Oikakeru Yume

Oikakeru Yume ~ Chasing a Dream

Author’s Note: This is mine… ALL MINE; the characters, the story, everything! My lovely little vampire may have an aversion to blood (!), but I assure you, I have no such compulsion. I like blood… a lot. Further reading will make that ABUNDANTLY CLEAR. Do not steal anything belonging to me and I will have no reason to prove that to you. Just as an additional note, the lemons will begin in Chapter Three. Chapters One and Two are meant to establish the plot of the story. (Yes... I DID say PLOT!)


August


He stood in front of the walls of glass, titian hair cascading past the middle of his back, where it was pulled into a haphazard ponytail, dark glasses obscuring the unusual sea-green, almost teal coloring of his eyes. Tall and lanky, with skin so white it shone like porcelain, he was a striking figure even to the untrained eye. Just his reflection in the rows of department store windows would have been breathtaking… if there had BEEN one. At first glance, one would think that it was just the crowds of people racing by in the bright summer sunshine causing their eyes to play tricks on them. It wasn’t.

It had been months since he’d been to Shibuya, though he’d been thinking about it for a while.
Watching the people scurrying about their daily lives had always fascinated him. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something had MADE him come here on this day; a nagging feeling in his gut, telling him that something important was going to happen in his life and he would NOT be allowed to miss it. So here he stood, as still as a statue, watching the people bustle about their daily routines, rushing past him as though he were invisible; which was how, for the better part of his life, people had pretty much always treated him. It was a feeling he’d gotten used to, though after all of this time, he still didn’t like it.

Then a flash of red caught his eye and he turned toward it to see what it was. There was a woman on a bicycle carrying her infant in a red backpack. An older man in a red windbreaker brushed past him without so much as a… ”Gomen nasai”. A group of schoolgirls with red bows tied around their necks giggled their way around a taxi cab, as the driver revved his engine rudely in impatience and leaned out his window in an attempt to see under the short skirts of their uniforms. Then Hide found what he’d been searching for; a man in a red basketball jersey touting some American team, hurriedly weaving in and out of the crowd. He was young, probably close to the age Hide had been when his life had been altered. His hair was cropped close to his scalp right down the center of his head and a broken white line was painted down it, contrasting starkly with the long ebony tresses that flowed past his shoulders. Hide thought the young man looked like he was wearing part of a street on the top of his head. A small silver ring curled around his right nostril and his left arm was covered from shoulder to wrist with a painting of Kannon, the goddess of compassion. It had been a long time since Hide had felt the compulsion to meet someone, to actually interact with a person. But he felt it now, watching the young man dash across the intersection. He followed, his movements as graceful as a panther stalking its prey. Past shops and arcades, down alleyways and back to main streets he pursued the young man, all the while wondering what it was about this person that had piqued his curiosity.

A block ahead of Hide, Taki felt the flesh crawling all the way up his neck and knew the darkness he’d sensed since the Shibuya crossing was still trailing him. He’d tried to lose it in the myriad of streets and arcades of the area, but he’d been unsuccessful. Deciding to turn and face his fears, he ducked into a darkened doorway and waited, anxiously, for the entity to show itself. Shock was his initial reaction when the creature he awaited finally materialized. A thick red ponytail curled over one shoulder of a long tan coat, the finely tapered fingers of a single fair hand drawing out of a pocket and reaching up to adjust a pair of dark glasses as the creature scanned the area, pausing to look precisely in Taki’s direction. “There’s no way it can see me here, can it?” Taki’s worried mind thought as he crouched back further into the retreating darkness.

“Where’d he go?” thought Hide, as he glanced around him, certain he’d seen the young man duck into this particular alleyway. Stopping to concentrate, he blocked out all outside distractions, listening intently. Then he heard it, the frantic heartbeat of a frightened young man and he turned his head to locate its source. He took a step forward, moving in the direction of the panicked pulse.

“Damn it,” spat Taki, realization dripping from his words like venom, “It’s a freakin’ vamp. No wonder he knew where I was.” Leaping out from his hiding place, he faced Hide for the first time. Reaching inside the front of his basketball jersey Taki pulled out a large, ornate, rather obnoxious crucifix. Yanked the chain over his head, he held it at arms-length, brandishing it at Hide, who just stared at the golden pendant, perplexed. When Taki realized that just waving the crucifix at Hide was having no effect, he tried to burn the vampire with it by quickly touching the cross to Hide’s arm, then jumping back. Hide looked down at his arm, frowned, then looked up at Taki again. Taki leapt backward with a, “Hah!” and brandished the crucifix in front of Hide again. Confused, Hide muttered, “Yes, that’s a very interesting necklace… now could you please stop poking me with it?”

Befuddled, Taki just stood there, blinking dumbly, crucifix still dangling from the limp fingers of his extended arm. “You’re not burning. Why aren’t you on fire?” he demanded, anger quickly replacing his fear. Shrugging, Hide quietly replied, “I don’t know. Should I be?”

“Of course, you’re a vampire, aren’t you?” Hide was surprised by the matter-of-fact way the young man blurted out that statement. He’d never had anyone figure out his secret so quickly, and especially not upon first meeting him. How could this man know what he was?

“How did you…” he started, when he was interrupted by the young man.

“How did I know you were a vamp; other than the fact that you just TOLD me? Puh-leez, dude… have you LOOKED at yourself lately? That hair, the skin, the dark glasses… not to mention the whole ‘practically invisible when you walk’ routine and the fact that you knew exactly where I was even though I was hiding way back in the dark over there. How obvious can you BE?”

Hide was startled. He didn’t THINK he was being obvious. “I’m sorry if I frightened you. I just wanted to talk.”

“TALK? About what… my blood type? What the hell could a vamp want to talk to ME about?”

Shaking his head, Hide replied quietly, “I don’t know. Something compelled me to be here today and when I saw you, somehow I knew you were the reason.”

Now it was Taki’s turn to be shocked. For some strange reason, he’d felt the same compulsion, like an unseen hand, guiding him toward the Shibuya crossing. Were the gods playing tricks on him? Had they led him here to be killed by this vampire? Eyeing Hide suspiciously, he mulled it over in his mind. The vampire wasn’t making any threatening moves, but vamps were so quick that he probably wouldn’t see it when it came, anyway. Circling the vampire like a predator, Taki took in every aspect of the creature. No, he didn’t look threatening. Actually, he looked… innocent? “Nah, couldn’t be,” thought Taki. “It’s gotta be an act.” But upon closer inspection, the vampire seemed tired… and sad. “Weird...”

“I just want to talk to you… that’s all,” Hide offered, again.

“So… talk,” countered Taki, keeping a safe distance as he bent down to retrieve a stick he’d seen lying in the street. Who cared if crosses didn’t affect this vamp? A wooden stake through the heart would get anyone’s attention.

Noting the way the young man wolfishly eyed the steaming bowls of food people were sitting and eating at a nearby ramen stand, Hide made him an offer. “My house isn’t very far from here. Why don’t we go there and I can fix us something to eat?

“Right, like I’m going anywhere with YOU. You wanna talk, you can talk right here.”

“Please, I promise I won’t do anything untoward. It’s just that I can’t stay in sunlight very long. I need to get indoors soon and I thought that since we’re so close to my home, it would just be convenient to go there.”

Just then, Taki’s stomach growled, the sound intensified to the vampire’s keen hearing. “You’re hungry. I apologize. I’ve been very rude to keep you out here when you need to eat. Please let me make it up to you.”

“I’m not THAT hungry,” Taki insisted, though his body adamantly argued otherwise.

Hide knew the young man wasn’t telling him the truth, but he ignored it. “A snack, then; just something light.”

