tifa fidgeted a little bit. "Cloud, hunters are the best pick to turn into a vampire. There's no need to go through the hoops and hurdles of explaining that vampires are real, and most hunters are already aware of what vampirism entails. Basically it saves them a lot of time. Most importantly, hunters are fully aware that actually denying the need to feed is entirely impossible and only results in tragedy."

Cloud exhaled, rubbing his forehead. "Shit" he repeated. "I can see the logic in it. You told him, didn't you?"

"Yes" said Vincent. "Discretely. He doesn't strike me as the dense type, so I believe he'll know what I meant."

Cloud sighed. "Ok, we'll keep an eye on him. We're travelling in groups at the moment…Leon usually accompanies both Riku and Sora, and I'm still hunting with Aris for the moment."

"Cloud, don't count yourself out of the danger zone, either" said Tifa, giving him a worried look. "You're only one step higher on the ladder. If they catch you without your Buster Sword…"

"Tifa, I'm always careful. I know how easily I could've been turned last time, I'm not about to stick my neck out here."

"Just being here is sticking your neck out" Vincent said shortly, folding his arms.

"So, what?" Cloud muttered, looking a little frustrated. "Do you want me to go home? There's always risks with this job, I accepted that when I started training. There's not a lot I can do to prevent bad things from happening to me; that's just part of the job description."

Tifa exhaled, holding her arm. "We know, Cloud. We just worry about you."

"I can take care of myself" Cloud retorted sharply. "If anyone should be heading home, it's you two. You know just as well as I do that Shinra could show up any day with a recruitment drive occurring."

"We are not in any danger, Cloud. We, too, know how to take care of ourselves" Vincent said, his tone icy. Cloud's finger twitched against the table. The blonde could feel a familiar sense of irritance washing over him- usually he was very much even-tempered, but every now and then an inner firecracker would go off. He exhaled, reining it in and keeping his expression flat.

"You and I both know that's a load of poppycock" Cloud murmured. "Aris and Shinra are around, and they don't take prisoners. You should go home."

"We're not going home, Cloud" said Tifa matter-of-factly, and Cloud let out an irritated sigh. He couldn't deny that he was worried, and he just wished they'd take this a bit more seriously. Being vampires didn't guarantee them the ability to avoid being hurt by Aris or Shinra, and more had the effect of painting large targets on their heads.

"I'm not talking to you two while you're in town, and I won't be able to visit, either. Aris will get suspicious- he threw dinner plates at me the other night just because I was out for a little while."

Tifa and Vincent raised their eyebrows, but Cloud refrained from elaborating. The sentence said enough, as far as he was concerned; Aris was suspicious, dangerous, and too much of a risk to even have near them. They needed to either go home, or Cloud couldn't be around them.

"I'm leaving. Thank you for the tea, Aerith" Cloud murmured, standing and heading for the door. He opened it only to come face to face with Leon, whose fist was raised and about to knock.

"…We really do just miss each other, don't we?" Cloud murmured wryly, giving Leon a small smile before brushing past him. "See you tonight, Leon."

The brunette gave him a slightly confused look, but said nothing, allowing him to leave the house in peace. Aerith would probably explain what he'd meant, anyway.

Aerith had called later that afternoon, asking if he was ok. Cloud hadn't answered and just asked if Tifa and Vincent had left. She had gone silent at the question, and it was all the response Cloud needed- he hung up on her and put the phone on silent, then turned off its vibration. He wanted nothing to do with them while they were still being stupid.

The patrols that night had gone relatively smoothly. He and Aris hadn't encountered anything, but Leon had called in a pair of werewolves who'd attempted to attack them. No-one was injured, and the pair had been killed in response. It wasn't full moon, which meant these werewolves were most likely rabid; some went insane after the change, unable to adjust, and ended up permanently in wolf form. Or the pair had simply been overtaken by their beastly nature and need to feed, which was just as dangerous. There was no choice but to take them out, really.

Still, the thought kept Cloud awake that night and into the morning. Zack had never been like that. He knew the risks that came with his condition and he'd been the epitome of careful. He'd lock himself away on full moons, kept a steady diet of both human food and raw meat, and if ever the need to hunt became too much, he'd be completely honest with them both and head out into the woodlands for a few days. He'd come back with leaves and blood in his hair, but he'd be all smiles and full of stories. In short, even with what he would become once a month, Zack was never a monster. Perhaps it was the help of supportive friends and family; Cloud had refused to leave his side during the conversion, and Aerith had never even suggested they stop dating because of what Zack was. Why couldn't more werewolves follow that ideology, and prevent their own and other's deaths?

Around 8am Cloud drifted off for a few hours, but woke up again around 11am. His phone had a text message specifying a delivery job (he'd requested them to use texts and not phone calls), so he headed out.

Or planned to.

Somewhere between coming home last night and waking up this morning, the Daytona had decided that it was not going to start. Cloud tried everything, and the bike simply refused to rev to life. An inspection revealed several faults had cropped up at once, and Cloud knew it'd take weeks for the parts to arrive even if he ordered them at that very moment.

He called up multiple repair shops and rattled off orders, still fiddling around with the bike as he did so. His rising frustration from yesterday had returned twofold and he knew for a fact he was going to be snappy and irritable, but he didn't care enough to rein it in.

Once that was done, he called up Leon. The brunette didn't sound too pleased to hear his voice at lunch time (was he asleep?), but he was a little more friendly than the first time he'd called.

"What?" the voice on the other line snapped. Well, at least Cloud knew he'd saved his caller ID.

"Do you know of any car or bike rental places around here?" he asked dully.

"You'd be better off calling Ri for that, sorry. I walked everywhere before I got my car."

"God fucking dammit" Cloud muttered.

"What happened?" Leon asked, sounding a little concerned.

Cloud sighed irritably, knowing he should probably give Leon the time of day if the stoic younger man had bothered to ask. "My Daytona's gone and died for the tenth time" he muttered, knocking a wrench against the ground. "The parts for this model are rare as hen's teeth, so I'll be waiting upwards of two weeks to fix it. I need a vehicle for my job."

"…Are you sure you can afford to be paying rent on a car?" Leon asked carefully, and Cloud growled under his breath in response.

"…I wonder if it runs in the family" Leon murmured.

"Are you calling me bipolar?" Cloud snapped into the phone, and Leon let out an audible sigh.

"Yes" he retorted, and he hung up.

Cloud grumbled under his breath. "I'm not bipolar, I've just never gotten pissed off around you people" he muttered, scrolling down to Riku's phone number and ringing.

"Uh, Cloud, you're calling during school. I'm on lunch break, but…"

"Do you know of any car rental places around here?" Cloud snapped, cutting him off.

Riku was silent for a few moments. "…Car rental places?" he asked finally, sounding hesitant.

"My bike's out of commission, and I need a vehicle for my job."

"Cloud, this is a tourist town…most car rental places are flash and cost and arm and a leg per week- hey, Sora, what the f-"

The phone made some clattering sounds, and it sounded like Sora had just wrestled the phone from his friend. His suspicions were confirmed the moment Sora's voice piped in.

"You need a vehicle?" he asked.

"Uh huh" said Cloud, spinning the wrench between his fingers.

"Well…I'm a bit hesitant to do this, but I recognize a bike lover when I see one. I can let you borrow my Fenrir until you get the parts for the Daytona, if you'd like."

Cloud spluttered, jumping to his feet. "Did you just say Fenrir? As in _the motorbike_?"

"Yep, birthday present. I usually ride around in Riku's SUV, so it shouldn't be too much of an inconvenience on my end."

"Yes. Oh my god, yes" Cloud whispered. He wanted to kiss something. "You are a life saver, Sora. Oh my god. I could kiss you."

"…Uh, Cloud-"

"I'm not bipolar."

"…"

It really was beginning to sound like denial.

Cloud had to tell his job that he couldn't work today, since Sora couldn't bring the Fenrir around until he'd finished school. Although he told himself it wasn't what he was doing, Cloud was sitting outside on the steps leading up to the flat, waiting for Sora to show up and trying to contain his childlike glee.

It was about 4:30 when Sora appeared, Riku trailing behind him in the SUV. The raven-haired teen (Cloud hadn't bothered to even mention it- what he dyed his hair was his own business) was wearing a set of red and black biking leathers and a rather strange helmet, which he pulled off the moment he arrived. He gave Cloud a bright grin the moment the blonde jumped to his feet.

"Heya, Cloud" he chimed, giving him a two fingered salute as he dismounted the bike.

"Hi" Cloud murmured, already looking at the bike. "This is…the Void Gear model?"

"Yup" said Sora proudly, patting the bike's seat. "There were a few I was considering…the Kingdom model's a beauty, always has been. I've seen the original model…man."

"I'm partial to the Oblivion model" Cloud murmured, circling the bike. "Though I'd probably get a Metal Chocobo if it came down to it."

"Ooh, you have fine taste, cuz" Sora quipped, handing over the keys. "Be good to her, alright? Break her…and I'll break you."

"I'm counting on it" Cloud replied, smiling slightly at the serious glint in Sora's eyes. The boy met the smile as Riku walked up, eyeing them both.

"You can tell you two are related" he said, and Sora clicked his fingers.

"Right. Was going to say, I wasn't going to call you bipolar. I was going to comment that what you said was uh…kind of inappropriate" he said, shrugging and putting his hands behind his head, the leather of his clothing squeaking a bit. "Who called you bipolar?"

"Leon" Cloud muttered, folding his arms.

"It was probably because you're Sora's cousin, you know. Don't take it personally" said Riku with a shrug. "I certainly didn't expect that kind of temper out of you, but even the most mild-mannered of people can have the nastiest of tempers."

Cloud rubbed the back of his head, looking sheepish. "Yeah…takes a bit to get me riled up, but I can be scary when I am, or so I've been told."

"I'll keep that in mind" said Sora cheerfully. "Me and Ri wanna get dinner before he goes out. D'ya want him to pick you up anything?"

"What are you getting?" Cloud asked, raising an eyebrow as he put his hands in the pockets of his oil-stained jeans.

"We were just going to pick up some chicken and chips" said Riku with a shrug. Sora grinned widely, swaying his torso casually.

"Yeah, that sounds good then" said Cloud, fishing around for his wallet, but Riku shook his head.

"My shout. You didn't get to work today, and I've always got too much cash laying around" he grumbled. "Might as well spend it on useful things."

Cloud raised his eyebrows, but decided not to pry.

It was a slow night for Cloud and Aris, and they didn't get any word from Riku or Leon. They'd ended up heading back early, and Cloud had slept peacefully.

Of course, a bad week wouldn't be complete with the unwanted return of one of Cloud's ancient nemesis'- no, not Sephiroth.

Migraines.

He'd been getting them since he was about six, or around then, and they were the most intense, most crippling pain Cloud had experienced in his relatively short life of hunting. Their presence drained his energy and left him pale, shaky and prone to throwing up anything and everything he'd eaten or tried to force down. He could not function while he had a migraine, to put it simply. His family and friends at home understood, and while he'd still been prone to them he'd been taking medication to keep them at bay. They weren't frequent, now, so he hadn't taken any with him- which was unfortunate since this was one of the worse ones.

There were a few things that helped. They were immune to painkillers, or so it seemed, but keeping up his water intake was beneficial. A cool cloth under his neck and across his forehead were also a great relief, and he needed his bedroom absolutely pitch black. Light made the migraine three times worse.

So he'd left Aris a hesitant note, gotten some cool cloths and cooped himself up in his room, shutting his curtains tightly and trying to sleep it off.

Of course, the whole light thing set off Aris's warnings alarms and the man had stormed in and violently opened Cloud's curtains.

"ARE YOU INSANE?!" Cloud spat, frantically covering his eyes as the pain intensified. "Migraine! They get worse with bright light! Look it up, dammit!"

Aris had said nothing and just left the room, leaving Cloud to weakly shut the curtains and collapse back into bed, pulling the covers over his head. Hopefully the fact he hadn't burst into flames the moment the curtains had been opened was enough of an indicator.

To his surprise, the next person to walk into the room was not Aris- it was Leon. Although he was attempting to keep a calm expression, Cloud recognized concern glinting in his stormy blues. The man was a giant softy at heart, though Cloud had no intention of informing Leon that he knew about it.

"Aerith said you hadn't been returning calls, so I asked Aris if you were alright and he said you'd blacked out your room" Leon explained. Cloud sat up gingerly, his head swimming with pain.

"Migraine" he whispered, and the moment he'd said so Leon passed over a glass of water and a silver packet of tablets.

"Painkillers don't work with my headaches" Cloud muttered, sipping the water.

A ghost of a smile flickered onto Leon's lips. "They're your medication. Aerith gave me some. She said you seemed a little touchy yesterday, and your migraines tend to follow you being irritable."

"The bipolar comment was unwarranted" Cloud muttered, pushing out a couple of the capsules and downing them with a couple of swallows of water. He'd have to thank Aerith later. "It's perfectly normal for someone to have a temper-"

"Something just told me you're not really the type to get riled up all that much" Leon murmured, shrugging. "It struck me as strange."

Cloud blinked a few times. Was he that easy to read, or was Leon just very good at reading others? Then again, Cloud doubted that most people caught on to the fact Leon's stoic persona was a cover-up for a deeply passionate and caring man, and in that respect they were even. Maybe the two of them were just good at reading each other.

The blonde sighed, sipping his water. "You're right" he murmured. "My temperamental moments are few and far between, and I'm usually pretty mellow."

Leon glanced around the room, before looking back to Cloud. "Would you like me to leave and let you get some rest?" he asked. Cloud shrugged.

"I won't be able to sleep until the meds kick in. You can stay if you'd like, I wouldn't mind the company."

The brunette seemed a little surprised at the offer, but closed the bedroom door and sat down on the bed anyway. The room was now pitch-black and rather quiet.

Cloud lay back down in his covers, curling up a bit and trying to dismiss the persisting ache. The sound of Leon's breathing was calming, though; somehow having the younger man on the edge of his bed made him feel more comfortable in the foreign room. Perhaps it was because it'd prevent Aris bursting in and opening the curtains again.

"Riku told you, right?" Leon murmured, and Cloud shifted a bit.

"You sure you want to discuss that here?" Cloud replied. A silently said _Isn't it dangerous to discuss this around Aris?_

"He's drunk" Leon said with a shrug. "And asleep. He's dead to the world when he's asleep, trust me."

"If you say so" Cloud mumbled. Well, his father had mentioned stories of Aris falling asleep on the beach in the middle of storms, but he'd always dismissed them as exaggerated dad-tales. "Yeah, Riku told me on Friday last week."

"I was going to tell you myself, you know" he said, and Cloud nodded.

"He said that. More specifically he told me not to mention it and to let you say it to me first."

Leon let out a small laugh. "He knows me too well" he said, rubbing his hair. "People are a little more hesitant when they find out, so your reaction surprised me."

"I have two vampire friends and my best friend was a werewolf" Cloud muttered. "I think it'd be more of a concern if I _was _hesitant about it. Seriously, Leon, I give no shits in regards to your heritage."

"That's a dangerous position to be in, Cloud" Leon murmured. "Especially in the middle of a recruitment drive."

"Tifa and Vincent mentioned that" the blonde grumbled.

Leon smirked at this. "You then proceeded to turn off your phone."

"It's not off" Cloud responded dully, pulling out the device and showing Leon. "I've just put it on silent and turned the vibration off."

"You have 67 missed calls" Leon said, pointing at the screen.

Cloud looked at, ignoring the sharper throb that came from his head due to looking at the bright screen. "Huh. They've been busy, it was only at 34 the last time I checked."

"Do you make a habit of missing phone calls?" Leon asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Sometimes" the blonde admitted. "I'm not prone to discussing my issues."

Leon smiled slightly at this, but said nothing. He didn't have to- the smile basically said it anyway. It was a 'so you're like that too' look.

"It's not exactly the most pleasant stance to have when you're friends with Aerith" Cloud added, and Leon adopted a bitter smile.

"Yeah, she really does like to stick her nose in. I have no secrets with that woman, and probably couldn't keep them even if I did. She's almost like my sister, really."

"You're that close?" Cloud asked, and Leon nodded.

"I was visiting her all the time while she was living with Zack, and I still visit her now that she's here."

"Yeah. Zack wanted her to go after her flower-shop dream, and there's more opportunity here. He specifically had it listed in his will."

"He had a few things on that will" Leon muttered. "I think he wrote it straight after his conversion was over."

They went quiet at this. Clearly, Zack had written something in there about Leon, but what remained a mystery to the blonde.

"How have we not run into each other before now?" Cloud said suddenly. "You know some of my friends better than I do, and it sounds like you visited often."

"Aerith would ring me up if Zack and you were out and she needed someone to do 'heavy lifting'" Leon grumbled. "Believe it or not, being a little stronger than most can be a big pain in the ass. People tend to rely on you more, for some reason."

"Ahh" murmured Cloud. "I think I know what you mean. And Aerith can't help herself, especially if gets a reaction."

Leon grumbled under his breath, saying nothing, and the room went quiet. Cloud snuggled a bit deeper in his covers, the aching throb of his head wearing down enough for him to begin to drift off. Even once the migraines faded, the energy drain remained; he usually had to sleep for a little while to actually become functional again. It was in the semi-sleep deprived state that his brain decided to point out the fact that Leon's decision to stay in the room was strange.

"Why did you want to stay in here, with me?" Cloud murmured, and Leon sighed, leaning back on the bed a bit.

"I get headaches, too, but mine are because of a…more sinister reason" he said quietly. "I pretend I'm not, but I'm fairly light sensitive. Staying in here is easier than making up some excuse about going home only to curl up underneath my covers. And if I do that now I'll fall asleep."

"Really? It's like…3pm."

"Sun's up" Leon said wryly. "Any time it's high in the sky, I can sleep like the dead. Once it's dark out, sleeping becomes at best a trial and at worst impossible. The cons of my condition outweigh the pros, let's just put it that way."

"Mph" Cloud responded, too sleepy to form words, his eyes already firmly shut.

He heard the brunette male stand, and he lingered for a moment before he left, perhaps to go get something to drink from his coffee hang out. If he was light sensitive, no wonder he found such a place appealing.

Cloud snuggled deeper into his covers, pulling them up slightly to cover his face. He had a strange emotion welling up inside his chest- an indiscernible sort of want. He liked listening to Leon talk and enjoyed the man's company, and wanted to be around him more. If they really had been weaving in and out of each other's lives as closely as Aerith had hinted, maybe there was chance that a simple tug of the threads could make them close friends.

It was with that thought that Cloud was nursed into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Thursday was a little better, but he wasn't quite well enough to really do much. His limbs still felt heavy and he knew if he wanted to keep up with the weekend patrols he had to make sure he recovered from this, and exerting himself wasn't going to do him any favours.

Aris had drilled him about the migraines. He'd told him basically everything, since there had never been anything supernatural about it. Cloud had a history of medical issues, his migraines topping the list, and if Cloud hadn't told him, Aris probably would've called his father and asked anyway. Or, you know. Shot him.

He and Leon paired up Thursday night, since Aris decided that Leon could deal with sickly stumbling Cloud instead. Leon had looked pretty annoyed at the reference (it was what Aris had literally said), but Cloud had ignored the insults and resigned himself to patrols with Leon. The blonde had a nagging feeling that he was forgetting something, but several minutes of thought refused to bring the actual thing to his mind, so he left it.

It was quiet and mostly silent between them, and though Cloud enjoyed a good tussle, he honestly didn't want interruptions this evening.

"Hey, do you ever think about travelling instead?" Cloud asked curiously, around 2am or so.

"…Travelling?" Leon asked slowly, his right eyebrow arching upward.

Cloud shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets. These jeans were oil-stained, too- not many of his jeans weren't. "I've heard of hunters that travel around instead of staying in one spot. Most have to, really. We're lucky that the police department is more or less aware of us and what we do."

"Oh" said Leon, rubbing his hair a bit. "Well…no."

He fidgeted, looking uncomfortable, and Cloud exhaled, patting his shoulder.

"If it's not something you want to discuss, that's fine" he said. "I was just curious, that's all."

"My friends are here" Leon blurted out in a barely audible whisper.

A broad smile suddenly dawned on Cloud's face, and he covered his mouth with his knuckle so he didn't look like he was laughing.

"You're adorable" Cloud said cheekily, and a bright red flush appeared on Leon's cheeks, the man suddenly looking very much a twenty-year-old rather than the more mature visage he put up on a daily basis. Cloud didn't stop being a kid until he was twenty, really. That was when his hunts became properly severe, full of danger and near-misses.

"I am not adorable" Leon muttered, and Cloud's grin widened. He'd been right, Leon was very easy to tease. There was no doubt Aerith got a very big kick out of ruffling the brunette male's feathers.

Of course, of all the nights Cloud had wanted a peaceful evening, something had to show up. The two men stopped in their tracks at the sound of a growl. Both were immediately on high alert, blue eyes darting around, looking for the source of the sound.

The hairs on Cloud's neck stood on end and he jumped sideways, the movement followed by a feral shriek from his attacker. He whirled around to almost find himself face to face with a cat like beast with a mane formed of vicious-looking spines. Its fur was a pale white-blue, but its feet and claws were stained red, along with its snake-like maw, matching the dull red of its eyes.

"What the hell?" Leon whispered, drawing his gunblade. "I've only heard stories about these things…"

Cloud didn't have a chance to response as he was dodging another swipe from the beast, his hand immediately darting to the hilt of his Buster Sword, preparing to draw it and end this fight before it got ugly.

It was in that moment that Cloud suddenly realized what he'd forgotten. He hadn't enchanted the weapon.

"Shit!" he shouted in panic as he fell over with the weight of it. "Leon, can you cover me?"

"What?!" Leon exclaimed as he blocked an attack from the creature, which he'd now gained the attention of. "I thought you could lift it?!"

"I use magick so I can lift it!" Cloud admitted, and Leon's eyes narrowed dramatically, his upper lip twitching into a nigh-snarl.

"You are a fucking moron" he hissed angrily. "You don't have time for casting those kind of enchantments!"

"Well what the hell am I supposed to-" Cloud started to retort, before he was suddenly yanked to his feet and the gunblade's handle shoved into his hands.

"If you don't know how to use it, stay back. The slightest thing could screw this up, these things are vicious" Leon said sharply.

"Well what are you gonna…" Cloud started, only to trail off as Leon picked up the Buster Sword like it was an ordinary weapon, readying it and facing the otherworldly beast. The blonde blinked, try to process the situation.

He'd just had his Buster Sword taken. And been given a gunblade. Also, Leon was now using it like it was the easiest thing to do in the world.

Damn him for making it look so easy.

In the end, Cloud had stood by the sidelines while Leon obliterated his target with a number of precisely-made strikes, sending the beast flying into a brick wall where it shrivelled into dust, leaving only a few streaks of red to even indicate it existed.

Leon was breathing hard, gulping in air like it was life itself. Eventually, he regained enough to return the Buster Sword and take back his gunblade, sheathing the weapon.

"Don't forget your enchantments again, Cloud, or I'll be confiscating that weapon" Leon said harshly. "It's a silly use of magick."

"It represents my goal" Cloud muttered in retort, placing it against his back. "So using my magick for it is anything but silly."

Leon said nothing to this, but it was fairly clear he didn't agree. They ended up spending the rest of patrol in near-silence, their prior ease around one another disappearing with the monster.

He'd found out the next day it was something called a Rage, and was a cat possessed by a lesser demonic entity. The demonic entities that could use humane forms needed something more durable than a human, which was why supernatural beings were the only ones capable of being possessed. Faeborn were a particular favourite, but Cloud had heard nasty stories about particular vampires being unfortunate enough to end up possessed.

He spent the daylight hours of Friday and Saturday doing his delivery work, which was painful (people yelled and cursed at him for late packages, which had nothing to do with Cloud's work- that was the sender, not the delivery boy. They had others who picked up the slack when he wasn't around, dammit). The hunts were a bit mind-numbing, honestly. Nothing much happened, though Saturday Cloud was sure he saw evidence of vampires being nearby. They were clearly avoiding both himself and Aris, however, and none of the others called anything in.

Sunday night they decided that they were going to do their rounds early, at the insistence of Aerith, oddly enough. Aris had gotten piss-drunk and collapsed again, and Sora had a Sunday detention, so Riku, Cloud and Leon did a quick clean-up and said good-night about 1am rather than their usual 4 or 5am.

"Aerith said she wanted to come over tonight, and to bring you" said Leon, folding his arms once Riku's SUV had turned the corner. Cloud raised a blonde eyebrow.

"I've never been to your house" was his comment, rather than bothering to question Aerith. He already knew it wasn't going to get him anywhere.

"It's nothing special" said Leon dully, unlocking the Coupe DeVille. "Follow me, it's not too far."

As it turned out, Leon's house was rather close to the coffee shop Cloud had run into him at just over a week ago. He lived in a ramshackle apartment block, several floors up; Cloud had parked the Void Gear along with Leon's Coupe DeVille in a garage, and they'd headed upstairs. Cloud recognized the shape of Tifa's Prius from across the road; were all of them here?

Leon's door was open, to their surprise- someone had clearly picked the lock, or had a key, and loud voices they were greeted with immediately confirmed who.

"Leon!"

"Cloud!"

"Oh no" they whispered in unison. Seated around a coffee table with several brands of spirits was Aerith, Vincent and Tifa, but they were accompanied by two people neither man had ever wanted to see in the same room- Selphie and Yuffie.

"What are you doing here?" asked Leon sharply, shutting the door behind him.

"We thought you guys could use a break" said Selphie cheerfully, winking and flashing an odd pile of cards that looked like they were from a question and answer game. There was no way this was going to turn out well.

"How do you two even know each other?" Leon said, looking very frustrated. "You're from completely separate groups!"

Yuffie snickered. "Aw, Leon's getting all riled up. Waddya think Sefie, should we tease him?"

"D'aww…he's so adorable when he's mad."

Cloud seriously doubted Leon appreciated being called adorable twice in a week, and the furious expression on Leon's face confirmed the hunch.

The blonde exhaled, putting a hand on his hip. "What do you mean by 'break'? If this is what you call a night off, you're really not doing Leon's blood pressure any favours."

"Oh wow, they're so cute together" Selphie giggled, and Cloud immediately spluttered indignantly.

"We are not-"

"I really think we should not delve into these abyssal waters at the present time" Vincent muttered. "Cloud, Leon. We are here to give you a night off, yes. A drinking game, more specifically."

"A drinking game?" Leon asked, folding his arms. "I don't know…"

Cloud, however, was a little more open to the idea. "Well, I wouldn't mind finishing off this week on a better note. I'm just going to send Aris a quick text, ok?"

The blonde pulled out his phone and texted '_staying over at Leon's_' to him. If he was going to be drinking heavily, he'd either be staying here or Aerith would be driving him home, and he didn't like the idea of leaving Sora's motorbike unattended.

Leon still looked hesitant, but he ended up joining the group along with Cloud. The variety of spirits was also accompanied by several shot glasses, some fruit, like lemon wedges, and a couple of other ingredients. With Tifa being a bartender by trade, the variety of mixers was to be expected.

"Ok!" said Selphie, suddenly handing out a bunch of bingo cards. Leon gave her a look.

"You never explained how you know these guys" Leon said.

"I don't know her" Cloud offered, and Selphie giggled.

"I only know Yuf. She introduced me to everyone else" said the cheerful brunette. "I'm Selphie, by the way."

"Cloud" said the blonde awkwardly, as she handed him a bingo card. She then pulled out a handful of coloured markers and placed the cards on the table.

"This game is called Supernatural Bingo!" she said exuberantly, and Leon groaned.

"I hate this game" he whispered, and Cloud raised an eyebrow.

"Ok, the rules" said Selphie, clapping her hands together and ignoring Leon's disgruntlement. She, liked Quistis, seemed used to it. "The cards specify an event or an encounter with a supernatural being. If you answer yes, you take a drink. Once you have a 'bingo', everyone else takes a drink. We keep going until everyone has a bingo line completed or we pass out drunk."

"…I can see why you hate it" said Cloud, looking minorly terrified. He'd been through the mill supernatural-creatures wise, and he didn't like the sound of having to drink every turn.

"The bingo part sounds fairly stupid" Vincent commented, and Selphie grinned.

"By the time it's over, we'll be drinking for the hell of it" she said brightly. "Alright, shots out!"

"First one's a 'Full Moon' shot" Tifa said, as she started pouring drinks. Cloud didn't recognize half of these mixers, as the liquid in his shot glass became a pale, swirling white. Selphie drew a card, dramatically clearing her throat.

"Ok, first one- take a drink if you've encountered anything weak to salt."

Tifa, Vincent, Cloud and Leon downed their drinks. The four looked between each other, glancing at Selphie.

"Do you even encounter supernatural things?" Tifa asked suddenly.

"Sometimes" she said. "I know my way around thanks to Leon."

The other brunette sighed, and Cloud held back copying him, waiting for the next card as Tifa refilled the empty glasses, this time with a 'Gunshot'.

The chirpy brunette pulled out a card, reading it. "Hm…take a drink if you've encounter any kind of demonic entity. Take two if it was a humanoid."

Cloud and Leon downed their drinks.

"Woah, when was this?" Tifa asked.

Leon shrugged, watching her refill the glass as Cloud tried to get over the alcohol assaulting his senses. He did not enjoy that 'Gunshot' drink. "We ran into a Rage on Thursday night."

There was a collective 'ooohh' of surprise and awe from the group, but Leon continued his unfazed stance, and the game continued.

"Take a drink if you've ever deliberately taken apart a blood rose" said Selphie, her brow furrowing. "Well, does that one count for vampires…?"

"I think it means either way" said Aerith, and a repeat from the first lot of shots ensued. The group glanced at Cloud, most of them with an eyebrow raised.

"…What? I wanted to see if it really was like proper blood" said Cloud with a shrug. "This was before Tifa and Vincent got bitten."

"Weirdo" Leon muttered, leaning his elbow on the table. The blonde simply rolled his eyes and gestured for Selphie to continue with the game. The familiar buzz and light-headedness of alcohol was settling on him, now; those shots most definitely had high alcohol content.

Selphie grinned and drew the next card, snorting the moment she read it. "Take a drink if you've met a hunter. Take two if you are a hunter, and take three if you've ever been hunted."

"Oh for fuck's sake" Leon growled under his breath. "Is this game intentionally designed to get me drunk?"

"Does having dinner plates thrown at you for being under suspicion of conspiring with vampires count?" Cloud asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You are conspiring with vampires, dumbass" Leon said shortly. Cloud rubbed his chin at this, realizing Leon had a point.

"It counts" Aerith said slyly, and Cloud let out a long sigh. Tifa poured the extra drinks. Her and Vincent took two, Yuffie and Selphie took one, and Leon and Cloud took three. Tifa had made up another Gunshot in there, too.

"No more of those" Cloud said sharply, pointing at her. "That- that is not fun."

"I had…hate the Gunshots too" said Leon darkly, shooting Tifa a glare. "Stop making them."

Tifa let out a giggle snort, but she nodded anyway. There was mischief playing in her eyes, but Cloud's brain was quickly being addled by alcohol and he didn't catch it. He and Leon had already had almost double the shots compared to everyone else, and Cloud knew for a fact he was already swaying a bit. He'd never been able to hold his alcohol like Zack or Tifa, and it'd gotten him into trouble plenty of times.

"Next card?" asked Selphie, her grin never leaving her face. Yuffie let out a loud whoop and threw her hands into the air.

"The only thing that could make this better is cheese snacks!" she said, before pouting. "But Leon doesn't keep cheese snacks. His cupboards are mostly full of tomato soup and dry crackers."

"My diet is none of your business" Leon snapped irritably. "And I have bread and pasta in there, too. And Bolognese."

Cloud raised his eyebrows, his brain trying to point something out about that, but failing at doing so through the thick wall of alcohol. He eventually waved it off, watching Selphie draw the next card. She raised her eyebrows at it.

"Hm…take a drink if you've encountered a faerie- faeborns do not count."

The group looked around, and nobody went to take a drink. Selphie giggled, putting it back in the pile and drawing another one.

"Take a drink if you know a hunter that drives a classic car" she said, before raising an eyebrow. "…wow, that one is really specific."

"Does being that hunter count?" Leon asked.

Cloud grinned. "I don't think so. So everybody else has to take a drink, right?"

"Finally" Leon said, stretching, as everyone else took a drink. This one was sweet and lemony, kind of reminding him of sour lemon Skittles. It wasn't bad, but Cloud preferred cherry.

Tifa refilled everyone's drinks, as Cloud leaned back a bit. He hadn't quite gotten past the dizzy stage of alcohol yet, and sleep was beginning to sound really good right about now.

Selphie drew out another card, raising her eyebrows. "Take a drink if you've had to dig a grave in the middle of the night. Take two if it was to burn a body."

"God dammit" Leon muttered, downing his first drink and asking for a second. Cloud hadn't had to exhume a body before, so he only had to drink the one. Tifa and Vincent also had to drink one, while Selphie just giggled.

It was around that point Cloud's memories of the night kind of fuzzed out into a greyish, blob-like blur. He could recall very short flickers of some chairs getting flipped at some stage and every leaving, but other than that, it was completely blank.

His blue eyes flickered open to a very dark room, his eyes taking a few moments to adjust to the gloom. He didn't recognize his surroundings; a dresser sat across from where he was sleeping, a bedside table, a few trinkets and photo frames he couldn't make out clearly.

He shifted, attempting to get up only to be rushed by waves of agony, instantly collapsing back into the sheets with a quiet moan. His whole body ached like all hell and he couldn't for the life of him fathom why. It didn't feel like hunting exhaustion…more like he'd just participated in an entire-body work out for well beyond what his body was used to.

He tried to piece together something from the night before but was only met by a wall of grey and the reminder that he had drunk _a lot _last night. Obviously enough to a) make him do something stupid, and b) forget what it was in its entirety.

He exhaled, deciding that getting up was probably the best step. Taking it slowly, he clambered up onto his knees, every muscle crying out in protest. The movement had revealed something to the blonde, however; the bed he was currently laying in was occupied by someone else.

It was too dark to make out their form clearly, but the realization hit Cloud like a tonne of several well-placed bricks to the face. By the looks of things, somewhere along the way last night his brain had decided that picking up someone was a good idea.

"Fuck" he whispered, putting his head in his hand. Thinking about it, the room did smell a hell of a lot like sex. Intensive sex, judging by the pungency of the sweaty smell. It also explained why he hurt so damn much, but so far that was all he'd gotten from the scene.

But, if he had indeed had sex with someone last night, who the hell with? He doubted anyone in the group the night before would've let him leave the house, so it had to be one of them.

Oh god, not Tifa again. Anyone but Tifa.

Cloud groaned, stumbling off the bed and fishing around for some pants. He grabbed them haphazardly, staggering out of the room in search for the shower.

The rest of the house was just as dark, meaning he couldn't recognize if he was still at Leon's or not. Still waking up, he eventually found the shower and turned it on, immediately jumping in and relishing the feel of hot water against his skin. He used a small amount of the shampoo that was in the shower- it was fruity, sort of similar to peaches, and washed himself clean of sweat and other grime. He exhaled loudly as he stepped out, towelling himself off with the towel one the rack and pulling on the pants, which he found were a size too big for him.

Clearly these were not his own pants.

He grumbled under his breath, deciding it was time to find out whose pants he'd taken- since it was probably the same person he'd had sex with the night before.

Of course it wasn't until he reached the bedroom door that his brain reminded him that if the pants were too big, he'd had sex with either Leon or Vincent, definitely not one of the girls.

"Oh what the hell" he whispered, pinching the bridge of his nose. It explained a few more of the aches and pains and how he'd managed to get semen on his stomach but jesus Christ, how did it even get to this point? He'd never even considered having sex with another man before, and right now he was asking some pretty severe questions. Did they do it twice or had they switched positions at some point? How many hickies did he have? (He'd seen a few in the shower, but the hot water had alerted him to some stinging pains across his trapezoids and down his back, which he _couldn't _see). Most importantly _why? _What the hell had gotten into his head to make him think having sex with another man while drunk out of his mind was a good idea?!

Wait. Drunk and good ideas don't mix.

Still didn't change the fact he was constantly assaulting his mind for some explanation of _what the fuck did I just stick my dick into (literally) and why?!_

The blonde exhaled, pushing the door open. His bed-mate was still sleeping quietly, their face snuggled deeply into the pillow. Now he'd actually thought about it and was paying attention, the darkness didn't hide their distinctly masculine figure. Biting the bullet, Cloud hesitantly stepped into the gloom, holding the loose pants up at his waist and walking over, shaking the other man's shoulder.

He grumbled quietly, rolling over a bit. Cloud's eyes had adjusted enough to process that the curls of dark hair weren't dark enough for Vincent, and were too short as well.

God. Fucking. Dammit.

"Leon" he hissed, shaking him a bit harder, and the taller man grumbled angrily, waving him off.

"Oi!" Cloud snapped, and the brunette's eyes snapped open. He moved as though he was going to sit up and yell at him, but the second he shifted too fast he groaned in pain and slung his arm over his eyes.

"What the fuck" he whispered, moving his hand to rub his forehead, wincing every time he moved too sharply. He stayed still for a moment, obviously trying to wake up.

"What happened last night? Everything's a blur."

"Yeah, I can't remember anything either" Cloud muttered, sitting down on the bed, and Leon raised his eyebrows.

"Are you wearing my pants?" he asked slowly, moving his arm and glancing at Cloud's legs, his face full of confusion.

Cloud rubbed at his wet hair, exhaling loudly. "It was the first pair I grabbed, I didn't know they were yours."

"…Cloud, what did we do last night?" he asked, staring at the ceiling, his face clearly reading that he more or less did not want to know.

"If you're experiencing the same pains I am, I think they speak for themselves" Cloud whispered, and Leon slapped his hand to his face.

"Fuck" he whispered, ironically both cursing and answering his own question. "Well, that's one hell of a way to get rid of my v-card."

"Holy shit" Cloud whispered, slapping his own hand to his face. He hadn't pegged Leon for a virgin, but either way he definitely wasn't one now.