Finally giving in to the gnawing pangs in his gut, Taki reluctantly agreed.

Bowing before the young man, Hide said, “I’m Hide.”

“Taki,” was the curt response, as the young man shoved the stick down the back of his pants, just in case.

Hide hailed a cab and they rode to his home in Kanagawa silently, with the exception of Taki’s muttered, “You don’t scare me.” Of course, the trip wasn’t nearly as quick as Hide had let on being that Kanagawa was actually located on the furthest outskirts of the city, roughly 25 km away from Central Tokyo. Taki seemed to grow uneasy the further they progressed toward Hide’s house, a reaction that didn’t go unnoticed by the vampire. “Are you okay?” he asked the younger man.

“Fine,” came the clipped reply. He relaxed slightly as the vehicle turned inland, heading away from the sea.

When they pulled up in front of the house, Taki whistled in appreciation, his apprehension floating away on the cool early evening breeze wafting in from the direction of the Bay Bridge. “Nice place you got here, dude; must have cost you a fortune.”

“I’ve had a few years to save up enough money to build it.” Hide responded, unlocking the door and entering. After they’d both toed off their shoes, Hide gestured to the two large sofas dominating his living room and told Taki, “Go ahead and make yourself comfortable.”

“Would you like something to drink?” he added, moving toward the area where the kitchen was located. “I’ll get us something to eat.”

Instead of taking a seat, Taki followed him, peering curiously around his shoulder at the contents of his refrigerator. Forgoing decorum, the young man reached inside, pulling out a bottle of translucent pinkish liquid that looked a little like Cherry Sprite to him. “What’s this?”

Taking the bottle from Taki’s hand, Hide gave him a sideways glance and placed it back in the refrigerator with the collection of similar bottles. “That is diluted blood of maguro (tuna). I’m protein-intolerant so I have to drink this stuff to stay alive.” Noting the confused look on Taki’s face, he explained simply, “Just think of it as ‘Blood-Lite’. Want a beer?” He opened a bottle of Asahi and divided it between the two glasses he pulled from his freezer.

“You drink beer?” Taki asked as he accepted the chilled glass of amber liquid Hide handed him.

“Yes,” Hide replied, nonchalantly, taking a sip of his drink. Opening a cabinet, he pulled out several containers of snacks, pouring a little from each of them onto a serving platter. “And you eat this stuff?” Taki asked him, grabbing a large handful of rice crackers and unceremoniously stuffing them in his mouth.

“Yes.”

“You’re a vampire, right?”

“Yes, I am.”

“And you drink beer and eat senbei?”

Hide could barely suppress his smile any longer. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so entertained by someone; if ever. “Am I not supposed to?”

“Just what kind of vampire are you?” Taki demanded, taking the tray from Hide’s hand and walking back toward the living room. He placed the snacks on the low table in the middle of the room, taking a drink from his beer before putting the glass down next to the tray. Throwing himself across one overstuffed sofa then leaping back up with an, “Ow,” he pulled the stick out of his pants and placed it on the table in front of him. Then he proceeded to make himself quite comfortable, one leg slung over the padded arm, his entire body sinking down into the cushioned softness. After that, he began to shovel food into his mouth at an alarming rate as the vampire watched him, one eyebrow arched in amusement.

Taki waited for Hide to answer his question, but the vampire remained silent, perching himself on the sofa opposite Taki, watching him through bright teal eyes that sparkled with interest. “Okay, spill it, dude. I don’t know what the hell possessed me to come here with you, but, whoa, here I am. You’re not like any of the vampires I’ve ever read about. You can walk around in the sun, crosses have no effect on you, you eat senbei and arare and you drink beer and, like, really weird-looking blood. Just who the hell are you, anyway?”

Taking a deep breath, Hide began telling Taki his story. “My name is Tadanori no Hideyasu. I was born in Nagasaki on the thirteenth of October in 1867, the final year of the Edo Period. Tokugawa Ieyasu was the Shogun at the time. When he was overthrown the next year, it marked the start of the Meiji Restoration.” Noting Taki’s look of skepticism, he continued. “Yes, this makes me 138 years old. Actually, I’m 137 since my birthday isn’t for another couple of months. I’m half Japanese and half Dutch, which, I suppose, accounts for my ‘unique’ appearance. My father first came to Japan aboard a Dutch trading ship when our country renewed contact with the West in 1854. He met my mother on his third voyage here in 1865. At least that’s what I was told. When he found out that she was pregnant, he got aboard the next ship out of here and went back to the Netherlands leaving her behind to fend for herself. She didn’t know what else to do, so she had me… which horrified her family to no end, particularly when I came out looking as I do. She was an extremely strict,” Hide paused to sigh, “… reluctant mother. I was clothed and fed, but for the most part, I was shunned, my very existence denied until one day she married man of higher status and I was turned out to fend for myself. I think I was about nine or ten at the time. It’s been such a long, I can’t really remember anymore.”

Hide’s fingers fretted with the corner of a sofa cushion. “I don’t blame her, really. What was she supposed to do with a foreigner’s child, born out-of-wedlock? I was such a burden to her.”

“Weren’t you lonely?” Taki queried, becoming more and more enthralled by the vampire’s story as the minutes ticked past.

Hide closed his eyes and nodded, slowly. “Oh yes, I’ve been lonely all my life. Because of my strange appearance, no one would come near me. Children would be curious, but their parents would drag them away, saying that I was a devil.” Tears formed beneath his lashes, squeezing out to leave two shimmering crimson trails over his cheekbones and down to his jaw. “Of course, that’s precisely what led to my present condition.”

Taki cocked his head, questioningly. “What do you mean?”

“I was lonely, very lonely. I had no friends, no family. I had nothing. I slept in the streets, stole to feed myself. I didn’t know how to do anything else, so that was how I survived, day after day. Then, one day, not long after I had turned 23, I met a man. He was well-dressed and well-mannered. He saw me scrounging through some garbage and offered to buy me a hot meal. I didn’t trust him at first. No one had ever offered to do ANYTHING for me before. But he was so kind, and patient. He told me he wanted to be my friend. He wanted to help me. In the end, he wore me down. Not that it was so hard for him to do. I was cold; I was starving. So, finally, one day I went with him.” Arms wrapped around his midsection, Hide shivered.

“There was food, so much of it. I couldn’t believe it. He kept ordering things for me to eat and I couldn’t stop myself. I was so hungry. The man knew a lot of people. They all kept coming up to him and talking. I didn’t really notice at first. All I could think of was the food. When I couldn’t eat any more he told me that he had a room in a nearby inn and I was welcome to go with him. I could take a furo and sleep on a real futon. It had been so long since I’d done either of those things. I followed him without question. I still remember the feel of the warm water on my skin. It was so wonderful that I cried. He pretended not to see my tears, though they wouldn’t stop flowing until I had fallen asleep on the clean futon that smelled of fresh straw.” Hide looked up at Taki then, a faraway look in his eyes. “I don’t remember how long I slept, but I do remember being awakened by the feel of fingers brushing down the side of my face. I opened my eyes to find a crowd of people surrounding me. I struggled to break free from them, but there were too many hands blocking my flight. I searched frantically for my savior as the hands pressed me back to the futon. Suddenly, he was there and I was relieved. Surely he’d make them stop, I thought. Then he smiled at me and I saw the fangs, the long, terrible fangs and I screamed. He was upon me in an instant. I felt an awful, burning pain as he tore into my throat and I knew I would die there.” The wistful look turned melancholy.

“I didn’t know what to think when I awoke, hours later. My clothes were gone and there was blood and gore covering every inch of my body. It looked as though that I had been the feast for the evening. Why I was still alive, I couldn’t figure. The room was empty and everyone was gone save for me. I found something to cover my nakedness among the few things they’d left behind and I managed to stagger my way out of the room. It wasn’t until I got downstairs that I realized that there were no other people around. On my way out the door, I stumbled over something hidden in the dark and when I looked down to see what it was, that’s when I saw the bodies. All of the people that had been in the inn; they were dead, all dead. The vampires had killed every last one of them. There was so much blood.” He shuddered again, reliving that long past memory.

“But you…” Taki started.

Hide nodded, “It wasn’t until I got outside that the hunger hit me. I didn’t understand it at first. It felt like a knife twisting my insides. It hurt so bad that I fell over; landing across the body of a young girl they’d left in the street. I don’t remember how it happened, exactly, but some of her blood got in my mouth and when I tasted it the pain I felt subsided, a little. I tried to throw up, but I couldn’t, my body actually wanted more. There was blood on my hands, so I put a hand to my mouth and licked the blood off. The more I tasted, the less pain I felt. It was then that I realized that I actually HAD died that day. But where the vampires had released the others from the misery of their everyday lives, they’d condemned me to live mine eternally. How cruel destiny can be.”

Taki was sitting up by then, leaning forward in his seat, listening intently as Hide bared his soul to the young man he’d only just met.

“And that wasn’t even the last twist of fate they dealt me. I was horrified at what I’d become, the very devil the parents accused me of being when I was still a small child. I had just taken my fill of the girl’s blood and my body was sated, but only for a short while. Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe and I fell into the street again, gasping for air. I don’t know how long I lay there, but eventually, after much struggling, I was able to breathe normally and I crawled as far away from that place as I could possibly get. That same reaction happened again and again, every time I was forced to take blood. It finally dawned on me that there had to be something in the blood itself that was making me sick. How sad is THAT? Hmmph… who’d ever heard of a vampire that was allergic to blood?”

“There was a doctor doing research on blood in the late 1800’s, around the time I was turned. I went to him and told him my story. He didn’t believe me at first… who would have? But, eventually, I managed to convince him that I wasn’t just some insane person and together we worked until we discovered what my weakness actually was. He explained to me that the blood of all creatures is different. That was first discovered in the 1600’s when they tried to transfuse lamb’s blood into a human, with tragic results. What was making me sick were some of the proteins found in normal human blood. The doctor also told me that it was fortunate I had gone to see him when I did because the very blood I thought was keeping me alive was also breaking down other parts of my physiology. Essentially, it was killing me slowly… which was something, as a vampire, I never considered to be possible. He told me it was BECAUSE I was a vampire that I was being affected in this way. Over time, the doctor and I became friends. He was the first and last real friend I’ve ever had.”

“He worked tirelessly, trying to find some kind of a cure for me. Then THEY heard about it, the vampires who’d created me. They were rich, they were powerful and they were everywhere. A cure for vampirism would have been catastrophic for them. They couldn’t allow it to happen. So they descended upon him one night in his laboratory, after I had left him. They slaughtered him, tearing him limb from limb for daring to work against their ‘kind’. His work was destroyed and his laboratory burned to the ground. I thought all was lost until I found the box he’d left for me, hidden amongst my meager possessions. He knew, or at least he suspected that something might happen to him, so he took precautions to insure that all of our efforts would not go to waste. Because of his dedication to his work, the doctor had never married. He had no wife and no children. As he was mine, it appeared that I was HIS only friend. Everything he had, he left to me… his home, his possessions, his money. He also left me copies of his research and a vial of the ‘cure’ he’d worked so diligently on. Just a few drops in a pitcher of diluted blood of maguro is enough to sustain me for several days, which works out quite well since I refuse to take blood from a human being and killing an animal is completely out of the question. At least blood of maguro is readily available for purchase in most fish markets like Tsukiji.”

“With the doctor’s detailed notes I was able to find someone to duplicate his formula, thus creating a surplus of his ‘cure’ for me survive on. There was also an unforeseen, yet fortuitous side effect to this ‘cure’. There’s something in it that allows me to tolerate sunlight, at least for a few hours at a time. You know, you never really appreciate the simple things, like watching the way sunlight plays on water, until that ability is taken from you.” Hide gazed out his window as dusk began to fall across Tokyo Bay. Then he turned back to study Taki’s face, gauging his reaction.

“Geez…” was Taki’s only comment.

“Yeah…” was Hide’s reply.

It was a lot for Taki to take in. He’d expected an interesting story, but this was far more than that. “Boy… and I thought I had it rough. At least my Mom is the greatest. My Dad is a real bastard, though. My Mom’s Japanese and my Dad’s an American. He was a soldier, stationed at the air base down here…”

“Which explains his anxiety on the taxi ride,” Hide thought.

“… but he retired last year. He was bad when he was still stationed at the base, but now that he’s got nothing better to do, he sits around the house all day, yelling at my Mom, sucking down beer until he’s stinking drunk and smacking everyone within arm’s length. I have a younger brother, but Mom sent him to live with her family in Hokkaido, so I haven’t seen him in about ten years. I got the hell out of there when I was fifteen, which was…” he counts back on his fingers, “… six years ago. Best move I ever made. I go back sometimes, when I know the bastard won’t be around, just to see my Mom. I keep trying to convince her to get out of there, but she’s got some weird sense of responsibility to that asshole. I can’t figure it out. He’s put her in the HOSPITAL before and still she stays with him.”

Taking a gulp from his glass of beer, he continued, “I guess I’m lucky since I look totally Japanese, though. I didn’t have to go through the kind of crap that you went through. I’ve always had my Mom’s name, so not too many people really knew that I was half American. Of course, it’s not like I have a problem with standing out. I kinda like it, you know, all the attention you get. And I don’t really care whether it’s good attention or bad. I think that of all the things I’ve ever done, the piercing and the tat are the only two that ever made my mother cry. She got over it though, after I explained to her that they were just my way of rebelling. I had to promise her a million times that I was not nor would I ever become part of the Bosozoku. I think that’s what scared her most about my whole ‘acting-out’ thing… that I would become yakuza. She already had enough violence around her; I don’t think she would have been able to cope if I had added to it.”

“You really love her, don’t you?” Hide asked, quietly.

Taki nodded, thoughtfully, “Yeah. She’s always been there for me, you know. When I got in trouble at school, she would go to talk to the teachers, to make sure it never got back to my father. That happened once, when I was in the fourth grade and he beat me up so bad, I spent four days in the hospital with all kinds of cuts and bruises, as well as a broken arm. He told the doctors I fell out of the tree in our front yard. When we got home, he hit my mother so hard he split her lip, just for trying to protect me. I was so afraid he was going to kill her. I didn’t want to leave her there by herself, but there was just no way I could stay there anymore. The old man hated the sight of me anyway, so I figured if I wasn’t around to piss him off, maybe he’d take it a little easier on my Mom.”

“And has he?”

A shake of his head gave Hide his answer, before Taki replied, “Not really. Oh, it’s a little better. He doesn’t smack her around as much since she doesn’t have to defend me to him all the time, but he still hits her. And she still stays. I just don’t get it. He’s going to kill her… I just know it. I know you’re not supposed to say shit like this, but… I wish he would just die. If he won’t go away and leave my Mom alone, I really wish he would just die.”

Hide stood and crossed the room, reaching down to place a comforting hand on Taki’s shoulder. The younger man looked up at him, eyes filled with tears and Hide knew he’d finally found a friend. After over a hundred years of solitude, he’d finally found someone he understood and who understood him as well. He’d finally found a kindred spirit.

They talked the night away, both men opening up old wounds and exposing them to the light to finally allowing them to heal themselves. They talked like they had known each other all their lives. They talked until their eyes burned and their throats were raw. And then, they talked some more.