Great.

"What the hell got into us last night? Besides alcohol."

"Apparently alcohol's all you need" Leon muttered, sitting up slowly, trying to ignore the twinges of pain shooting through every one of his muscles. "Fucking…what the hell did we do? I mean I know what we did, but I didn't think it was supposed to be this fucking painful the morning after."

"I don't think normal people do it twice in one night" Cloud muttered, trying to stave off a headache. "At least, I think it was twice. Unless we switched around at some point."

"Je-esus chrIS-t" he groaned through his teeth. "Hell, did the rest of them see this? There had to be a lead-up."

Cloud grumbled under his breath. "You're right. Dammit…we'd better call Aerith or something. Maybe trying and piece together the events of last night."

"Yeah" Leon murmured, bundling up the sheet and crawling off the bed, beginning to rifle through his chest of draws for some pants while Cloud looked around for his own. As far as he could see, they weren't in the room. They were probably somewhere in the hallway or something.

Cloud turned his eyes away as Leon pulled on a pair of boxers and some sweats, running a hand through his hair, before glancing over to Cloud.

"Do you want me to open some curtains?" he asked carefully, raising an eyebrow. "People usually whine about how dark I keep my house."

"No, it's fine" said Cloud, waving his hand dismissively as he stood up, holding the hems of the pants. "I've got a headache waiting to burst to life, and the light won't help."

"Alright then" said Leon with a shrug, stepping out of his room while Cloud followed. The apartment was very small; a single bedroom, the shower Cloud had used, and the joint kitchen and lounge. The laundry was probably further up the back.

The lounge was in a state of disarray; an armchair had been flipped onto its back, and the table had been shoved out of the way. Several of the mixers from last night were still on the table, a number of them were empty.

"This is going to be hell to clean up" Leon muttered. Cloud scratched his neck absent-mindedly, thinking about it.

"It's not too bad" he murmured, stepping over and tipping the seat back up, spotting a pair of oil-stained jeans. "Oh hey! My pants!"

Leon slapped his hand to his face. "Why are your pants over there?" he asked, and Cloud raised an eyebrow.

"Well…how'd the chair get tipped over?" he muttered, looking over the scene.

"Oh my god" Leon muttered, throwing his hands into the air. "This is insane."

Cloud nodded. "Tell me about it" he muttered, giving his neck another scratch, wincing. It was both stinging painfully and demandingly itchy, making the toss-up between scratching it and not a hard choice.

The blonde pulled his hand away, finding his fingers were coming away sticky and wet. "Oh, dang" he muttered, rubbing it a bit. "Hey, Leon, do you have a first aid kit?"

"Huh, why?"

"…This hickie is being particularly painful" he mumbled, and Leon exhaled, rubbing his hair. "It's in a kitchen cupboard, I'll get it" he said, and Cloud followed him into the kitchen, leaning against the bench as Leon went to the cupboard. The brunette stopped for a moment, pulling something off of the cupboard's door.

"What the…"

"Huh?" said Cloud, and Leon handed him the note. It was in his own handwriting, he noted, raising one blonde eyebrow.

"I hereby give full and total permission past and present for Leon to bite me whenever he likes- so yes this covers the other time. Wait, what other time?" he read out loud.

"Are you nuts?" Leon hissed, grabbing the note. "Who the hell gives biting permission?"

"…Me, obviously" Cloud drawled, rubbing his neck a bit, and for some reason Leon suddenly went white.

"Cloud, take your hand way from your neck."

The blonde blinked, not quite processing what he meant but removing his hand anyway. Leon swore loudly, grabbing the first aid kit out and immediately tugging out some antiseptic and a cloth. Cloud couldn't help but notice that Leon's hands were shaking a little.

"That's not a hickie" Leon muttered, dabbing a cotton bud with the antiseptic. "It's a bite wound" added with a whisper, swallowing a bit.

"…I'm not seeing what the big deal is. Hickies are caused by sucking and biting, so-"

"It's a big deal for someone with a vampire bloodline" Leon growled under his breath. "It's not like I'm infectious, but the sheer fact I actually bit you in the neck…"

Oh. Cloud swallowed, looking a bit guilty as he rubbed his hair with his non-bloodied hand. "Well, I was the one who gave you permission."

"Which means I probably _asked" _Leon muttered, clenching his fist. "Fuck, Cloud. This is one of the worst possible things for me to do."

Cloud grumbled a bit under his breath, really not agreeing with Leon's attitude to the matter but figuring that he wasn't going to listen to the blonde's attempts to reassure him.

"Could you please bandage it up a bit or clean it off? It's itchy and it's stinging" Cloud grumped, looking annoyed.

Leon exhaled, rubbing his hair. "Come here" he muttered, and Cloud raised his eyebrows, stepping toward Leon. Without warning the brunette stepped forward and buried his head in the gap between Cloud's head and shoulder, shivers running up Cloud's spine as something warm and wet ran over the wound. The itchiness and stinging immediately disappeared and Leon stepped back, wiping his mouth with his hand.

"Did you just lick me?" Cloud asked slowly, staring.

"Antiseptic would've made it worse" Leon murmured, pulling out a large plaster. "My mother told me when I was a kid about bites- the only thing that helps them is the inflictor's saliva. Otherwise they're kind of like a very large mosquito bite."

"Oh" Cloud murmured, as Leon applied the plaster. "Well…um, thanks. It doesn't hurt anymore."

"Good" Leon muttered.

"I have to call Aerith" Cloud muttered, rubbing his eye with his palm. "She's the only healer I know that's able to heal a wound and have it not leave a mark."

"Oh yeah…Aris will kill you if he sees that" Leon said quietly. "Shit…well, I need to see Aerith today anyway."

"She's going to ask questions" Cloud said, folding his arms. Leon shrugged, putting the first aid kit away.

"Maybe she'll have some answers on how we went from a slightly awkward almost-friendship to two rounds of sex" Leon said flatly, and Cloud felt his cheeks flush slightly red, but the gloom of the apartment prevented Leon seeing.

"Do you want some breakfast?" Leon offered. "I don't exactly have a wide variety…"

"Tomato soup is fine" Cloud said with a slight smirk. "Do you have coffee?"

Leon rifled around in his cupboard for a few moments before drawing out a metal tin. "I only have instant?"

"Like I ever have time for anything else" Cloud said shortly, and Leon smirked, filling up the jug and switching it on as he pulled out two mugs and two bowls. He searched through his cupboards for a can of tomato soup, eventually finding the one he wanted and pulling out a pot.

Cloud stepped back and let Leon prepare their breakfast, not really speaking all that much. Cloud had murmured a quiet 'thanks' when Leon passed him the cup of coffee, relishing the smell of it and its ability to wake him up. Besides that, they remained silent. Honestly, they'd said all they could say for now, without knowing exactly what had happened the night before.

Hitching up the pants, Cloud wandered back into the lounge room, pulling the coffee table back into its correct position and sitting down on the main couch. He heard a tell-tale crumple of paper underneath him, so he scooted over, placing the coffee down and withdrawing another note, again in his own handwriting.

"'You are probably extremely confused right now'" he read aloud, his brow furrowing. "Leon, drunk-me is a dickhead."

"It sounds like it" the brunette said, having noticed the note. "Anything else?"

"'but our actions will explain themselves eventually. By the way, we waited until everyone left. Wow, I can actually write coherently while drunk!'"

"Did you actually write that on the note?" Leon asked, pouring out the tomato soup and walking over with it, placing the bowl in front of Cloud and sitting down with his own. The brunette had downed his coffee a lot quicker than Cloud had, so he hadn't needed to bring it over.

"Yeah" said Cloud, raising his eyebrows and reading the rest. " 'But they might've guessed. Good luck with that hangover.' Oh my god, I'm an asshole."

"Yep" said Leon, eating some of his soup. "You didn't even mention why."

Cloud turned the note over. "Actually, it says 'P.S- it's because Leon's a sexy piece of meat'."

The brunette's eyebrows rocketed upwards. "The power of foresight" he said quietly, and Cloud shrugged, putting the note down and starting to eat his soup. It was warm and refreshing, and instantly realized how hungry he'd been. He'd glad he'd stayed for breakfast, at the very least.

"Think we should look for more notes?" Cloud asked between a mouthful, and Leon shook his head.

"Somehow I doubt we had the courtesy of explaining everything in detail, especially if dickhead-drunk-you is anything to go by."

"Point taken" Cloud muttered, draining the rest of the soup and standing up. "I'm gonna search your apartment and find the rest of my clothing" he said, grabbing his jeans as he walked into the kitchen and put the bowl in the sink.

"You can use one of my shirts if you want" said Leon, indicating to his room. "A loose shirt is a lot better than a loose pair of pants. That said, I'm going to shower before we leave, alright?"

"That's fine" said Cloud with a shrug, going into Leon's room and shutting the door. He pulled off the ill-fitting pants and put on his own, being careful with the zip. He had no idea where his own boxers had gone, and he wasn't about to ask to wear some of Leon's. He looked through the draws, eventually finding a plain white shirt and pulling it on.

Now he just had to find his shoes, wherever they were.

In a struck of two kinds of luck, Cloud stumbled over them on his way to the door. The good luck was being he found his shoes, which he quickly pulled on. The bad luck was that he both hurt his toe and got a full view of the two discarded condoms from the night before, fully proving that they had, indeed, done it twice.

He exhaled, stepping out of the room as Leon went in, pulling out his own clothes and heading to the shower.

"Turn on some lights" said Leon. "It's about 11am, and if we head outside without adjusting first we'll probably fall off the edge of the balcony."

"Good point" said Cloud, wandering back into the lounge room and flicking the light on. He immediately covered his eyes as the bright light assaulted him, blinking out stars slowly as his they slowly adjusted.

Leon apparently had very quick showers, since he was out in about 10 minutes, towelling his hair and now fully dressed. In the light, Cloud realized that Leon was a bit more shaken by the events of the night before than he realized at first; there was a stressed look about him, and he seemed twitchy.

"We should probably give Aerith a head's up" said Leon, and Cloud nodded, pulling out his phone and pressing Aerith's quick-dial number.

She was awake, apparently, and she answered after two or three rings. "Hey, Cloud, what's up?"

"Hey. Me and Leon are going to be coming over to your house, is that alright?"

"…Oh, of course, just…you'll have to be quiet, everyone's got hang-over's. How are you two holding up?"

Cloud glanced at Leon for a few seconds, before sighing. "We'd rather explain it in person" he muttered.

"…Ok…well, see you soon then?"

"Yeah. We'll be there soon, we're about to leave."

She made a sound of approval and Cloud hung up, pocketing the phone. Cloud nodded at Leon, and they left the apartment.

The sunlight was a hell of a lot brighter than Leon's house lights, apparently, since Cloud once again saw stars.

"God dammit" he muttered, trying to blink them away as Leon locked up and patted him on the back.

"C'mon, we don't want to leave Aerith waiting" he said, only stumbling slightly as he headed down the stairs. Cloud grumbled under his breath, trying to ignore the throb of a headache now assaulting him as he followed Leon down to the garage.

Thankfully Cloud's goggles were tinted, and they managed to block out the worst of the light. He took a few moments to enjoy the sound of the Void Gear's engine, before both he and Leon drove toward Aerith's house. It was a short trip, only ten or so minutes, before they were both pulling up at her place, the smell of flowers thick in Cloud's nostrils.

Cloud dismounted the bike, walking up to Aerith's door and rapping on it lightly. Leon raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, as the door swung open to reveal Aerith, wearing a baking apron. She raised an eyebrow at the both of them.

"Are you wearing Leon's shirt, Cloud?" she asked. "You smell like his shampoo, too."

"Thanks, Aerith. I had a shower at his place, does that explain enough?" he said shortly, folding his arms. Aerith giggled before letting them inside, leading them into the kitchen.

"I just baked some cookies, if you'd like some?"

"No thankyou" said Leon, before he saw Aerith's face droop and he let out a sigh. "Ok, just one."

She smiled and went over and grabbed two cookies, handing one to each man. They were chocolate chip and still fresh, the chips still a little gooey from the heat of the oven.

"Woah, uh…these are actually really good" said Leon, raising his eyebrows, and Aerith giggled.

"Would you like another one?" she offered, and the brunette nodded. Cloud raised his eyebrows.

"You're not normally into the sweet food" said Cloud, and Leon nodded as he received the cookie.

"Which is why I'm actually a little weirded out by the fact I'm enjoying these" he said.

Aerith softly shut the kitchen door, turning to look at them both. "So…what happened after we left last night?"

"Do you want the short version or the long version?" Cloud muttered.

"Let's go with short version, then you two elaborate."

"We had sex" said Leon shortly, finishing off his cookie. Aerith immediately looked stunned, before bursting into a fit of giggles.

"Oh my…I really didn't think it was going to be that, of all things!"

"Twice" Cloud added, and Aerith had to cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing too hard.

She drew in a few deep breaths, trying to steady herself, before sitting down and controlling her laughing. "Ok, ok. How'd this happen?"

"Honestly?" Cloud asked. "We have no idea. Last night is an incoherent blur for the both of us. All I know is I woke up extremely sore in places I never expected to be sore in."

"Wow" said Aerith. "And you needed to talk it out?"

"Actually, no" said Leon quietly. He'd stood up and wandered over to Aerith's tray of cookies, having grabbed another one. Or was it his fourth? Cloud couldn't be sure. "We're here about something that was probably a result of whatever we did last night."

Cloud carefully peeled off the plaster, and Aerith covered her mouth, her green eyes going wide as they glanced over to Leon. "Did you give him that?" she asked, and Leon nodded, his eyes downcast.

"I need to get it healed up before I go back to Aris, or I can guarantee this'll be the last time you see me alive" Cloud muttered.

"Oh, I see" she said. "Well…I can do that. I've got some more medicine for the both of you, too."

"Both of us?" Cloud asked, and Aerith gave him a gentle smile.

"Leon takes something to help keep the dhampir traits a little less obvious around Aris" she explained, and Cloud nodded as she stood, inspecting the neck wound for a few moments.

"Hm…this will hurt a bit, Cloud. Getting a wound not to leave a scar is quite painful."

"Yeah…just get it over with" the blonde murmured. Aerith nodded, beginning to weave a spell with her fingers. Green energy sparkled between them, before she gently placed them against the wound on Cloud's neck.

Pain instantly shot through the wound and the rest of his body, his teeth clenching down as he balled both of his hands into fists. He could feel the skin protesting as the spell pushing the cells to weave back together and close over, sharp stabs of agony echoing through him for a few minutes until Aerith was done.

She took a deep breath, taking a step back. "I think I'm going to have to give that another cast over. It scarred, despite my best efforts."

Cloud rubbed at the wound, feeling small dips in the skin where Leon's teeth had punctured the surface. "Just so long as you can make them not stand out. I usually wear turtle necks, so unless someone's actually looking for it…"

"It's…probably a bad idea for there to be any marks left, Cloud" Leon said, though he sounded a little reluctant. "If they catch the light the wrong way…Aris won't give you any warning, he'll just shoot."

"I know that" the blonde muttered. "But I don't want to exhaust Aerith too badly."

"I'm fine" the brunette girl said, attempting to reassure him, but trembling in her fingers gave her away. The bite seemed to be being very stubborn.

"I'll come back later or something. We can leave it for a little while" Cloud said. Without warning his phone suddenly started both vibrating and ringing loudly from the pocket of his jeans, making the blonde jump a bit.

"Didn't you turn that off?" Leon asked.

"Yeah, I did" said Cloud, pulling out the phone. The caller ID read 'Sora'.

The blonde flipped open the phone, holding it to his ear. "Sora?"

"C-Cloud."

The blonde stopped. The teenager sounded absolutely terrified, and Cloud recognized the sound of someone who had been in and out of crying.

"Sora, what happened?"

"…D-did…last night, w-when you s-said goodbye to Riku, was there anything wrong?"

Cloud's brow furrowed, looking confused as Leon came over, listening to the phone call. "No, he was fine. Said he was going to get some dinner. Sora, what's wrong? What happened to Riku?"

"R-Riku" he stuttered, drawing in a sharp breath. "Cloud, Riku didn't come home last night."

* * *

**THE PLOT THICKENS. Don't worry guys, the lack of a dedicated lemon here clearly indicates the incident was plot-related.**

**Questions of the Day:**

**If you could pick one Keyblade to be a motorcycle, which would you pick?**

**If you had the choice, who would you prefer this story's 'Sora' to eventually be more like? Sora or Vanitas? (I have already decided, I'm just curious.)**


	5. White Lies

**Chapter Five: White Lies**

Riku woke up to a dimly lit room, the back of his head throbbing painfully. He rubbed it, feeling an egg-like lump under his hand and the crusty feeling of dried blood. The teen swore quietly, sitting up and trying to assess what had happened.

He'd pulled up at a walk-in take out, deciding to get something a bit healthier than another round of McDonalds, and since it was earlier at night nicer shops were open. He remembered coming out and heading to his car, but the memories stopped there. Probably due to the very large and ominous lump on the back of his head, he mused.

The silverette exhaled, rubbing his temples and beginning to check his person for any kind of weapons, but his captors had been very thorough and had completely disarmed him. Fuck. That meant they knew what they were doing and what they were looking for, since the anti-vamp bombs were gone, too. If he'd been picked up by common thugs, they would've just realized they were a water/garlic combo and left them alone.

Essentially, it meant he'd just been picked up by vampires. They had him alone, vulnerable, and weaponless. He had no idea how long he'd been out, or what time of day it was- the room had no clock or windows for time-keeping. If the sun had risen on the next day, he knew for a fact Sora would be freaking out, but with no way to contact him (they'd taken his phone) Riku wasn't sure how much difference that knowledge made.

So far, his situation looked pretty grim. These vampires knew what the hell they were doing. If he and the others hadn't managed to catch wind of them in the last week, Riku's chances of being rescued seemed very slim unless some miracle happened to occur.

The silverette rubbed his neck, nerves welling up inside his gut. He hadn't been bitten, not yet at least. Not even a non-infectious bite. If they'd already bitten him in some way or another, it could mean they'd simply captured him for food purposes, but no vampire went through the trouble of catching a hunter for the sake of food. No, their intention was to infect, and Riku knew that all too well.

All in all he was probably screwed.

He exhaled, as the door cautiously slipped open. Riku instantly braced himself, his mind calling up every single martial art and physical fighting technique he could think of. The intruder was…odd, to say at the least. He was tall, taller than Riku by a few inches, with shoulder-length brown hair that flicked back from his forehead. He was tanned and well-built, and looked like the kind of guy who enjoyed their coastal town's balmy weather. His oddest feature was his eyes, which were a strange shade of purple that Riku had never seen before, human or not. Riku steeled himself, if he could move fast enough, maybe he'd be able to slip out the door and avoid this in its entirety.

Of course the brunette vampire was prepared for this. The moment Riku moved to dodge around him he slammed the door, tugging Riku away from it. The silverette was determined, however; he turned, immediately throwing a well-placed punch to the face. Sharp pain shot through his knuckles as the brunette staggered back a bit, still blocking the door. Riku knew he couldn't give him a reprieve, moving to follow it up with an elbow or two, but the brunette suddenly moved with the speed his species was known so well for- he kicked Riku's legs from underneath him, using one hand to grab the scruff of his shirt and the other to grab his right wrist, this time not holding back with his grip.

"You're only making this difficult for yourself" he said sharply, giving him a glare. Riku sneered in response, trying to wrench himself out of the other's grip, which turned out to be a bad idea- the brunette's hand tightened in response and the silverette let out a loud hiss of pain at the sound of a nasty crunch, bolts of agony shooting from his wrist. The brunette dropped him onto the floor, Riku landing on his knees. His left hand immediately moved to cup his right wrist; if it wasn't broken, it was at the very least fractured.

"I didn't want to have to do that" the brunette murmured, and Riku's aquamarine eyes looked up, shooting daggers at him.

"I'm not going to stop fighting" Riku snapped, and the other's eyes narrowed. He found himself being yanked to his feet by the scruff of his shirt, violet eyes boring into his own for a few moments, but he said nothing. The look said it all; it was clearly an unspoken threat, a wordless uttering of _I can break more than your wrist._

Eventually, the brunette grumbled under his breath, and grabbed Riku's other wrist; much looser this time, but by a human's standards the grip was still firm. He opened the door, tugging the silverette out into the hallway.

"Where are you taking me?" Riku snapped, almost moving to get out of the brunette's grip, but the other stopped walking before he could.

He was silent for a few moments, before he drew in a deep breath. "I'm taking you to my Master, and I've been told to do whatever it takes. The more you fight, the worse you're making it for yourself. You're a hunter, you know what happens when vampires get injured."

If he hadn't already been standing stock still Riku would've frozen on the spot. It wasn't just vampires, but a number of other supernatural species as well; when injured, their bodies used the energy from their food to speed up the healing process. Naturally, this meant the moment injuries became troublesome (say a broken leg), they'd become driven to find a food source in order to heal.

So in short, the more injuries he ended up with now, the more violent he'd be when they turned him.

"Do you think I'm going to just-"

"Should I cause something dire, Riku? Break your femur? Your pelvis? Your spine?" the brunette said quietly. "I could leave you a paraplegic, and the turning would handle healing it up enough to make you into a violent monster. I don't want to do that, but I will if I must. Do you understand?"

Riku swallowed. In the position he was in now, whoever this was could easily break his back before he could retaliate; he had no weapons, no advantages, and no firm way out; this was vampire territory.

He exhaled, clenching his teeth. "Fine. I won't fight anymore" he muttered under his breath, and he heard the other breathe an audible sigh of relief.

"I really didn't want to do that to you" he said. His violet eyes were sparkling with honesty, and Riku couldn't help but believe him. He did seem rather reluctant toward the whole situation. "I'm the youngest here and I was only recently Marked, so it's going to be my job to help you through the worst parts. I don't think that'd be a good start."

"No, definitely not. You didn't do yourself any favours by breaking my wrist, though" Riku said, the injured limb twitching from pain. He looked sheepish, rubbing his hair.

"I told you, I didn't want to do it" he said. "Honestly, I probably got a little twitchy."

"Twitchy?" Riku said incredulously.

"Well what do you expect? You're a hunter" he said with a shrug. Riku raised his eyebrows; the reaction mirrored what his own would be if their situations were reversed. In that sense, Riku could understand why, but it didn't make him any more comfortable.

The brunette exhaled, before gesturing down the hallway. "Follow me. Please don't try anything."

"I won't" Riku muttered, as they began walking again. The silverette had conceded that there was nothing much he could really do here that wouldn't result in the outcome being worse. So he stayed his hand, reluctantly following the brunette.

"What's your name?" he asked, figuring that if this guy was going to be monitoring him, he might as well know who he was.

"Terra" he said simply. "Any more questions?"

"Mind filling me in on a few things? Like what's going to happen to me, for instance?" Riku retorted. "Am I going to end up with purple eyes, too?"

Terra froze for a moment, his right hand ghosting over his face. "I didn't realize they'd turned purple…no wonder I'm twitchy" he added, almost to himself. "No, not unless you start denying your needs."

"So you haven't been feeding regularly?" Riku asked, an accusing edge to his voice as they started walking again. Terra grumbled under his breath.

"I've been eating lightly to make sure we have the supplies to keep up with newborn appetites" he said shortly. "We've already had an incident…"

"According to my friend, that was them just not listening."

Terra went quiet for a few moments. "…It was, but at the same time…"

"They were your responsibility" Riku muttered, and though Terra didn't respond, Riku could see the stiffness in the other man's shoulders. The silverette sighed- this still hadn't explained much.

"So I'm going to be Marked, then? What's the differences?" Riku asked, and Terra seemed to appreciate the change in conversation.

The brunette tapped his head for a moment. "Well…honestly I'm not one hundred percent on where the differences lay. I know I can go out in the sun, but bright light hurts my eyes. Garlic gives me stomach cramps, I don't like churches and holy items sting to touch. My reflection's transparent…erm…"

"Silver?"

"That stings too" said Terra with a shrug. Riku pondered it for a moment.

"So it really is like you're half-vampire…so how does the Master thing work?" he asked, and Terra turned slightly, one eyebrow quirked up.

"Have you heard of Marked vampires before?"

"My friend mentioned them when we found your escapee" Riku said. "He described Marked as 'half-vampire slaves', so I'm wondering how accurate that is."

Terra seemed mildly offended at the title, but he sighed. "Well, technically it's true. I can't call Master by his name- I just tried- and if he orders me to do something I will be compelled to do it. It's where people get the idea that high-level vampires can force people to do things; they can't, but Purebloods can order around their Marked. My Master refrains from the practice, however. If he does give an order, it's an order along the lines of 'Calm down' or 'Stay still'…usually given when the reasoning mind falls to the wayside."

Terra grimaced, but he'd said enough to explain what he meant. The continued down the hall, passing a number of doorways, before they came to one with a heart-shape, the end adorned with a cross similar to a fleur-de-lis or the cross on the end of Leon's necklace. Riku briefly pondered if there was a connection, but he wasn't sure how to phrase such a question, and didn't get the chance- Terra was already opening the door.

Terra ushered him inside, where a man was sitting cross-legged, his eyes closed in meditation. A blonde boy was seated in front of him, bearing the same stance.

"Master, I've brought Riku" said Terra, and the man opened his eyes. He seemed to be of Asian descent, clad in what seemed to be classic Edo period garments. He looked as though he was in his late thirties to mid-forties, but his aura rang of much older. Criss-crossing scars adorned his face, clearly received in a battle before he'd been turned.

"Ah, Riku" he said, standing. "I see you had a bit of a run in with Terra."

"Only a minor one" the silverette muttered, trying to ignore how painful the wrist was. The older vampire gave him a minor smirk, as the blonde stood up, walking over to Terra.

He looked around mid-teens; he was skinny in a way that suggested he would've filled out a bit later, provided he hadn't been bitten. When you're around vampires a lot, you tend to get an idea when a vampire is older than their appearance, whether it be mannerisms in speech or a look in their eyes. This blonde had the latter, his cerulean blues full of a strange kind of pain, clearly expressing that he was beyond his physical years. He kind of resembled Cloud in some ways; his hair spiked upward, though it was more in a windswept curve than a straight-up spike, and his eyes were the same colour. Cloud's face was a bit sharper than the blonde's, whose was rounded, but their nose and mouth were also of a similar shape.

The blonde seemed to be giving him an assessing gaze as well, glancing between his face and his broken wrist for a few moments, his expression unreadable. "Riku, is it?" he asked quietly, and the silverette gave him a short nod.

"Ventus" he said, gesturing to himself. "But most people call me Ven. Sorry if Terra gave you any trouble."

Riku raised his eyebrows, before shaking his head a bit. "It was more or less my own doing."

The blonde smiled slightly at this, a combination of sympathy and wryness. "I'm pretty sure the situation could've been handled a bit better" he said, elbowing the brunette, who looked a bit sheepish. "But Terra's still more or less green. If things go to plan, you'll be his first good and proper underling."

"Was he yours?" Riku asked, glancing between them. Ven shrugged slightly.

"Not really. I'm not much use when it comes to newborns…I have no memories prior to about two decades ago. I can't remember my turning or any of my life beforehand."

Riku raised his eyebrows, blinking a few times. "Amnesiac vampires are…"

"I know" said Ven shortly, and the other vampire saw fit to interrupt them there before Riku strayed onto dangerous territory.

"Ven, Terra" said the older vampire, glancing between them. "Go get something to eat while I am with Riku. Ven-"

"I know, Master" he said, nodding. "I'll see to it."

The two left, the blonde shutting the door behind him as the vampire chuckled.

"Ventus has no need to call me Master" he said. "I wasn't even the man who bit him. His circumstances were…painful."

He sat down, gesturing for Riku to do the same. The silverette hesitated for a moment before complying, folding his legs and trying to quell the nervous tension welling up inside him.

"If…well, from what I know of vampires, if they lose their memories…" Riku started awkwardly, and the other vampire sighed.

"They become mindless monsters, yes. You are correct in that regard. Ven spent a great deal of time uncomprehensive, varying between an emotionless zombie and a violent killer. However, he slowly regained some sense of self after I took him in, and now he is more or less the same as any other vampire you may encounter. The subject is still a sore point for him, so please refrain from asking."

The silverette nodded, letting out a long sigh. "So, what should I call you?"

"For now, my name is Eraqus, but that won't be sticking" he said. Riku felt goosebumps course down his spine as he suppressed a shudder; it was pretty clear he had full intention of infecting him, and had been for a while, but the fact that he was basically staring it right in the face was giving him chills.

"Why me?" Riku asked quietly. "Is it because I'm a hunter? Able to get behind enemy lines?"

Eraqus raised an eyebrow at the accusation. "Although you were indeed picked because you're a hunter, it is not because you'd be behind enemy lines. We have been monitoring you and your behaviour for some time, and decided that you would fit the bill well."

"So what exactly makes me such a prime candidate for blood-sucker, hm?" Riku said irritably. "I'd like to know why you've decided I could use the inconvenience of trying to hide this from Aris and/or my other hunter friends, one of whom I _live with._"

The vampire sighed at Riku's attitude, closing his eyes for a moment. Riku had to admit, his self-control was astounding. He wasn't exactly being pleasant company.

"You are able to accept others based on themselves rather than what people see first; say vampirism or being a half-vampire, branching outward to mental illness. More or less, your ability to love unconditionally and care for people, like that roommate of yours."

"And how's he going to react to this, huh? He's just as much a hunter as I am."

"Of the two options, would you rather having to explain that you are a vampire to him, or would you prefer he attend your funeral?" Eraqus said calmly, but the words made Riku's blood run ice-cold, his entire body captured in a terrified shiver.

The mental image of Sora's tear-stained face rushed into his head, so vivid and clear that it was more like his mind was playing him a movie than a brief mental projection. His fingers were clasped around the stems of a bundle of white flowers, trembling hard, his tears cutting streams down his cheeks and flowing down his chin uninhibited. The cerulean blue of his eyes glowed with raw pain, both there and impossibly distant at the same time. Maybe it was fanciful thinking, maybe Sora _wouldn't _react like that, but the mere idea was enough to crack Riku's resolve.

There was nothing in the world he wouldn't do to stop Sora's tears. Nothing.

"Fine then. Let's get this over with" the silverette said sharply, his aquamarine eyes sparkling with determination and ferocity. Eraqus's eyebrows shot upward at the sudden change in demeanour, clearly expecting a longer thought process toward his question.

"Is the thought of Sora attending your funeral really so terrifying?" he asked, looking mildly bemused.

"He's my best friend. I'd do anything to make sure he's happy" Riku said firmly, and the vampire suddenly adopted a knowing smirk, as though he'd just figured out something on Riku's part that he wasn't aware of.

"If you think you are ready, then we shall do this now. Are you prepared?"

Riku contained the urge to snort at the question. "I don't think it's possible to be 'prepared', but I am ready to face this."

"I see. Then, please do not struggle."

Riku nodded, as the older vampire leaned forward. He used his hands to gently tip Riku's neck sideward, brushing away the collar of his vest and exposing his neck. Every single fibre of Riku's being was begging him to run, to escape, to avoid this fate, but Riku kept the image of Sora's terrified, heartbroken expression firmly in his mind.

_Do it for him._

He felt the two sharp canines pierce his skin, reaching deeply down into his flesh, pain shooting from them. Eraqus pulled back slightly, raising up his finger and drawing the mark onto his skin.

The moment he was finished Riku felt white-hot pain flare from both it and from his insides, causing him to gasp and jerk backwards, his limbs beginning to shake as the pain travelled around his body, filling his head and dismissing almost every thought inside it. It felt like bolts of electricity were coursing underneath his skin, through his muscles, his tendons, every fibre of his being. Each jolt made him gasp, but though he sorely wanted to, Riku resisted the urge to scream. He _would_ endure this, and he would get back to Sora, whatever it took.

He couldn't be sure how long that pain lasted for, for it was quickly replaced by sharp, stabbing pains running up through his chest, making his lungs feel like a rope was being pulled around them and making it hard to breathe. His breath came in short gasps, his right hand clutching at his chest as his left struggled to hold him upright, his figure curled up on the floor. The sensation almost felt like a snake had found its way into his chest cavity and was winding itself between his existing organs, joining, connecting, sliding around them, making room for itself. The pain of having ones organs rearranged was not one Riku wanted to attempt describing anytime soon, and he most definitely wouldn't wish this on anyone else.

Riku already knew what that _thing _inside his chest was. It was known as a 'cystathaeom', and was the origin of the myth that stabbing a vampire in the heart would kill it. You needed to stab more to the left to hit the cystathaeom to instantly kill a vampire; the organ's presence was what gave a vampire its immortality and its need for blood, its ability to process blood, and a number of other functions. One was not a vampire without it. Anything that did possess one…

The thoughts were quickly squeezed out of his mind as burst of agony began shooting up through his fingers and his jaw, his senses beginning to sharpen. The room's colours dimmed slightly, but the sound became extremely clear, and the smells weren't far off. A whimper escaped his throat as the pain in his fingers and teeth grew in intensity, and he could already feel his fingernails lengthening into claws, his teeth morphing, reshaping themselves into a mouthful of fangs designed for taking down and killing a full-grown human.

The last thing to go was his mind. In an instant, comprehensive thought shut down, his mental capabilities being redirected to his senses, the snake in his chest constricting around his organs, hissing incessantly. His brain followed suit, filling with a single thought, one drive, one all-encompassing need.

He needed blood.

A violent hiss escaped his throat as he bared his fangs, eyes darting around the room. His Master was quite clearly not a target, and there was very little else in the small room. He needed to get out, needed to find blood, needed to feed.

He went to run for the door but a strong hand clasped his wrist, pulling him back down into a seated position. He growled threateningly, trying to get out of his grasp.

"Riku, wait here."

He instantly stopped, his limbs freezing in place. He looked at his Master with wide eyes, waiting as he had been told. He stood up, going to the door, Riku's eyes never leaving him. He saw a flash of blonde hair and another vampire stepped inside, but that wasn't what Riku was interested in.

Another hiss escaped his throat, staring at the bag in the blonde vampire's hands. His Master gently took it from the blonde, speaking to him for a few moments before he stepped back over to Riku.

"You may move now" he said, handing the bag over, and the silverette instantly grabbed it, ripping it open with his teeth and drinking from it.

His entire body reacted to it, tensing for a few seconds before relaxing, relishing the taste, the tightness in his chest gradually easing as he drank, his mind slowly but surely coming back to him, although fragmented at first. It wasn't until the bag was drained that a deep sigh escaped his lips, the claws and teeth retracting back into humanoid, the instinctual drive fading from his head, now content to sit at the back of his mind. Exhaustion instantly washed over him, coupled with a feeling similar to having had sleeping pills. He dimly recalled hearing that blood actually made vampires sleepy, but he didn't have a chance to fully think about it, because before he could even protest his body shut him down and he collapsed into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

The silverette awoke sometime later to the same room as he'd been in earlier. He sat up on the bed, rubbing his eye groggily and trying to get his bearings, slowly going through a mental checklist so he was one hundred percent certain of his current situation.

Number one. He was still at wherever the vampires had taken him.

Number two. He was now _one of them._

He flinched a bit, rubbing at his right wrist absent-mindedly. At some stage, either during the conversion or after he'd fed, the wrist had healed up perfectly; there wasn't even a bruise, making the injury seem like it'd been his imagination. However, its absence only made the fact that he'd _changed _all the more clear. Had he made the right choice? Would everyone have been better off having to attend his funeral, should he have fought until the bitter end, until they had left him broken, bloody and screaming? Either way, those choices had passed and that door had been shut, just like the door to his humanity.

Riku pulled his legs up, resting his feet flat against the mattress and folding his arms over the top of his knees. Breathing in through his nose, he began trying to assess where the differences lay. Hearing it from someone else was all well and good, but knowing that it's now a part of you, ingrained into your very existence, that was an entirely different ball game.

He ran his tongue over his teeth and gums. The touch caused them to twinge and ache, most likely because the change was still fresh; his body still throbbed with the newness of it all. His fingers ached, also; namely his fingernails, which were sensitive to the touch. Curiously, pressing down where the nail slipped underneath his skin on his index finger prompted the nail to elongate slightly and taper into a point, but the sight made Riku's stomach twist, so he didn't push it further.

A quiet knock resounded from the door, and Riku looked up to see Terra walk in. The brunette's eyes were now a rich shade of blue; not quite as intense as Ven's or Sora's, but not dark and stormy like Leon's, either. Riku guessed this was most likely his natural colour; it suited him a hell of a lot better than purple did, at least.

"Hey" he said, giving him a short wave.

Riku gave him a small, quiet smile, before turning his head to rest his chin against his arms. "Hey" he murmured. "Coming to check on me?"

"Yeah. You've been out for a few hours, but that's normal. Are you feeling alright?"

The silverette shrugged, not really sure how to respond to the question. Terra gave him a sympathetic look, before exhaling.

"If you're still peckish, Ven's prepping afternoon snacks."

Riku was not prepared for his body to suddenly jolt to attention; the mentioning of _afternoon snacks _had his mind nudging impatiently at him to get up and go with Terra. The silverette wrestled with it for a moment, determined to get a firm grip and balance between his reasoning mind and pure instinct. So despite his mind going _go, hurry up, _Riku took his sweet time slipping off the bed and walking over to Terra, keeping his expression and posture casual. The brunette said nothing, though Riku was sure he'd known what kind of reaction mentioning food would have on the silver-haired teen.

They walked back through the hallways, coming down into a kitchen. Riku was beginning to notice that this place didn't seem to have any windows, but a gut feeling was now telling him they were most likely underground. In the case of a newborn going rabid, there was less chance they'd escape into broad daylight.

The kitchen itself was tidy, with marble bench tops and an island in the centre, four stools placed in front of it. The blonde was humming to himself as he worked over a stovetop, a thermometer close by and several mugs lined up next to him.

"Terra, Riku" he greeted, not turning his head. "Take a seat; I'll be done in a sec."

Terra nodded, leading his companion to the stools where they sat down. Riku raised his eyebrows, glancing at the blonde. "What's he doing?"

"Unless we're starving or the person in question is newly turned, Ven usually warms our food up, since if we were getting it from the source, it definitely wouldn't be chilled" Terra explained.

"I see" said Riku, placing his knuckle to his lip. Now that he thought about it, the cold temperature of the blood from earlier had been minorly unpleasant. After all, their _proper _food source was warm-blooded.

"There we go" murmured the blonde, taking a pot off the stove and pouring the red liquid into three mugs. He walked over, placing before both Riku and Terra, before going to grab his own.

The scent of the liquid wafted directly into Riku's nose, and the nudging from earlier became an unpleasant shove. The silverette mentally shoved it back, picking up the mug and sipping lightly. Tension he hadn't realized was present flowed out of him, a content feeling settling over his limbs. He took another sip before placing the mug down, deciding to savour the experience.

Ven smirked a bit over the rim of his mug, a strange sort of pride in his eyes. "You've got a hell of a lot of self-control there, young man" he said, and Riku had to quickly remind himself that Ven had full rights to call him 'young man', despite the fact he looked two or three years younger.

"Thanks" he said quietly, and the brunette sitting next to him ruffled his hair.

"That's like the ultimate compliment among our kind, Riku. Don't take it lightly. I agree with him, too; I might not have been around for long, but I still remember what I was like when Master first bit me."

His blue eyes turned downward, looking a bit ashamed, and Ven sighed, blowing a few strands of hair upward. His fringe angled across his eyes in the same way Cloud's did; the more Riku looked at the vampire, the more he noticed the resemblance.

"Do you know someone named Cloud?" Riku asked, raising an eyebrow, and Ven blinked a few times.

"How old is he?" he queried.

"…Oh. Well, early twenties, so I guess not" said Riku, rubbing his hair. "You look like him, that's all."

Ventus' eyebrows raised at this. "I look like him? What does he look like?"

The silverette shrugged, sipping at his mug again. "Blonde, spiky hair, but his is a bit different in style. Same eyes, and your facial features are similar. You have a similar build, too, thinking about it" Riku added, noticing that the blonde was relatively slender. Cloud was a bit taller and had a broader chest and shoulders, but given that Ven was permanently stuck in his mid-teens, there was a possibility that he would've grown into a similar frame.

"Hm" said Ven quietly. "Well, I couldn't say I know him. Might've known a parent or a relative, though. I'm probably old enough to be his father."

"Ah, true…I don't know Cloud's father personally. His brother rants on about him a lot…Sora and I tend to ignore him, since it's mostly him digging holes for himself."

Ven's eyes had suddenly gone very wide, blinking slowly. "…Sora?"

The silverette raised his eyebrows. "My best friend, Cloud's cousin. He's a year younger than I am."

The blonde swallowed a bit, staring at the contents of his mug, going very quiet. "I see…"

Riku looked a bit worried, but Terra patted him on the shoulder. "Ven has these moments some times. He has twenty years' worth of memories, but there are more than twenty that he can't recall. Names, places, sometimes even scents trigger ghosts of memories to float up."

Despite Terra's reassurance, the silverette still didn't feel comfortable having brought up memories on Ven's part, even if it had been the mere mention of his best friend's name. The look in Ven's eyes wasn't one he could bear for an extended period, so he ended up just turning back to his mug, sipping it quietly.

"Ah, your eyes are back to normal" said Ven quietly, and Riku almost spat his drink.

"They changed colour?!" Riku spluttered, and Terra chuckled.

"How'd you think I knew you'd jump at the opportunity to get a snack?" he said knowingly. "They'd turned a sort of grey colour."

Well, at least they didn't turn purple. Terra seemed to notice he was thinking this and rolled his eyes.

The rest of the meal was eaten in silence, and Terra brought Riku back to Eraqus. The master had said very little; simply given him a few ground rules (_be careful of who you tell_, like he wouldn't be, _don't go hunting for the meantime_, like he would, _and keep your appetite in check_, which he had full intention of doing) and told him good luck. Terra took him to a room where he gave Riku back his weapons, though he was very cautious while doing so (he had every right to be, but Riku's curiosity had gotten the better of him, now, plus if he did attack anyone here, he'd most definitely struggle coping with what they'd done to him). Once that was done, the brunette took him upstairs, revealing they were, indeed, underground; in fact, if Riku wasn't mistaken this was the old manor that sat somewhere close to the outskirts.

"I didn't know this place had a basement" Riku said, glancing around. The house was dappled with beams of orange sunlight; an inner part of him fidgeted nervously at the sight of it. Despite the fact he'd been told Marked could still go out in the sun, his previous knowledge and his instincts made him twitchy at the idea of stepping into it. Broken bits of debris scattered the foyer, along with shards of glass.

"Well, if you knew, don't you think you would've found us by now?" Terra asked. Riku shrugged. That had been one other thing Eraqus had said, except unlike the other ground rules, it had been an order, one Riku could not disobey. It was 'do not tell anyone where we are'. Well, at least it hadn't been any of the million nasty orders he could've given a hunter such as himself.

They stepped down into the main room, and Riku hesitated once they reached a patch of sunlight. Terra gave him a sympathetic look, but wasted no time dragging the silverette's sorry ass into the shafts of light. Riku let out an undignified, inhuman screech at this, but instantly calmed down once he noticed he hadn't immediately turned into charcoal. The sunlight tingled a bit against his skin, but it didn't hurt, and that was enough to quell his fears.

"I did not realize I could make that kind of noise" Riku said, as they stepped out of the house. Terra chuckled quietly.

"Yeah, vampire throats are a little different to a human's. We're a bit more in-tune with a baser, primal side, so when we drift more toward it, we don't really utilize speech."

Riku recalled the hissing noises he'd made immediately after being turned, and nodded quietly. Speech had completely left him in that state. "So aside from hissing and screeching…?"

"The hisses and screeches are the more vampiric part. Some noises we make we could've made as humans, but societal norms don't exactly condone growling at people who annoy you. So growls, whimpers, snarls…"

Terra led them over to a car, which Riku immediately recognized as not his. "Will you take me back to my car?" he asked, and Terra nodded. Riku sighed, slipping into the passenger's seat. He hadn't been in the passenger's seat of a car in a long while, he realized.

"I'll be dropping off food morning and night. I've already put my number into your phone, so if you ever need more, call me asap, got it?"

"Yeah" said Riku with a nod, checking his phone. 120 missed calls. Fuck. "How long have I been gone?"

"We grabbed you last night, why?" Terra asked, as he started up the car, peering over at Riku's phone.

"Because my best friend has rang me one hundred and twenty times" the silverette muttered. "And I've been texted by all of them, too."

"They must've been worried" said Terra quietly, his eyes going back to the road.

"Well, we're aware you're recruiting. So I'm not sure what's going to be waiting for me, to be honest" Riku murmured.

Terra rolled his eyes again. "Riku, if they bothered to call you one hundred and twenty times in the last eighteen hours they're obviously going to be glad to see you're safe."

"Safe, you know, aside from the fangs and lust for blood" Riku muttered, staring at the roof of the car.

"You're just all rainbows and lollipops, aren't you?" Terra retorted, and Riku chuckled under his breath.

"Name me one person you know who is actually rainbows and lollipops" he said, and Terra went dead silent. Good, because Riku couldn't, either. Sora's good moods were close to that, but the fact rainbows and lollipops was contrasted by heavy metal music and violence was enough to render it null and void.

Terra pulled up outside of the place Riku was going to get food at the night before. His stomach grumbled at this, and he raised his eyebrows.

"Oh and you still have to eat human food" said Terra innocently. "You're Marked, so your body's not completely reliant on your vampire aspects."

Riku sat up, his eyes shooting daggers. "I haven't eaten since lunch time yesterday!" he shouted, and his stomach growled louder as though to emphasize the point.

Riku didn't give the brunette time to respond. He jumped out of the car, walked into the take-out, ordered what he'd wanted the night before (a lamb kebab with the lot, though he asked for nothing with garlic in it this time. It annoyed the hell out of the shopkeeper, but honestly Riku was too hungry to actually care). He paid for it, waited, and once they'd brought it out he stormed back into the street. Terra and his car were gone, so Riku opened up his own car, still in the same place it was the night before, and sat down in the driver's seat, munching into the food.

He breathed a sigh of relief once he'd eaten, leaning against the car's steering wheel. Way to leave out important info, dumbasses. Like he would've remembered to eat anything in the situation he was in.

Well, he supposed he couldn't really put it past Ven or Eraqus. Neither of them had to eat, but Terra did, the cement-headed moron.

The silverette sighed, starting up his SUV and heading toward his house. Nervous energy was filling him from head to toe, his stomach twisting painfully as bile rose up in his throat. He refused to throw up, however, no matter how anxious he was towards seeing Sora.

He pulled up in the driveway, hesitantly stepping out of the car. The scent of grass and motor fumes filled his nostrils, as though vehicles had been coming back and forth from the house all day. It wouldn't surprise him, honestly. Swallowing his trepidation, the silverette walked up to his front door, unlocking it and stepping inside.

A raven-haired head immediately popped up from the lounge room's couch, his red-rimmed blue eyes going wide as he immediately leapt over the top of it.

Without really knowing what he was doing, Riku ran up to him and wrapped his arms tightly around Sora's torso, clutching the fabric of his shirt as he buried his face in the crook of his neck, the strands of their hair mingling and contrasting against each other. He inhaled deeply, taking in every nuance and unique element of Sora's scent. Just having that in his nostrils calmed him instantly, it didn't matter that he was bent over awkwardly in order to reach this position, or that Sora seemed stunned out of his mind. No, with what he'd been through today, none of that mattered so long as Sora was there.

"You smell like home" Riku murmured quietly, and he felt a gentle pair of hands against his back which gradually tightened, the shorter boy reciprocating the hug.

"So do you" Sora replied. "It isn't home without you, Ri."

"Sorry" he murmured, and Sora just gripped the fabric of Riku's shirt tighter.

"Just don't do it again, or I'll kick your ass so hard you'll be in hospital for a week."

The silverette chuckled quietly, knowing he was trying to cover up how worried he'd been. Riku could see the evidence of tears as clear as day when he'd walked in, plus the raven-haired teen still smelt like them.

Reluctantly Riku let Sora go, and they pulled away. Riku was expecting a barrage of questions, namely 'did they turn you'? He was expecting to be verbally mauled for being stupid, for not paying attention, for getting himself into his situation- but none of it came.

"Are you hungry? Cloud cooked pasta for lunch and there was leftovers" he said, indicating to the kitchen. Riku raised his eyebrows, but shook his head.

"No, I just ate, actually" Riku said, looking a bit sheepish. Sora simply smiled at him. Riku wasn't sure whether he liked the lack of questions or whether he was a bit freaked out by it. Honestly it was probably a bit of both.

"Well, I'm going to heat it up" he said, heading toward the kitchen. Riku followed, getting out a glass and pouring himself a cup of milk.

"I'm not feeling too great, so I'm probably going to take a couple of days off of school" said Riku. Sora raised his eyebrows as he slipped a plate of pasta- Bolognese, lacking garlic- into the microwave, turning it on.

"I can stay home and take care of you?" he offered, swallowing a bit. Riku shook his head.

"I just need to rest" he admitted. "I think I have a virus...remember when you got one?"

"Ohh" said Sora, nodding as he peered into the microwave. "Yeah, the best thing for those is rest. Do you mind if I ask Cloud and Leon to check up on you, though? They might not act like it, but they were pretty worried today, too."

"Yeah…sorry, I fell asleep in my car and lost track of the time" said the silverette, pulling a lie out of his ass. A knowing, sad smile flickered onto Sora's face, but it was gone as soon as it came.

"Next time, check your fucking phone" he said sharply, pulling out the plate and sticking a fork into it. "They were looking all over town for you, and I would've been, too…but I wasn't feeling too great today. I uh…fainted at some stage."

Riku blinked, his face instantly dissolving into a look of concern. "Are you ok?" he asked quickly, and Sora chuckled.

"I'm fine" he said with a shrug, eating a mouthful of pasta. "I dunno what it was, probably just stress or something. I'm fine now, stop giving me that face. I am the one who should be making that face" Sora scolded, gesturing at him with the fork.

"Well, you're probably right…" Riku murmured, rubbing his arm. "I'm gonna head to my room."

"I'm gonna sit up and watch some anime. That Kairi girl gave me a USB with a bunch of shows on it. I'm really liking the look of this magical girl anime, but I've been warned it gets dark."

"…Which one?" Riku asked cautiously. Oh please, please God, please not let Sora have started watching-

"Erm…Puella Magi Madoka Magica, I think."

Fuck.

* * *

Riku had kind of anticipated being woken up at some stage that evening and unlike his assumption about the barrage of questions, this proved correct. Sora had come into his bedroom sometime at 3am, shining a hellishly bright light at him and shouting something along the lines of 'YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU WARN ME OH MY GOD I'M NEVER WATCHING MAGICAL GIRL ANIME AGAIN' before storming back out. As though to emphasize how annoyed he was, he flicked Riku's bedroom light on and off five or six times before stomping down the hallway, loud sobs echoing through the house.

Well, at least that more or less proved that Sora either knew or suspected he had developed a sensitivity to light. Indeed he was attempting to blink out stars out of his eyes and he had a nasty, throbbing headache developing, but since he'd left the light off they eventually faded and the silverette fell back to sleep.

The raven had apologised the next morning before heading off to school. Riku had gotten up with him, just in case Terra came over while Sora was still in the house, but apparently the brunette had the foresight to show up after 9am. He slipped in through the kitchen window while Riku was preparing another cup of coffee. Terra had a very distinctive, earthen scent, like freshly turned soil, so Riku knew it was him immediately.

"Good morning, Terra. Coffee?" the silverette offered, and he heard the other freeze.

"Jeez, I still haven't mastered that whole 'creepy-greeting-without-looking thing" he said, rubbing his hair as Riku turned around, sipping his caffeine hit with a slight smirk on his face.

"I'm still a hunter, so naturally my senses are a bit sharper. The only hunter I know who can get away with being dense is Aris."

Terra chuckled mildly, before bring around a brown leather satchel and pulling out a blood bag and a handful of roses. The quietly lurking presence in Riku's mind jumped to the fore, hissing and demanding sustenance. The silverette immediately clenched his teeth, feeling them begin to sharpen into fangs.

"Thank you, Terra" he said quietly, turning his eyes downward and trying not to open his mouth too wide.

"How was Sora?"

"Fine, oddly enough. Didn't even mention it, though I…I get the feeling he's aware. He got mad at me last night and flicked my bedroom light on and off."

"…Does he not do that normally?"

"Normally he'd jump on me and plant his knees into my chest" Riku said, and he instantly shuddered, painful twinges running through his torso. Even the mere idea of that kind of impact against it made him want to run for cover. Terra didn't look too comfortable with the idea, either.

"Good thing then…if he'd done that you probably would've blindly attacked him in response. Surest way to piss off a vampire is to threaten their cystathaeom" Terra murmured. "Be careful."

"I will" said Riku, placing the cup down and receiving the blood bag and roses from the brunette, putting the blood bag away in the fridge, but he was aware he wouldn't get away with not having something now that a part of him had been aggravated. The silverette let out a long sigh, before biting the flower off of the stem. The taste and sensation of blood ran into his mouth, causing his body to instantly relax a bit, savouring the taste of blood flowing down his throat.

"See you this evening" said Terra, giving him a short wave. Riku waved back, watching the brunette leave, still eating the blood roses he'd given him. Riku would drink the blood bag around lunch time.

It took him all of half an hour to go back on that decision.

Cloud checked up on him about midday, and besides that the day was fairly ordinary, which Riku appreciated. The silverette actually ended up sleeping most of the day, the ache within his limbs slowly fading the more rest he got. Plus every time he saw light streaming in through some of the windows, Riku wanted to go back to his warm and comfy bed and curl up underneath his covers. If he wasn't mistaken, the melanin in vampires was affected by the reverse of a human being's- i.e while the sun was up, all he wanted to do was sleep.

He ate dinner with Sora, who stayed home with him rather than going hunting with the others. Sora had cooked, and despite the meal being burnt, Riku appreciated the gesture; the raven had gone through the cupboards as he'd cooked, reading every single item's ingredients and throwing out anything that even had traces of garlic. They still didn't speak of it aloud, however; if Riku wasn't mistaken, Sora was giving him room to adjust and come clean in his own time. And in that case, Riku wasn't quite ready to discuss what he'd become just yet, because he'd barely wrapped his own head around it.

The next day went mostly the same, with Riku trying to convince himself not to eat the blood bag early but doing so anyway. Begrudgingly he admitted to himself that he might have to ask Terra to bring something for lunch, too, because he was finding the gap between breakfast and dinner nigh unbearable; by the time 4 or 5pm had rolled around the day before the silverette's instincts were almost nudging him to go out and hunt for himself, and he definitely didn't want to be in that situation.

Riku had settled himself on the lounge room couch, reading a book he'd found in Sora's room- it was a romantic novella, and far from Riku's usual reading fare. However, given that he usually read gory crime and mystery books, the silverette had decided that avoiding his preferred genre was a good idea. He didn't like the sound of getting hungry or riled up after reading an extensive paragraph describing the state of a dead body.

The doorbell rang, and the silverette slipped off the couch. It was a little past lunch time, so Riku guessed it was most likely Leon, since Cloud visited yesterday.

Riku opened the door carefully, just in case it was Aris instead. It wasn't, but the way his body reacted would've been the same.

The moment he saw Leon every single fibre of his being screamed at him to run. Run fast. Run and get the hell away from him. He couldn't control the terrified squeak, as he immediately span on his heel to do as his body told him, no longer in control of his reactions.

Of course the first reaction one has when someone goes to run away from you is to give chase, especially if you know them well. The brunette leapt forward, clasping Riku's ankle and sending them tumbling to the floor.

"Riku, what the hell has gotten into you?" he shouted, but the words were lost to the silverette. His eyes had turned red and he was thrashing madly, trying to get away from him, hissing and spitting, baring knife-sharp teeth. _Get away, get away, get away! _

The older male was trying to placate him, grabbing at his wrists, but he was having none of it. He struggled against the brunette, clawed fingers flailing and searching for some kind of escape, some kind of way out.

The moment he saw it he took it.

His right hand came down in a downward flash of blackened claws, and he felt soft flesh split and cut away against them. A pained screech met his ears as red burst forward, the brunette jumping back and away from him as Riku crawled backward in the opposite direction, his entire body shaking. The room was suddenly full of the smell of human blood, but his reaction to it was different to what it would've been if this was an ordinary human. Everything felt wrong, his body was screaming with the wrongness. It took him a few seconds, but when it did click Riku immediately understood why.

Leon's blood shouldn't smell human. And Riku knew him well enough to know the vampiric traits weren't faked, so _why did his blood smell human?!_

Riku swallowed, staggering to his feet and trying to rein in his instincts. He still wanted to run, but at the same time this was Leon; he knew him, he had fought with him and he trusted the brunette with his life. And right now, the silverette knew he needed to do something about the wound he just inflicted.

The front door had been closed in the scuffle, and Leon had curled up in the corner between it and a wall, his hands covering his face, red leaking between his fingers. Riku carefully inched toward him, reaching out to touch his shoulder.

The brunette hissed a warning at him, and the silverette instantly jerked his hand back, the alarms ringing in his ears again. Why did Leon scare him so much now that he was Marked? He wracked his brain, trying to find some explanation, some reason.

Wait. Did he just hiss? He'd screeched earlier, too. Riku might not be the most informed hunter around, but he sure as hell knew dhampirs shouldn't _screech. _Why would they need to? Dhampirs aren't built to hunt like vampires, so they shouldn't have those kinds of physical elements…

The silverette swallowed, deciding he could question him the moment that wound was cleaned. He silently pulled the first aid kit out from its usual spot (a set of drawers in the front hall; having it close to the front door was necessary) and pulled out some cloths, getting some water from the kitchen and coming back to the brunette.

"Leon" Riku whispered, kneeling down in front of him. "I'm sorry I hurt you, please let me clean it up."

He remained silent for a few seconds, before slowly dropping his hands. Riku immediately winced; the wound was a diagonal slice from Leon's forehead down onto his cheek, and even with Leon's healing ability it'd leave a decent scar. He sighed, wetting a cloth and gently wiping the blood away from Leon's face, before wrapping a cloth around it carefully.

Leon tugged the cleaning cloth away from Riku, wiping his fingers clean. "That was an experience" he murmured, his eyes cold.

"Sorry" Riku repeated. He could still feel chunks of flesh and crusted blood underneath his fingernails, a reminder that this had been entirely his fault, even if he had been semi-provoked in a sense. That said, he needed to get to the bottom of this, or else he'd be nervous and twitchy around Leon for the rest of his life.

"…You…" he started, looking a bit awkward as he grasped for words, wringing his hands. "…what exactly are you, Leon?"

The brunette gave him a wide-eyed look, realization dawning on his face. "You tried to run because-"

"You have told everyone you're a dhampir, but that's not the read I got" the silverette murmured. "The conflict in knowledge made my instincts initiate fight or flight, going for the latter."

Leon exhaled, gingerly getting to his feet as Riku did the same. "…it's hard to explain" he muttered.

"Try me" Riku muttered, giving him a deadpan stare.

"I'm a half-breed" Leon said, and Riku gave him a confused look, which prompted another sigh. "Half-breeds are…well, think of human-vampire mixes as being on a scale. There are varying degrees of dhampir; the lowest being dhampirs with no strengths and minor weaknesses, and the highest being dhampirs who have most strengths and little weaknesses. Your kind are the middle point on the scale, being half-turned. Past your kind…there's half-breeds. They're…I'm…basically a vampire without the sunlight weakness, and even then I burn like an albino and the light gives me headaches."

Riku blinked a few times, before his mouth slipped open. "Wait, that means-"

"I have a cystathaeom, yes" Leon whispered, turning his eyes downward. "But" he said quickly as Riku went to ask more questions, "the thing about half-breeds is that we don't start out with blood need. It's…dormant. Usually it…usually it becomes active during puberty, at least from what records I could find. But I started taking medicine to hold it off, so I haven't needed to drink blood."

"That can't last" Riku said shortly, and Leon grimaced.

"It's already stopped working, Riku" he muttered, looking a bit frustrated. "Within a couple of weeks I'll be fully-fledged vampire-wise. My…my canines are already acting up, and it won't be long before the blood need becomes apparent."

"Who else knows?" Riku asked quietly.

"My friend Aerith, and she's aware that I don't have long left, too. Do not go around telling people, Riku."

"So long as you don't plan on parading around the fact I mauled your face" Riku muttered, and Leon snorted.

"Yeah, thanks for that one."

Riku exhaled. "What are you going to do, Leon? Won't you need human blood to start off with?"

"I don't know what I'm going to do" he muttered. "And for now, that's where we are going to leave this conversation."

"Look, Leon, if you get desperate there's a guy named Terra who's bringing me food, I can ask him to bring extra..."

"I can take care of myself" the brunette said shortly. "I'll deal with it, Riku."

"Then why bother telling me?!" the silverette growled under his breath, looking annoyed.

Leon exhaled, gently opening the front door and wincing at the sunlight that streamed in. "You're the only person in our group who has a chance of placating me should the occasion arise" Leon murmured. "If it does occur, please to not hesitate to do whatever is necessary."

"What if that means killing you?" Riku asked, looking a bit desperate.

"You know where the cystathaeom is" the brunette said quietly, before slipping out the door, leaving Riku alone.


	6. Amber

**A/N: **So, haven't written one of these for this story in a little while. Thank you to those who've followed, fav'd and reviewed: you keep my motivation up a little higher. In regards to a few comments lately- I kinda agree. Reviews are worth so much more than favs, and for something this long they're really, really appreciated. –My- working file for this is 73k (I don't post a chapter until the next one's finished, so yes, I'm about to start writing chapter 8).

Curious note: this story only shows up every now and then rather than when you do a normal search. I wonder if that's why it tends to go unnoticed.

I wanted to note some shout outs and thanks here, but I'll try to keep it short.

Miss **Justice Tokidoki**, your extensive reviews are appreciated, and I hope the confusion settles itself over the course of the story. I –try- to keep details as transparent as possible. Thank you so much 3

Other shout-outs:

**Kitty-Cat-Gone-Bad** wrote some of my favourite Vanitas-centric fics, and I recently discovered (perhaps rediscovered) that she's friends with one **palito-de-pan**, my favourite Vanitas artist on deviant art. And by favourite I mean Vanitas-modo Sora in chapter three is wearing one of the exact outfits she's drawn (motorbike garb). If you like Vanitas I recommend checking these out. The former is also one of the few writers of Vaniku, which I really like as a pairing.

**Erased **is a fairly long fic (in my favs) which partially inspired some elements of this story, mainly Leon as a vampire, but he really does suit it B| **Blue Moon **also joins this list. Mainly…because they're not bloody finished! :V

**Archeia_Nessiah **and **Marimo **have helped my beta a few things, with the former being super-helpful in regards to Cloud's personality. I struggle writing Cloud, and she struggles writing Leon/Squall. And thus a perfect friendship was born (we've been friends for a while over totally different reasons).

And finally **EnTheOriginal**'s rendition of –Destati- has been ringing through my head for some time now. It's gritty and fierce, and reminds me more of what would play if you were running through Vanitas's awakening rather than Sora's.

So without further adieu, enjoy the chapter!

Thought of the day: Clear your mind. Picture Cloud and Leon. Now picture Cloud and Leon dressed as a chocobo and a Moomba. There, day instantly 100% more awesome.

* * *

**Chapter Six: Amber**

Cloud and Leon had spent most of their Monday scouring the town for signs of the silver-haired teenager to no avail. They'd found his SUV, abandoned and empty, but no other signs and no trail to follow. However, their search was semi-interrupted by worry over Sora; when Cloud and Leon had gone to check up and get the story from him, they'd found the raven-haired teen passed out. Even he wasn't sure what had prompted it, but from that point onwards he wasn't feeling well enough to accompany them on their searches.

By the time mid-afternoon rolled around Sora was getting desperate and the older two were beginning to resign themselves to the idea that there was a ninety-nine percent chance Riku would've been turned by now, if he had indeed been taken by vampires. Leon had sat Sora down in the lounge room, doing his best to calm the teen down enough to listen.

"Look, Sora" said the brunette, surprisingly gently. Cloud folded his arms, forcing his expression into a neutral one so he didn't smile at the sight. There was something so special in seeing the stand-offish brunette reveal his tender, compassionate side, the one that would jump to the aid of the helpless without a second's hesitation. He wondered if he was the only one who really noticed it, since the others just seemed to make a mockery of his shell without actually pointing out what he was really like.

"You're aware that's there is a strong chance that by this point Riku's no longer human, right?" he asked quietly, and Sora shook a bit, but nodded silently.

"Well…if that's really the case, Riku will probably demand to come back. If I'm not mistaken they're Marking rather than fully turning, which means he'll only be half, and will only be slightly light sensitive. No more than me or Cloud are."

"Oi" said Cloud, pouting a bit, and Leon gave him a deadpan stare, saying nothing before looking back to Sora.

"And that said, Cloud's issues only really concern headaches. So in the case he does come back to you…you're going to have a huge part in helping him adjust."

"Adjust?" Sora murmured, looking confused.

"It's not easy to become something else" Cloud said, thinking of Zack, Tifa and Vincent. "There's mental elements to accompany the physical ones. He'll be in a really precarious position mind-wise."

Leon nodded in agreement. "And with how close you two are, you're most likely going to be what he clings to as his pillar and connection to what he used to be and the means for him to adjust to what he will be. So…don't berate him with questions. Don't make it obvious, or niggle at him, at least for a little while. Ease into it, just like he will have to. If you catch him drinking blood, politely turn your eyes away. If he hisses or does something vampiric, don't make a big deal out of it. Make a note to throw out anything with garlic, and do it while he's nearby, but don't point it out to him. Do you understand?"

"Easy does it, huh?" Sora asked, nodding a bit. "I think I can try."

"Good. And don't be rough with him in any shape or form, especially anything that involves his torso. Vampires get very defensive of their cystathaeom and he may attack you without realizing what he's doing."

"Noted" Sora murmured. "But…do you think he'll be ok, Leon?"

The brunette was quiet for a few moments, before he smiled slightly and nodded. "Yeah. Riku's a strong person, and with you by his side, I don't see how he couldn't be."

Sora returned the smile, looking a little sheepish as he glanced at the floor. "Thanks, Leon. And Cloud. You've both been really helpful today."

He'd rung them mid-hunt to tell them that Riku had come home and asked if they could check up on him while he was at school during the day. The two men had agreed, knowing that Sora's silence regarding whether or not Riku had changed was telling enough on its own.

There was no doubt the silverette now walked a different road.

The blonde hadn't noticed too much when he'd visited him. He'd just said he wasn't feeling too well but would be back to school soon. Still, Cloud wasn't dense like Aris, and being a hunter meant you needed to _know _things. And the very core of Riku was different. Like someone had changed the colour tint slightly or twisted it, but the change was there, tangible and threatening. The threatening part wasn't from Riku; even with what being even somewhat vampiric gave him on the positive spectrum, the allergies and most importantly the cystathaeom made him a walking weakpoint. No, the threat came from the fact that now they'd taken Riku, if they were going to be taking another hunter the blonde was their next target.

The Wednesday, however, was the spark of a turning point for the week.

Even though Leon was a dhampir and Riku would be more sensitive to that fact now, in no way shape or form did Cloud anticipate he'd come out of the house with a bandage wrapped around his face. The two were making these visits together in case anything went horribly wrong, plus they both hoped that maybe the quality time might prompt and explanation for Sunday night.

So far, no such luck.

"What the fuck happened to you?!" Cloud shrieked, looking flabbergasted. Leon let out a lengthy sigh, his fingers ghosting over his face.

"Well, he attacked me" he said simply. "His vampire instincts freaked out over the fact I'm both part-vampire and a hunter. He got a 'dangerous' reading, tried to run, I grabbed him and he slashed me with his claws."

"I guess that wipes out the side-stepping of the vampire issue" said Cloud shortly, folding his arms. "Will you be ok, Leon?"

The brunette shrugged, as they walked over the road back to their vehicles. Cloud was still borrowing Sora's Void Gear, although the raven had initially asked for it back on Monday morning. That'd changed the moment they'd deemed him not well enough to look for Riku.

"I hope Sora doesn't blame himself" said Cloud, pulling his goggles off his bike handles. "I dunno, is he the kinda kid who'd beat himself up for this?"

"Those two are basically joined at the hip, Cloud" said Leon, running his fingers through his hair. "Of course he's going to blame himself. I mean, the one occasion where they're not hunting or travelling together, and Riku gets bitten. It'd do anyone's head in."

"I guess" said Cloud, rubbing his hair, before glancing at the bandage on Leon's face. Splotches of red had appeared on it, and Cloud's brow furrowed. "Are you sure that's going to be ok, Leon?"

The brunette sighed again. "It'll be fine. I have an improved healing factor, remember? It'll probably just scar."

"Jesus, Leon, if it's going to scar stop trying to make out it's just a scratch" muttered Cloud, peering at him. "Go see Aerith about it or something."

"She's still recovering magick energy from healing your bite wound" said Leon dismissively. "Stop getting so uptight. I can take care of myself."

Cloud sighed, putting a hand on his hip. There was something off in Leon's demeanour and tone that told him that the brunette was making a molehill out of a mountain rather than the other way around, and Cloud didn't like it. At present, Leon was his peer and as he'd so aptly put it, his awkward almost-friend, and the only one Cloud really had. Aerith was more like a sister (since to him, she'd always been Zack's girl) and he wasn't talking to Vincent or Tifa, neither of which fit into the previous category anyway. Sora and Riku he didn't know as well, plus they had each other and their own issues to deal with. So with Leon being the only one he could really hang around with, he was finding himself a bit more concerned for his safety than he was for the others. At least, that's what he told himself.

As though summoned by the thought, Cloud's phone buzzed against his leg. He'd opted for vibration settings when it came to Sora, who, as it had turned out, had made it that his phone calls would still initiate a ring tone and vibration. The blonde had edited said settings.

"That'd be Sora" said Cloud, pulling out the phone.

"Don't tell him about the fight just yet" said Leon. Cloud gave him a deadpan stare.

"You're going to have to tell him tonight, either a bandage or a massive facial wound demands an explanation."

"I'll just say I was attacked by an ordinary vamp. There, situation solved" said Leon, climbing into his car. "I'll leave you to it."

The blonde rolled his eyes as Leon started it up and drove away, and he answered his phone.

"Hey, Cloud" he said, sounding a bit bored. "How's Riku?"

"Ok, I think. Leon checked on him and there didn't seem to be anything wrong, so…"

You know, besides Riku fucking mauling Leon's face. The look on the blonde's features was not a pleasant one at this thought.

"Ah, ok. Well, can I ask you for a favour?"

Cloud blinked a few times. "A favour? Like what?"

"I need an adult blood-relative or a guardian for something. At present Leon usually pitches in for the guardian role since he's a bit older, but you're a blood relative so there's no complications there."

So Aris didn't even have formal custody over Sora? The situation really was that bad.

"When?"

"This afternoon? We can hang out a bit, too. It's at that mall a few blocks from my school. I wouldn't mind getting to know my cousin, and…well, a distraction sounds nice."

"You know what, that sounds like a great idea" said Cloud, smiling slightly. He was a bit worried about the kid (five year age gap justified the kid moniker right?) and distracting him from the situation with Riku sounded like a good plan.

"Great! Thanks, Cloud. Meet you out the front about 4pm? I'll walk and tell Riku I'll be a bit late coming home."

"Alright. See you soon, then."

Cloud had hung up, then driven away from Riku's house. He'd then spent majority of his day doing deliveries. He had a good amount of money stored away from this job, since he somehow kept managing to skip out on rent. It wasn't that Cloud was tight about his money, but nobody he'd lived with since paying rent had become viable had actually asked for any. Cloud wondered how Aris managed to pay his bills for a little while before remembering the ARMS store below the apartment was just that- a store. Come to think of it, all those times Aris had been 'out', the blonde hadn't bothered to check the shop.

Idiot.

About ten to four Cloud headed towards the shopping centre located near Sora's school. There were a few entrances, but a bit of driving around allowed him to locate the raven-haired teen, who was standing outside puffing on a cigarette. The blonde raised his eyebrows; he hadn't realized the two teens smoked.

The blonde parked the bike, pocketing his goggles this time and heading over to the teen, who gave him a half-wave the moment he saw him and extinguished his cigarette.

"Sup, Cloud?" he said, ruffling his hair. The blonde shrugged.

"I didn't know you smoked" he commented, and the teen chuckled.

"Yeah, I've been smoking since I was fifteen. Ri smokes with me every now and then, but he's not as hooked on them as I am. He asked me to think about quitting the other day…still considering it."

"Well, they're not exactly good for you."

Sora snorted, rubbing his nose as he span on his heel, heading for the door. "Yeah, but neither's our job."

Point.

Cloud caught up to him, tailing a few steps behind as Sora put his hands behind his head. The mall was huge; although it only had a single story it branched out like a spider web in several directions. Cloud hoped the raven-haired teen knew where he wanted to go, or they'd be here forever.

"So, how's things with the boyfriend?"

If Cloud had a drink he would've spat it half a mile. "What?!" he spluttered. "I don't _have _a boyfriend!"

Sora laughed out loud, grinning widely. "I know, just knew you'd react like that. Though in all seriousness, seen anybody you like lately? Girl, guy? I dunno."

"You sure are frank" Cloud said, shoving his hands in his pockets. Sora shrugged.

"My friend, Selphie, she's gone the whole shebang in telling me about relationships and stuff. I dunno, I think she hopes I'll make a move on Riku."

"…That's…that doesn't surprise me" Cloud said, remembering the emerald-eyed brunette. Sora chuckled quietly as the pair manoeuvred around a seven-member family unit that was bickering loudly.

"Oh, have you met Sefie?" Sora suddenly said, realizing that was what Cloud had implied.

The blonde rubbed his hair a bit. "Ah…briefly. We had a get-together on Sunday night."

Sora raised his eyebrows, rubbing his chin a bit as though he was considering something. He didn't voice his concern, however, and they fell into silence. Of course, being in a mall this definitely wasn't a true silence; the building was full of the sound of people talking, of machines and of doors, of footsteps, both the casual click of girls in heels and the excited pitter-pat of children's running as they squealed and giggled loudly. The blonde exhaled, turning his head down. He didn't really like shopping centres, if he was honest. They tended to get on his nerves a lot more than most other people. He generally tried to shop at smaller clothing stores or ones that weren't in a complex.

They turned down one of the paths and Sora came to a halt, putting his hands on his hips.

"This is it!" he said, grinning widely. Cloud blinked a few times, before giving Sora a disgruntled look.

He'd stopped them in front of a shop that specialized in using magick to change one's appearance. Proper cosmetic changes were illegal and the shops had a bad rap for being the place where wanted criminals came to change their look. Mostly they gave people a fake tan and changed someone's hair or eye colour, though pay enough and you could convince them to do more.

"What are we here for?" Cloud asked warily, glancing at the raven.

Sora put his hands behind his head, swaying a bit. "Well, I've actually had it in my head that I want a different eye colour for a while. I was just gonna get coloured contacts, but uh…well, they don't place nicely when you have to wear them all the time. I'm far sighted, y'know, so it's a bit of a pain in the bum."

He shrugged, dropping his hands. "So I thought I'd get them good and properly changed. Will you help out, Cloud?"

"What's Riku going to say?" said the blonde shortly.

"He'll probably be a bit annoyed, but it's not like he can really do anything about it. Besides, this isn't a choice I'm making on either side of a mood-swing, it's one I've thought about in both frames of mind, which is the only reason Riku ever has a problem with what I decide to do."