Finally noticing the darkness outside the large living room window, Taki jumped up, shouting, “Damn, what time is it?”

A quick glance at his watch and Hide replied, “A little after two.”

“In the MORNING!?”

Hide nodded.

“SHIT! I needed to find a new place to stay today… or YESTERDAY!”

“Where do you live now?” Hide asked.

“Oh, here and there; with friends, capsule hotels, wherever I can find space. Nothing permanent yet, but I’m working on it.” Taki replied, avoiding Hide’s gaze.

“Do you have a job?”

“Ah, I do a few things… you know, whatever’s available… nothing…”

“Nothing permanent,” Hide murmured, completing the answer for him.

“It’s not like I’m not doing ANYTHING. I’ve been a bike messenger all over Tokyo, I’ve passed out flyers in Roppongi, I even helped a couple of guys work on billboards in Ginza; I do LOTS of stuff.”

“You’re a freeter, huh?”

Taki jumped, as though the word stung him. Suddenly, this was starting to sound a LOT like a conversation he would be having with his father and he was going to put a stop to it right now. “Don’t assume I’m worthless just because I’m still trying to figure out where I fit in,” he hissed, angrily.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to imply…” Hide hung his head, bothered that he’d upset the younger man. Then a thought came to him; a very strange, impulsive thought; one he’d NEVER have had before. “You could stay here.”

“What?”

Looking at Taki with all the integrity he could muster, he repeated, “You could stay here. It’s a big house. There’s more than enough room.”

Taki’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, “And what’s in it for you?”

“Companionship,” Hide replied, stunned by his own admission. “It’s been a very long time since I’ve had someone I could talk to.”

“And what would this cost me?”

“Nothing. The house and land are mine and I have enough saved for a number of people to live comfortably for quite a while.”

Taki bristled. “Oh, no… you’re not turning me into some kind of boy toy.”

Confused, Hide repeated, “Boy toy?”

“Yeah… there’s no way anyone is going to be ‘keeping’ me. I pay my own way.” Poking himself in the chest with a finger, Taki continued, “This dude is NO ONE’S property.”

“It’s really not necessary, but, if you like…”

“Oh, yeah, I like…”

“All right, then… you can pay for anything you want to. But it’s not expected of you.” Taking a deep breath, Hide asked again, “Will you stay?”

“Okay.”

“Nani?” Hide wasn’t certain he’d heard correctly.

“I said I’ll stay… on one more condition.” Determined eyes bored directly into Hide’s. “I call my own shots. YOU are not my father or my guardian. I don’t even know why I’m agreeing to this since I barely even KNOW you. But you caught me at a disadvantage since it’s so damn late and I really don’t want to be running around Shinjuku looking for a new place to sleep at this time of the morning. I’ll stay. But if this arrangement goes weird, know this…I’ll stake you, dude… no hesitation.”

Hide struggled to keep from bursting out laughing. Mirth… now THERE was an emotion. It had been so long since he’d last felt it, he’d nearly forgotten what it was like. It felt good.

He made certain to give Taki a room far enough from his own that the young man wouldn’t feel uncomfortable about it. It WAS a big house and there were a number of rooms to choose from. “Tomorrow we can get your things from the place you’ve been staying at,” he offered, to which Taki shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. There’s nothing I want.”

Astonished, Hide said, “But you don’t have anything with you, do you?”

Taki opened his backpack and pulled out a couple of shirts, a tank top, another pair of pants, a pair of shorts, a hair brush and a toothbrush, followed by a pack of chewing gum and several volumes of manga.

“That’s it?”

Taki snorted derisively. “It’s all I need.”

A tightness gripped Hide’s chest as he remembered another young man in another era. “I’m a little taller than you are, but you may be able to fit in some of my things…”

Before he could finish, Taki shook his head vigorously. “No way… I’m not taking your clothes. I’ll make do.”

Stubbornly, Hide persisted. “I will abide by everything else you’ve asked of me, but I insist… if you really don’t want to borrow anything of mine, then tomorrow we’ll go shopping and find you a few more things to wear.” Stopping Taki’s protest with the palm of a raised hand, he continued. “You will, of course, repay me for anything you choose as we will consider this a loan… not an act of charity.”

This statement seemed to placate the young man somewhat and the protest died on his lips. It was getting late and he was exhausted from the events of the day, so he allowed Hide to have this one little victory. A decent place to sleep AND new clothes… phew, not a bad deal.

“The bathroom is through there. You can use one of the yukata I’ve got hanging in this closet when you’re done bathing. There are already fresh linens on the bed.” Hide was explaining. Noting the tiredness creeping into the young man’s motions, Hide finished pointing out where things were and backed away. “I’m just on the other end of the hall. If you need anything, let me know.” When Taki nodded, Hide stepped into the hall, said, “Good night,” and shut the door to Taki’s room, walking away. He heard the click of the lock behind him as he reached his own room and he smiled. This had certainly been an interesting day.

Taki ran himself a quick shower, too tired to soak in the furo, though it looked so enticing he promised to try it out some other night. The hot water felt good on his fatigued muscles. Stepping out, he wrapped a soft white yukata around his body and practically fell into the softness of his bed. It felt so good… so… good. He was asleep almost before his head hit the pillow.

At the other end of the hall Hide listened intently as he heard the shower being turned on, and then off again. Padding footsteps ended with a soft thump as Taki threw his sleep-laden body onto the bed. The sound of ragged breathing became deeper until it turned into a light snore and Hide’s smile widened. Reaching over to the turn off the lamp beside his own bed, he snuggled back into the down pillows and drifted off to sleep, happier than he’d been, perhaps EVER.

Morning light came drifting through the linen curtains before Taki knew it, the warmth of the sun’s rays delicious against his back where it fell in a bright line. Stretching like a cat, he opened his eyes and blinked, looking around him, confused for a moment by the unfamiliar surroundings. There were noises coming from the other side of the door and he sat up with a jerk. Rubbing his temples with the tips of his fingers, he tried to remember what he’d done the previous night. Then it came to him. The vampire… jumping out of bed, he dashed to the bathroom, recalling the tale of Hide’s history from last night and the uncanny resemblance it bore to his own current situation. Checking his body thoroughly in the mirror; there didn’t seem to be any new marks on him, so apparently the vampire hadn’t tried anything while he’d been asleep. Then the aroma of coffee brewing drifted in and his stomach growled loudly. “Yeah… I could eat,” he thought, quickly brushing his teeth and adjusting the yukata he’d put on after his shower. Unlocking the door, he stepped out into the hall, following the smell of coffee back through the house to the kitchen.

“Ahem,” he said, clearing his throat to announce his presence.

Hide was just on his way to the dining room with a tray of buttered toast, so Taki followed him. “Good morning, Taki. Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah, thanks. That’s some bed you got in that room. Actually, that’s some ROOM you got there, period.”

“I’m glad you liked it.” Hide smiled, setting the tray down on the dining table and turning to head back to the kitchen. “I’m sure you’re hungry. Go ahead and look around. You’re bound to find something you’d like.”

“Whoa,” Taki stated offhandedly, as he pored through the contents of one cabinet after another. “You sure have a lot of food for a guy who has absolutely NO need to eat it.”

Hide’s smile grew. “What can I say? I like to try new things. I may not need to eat food to survive, but I still like the taste of certain things.”

Taki finally selected a box of cereal from one of the cabinets, setting it on the countertop. Then he took the container of soy milk from the refrigerator, kicking the door shut with a thump. Next came a bowl, a spoon, a mug of coffee and a glass of orange juice. Precariously balancing all of his breakfast fixings, he made his way into the dining room, where he proceeded to plop himself into the chair next to Hide.

Taking a bite of the Fuji apple he’d selected for himself, Hide watched him in amusement. Just then, the crunching sounds Hide made when he chewed attracted Taki’s attention and the young man turned to stare at him. Cocking his head to one side, he appeared to be studying Hide’s face, which caused Hide to back up a bit nervously.

“What are you…?” he started.

“You don’t have fangs…” the young man observed.

“Sure I do. They’re just retractable.”

“No shit?” Taki exclaimed, excitedly. “Show me.”

Sighing audibly, Hide opened his mouth, eyes fixed on Taki’s neck. As he felt Taki’s pulse speed up, his canine teeth elongated, extending well below the rest of his teeth, as he sucked in a quick gulp of air. Taki moved forward, awed, raising his hand as though to touch the fangs. Batting the hand away, Hide retreated to the opposite side of the dining table, waiting until the fangs withdrew so that he could speak clearly again.

“What did you do THAT for?” sulked Taki, rubbing the back of his smarting hand.

Shaking his head, Hide marveled at just how unaffected Taki was by all of this. “I’m a VAMPIRE. You don’t go around trying to stick your hand in a vampire’s mouth. You wouldn’t do that to a normal person, would you?” Eyeing Taki with some skepticism, he added, “… or WOULD you?”

Taki wiggled an eyebrow at him and grinned. “You never know.”

Hide shuddered visibly, wondering just what he’d gotten himself into. For a human, this guy was more of an enigma than anyone else he’d encountered during his entire existence.

“You don’t KNOW me, dude.” Taki stated, flatly. “I could be the scariest person on this planet, man. And YOU brought me home.”

“How can you be so sure I won’t do anything?” Hide countered. “I AM a vampire, after all.”

“Dude… you spilled your guts to me last night. You didn’t scare me yesterday. What makes you think I’d be scared of you TODAY? Hell, after hearing what you had to say… for some weird-ass reason I feel like I should be here to protect you. You’ve been through a lot of shit and… this is so not me… I’d kinda hate to see you go through any more. Don’t ask me why… I still can’t figure it. This is really freaky shit we’re dealing with here.”

Hide stared at his new friend, wide-eyed and stunned.

“Besides, I ain’t livin’ here for free, right? I gotta earn my keep somehow. You said you were lookin’ for a friend… heh, you need more than that, dude. You need to get out, man, you need to learn that there’s more to life, you know. And no one knows more about livin’ than me. Not everyone out there sucks. Whoops… bad choice of words. Granted, a LOT of them suck big-time, especially in the places that I’VE run around in. But there’s a lot of good stuff out there, too. You just have to go out and find it. You can’t spend your entire life cooped up here in this pretty excuse for a mausoleum.”

“Mausoleum…” Hide repeated, curiously.

“Hey, don’t let the way I talk fool you. I DID finish high school, you know, so I know a little more than just how to spell my name,” Taki replied indignantly at the inference.

“Gomen nasai, Taki. That was thoughtless of me. I didn’t mean anything by it. By the way… just what IS your name?”

Taken aback by the sudden change in subject, Taki paused. Then, he shook his head. “Takahashi Keitaro…” he snorted, “How’s THAT for a bad joke? Keitaro… blessed. Yeah, I’m blessed, all right… just not in the way my mother anticipated.”

“How’d you wind up being called ‘Taki’ and not ‘Kei’?”

Taki smiled, his indignance instantly forgotten. “That’s my younger brother’s doing. For some reason he couldn’t say Keitaro when he was little. We tried to get him to say Kei, but he just started calling me Taki instead. I suppose it was just easier for him. Eventually we got so used to it that it just stuck.”

“You said he lives in Hokkaido now, right? Do you hear from him?”

Again Taki shook his head. “Nah. Sometimes Mom would get a letter or a phone call, but not me. She would always tell me, ‘Yukishiro did this and Yukishiro said that’, but there was never anything just for me. I missed that, you know, having a brother around. It was cool having someone I could talk to and do stuff with.”

“Then maybe that’s where I’m supposed to fit. I know I’m not your brother and I would never try to take his place, but maybe all we both need is someone to be our friend. I know I haven’t trusted anyone in a very long time, but you’re different somehow. You’re not like anyone I’ve ever met,” replied Hide.

“Damn right, I’m not,” Taki muttered under his breath.

“There had to be some higher power at work yesterday, bringing us together for a reason. I don’t know. Maybe this is it. Anyway, all I’m saying is, I’m willing to give this a chance… if you are.”

Taki nodded, thoughtfully, before reaching across the table, snatching a piece of toast and saying, “Gimme one of those.”

End of discussion. Hide smiled, shaking his head and pushing the plate of buttered toast closer to Taki. The young man ate so wolfishly that Hide could almost hear snarling noises coming from him. He didn’t dare move his hand any closer for fear it would be bitten off.

Glancing over at the glass in front of Hide, Taki asked, “Is that the maguro stuff you were talking about?”

Hide nodded as Taki snatched the glass and stuck his nose in it. “That doesn’t smell like fish blood.”

Taking the glass back Hide explained, “That’s because it’s diluted with water and lemon juice. You probably smell the lemon juice. It also changes the flavor, so it doesn’t TASTE like I’m drinking fish blood either.”

Trying to grab a hold of the glass again, Taki said, “Cool… I wanna try.”

Backing away from the table, Hide looked at his new friend in horror. “No. This is mine.” Pointing to the food in front of Taki, he said, “Eat your own breakfast.”

“Mmph,” was his only response, when Taki suddenly noticed something else that he hadn’t before. “Hey, you’re wearing glasses. Why are you wearing glasses?”

Hide blushed. “Because I’ve always liked the way they look.”

“You don’t NEED them, do you?”

“No,” he answered, shaking his head, one hand moving to slide the item in question back into its rightful place on the bridge of his nose. “I can see perfectly, but I’m just more comfortable with them on. I guess you can say they’re like a mask I can hide behind, sort of like Clark Kent and Superman. All he had to do was put on or take off a pair of glasses and he’d become a different person.”

Taki burst out laughing at Hide’s admission, the raucous sound startling the vampire. “Trust me, dude… you’re no Clark Kent, although I haven’t seen what kind of superpowers you’ve got yet, being a vampire and all, so maybe we’ll check out the Superman part later.”

The rest of their breakfast passed uneventfully, the two men just casting the occasional wary sidelong glances at each other. After clearing his dishes, Taki retreated to “his” room, only to emerge an hour later fully dressed, a piece of paper with scribbles on it in his hand and a look fierce determination on his face.

“Okay, we’re going to check out these ‘superpowers’ of yours.” Hide looked at Taki in surprise; the younger man actually held a chart in his left hand.

“Is that what you’ve been doing for the past hour?” asked the vampire, quietly.

Taki nodded vigorously. “Oh, yeah. I wanna know what you can do. Okay…” he started at the top right side of the page,” First… can you turn into a bat?”

Hide chuckled, “Either that’s just a myth or it’s something that eluded me.”

“Huh?”

“No… I can not turn into a bat.”

“No bat,” Taki wrote on his paper. “What about a wolf… can you turn into one of them?”

“No… I can’t turn into a wolf, either.”

“MIST… what about mist? Can you turn into mist?”

Hide was laughing aloud by this time. “No Taki, I can’t turn into mist, either.”

Taki’s eyebrows knit in consternation. “Can you turn into ANYTHING other than a person?”

Hide shook his head, to Taki’s obvious disappointment. “Man, what kind of vampire ARE you? I thought you ALL turned into something else; like bats, at least.”

“Just where are you getting your information from, Taki?” Hide asked between gasps of air.

“I’ve read Dracula, you know. And there’s like a million other books on vampires.”