"I see" said Cloud, folding his arms, thinking about it. If he had to go out on a limb and guess why Sora was making such an explicit effort to change his appearance…he'd probably have to say it was because of Aris. Even though the man usually left himself unshaven, the two looked similar enough that one would see it straight away. Hell, their hair was the same. And he'd already dropped Soritas, so in his mind, this was probably the next step.

Good for him, trying to cut off ties like that. It took a lot of effort to force toxic people out of one's life, and Aris was that and then some.

"I'll one up on the help- I'll pay. Think of it as an extended birthday present" said Cloud, and Sora stared at him in shock.

"Are…are you serious? Oh man, thanks Cloud!" he shouted, leaping on him and wrapping his arms around his neck, almost bowling Cloud over.

"Jeez, get off! You're gonna strangle me!" the blonde exclaimed and the raven let go, looking a bit sheepish but still ecstatic.

The blonde rolled his eyes, and the two headed into the shop, walking up to the counter. A woman with long black hair looked up at them, her expression cold.

"Can I help you?" she asked, her tone icy. Cloud actually felt goosebumps run down his back at her demeanour, though it most definitely didn't strike him as vampiric.

"I wanna get my eye colour changed" said Sora cheerfully. She blinked a few times, before rifling under the desk for a few moments, snapping open a reference book.

"If it's not here, you will have to provide a colour swatch" she said, before looking at Cloud. "I suppose you are a relative? I'll need you to sign this waver."

Cloud nodded, as she handed him over a contract. He scanned over it, not liking most of the content, but he knew despite the warnings and failsafes in terms of the shop this rarely went wrong. At least, he'd never heard of someone coming out of these places severely damaged.

"This one" said Sora, as Cloud signed the waver. The blonde looked over and almost choked on his own saliva.

It was a very intense yellow. Not quite werewolf yellow- he knew that colour better than most- but closer to gold or amber. Definitely not a naturally occurring human colour, at least.

"Are you sure?" he asked, and Sora nodded.

"I would've gotten contacts in this colour if I wasn't getting this done, so…" he said, trailing off with a shrug.

Cloud looked at it for a few more minutes. "…But why that colour?" he asked.

"I dunno. I like it. It's creepy" he said, a smirk dawning on his face. "I kinda like scaring people to be honest."

The blonde blinked a few times, going stock still as an epiphany dawned on him.

_This kid was a sadist!_

"Are you the kinda guy who likes to trap spiders and watch them suffocate to death?"

"Oh, however did you know~?" Sora cooed, his eyes still glinting maliciously. "Either that or I put them in Riku's bed."

Yep, sadist. God damn.

The black-haired woman sighed, clearly ignoring their conversation. "That's $230, please."

Cloud sighed, rifling through his wallet and pulling out the cash. She put it in the till and stood up.

"Through here" she said, grabbing the reference leading them through the black curtains. There were a few people inside, wearing a uniform, and a couple of others having magick worked on their hair. Sora watched in fascination as he walked behind the woman, intrigued by the colours people were choosing.

"You dyed your hair normally, right?" Cloud asked, and Sora nodded.

"I figured it was a bit easier. Might get it permanently done eventually though…the brown eyebrows are kind of weird" said the raven with a shrug. "Extended Christmas present?"

"Don't push your luck" said Cloud shortly, and Sora laughed. The black haired woman sat him down before glancing over to one of the girls, a short-haired brunette with heterochromia. They spoke for a few moments, showing the reference book before the girl came over and the woman left.

"Hi there" she said, giving them both a wave. "I'm Yuna."

"I'm Cloud, and this is Sora" said the blonde, gesturing to each of them. She stared for a few moments at both their hair, before giggling quietly to herself.

"Is…that genetic?"

"Yes" the both of them mumbled a little crossly. No matter what Cloud did, he couldn't get the spikes to behave, so he doubted things were any easier on Sora's part. His might go higher, but Sora's stuck out at the sides.

"So, you're getting your eye colour changed, hm?" she said, peering at him. "I dunno…I kinda like this shade of blue."

"I have my reasons" said Sora, and the girl shrugged, sitting him down on a chair.

"Ok, just stay still. It'll sting a little bit…are you wearing contacts?"

Sora blinked a few times. "Oh shit, yeah I am" he said, pulling out a case from his pocket. He turned his head and carefully took them out, turning back and blinking blearily.

"I am so blind" he murmured, squinting at her.

Yuna smiled at him, gently patting him on the head. "Just stay still, then. This won't take long."

Cloud folded his arms, watching the proceedings as magick energy began to flow through the girl's fingers. She murmured some concentration words before gently placing her index and ring finger just below Sora's eyebrow and above his eyelid on either side. The raven didn't make a sound, though Cloud was sure it would've hurt; the yellow started directly around his pupil and spread outward, slowly enveloping his eyes until they were completely amber.

"There!" she said, removing her fingers. Sora blinked a few times, before reaching back to his pocket and putting his contacts back in, using his phone as a mirror.

"Ok, here are your eye drops, you'll need to use them for about a week and then you'll be fine. And here is your life-time guarantee certificate" she said, handing him a small bottle and slip of paper as soon as he was on his feet.

"Uh, thanks?" he said, looking at the slip of paper. "Do I go now?"

"Yup! Have a nice day" she said cheerily, waving him off. The raven still looked a little confuddled, so the blonde grabbed his sleeve and delicately lead him out of the store, giving the black-haired woman a short wave as they exited.

Cloud took a moment to take in the collected appearance. The yellow probably wouldn't have been so dramatic if Sora's hair was still brown, but with them being framed by a mass of blue-black, they were rather intimidating. The kind of person normal people gave a wide berth from pure instinct. Additionally, his general vibe was different. His brown and blue hues had more rung of his friendlier moods, when he was approachable and cheerful, but his current look rang of his dark attitude. The Sora who smoked and wore black and red biking leathers, who ran into battle brimming with confidence that bordered on arrogance.

"Waddya think?" he asked, looking at the blonde.

"It…suits you, in a way" he said with a shrug. "You look less innocent."

"Good" said Sora curtly with a short nod. "That was part of the plan. Well, wanna get something to eat? I'll shout this time, since you paid for my eyes."

The blonde shrugged, and Sora gave him a small grin, strolling toward the food court, Cloud tailing behind him.

The food court sat in the proverbial center of the complex, a circular room with murals of food and drink painted above the stores and across the roof (how'd they get that far up…?) There were a variety of stores circling a large cluster of tables, seats and booths, which were mostly occupied by students from Sora's school and the occasional family unit.

"Wanna have a look?" Sora offered, and Cloud gave him a short nod. They started walking the circular path, looking at the stores. Kebabs, sandwiches, chinese, indian, a few popular fast-food stores…a chicken schnitzel sandwich actually sounded pretty good.

"I might go back and grab a sandwich from back there" said the blonde, indicating backward as Sora stopped in front of an Italian store.

"Oh, dang" said Sora, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I was hoping you'd go halves in one of their larges. They only do small or large and the small's too small and the large is too large."

He made a disgruntled face, and Cloud rubbed his hair. "I don't eat store-bought Italian" he said, shrugging, and one of Sora's eyebrows quirked up.

"Why?"

"Ah…the garlic gives me indigestion."

The raven-haired boy spluttered a bit, running over to him. "Cloud" he said, keeping his tone hushed. "I mean, I won't tell anyone if you don't want me too, but are you actually a dhampir too?"

"What" said Cloud flatly, giving Sora a deadpan stare. "No."

"…But the sunlight gives you headaches and you don't eat garlic."

"Sora, my dad isn't a vampire, so I obviously can't be a dhampir, can I?" Cloud retorted heatedly, folding his arms. "If he was, his brother probably would've killed him by now."

The amber-eyed teen rubbed his chin, thinking about it. "…Dang, that does throw a wrench into the works. I guess if you were, Leon would've pointed it out earlier than this, too…"

He still looked unconvinced, and Cloud exhaled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Not to mention I have two vampire friends, you dork."

The raven-haired teen looked sheepish, rubbing his hair. "'Spose you're right. Guess you're just a nearly vampiric human-type person."

"Sora, seriously" said Cloud, trying to stave off a headache. "You're making my brain hurt."

"That's because you're thinking, Cloud. Blondes aren't supposed to think, remember?"

Cloud immediately thwonked Sora on the top of his head with his fist, the shorter boy yelping loudly as the blonde stalked off in the direction of the sandwich bar. The raven-haired dashed after him, his hastily-said apologies choked off by his hearty laughter at managing to tick the mild-mannered blonde off.

"Sorry, buddy" Sora said eventually, properly this time, not liking how silent Cloud had gotten. "What're you after?"

"A chicken schnitzel sandwich" said Cloud, who then rattled a list of what else he wanted on it. Sora ordered and paid, eventually handing Cloud a tray with his sandwich and the drink that came with their combo deal (a lemonade, apparently. Cloud didn't mind, he liked lemonade.)

"I'll go grab my food and meet you at a table, eh?" said Sora, who didn't give the blonde a chance to respond before giving him a two fingered salute and dashing off.

Cloud exhaled, before wandering into the throng of afternoon shoppers getting snacks. He sat down heavily in a cushy booth, immediately propping his elbow on the table and resting his head in his hand. He'd kind of lost his appetite, if he was to be honest with himself. Still, Sora had bought it for him, and he was loathe to waste other people's generosity like that, so he reluctantly began eating his sandwich.

Sora came scooting back over with a plate of some kind of Chinese food with a deep, red hue and sliced chilies.

"That's an uh…interesting meal" said Cloud, one blonde eyebrow quirking up. Sora let out a low chuckle, his amber eyes glinting mischievously.

"Looks tasty, right?"

"I don't like spicy food" the blonde replied with a shrug, taking another bite of his sandwich, and Sora blinked, glancing at the plate and seeming to notice the chilies for the first time.

"Oh dang" he breathed.

Cloud blinked a few times, before his eyes narrowed, annoyance sparking in his deep blues. "You didn't pick it because it's _red, _did you?"

The look of one who's just been caught with their hand elbow-deep in the cookie jar spawned on Sora's face, and Cloud let out a long, frustrated sigh, before shrugging it off.

"You're the one who has to eat it. It'd be a waste to leave _even one, tiny sliver _after you've just spent money on it, _right_?" The same mischief was glinting in Cloud's eyes now, and Sora audibly swallowed, looking nervous, but still sitting down and beginning to pick at what looked like strips of meat.

Cloud took another bite of his sandwich, keeping his expression completely neutral but inside he was kind of enjoying Sora's struggle with the spicy food. Maybe the sadism runs in the family.

"You know…I don't want you to get offended or anything, but you've been…really balanced today" said Cloud, and Sora blinked, eating a forkful of carrot strips, before ruffling his black locks.

"Yeah…" he murmured. "Well, it doesn't surprise me. I'm not happy, so it's not like I'm a seven year old on a sugar high, and I'm not angry or sad, so I'm not acting like a demon from some circle of hell. I guess that's worry does to you, huh?"

He smiled sadly, his eyes glazing over for a moment as he played with his food. "…Cloud, this is going to sound really strange, but about ten minutes before I called you something terrified the living daylights out of Riku. Do you know what it was?"

Cloud had, luckily, just swallowed his mouthful, so he managed not to end up choking on his food. Still, the question had sent ripples of shock flowing through the taller man, as his jaw dropped open and his eyes went wide.

"…How?"

"…I don't know" said Sora, pressing the pads of his index fingers together. "Ever since…ever since I passed out on Monday I've been…feeling some of what Riku feels. It's really fucking weird."

"Like emotional empathy or something?"

Sora fidgeted in his seat, looking anxious, before mumbling "Not just his emotions."

This stumped Cloud for a few seconds before it hit him like a brick wall falling on his face, swallowing thickly. "You can feel when Riku's hungry" he whispered, and Sora nodded, still looking fidgety.

"It's not that I feel it, I just know he's feeling it. Like a…uh…like we're connected? I dunno."

"Well, are you?" Cloud asked, taking a sip of his drink.

"Well, I don't think so…"

He froze, suddenly looking a bit stunned. "Unless paopu fruit counts."

"You didn't."

Sora looked sheepish, drinking his own drink. "I may have kind have tricked him into it?"

The blonde immediately pinched the bridge of his nose. "So you tricked your best friend into marrying you. Sounds like you're the greatest friend he could ever have."

"Oi, oi, I totally am! I basically said I wanted to be his friend forever and ever!" Sora protested, throwing his hands into the air. "And I do! Which is why I'm so concerned about the fact something terrified the ever-living shit out of Riku earlier today!"

The raven finished his sentence by violently jabbing his finger in Cloud's direction; the blonde had to admit, the kid had a way of rerouting the subject. He was kind of impressed.

The blonde eventually let out a long, exhausted sigh, massaging his forehead with his fingertips. "...Leon," Cloud murmured.

"Huh?"

"Riku freaked out because of Leon."

Sora's eyes widened, the raven leaning forward against the table. "Is Leon ok?"

"Riku lashed out. He's ok, I think, but it'll probably scar. Why'd you ask about Leon first, though?"

Sora sighed, ruffling his hair a bit. "The terrified feeling was followed by guilt, so I kinda knew something happened. Did you see Riku afterward?"

Cloud shook his head and Sora sighed, eating a mouthful of food. "Ah well…at least that bloodline of ours is coming in handy for once. I can't see there being any other reason for this."

The blonde smiled wryly. Obvious Sora had it drilled in as deep as he had- the Strife bloodline was sensitive. 'Sensitive' being that they were a little more prone to the supernatural than others. For example if a vampire scrapped their teeth against a regular person and broke the skin, there was a strong chance it wouldn't result in anything, since the infection would've been small enough for the human body to fight back. In the case of the Strifes, however, they'd most likely end up vampires.

One did wonder why a good majority of them were in the hunting occupation, actually. More or less, it meant they had to take more precautions than others would.

"So…" started Sora, fiddling a bit with some capsicum. "There's something going on between you and Leon, isn't there?"

Cloud shrugged, chewing his sandwich. "Not really" he murmured. "Why?"

"I dunno, you two were acting weird on Monday. Did something happen on Sunday night?"

"We got drunk and made mistakes" said Cloud shortly. "We're both trying to move on and forget about it, alright?"

Sora raised an eyebrow. "…Mistakes?"

Cloud groaned under his breath. He really did not want to discuss this with Sora, of all people. It was bad enough that Aerith knew.

"Wait wait, hold up. Like, I could guess, but- did Leon really-?" he said, half talking to himself as he rubbed his chin. "He wouldn't…he didn't even with Rin…Cloud, you didn't…uh- 'do the deed', did you?"

Cloud gave him a deadpan stare and said nothing for a few minutes, before exhaling. "What do you mean by 'he didn't even with Rin'?"

"He had a girlfriend he was really close to" Sora said with a shrug. "There was a really big incident with his group- like, we're talking faeborn and magick and near-death experiences, and they all got really close, especially him and Rinoa. We all thought they were comfortable together, but as it turns out Leon was having issues being intimate with her. They never got further than a bit of tongue play, actually. We all kind of suspect it's because Leon's got some severe issues with the fact he's not entirely human. So if he actually did it with you, even while drunk…hell, I dunno what it means. Something big."

Cloud blinked a few times. Leon did mention he was a virgin prior to their 'incident', but he'd kinda just thought Leon wasn't really in a position to get intimate with someone else. He wasn't sure how to feel now… awful because of how it happened, flattered because Leon had actually agreed? He had no idea.

"…I'm pretty sure we were just hella drunk and it doesn't mean all that much" said Cloud, sighing, and Sora's eyebrows hit the roof.

"So you really-? Jesus Christ, I did not peg you as gay."

"I didn't peg me as gay prior to Sunday" Cloud said sharply. "I lost my virginity to a woman, so I didn't really have a reason to think that, either. I still don't really peg myself as gay."

"Well, do you look at guys?"

"Why do you care?" Cloud said flatly.

Sora adopted an annoyed expression. "Because Leon is my friend. And if you think you're going to get away with a one night stand you're sorely mistaken."

"Sora, we're both adults!" Cloud groaned in frustration. "Do you want me to ask him on a friggin date or something like that? Listen, I like Leon. He's pretty cool and we mesh well, and I wouldn't mind being friends with him. But I sure as hell don't know him well enough to consider asking him out, even if I did feel comfortable doing so. Like I said, this is the first time I've wandered out of the straight-zone, and that in general is enough to make it weird, not to mention all the other crap surrounding the incident. And you said it yourself, Leon had a _girlfriend _before this, he might not be entirely comfortable with it either. I _don't know _what's the best course of action here, but I'm not about to go out on a limb and make a ridiculous move on someone that might result in us forever being awkward or weird around each other. Do you understand?"

Sora nodded, before breaking out into a grin. "Ok, so long as you're not just going to avoid him or something."

"We've spent the last three days meeting up regularly in the hope we might remember something from Sunday. It hasn't helped so far" Cloud muttered. "I don't like the situation, but this isn't one I can really turn tail and run from. It'd burn a hole in my conscience and I'd feel bad for the rest of my life…plus I think you'd kill me. It's not very often I meet someone I get along with easily, so even with this I don't want to just burn all our bridges."

"Yeah, Leon has that problem too. People kind of force their way into being his friend. You don't strike me as the type who'll have to do that."

Cloud sighed, taking another sip from his drink. He'd never been good with relationships. It wasn't until his mid-teens that he started making friends, and that was only because he left town to start training with Angeal and met Zack. Zack had been the catalyst for him to start developing a group in the first place; and now he appreciated and cared for all of them, even if he did ignore their phonecalls from time to time.

The blonde lapsed into silence, picking at his sandwich. His appetite had left him again, and Sora let out a long breath from his nose.

"Sorry for asking, Cloud. If it makes you feel any better, I was asking for my own benefit."

A single eyebrow quirked up on the blonde's face. "Not really. What benefit could you get out of knowing about my and Leon's relationship?"

"Well…I think Riku's been sending me signals and I was wondering if you knew how to interpret signals."

Cloud's second eyebrow joined the first. "Wait, are you sure?"

"No" Sora groaned, looking frustrated. "That's what's so annoying about it. He got mad the other day when I was flirting with some girls then says he doesn't know what his type is. Then the whole day he keeps staring at me weird. I'm so confused."

The raven-haired teen shoved his food to the side and laid his head on the table, looking defeated. "What do you think?"

"Do you even _want _Riku to be sending you signals?" Cloud asked, his brow furrowing in confusion. "You just said you were flirting with girls."

"I don't know" Sora repeated, putting his hands in his hair. "I mean…I dunno! Fuck! I like Riku and he has a nice ass but I don't know if I like him like that! But like…" he sat up, waving his hands around expressively. "Riku's the only one with enough balls to put up with my shit, I don't think anyone wants to deal with me long term. And he's _always _been there for me."

"And you're basically married already" Cloud commented lightly, sipping his drink.

"YEAH! But what happens if it doesn't work out or like…he's not actually into me or something?! I'll be alone…"

Sora's entire demeanour drooped at this, his brow furrowing in pain. "The idea terrifies the shit out of me, Cloud. Riku's the only one who's been there for me through _everything. _If I lost him, I…I don't know what I'd do."

Cloud sighed, running his fingers through his hair. He really did not understand why he'd just unloaded all of this on him, and frankly he really did have enough problems of his own to be getting along with. Plus he could barely follow the kid's train of thought, but at the same time he probably did need someone to listen to his blathering who wasn't Riku (or a vampire).

Well, maybe he'd just tell Sora what he wanted to hear and get on with it. (He was trying, really, really hard to convince himself he didn't care.)

"You should listen to your heart, Sora" Cloud said, nodding as though he knew what the fuck he was talking about. "If you really feel like you want to be in that kind of relationship with Riku, then maybe he feels the same way? You do live together."

Sora's eyes widened, and he almost bounced out of his chair. "Oh my god, Cloud, you're so right! My heart's never steered me wrong, if I follow it everything should turn out fine!"

He hit his fist into his other open palm, looking determined. "Thanks Cloud!"

"Just be careful, vampires get bitey when aroused, yadda yadda. I don't know if Marked are infectious but it's something to consider" said Cloud.

"I doubt it, but I'll keep it in mind" said Sora, waving his hand dismissively and finishing off his drink. "Ready to go?"

Cloud nodded. His own drink wasn't empty, so he took it with him, chucking the rest of the sandwich in the bin (it was just a couple of chunks of crust, which he didn't feel bad about not eating). He and the raven-haired teen made their way toward the exit, going quiet again for a little while.

However, Sora stopped at the door, folding his arms and tapping his head. Cloud turned to face him.

"…Dhampirs aren't infectious at all, are they?" he murmured.

"No, not according to every single book and story I've been told" said Cloud, but he ended up unconsciously fiddling with the collar of his turtle-neck sweater anyway.

"Thought so. You'd be screwed otherwise."

Cloud gave him a sharp stare, and the amber-eyed teen returned it with a sly grin, giving him a wave. "See ya 'round, Cloudy!"

He did a hop-skip and broke into a jog, leaving the building. Cloud sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, before giving his neck a rub, reminding himself that if Leon _was _infectious, he probably would've noticed immediately. Vampire transitions were notorious for being very fast. Despite Aerith's best efforts, Cloud could still feel indents where Leon's teeth had pierced his skin. Thankfully Aris slept like a log even when he hadn't been drinking, so the blonde had been able to get up early, throw on a turtle neck and lightly dust the white marks with make-up still lingering in the cabinet of Aris's bathroom.

It probably belonged to Aris's estranged wife.

She was the thing on his mind as Cloud mounted the Void Gear, intending to head toward a liquor shop. The engine revved to life and Cloud pulled out of the car park, his mind swirling.

Aris's wife was like a rarely-spoken legend among their family. They hadn't been together for long before Aris's hatred drove her away. Cloud now assumed it was probably shortly after Sora was born, but he couldn't fathom why the woman would leave a baby in the man's care. He didn't know too much, honestly; his father spoke rarely of his little brother, not after the incident.

As Cloud pulled to a halt at a liquor store on the route to Leon's, it struck him that Aris's brutal killing of a vampire and her husband would've occurred when Sora was a year old. Still, why leave the baby? Hope that a child would ease what Aris had become- a cold blooded killer, more so than what he'd hunted down and slain? He was positive that the boy would've been better off if she'd taken him with her. Then again, maybe Aris hadn't given her a choice. He'd seen a photo once of her, Aris's arm gently drapped around her waist. Short black hair, deep blue eyes that matched her husband's. She'd been rather petite; Aris wasn't particularly tall (nor was his son), but she stood at least a head shorter than he did. If Aris had become aggressive, she wouldn't have stood a chance and probably made the right decision to flee.

As much as he tried, Cloud couldn't remember her name. His father could barely remember her, either, but Cloud was pretty sure he'd seen a wistful look in his eyes a few times. It had served to further widen the gap between Cloud and his father; honestly, Cloud always kind of been a momma's boy, and it annoyed him that their relationship had been so strained. He had no idea how they'd managed to end up together; both were very even tempered, which they passed onto their son, except toward each other. Cloud recalled some very intense arguments when he was a child, but the memories were mostly covered in a hazy fog. He tended to not really focus on those memories, anyway; he remembered his mother for her kind smile and the lullabies she'd sing every time he'd ask where his father had gone again.

The blonde shrugged it off and headed toward the liquor store, the glass doors sliding open. He was greeted by a breeze of chilled air and the scent that accompanied it, swirling and mixing with copious amounts of alcohol, mostly dominated by a strong one that itched at his nostrils; they'd must have had a recent breakage.

He wanted to get something social so he and Leon could hang out like regular people. He really did want to move on from Sunday night and as some people put it, 'wipe the slate clean'.

He browsed the fridges for a few minutes, originally reaching for bottles full of amber liquid, very similar to the colour of Sora's eyes, but he hesitated. Thinking about it, Leon didn't really strike him as a beer drinker. So he ended up walking down a bit further and grabbing out a case of coke and bourbon, shutting the door firmly behind him.

The cashier was standing in front of several cabinets adorned with labels like 'WE DON'T SELL TO U/18's' 'DON'T BUY IT FOR THEM' and 'SMOKING CAUSES LUNG CANCER' in big, bright lettering. Cloud assumed the cabinets were where the cigarettes were kept, but he'd never bought them so he wouldn't know.

The woman was in her late thirties, dirty-blonde hair tied back in a loose ponytail and lacquered nails tapping against the countertop as the blonde male put the alcohol down.

"ID" said the woman shortly, and Cloud rolled his eyes, fishing through his wallet and pulling out his motorbike license, which had his date of birth.

She gave it a short nod before scanning in the alcohol and asking for the money. Cloud handed it over, taking the change before leaving with his purchase, jumping back on the bike and heading toward Leon's.

The trip was short, thankfully, since pellets of rain had begun to drip downward. Shit…that'd make the night's rounds more of a pain in the ass than they already were. Sighing lengthily, Cloud dismounted the Void Gear and found a nice, sheltered spot for it, before rifling around one of the equipment compartments on the side. Sora had, as Cloud suspected, a rain cover, so the blonde draped it over the bike before heading over to the apartment block Leon occupied.

Something immediately told him Leon wouldn't be in his house- he wasn't sure exactly what told him so, but Cloud opted to check Leon's garage area first. It was a small line of concrete blocks with steel roller door fronts and smaller entry doors on the sides; Cloud recalled Leon's was the eighth down.

He walked down, tugging on the collar of his turtle neck a bit to try and keep the rain out. He could already feel the droplets wetting his hair, attempting to enforce gravity upon the infamous Strife locks, a task of which it would fail at. There was a family rumour that the spikes were actually the result of some kind of magick spell, but why someone had endeavoured to enchant/curse every male member of the Strife bloodline with gravity-defying spikes was the real question.

The blonde gently rapt on the door. "Leon? It's Cloud."

"Door's open" was the reply, and Cloud opened it up. The Coupe DeVille was jacked up and Leon was lying on a board with wheels, the only part of him visible being a pair of leather boots.

"Tune up?"

"Tempy's water tank was leaking a little. You can't let the minor things go when a car gets to this age, so I decided to fix it now."

Cloud blinked a few times. "…Tempy?"

Leon rolled out from underneath the car, wiping his forehead with his hand. His face was a bit oil-stained, his thick brown hair pulled back into a rough ponytail, but a good chunk of it was too short to reach around to the elastic holding it in place, so it was falling into his face. The bandage was missing, revealing the jagged gash that now arced from about mid-brow to the edge of the opposite cheek.

"I think you should still be wearing the bandage" Cloud said pointedly, and Leon ignored him, standing up. Cloud silently offered him a can of the bourbon and cokes, which the brunette gratefully accepted.

"Normal people would get beer."

"I'm not normal people" said Cloud, and Leon chuckled.

"So what's with the 'Tempy' title?"

"Her name" Leon said simply, leaning back against the car. "Well, it's actually Tempest, but I call her Tempy for short."

He patted the car affectionately, cracking open the can. Cloud felt a smile dawn on his lips; the Hardy Daytona didn't have a name, but Cloud felt the same affection for it. And he knew exactly what Leon meant about vehicles and age; he'd left the Hardy's tune-up for all of two weeks and it'd basically fallen to pieces.

Cloud refrained from the temptation to call Leon adorable again- as much as he thought it was true and enjoyed watching the other man get flustered, he didn't want to throw another spanner into the already struggling machine work that was their friendship. Thus they lapsed into a comfortable silence for a little while, until Leon walked over to the radio in the corner and turned it on. It was playing music a couple of years old, but Cloud didn't really blame the man for listening to older music.

"Sora changed his eye colour today" said Cloud, opening his own can, and Leon raised his eyebrows.

"To what?" he queried, raising an eyebrow.

"Amber."

Leon spluttered a bit on his mouthful. "He does realize that colour's usually associated with werewolves, right?"

The blonde nodded. "But it's permanent, so I doubt it'll get him in trouble."

"Idiot" Leon muttered, nudging a tool with his foot. "That kid is going to be his own demise, never mind the whole hunting thing."

"Yeah" said Cloud, smiling slightly as he took a sip of his drink and lent against the wall behind him. The combination went down well, and he inwardly praised himself for not getting beer. The other drink might've been more commonly accepted as a social beverage, but Cloud was almost certain Leon preferred the heavier liquors.

"So…I guess you were into mechanics before you got Tempest?" said Cloud, raising an eyebrow, and Leon shrugged, putting a hand in his pocket.

"Not exactly…like I said, my mentor gave her to me for my eighteenth. I didn't know much about the anatomy of classic cars so-"

He stopped suddenly, looking at his can of drink, swallowing a bit and looking kind of awkward. Cloud raised his eyebrows.

"…What?"

"I have no idea how to phrase the next sentence."

"…Just say what you need to say" said Cloud. "Don't beat around the bush."

"Zack taught me how to fix classic cars."

Cloud blinked a few times. "Come again?"

Leon sighed, fidgeting a bit. "I was close to Zack. Before I came to train with Aris, he and I were tutored by Angeal."

He should have seen that coming, really. Leon seemed to be very close to Aerith, and she and Zack had been together for quite some time; if Leon knew her so well there was no way he hadn't met Zack at some stage. The only reason it really surprised Cloud was that he couldn't recall either ever mentioning someone named Leon, and with how Zack was, the concept seemed impossible.

"…So you knew him before I did?"

Leon exhaled again, taking another swig from his can of drink. "Yeah. If Aerith's like my sister, Zack was my annoying older brother. I think I was about nine or ten when we met."

Cloud rubbed a hand through his blonde locks. With what assessments he'd already made about the brunette…this probably cut him up a lot more than he was making out.

Leon finished off his drink, and took another one from the case that had been left on a table in the corner of the garage. "I'm going to need a few more of these if we're going to be talking about Zack" he murmured, and Cloud nodded, thinking about it.

"You were at the funeral?" Cloud murmured, and Leon nodded, his hair falling in his face.

The blonde tried to remember, but the funeral had been a blur for him. Thinking about it, though, he did recall the light-blue car.

The Coupe DeVille had been the car that had brought Zack's coffin to the cemetery. And now he remembered; the brunette on the opposite side of the coffin, standing parallel to Cloud, bangs in his face and covering his eyes. His hair had been shorter, then, only midway down his neck. He'd stood at the grave long after the funeral had ended, despite the rain that had poured down that day, the same kind of rain that had accompanied Zack's final moments.

He'd stood at the graveyard's gates, watching the lone figure, and wondering who he was. But the thought had left him soon afterwards, because Cloud had started to try and move on, to fulfil his last pledge to Zack the only way he knew how.

"I remember" the blonde murmured, and Leon swirled his drink around a bit.

"Yeah. You were standing at the cemetery gate while I called him a son of a bitch" he muttered. Cloud raised his eyebrows in surprise, but ended up not saying anything. Leon just looked disgruntled and pained, now, as though Cloud had gone and taken a knife to old wounds. He hadn't meant to; hell, he'd just asked about the car.

"How did we end up discussing this?" Cloud asked suddenly, moving over to stand beside Leon, and the brunette sighed.

"I dunno. I thought it was a good a time as any to actually mention it. The longer we know each other the more likely it becomes that I'll mention him in some way or another. Hell, up until I was about seventeen, he and Aerith were the only people I really knew. I introduced them, you know."

He swallowed heavily, exhaling. "I don't make friends easily, Cloud. Humans might be consciously stupid most of the time, but there is a survival instinct underneath it all. And up until they start to really override it- i.e about puberty, they naturally give people like me a wide berth unless they're aware or something else themselves."

He sighed, and Cloud gave him a disgruntled look.

"C'mon, man. People do that to lots of people, human or not. Up until I left to train with Angeal I was my hometown's resident pariah. I only have the friends I do because of Aerith and Zack."

Leon raised his eyebrows. "That must've sucked."

"Yeah" said Cloud shortly, taking a deep mouthful from his can. "But I have friends now, so it doesn't worry me too much…"

"For the record, it's not an excuse. It's proven people avoid others with supernatural blood. I've always known about my bloodline, so I knew what to expect. I guess you just got unlucky."

Cloud's eyebrow twitched, he couldn't help it. He was still annoyed from the earlier questions from Sora. Leon seemed to notice, one of his eyebrows quirking up.

"Jeez, it's not like I'm implying you're a dhampir" Leon said shortly, and Cloud's jaw clenched down.

"Good, because I'm not" he said sharply, folding his arms. "Sora asked me earlier."

"What? Why?"

"Garlic gives me indigestion" he muttered, and Leon blinked a few times.

"…Really?"

"Would I avoid eating it if it didn't?" he snapped, and Leon's eyes narrowed in his direction.

"You can't blame Sora for asking" he said, looking annoyed. Cloud snorted through his nose, finishing off his can and grabbing another one.

Leon exhaled, rubbing his forehead, taking care to avoid the wound. "Alright, let's just drop it."

The blonde also sighed, knowing he shouldn't have gotten so annoyed about it. "I don't have a problem with dhampirs, I just…the implication makes my dad a vampire, and I really don't think it's possible."

"Fair enough" said Leon. "It did kind of seem like you were being prejudiced."

"I don't like the idea of being a vampire myself but…like I said, two of my friends are vampires and you're a dhampir, I was still very close to Zack when he turned. I stayed by his side during the conversion. I don't really care."

"Would you care if I was a proper vampire?" Leon murmured, and Cloud raised his eyebrows.

"No, I wouldn't. But you can't be infected, right?"

"Yeah. I'm stuck in the midpoint" he said, shrugging his shoulders. "But it really wouldn't matter to you?"

"Nope. I'm not interested in the _what, _it's the who I care about."

Leon looked pensive, staring at the wall for a few minutes, sipping at his drink occasionally as they lapsed back into silence. The song on the radio changed, and a small smile appeared on Leon's face.

"This is Rinoa's mother" he said, and Cloud blinked, listening.

"Your ex?" he asked, and Leon nodded, before freezing suddenly and shaking his head.

"Speak of the devil" he muttered, putting a hand on his pocket. Cloud raised his eyebrows, feeling a little confused. This feeling remained for a good five minutes before the sound of footsteps came from outside the door and a light knocking echoed around the garage.

"Come in, Rinoa."

Cloud eyes widened as the door opened to reveal a woman with dark hair, wearing a pair of light-blue denim jeans and a cream blouse. She kind of resembled Tifa, thinking about it. She put a curl of stray hair behind her ear upon realizing Leon wasn't alone in the garage.

"Who's this?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. Leon sighed a bit.

"This is Cloud, a hunting friend and Sora's cousin. Cloud, this is Rinoa Heartilly."

A devious smile suddenly dawned on Rinoa's face, but it disappeared just as quickly as it came as she stepped forward, offering her hand. Cloud shook it, giving her a small smile.

"Nice to meet you, Rinoa" he said.

"You too. I've heard lots about you, Cloud" she said, smiling slightly. Cloud blinked, feeling a little confused. From who, exactly? Quistis? Leon certainly didn't seem like the type to go around telling everyone about him.

Unless it was Selphie, he supposed. The blonde grimaced at the thought.

"What prompts this visit, Rin?" Leon said, putting his can down and getting back down on the roller board, his shirt riding up for a second and exposing creamy pale skin. He grumbled a bit and tugged it back down, rolling under the car.

"I wanted to tell you how my date went, actually" she said, walking around the garage. "But you do have company…"

"I don't mean to interrupt-" Cloud said, looking a bit awkward.

He heard Leon grumble again from underneath the car, rolling back out. "She can prattle on about her date while you're here, Cloud. You might actually keep me sane for the duration."

Cloud blinked a few times, and Rinoa giggled a bit as the brunette rolled back under the car. The dark-haired girl immediately launched into a full-scale rundown of her date, which Leon would listen to patiently, only commenting every now and then. The blonde didn't know what to say, really; Rinoa and Leon's relationship kind of reminded him more of 'bffs' or something than people who had once dated. Despite Leon not talking much, he seemed to enjoy listening to Rinoa talk, which was a bit different to how he communicated with others, like Quistis. He seemed more stand-offish toward those people, while with Rinoa he seemed more like…himself.

"I dunno, Rin. He seems like he likes you, but on that same note he's such a creep."

Cloud chuckled a bit at this, and Rinoa smiled. "Yeah. So second date, yes or no? You're usually good at calling these things."

"…Give it a try, but I'd bring pepper spray."

The dark haired girl laughed again, as Leon rolled back out from underneath the car, grabbing a rag and wiping his hands clean before taking a drink of his can of bourbon.

"Rounds tonight?" she asked, an eyebrow quirking upward.

Leon nodded. "Yeah…I think tonight's going to be Riku's first night back since he got sick. Aris is going to get uppity if he takes another day off."

Cloud grimaced, polishing off his can, before realizing Rinoa hadn't reacted at all to the wound on Leon's face. Rinoa, however, seemed to read his mind.

"Maybe you should take a break, especially after last night's close call" she said, looking at his face. The brunette sighed, rubbing his hair.

"It's fine" he said, trying to shrug it off. "Seriously. You both need to stop babying me."

Rinoa raised her eyebrows, fiddling with some of her hair. "Oh, so you're worried about it too, Cloud?"

"It's not exactly a scratch" said Cloud, giving Leon a bit of a disgruntled stare. "At the very least, the bandage should still be on."

"I wanted to let it breathe" Leon retorted, beginning to pack up his tools. "I have to put the bandage back on before we head out tonight anyway; I'm going to have to wear it around Aris for weeks."

He let out a disgruntled exhale. "Enhanced healing is a pain in the ass."

Cloud rolled his eyes and folded his arms. "It's getting late. Should we head out soon?"

"Yeah. I need to head to Aris's to restock, and I think texted out a meeting notice. "

"Alright, we'll go together then."

Rinoa smiled a bit. "You two get along well."

Leon immediately pointed at her. "No."

"Huh?"

"No schemes, no plots, no plans. _No_" said Leon firmly, and Rinoa burst into fitful giggles at the look on his face.

She bit her lip for a second, the devious look returning to her eyes. "Not even a little one?"

Leon folded his arms, looking cross. "No. Stay out of it. _All of you._"

"What…?" said Cloud, looking for some kind of explanation, but Leon just grumbled under his breath. Rinoa still had the devious look in her eyes, but she ended up just giving him a little bit of a wave.

"Alright then, Leonie. Later~"

"I told you not to call me that, either!" Leon shouted, growling and throwing a stray spanner at the door as she shut it.

"…I guess we'd better leave now?" Cloud said awkwardly, and Leon sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Yeah, let's go."

Cloud stepped out of the garage as Leon went to lower the car, feeling immensely confused and a little worried. What kind of plans would a girl like that have up her sleeve? If it involved people like Quistis and Selphie…

Ok, maybe Leon had a reason to get uppity about it.


	7. Downpour

**A/N: Chapter Seven for the celebration of 1.5 ReMix! If any of you guys reading this are also following Tornado…I haven't been working on it. I'll do so after this Monday, since I know where I'm going to end it now. But this story has been far more interesting for me to write. I guess that kind of sucks, since it gets way less attention than Tornado does. **

**This one's looking at maybe 5-8 more chapters, Tornado is looking at about 5 or so…depending on how long it takes to play out what plot I have left.**

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Downpour**

Today fucking sucked.

Riku was pacing the front hallway of his house around five 'o'clock, hissing under his breath like some kind of angry cat. The fact he didn't give a shit about the fact he was hissing the way he was pretty much laid out how pissed off he'd become.

Ok, so maybe he wouldn't be so damn irritable about the day's events if he was thinking about it on a full stomach, but he was still waiting on Terra and getting twitchier by the minute. To hell with Leon's whole "Marked-can-last-for-three-months", it was taking all of his self-control- which was apparently a hell of a lot, according to Ven and Terra- not to jump out a window and sink his teeth into the first hapless blood-possessing creature he came across.

But even skipping past the fact he was hungry, Riku's Wednesday had been terrible. He'd basically spent the entire day playing mental ping-pong between worrying about Leon and wondering where the hell Sora had gotten to. He'd been rather anxious to sit down and talk to Sora about the morning's events in some way, shape or form, but the longer the time frame between the talk with Leon got, the more Riku wondered if it was a good idea. Perhaps he'd be better off refraining from telling his friend about Leon at the present time and just keeping him away from the brunette.

However, even once he'd decided not to tell him and just give him a warning, Sora had decisively stomped on the idea with the text 'I'm hanging out with a friend after school today, I'll be home late'. Which friend? Sora's mood swings made it hard for the other teen to make friends. Was it one of Leon's group? God forbid, was it _Leon?!_

The mere idea had Riku tugging at his hair by the roots. As much as he trusted Leon, he didn't trust vampire instinct. And every fibre of his being was screaming at him that Leon was the most dangerous thing he'd encountered so far, so until Leon had a _very firm handle _on every single aspect of himself, Riku didn't want him anywhere near Sora.

How the hell had they gone so long not knowing that Leon was more than he said he was? Jesus, it was obvious the more he thought about it. Dhampir traits were meant to be very watered down, but they'd always just written Leon off as an exception. There was evidence everywhere; the leather gloves he wore whenever he was hunting or anywhere near silver items, his preference for shadowy places, hell, the fact his diet consisted mainly of tomato soup, which was_ warm red fucking liquid._

Riku resisted the urge to punch the wall, knowing it'd be the one thing that'd bring his parents back and he seriously did not want to deal with explaining that their son was now a lifetime member of the undead and had put a hole in their wall. They didn't even know he was a hunter, for fuck's sake.

The silverette was roused from his mental monologue by the sound of the kitchen window sliding open. A loud snarl developed in Riku's throat, as he stalked over to the kitchen's entranceway.

Terra was giving him a look akin to a startled deer (how the hell did such a tall, potentially dangerous person pull off a look like that?) which quickly morphed into incredulousness, and then into mild annoyance.

"Seriously, Riku, I told you to ask if you need more during the day."

"Shut up" Riku hissed, baring his fangs. He was _so _beyond lectures right now that it wasn't even close to funny.

Terra looked pretty pissed off at Riku's attitude, but he said nothing, handing over the bag of blood in his satchel. Riku growled and snatched it away from him, turning his back toward the brunette before biting straight through the plastic and taking a deep, thirsty swallow.

A low groan rumbled up in his throat as the pain in his chest eased and the tension in his muscles lifted. It really was like a release; the longer he waited to feed, the more his body seemed to coil up on itself like a steel spring, curling tighter and tighter until he was just about ready to burst. That 'burst' would probably be losing complete control of his mind again and going hunting, but the silverette tried not to think about it.

He polished off the blood bag, dislodging fragments of plastic from his teeth and taking in a deep, long breath. It was quickly followed by a painful whack on the head.

"Ow!" said Riku, jumping back and rubbing his head, before freezing. Terra looked absolutely _livid. _His arms were folded and his eyes had tinged a purple-maroon colour, dangerously close to red.

"Do you not fucking remember what happened to the last Marked we had, you stupid son of a bitch?" he snarled, baring his sharp teeth. "It'd be on _my _head if you needed to be put down, too, and I really don't want that to happen, so don't be a fucking dumbass!"

"Fuck you! I wouldn't be in such a fucking state if today hadn't been hell on earth, give me a fucking break!"

"You don't know what hell on earth is!" Terra snapped, grabbing the top of Riku's jacket and growling at him. "You have your fancy ass fucking house and friends you can rely on. Talk to me when you've lived in a gutter for a decade and the only way to break your way out of your addiction to drugs and getting down on your hands and knees for a couple of bucks is to be turned into a vampire instead!"

Riku blinked, his lips going dry as he swallowed heavily. Terra swore, letting him go, and turning on his heel, running a hand through his hair.

"Sorry" murmured Riku, and Terra sighed.

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped like that. My temper keeps getting the better of me and I need to get a handle on it."

He fluffed with his hair for a few moments, before letting out another sigh. "What happened to get you in such a state, anyway?"

Riku hesitated, his throat clenching up for a moment. Should he tell Terra? Leon had said to not go parading it around, but Terra had access to a blood supply that Riku didn't. Leon might prattle on about how he could take care of himself, but there was no guarantee he really could deal with a newly-awakened hunger and not hurt anyone in the process.

"The person who killed the last Marked. He's…well, today I found he's a half-breed, not a dhampir like he tells everyone."

Terra's eyes went very wide, and he swallowed thickly. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Leon's a half-breed, and he said he doesn't have long left before he'll start needing blood" Riku mumbled, fixing his ruffled collar.

The brunette stood very still for a moment, before folding his arms again, leaning his head down and ruffling his hair again. "Damn…I don't know too much about half-breeds, but I know enough to be aware that this situation is dangerous. I'll talk to Master about it."

"Will he know what to do?" Riku asked, sounding a bit worried.

"I hope so. What did he say to you?"

"He said that he can take care of himself, and that he was telling me because I'm the only one who has a hope of stopping him should the situation arise."

"Morbid" Terra muttered, before sighing. "Well, I'm gonna leave you your blood roses and get going. Your friend's waiting outside…smart kid."

"What? How long has he been out there?" Riku spluttered, and Terra shrugged.

"He was there before I got here. I think I saw him wave, too. Your business, not mine" he said, before exiting out the kitchen window. Riku looked very confused for a few minutes, before going to the front door and opening it.

Sora was leaning against the door frame, wearing a pair of aviator sunglasses. He'd gone to school in his skinnies again, and had his hands in the pockets of his school jacket. Most people would look like they were trying too hard, but admittedly he did look kind of badass.

"Sup, Riku?"

"How long have you been out here?" Riku asked slowly, giving him a wary look, and the raven-haired teen grinned.

"Long enough. I felt it was…prudent…to wait for your friend to leave."

"You were here before Terra got here" Riku said flatly, and Sora shrugged, stepping inside.

He gave the room a glance around, almost like he was looking for signs of damage. "I dunno, Ri. My gut told me not to go inside."

The silverette blinked. Sure, it had been a good idea on Sora's part- Riku hadn't exactly been in the best state of mind- but how did Sora know that? If he asked, they'd have to get into the vampire discussion, which Sora seemed to be trying to spare him, but Riku's relentless curiosity was playing on his already frayed nerves.

"…Alright, we'll drop it. Where have you been all afternoon?" Riku said, shutting the front door. The raven haired teen tapped the end of his shoe against the ground, shrugging.

"I was out."

"_Doing what_?" Riku hissed. "And who with?"

"Oh my god, fine" he grumbled, spinning around and removing the sunglasses with a flourish. Riku felt his jaw drop open as speech left him.

The now-amber eyes were watching for his reaction, flicking back and forth, but Riku couldn't form a coherent sentence. His mind was in shambles; every coherent thought had gone and died on him, leaving him speechless and slack jawed.

After a few minutes the dead silence seemed to make Sora anxious, so he cleared his throat. "Riku?"

The silverette shook his head, trying to clear his head enough to actually think properly. Golden eyes and black hair. He'd never have called it, but it suited him. It fit like a well-made glove, bringing out the delicate shape of his eyes and the true insanity of his hair, both colours bouncing off of each other and giving him an eerie, surreal quality that could only be described as _stunning. _He was less the awkward teen he'd always known and more like an avatar of Loki or some other mischievous character; Riku could already see the devious glint and the sly grin that he did so well.

Riku licked lips that had gone painfully dry, trying to form something akin to speech. "You…uh…uhm…look…uh…good?"

The raven-haired teen raised a single, incredulous eyebrow at him. "…Your vocabulary continues to shock and amaze" he drawled, but there was a smirk on his lips, a smirk Riku couldn't take his eyes off of.

The silverette swallowed a dry lump in his throat, trying to clear it with a small cough but failing. The longer he let his gaze wander about the other's face, the more weird thoughts came to occupy it. Like the return of the want to run his fingers through those blue-black locks, and press himself as close as he could so he could capture the full intensity of Sora's scent in his nostrils.

Riku fidgeted and averted his gaze. "Why that colour?" he murmured, able to actually speak now that he wasn't looking at those stunning amber eyes. "You got that magickally done, right?"

"Yeah. I told you I was going to get amber" said Sora, and Riku saw his feet shuffle a bit. "I have my reasons."

Riku exhaled, then drew in a deep breath and returned his gaze to Sora, determined to keep his features straight and devoid of the turmoil of thoughts still playing through his mind. "Yeah, well, you can explain that to Aris, since he's called a meeting and wants you there."

"Oh for fuck's sake" Sora snarled, folding his arms. "It's only been just over a week since I last saw the fucker. What does he want?"

"I dunno" Riku replied, shrugging and rubbing the back of his neck. Honestly he'd been getting steadily more nervous since he'd read the text. This would be his first encounter with the man since he'd been changed, and he wasn't sure how it was going to go. Well, if Leon could hold up such a strong front for so long, maybe he could, too. "He said he wanted to check up on everyone."

"…What?" the raven said slowly, looking confused, his entire demeanour changing. "When did he send this?"

Riku pulled out his phone. "…3am by the looks of it, but I didn't read it until late this morning."

The raven immediately snatched the phone out of Riku's hands, his eyes darting over the screen before he immediately shot Riku a sharp stare.

" 'Hey guys! Meeting Friday night, want to check in with everyone. Riku, could you please bring Soritas with you? Thanks.' Fucking hell, Riku, you do not understand the gravity of this."

"…What?"

"He said please, you fucking idiot! Aristotle Strife doesn't say please or thank you or want to see _me_!" he shouted, looking tempted to throw the phone.

"What, do you think it's someone else texting from his phone?" Riku snapped, yanking the phone from Sora before he broke it. "I just thought he was pissed."

Sora dragged his hands down his face. "Riku. Fucking hell. Fucking hell."

He repeated it a few more times, his eyes flicking back and forth before he drew in a deep breath, letting it go slowly. "Never mind. I just…"

He sighed, turning on his heel. "I'm gonna go get dressed for the meeting or whatever. It's gonna rain pretty soon, so grab a hoodie or something" he said, going to walk up the stairs, pulling out his phone as he did so.

Riku watched him head up, feeling immensely confused. Sora hadn't explained what was going on at all, and now Riku was more curious about the text than why Sora had known not to come inside. Now that Sora had pointed it out, it really was weird. The text most definitely didn't sound like it had come from the gruff, hateful man he knew, but Riku had been too tied up with other things to really think about it.

God damn it. What the heck was going on? He rubbed his head, thinking about it. The recruitment drive started, Sora had started changing his appearance, he got turned into some kind of half-vampire, found out Leon was the dangerous kind of half-vampire, and now Aris was sending texts that made him sound like some kind of cheerful mentor figure dad rather than the ruthless asshole Riku was used to.

Oh, and don't forget the amnesiac vampire who looks like Cloud.

"Oi, Sora!" Riku shouted, running up to the stairs. His raven-haired friend popped his head out of his bedroom, shirt off with one raised eyebrow.

"Yeah?"

Riku swallowed, quickly regrouping his thoughts. "Have you ever heard of someone named Ven, or Ventus?"

"Wha? No, don't think so" he said, shrugging. "Why?"

"I met him the other day, and he looks a hell of a lot like Cloud, but he has a two-decade wide bout of amnesia."

Sora raised his eyebrows, popping back into the room to quickly finished getting changed before coming down the stairs. He was wearing a pair of black skinnies with biker boots, and a rather large black hoodie with red writing down the sides of the arms and a heart-like shape down the front.

"Two decades is a hell of a lot of time to forget" Sora said, before sliding down the rail of the stairs, jumping off with a flourish. "Tried getting him drunk?"

Riku looked immensely confused at this. "Doesn't getting drunk _cause _memory loss?"

The raven-haired teen grinned wickedly. "If the amnesia's magick-induced, enough alcohol will shut down the magick's effects. Any mentality-altering magick has the same weakpoint."

The silverette raised an eyebrow. "How do you know that?" he queried, intrigued. Sora's grin persisted, and he shrugged, looking a bit devious.

"I have my ways" he cooed. "Now, move your fatass and get dressed" he added, backhanding Riku on the ass and waltzing out the front door, laughing loudly at the undignified sound Riku made when the other hit him.

Riku rubbed his (face) cheeks, trying to convince himself they had _not _just turned bright pink and he did _not _feel any sort of arousal from being slapped on the ass like that.

Damn him. Stupid, devious, vain-

Wait a minute.

Riku swallowed thickly, resolving to just quickly get dressed and meet Sora outside. He ran upstairs, pulling on a pair of jeans and a hoodie and giving his hair a comb. He looked presentable enough in the mirror (turns out his reflection was opaque so long as he wasn't hungry, but it'd been nearly completely gone earlier in the day), before he ran down and outside to where his friend was waiting.

"You lied to me last week, didn't you?" Riku asked, and the raven raised his eyebrow.

"About what?"

"When I asked about whether or not you were going to start using Vanitas."

He blinked at him, his amber eyes giving him a bit of an assessing gaze, before he smiled slightly. "You really can read me like an open book. Yeah, I'm probably gonna start phasing over to using Vanitas."

"Why?"

He turned on his heel, looking up at the blackened sky, which was spitting the occasional droplet downward, and he closed his eyes. "You've probably never known this feeling, but sometimes I feel like Sora is someone else's identity and I've run off with it. That intensity…doesn't feel like me. I don't feel like Sora, Riku. When I said I was going to ditch the dark moods choosing Sora as my name only felt right, but now it doesn't, it feels like I'm living an outright lie every time I introduce myself."

He held a hand over his chest, where his heart would be and his pendants rested. "I'm a lot of things, Riku, but I'm not a liar. I'm determined not to lie, and if I feel like 'Sora' is a lie, then I'm not going to pursue that persona any longer. The only time I ever lie is when I feel like it'd hurt you."

He finished off by shooting him a wide grin. "Besides, Vanitas is a _much _cooler name."

Riku exhaled, rubbing his fingers through his hair. "It's going to take me forever to get used to."

"…You've got all the time in the world, right?" he murmured, glancing away, and Riku swallowed. It was true, he did, as terrifying as that was. So long as a hunter didn't manage to catch him and kill him, the moment he drank his Master's blood, he'd be facing eternity.

"Sorry" he murmured, turning his head down so the black bangs covered his eyes for a moment. Riku exhaled, before adopting a wry smile and smacking his friend on the shoulder.

"C'mon, Vani, we'll be late if you don't stop moping like an emo wannabe."

"Oh you are _so _dead."

Riku grinned as he dodged Sora's- no, Vanitas's- attempt to jump him, laughing loudly as he scooted over to his car. If there was one thing Riku knew, it was that he refused to let these moments slip between his fingertips. He'd imprint them to the backs of his eyelids and snapshot them in the back of his mind, so when he was far beyond a human lifespan and beginning to forget what it was like to laugh, he could recall and smile the same way he had now.

* * *

The trip to Aris's was completely uneventful besides the two semi-tussling in the car until Riku nearly hit a cat. They pulled up in front of the ARMS store, where Cloud and Leon were talking.

Riku raised an eyebrow at the two. He hadn't seen them together since he'd been turned, and now he did something seemed strange about the way they stood. Like they were far more familiar with each other than just knowing each other for a week and a bit. To see Leon talking so casually to someone else was a shock in itself, and the blonde didn't strike him as someone who was instantly casual with others. And yet they seemed like two peas in a pod, like they'd be cut from the same kind of cloth and just sewn and dyed in a different way.

The silverette parked the car and they jumped out, walking over to them.

"Yo!" said Sor- wait, Vanitas- giving the two a wide grin. Leon raised an eyebrow, folding his arms.

"Cloud told me you'd changed your eye colour, but I didn't think the change would be this drastic" he said, and the grin just got wider.

"Well, think of it as a brand new me then, name and all. Vanitas is the name of the day, and it's stickin' this time."

Cloud blinked a few times, before his eyes narrowed. "Where's that name from?"

"Second half of my real name" the raven said with a shrug. "Hey, if I've gotten Riku to agree, then everyone else is just gonna have to hitch up their pants and wade through the thick of it. Vanitas is the name, and as ol' Capn Lea likes to say, got it _memorized_?"

He taped his head with his index finger, mimicking the way Lea did so, and Leon snorted a bit.

"Remember when it was 'commit it to memory'?" he asked, and Vanitas (ok, it was getting a bit easier now) grinned widely.

"Pff. He kept that up until we told him it was stupid."

"You and Leon also told him that Axel wasn't a very professional name to have in the police force. I think you were being hypocritical, personally" drawled Riku, and Cloud's brow furrowed.

"…Wait, is Leon not your real name?" Cloud asked, looking at the brunette, and he shook his head.

Vanitas smirked, patting Cloud's shoulder. "Trade secret. Nobody knows Leon's real name. I think it's probably something like Madison, but Riku says it's something like Grass…or Chair."

Leon rolled his eyes, walking toward the ARMS shop and heading inside.

"Holy shit, speak of the devil!" Vanitas shouted, and a fiery-haired male turned to face them, his face splitting into a wide grin.

Lea- or Axel, as he had once been known, Riku seemed to be surrounded by a lot of name-changers- was in his mid-thirties and the head of the town's police department. Said position of authority was a 'cover' for a fairly large group of people who mitigated and monitored supernatural activity to keep people blissfully unaware of how dangerous the night really was. Riku recalled them to be known as the Organization… or something along those lines…

"Man, I haven't seen you guys in forever!" he said, basically bouncing over to them. The man was tall, standing about two inches above Leon and three above Riku (the Strife men were not very tall. Leon was 182cm tall, Riku was 178cm, Cloud stood about 5cm below Riku in height [but looked taller because of that hair] and Vanitas was a measly 167cm…his father and Vanitas shared the same build, so it was doubtful that he was going to get any taller).

"If it isn't our favourite pyromaniac" Leon said flatly, and the red-head adopted a sheepish grin, but his emerald eyes sparkled maniacally at the title. One always did wonder how he managed to get his current position.

"Was just stopping by to check out the new merch" he said, thumbing his nose. "So, I think a few introductions and explanations are in order. I'm Lea, L-E-A. Got it memorized?"

Cloud raised his eyebrows, looking a little taken aback by how abrupt he was. "…Cloud" he said. "I'm…Vanitas's cousin."

Lea blinked, then glanced at the raven. "Vanitas, huh?"

"Eyup. Permanently, this time. Got a new look and everything."

The red-head grinned. "I like it. Creepy and badass, it suits you."

"You know it."

There was the sound of a door opening behind them, and a brown-spiky haired head peered out of the door. Aris's eyes narrowed for a moment, before he shut it again. Lea grinned, rubbing his hair.

"Aris the same as ever?" he asked, and for some reason Vanitas grinned, a knowing look twinkling in his eyes.

"What do you expect?" he replied, shrugging casually, before looking between the group. "If we keep prolonging this he's only going to be get more pissed."

"Hey, don't let me hold you up. I'm looking for some new chakrams so I can throw them at my brother's face" said Lea, shrugging. Cloud raised his eyebrows, looking at him for a few minutes.

"You're not…Reno's brother, are you?" he asked, and Lea blinked a few times, before smirking.

"Familiar with my dear ol' bro, are you?"

Cloud folded his arms, his brow furrowing. "He's a member of the Turks."

Lea smirked again. "Yep, Shinra's recon and dirty business team. Meanwhile I'm an Organization member. Thus the chakrams aimed at the face."

He shrugged again, going back to his browsing, and Riku released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Vanitas tapped him on the shoulder a few times, giving him a reassuring look but saying nothing.

"Let's get this over with, eh?" he said, walking toward the door. For once, Riku was entirely content to follow behind his friend, now feeling the entire weight of his nerves crushing down on his head. He felt a reassuring pat on his shoulder, and turned to see Leon giving him a concerned look.

"I'm alright" Riku said, sounding more confident than he felt, and Leon gave him a nod before they walked inside.

The group assumed their normal positions; Vanitas with his feet up on the table and his hands behind his head, Leon in the corner, Riku on the opposite wall. Cloud took a moment to decide on a seat before picking one up the other end of the table. Aris was already seated, a bottle of amber liquid placed on the table next to several stacks of paper. The shadows under his eyes were darker than Riku remembered, and the silverette couldn't tell whether it was his improved senses or something on Aris's part, but the scent of alcohol was thicker than usual.

"I've made a decision" he said, placing his elbows on the table, threading his fingers together and placing his nose over the top, his blue eyes sweeping the room. "Honestly I don't know why the fuck I've changed my mind, but…"

He shook his head, looking annoyed. "You're calling yourself Vanitas now, right?"

"Mhm" said the raven, tilting his head in acknowledgement.

"I'm lifting the ban on you hunting."

Vanitas literally fell out of his chair, hitting the carpeted floor with a loud 'flump' as Riku's jaw dropped open.

The golden-eyed teenager's head popped up from the edge of the table, looking completely disbelieving. "Why?!" he spluttered.

Aris shrugged, folding his arms. "You're still a nutjob and I don't like it. Couldn't explain why even if I tried."

His friend looked over to Riku, his eyes searching for some kind of explanation, but the silverette looked just as stumped as he was.

"So, you're going to begin training me?" he asked, looking at Aris, and the man shook his head.

"You can learn from the others. I dunno about you but I think that kind of one on one time would result in us ripping each other's heads off, no?"

Vanitas grimaced, folding his arms. "Then I can tag along with Riku or whoever?"

"I'm just lifting the ban, Vanitas. Do whatever you like."

The raven swallowed, still looking confused, but he couldn't seem to find any sense of true malice or trickery in his father's face. They watched each other for a few moments, gold meeting blue with equal intensity, before Vanitas sat back down properly, folding his arms.

"Now" said Aris, closing his eyes. "We've gotten lucky so far. There have only been a few instances of vampires out and about, and it's easy to say these vampires take care of their inductees."

Aris stood, placing his fingertips against the edge of the table. Despite his short frame, he was still rather intimidating. Riku might not really like the man, but he knew Aristotle Strife was a capable hunter with few peers. He wouldn't be in the position he was in otherwise. The silverette swallowed, strangling an instinctive longing to run out the door and get away from Aris.

"Don't take these acts of mercy as anything but mercy to their own kind. They look at humans as nothing but food. That's their purpose and their goal. Vampires are designed and placed on this planet to _kill us. _Some might be able to hold off for however long, but eventually the other shoe drops. Vampires are monsters, and never forget that."

He sat back down, and Riku swallowed again. He kept up his mask of calm, but inside he was squirming uncomfortably. He was a monster now, part of that darkness. Every time he thought about it his mind returned to that moment where he'd stopped struggling and resolved this was the better path. Was it? Was being a monster better than being dead?

"I'm not heading out tonight. Pair up" Aris said shortly.

"I'll go with Sor- I mean, Vanitas" said Cloud, standing up. "If Riku doesn't mind?"

The silverette shook his head. Honestly, he wouldn't have been comfortable hunting with either Cloud or Vanitas tonight. He wasn't feeling exactly content mind-wise, in fact he almost felt like throwing up.

"Alright, let's head out" said Leon, and they shuffled out of the meeting room, heading back outside. The moment they were out, Vanitas put a firm hand on Riku's shoulder.

"Please don't listen to him, Riku. You've told me that a million times" he said, amber eyes full of sympathy. Riku turned away, taking a deep breath and gently brushing his friend's hand away as he turned from that penetrating gaze.

His friend said nothing, but he could see his expression in his mind's eye anyway. The lost look he sometimes had, when he was searching for the right thing to say and failed to find it.

"You two be careful" said Leon sternly, looking at both Cloud and Sor- damn, Vanitas. "Don't take any chances and watch each other's back."

"We will" said Cloud with a nod, and Leon bobbed his head in response. Jeez, it was like they were old military pals.

Riku retrieved his equipment from the SUV, Vanitas doing the same, pulling out the Fenrir blade and carefully strapping it across his back. He kept looking across to the silverette, the searching look still in his eyes, but a dreary silence had settled between them now, one Riku wasn't willing to break.

He did, however, turn around to him just before he was going to leave with Cloud. "Be careful, Ri" he said, his expression unreadable, before he disappeared around the corner with his cousin.

Riku's expression became pained, and Leon put a hand on his shoulder. The silverette sighed, and the pair headed toward the route for their rounds.

The rain had eased up for period, but it resumed shortly after their rounds began. Leon, oddly enough, had come equipped with a strangely bright and out of character orange hoodie, which he pulled up over his face the moment the rain got annoying. Riku did the same thing with his own, shoving his hands into his pockets. Rain or shine (-? They only did rounds at night) they still had to be done, no matter how uncomfortable and wet they got.

"Does it always feel this bad?" Riku murmured finally, his voice muffled a little by the hoodie. Leon glanced over, his expression unreadable for a few minutes.

"The truth hurts" he eventually said, and Riku felt his stomach twist unpleasantly within himself. Sometimes, he really hated how frank Leon tended to be. If he was to give you an opinion, he didn't edit himself; he was upfront to the point of being brash, and it'd taken those who knew him a long time to realize it wasn't him being deliberately hurtful, it was just how he phrased things. He still copped a lot of flak for it, though.

"So every time Aris has one of those speeches-"

"Riku, I knew what I was getting myself into the moment I started training" Leon muttered sharply, adjusting the weapon on his hip. "I've always known what I am. My mother was completely frank with me and taught me what she could."

The brunette grimaced, annoyance flashing across his features for a moment before it dissolved and he became expressionless again.

"Who else knows?"

The turned a corner, Riku patiently waiting for his answer. The brunette's discomfort was almost physically palpable, but Riku had known Leon for a long time. Six or seven years now, in fact, and Riku's curious nature was itching for some answers, cat be damned.

"My friend Aerith" Leon murmured eventually. "Before he died, Zack knew, too, but Aerith's almost always known. I only told Zack after he became a werewolf."

"Zack's…that friend of Cloud's, right?"

Leon made a small 'mhm' sound. "I knew him too."

"Oh" Riku said, blinking a few times. "Did you know Cloud, then?"

The brunette shook his head. "No…somehow, we'd never run into each other before now" he said quietly, but his blue eyes were murky with a strange sort of anxiety. Normally the darkness hid Leon's expressions over night-time, and Leon's preference for darkened alleys and shadowy corners (again, how the hell had they missed that Leon wasn't just a dhampir?) contributed to it, but Riku had noticed that while colours in the light seemed muted, they became clearer in the darkness. He couldn't see amazing distances, and anything cast in pure shadow was just as much a black blob to him as it would be to anyone else, but things like the stormy blues of Leon's eyes and the muddy orange of his jacket stood out against the twilight.

"What's your eyesight like?" Riku queried, and Leon raised his eyebrows.

"…Colours are sharper in the darkness. If I'm in a bright room, I'm almost colour blind. It's a…well, think of how a bull charges at the colour red."

Oh.

Riku went dead silent, and Leon made a noise resembling a chuckle before letting them lapse back into silence. The walked for a while longer, the rain easing up and leaving the air full of the crisp scent of wet grass and muddied top soil.

Clang.

Riku stopped in his tracks, noticing Leon had done the same. His ears were straining for the source of the sound, recognizing it as one unfamiliar even to an urban environment.

Clang, clang, _crash, _**thud, **_clang-_

"That's a sword fight" Riku murmured, and Leon nodded, moving in the direction of the noise. The reverberation of blade against blade sung through the air, making Riku nervous and putting all of his senses on high alert. As far as he could tell, something about the vibrations said that it wasn't Cloud's blade making the noise, which meant unless they'd stumbled across people entirely outside their group, the person fighting was Vanitas.

Riku and Leon eventually skidded around a corner, only to nearly be bowled over by a backward-retreating, spiky-haired blonde. Leon's hand was instantly on the handle of his gunblade until he processed that it wasn't Cloud- just someone who looked very similar.

The figure let out a low growl, readjusting his grip on a blade with a strange handle that he wielded back-handed, before surging forward, completely ignoring the interruption of Riku and Leon to continue his battle with a familiar black-haired teen, who had a sadistic smirk playing across his features as he met each of the blonde's blows with finesse and precision.

"What the hell is going on?" Leon whispered, glancing at Riku, who was just as confused as he was. They continued to duel ferociously for a few more minutes before the blonde was knocked back again, this time landing heavily on his ass. The blues of his eyes were flecked with red and he was panting hard, glaring at the raven standing before him.

"Ventus, isn't it?" he questioned, his eyes gleaming in the darkness. With how vampire eyesight worked, they were even more intimidating in the murky light.

"Who are you?" the blonde hissed.

"I'm asking the questions" Vanitas sneered, pointing the Fenrir blade at the blonde, the edge tauntingly close to Ventus's pale white throat. "After all, you're the one who attacked me first."

"You're making a mockery of his face" Ven retorted, rage twisting his features into a snarl. "You look like him, but I know you aren't, so drop the spikes and get your own life!"

A strange smirk dawned on Vanitas's features, as he knelt down, looking at the blonde. "Are you looking for Sora, Ventus?" he asked, and the blonde stiffened, causing the raven to let out a low chuckle.

"I can do fuck all with my hair" he said, standing straight. "The best I could do was dye it and change my eye colour. If that's not good enough for you, I guess you'll just have to kill me."

"Ok, ok, I'm putting my foot in this shitpile before it becomes any worse" Riku said sharply, walking over and standing between the two.

"Riku?" Ventus said, standing a bit shakily. "You know this guy?"

"This is Vanitas" the silverette said, indicating to him. "Used to call himself Sora. He got the names from his real one, 'Soritas'."

Vanitas winced, sheathing his blade and folding his arms. "Was using that name necessary?"

"I see" Ventus murmured, glancing downward. "Sorry."

Vanitas's brow furrowed, one eyebrow quirking upward for a moment before he shrugged it off. Riku turned to fully face him, looking extremely infuriated.

"I'd be content with you fighting back, but why'd you have to act like an arrogant twat?" he asked. "He's still a vampire, and with your bloodline any supernatural encounter is precarious at best."

"If that's the case, why am I the one who's still human?" Vanitas sneered coldly, his eyes shooting daggers and Riku knew immediately that he'd fully slipped into a darker mood. He was never that cruel any other time, and the fact the look persisted even after Riku was sure the pain filtered onto his own face only confirmed the theory.

"Oi, Ven, what'd I miss?" came a voice from the darkness, and Terra appeared, causing the blonde to look up for a moment then glance back down, resulting in the brunette looking very confused.

"I'm gonna go find that dumbfuck Cloud" Vanitas said shortly, walking off and disappearing into the blackness before Riku could protest, leaving the silver-haired male feeling dumbstruck and lost for words. His lack of communication with his best friend was cutting the other deeper than Riku had anticipated; he almost felt sorry for Cloud, because if he acting like this now, Vanitas had probably flipped the switch into a dark mood the moment Riku had brushed him off.

"…does someone mind explaining?" Terra asked, and Leon rubbed his eye with the palm of his glove-covered hand.

"Yes, Riku. What's going on?"

Riku exhaled, before gesturing to Ven. "This is Ven, and Terra. I met them on Monday. I asked Vanitas about Ven earlier today, which is why he knew your name…but I have no idea what most of the fight was about."

"I'm sorry, but I don't, either" Ven murmured. "Something about that boy triggered my memories, but I wasn't able to hold onto them."

"So you don't know what he meant when he asked if you were looking for Sora?" Leon asked, folding his arms, and Ven shook his head.

"I just…get the feeling that I knew someone with that name a long time ago."

Riku exhaled, thinking about it. The way Vanitas had put it…it was as though he already knew there was another by the name of Sora, but in all his years of knowing him, whether it be by Soritas, Sora, or Vanitas, had Riku ever gotten the idea that there may have been another origin for the name. Had he really kept it from him for this long, or was it a new development? Riku didn't know, but it was making him anxious.

It'd barely been three days, and yet the gap between himself and his best friend felt like it had widened from a crack to a great chasm.

"So…are you Leon?" Terra asked, looking at him and raising an eyebrow. Leon's eyes instantly snapped to Riku, the intensity of his gaze threatening to singe his eyebrows off. The silverette couldn't help an audible gulp; right now, the clearest thing about that gaze was the flickers of red lurking underneath the blue, and Riku knew without a doubt he'd pissed him off something unbelievable.

"Yeah" Leon said sharply, looking back to Terra. "I guess Riku told you?"

Terra nodded, and Ven looked over to him. "_You_ might not think so, but I think Riku made the right decision. We're pack creatures at heart, even if a majority of us travel by ourselves. Dealing with it alone isn't something anyone should have to go through."

"I've been alone since I was four" Leon retorted, looking annoyed. "And I always will be alone. I don't need your help."

Terra sighed, putting a hand on his hip and giving Leon a bit of a 'yeah, right' look. Apparently, this was the one thing that could set the already very-on-edge brunette into a full on rage, since he stalked up to the other, grabbing him be the scruff of the neck and dragging him down to his level. Although his eyes were still mostly blue, Riku could see even from his current position that the brunette's canines had elongated into a pair of fangs, only emphasising that Leon was pissed enough to not try and reign them back in.

"Marked age" he hissed. "So you're either my age or younger, and probably within a year of your turning, if you're taking care of Riku. Think that makes you an expert? A year of having silver sting at the touch and a year of holy ground making you want to run for the fucking hills?"

"You're _making _your own misery" Terra spat, grabbing the brunette's wrist, but Leon's grip on the cloth of Terra's shirt only tightened, seemingly unfazed by the other's grip. Riku's eyes widened a bit- that was _not _a good sign.

"Do you even know anything about half-breeds, you fucking twit?" Leon snarled. "To most my kind are a fucking _myth. _My kind are the only ones who are born with just about every allergy fully fledged. Have you ever literally thrown up your insides? Vomited up red with chunks of flesh because garlic rips your stomach apart? Felt the sting of silver as a small child who can't tell whether something's stainless steel or silver, because humans don't check for that kind of shit? Did you spend your fucking childhood sleep-deprived and barely conscious because all your body wanted to do during the daylight hours was _sleep_? No. No one does. No one can sympathise, no one can explain, because I am the only one of my kind. Trust me, I've fucking checked every vampire database known. So don't you fucking dare sneer at me when I say I'm alone, because another one of your kind is standing right fucking behind me, and the moment you turn fully you'll be joining a whole bunch of others who you can sit around a campfire and share turning fucking stories with. So get of your fucking high horse or I'll knock you off it!"

Terra glared at him for a few minutes, even after Leon let his shirt go, but said nothing. What could he say? Leon was right, no one they knew could sympathise with that kind of childhood.

"Leon" said a small voice, and the brunette turned to see Ven's hand on his arm, looking determined. "Getting angry with Terra is going to get you nowhere, it's a lesson Terra's trying to learn too. If it helps- and if I'm right about you, I think it might- look at this objectively. Master Eraqus says it a lot; don't take it as an emotional or personal offense that Riku told Terra about you. You know you may- and mostly likely will- become dangerous once your hunger fully manifests. You need to make preparations for the event. If you don't, the outcome may be the worst possible scenario."

"I have a patch of blood roses growing behind my garage" Leon said , turning to face the blonde. "My house has a lockdown system I can only override if I'm comprehensive, and only one person has the key. I'm still taking my medication for the time being, but my body's more or less grown immune to the suppressant's effects. I avoid most human company aside from hunters, who are perfectly capable of taking me down, or magick-users, who are also in the same category. Anything I've missed?"

"Leon, I wouldn't have told them if you'd told me that" Riku said, folding his arms. "When I asked, you said you didn't know what you were going to do."

"You're not coping so well yourself" he retorted.

Riku shot him a glare, clenching his fist and ignoring the prickle of sharp nails against flesh. It had now become a sore point for the silverette, given he knew how much he'd managed to piss off Vanitas, and any reminder was just twisting the knife deeper.

"Master Eraqus said giving you blood bags was the best option. Blood roses, while sufficient to some, aren't very effective during the beginning stages. Ten litres should be enough, correct?"

"…Fifteen" Leon murmured. "I've been suppressing this for close to five years."

"Fifteen sounds reasonable" said Ven with a nod, but Riku just looked confused. Fifteen litres was a hell of a lot of anything. He hadn't been checking just how much he'd been drinking, but surely it wasn't that much?

"Riku" said Terra, noticing his expression. "The blood bags I give you are 500ml each, so you were drinking a litre a day, which is around about the average vampire diet. Most get it in one go. You'll be getting 1.5 litres a day from tomorrow onward, though."

"Two a week for a Marked vampire?" Leon questioned, and Terra shrugged.