“You DO realize that most of those are just novels, right? Fairy tales… myths, they’re not really REAL.” Taking in Taki’s blank stare, Hide continued, “As far as I know, I haven’t been able to turn into anything. But, who knows…” he added, not wanting to dishearten the other man.

That statement seemed to lift Taki’s hopes. “Maybe you CAN change. Maybe you just haven’t tried hard enough. Okay, next… can you fly?”

“Not that I know of, but I can move very quickly on the ground.”

“Cool! I wanna see.” Suddenly, Hide vanished from the spot he’d been standing, just as Taki felt a tap on his shoulder. Spinning around he discovered Hide standing behind him. Then, Hide vanished again, only to reappear at the entryway. Taki smiled broadly, “Very cool. What else can you do?”

Hide thought for a moment, and then said, “I can see in the dark.”

“Okay… see in the dark,” Taki repeated, as he wrote it down on his piece of paper. “That’s sorta useful. What else?”

“Well…” Hide muttered, reaching under one sofa and lifting it straight up, as though it were light as a feather.

“Whoa… way cool,” Taki spouted, whistling.

Placing the sofa back on the floor, Hide backed away and smiled. “I thought you’d like that.”

“Well,” said Taki, thoughtfully, “You can run so fast you’re invisible and you’re way strong. Shit, if only you could fly and you had heat vision, you COULD be Superman. At least you can see in the dark. I can’t remember if he can do that or not. This is so cool!”

Hide had to hold his sides, he was laughing so hard. Taki was completely serious.

“You DO realize that Superman is another fictional character, right Taki?”

“I wonder what else you can do. If you’re not sure about the turning into something else thing, you might be able to do some other stuff that you don’t know about either.” Taki was so excited he was shaking. “You’re STILL the weirdest damn vampire I’ve ever known, though.”

Hide’s laughter echoed throughout the house. “Taki… I think it’s pretty safe to say I’m the ONLY vampire you’ve ever known.”

The late morning sun was beginning to stream in through the living room windows, reminding Hide of the hour. “Are you ready to go?” asked Hide, finally managing to change the subject.

“Go? Go where?”

“We were going to get you a few more things to wear, remember?”

Taki remembered. “I feel really weird about you spending money on stuff for me.”

“It’s okay… I can afford it. Besides, I told you last night… you can pay me back for it later.”

Taking in his surroundings, Taki let out a low whistle. “You’ve really got money… don’t you?”

Hide looked at him, a slight grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. “You can’t live for 137 years and not manage to save SOMETHING, Taki.”

Taki’s eyes narrowed. “A LOT of money?”

“Enough…”

“You’re stinking rich, AREN’T YOU?” Taki shouted, startling Hide.

“I wouldn’t say THAT…”

Completely ignoring Hide’s last comment, Taki went on, “Okay, since you’re so loaded and my Mom always said, ‘Never look a gift horse in the mouth’, we’ll get me some new clothes, but on one condition.”

Hide cringed, almost afraid to hear what the next words out of Taki’s mouth were going to be.

“You need a better television than THAT, dude,” Taki declared, pointing to the small box Hide kept tucked in a corner of the living room. “And haven’t you ever heard of DVDs? These tapes are, like… OLD!”

“I just prefer to read.” Hide began, confused as to why he was suddenly attempting to defend his choice of entertainment.

“You’re going to need plasma. We’ll find you a killer flat screen and hang it over here.” Taki continued, completely ignoring him, again. “DVD player with recording function can go over here. Top-of-the-line CD player with kick-ass speakers and mega-bass. That can go over… here.” Furniture was starting to be moved around the room before Hide even realized what was happening. “You don’t even own a computer, do you? Man, Akihabara is going to LOVE you today.”

“Akihabara?”

“Yeah, man. Call us a taxi… we’re going shopping!”

Hide frowned at Taki’s unbridled enthusiasm. A bad feeling curled in the pit of his stomach, but he tried to brush it off. It seemed that Taki’s previous uneasiness had vanished, which was a good thing, but it had been replaced with something that Hide couldn’t figure out… something larger, something much more frightening to the vampire.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Their journey through Akihabara was fascinating. Hide had heard about the electronics Mecca of Japan, but had never dared to venture anywhere near it. Stepping out of the taxi, what a vision they made… one young man with skin so white it was almost translucent, blue-green eyes and a meter long red ponytail trailing down his back and the other young man with untamed black-and-white hair, a nose ring and a tattoo covering most of his left arm. They looked like members of a rock band preparing to invade Harajuku.

“Keitai, dude… cell phones.” Taki exclaimed. “You really need to get yourself out of the Feudal Era, man. The only thing that time period’s good for anymore is making people a lot of money collecting the antiques and torturing middle school students. You can’t LIVE without a cell phone today.” Grabbing Hide’s arm, Taki dragged him through one of the more garishly decorated storefronts on the block. “Check THIS out!” he shouted, excitedly. “It’s got a digital camera AND GPS. No shit! This one can play MP3’s, too!” Too bad Hide didn’t have a clue what Taki was talking about or he might have been just as enthusiastic.

Taki was talking animatedly with the salesman and since he seemed to know what they were discussing, Hide just let him take control. Finally, Taki turned around, two matching cell phones in his hand. Handing one to Hide, he said, “We’re getting these.” The salesman bowed respectfully and handed him the bill. Without question, Hide pulled out his wallet and paid the man. Taki was practically leaping out of his skin when they finally exited the store. “These are so cool!”

Staring down at the small brushed chrome object in his palm, Hide asked, “So, how do I work this thing.”

Snatching it from him, Taki proceeded to press buttons like a fiend, transferring his attention back and forth between the two phones he held. Finally, he handed Hide’s back with a triumphant, “Done.”

“That’s great Taki, but you still haven’t told me how to work this.”

“Oh yeah. Well, you press this button when you want to make a call. You press this one when you’re answering a call. To take a picture, you have to press these, and you have to press these if you want to send the picture to someone. I’ll show you the rest of the stuff later. These are SO COOL. They do EVERYTHING!” explained Taki, showing Hide which buttons to use for each function.

Then, they were off to the next store… and the next… with Taki bounding in and out of places like an overeager puppy. But he was knowledgeable about electronics, which was yet another ability that had eluded Hide. So Taki would do all of the talking, asking to see the current models and discussing the various features offered, going so far as to haggle over the prices and even arranging for the deliveries, before Hide would step in and pay the bill. He’d never had someone to shop with, or anyone to buy things for and he was finding this a little strange, but also, sort of… fun.

They were more like a pair of kids playing with some new toys, although in Hide’s case, it was with a bit of hesitation. Out of the blue, Hide’s phone rang and it was Taki, asking, “Where are you?”

“What do you mean, where am I? I’m still in front of McDonald’s waiting for you,” Hide replied. Then Taki came back with, “Cool. Check this out,” and a close-up picture of some girl’s cleavage appeared on Hide’s screen. “What are you…” he began, only to be cut off by Taki’s howling laughter, in stereo, as the insane youth came barreling up from behind him, smacking him on the back and nearly bowling him over.

Snapping the phone shut, Hide was about to admonish his friend, when Taki leaned in and whispered in his ear, “What? The picture scare ya? Then you’re definitely not gonna wanna see the next one she let me take.” Hide turned his head to give his friend an inquisitive glance, just as Taki flipped his phone open to reveal the picture HE had. It was a perfectly framed shot of the girl’s teeny-tiny underpants, though Hide would never have guessed it if the picture hadn’t also included the girl’s stomach and legs. He inhaled so sharply that he choked and lapsed into a coughing fit, making Taki laugh so hard that he nearly wet himself. “A hundred-and-thirty-seven years and THAT’S how you react? You are a prude, man.”