"Riku was just about ready to tear into something this afternoon, so I'm bringing him more. Anyway- fifteen litres of blood is the equivalent of three adult humans."

"Three is the average kill rate of the newly turned" Leon added. "For newborns, the average diet is about 1.7 to 2 litres a day, or an adult human every three days, for the first three or so weeks."

Riku fidgeted uncomfortably, and Leon sighed, looking at the other two vampires.

"We need to finish up our rounds" he said firmly, and Terra nodded.

"Master or Ven will be in contact with you soon, most likely. Be careful."

Leon nodded, and the two seemed to melt into the night. The brunette walked back over to Riku and folded his arms.

"You'd better get used to these kinds of discussions, Riku. In ideal circumstances, a newborn would be hunting down a human every day. Vampires have just had to adapt to modern attitudes or risk heavier slaughtering."

"I didn't realize how much blood vampires consume, that's all" Riku murmured.

Leon exhaled, closing his eyes and massaging the bandage on his face. "Get used to it. You've got a big appetite, even if Terra's reluctant to tell you so."

Riku swallowed. A vampire with a big appetite, no matter what the circumstances were, was never a good thing, and the silverette knew it.

The rest of the rounds were quiet, and Riku slept soundly that night, somehow. The next morning he woke a bit late, and got dressed hesitantly; today was the first day back to school for him. Honestly, he wasn't entirely prepared, but if worse came to worse he could just run like a motherfucker back home and lock himself in. Thank god the house was close.

He wore clothing that covered a majority of his skin, despite informed nags that he didn't really have to; instinct was playing with his mind, and the idea of being outside, in the sun, for close to or more than six hours was making him very very fidgety.

Maybe he should just stay home again.

He pushed the thought out of his head and went downstairs, his stomach churning for several reasons. He found that Terra had come and left early this morning, since his 'breakfast' and 'lunch' were already in the fridge, accompanied by a bag of blood roses. Riku sighed, pulling out some Wheat-O's and a bag of blood, serving himself breakfast. He drank his blood bag first before starting on breakfast, hearing footsteps from outside the kitchen.

His best friend peered inward at him, his gold eyes narrowing for a few seconds before he walked in, not even uttering a good morning. The silverette exhaled again, figuring Vanitas was still livid about the night before and would be horrible to deal with all day.

Vanitas drank his coffee and ate his breakfast away from him, before leaving the house alone. And with that, Riku knew he'd screwed up royally. They needed to talk, soon, or he'd better start anticipate being punched in the face at some stage.

He cleaned up and followed suit, heading to school in dead silence. The path still had a lingering tinge of cigarette smoke, and Riku figured his friend had probably been smoking the entire walk.

Riku finally got to school and almost immediately turned right on his heel and walked back out. He'd kind of forgotten that he really wasn't surrounded by the most human-smelling people in the world; Leon wasn't in that category, and most hunters tended to have a particular scent about them; the Strifes, in particular. So walking into school was a complete shock to Riku's system, which immediately went haywire like a child that had just walked into a lolly shop.

Literally.

Riku grimaced and bit his knuckle delicately, knowing if he bit down too hard he'd draw blood. He'd managed to curb it back enough that he didn't immediately leap into vampire-mode, but his teeth were sharper than usual, he knew that much. Too much at once, most likely. Maybe he should've started off with walks, or something-

"Oh hey, Riku" said a voice, and the silverette turned to see Kairi. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Hm?"

"Did something happen with Sora? He seems really pissed" she said, looking a bit worried. Riku shrugged, keeping his mouth firmly shut lest she notice his teeth. This was proving to be more of an effort than it was worth- thank god this was his last year of high school.

"Oh, well" said Kairi awkwardly, scratching her foot against the ground. "I…do you remember when we were kids?"

Riku's brow furrowed at this. "Are you talking about when we were friends?" he asked, finally getting a handle on the bloodlust, which in turn let go of his teeth.

She nodded. "Well…I've been thinking about who I want to know once school's over, and no matter how I put it, you two seem like the only decent people I can think of."

Riku let out a low laugh, putting his hands in his pockets. "We're not really all that great, Kairi" he murmured, shaking his head and refusing to meet her eyes.

"Doesn't that say a ton about the rest of them? Besides, without Aqua around to make things better, Namine's just…painful."

"…Where's Aqua?" Riku asked, his stomach doing a little flip. Kairi shrugged.

"I think she got the flu. Must be going around…didn't you get it this weekend?"

"Yeah" said Riku, but he was feeling a bit anxious for a reason he couldn't place. His thoughts were interrupted by the school bell, which rang out loudly and jarred him, making his head spin and blue streams flash before his eyes.

"You ok?" Kairi asked, and the silverette nodded, massaging his head, which was now throbbing horribly. The petite red-head attempted to tail him to class, but before he could reach his locker Riku found himself being dragged through a gap in a school building toward the back of the place.

He saw a flash of black and gold and immediately knew who it was. "What are you doing, Vanitas?" he asked, but the other ignored him, not lessening his grip until he had him behind the school. He then tripped Riku up, sending him sprawling to the ground, and the shorter boy put a belted-black boot firmly on Riku's chest, but not hard enough to cause a proper reaction. Still, Riku's instincts were fidgeting incessantly, not liking the precarious position.

"We are going to talk" he said, staring at him sharply. "Fuck Leon's whole take-it-slow B.S, I'm done. You nearly lost control the moment you walked into school, Ri, why the fuck are you here?"

"How the hell-" Riku started, but his friend applied a little more pressure to the boot and a warning hiss escaped Riku's throat, his eyes flaring bright red for a few seconds.

"We can talk about _me _after" he said.

"Fucking hell, I'm going to hurt you in a second if you don't move your fucking boot off me" Riku snarled. "Cystathaeom, fucktard."

"Yeah, I know" said Vanitas, sneering at Riku's attitude. "I'm in the mood for causing a bit of pain and getting myself into trouble, so what?"

"You're a fucking idiot."

"I know that, too."

Riku growled, but Vanitas looked completely unfazed, his eyes almost full of a challenge. For a brief, almost rather terrifying moment, Riku could see this as a completely _different _scenario, and he quickly reminded himself this was very dangerous as to stop the warmth in his head flowing too far south.

"K, let's start. Sunday night. What happened?"

"They knocked me out" said Riku, meeting his friend's golden eyes with a steady gaze of his own, determined not to back down.

"And took you to their hideout, or whatever?" Vanitas asked, raising a single brown eyebrow.

"Yes."

"And then?"

"I tried to fight back, but Terra said that he wouldn't kill me, just disable me, and I didn't want that."

"Mhm. It'd make you more violent" he said, nodding silently. "So?"

"I resolved that I was better off being in control than being rabid."

Vanitas blinked a few times, cocking his head. "So you were fine with the idea of becoming a monster?"

Riku gritted his teeth. "No. I'm still not. But I-"

_Would rather be able to come home to you than put you through that pain._

The silverette swallowed, and somehow his friend seemed to realize, not asking for a continuation of the sentence. "And then they turned you and you passed out?"

"Yeah."

"Did they give you any orders?"

"Yes. I can't say where their hideout is."

Vanitas blinked at him again. "Did Ventus say anything?"

"Only reacted a little oddly when I said the name 'Sora'."

He rubbed his chin, suddenly lifting his boot off of the silverette's chest. "That must've been how he knew I was using the name Sora" he murmured, as Riku gently sat up, before feeling a sudden rush of anger. What the fuck was that? He didn't have to fucking trip him over and threaten his life, for fuck's sake!

Riku let out a low growl and grabbed the raven by the waist, tackling him to the floor and pinning his hands above his head, straddling his waist to make sure the flighty little shit didn't run off. "What the fuck's the big idea, _Soritas_?" he hissed, and his friend dead-panned at him.

"I figured we'd better just get it over with" he said, shrugging his shoulders, and Riku's eyes narrowed.

"Oh yeah? Ok, so time for your 'you' questions. You know when I'm hungry."

"Yes."

"…That's it?"

Vanitas suddenly smirked widely, looking very much like some kind of demon with the way his eyes seemed to glow with Riku's eyesight. "I know how curious you get. It's funny to watch you get all flustered."

Riku growled, clutching Vanitas's wrists a bit tighter and moving a bit closer to his face, just to make sure his friend could see his eyes were most definitely not their usual aquamarine at current. "You are playing with fire, Vanitas. Just tell me, or-"

"Or _what_?"

Riku froze. Or what? What could he do? Right now, the person underneath him had all the emotional powerplay in their relationship, Riku was only physically superior, and the silverette couldn't bear hurting him, so like that was of any merit. Fuck. The raven seemed to know it, too, and was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"Here's the deal. I tell you about this, if you don't ask about the situation with Ventus" he said, and Riku swallowed. He wanted to know about both things. The 'Sora' thing seemed a lot more urgent, too, and it was worrying the hell out of Riku.

"Do I find out about the Ven thing if I don't know about this?"

"Nope. That one thing or nothing at all. Take it or leave it, Riku."

Riku grimaced, before letting out a long sigh. "Fine. I won't ask."

"Good boy. I've been able to feel your emotions and hunger ever since I fainted on Monday. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that was probably the moment you were turned, too."

Riku stared at him with an open mouth, not quite sure how to process this. "Wait…all my emotions?"

"Just the strong stuff."

"And…so that's why you were outside yesterday?"

"You would've ripped my face off otherwise" he said flatly, and Riku swallowed, still feeling a bit confused and very exposed.

Vanitas sighed. "Ri, are you going to get off? Your dick's kinda rubbing up against my crotch."

Riku's face went bright red and he quickly tumbled off of the other boy, straightening and adjusting his clothes as Vanitas stood.

"Sorry" he muttered, trying to compose himself and get the blood out of his cheeks.

"S'ok" said Vanitas, patting him on the back. "It's not like you meant to or anything."

Riku saw the evil, devious glint in his eyes, but he didn't get a chance to react, since the other boy suddenly planted a delicate kiss on Riku's cheek, murmuring "You're so damn adorable, Ri" and taking a split second to enjoy Riku's utterly red, confused and shocked face before running off, cackling loudly.

He stood there with his mouth agape for about five minutes before remembering that he should probably punch his friend in the face for that and dashing after him.


	8. I Want to Be Your Canary

**Chapter Eight: I Want to be Your Canary**

It seemed to be the week of bad moods, since normally even-tempered Cloud was feeling just about ready to rip some holes in the plasterboard on Thursday morning. He'd woken up with a migraine, not of the normal severity since he was taking his meds regularly again, but just enough to leave him with no patience and no tolerance. Which was unfortunate, because today was the day delivery recipients wanted to try and test their luck with the irritable blonde. He'd ended up a hair's breadth from punching at least three different loud-mouthed, over privilege twats in the face over how they'd used him as their 'punching bag' over late or previous deliveries that were damaged. Even-tempered Cloud would eventually cringe at the thought, but Cloud's mood was so entirely sour that every person he talked to was infuriating.

The night's hunt was no better since dimwit Aris stayed home again, leaving Cloud to pick between the lesser of three evils. Leon, who seemed to be in a bad mood since Wednesday night and had completely shut down any attempts of conversation since, Riku, who looked fidgety and uncomfortable, and Sora, or Vanitas as he was now going by, who looked like he was about ready to pull some Schrodinger's cat tricks, especially with how damn evil those eyes looked over night time. Sadists.

In the end he'd ended up going with Riku, and appreciated the stifling silence, because if the silverette had talked he probably would've just told him to shut his face. Thankfully they'd found a rabid pack of actual monsters (they were rare, but they happened)- something called a Newshadow? Neoshadow? Cloud really did not care because his Buster Sword was ripping through them before Riku had even moved, and the exhilaration and adrenaline was just what Cloud had needed.

And then shit got weird.

Ok his life in general was already pretty weird, most people's friendship/contact groups weren't populated by people who a) hunted monsters or b) were monsters or related to monsters.

But this took the proverbial weird cake. Cloud had clunked his way up the stairs, looking through his pockets for his keys. He was slowly flicking through them when he heard the last thing he ever, _ever_ expected to be coming from Aris's house.

_Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?_

"SPONGE-BOB SQUARE-PANTS!"

Cloud stared at the door for a few seconds, not quite believing what he just heard, before swallowing loudly.

He gently opened the door full of trepidation, just as the full intro started up and…the… person… inside started belting the entire thing at the top of his lungs.

"ABSORBENT, POROUS AND YELLOW IS HE~"

Cloud shut the door, walking slowly inside the house. The scent of alcohol hung so thickly in the air Cloud nearly choked, but somehow it was combined with what smelt like grape. Grape? What the-

He heard Spongebob's laugh from the TV in the lounge, a joke, and the sound of rambunctious giggling. Cloud blinked a few times, before deciding he could not live without finding out what the hell was going on.

He walked over to the lounge room, peering inside and feeling his jaw slip slightly open.

A spiky-haired brunette was curled up on the couch, giggling at the tv with a can of grape soda and a curly straw. Cloud would've been entirely convinced in the dim light that it was Sora/Vanitas/whatever, except for one thing.

VANITAS HAD BLACK HAIR.

"U-uncle Aris?"

"Oh, hi Cloud!"

The blonde actually felt his head spin. Was Aris high? Was he asleep? Had someone turned the entire world upside down? WHY WAS ARISTOTLE STRIFE WATCHING SPONGEBOB SQUARE PANTS AND DRINKING GRAPE SODA?!

"Uh…what…are you doing?" Cloud squeezed out, looking rather terrified.

"Watching cartoons, duh" he retorted, rolling his eyes and taking a loud slurp of his soda. "You really are blonde, aren't you?"

AND HE JUST MADE A BLONDE JOKE?

"But- you- what-"

"OH. Yeah. Yeah I'm usually an asshole aren't I?" he asked, rubbing his chin, before giving Cloud a wide grin. "I'm drunk off my face."

"The last time you were drunk off your face you threw dinner plates at me" Cloud jabbed back, and Aris (was this seriously Aris? Was he possessed?!) gave him a sheepish look, rubbing the back of his head.

"Sorry 'bout that. I'm drunk-er. When I get super hyper shitfaced this happens."

"You turn into…someone who drinks soda with curly straws?"

"And watches Spongebob Squarepants, yup" he said, grinning and turning back to the TV. "Don't worry, I'll be back to being an asshole once I sober up."

Cloud raised an eyebrow, before grimacing. "Does…does your son know about this?"

"Why do you think he hates me so much while I'm sober?"

Cloud stared, swallowing. Vanitas hated Aris because he preferred his hyper-drunk version better? What?

"I'm…really confused, sorry."

Aris laughed a bit, before adopting a sad smile. "Alcohol inhibits magick that alters a person mentally."

Cloud rubbed his eye. This was too confusing, and his head hurt. Alcohol…what? "Yeah, still no clue."

"Cloud, there are lots of people who'd be able to explain this to you a bit better" Aris eventually said, tugging on his blanket. "My son, for one, and my brother, too. Me, on the other hand…I am hyper-shitfaced drunk, and trying to enjoy my cartoons."

"So…you're telling me to ask someone else?"

"Pretty much." Sluuuurp.

"…You won't remember this?"

"Nope, not until the next time I'm drunk like this. Which is pretty often of late…"

Cloud shook his head. He needed to sleep, and this encounter had just exhausted him further. He sighed, turning from the lounge.

"Cloud."

He turned back again, glancing at his uncle (who, somehow, he was now comfortable calling such) who had a sad look on his face.

"Good night."

Cloud smiled slightly, also looking downcast. "Goodnight, Uncle Aris."

* * *

Cloud awoke the next morning with a lingering migraine and the sound of Aris crashing and stomping through the house, cursing loudly, and the blonde wondered if last night had been a dream.

No, it couldn't have been, since he kind of remembered his dreams. He remembered his father crying, but at the same time, there were those brief recollections of that name. The name that started with an S that felt so important, but Cloud couldn't remember, like it had been choked off by a thick fog. No face, no name, just a thought, and an ache within his heart.

He exhaled, shaking the thoughts away. Cloud pulled out his phone, ignoring the string of missed phonecall alerts and texts to send one to Vanitas, who was still listed as Sora in his phonebook.

_Hey, this might sound a bit weird but uh- I came home to Aris watching Spongebob and drinking grape soda._

He immediately got a text back, to his surprise.

_Congrats, Cloud! You just met my dad!_

Cloud stared at the text for a few minutes, feeling so utterly confused that his head hurt.

_I'm glad someone else has seen it. For a long time, I thought I just dreamed that guy up. But now I know he's real- and I'm gonna get him back. _

Cloud stared at his phone for a little while after this, not sure how to answer, eventually just kind of shrugging it off, texting back with _I hope you succeed. _

With a lengthy sigh, Cloud put his phone away and reached for the glass of water and tablets sitting by his bed, swallowing them in one gulp. Damn these headaches, but at least he wasn't as irritable as yesterday.

Cloud decided it was in his best interests to leave the flat as soon as humanly possible; he quickly pulled on some clean clothes, wincing as he managed to resurrect Sunday-induced aches and pains. Strangely enough, it felt more like muscle strain than anything else, which surprised him a little, but it didn't make said muscle ache any less annoying. He sighed and ignored them, pulling on a light overcoat and dodging thrown objects as he left the house.

Aris with a hangover was not worth the risk.

He flicked through his delivery messages and decided to make a couple before lunch. It kept his mind mostly busy, and by the end of it his stomach was growling impatiently at him for being so negligent.

Cloud's eating habits conflicted heavily with his metabolism, unfortunately. The blonde was very prone to skipping meals, and generally getting too caught up in being busy to remember his stomach. When he did finally remember to eat and had an appetite, he ended up eating _a lot_; he was able to eat like a horse and not gain weight (he was slender by genetics).

It _basically_ meant that the blonde, when in situations such as his current one, dropped weight at an alarming and rather frustrating rate. For a little while after Zack's death, he'd had some close calls with being dangerously underweight, but thankfully most people around him noticed and would start forcing him to sit down and eat more.

There was no one to do that at the moment, and as he drove toward the shopping centre, he felt his stomach churn uncomfortably at the idea of stepping on a set of scales.

He pulled up outside the shopping mall, silently promising himself he would not skip meals again (lies) and remember to eat decently (ha).

He walked inside, scanning the shopping centre for a few minutes before deciding on the soup shop he'd seen only in passing the last time he was here with his cousin. He ordered the tomato and herb soup with a few slices of bread, hesitating for a moment before asking whether the soup had garlic.

"Y'know, a regular asks that question every time he orders from here...the answer's always no" the girl commented, and Cloud raised his eyebrows.

"Brunette, looks like he has a stick up his butt?"

"That's the one!" she exclaimed, giggling a bit and flashy Cloud a flirty smile. He gave her a far less enthusiastic one (not interested). She was blonde, a shade darker than his own, and based on superficiality Cloud never liked anybody with light hair. Oh, he was sure she had a _great personality_, but she was also _totally_ considering Cloud's _personality_ as she flirted and giggled at him. Yeah. Had nothing to do with his looks.

Snort. Reminder as to why he kept to himself.

"Hey, is he ok, actually?" she suddenly asked, and Cloud gave her a mildly confused look.

"Did he say something?"

"He came in yesterday with a bandage on his face and he looked really pale..."

Cloud grimaced, bristling at the thought of that scar. He was still rather annoyed at Riku about it. And Leon had been looking paler over the last few days, but Cloud suspected he was having sleeping difficulties, at least judging by the dark shadows under his eyes.

"He has insomnia" Cloud said with a shrug, taking the tray with his food. "And he got injured at work on Wednesday."

"Oh, I see" she said, and Cloud walked off before she could work up the nerve to ask for his number.

He sat down at a table, beginning to stir his soup around, picking up a piece of bread taking a bite.

"She was totally interested, yo" commented a voice from behind a nearby row of plants, and Cloud let out a long, irritated sigh, not lifting his head from his food.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, Reno?" he asked, taking another bite of his bread.

The red head emerged from his 'hiding spot', flanked by Rude, who as per usual was wearing sunglasses despite the weather being dismal and him being indoors.

"Just wanted to say hi. Can't I do that?"

"Still working for Shinra?"

"Maybe."

"Then no. No you can't" said Cloud, eating a spoonful of soup. Reno chuckled, sticking his thumbs in his pockets.

"C'mon, Cloud. Being like this is going to get you nowhere fast...and we have a proposition for you."

Cloud looked up and gave him a deadpan stare. "Not interested" he said flatly.

"Not even a little bit?"

Cloud ignored him and went back to his food, exhaling. "What's Shinra doing in town? Don't you usually wait until shit really hits the fan?"

"We're not here about the vamps."

Cloud froze, looking back over to him slowly. "Why else would you be here?"

Reno snickered. "Interested now, huh?"

"Why are you here?" Cloud said shortly, looking impatient.

Reno smirked, looking victorious. "Shinra's loose ends."

The blonde's lips pursed in annoyance, and he knew the red head was enjoying this. He had to trip him up somehow...and he had just the thing.

"I hope you realize this kind of attitude is why your brother wants to throw chakrams at your face."

Reno instantly looked like he swallowed a lemon. "You met my brother?"

"Maybe. Tell me about the loose end and I'll tell you about your brother."

Rude's lip twitched up slightly, while Reno's ego had deflated considerably.

"Urgh... You're the worst, yo."

"I'm waiting" Cloud said, taking a bite of his second piece of bread.

"Sephiroth's in town."

The swallow that followed this declaration felt more like he's ingested a lump of glass rather than bread, his heart fluttering painfully in his chest. Sephiroth...

"Are you sure?" Cloud asked quietly. "This isn't his kind of town."

"We know. But we've had at least three sightings of a black-clad man with long silver hair."

"I know someone else with long silver hair, it could just as easily-"

"With an impossibly long sword."

Cloud exhaled, drumming his fingers on the table in a futile bid to rid himself of the anxious energy now coursing through his veins. Wherever Sephiroth went, he left a trail of chaos and destruction in his wake. With both him and Shinra in town...

Cloud swallowed, holding his breath for a second before letting it out heavily. "What does Shinra intend to do about it?"

"I dunno" said Reno. "We're just on patrol."

Ah. Top secret information. Cloud had just struck the imaginary Shinra firewall.

"Soo...you met Lea?" Reno said finally, switching his weight from one foot to the other. Elena (another one of their group) had once blabbed about Reno's strained, one-sided relationship with his brother (Lea had never forgiven him for joining Shinra) so Cloud had known that mentioning him would get under Reno's usually carefree persona.

"Mhm. Was buying a new set of chakrams to throw at your face."

Reno paled considerably. "Wait, you were being serious?"

"What, was he being serious about it?"

Reno rubbed the back of his head. "Not...necessarily. The threat's the real deal though, he's just...never that obvious."

The red head suddenly looked terrified. "He might've already set my car on fire! Dammit!"

The red head bolted, Rude just dodging his partner's flailing arms.

"I think I'm beginning to like this Lea person" said Cloud, raising an eyebrow.

Rude tilted his head downward slightly, before following his partner out.

When Cloud finally exited the building, he found the now despondent Reno sobbing at his car, which now had four flat tires.

And a leaking gas tank.

Cloud had probably never made more of an effort to get as far away from a situation as he did then.

The blonde had fully intended to get back to his deliveries, but the first text to open on the phone was one from Aerith.

_Call me._

An eyebrow raised, looking a bit befuddled. Aerith rarely sent texts along those lines. It was usually 'stay safe' or something like that, or perhaps a scolding. But this was a little too short and a little too simple to ignore.

Cloud sighed, shifting a bit on the seat of the Void Gear as he hit Aerith's quick dial number.

"I knew you'd call."

Cloud grimaced and immediately considered hanging up, as Aerith laughed a bit at his silence.

"Sorry. Tifa said you wouldn't. Anyway, could you leave tonight free? I know your rounds are important...but I have some people willing to fill in."

"Are you serious? Aer-"

"I know this is a bit sudden, but I know you'll enjoy this."

"Are you plotting something?" Cloud asked, and she laughed.

"Plotting something? Like what?"

Cloud hesitated. He had a feeling this would, in some way, involve Leon, but he didn't want to suggest that was her plot in case it _wasn't_ and he gave her ideas.

"I don't know. You-things."

She giggled, a little bit evilly. "I'm not plotting anything. Just come over around five."

Cloud's eyebrow twitched a few times, before he let out a hefty, resigned sigh.

"See you later, Cloud" she said, and he could almost see her little 'huehuehue' smile as she hung up. Sometimes, he really, really disliked how damn nosy she was, but at the same time a part of him enjoyed the effort to pry, at least from her. She did it in an…amusing way. Everyone else was just extremely frustrating. Aerith didn't _nag. _Aerith didn't _whine. _She didn't really force entry, she more…floated her way in, slipping through reclusion and barriers like they'd never existed in the first place. And she respected those barriers, even once they were no longer of concern to her.

Well, mostly. At the very least, Cloud understood why Aerith was the only one who held Leon's every secret. Well, major secret. Somehow, he couldn't see Leon sitting down with her and discussing his favourite colour.

Then again, she probably knew from knowing him so long. What would it be, anyway? Black? No, way too cliché. He may wear it a lot, but he probably disliked the whole black/vampire correlation. White? Nah, too fake. Leon was a person of critical thinking and logic, and white represented purity that, to minds like his, didn't exist. Red?

…Probably not. If anything, Leon probably loathed the colour red.

Somehow through his entire afternoon, he managed to find himself thinking about Leon in some form or another. Not about their Sunday fiasco or about his dhampir status or his facial scar, but about him in general. The small things he probably shouldn't have been thinking about, along with the other curiosities about the man. Like, what did he do for money? Or during the day? What did he do to relax? He could see Leon reading, probably.

He'd smiled slightly while passing over a package at some point as he fathomed that perhaps the brunette liked romance novels. With how he had kept interest during Rinoa's tirade, Cloud could almost see it. That, or mysteries.

It wasn't until about 4:30 and Cloud was creeping back into the flat for a quick shower to get the foul moods of others off him that he realized that he probably should've curb stomped the thoughts far earlier. But it was too late now; he'd already formed ideas that Leon liked cheesy mystery novels and had a secret adoration for Scooby-Doo.

In fact, he was almost _convinced_ Leon loved Scooby-Doo. Call it a gut instinct.

Inside the flat, evidence of Aris's earlier tirade was clear, but the man himself wasn't in the kitchen. A glance in the lounge revealed him to be curled up under the same blanket as the night before, snoring quietly and looking the most peaceful Cloud had ever seen him. Like this, he could believe the person he met last night wasn't just his imagination.

He exhaled, before heading into his room, pulling out a change of clothes and heading into the shower.

Cloud liked the rain. But since stripping and running around naked in the rain had become not-so-funny after he'd reached a certain age, the closest thing was a shower. He enjoyed the sensation of water rolling down his bare skin. It was...liberating, in a way. Clothes-less, the only elements being the soft slipperiness of his own flesh and the pit-pat of water droplets. It was a contained, singular experience, one Cloud relished.

However, Aris's hot water didn't last long, so the moment was fleeting at best. Cloud rushed through his wash, lathering up the apple-scented shampoo & conditioner combo and rinsing it out of his stubbornly spiky locks, before washing himself thoroughly. He was reminded of his recent meal-skipping by his own ribs, resolving to get a decent dinner before heading over to Aerith's.

He enjoyed the remaining hot water, shutting off the taps once the once piping-hot stream became lukewarm. He got dressed quickly, giving his blonde locks a dry with the towel and a quick comb through with his fingers before stepping out of the bathroom.

Aris appeared to still be asleep, since the house was quiet and still, nearly peaceful. Cloud did a mental head-check of his belongings- wallet, keys, and phone- before slipping out the door, locking it behind him and trotting down the steps to the borrowed bike.

It'd still be a few weeks before his parts arrived, and the fact he was still borrowing Sora's- well, Vanitas's- bike frustrated him a bit. The thrill of riding a Fenrir never wore off, but he was constantly plagued by the fact it was most definitely not his own Fenrir, and though the teen never said anything, he was sure he was missing the presence of his bike just as much as Cloud was missing being able to ride the Daytona.

He pulled out his phone, sending Aerith a text with 'I'll be there soon', before getting on the bike and putting on his goggles, following the street signs to Aerith's place.

The sight of her garden never failed to ease his mind; for a moment he managed to forget that there was a strong chance Aerith had a plot of some kind, just letting the scent of the floating petals fill his nostrils.

He sighed, stepping off the bike and walking up the familiar path, barely knocking before the girl threw open the door, beaming widely. She was dressed in a long button-up pink dress and a denim scarlet jacket with short sleeves that only came to mid-waist. Her feet were clad in a pair of comfortable-looking brown boots, and the fact she'd decided on wearing jewellery was a bit of a change.

"Hey" said Cloud, giving her a small smile as she let him inside. "How are you, Aerith?"

She grinned at him, spinning on her feet as she shut the door. "I am doing excellently. And how are you? You look a bit pale."

"Oh...I...I've had a weird couple of days" he admitted, rubbing his head. No lie there; between Riku getting Marked, injuring Leon, Sora's decision to start using the name Vanitas, his own bad moods, and meeting _that_ version of Aris, weird was an understatement. He needed to come up with a new word for the extreme versions of weird.

She snickered behind her hand a bit, before giving him an assessing look that seemed to burn right through his clothing. Cloud contained a flinch and suppressed the urge to cover himself from that look, and he knew from her now pursed lips he was about to get into trouble.

"Have you been eating regularly?" he asked, and Cloud's expression immediately became anxious.

"Uh-"

"Christ, you're worse than Leon" she muttered, rolling her eyes. "I have some left overs from dinner in the fridge, if you'd like some."

"So long as it's not Tifa and Vincent's dinner" Cloud muttered dully, and she rolled her eyes again, beckoning the blonde to follow her. She sat him down at the table, giving him a look that said "Eat or I'll make you eat."

The blonde exhaled, rubbing his hair. He didn't really have an appetite again, but at the rate he was going he'd have to just shove something down.

The green-eyed brunette rifled around her kitchen for a bit, before letting out a long sigh.

"Never mind, I'll make you something."

"Huh?" Cloud asked, looking over the back of the chair, and Aerith gave him a sympathetic look.

"I told Tifa and Vinny from the outset that I'd still be cooking with garlic. They don't need to eat human meals, so it's not really a problem...it only becomes one if I have to feed you or Leon."

Cloud grimaced a bit, before exhaling. "Sorry."

"It's fine."

It wasn't, really, but she insisted on making something while Cloud sat awkwardly at the table, drumming his fingers anxiously against the wood. Every time someone would put himself and Leon into the same sentence like that, the blonde felt anxiety twist in his stomach a bit, thinking back to Sora's questions on Wednesday.

But it wouldn't make any _sense_, damn it. His Dad was human and a hunter, for crying out loud. Tifa and Vincent still kept some of their hunting roots, but he'd seen his Dad in the sun enough times to dismiss the idea. There were only two known suppression bands in existence, too, and Aerith possessed both. So there wasn't any real way his father could be a vampire, and thus no way for Cloud to be a dhampir.

He left it at that and dismissed the train of thought, determined not to let this continue to seethe in his mind. Garlic gave him stomach aches, and that was that. It was the same as being lactose intolerant, or something like along those lines.

Aerith came over with a chicken salad with croutons she'd obviously had lying around. It was a bit bigger meal than Cloud was keen on eating, but the look on her face clearly said he was not to leave a single scrap on his plate.

He sighed, and began eating. It tasted nice and all, but he really was not in the mood. She gave him a small smile at this before standing back up, walking into the hallway.

"What are we doing, anyway?" Cloud asked, raising his eyebrows at her, and she turned and smiled again, but a devious gleam lingered in her eyes.

"Well, I suppose it's ok to tell you now. Me, you, and Yuffie are going to Gold Saucer for the night. Before you ask- I'm paying for your ticket."

Cloud let his mouth hang open for a second before realizing he had a mouth full of salad and swallowing. "Aerith, the tickets to Gold Saucer aren't exactly cheap-"

"I know, but I figured it was the easiest way. I bought a group-of-three ticket, and I don't have anyone else I can take..."

Cloud blinked a few times, before realizing what she was up to. She knew there was no way Cloud wouldn't go if she'd paid for his ticket like this. Not that Cloud was completely against going, but this was the perfect way to cinch it.

Wily. That was the perfect term to describe one Aerith Gainsborough.

"Guess I have no choice, then" Cloud murmured, before shoving in another painful mouthful. Eating with no appetite was something Cloud a) hated, b) found extremely exhausting and c) was very used to. He'd been to his local GP a few times, but he'd decided against putting Cloud on any appetite-increasing drugs and told the blonde it wasn't severe enough that he couldn't work through it.

Sometimes the blonde wondered if he actually knew what the hell he was talking about.

There was a ring at the doorbell as Cloud nearly finished off his meal, and Yuffie, somehow realizing the front door wasn't locked, bounded in two seconds later.

"Hiya Cloud!"

"I'm not talking to you" he said stiffly, finishing off his salad and standing to wash it off in the sink. He couldn't see her face, but he knew she was pouting.

"C'mon, Cloud, Sunday was just a bit of fun-"

"And the hangover afterward wasn't" Cloud retorted, stacking the bowl. "Don't try it again."

He turned to see her pouting childishly, her arms folded. She really looked like petulant six-year-old being denied some kind of sweet, and Cloud was not in the mood for it. He turned his head, glancing over to Aerith.

"Is it just us going?"

"Barret said he was thinking about it" she murmured, tapping her chin. "But I think it's mostly just us."

Cloud shrugged- he could put up with Yuffie's antics for one night, he supposed. Especially when there was the arcade and round square and chocobo betting-

Ok, Cloud, you're getting ahead of yourself.

As they stepped out of the house, Aerith and Yuffie heading for Aerith's car and Cloud heading for the Void Gear, the blonde inwardly reminded himself of just how dangerous Gold Saucer's betting booths were. Barret had gotten himself into some deep shit not that long ago, but it'd ended up in Cloud's name instead. He'd ended up having to work as a jockey for three months (curse his low weight and not overly impressive height) in order to pay it off. He hadn't really minded the racing thing, but he was determined to make sure no-one attempted to bet on his tab again.

Although, in his own mind, he wouldn't mind putting a couple of hundred on some chocobos…maybe he could get enough for a new bike.

_No! No betting! You'll end up like Barret and smell of chocobos for six months!_

Sigh.

Since the town was mostly home to resorts, hotels and other tourist-type attractions, it was of no real surprise that it also possessed an 'amusement park'. However, Gold Saucer was unique in that most amusement parks were more catered to a younger audience, but it was not. The monolithic, brightly-lit construction was home to a massive variety of attractions, ranging from massive roller-coasters and theatrical productions to an extensive arcade strip. It was best known for the gondola that circled the entirety of the park, giving the people who rode it a full-scale view of the city and the ocean in the distance. This was one of the many reasons people chose to attend at night, especially the adult audience; while children slept under the care of baby-sitters, exhausted parents could spend a single night watching the glistening stars being reflected in the ocean.

Cloud had first come here many years ago, when his mother was still alive. He was a bit older than most kids were when they came to an amusement park for the first time; around eleven or twelve, and he had instantly fallen in love with the place. Not many knew their way around Gold Saucer like Cloud did; some of his best and worst memories had been formed here.

"I never get over how huge this place is" Yuffie said, wide-eyed, as they walked in the entrance. Cloud smiled slightly, as Aerith used her pass-ticket to get them inside. Yuffie stood gwaping at the entrance hall, scanning the directory and trying to decide where to go first.

Cloud put his hands in his pockets, glancing over it himself. The Event Square had a play on tonight- 'I Want to be Your Canary', apparently- but it'd started a little while ago. There also seemed to be Triple Triad tournaments going on near the arcade section...Cloud wasn't particularly skilled at it, but he could hold his own.

The room suddenly went rather quiet, and Cloud looked up from his reading to realize he was, oddly enough, alone. Yuffie and Aerith had apparently vanished.

He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uh...girls?"

No response.

...What the hell?

Cloud pulled out his phone, to see Aerith had texted him.

'Ok, I admit. I had a cunning plan.'

Damn it.

'But you'll have fun anyway. Good luck, Cloud.'

...What? Good luck? Why the hell-

"Oh, for fuck's sake."

And that would be why.

He texted back a hasty 'I am going to kill you' before turning around and facing the owner of the voice, which was who he had suspected- a rather disgruntled looking Leon, wearing a pair of slim-fitting black jeans, a tight white shirt and a black jacket. His bandage was off, revealing a scar that looked a week old rather than a few days.

"Your friends rope you into this, too?" Cloud asked, and Leon folded his arms.

"Soon to be not-friends. I told her no, but Rinoa just has to go and make plots and plans."

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "...Rinoa knows Aerith?"

"No, but Rinoa knows that Selphie knows Yuffie, who knows Aerith, who knows you."

Oh no. His group teaming up with people like Selphie, Quistis and Rinoa? They'd never hear the end of this.

"Maybe we should just leave..." Cloud suggested, but he didn't look entirely convinced. Leon sighed.

"I paid for a ticket to get in here. Gold Saucer's too expensive to waste a ticket on."

Crafty little buggers.

"Then..."

Well, it'd be completely against their friends' 'plan' if they decided to not explore the park together. Besides, Leon probably didn't even want to do the same things Cloud did, and it was a risk in itself...without knowing where the girls were, they could still be plotting things.

Then again, the ordeal was probably just them trying to get the two in the same room, without the option of really 'leaving'. Rinoa and Aerith were smart girls, and hopefully knew how to keep the others in line.

"I'm go see 'I Want to be Your Canary'" Cloud said, glancing at the board again. Leon raised his eyebrows.

"That started a while ago."

"Yeah, but I know it well enough to catch up" Cloud said with a shrug. "What are you gonna do?"

"Might as well tag along. I've never been here before, which is why I came back here the moment the girls ditched me."

He grimaced lightly, which served to emphasise just how tired he looked; his face was drawn and he looked very pale. His eyes, however, were full of an agitated sort of energy, probably because the night was now truly upon them.

"Well, guess you're in luck" Cloud said, heading over to the elevator that lead to the Event Square. "I know this place like the back of my hand."

Leon raised his eyebrows, but said nothing as he stepped on the elevator with Cloud. The blonde closed his eyes, waiting for the elevator's motion to stop and stepping out the moment it had.

"I really didn't think you could get any paler" Leon said, looking at his face, and Cloud rubbed his hair.

"I...don't do well with elevators. Or planes. Or cars. Or trains. Or...most...moving vehicles."

He grimaced, sighing and putting his hand on his hip. "I get motion sickness pretty bad. I'm mostly used to these elevators, but aside from these and motorbikes...most things make me violently sick."

"I shall keep that in mind" Leon drawled. "And stay away from Selphie. She loves trains."

Cloud suppressed a shudder, as the stepped into the Event Square.

The stage was lowered compared to the seats, which were grey slabs of concrete covered with various shades of carpet that could be removed depending on what kind of event was occurring. It was quiet, the only sound coming from the actors on stage and the pit orchestra playing background music. Coloured lights were strung above the seats, allowing the attendees to see through the relative gloom (most lighting was focused on the stage). Cloud and Leon glanced around, finding a seat somewhere around the middle of the slope and heading down as quietly as possible. Even so, most of the audience members seemed a bit annoyed at the late comers, but the blonde paid them no heed. He'd only just gotten here, for pete's sake.

They sat down, glancing over to the stage. A few lines was all it took for Cloud to assess that they were some way through the last act, nearly at the final confrontation with King Leo, Cornelia and Marcus's final moments.

The blonde bought a pack of pretzels from a passing salesman and watched intently, only very occasionally letting his eyes flick toward his companion, who seemed quite content watching the play. He didn't look bored, at least. Cloud slowly munched his way through the pack of pretzels, as the play slowly neared its climax.

Marcus and Cornelia began talking of their escape, and Cloud froze, his mind shutting down completely. Leon nudged him with his elbow, looking a bit concerned.

"You ok?"

Cloud nodded wordlessly, busying himself with analysing the chunks of salt on his pretzel. "Y-yeah. I always forget about that line."

"...Oh...you mean the 'no cloud, no squall shall hinder us', right?"

Cloud's mind shut down again, and he shook the feeling off, rubbing his head. "Yeah...sometimes I forget that 'Cloud' is a word, too. Heh."

No, that wasn't it. That wasn't the reason his mind kept balking at the very line.

It was because that was the name that started with 'S'. That person, whoever they were, all that time ago.

Their name was 'Squall'.

The play finished up, the audience breaking into applause, and Cloud and Leon clapped along with them, before standing to exit before the crowd got too large.

"Where to next?" Cloud asked, feigning a smile, but his stomach was churning. Leon gave him a bit of a worried look, but the other male decided not to comment on it.

"...Isn't one of the areas holding a Triple Triad tournament?" Leon asked, looking thoughtful, and Cloud nodded.

"Yeah, that'd be the Wonder Square. Same place as the arcade."

Cloud couldn't help it, but his blue eyes sparkled at the word. Gold Saucer's arcade, his home away from home.

Leon raised his eyebrows, before shrugging and heading over to the Wonder Square elevator. Cloud joined him, putting his hands in his pockets.

"How'd they convince you to come here anyway?" Cloud asked, wondering how exactly one moody, tired and easily annoyed Leon managed to get dragged to Gold Saucer.

"I play _a lot_ of Triple Triad" he murmured, averting his gaze as they elevator reached their destination.

The Wonder Square was bustling compared to usual; the area was set up with several tables, groups of people playing rapid games of Triple Triad and shuffling through. The tables were sectioned off into level and rank, something Cloud didn't understand in the slightest.

"I might hang back for this one" Cloud said, looking a bit awkward. "I'm not confident enough with my Triple Triad skills for these kinds of tournaments."

Leon shrugged, walking up to the sign in desk. He spoke to the lady for a few minutes, before handing over a sign-up fee and writing down his name.

Cloud peered at the list, wondering if anyone he knew was on it. Not as far as he could see, at least. Leon's name was at the bottom of the list- a jagged scribble of 'Leon Irae'.

What a weird name.

"Mind if I watch you?" Cloud asked, and Leon shrugged as he headed over to the lower ranked tables.

"Late sign-up?" one of the people asked, and the brunette gave him a short nod. He was handed a small pile of cards and sat down at one of the tables.

Triple Triad was played on an electronic board, which assigned colours to each player (red and blue). The cards themselves bore their numbers and their images, but the actual backing of the card was transparent until it was played on a board. Thus Triple Triad sets were a little expensive, but with how quickly you could amass cards if you were good at the game, it rarely got complaints. It was really popular, as far as Cloud knew.

Beside the board was a digital board with a list of rules, the rank, the level, and the players. Leon was sat down at the table in front of a finicky-looking teenager with dishwasher blonde hair, wearing a pair of green camo shorts. The names 'Hayner' and 'Leon' appeared on the rule board, along with 'One', 'Open' and 'Same'.

"Woah, nice scar" said Hayner, staring at Leon's face, who said nothing as Hayner was given the first turn.

Their cards were laid out in front of them for this game, and Leon's next move was decided before Cloud even had a chance to really acknowledge the cards. The game itself was over in less than five minutes, Hayner losing 3-7.

"Aw man" he muttered, as Leon plucked a card from his set and added it to his deck.

"Next game" he murmured. "Cloud, this may take a little while unless I can play some people using the All or Direct rules."

Cloud gave him a confused look.

"Winning rules" Leon muttered. "All means the winner takes all, obviously. Direct means you take whatever cards are in your possession at the end, same with the opponent. Obviously in an 8-2 or 9-1 outcome, direct is the best rule to have, but at the same time direct can be painful in a game with a close call. Until I have five cards of the next level up, I can't move on, and I only have two so far."

Cloud nodded. Leon's eyes said all he needed to know about how the other man felt about this game; there was a passionate fire as he spoke about the rules.

Cloud watched, intrigued, as Leon played his way through several more people, never losing his cool and not losing a single game. He quickly shot up the ranks, reaching the Level 9 players faster than most people could believe. By this point Leon had gathered a little crowd of followers, all completely enamoured by the brunette's playing skill.

"When you said you played a lot of Triple Triad, you weren't joking, were you?"

"No" said Leon, as he sat down in front of his next opponent, and immediately gave him a disgruntled look. The guy was wearing a cowboy hat, the garmented tilted down to conceal his face, but Leon seemed to know him.

"Are you involved with the scheme Rinoa's come up with?" he asked sharply, and the guy looked up.

"...What scheme? I'm actually surprised to see you here. And you bothered with the prelims and everything."

"I felt like playing fair."

"You playing Triple Triad never counts as fair" the guy quipped in response, and though Leon tried to conceal it, there was a hint of a smirk on his lips. Oh yes, the brunette knew fully well he was a good player.

"So who's this?" the other brunette said, looking up at Cloud. He had a long ponytail, longer than Leon's, and was wearing a tan coat with a purple singlet and several large, gaudy necklaces. Cloud concealed his reaction to the garments, figuring the oddity was probably normal around Leon's group, if meeting the others had told him anything.

"This is Cloud" Leon said, waving a hand in the blonde's direction. "Cloud, this is Irvine Kinneas, an old friend. And the reason I ended up in a relationship with Rinoa."

"That was your fault" Irvine jabbed back. "We were just fanning flames."

"Swinging bridge, Irvine. Swinging. Bridge" Leon retorted, glancing at his cards, while Irvine rolled his eyes.

"Swinging bridge?" Cloud asked, as they started the game. The rules were...One, Same, Plus, Combo, Sudden Death. Cloud recalled Sudden Death to mean that in the case of a Draw, both players cards were shuffled and redistributed until one person won.

Leon scanned over his cards, speaking as he decided. "The Swinging Bridge theory is basically that...in a life or death or high-tension scenario, people are more attracted to one another. I.E they tested that if a man was standing on a bridge that was swinging, and a girl was standing at the other end-" he placed a card down before continuing, "-he was more likely to ask for her number than if the bridge was still."

"And as a result, said attraction wears off once the threat's gone" Irvine added, responding with his own card. "And that's Leon's theory on the idea. I personally think he's in the closet nowadays."

Oh, crap. Cloud felt his cheeks colour slightly, and he could see from here that the familiar scarlet had returned to Leon's cheeks. He grumbled, hiding his face mostly behind his cards.

Irvine, however, had noticed this, and was glancing between them with a slack jaw. "What- you- him-what?"

"Nothing" Leon hissed, placing down a card. "Absolutely nothing."

"You are not escaping this, Leon" he said sharply, placing his own card down, before realizing he'd picked the wrong one. "Ah, fuck-"

"Is this where people say 'noob'?" Leon asked, placing down another card and sweeping the board with a combo. Irvine swore, fumbling with his cards in an attempt to get a one-up, but the game was basically over, and in a few more moves Leon had given Irvine a painful 8-2 thrashing.

Leon stood, but Irvine grabbed him before he could escape him and his questioning. "Ok, buddy. You know I promised never to participate in the scheming again, or the attempted double dates, etc etc-"

"Uh huh."

"So you know you can tell me, right?"

"No."

Irvine groaned. "C'mon. It's...actually kind of obvious."

Cloud gave him an annoyed stare. "What's obvious?"

The brunette sighed, playing with his hat. "Y'know what, I won't point it out. Just...are you two actually dating, or what?"

The shorter brunette let out a long, exhausted sigh. "No. Cloud and I are...friends."

Although he managed to hide it, Cloud's heart leapt excitedly at the title of friend. He'd heard a lot about Leon's reclusive nature and difficulty with friendships, and Cloud wasn't exactly good with relationships either, so hearing that Leon considered him a friend made him happy in a way he couldn't describe. Which was...odd, but he didn't mind feeling that way.

"Friends, huh?" Irvine asked. "Alright, fine. But you're gonna tell me someday why you coloured like a tomato the moment I mentioned you being in the closet."

"Hmph" was Leon's only response, as he shook Irvine off. Leon looked around, before exhaling and turning to Cloud.

"I have two games left. You sure you're not bored?" he asked, and Cloud shrugged.

"I kinda like watching you play" he admitted, and a ghost of a smile appeared on Leon's lips, gone as quickly as it came. Irvine glanced between them for a few seconds, before shaking his head slowly and leaving, muttering 'fucking in denial AGAIN', but only loud enough that Cloud heard it as he took an elevator to go somewhere else.

Leon's next two games were rather close, but he one the first comfortably at 7-3. The last he struggled a bit with, right up until the third move, where his opponent stopped, looked at his cards and paled considerably. He continued playing, but his spirit was gone, the game closing at 6-4.

They stood, and Leon's opponent quietly handed over all his cards, the brunette shaking his head once he looked at them, seeming a bit peeved.

"I can't believe I'm meeting you in a situation like this" the person said, their eyes glowing with fervour. "You really don't come to a casual tournament expecting to encounter a world-class player."

Leon rubbed his head, and Cloud gave him a wide-eyed look. Leon noticed, and exhaled.

"Here. This...will explain most of it" he said, passing him a card. Cloud turned it over and was faced with a hand-painted portrait of Leon, his hair shorter than it was currently.

"The top-ranked players in the world have cards" Leon's opponent piped in. "Leon held the number one position for nearly a year, but gave up the title and rank about a year ago."

"Wow" said Cloud, looking at the card. It was a pretty good picture of him, actually, but it made him look sterner and more annoyed than he really was, and his hair was a bit lighter. He went to hand it back, but Leon waved him off.

"Keep it."

Cloud chuckled a little, pocketing it. "You probably have a bunch of them anyway, right?"

Leon shrugged, and the judge for the tournament walked over, handing Leon two cards and a cheque, which Leon thanked him for quietly before bowing himself out, keen to avoid the crowds.

"I'm going to the arcade" Cloud said, indicating upward. Leon nodded, following him upward.

The arcade was a bit busier than downstairs, and Cloud had to place a few coins down at certain machines. He watched someone else play, Leon peering over his shoulder.

"Are you good at arcade games?" Leon asked.

"Are you good at Triple Triad?" Cloud retorted, smirking slyly, and brunette raised his eyebrows.

"I can't tell whether you're serious or just being cocky."

Cloud heard the other player swear, and they jumped off as the machine displayed the high score screen.

Which was a ten-line long list of 'CLO'

"Every machine is like this" the kid snapped, pointing at the screen. "Who the hell is 'CLO', anyway?"

Leon looked at Cloud, blinking a few times, before shaking his head, smiling slightly. "Surely you could've come up with something more original."

"How many people do you meet with C-L-O as the first three letters of their name?"

"Not many" Leon admitted, as Cloud took up the machine's controls. "So you decided to cement yourself in gaming history as that one guy everyone hates because he has impossible high scores?"

Cloud chuckled, as his fingers moved habitually over the controls. "I'm not the guy with a Triple Triad card, Leon."

The brunette rolled his eyes, strolling around the arcade, peering over people's heads to see if the kid was right; which he was. Every single machine had a long line of 'CLO'. Some of them had one or two lower scores with different initials, and Leon actually held back a laugh.

"Cloud" he said, after he'd finished a few games. "There's a couple of machines where the lower scores aren't CLO."

"Mm?" said Cloud, looking intrigued. "What's the name, then?"

"S-O-R."

Cloud laughed outloud at this. "Really?"

"Yep. Doesn't surprise me, he is really good at games. Must run in the family."

Cloud shrugged. "Hey...wanna head to the Battle Square?" he asked.

Leon blinked a few times, before nodding, almost to himself. "Yeah...I haven't been here since I passed the age limit. Is it any good?"

Cloud nodded, as they headed back out of the arcade. He was kind of itching to go to the Chocobo Square, but the longer he held it off, the less money he'd spend there.

Or make there.

He shoved the thought into the back of his mind.

"They actually keep a few monsters for the purpose of Battle Square. People get hurt pretty often, but since you have to sign a waiver that basically says 'it's my own dumb fault if I get hurt fighting things that are trying to hurt me', it's pretty popular."

"Have you participated?" Leon asked, as they stepped onto the elevator.

"Ah...once" Cloud murmured, as the elevator moved.

Cloud felt his stomach begin to tie itself in knots, and a strange feeling of anxiety washed over him. He clenched his fist, inwardly bracing himself.

"I have a bad feeling" he murmured, as the elevator pinged to a stop and the doors slid open.

The first thing Cloud saw was red.

He ran out, looking around the room and swallowing thickly. Corpses were sprawled out across the floor and the benches, blood dripping and splaying across the floor. Most had a look of shock frozen on their faces, eyes still wide-open and staring unseeing into the still room.

There were at least ten or twelve people here, and Cloud couldn't see every inch of the room. And Cloud, with a growing feeling of being washed away and swallowed by a dark tide, could clearly tell what had butchered these people.

One very long, rather thin sword.

"Sephiroth" Cloud whispered, clenching his fist. So Reno had been right, Sephiroth was here. But why? Why do this, here? None of these people fit Sephiroth's usual modus operandi, though it did fit his perchance for showmanism.

Cloud turned, before realizing Leon was nearly on his knees, his face pale as a sheet. The blonde immediately ran over, kneeling down.

"Leon, are you-"

"I-" he whispered, before reaching out his hand to steady himself. Faster than the blonde could process he tugged Cloud close, burying his face in Cloud's shirt.

"...What are you doing?" the blonde whispered, looking extremely confused.

"...I do not know. It's helping" he muttered, before murmuring something quietly, pressing up closer and taking in a deep breath through his nose.

"I need to call Aerith" Cloud murmured, pulling out his phone and putting in her number. She answered quite quickly.

"Aerith, can you get security or something to the Battle Square? Sephiroth..."

"Jesus Christ, Cloud!" the girl shouted, suddenly sounding panicked. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I got here after...Leon's...acting strange, though."

He heard a sharp, anxious intake of breath. "What...what's he doing?" she asked in a near-whisper.

"...He looked like he was about to collapse after walking in here, and-"

Leon grabbed the phone off of Cloud, his face still pressed into Cloud's clothing.

"There's blood everywhere, but Cloud's scent seems to have a calming effect" he said.

Cloud raised his eyebrow, as Leon nodded at the phone, before letting out a long sigh at it.

"Aerith, I-"

There was another bout of speaking from her end, and he repeated the sigh.

"Alright."

He hung up, before shakily pulling himself back from Cloud. He winced, a look of pain flitting across his face.

"Cloud, I'm gonna need you to take me home."

"...What? I can't drive your car, and-"

"This isn't something up for discussion. Please" Leon whispered, his eyes nearly pleading, and Cloud's heart wrenched in his chest, a strange feeling of protectiveness coursing over his limbs.

"Alright" he murmured, gently pulling Leon to his feet and taking his phone back, searching through his phone book as they limped into the elevator, the brunette clutching onto Cloud for support.

"Cloud?"

"Hey, Sor- I mean, Vanitas. Can you get Riku to drive you down to Gold Saucer and grab your bike?"

"Huh!?"

"Sorry, it's hard to explain right now. You're not too far, right? I'm kind of in a rush."

"Yeah, we can be there in five- Cloud, what's going on?"

"I'll explain later."

Cloud hung up, shifting Leon's weight a bit as the brunette pressed his head into the crook of Cloud's neck, taking deep breaths.

"Apples" he murmured, looking a bit delirious, and Cloud shook his head as they reached the Station Square, which was mostly empty. Cloud passed by the girl at the exit, heading toward the exit elevator and waiting impatiently as it headed down. He was anxious to get Leon somewhere safe, somewhere away from Sephiroth and his devastation. Right now, the last thing he needed was a confrontation with that man.

"Where's your car?" Cloud asked, and Leon pointed in the general direction of where Cloud had parked the Void Gear.

"Alright" he said, and they slowly made their way over to the car. Cloud rifled through Leon's pockets, finding the brunette's keys and unlocking the vehicle.

He opened the door as Riku's SUV pulled up behind them, and the window wound down. Cloud threw his keys through the window, and was satisfied with the 'OW' he heard from inside, as they drove off again, clearly getting the memo of 'explain later'.

Cloud opened up the passenger side, and Leon climbed in, shutting the door himself as Cloud went to the front seat, taking in a deep breath.

He had his license, but he hated cars. Even driving them he felt a little unwell. Good thing he had full intention of making this trip as fast as he possibly could.

Cloud stepped inside the car, carefully adjusting his seat and noticing this was a manual. He silently thanked Zack for teaching him how to drive one, and shut the door, starting the car up and reversing out of the car park.

The trip to Leon's was made in silence. Leon had curled up in his chair, resting his head on his knees with his arms over the top, his breath coming in short, staggered gasps.

Cloud's mind was mostly on auto-pilot. He had a million questions, but they were buried somewhere underneath the drive to keep him safe.

_I can't lose him again._

Cloud pulled up at the apartment block, jumping out of the car and tugging Leon out of his seat, who immediately resumed burying his face in Cloud's clothing and general figure.

They limped up the stairs, reaching Leon's apartment with less fuss than the blonde anticipated, and he unlocked the apartment, heading inside and placing Leon on his couch.

"Ok, we're here."

Leon nodded, swallowing. "Ok...you see that alarm, over there?" he murmured, pointing at the door. "Press the red button."

Cloud looked over, seeing the button he was indicating to and walking over, pressing the button. There was a loud beep, and with a fairly loud noise the windows and doors were covered in sheets of metal.

"They're silver" Leon murmured. "And blessed. Vampire or a werewolf touches those, and they're in for a world of pain."

"Ouch" Cloud said, shivering a bit. He was fully aware with how much damage silver could do to a supernatural creature.

Leon let out a long sigh, rubbing his fingers with his forehead. "I probably should've made you get out before activating that, though" he said, looking annoyed with himself. "But, hey, I'm having night of bad decisions, let's add that one to the list."

He began rubbing his eyes with his forefinger and thumb, looking tired and exhausted.

"Are you going to be ok?" Cloud asked, looking concerned, and Leon looked up, giving him a steady stare. He looked better than earlier, at least. He'd been shaking pretty badly during their trip back to his house.

"...Yeah...I think it was a false alarm."

He sighed again, standing up and walking into the kitchen steadily, before leaning against the table bench. "This is what I get for being a fucking idiot."

Cloud raised his eyebrows, before folding his arms, looking a little peeved. "Am I going to get enlightened on what just transpired, or do you plan on keeping me in the dark?"

"Do you want to know, Cloud?" Leon asked quietly. "I know you just asked, but after what you've just seen, do you honestly want to ask me that question?"

Cloud stopped, swallowing a bit before clenching his fist. "Yeah. 'Cause by the way you just put it, you think something like this is going to happen again, and I want to be prepared."

"You want to be prepared?" Leon asked quietly, and the room went silent for a few moments.

"Look around you, Cloud" Leon said, not turning toward him. Although Cloud could tell Leon was trying his best to keep his tone even, the shaking in his voice was apparent. Telling him this was scaring Leon, and Cloud knew fully well that was the case, but he wasn't about to let this go.

"The house is on lock-down."

"Mm. To keep something out?"

Cloud blinked a few times, before letting out a short breath. "To keep something in."

Leon had been reacting to the blood in the Battle Square. That was the only explanation Cloud could think of. He couldn't fathom why his own scent had calmed Leon down, but if he hadn't been there...

But what did that make Leon? He'd seen him out in the sunlight before, even if he did prefer the dark, and he certainly wasn't the same thing Riku was.

His mind recalled his earlier question to Aris, shortly after his first hunt with Leon, and he froze for a moment.

"Half-breed" he murmured, and he saw Leon's shoulders tense up, the brunette letting out a long breath.

"Yeah. Half-breed."

Cloud's felt a sudden, stabbing pain echo through his head, and he sat down, rubbing it and trying to clear his head from the images assaulting it, bringing his conversation with Aris to the fore.

Basically vampires, was what he'd said. Weaker allergies and could stand the sun, but they were basically vampires.

"Isn't twenty a bit late to be going through something like this?" Cloud asked, and Leon actually chuckled at the question.

"You're taking this pretty well" he said, sounding a bit surprised. "Riku's instincts made him freak out so badly that he first tried to run away, and then attacked me."

"Well, I can't say I blame him, but...in a way, it doesn't really...surprise me? I'm not sure how to put it."

Leon shrugged. "It's probably the best reaction I'm going to get. I'm still thinking about how to tell everyone else."

"So only me, Riku and Aerith know?" Cloud asked.

Leon turned, placing one arm on the bench and leaning on it. "Zack knew, too. But yeah...I don't make a habit of telling people I'm actually dangerous."

He sighed, looking a bit disgruntled. "I'm going to have to tell everyone pretty soon, because I think I've got less than a week left before I actually-"

He cut off his sentence, swallowing and shaking his head, still looking annoyed. "But at least this means you'll be prepared if happens and I'm out in the open."

"Yeah. Dunno how much help I'll be" Cloud said, shaking his head.

"Hug me or something" Leon said, stepping back and folding his arms. "I dunno what it is, but your scent instantly calmed me down. Not in a sense that it actually stops the hunger, but it allowed me to think and process the situation rather than being blinded by it."

He sighed lengthily, turning his eyes away from Cloud, who glanced back at the silver shutters on the house.

"You've got...supplies here?" Cloud asked quietly.

"Enough to tide me through the first bout..."

Cloud sighed, looking down at the floor. He'd developed a headache by this point, still not quite over the night's earlier realization.

Squall.

Someone with the name 'Squall' had been important to him, once. But just thinking about those memories was sending sharp stabs of pain ripping through his head, making him feel dizzy and exhausted at the same time.

"Do you mind if I crash on your couch?" Cloud asked, looking over to Leon, who raised his eyebrows.

"You sure?"

"Leon. Seriously. I've slept in the same room as Tifa and Vincent before. I'm the king of close calls. Plus, I don't have a vehicle, it's late, I'm friggin exhausted, and I feel like my head's gonna explode."

"Migraine again?"

"Mhm."

Leon walked over to a set of lights that had been on when Cloud had walked in, and switched them off, plunging the house into near black. Cloud made a small noise of appreciation, the throbbing easing slightly.

"I'll grab you a blanket" said Leon shortly, walking down the hallway and returning with a thick, fluffy blanket. Cloud had been expecting one of those scratchy shit ones people usually gave you when you slept over at their place, so grateful was an understatement.

"Thanks" said Cloud, kicking off his boots.

"I'll sleep on the couch if you want me too" Leon offered, and Cloud raised his eyebrows at him. He wasn't sure if the brunette could see the expression though, so he decided to express it verbally.

"Don't be a dork, Leon. This is your house."

"And you just carted me all the way from Gold Saucer here. It's not like your night has been easy."

No, it hadn't been. Between Leon turning out to be a half-breed and Sephiroth butchering a room full a people, easy was not the word he would use.

Weird and difficult.

He really needed a word for this.

Confusing wasn't appropriate, either. Damn it.

"The couch. Is fine" Cloud said sharply. "I doubt this is making your life any easier than mine is."

"I doubt I'll sleep anyway" Leon muttered.

"Humour me and try" Cloud hissed at him, and the brunette let out a disgruntled sigh as Cloud curled up on the couch, snuggling into the blanket.

Leon went to walk off, before stopping. Cloud made a ridiculous face at him, and Leon leaned down.

"I can see you" he murmured, and Cloud rolled his eyes. The brunette sighed again, straightening and standing there for a few minutes.

"…Hm?"

"…Nothing. Good night, Cloud."

He walked off, letting his gloved fingers brush through the blonde's hair, leaving Cloud alone as he drifted off into a fitful, nightmarish sleep, full of one word.

_Squall._


	9. Erring on the Edge of Reason

**Chapter Nine: Erring on the Edge of Reason**

Riku had a perfectly normal Thursday, thank you very much.

…Ok, maybe not. Perfectly normal in the same sense that The Dursleys were 'perfectly normal', except Riku's black-haired companion was a gigantic nutcase.

…Alright, time to navigate away from Harry Potter allusions, before they started getting ridiculous and offensive.

Class was quiet, mostly. The students were in a sleepy lull of 'it's not quite Friday', cool sunlight streaming through the window, promising that there was only a little left of the year, and soon Riku would be free of these stifling (human-filled) classrooms and the (completely useless) homework and exams. Tifa seemed a bit down, and Vanitas somehow managed to still be the most interesting thing in the room despite the fact he was only chewing on his pen, occasionally removing it to scribble on the front page of his book for a moment before going back to chewing. About three-quarters through the lesson the pen cracked and a blot of black ink blossomed on his face, staining the side of his mouth in an ink-blot, Rorschach-esque patterns beginning to form as the black ran down his chin. He coughed and spluttered, spitting out the little that had gotten in his mouth.

"Aw shit" he muttered, making a disgusted face and trying to rub the ink off with his palm. "Tits McGee, can I be excused?"

Riku slapped his hand to his face, rubbing his eyelids with his thumb and index finger. He could almost feel Tifa bristling with indignation at the name, and Riku felt a surge of irritance pulsing underneath his skin, adding to his already fragile mood.

"You can rinse it off and go to the principal's office. I won't tolerate name calling."

Vanitas rolled his eyes and got up out of his chair, the metal feet screeching against the tiles and making Riku wince. "Yeah, yeah. Hope your lunch is nice and garlic-y."

He marched out of the room before she could say anything, Riku giving her an apologetic shrug. It didn't help and she still looked like she was about to blow a gasket, and Riku resolved to hit Vanitas in some way next time he saw him. Hard, if the crafty little shit didn't sneak out of his grip. Sometimes it was like that kid could teleport.

Thankfully the class was nearly over anyway, and despite the fact the bell made his head ring painfully he was just glad to get the hell out of the classroom.

He found his friend in the principal's office, as expected, and both of them seemed to be waiting for Riku's arrival. Vanitas had his legs folded, an annoyed, stubborn look on his face that only spelt trouble. The silverette couldn't contain a sigh- why couldn't he pick any other week for this kind of behaviour? Why the week he'd been turned into a vampire, dammit?

"Riku" said the principal, looking stern. "Could you please provide me with a number to call? Vanitas refuses to give his guardian's details."

"Is a call to his guardian really necessary?" Riku asked, and the principal sighed.

"Vanitas may be facing suspension at the very least. Such a comment was not necessary."

Riku sighed, rubbing his head. Aris was out of the question, he didn't want him to call Leon, and he didn't think Cloud would appreciate the midday interruption. And honestly, Riku was a little wary of Cloud. Although he hadn't seen much of it, Cloud's temperament seemed a bit…volatile. Not as bad as Vanitas's, but nobody's was as bad as Vanitas's.

"I basically serve as Vanitas's guardian" Riku said shortly, folding his arms and cocking his head to the side. "The person formally listed as his guardian isn't in a position to be taking phone calls at the present time."

The principal gave him a short look. "The only way that could work is if you were his de facto partner-"

"We've been living together for four years, does that count?" Riku said, beginning to look irritated. "The school's been told of Vanitas's abrasiveness repeatedly, sir. Sometimes it gets out of hand, but in no way are his comments ever intended for true harm. If Ms. Lockheart has taken true offense to a comment about her breast size, then I'll make him apologise."

"Make me apologise, huh?" Vanitas asked, cocking his head and smirking. "Mmm, I wanna see this."

"Riku…"

"We're having a bit of difficulty at home, sir, if Vanitas's name change and appearance isn't an indicator. We'll have it under control soon enough."

The principal exhaled. "Alright. Vanitas, detention, and apologise to Ms. Lockheart."

"Only today?"

"Detention until further notice" the principal said, peering over the rim of his glasses. "You may leave."

"Thanks, Principal Cid" said Riku, and the pair left, Vanitas putting his arms behind his head casually while Riku grumped. He was beginning to feel twitchy, and the smell of human wouldn't leave his nostrils, making him even further agitated. His friend peered at him for a few moments, before tutting.

"Canines are out, Ri" he said, and Riku covered his mouth, noticing that, yes, his canines had lengthened. He grumbled from behind his hand, rubbing his hair in annoyance.

"Why are you insisting on being infuriating today, anyway?" Riku asked, and Vanitas just shrugged as they reached their lockers.

Riku wasn't content with the answer, letting out a quiet growl as he unlocked his locker, yanking it open with more force than necessary. The hinges creaked, but thankfully didn't snap, as the silverette rifled through his bag until he found his 'juice box'.

Yes, he'd packed himself a 'snack'. He'd really hoped he would've been able to skip it until lunch, but…

Leon's words from the night before ran through Riku's head and he shuddered, exhaling, before downing the juice box in a few swallows and pulling out his regular food, cramming the container into the back of the locker.

"…Ri, was that-?"

"Yes" the silverette snapped, shutting the locker, and Vanitas flinched at the noise, as though Riku had actually struck him. He didn't say anything, however, pulling out his own food.

"I know a shady spot that's pretty quiet" he offered, and Riku sighed, swallowing. They seemed to keep yo-yoing back and forth between being on good terms and being pissed with each other. Riku hoped it was just a phase they were going through, and not something permanent that'd lead to the breakdown of their relationship. He didn't think he could cope if he didn't have his best friend by his side.

They headed toward the shady spot Vanitas had specified, sitting down on a bench. He pulled out his food, eating quietly, while Riku sat in silence. Honestly, he was desperate to say something, something to break the awkward tension between them. They'd fought a few times in the past, like when Riku had told him Santa wasn't real, but it'd always been over things like that. Trivial things. But right now, this was life changing…and it was, more or less, Riku's fault.

"Did I…make the right choice?" he murmured, and Vanitas looked up at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Not fighting back. Maybe I should've kept struggling…rather than succumbing to the darkness."

Vanitas sighed, looking away from him, a pensive look on his face. "You're using some colourful language."

"I'm a monster of the dark. I wouldn't call it colourful" Riku murmured quietly, looking at his hands. "I keep thinking…that maybe the world would've been better off without another monster. That maybe I should've…"

"Maybe" Vanitas whispered, looking down. "But I'm glad you didn't. I don't know what I'd do without you, Riku."

"Me either, to be honest."

He smiled slightly. "Do you see why I didn't think it'd be a big deal about the paopu fruit?"

Riku shook his head, sighing. "It's still…I would've said yes, if you'd asked."

His friend's eyebrows shot upward, blinking a few times at him. Man, his eyes. That was one change in himself Riku was beginning to like. They glistened so intensely in the shadows, watching him carefully.

"Riku" Vanitas whispered, wringing his hands. "I…"

He exhaled, looking nervous as he rubbed his hand through his spikes, making them look even wilder than usual. He drew in a deep breath, placing a hand over his chest.

"In your heart…do you feel like you made the right decision?" he murmured.

Riku's mind conjured up those thoughts, the image of Vanitas mourning over his grave, and he blew out a breath through his nose.

"Yeah."

"Then you did."

* * *

The rest of Riku's school day passed without any more real incidents, although in some ways Riku was finding it hard to stand too close to Vanitas. He was finding that his heart began fluttering painfully whenever Vanitas stood too close, or he looked into those eyes of his. He couldn't say the feeling was completely unpleasant, but today of all days his friend seemed particularly determined to be a little closer than normal- or perhaps Riku just felt claustrophobic, he couldn't be sure.

Aris was drinking again that night, so they split off into pairs. Leon whisked Vanitas off before Riku had a chance to protest, leaving the silverette feeling anxious.

This feeling gave way to awkward tension the moment he realized he was dealing with a literal storm-Cloud (Riku restrained a snort at the pun in fear of the blonde punching him). He didn't know what had managed to annoy the blonde so much, but he seemed frustrated and tense, ready to snap violently at whatever even considered crossing his path.

Riku had two things on his mind that night. One, that maybe Leon calling Cloud bipolar wasn't entirely off the mark, and two, he'd actually rather be in Leon's company right now. If and when Leon came clean, Riku was going to outright tell the blonde about this incident, since he sure as hell didn't like feeling like he was walking on rusty nails, and Cloud needed to know he was scarier than Leon. They ran into one group of monsters- which, unlike the supernatural kind, were universally considered bad news- and Cloud obliterated them with such ferocity that Riku almost felt like spinning on his heel and power-walking very fast in the other direction. He did not want that blade anywhere near him, thank you very much.

The tension impacted heavily on him, and he slept terribly, his dreams consisting mostly of Vanitas getting ripped apart in some form or another.

Said raven was the one who roused him, although he did so by poking him with a broom and shouting "Riku! Oi! Wake up!"

"Are you...poking me with the broom?" he said, blinking at the ceiling in disbelief. He hoped it was the broom. This would get extremely awkward if it wasn't.

Vanitas cleared his throat. "Claws" he coughed, and Riku sat bolt right up, glancing at his hands as black claws receded back into fingernails. The raven pulled back the broom, standing it beside him.

He swallowed thickly, before placing his head in his hands, running them up and through his sleep-tangled hair.

"Sorry" he whispered, and the raven shook his head.

"Are you alright? You were shouting my name."

Riku let out a long breath. "Just nightmares" he murmured, also shaking his head. "Don't worry about it."

Vanitas continued to look at him with a worried expression, but he eventually sighed reluctantly. He knew, better than anyone, that unless he was forced, it was better to just leave this sort of thing. Eventually, the silverette would come around. It just took patience, and that was where Vanitas fell short, always.

"Alright. There's coffee downstairs."

Riku nodded and he left, shutting the door behind him quietly.

The silverette waited a few more minutes before clambering out of bed and pulling his covers up roughly. He rifled through his cupboard for some clothing, getting fully dressed before heading downstairs.

The smell of coffee hung thickly in the air. The house was bright, indicating it was a 'nice' day outside (his instincts seethed at the idea of that much sunlight) and rendering the house as a mostly black-and-white blur to the unfortunate teen.

"Shit" he muttered, closing his eyes. It was bright enough that the skin of his eyelids was a wall of red, and he wasn't sure if that was preferable. Blind or only able to see the one colour he didn't want to? Well, at least having them shut didn't physically hurt.

He followed his other senses, slowly creeping down the stairs and following his knowledge of the house's layout to make his way to the kitchen.

Finding he hadn't bumped into anything, he was a little more confident walking over to the coffee pot.

"Why are your eyes closed?" Vanitas asked, and Riku could almost feel him peering at him curiously.

"It's too bright in here" he murmured. "Everything's blurry and in black-and-white."

"Ohh. Well, if it helps the world's blurry pretty often to me."

"If you remembered your damn contacts-"

"I'm trying to give you advice, jerk" he hissed in retort. "Anyway, closing your eyes does help. It means your brain focuses on using your other senses to navigate instead."

"Really?" Riku asked, raising his eyebrows, as Vanitas carefully placed a coffee cup into his hands.

"Yeah, it's scientifically proven. Is it the light that makes things bad?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, wait here."

He listened to Vanitas leave, his footsteps echoing up the stairs. Riku sighed, sniffing his coffee, which was made just the way he liked it. He sipped, patiently waiting for his friend. He had a small smile on his face. Sometimes, waking up to the fact your best friend knows how you like your coffee just felt like a great start to the day.

He heard him thump down the stairs in a couple of jumps and burst back into the kitchen.

"Alright, stay still for a moment" he said, and Riku felt something against his eyelids, the red fading into a matte black. He listened to Vanitas shuffle for a second, before the other drew his hands back.

"Ok, done."

Riku opened his eyes only to find the black persisted.

"You've blinded me" Riku said in disbelief.

"It's a blindfold, numbnuts."

Oh.

"Do you think this'll help?"

"Yeah. It's hard at first, but since you've got above-average senses it'll become easy fairly quickly. It's all about being aware of your environment and being willing to accept the loss of a sense."

"This is nuts."

Vanitas patted his shoulder, but didn't remove the blindfold, as he sat down at the table and seemed to continue eating his breakfast.

As a result, Riku's morning routine took a little longer than usual, but not as much as he thought it would. The trip to school was awkward, but Vanitas's lead and confidence (along with being particularly loud) made him easy to follow.

It was a little easier walking into school than it had been the day before. Though the smell of human was still particularly strong, he was a bit more used to it.

Something odd caught his nose and Riku stopped, following it. He recognized it, but surely not?

Well, speaking up was the only way he was going to get to the bottom of this.

"Terra?"

"Why the heck are you wearing a blindfold?"