“It’s just that she…” Hide wheezed, between coughs.

“Hey, don’t you go disparaging my future ex-wife.”

“Your WHAT?”

“That’s right… I’m gonna marry that girl. Then she’ll divorce me because I’m such a stud that she won’t be able to handle all the other girls that will be hanging around me. I’ll be getting all of the attention and she’ll be jealous.” Taki sighed heavily. “Man, its tough being a sex symbol,” he lamented, leaving Hide shaking with laughter.

Clapping a hand on Hide’s back, he pushed the other man forward. “Come on, let’s get going. We’ve still got a few more stops to make.”

Everywhere they walked Taki would be pointing out the cute girls, actually going up and talking to a number of them, while Hide hung back, taking it all in with veiled amusement. “She’s pretty hot,” Taki would comment. Or, “Check HER out.” Sometimes the comments were a little more specific, usually referring to somewhere he wanted to put his hands.

Suddenly, Taki nudged his side, discreetly gesturing toward a professionally dressed young salaryman standing a few meters away from them. “Check out the dude over there. He’s not bad looking.”

“What are you doing?” Hide asked, finally figuring out Taki’s game.

“Just trying to figure out what team you’re batting for, dude. That wasn’t exactly a favorable reaction you had back there with my future ex-wife and you’re not exactly jumping at any of the other girls I’ve been reeling in, so I thought maybe you fall on the OTHER side of the line.”

Closing his eyes, Hide heaved a sigh. What had he been thinking, wanting to become friends with this… MANIAC?

“Okay, you’re not even looking at the dude. What ARE you… asexual or something?” Taki went on, completely oblivious to Hide’s obvious discomfort. “I’m calling him over…”

“Don’t!” Hide snapped, unaware that he was shouting.

Taki, and the rest of the crowd, turned to look at him and he prayed for the ability to become invisible. This friendship thing was NOT working out the way he’d hoped it would. Grabbing his insane companion by the arm, he hauled Taki away from the whispering crowd. “Let’s just go, Taki, please.”

“Why? Isn’t this FUN?” Taki asked, widening his eyes to appear innocent.

“Taki…” Hide murmured softly, feeling his face start to burn, though not from the exposure to sunlight. Shaking his head, he wrote the reaction off as a long dormant memory. Vampires did NOT blush. “Clothes…”

“Okay… but we’re going to Shibuya for clothes. I refuse to wear anything that has a ‘designer’ name on it. The only names I ever wore on my clothes were the ones my Mom used to write in them when I was in grade school.”

Somehow, it was easy for Hide to picture Taki in grade school, imagining that he was most likely just a shorter version of the person he was now. The thought made him chuckle. When he returned from his reverie, he realized that Taki had disappeared, again. Suddenly, he heard an explosion of female laughter and knew instantly what had instigated it. Making his way up the sidewalk, Hide discovered that his assumption had been right. There was Taki; one foot perched on a bench, surrounded by about a dozen school girls, probably out on a field trip.

Grabbing him by the arm, Hide pulled him away from the group of girls, to their obvious disappointment. “Taki… so far I’ve bought a television, a DVD player, a stereo, two speakers, a computer and two cell phones.” Snagging the back of his shirt as the younger man tried to make a break for it, he continued, “Taki! We need to get you some clothes… now!”

Hide managed to guide the grumbling younger man toward a taxi; calmly answering his angry jibes with patient comments. Another short taxi ride and they were in Shibuya, nearly in the same location where they’d first come across one another.

“Oh no, you don’t,” Hide said tersely, as Taki tried to head toward another group of young girls no sooner than the taxi had stopped to let them out. The vampire finally gave Taki another tiny glimpse of his power as the younger man kept trying to pull away and the older man held him fast, with just the grip of a single hand, wrapped around his wrist.

“You’re no fun,” grumbled Taki, as he finally allowed Hide to steer him down the street where some of the trendier clothing stores were located.

Shaking his head like a weary parent, Hide muttered, “Please, just find something. The sun is starting to get to me. I’d REALLY like to get home soon.”

“Fine… I’ll look in here,” Taki replied, walking into the first store they came to. After rummaging through the shop for no more than twenty minutes, Taki arrived back at the register with a bundle of items. Dropping them on the counter, he replied, “Done.”

“All ready? But you haven’t even looked around.” was Hide’s surprised response.

Shaking his head, Taki went on, “If you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly in vogue. Clothes are clothes. You wear ‘em ‘til they get cruddy, then you toss ‘em. These are good enough. I’m done.”

Not about to go poking through the clothes his friend had selected, Hide shrugged and waited for the saleslady to give him the total, which he promptly paid. When he got out of the store, he handed the package to Taki, who’d stepped outside to wait.

“Are you sure that’s going to be enough for you to wear? I only saw some shirts and pants. What about a jacket? It gets cold sometimes…”

Taki turned to him, a disgusted look on his face. “What are you, my mother? I’ll get some other things when I get another job,” he muttered, flatly.

That’s when it hit Hide, Taki didn’t want to buy more than he could afford, since they’d agreed that Taki would pay him back for the clothes. With the exception of the cell phones, everything else they’d bought was for use in the house, Hide’s house.

A wave of guilt washed over him and Hide shuffled uncomfortably.

“Now what?” Taki asked; a hint of anger in his voice. “Don’t you start feeling sorry for me, dude.
I don’t need your pity. All that’s going to do is piss me off.” He began to stalk away, leaving Hide behind, still overcome by his guilt. Stopping several meters away, Taki turned and yelled, “Oi! Come on. Let’s get going. You have to get out of the sun pretty soon, don’t you?”

Taki was right. They’d been out for hours and Hide was really starting to feel the effects. He slowly caught up with his friend, blue-green eyes studying the younger man with a new appreciation. Just then something in a nearby shop window caught his attention. As he turned to look at it, he noticed that Taki was doing the same thing. It was a leather jacket, the type that bikers wear, completely black except for a bright red and yellow dragon embroidered on the back. Looking back at Taki, the younger man quickly shifted his glance elsewhere when he discovered he was being watched. “C’mon… let’s get out of here.”

Hide didn’t respond.

Shrugging, Taki stuffed his hands in his pockets and started walking again, head down, mumbling to himself.

“Taki, wait,” Hide shouted, as he ducked into the store, only to emerge minutes later with a large package. Grinning broadly, he walked straight up to his friend and passed the package over to him.

“What’s this?” Taki asked, archly.

“It’s a gift.”

Handing the package roughly back to Hide, Taki replied, “I can’t take this.”

“Onegai. Please, Taki. I want you to have it.”

Reaching into the package, Taki fingered the supple leather, appreciatively. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt anything so amazing. Hide placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s a gift, Taki. Please accept it.”

Taki pulled the jacket from the bag, holding it up as though he were examining it for flaws. He found none.

“You need a jacket. This is a jacket. It’s just that simple. Please, Taki.”

Sliding his right arm through the sleeve, all it took was one brush of the buttery leather against his skin and he was sold. Pulling the jacket all the way on, he flexed, testing the fit. Like a soft black leather glove. It couldn’t have been more perfect if they had sewn it on him while he was standing there. Turing to face his friend, he struck a classic modeling pose.

“Looks good on you,” Hide remarked, eyes glittering.

“Of course it does… I AM a sex symbol, after all.”

Laughing, they began walking toward the street corner, where they could finally grab a taxi and head home.

“Hide…”

“Nan da?”

“Thanks. No one’s ever given me a gift like this before. I don’t really know what to say.”