"I dunno, why are you at my school?" Riku retorted, folding his arms. "And who else is with you?"

There was a scent close to Terra's, probably standing next to him. It was a...clean, sort of smell, making him think of ice water or a stream of some kind. It was also familiar, but...different.

"Aqua" said a familiar voice, and Riku's stomach clenched, a bad feeling he'd forgotten about returning. He'd suspected something was up when Kairi mentioned she was sick, but...

"Is she-?"

"She was...attacked by monsters. If we hadn't she would've died" said Terra quietly.

"They gave me the choice" Aqua murmured. "I agreed, but I then asked to be allowed to complete school."

"I guess that makes sense" Riku muttered, but he didn't like the idea.

"Master said since I didn't complete school either, he'd get me up to speed so I could finish, plus I get to keep an eye on you two...and make sure Vanilla doesn't cause anything."

"Vanitas" he snapped. "Or if that's too difficult for you, log-head, Sora works just fine so long as we aren't around your blonde pal."

"So you're Sora?" Terra asked, sounding confused.

"I'm not the Sora Ventus is looking for" he replied coolly. "Don't get caught up on it."

"I knew him as Sora up until a few days ago" Riku said. "But when changed his eye and hair colour he asked for me to start using Vanitas instead."

Terra made a small 'hm' sound. He heard the shuffle of small footsteps, and assumed Aqua had taken a couple of steps forward.

"I think I've seen you before. You're that masked boy, right? The one with a Void Gear motorbike."

"Yeah, and I go to school here" said Vanitas, sounding a little peeved. "We saw each other earlier in the week, too."

"Oh. I didn't notice then. I'd always wondered who rode that motorbike, but that helmet hides your face."

"If you're going to be screaming through red lights-"

Riku smacked his hand in the general direction of Vanitas's blabbering mouth, and found he'd aimed it right.

"Shut up before you get yourself in trouble" Riku said sternly, before removing his hand.

"That hurt" he whined petulantly, and Riku let out an exhausted, deliberate sigh.

The bell rang, making Riku's head spin and ache and sending blue light flashing before his eyes. Except this time, without the aid of sight, the blue light seemed to form shapes. Indistinct forms created in his mind's eye as the sound vibrated off them.

"Huh" he breathed, thinking about it. Bats weren't known for excellent eyesight, after all; they were known for their ability to detect the environment via sonar.

He refrained from telling Vanitas of this development for fear of him automatically going 'Like in that Daredevil movie?'

Sure. Like in that movie that Riku swore didn't exist. Yeah.

"Guess we'd better head to class" said Vanitas, who left them and headed toward the building.

"He sure moves confidently for someone wearing a blindfold" said Aqua, and Riku's mouth dropped open.

"He's wearing one too?!"

"You didn't know?" Terra asked, and Riku shook his head.

He heard a shuffle of clothing which he assumed was a shrug, and he decided to head in the direction his friend had followed, tracing his scent.

He stopped when his instincts told him to, reaching out to find he'd almost hit the door. He wedged it open and stepped inside.

He was slowly realizing that the blue light was more of a mental map than an actual visual thing, since even with his eyes actually closed he could still see it. The hallway was bustling and loud, and thus the echoes in the room were many, giving him a fairly accurate measurement of how to navigate his way through.

He headed to his locker, opening it up and finding his books, whistling a bit and finding the sound reverberated nicely against the metal walls, giving him an idea of which books he was grabbing.

"Are you ok, Riku?" a voice pipped in close-by, which Riku recognized to be Kairi's.

"Ahh... Just an eye injury. Nothing too major."

"Oh man" she whispered, before petting him on the arm. "Do you need any help?"

Riku shook his head.

He heard Kairi exhale, and felt a little bad about rejecting her help. However, the memory of her giggling over his best friend quickly dismissed those lingering feelings of guilt.

Riku was a lot of things- curious, to the point of self-harm, perhaps a bit naive and blind at times. But right now, the most important factor was that he was very dangerous and very overprotective. Now was not the type to feel guilt over someone like Kairi's feelings. If you're only going to view Riku's best friend for his looks, expect to end up in Riku's bad books.

He hoisted his books up, heading toward his class, using the sound of other people's movement to navigate his way around. He delicately stepped inside class, to be met with a hushed silence.

"So both yourself and Vanitas have the same injury?" He heard Tifa ask.

"Mhm."

"Fine then" she said haughtily. Obviously, she was still annoyed about Vanitas's quip yesterday. Although Riku could understand the embarrassment of being talked to like that in front of the student body, surely she wasn't annoyed about the content, right? She did have…large endowments, even if that wasn't entirely what Riku was into.

Wait, when had he figured out he didn't like large breasts? That was new.

"Riikuuu, over here!" his friend called, guiding him over to their usual spot.

"Why didn't you say you were wearing one too?" Riku whispered, and Vanitas chuckled quietly.

"I wanted to have something to prove that it just takes getting used to. If I can do it, so can you."

Well, technically Riku was kind of cheating, since he could kind of see. He wondered how Vanitas had managed to master being blindfolded so well, and tried to think of a time where he'd practiced, only to come up empty-handed. He didn't move like he was blind; even Riku was still cautious as to not bump into anything.

"How'd you learn to move so confidently with a blindfold?" Riku whispered, and Vanitas shrugged.

"You may ask one question per salted butter caramel" he replied, and Riku rolled his eyes, rifling through his things for the caramels and finding the correct packet, passing one over.

"Before I moved in with you…I learnt a technique to move around easier. You were the one who took me to the optometrist, remember? I was half-blind before that, so I had to adjust somehow."

Riku nodded, passing over another caramel. "Technique?"

Vanitas let out a low breath. "I can't tell you in class."

"Not even for the rest of the packet?" Riku asked, waving the nearly-fresh packet around. His best friend was quiet for a few minutes.

He listened to him let out a short sigh. "Ok, during break. On the condition that you're not allowed to hit me for it."

"Is it something I should hit you for?"

"Maybe?" the other said hesitantly.

"…No" said Riku, putting the caramels away, and he could almost hear his best friend pout. At least, he knew that was the exact expression he'd have on his face.

He heard him fidget for a few moments, before muttering something under his breath. "Fine. I'll tell you during the break if you give me the caramels."

Riku grinned, miming Vanitas's evil smirks he did oh-so well. "Good boy" he mimicked, handing over the caramels.

His friend muttered something else, but Riku had decided to turn his attention to the class, listening to lesson and wondering how much of this would ever actually matter to him. Though, maybe, he'd end up with a job for some time, Riku's life wouldn't stay it was now. He was scared of the idea, but he knew deep down being Marked was a temporary thing. It didn't feel right. It felt like he was stuck on a meridian, a divide between two paths, one he couldn't follow any longer. He honestly felt incomplete and trapped as he was. None of it felt right, especially not the sunlight. It felt wrong and clammy against his skin, as though the light itself was rejecting him and reminding him he was no longer wanted. That he didn't belong here.

Like a nasty whisper, just out of hearing range. Murmuring, muttering, reminding him. You are a monster. You belong in the darkness. And the beings around you? They're food.

Riku had never been more thankful to get out of a classroom than he was when that bell rang.

He made his way to his locker, opening it up and shoving his books in, drawing in sharp breaths. He didn't like that thought one bit. Because he knew, somewhere deep inside himself, Vanitas wasn't excluded from that category, and the idea made him feel sick.

"Ready for a distraction, Mr. Moody?" quipped a voice from beside him, and Riku exhaled.

"Sounds good" he murmured, tugging out his morning snack and other food, drawing in a breath through his nose to get an idea of who was around him.

Vanitas, obviously. Riku could pick out his scent anywhere. But Terra and Aqua's scents were close by, and Kairi was walking towards them from the opposite direction.

"Oh, hey Kairi!" said Vanitas cheerfully.

"G'morning, Sora!" she said, reciprocating the tone. Riku fought off the urge to hiss, though his fist did clench tightly. He could feel the prickle of sharp points against the inside of his hand. He was overreacting and he knew it, but he couldn't help it. A part of him just wanted to wrap his arms around the other and hiss 'mine' at everyone else.

Fuck, this was childish. And stupid.

"What's gotten into your pants?" asked a deep voice from Riku's left, and he sighed, locking his padlock and turning around.

"Nothing" he murmured. "Kairi, this is Terra. He's a…work friend."

He heard her bounce over, some kind of chain swishing. Wallet chain, maybe?

"You're looking tons better, Aqua! I was getting kind of worried."

"I'm fine" the girl said reassuringly. "The doctor said I'm still contagious, though, so don't hug me just yet."

Don't hug me, I might get tempted and rip your jugular out.

"Why don't we all hang out for lunch?" Vanitas suggested, probably assuming one of his broad grins. "Me 'n Ri are able to take the blindfold off only for short periods of time, and away from bright light…I know a nice place we can go."

"That sounds like a brilliant idea, Sora."

Riku said nothing, simply following Vanitas's path through the school and back to the shady spot he'd found the other day. He heard the raven walk up behind him, carefully unlooping the blindfold and revealing the others, though it did take a few minutes for his eyes to readjust.

Because of the nice day (ordinary people would say 'despite', but…), Aqua and Terra were bundled up. Aqua was clad in a blue skirt and black tights, coupled with a lightweight white blouse and a broad-brimmed hat. Terra had forgone a hat, but he was wearing a long sleeved black collared shirt and tan slacks, along with a pair of sunglasses. They were probably warm, as Riku was, but instinct was a powerful thing, and the sunlight was scary.

Kairi was wearing a pair of shorts and a figure-hugging singlet that clung to her petite frame, her red hair tied up in a loose ponytail that was slung over her shoulder. Vanitas, who'd already tugged off his own blindfold, was wearing a singlet, too, black, along with the same black shorts he'd been wearing the day they'd met Cloud, and his wallet chain with the crowns that ran along it. Riku had bought him that one for Christmas when Vanitas had only just turned fourteen; Riku could remember him getting giddy and excited about it, running around like a headless chicken.

That'd been their first Christmas together, without anyone else.

Riku sat down on the ground, pulling out his 'snack'. If Vanitas was going to force him to do this in public, so be it. He was not going without it.

He slurped it down, relishing the slight ease in tension it gave, before picking up his apple and playing with it a bit.

"Medicine?" Kairi inquired, tilting her head, and Riku nodded.

"I'm not entirely over my flu, either" he muttered, taking a bite out of the fruit. It was dull and flavourless compared to what he'd just eaten, but he didn't have a choice. Until he properly joined their ranks, he'd still have to eat human food to keep his body operating.

"So, Terra. Are you from close by?" Kairi asked, and the brunette shook his head. He and Aqua had taken a seat on the soft grass, while Vanitas was lying down on the bench, arms behind his head. Kairi was sitting directly across from the bench, while Riku was seated opposite to the other two.

"My family travels a lot" he said. "My dad said I should still stay in school as much as possible, so he enrolled me here. My brother would be here, too, but he's albino and gets really ill if he's outside for too long, so it's not an option."

"You'd think Riku was an albino, looking at him from afar" Kairi giggled. "But his eyes are…green?"

"Aquamarine" Vanitas corrected, waving a hand in the air. "But I agree…he burns pretty badly, too."

Riku shrugged nonchalantly. "My dad's hair is like this, too. I think it's a defect in our Y chromosome or something."

"Like mine!" Vanitas said cheerfully, pointing at his hair. "The girls don't have hair like this, but my dad's is almost exactly the same…well, 'cept his is still mostly brown. I haven't seen many pictures of my uncle, but his is spiky, too, just not the same way Cloud's is."

"I feel sorry for your brother" Kairi said. "Does he get to go out at all?"

"It's ok for him to be out at night time…but he can't do much because of his age."

Well, the age he's permanently stuck at.

"Don't they make coats that block out the sunlight?" Vanitas suddenly asked, rolling over, and Terra blinked up at him.

"They do?"

Kairi rubbed her chin. "Yeah, I think I've heard of those. A coat so black it absorbs all of the light directed to it."

"Doesn't Lea have one?" Riku asked, raising an eyebrow, and Vanitas nodded, sitting up.

He played with his hair a bit, thinking. "Lea's wouldn't fit Ventus, though. The guy's a stick…Lea, I mean. I think he had a run-in with a corset at some point…"

He pouted, still thinking, chewing on a caramel for a bit before snapping his fingers. "Aha! My uncle has one, though! I think that'd fit!"

Riku raised his eyebrows at him. "Are you sure? I thought Lea got one from that group of his."

"Yeah, my uncle's in that group. The first few or so highest ranked get coats. I think it's up to number thirteen? But yeah, my dad mentioned it once, I'm ninety-nine percent sure Uncle Socrates has one."

"What number is your uncle, then?" Kairi asked, looking curious, and Vanitas rubbed his chin again, trying to remember.

"…Erm, pretty sure he's got a higher number than Lea...hm. I think he's actually the Thirteenth member. Wonder if Cloud knows?"

Riku shrugged. "Cloud doesn't really talk about him much, does he?"

Vanitas shook his head, folding his arms. "Nor does my dad. I've never actually met him, just seen photo albums…and this was before I got contacts, so he's more or less a blonde-haired blob in my mind."

Riku sighed, massaging his head, as Vanitas stood up, stretching and ruffling his hair some more. "So uh…Riku. You wanted to know about my 'technique' earlier?"

"Technique?" Terra spluttered, and the girls giggled. Riku's brow furrowed in confusion as Vanitas began silently laughing behind his hand.

"Not that kind of technique" he said dismissively, though there was a faint hint of pink on his cheeks, which was what it took for Riku to get the implication, his own cheeks flushing bright pink as an indignant expression appeared on his face.

"If it was going to be that kind of technique, why would it be in front of you people?!" Riku snapped, folding his arms, and Aqua giggled quietly.

"Well, voyeurism is a kink for some."

Riku slapped a hand to his face as Kairi and Vanitas giggled a bit more, while Terra just looked terrified.

Once the giggling had died down, Vanitas grinned. "I actually meant how I get around blindfolded. Since Riku's already upheld his end of the bargain, I'll just get it over with. Usually I can forego the light show, but to demonstrate what I'm doing it's necessary."

Light show?

He closed his eyes, tilting his head downward, before murmuring "Video vidi visum."

A soft green light washed over their surroundings, originating from Vanitas and pulsing two or three times before it faded off.

Riku's eyes narrowed in his direction, suddenly realizing exactly why he'd suspected that Riku would hit him.

That was magick.

Vanitas was capable of using magick. How long had that been the case? This lack of knowledge in regards to his friend's life was riling Riku up more than it should have. Everyone had their secrets, yes, but until recently Riku had believed the two of them had none between each other. At least, there was nothing Riku every really withheld from Vanitas. He hadn't even been given the opportunity to hold his turning a secret from the other, and yet he had this mysterious Ventus circumstance and the ability to use magick?

The urge to hit him was growing at a steadily increasing rate.

"It's erm…a scanning spell. Gives me an idea of the surroundings so I can move freely" he explained. "But I don't use my magick often enough for me to think it worth mentioning, really. That's basically all I know…it's not commonly taught."

Riku still had his arms folded, and the other looked painfully sheepish, his eyes mostly on Riku and gauging his reaction. So far: not good. In fact, Riku was pretty pissed. Just a mention would've been enough. Or didn't he trust him enough for that?

The silverette would've stood and left, if not for the itching fear of going out into the sunlight. As it was, he just silently ate his food, only giving the other an acknowledging, yet annoyed nod, and proceeding to not talk to him.

He suspected the other would've preferred he just hit him and be done with it, but this was playing on Riku's final nerves. How much was he hiding? For someone who did their best to avoid lying, it felt like he'd done a whole heap around Riku, and they were supposed to be best friends. Was the sentiment not reciprocated on the other's end? He'd been the one to initiate the paopu fruit fiasco, and yet Riku was the one who felt betrayed and hurt.

Of course he couldn't express that. Riku wasn't good with this, he was the confident one, the face for them both, he'd always had to keep a strong, cool front. It came easier to him than expressing it, and maybe that standpoint was one of the reasons he'd been picked out for vamp-hood. He couldn't just turn around to his friend and say 'you're hurting me by doing this,' because he'd feel like a fucking idiot for doing so. The thought didn't make the pain ease, of course. It just made the twisting pain in his stomach worse. The pain from emotions, not the pain from the stupidly named organ that sat in his chest and stuck him firmly in the non-human category.

However, said instinctual and non-human side didn't like the emotional pain one bit, and unlike the human Riku, who would've buried it, the same way he'd borrowed the feelings of abandonment from his parents, non-human Riku wanted a god damn resolution.

He didn't talk to Vanitas for the rest of the school day, relying totally on the sonar-type ability to get around. They walked home together, but the walk was made in silence; Vanitas radiated guilt, and Riku was on-edge, his mind ticking over on exactly what he was going to do once they got home.

Vanitas unlocked the door, gingerly stepping inside, as though he knew what was to follow. Riku, however, first went around the house and covered/closed as many windows as he could, darkening the house considerably. With an angry flourish, the silverette undid his blindfold, before roughly grabbing his friend by the collar and shoving him into a nearby wall.

"Ok, I see you're pissed" he said hesitantly, and Riku let out a low, angry growl, baring lengthening canines.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the magick thing-"

"You think that's all this is about, Soritas?" Riku hissed, and the other's eyes narrowed. This was the second time in three days he'd used the name, and he didn't look pleased about it.

"Then what?" he snapped, seeming to be completely unfazed by the fact he was pinned to the wall by an angry partial-vampire who looked about ready to bite into him.

"How much else are you hiding from me?" Riku snarled. "Lately, that's all you've been doing. You went behind my back to get your hair and eye colour changed, and there's this fucking thing with Ventus-"

"I told you not to ask about that" he said coldly, and Riku growled again, moving his face closer to the other, so that their noses were almost touching.

"Why?"

"Because it's fucking confusing and dangerous, alright?" Vanitas hissed, looking agitated and a little uncomfortable. "I don't want you involved until I know the facts, and maybe not even then, either!"

"Do I or do I not have more of a chance of making it out alive of any situation than you do?" Riku hissed in a low voice. "I'm a monster, remember?"

"Could you not call yourself that?" Vanitas growled in retort. "You haven't hurt anyone."

"I'm two inches away from your pretty little neck, moron" Riku hissed, his eyes flashing red for a few seconds. "And you're looking fucking tempting this fine, fine day."

"Do it then."

"I would, but you'd turn" Riku stated flatly. "I don't trust myself to be non-infectious."

Vanitas's eyes narrowed a bit at this. "So you want to bite me, huh?"

Honestly? Yes. Yes he did. Vanitas smelt fucking delicious, even with the choking scent of cigarette smoke that clung to his clothing.

"Yeah, I do, but we're not ending the previous conversation, you crafty little shit" Riku snapped, shoving the other again so his head bounced off the wall with a satisfying thud, "you think withholding information like you're doing is protecting me? All you're doing is making me pissed off. And as you can see, I'm not pleasant when I'm pissed off."

"Oh yeah, I can see" Vanitas drawled. "I don't know much more than you do. I don't want to tell you, get you all riled up and then it turns out I'm wrong."

"Then tell me what you do know for sure" he hissed. "Or I will fucking bite you, consequences be damned."

"Then fucking do it!" he retorted, grabbing a fistful of Riku's clothing in each hand. "Because this is my battle! There are things in my family's past. We're not called 'Strife' for no fucking reason, Riku, and this is the crux of the issue, I know it. I can feel it. But I don't know enough. The darkness of the unknown is a terrifying thing, and my family's darkness is of the deepest, darkest black. We're a hunter family, Ri. If that doesn't say enough, I don't know what will."

Riku growled, glaring at him furiously, his brain ticking the explanation over. He hated the way he did this. He'd always done it. Sora, the cheerful, outgoing teen with shadows and torment that reared its ugly head in the most devastating of ways. And it wasn't like he hadn't hidden it from Riku, back then. He'd pretended, for a long time, that everything with his father was fine. That Sora didn't cower in the corner of his room and sing himself to sleep. That he wouldn't wear long sleeved shirts on warm days to cover up the bruises formed by a crushing grip. His dark moods were the reprieve. The violence and the swearing, the drugs- what he could get a hold of, mainly painkillers- and sometimes, the alcohol. Riku had seen some of it but once he realized the extent he'd kicked himself, for not being there, and made him promise to not let it happen again.

Was he really letting this happen again? Burying away his problems from Riku, trying to hide him from the pain his family brought? God he was sick of it. He just want to yell and scream and possibly bite an answer from him, but he refrained. Last time he'd been calm, come to Riku when he couldn't bear it, and let him help him fix it. If that was what it was going to take, the silverette would just stand by him for as long as it did.

Finally, he let out a sigh slowly releasing his grip on Vanitas and reigning his temper in, feeling guilt and shame wash over him. He looked away, swallowing a lump in his throat.

"Fine. I'll drop it."

"…Thank you, Riku" Vanitas whispered, before coughing a bit. Riku gave him a wary look.

"You know why you're coughing like that, right?" he muttered, and Vanitas folded his arms, but the look on his face said it all.

"I am going to quit, Ri. Just…give me some time. I know they don't actually help anything, but at least while I'm smoking I feel a little in control over the things around me."

Riku sighed, also folding his arms, before shaking his head gently. "Sorry…just…anything that can shorten your lifespan doesn't sit well in my books."

Vanitas froze for a second, before rubbing his hair awkwardly. "Oh…" he murmured, going very quiet. This silence sat between them for a few minutes, before the raven slowly shook his head, stepping down the hallway.

"It's Friday. Maybe we should get some take out delivered and take the night off?"

"The night off?" Riku asked, raising his eyebrows. "How do you think that'd sit with Aris?"

"What does he care?" Vanitas said with a shrug, flipping through delivery pamphlets that sat in the front drawer. "The ban's probably because he's busy getting so shit-faced he can't hunt. Haven't you noticed, Ri? He's drinking himself into oblivion."

"So should we really be taking the night off, then?"

"Ri, we're not even really hunting vamps right now. Why don't you call up that log-head guy and ask him? Hell, they're the ones supposed to be awake at night."

"Terra's Marked, Vanitas" Riku retorted.

"Ok, sorry. You guys are the ones who are supposed to be up at night. You can go out if you like. I want a full night's sleep, for once. And seafood. And video games."

Riku narrowed his eyes at him, before exhaling, dragging his fingers through his hair. "Found the fish n' chips pamphlet yet?" Riku asked, and Vanitas gave him a big, cheesy grin.

"Knew you couldn't resist."

* * *

Vanitas and Riku spent the rest of their night doing exactly that. They order a crapton of seafood, pulled out their games and spent their evening trying to best each other at video games.

Around nine 'o' clock or so, Vanitas got a phone call. A phone call from Cloud. Riku heard every word, and was on his feet before he could think. The first and only thought in the silverette's mind was the fact that Leon and Cloud had been spending a lot of time together, and Leon was getting dangerous.

"Let's go" said Riku, and Vanitas nodded, leaping out of his chair. Riku hastily grabbed his keys and they burst out of the front door, shaking fingers locking the door tight before they jumped into the SUV and drove in the direction of Gold Saucer.

"What do you think's going on?" Vanitas asked, his eyes a little wide. Riku's jaw clenched down, and he said nothing, but Vanitas could see his tension, especially with how white his knuckles were against the steering wheel. They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence, both boy's minds buzzing with ideas.

When they arrived, the entrance was beginning to buzz with police vehicles, and Riku's stomach sank into his bowels, his mind freezing up. Had Leon actually done something?

He hated the idea. He knew from his own experiences that just thinking about doing anything to people made ferocious waves of guilt nearly choke him to death; he couldn't imagine how Leon would feel if he'd acted on those instinctive impulses.

"Over there!" Vanitas called, pointing into the car park, well away from the police vehicles. Riku drove over, peering out the window.

Leon was leaning on Cloud, looking pale and sick, but clean of any sort of violent-outburst indicators. His nose was pressed into Cloud's neck, clinging onto him for dear life.

Vanitas wound down the window to ask what was going on, only to be smacked in the face with his own motorbike keys. Rather than letting his friend investigate, Riku drove off in search for the Void Gear.

The raven rubbed his face, pouting a bit. "Riku, seriously. Are you and Leon not talking or something? He really didn't look well."

No, he didn't. And that was exactly why Riku wanted Vanitas as far away from him as possible.

"I just don't like the situation, alright?" he said, as they found the bike, parked contently a few metres down from where the blue Coupe DeVille had been, which had already been swallowed by the night. Vanitas grumbled under his breath, grabbing his keys and helmet and shoving open the SUV's door.

"You can be such a fucking hypocrite sometimes, you know that?" he snapped, before slamming the door shut and leaving Riku alone in the vehicle.

The silverette let out a long, exhausted sigh. He was right, of course. He'd demanded answers, but he was keeping things from Vanitas in his own way.

Without the presence of Vanitas in the car, the trip home was almost physically painful. Riku felt really bad about just running off on Leon and Cloud, and really hoped they were both ok; Leon in not doing anything he'd regret, and Cloud...not being the recipient of it.

He exhaled, pulling into the driveway, Vanitas having already put his bike away and headed inside. Stepping out of the car, Riku drew in a deep breath of night air, stoically reminding himself that the neighbour's cat was not free game, no matter how intensely his instincts insisted it was.

He wasn't sure he could forgive himself for killing a domesticated cat.

He headed inside, had a snack and decided that these issues were better dealt with after a good rest.

Riku's brain, however, had other plans.

Rather than letting him get the refreshing sleep he needed, his weird thoughts over the past week decided to culminate into some very intense, very awkward dreams about Vanitas. It was broken and fragmented like most dreams, of course, but he got the basic idea of what said dreams were conveying. As did his body, since he woke up the next morning feeling uncomfortably hot and bothered under his covers with a raging hard on, still able to kind of feel the pressure of leather straps against his skin.

Fuck.

He proceeded to slam his head repeatedly into his pillow, thinking of the most unsavory things he could in an attempt to calm himself down. A cold shower would be on the cards if not for the fear of a run in with the raven; the dreams were still circulating through his head.

What the hell was he supposed to do here? He'd slowly become aware that he felt more for his best friend than just friendship, but he just wasn't in a position to act or tackle those feelings. And now they were leaking into his dreams as a result.

A low, annoyed groan escaped his throat, and he slowly pulled himself out of bed, rubbing his fingers through knotty hair. He didn't have to be up- thank fuck for Saturdays- but he didn't want to risk drifting off again and encountering more dreams of the same vein.

He stumbled out of bed, his erection having finally gone down, and pulled on some casual, It's-Saturday-and-I'm-doing-fuck-all clothes.

The house was still darkened thanks to the shut blinds, so he walked downstairs, just as Terra slipped through the kitchen window. Vanitas was eating breakfast, a newspaper on the table. The raven smirked, his hair falling across his eyes.

"Ya know, you could use the door" he commented, eating a spoonful of wheat-o's.

"Even he can do the creepy greeting thing" Terra muttered, and Vanitas chuckled.

"Who else would come through the fucking window, Terra?" he asked, and Terra made an inquiring face.

"He has a point" he eventually murmured, dropping inside properly and putting his delivery away, before looking at the two of them.

"Did you hear about Gold Saucer?" he asked, and Riku raised his eyebrows. Vanitas, however, glanced up from his paper.

"Some guy named Sephiroth killed fourteen or fifteen people in the Battle Square" he said, leaning on his chair. "He's got a long list of...offenses."

Riku folded his arms. "Anything of interest to us?"

"Not to us personally, no. But he burnt down half of Cloud's home town- Nibelheim. I'd remembered hearing the name when my dad talks about my uncle. The fire killed his mother- there's this big report in here."

"Yeah, well... Depending on Sephiroth's next move, this area could become ground zero for supernatural creatures" said Terra. "Or at least, the supernaturally involved. Shinra's already here, and if this continues the Organization will get involved. My Master says that if that happens, there's no doubt Xehanort will show up."

"...Xehanort?" Vanitas inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"A Pureblood. He was the one who bit Ven, but that's about all we know" he said, sighing.

"What's so attractive about having two hunting groups in town?" Vanitas asked, and Terra folded his arms.

"Master suspects he has something to settle with hunters, but I'm not entirely sure on the details. Sorry I can't tell you more, really."

Riku sighed, massaging his bird-nest hair. His thoughts were interrupted by the home phone ringing loudly.

"Who the hell calls at this time on Saturday?!" Vanitas snapped. His gold eyes were blazing with annoyance as Riku went over and picked up the phone.

"Is Cloud with you?!"

Riku blinked at the phone, his brain taking a few moments to catch up. The sentence had almost been screeched into the phone, making the silverette jump.

"Uh...no?"

"Fuck!"

Riku's face became extremely confused, before he drew in a deep breath.

"Ok, Leon, you're going to have to explain what's going on."

The silverette was met with an audible, frustrated (and very inhuman) growl, which he met with a growl of his own. He hasn't eaten yet this morning, and just the fact Leon was on the phone was pissing him off. The fact that Riku had growled back seemed to jar Leon back to his senses, since the next sound was a panicked breath of air.

"Cloud flipped his shit. I don't know what the hell happened. He ran out of my apartment after a nightmare, screaming his lungs out and I can't find him."

"He's just...disappeared?" Riku asked slowly.

"Yep. No hide or hair to be found. I can't even pick up his scent, for fuck's sake. And with that Sephiroth guy in town, and him being crazy...I'm going out of my fucking mind."

Riku swallowed, as Vanitas walked over, taking the phone from him.

"We're gonna help you find Cloud" he said firmly, and Riku's eyes widened.

"Van-"

"He's my family, y'know. And with crazy running so deep, we have to look out for each other. Me and Ri will meet up with you first, scope out a search area, and we'll fan out from your place."

"Sounds like a plan" Leon murmured from the phone. "Alright. Thank you, Vanitas."

"No problem. You helped me search for Riku, after all" he said cheerfully, before they exchanged good-byes and he hung up.

"We didn't take him, for the record" said Terra. "We have our hands full enough with Riku and Aqua."

"That's really not reassuring, 'cause Cloud's involved with Sephiroth" said Vanitas, tapping the paper. "It might be a coincidence, but Cloud was at Gold Saucer last night- the two seemed pretty tied up. And it's not like the daylight's of any consequence, since Sephiroth's reported as faeborn."

Riku folded his arms. He didn't like this situation at all, especially not with how Leon had been acting recently. And the idea of Vanitas being around him had him bristling anxiously.

"I dunno what problem you've sudden developed with Leon lately" said Vanitas, seeming to read his mind. Or his emotions? He'd almost forgotten about that 'ability' of his. "But I owe him a favour, he's my friend, and Cloud's my family. Even if we don't know each other all that well just yet. So…if you're gonna continue acting like a peeved hedgehog, fine. Stay here. But I'm gonna help out this time."

Riku rubbed his eye with the palm of his hand. "Give me fifteen minutes to eat and change, ok?"

"Alright. I need to get dressed too" Vanitas said with a shrug, leaving the room. Terra glanced over to Riku, his arms still folded.

"So you haven't told him about Leon?"

"Haven't had a chance" Riku muttered, putting a hand on his hip. "I might...before we leave. Just so he knows what I'm so riled up about."

"Mm. Well, I need to go check up on Aqua. See you later, Riku" said the brunette, who, for once, decided to leave via the front door.

Riku headed upstairs and hastily got changed, most of his time consumed by combing his silver locks. Sometimes he seriously considered cutting it, but it'd taken him a while to grow it out after a particularly...fiery...incident, thanks to Lea-"I swear to god, that's not my lighter"-also-known-as-Axel-got-it-memorized.

Riku snorted inwardly at the thoughts. They probably weren't all that amusing to other people, but Vanitas always said Riku had a weird sense of humour.

He headed down the stairs, his raven-haired friend waiting at the bottom of the stairwell for him, helmet tucked under his arm and an impatient look on his face.

"Five more minutes" Riku said, skidding into the kitchen to have something to eat. His inner vampire had been getting increasingly pissed off with him for leaving it so long after Terra had already come and gone, but Riku was taking it as a challenge to improve his self-restraint.

He tugged out one of the blood bags, his jaw giving him a sharp, painful stab of pain as his teeth elongated, and he ripped the corner from the blood bag, drinking deeply from it.

It only took him a minute to polish off the bag (less than the time it'd take to drink two cups of water, at least) and he wiped his mouth carefully before going back out into the foyer.

"Done now?" his friend asked, tapping his foot.

"Yes, yes, let's go" said Riku, before stopping. "Wait."

"Oh my fucking god." Didn't even censor the fucking. Yep, he'd had enough.

"This is important" Riku protested, and Vanitas scoffed at him, spinning on his heel and striding toward the door.

"If this is about Leon, I honestly do not care at this point. I want to find Cloud, that's all there is to it" he said, before walking out the front door.

Riku groaned under his breath, rubbing his eye with his palm. His delay in saying something had just made the situation worse, and Vanitas wasn't aware and didn't want to hear it. Anxiety was swelling painfully in Riku's chest, making him tense and fidgety. As much as finding the blonde swordsman was a priority, he just wished Vanitas wasn't so set on it like he was.

He sighed. He was being petty and he knew it. Hypocritical, too. He'd lost the right to judge Leon before he'd actually found out about the brunette's condition, so this kind of behaviour toward him was nigh-cruel. But he couldn't help it- the fear he'd felt when he realized Leon wasn't just a dhampir persisted, and it'd been steadily growing since Wednesday.

This week had gone forever, or at least that's what it felt like. He hoped this sensation didn't persist too often, or else he was going to be experiencing one slow-ass eternity.

He dismissed the thoughts, stepping outside and locking the door, before starting the trip to Leon's.

Leon and Vanitas were already talking by the time Riku showed up, which made his chest clench up with anxiety that he struggled to push back. He parked the SUV, pulling out his weapons and walking over to them.

Leon was standing in a shadow, he noted, and he looked drawn and pale, the worst Riku had seen him. Worry marred his usually stoic features, his blue eyes bright and full of anxious energy.

"Are you alright?" Riku asked, and the brunette scowled at him.

"I'll be alright once we find Cloud" he snapped. "Then nobody has to be out here while there's a psychopath on the loose."

"Sephiroth and Cloud do have a connection, too" said Vanitas, folding his arms. "At least, Sephiroth keeps targeting him for some reason."

Leon's brow twitched, as the man shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"Let's get this started" he said, and Riku folded his arms.

"...Maybe you should head home."

The glare Leon gave Riku actually made him flinch. He was genuinely looking at him like he was ready to reach out and tear his oesophagus clean out. And even an ordinary, very angry human could do that. Actually, it'd probably hurt less from Leon, since the sharper the cut, the less it hurt.

"I'm not going anywhere until we find Cloud" he stated, trying to keep the anger out of his voice but failing. His emotional façade had slipped, and it wasn't going back up without an effort he seemed too tired to exert.

"We may just end up in more trouble if you don't go home, Leon!" Riku growled in reply. "Or are you going to turn around and tell me this kind of trepidation is misplaced?"

"It's fucking hypocritical, though" said Vanitas, folding his arms and making the leather of his bike garb creak, and the two of them looked at him with surprise on their faces.

"Oh come on, no one attacks someone because they're a hunter and a dhampir!" he said with a dramatic eye roll. "It's like their most common occupation!"

"How'd you know Riku did this to me?" Leon asked curiously.

"Cloud told me" he said with a shrug. "I already knew something had happened, and that was the lie he gave me. I dunno if he was trying to cover yours or Riku's asses, but it's the dumbest thing I've ever heard, and I lived with my dad for thirteen years."

"It's kind of surprising that the person reacting the worst to this situation is Riku" Leon muttered.

"I seem to be the only one acknowledging you're dangerous!" he retorted.

"Cloud knows exactly what I am and still slept on my couch."

"Didn't he run screaming out of your house this morning?" Riku sneered, and instantly regretted it. Leon snarled at him, his eyes flaring bright red as he bared sharpening teeth.

"Don't you fucking dare act as though you know why he's doing this!" he hissed. "It's my fault, but that-"

He swallowed, the red fading out of his eyes and guilt flickering onto his face, his entire body slumping a bit. "I should've told him..."

"Let's go find him" said Vanitas firmly. "Is anyone else looking?"

"Aerith and a few others are" he murmured. "But I don't like that either. I just...I need to find him."

His eyes turned downward, and Riku could swear that he'd never seen the gunblade-wielding man looking so lost and fragile. The look was quickly covered again with his stoic determination, but it'd instantly tied Riku's stomach into a painful knot.

Or perhaps the heavy sense of foreboding that's now settled between them was the cause of it. He felt...numb. Like his mind was semi-disconnecting from his body. Something bad was about to happen, he knew it. It was that feeling you got, when your foot slightly missteps on a staircase and you feel yourself slipping, and there's that brief instance. Of terror, of fear, of knowing this could end so badly. And rather than ending after that split second, like it would upon a true staircase, that feeling persisted in Riku's gut. Vanitas gave Riku a knowing look, clearly knowing what he felt, before putting a hand on Leon's arm, a reassuring, completely friendly gesture. A 'I'm here for you'.

The brunette sighed. "Alright" he said, swallowing. "Let's plan our sweep, and find Cloud."

**[a/n: hoo. Things are starting to come together. I think I'm looking at maybe three, four more chapters? Possibly more, but I may, closer to the end, start splitting a chapter in half between Riku and Cloud, since at the end the plot branches off toward one of them more than the other.**

**I'd love to hear any theories or ideas you guys have on the overall outcome- even I feel as though I've laid a lot of loose threads around. Don't fret- I know where everything goes- it's just an author's curiosity at play. This is probably the most cohesive story I've ever written, to be honest, since I honest to god could answer any question you have for me. That's insane - . **

**I am looking into doing a...spin-off, but I can't discuss it properly yet because of spoilers. It involves a pairing very popular in the fandom, let's just put it that way. I am not entirely sure yet, since I am not entirely sure on that one's plot, and I don't want to leave people hanging.**

**Like I am with Tornado.**

**I'll finish it someday.**

**Maybe.]**


End file.

Kingdom Hearts, Hurt-Comfort, Supernatural