Hide smiled. “It was my pleasure, Taki.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Carrying his packages into the house, Taki still couldn’t believe his fortune. “I must finally have done something right,” he thought. He kept shaking his head as he stuffed his new clothes into the closet, careful at least, to hang the jacket. The electronics they’d picked out would start arriving the next day and he couldn’t wait to set everything up. In the back of his mind he hoped Hide would like everything they’d selected. Furrowing his brow, he found it curious that he would suddenly be concerned with what the vampire liked or disliked. They’d barely known each other 24-hours and yet, it seemed like they had actually been friends all of their lives. It was a very strange situation Taki found himself in. It was so easy it was scary. He was actually starting to LIKE the vampire. The guy was smart and the guy was rich. Beyond that all Taki knew was the guy had had to endure over a hundred years of crap that wasn’t even his fault. Taki couldn’t even fathom what that would feel like. He’d put up with shit for 21 years, but that was just a drop in the bucket. He didn’t know what he would have done if his mother had turned on him the way Hide’s had. He didn’t even want to think about how it would have been if he’d had NO ONE. “Friends, huh?” he muttered. “I guess I could give it a shot.” He grinned evilly, as he produced the stick he’d picked up in the street the previous day. “I’ll keep this as back-up though… just in case.”

They’d been out for the better part of the day, so the early evening breezes were just starting to make their way though the open windows of the house as Taki decided to try that furo he’d been eyeing the previous night. Making certain his door was locked, he went into the bathroom and turned the water on, testing the temperature before allowing the furo to fill. Then he stepped into the shower to rise off before soaking. Minutes later he stepped back out, ready for that soak. He’d overestimated the water pressure and the furo had overflowed a little, spilling onto the bathroom floor. “Shit,” he thought, shutting off the pipe and mopping up the extra water with his towel, wringing it out in the shower. When the floor was dry, he gingerly placed a foot in the furo, waiting until he’d adjusted to the water temperature before venturing the rest of his body in. Sinking down with a contented sigh, he thought, “THIS is the life.”

He must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he remembered was frantic knocking on the bedroom door and Hide’s concerned voice asking if he was okay. “Yeah, yeah,” he mumbled. “I’ll be right out.”

Stumbling out of the furo, he grabbed another towel from the shelf and wrapped it around his waist. Opening the bedroom door, he peered out into the hall. “You wanted something?” he asked the startled Hide.

“I just wanted to let you know that dinner is ready. I got worried when you didn’t answer. I’m sorry if I interrupted your bath.”

“No, no. I dozed off in the furo. Let me get some clothes on. I’ll be right out.”

Changing into a new shirt and pants, he took a quick swipe at his hair with his brush before walking into the dining room. There was enough food on the table to feed an army. “You cook too?” he asked Hide incredulously, to which the vampire sheepishly nodded.

Sitting down he grabbed the bottle of Asahi Hide had left next to his plate and began to pour some of the liquid into Hide’s glass, passing the glass back to the vampire before starting to fill his own. Reaching across the table, Hide gently took the bottle from Taki’s hand and poured the drink for him. Formalities out of the way, they settled into a comfortable dinner, Taki sampling each of the dishes Hide had set out, startled to discover that each one was tastier than the previous one.

“Damn, you’re weird,” Taki muttered. “You don’t even need to EAT and yet you can cook better than anyone I’ve ever known… except for my Mom. This is good,” he said, referring to Hide’s namasu, “But my Mom’s is better.”

“You’ll have to get me her recipe someday, then.” Hide replied, smiling. “I’m glad you like everything else, though.”

“Hell, yeah. Damn, you sure know how to make a guy happy.” No sooner had the words left his lips than both men froze, Hide’s eyes burning into Taki’s as Taki’s widened to the size of saucers. “Let me rephrase that…” he muttered, quickly.

The awkward moment passed without another mention, as the men resumed eating in companionable silence.

After dinner they retired to the living room, a second bottle of beer perched on the coffee table between them. Hide turned on the television and they watched the news together, each man sitting on his own sofa, though Taki had moved them so they made an L-shape instead of facing one another as Hide had kept them.

Hide kept glancing in Taki’s direction, completely amazed by the fact that the young man seemed to have already settled in and made himself comfortable. He looked right at home, lounging on the sofa, his left arm braced behind his head as a pillow and his right hand wrapped around his drink. For the first time in his life, Hide was happy… truly happy. He studied Taki as the young man lay oblivious to his scrutiny. The trust the young man was placing in him at this very moment, whether he realized it or not, was immeasurable. His eyes misted as his heart clenched, the feeling foreign… unfamiliar to him.

It was at that moment that Taki turned his head, somehow sensing that he was being watched.

Noting the sheen in the vampire’s eyes, he asked, “You okay?” There was no response as the vampire continued staring at him. “Why are you looking at me like that?” he demanded, starting to feel his ire rise.

Hide could see Taki‘s lips moving, but he wasn’t hearing the words.

“Hmm…” Hide replied, not quite coming out of his daydream.

“I asked why you were staring at me like that. You’re not going to vamp out on me, are you?” Taki repeated, anxiously.

“Oh… gomen nasai,” Hide apologized; embarrassed that he’d been caught. “I was just thinking about some things. I didn’t mean to frighten you like that.”

“Okay, dude, let’s get one thing straight… you do NOT frighten me. At all. Period. Got it.”

Hide smiled, nodding. “Poor choice of words. Again I apologize.”

Taki looked at him through the corner of his eye. “Enough already. If I hear you say, ‘gomen nasai’ or ‘I apologize’ one more time, I’m going to snap. Man, you really need to loosen up… you’re worse than a girl.”

Hide drew back, shocked. He’d been compared to many things in his life, but never a female. THAT was new. He was about to say something when Taki turned the volume up on the television show he’d been watching and said, “Forget it. Just watch the show.” Turning back to the television both men let the subject drop. They watched the end of an American movie followed by a popular game show, until Hide stood and announced that he would be right back. Disappearing for twenty minutes or so, he reemerged wearing pajamas, very fancy dark green ones. Taki raised an eyebrow at him, watching as the vampire walked across the living room and resumed his seat on the sofa. Shrugging, the younger man got up and vanished as well. When he came back he was wearing a tank top and shorts. “I’m gonna need to do some washing soon because my stuff is starting to get rank,” he proclaimed.

Hide nodded. “Tomorrow. We’ll do some laundry tomorrow.”

“You don’t have someone who does it for you?” asked Taki, expectantly.

“There’s a laundry room at the back of the house.” Hide replied, shaking his head. “If you hadn’t noticed, I prefer not to have too many people around me.”

Letting out an evil snort, Taki responded, “So out of all the people in this country, you go out and try to make friends with ME! Dude, you are seriously weird.”

“Don’t remind me… I’m trying not to think about it,” said Hide, which cracked Taki up. “Not bad, dude. You’re learning.”

They settled back into their sofas to watch a popular anime that Taki claimed to love. Hide had to admit, for a cartoon, it was rather enjoyable. Suddenly, he was startled by a faint sound coming from Taki. Leaning forward slightly, he discovered that Taki had fallen asleep, snoring softly. Standing up, Hide went to a closet and brought out a large comforter, draping it over Taki’s sleeping form. Taking the remote control from the younger man’s hand, he turned the television off. Clearing the beer bottle and glasses away, Hide sat at the edge of his coffee table, watching the young man as he slept. Just then Taki turned his head and it slipped off the arm of the sofa. Rushing back to the closet, Hide brought a pillow with him this time, sliding it under Taki’s head before the uncomfortable position woke young man. Brushing an unruly strand of black hair out of Taki’s face, Hide traced the outline of high cheekbones and thin lips with his fingertips, snatching his hand back when he realized what he was doing. “Oyasu min… Taki,” he whispered, as he turned the living room light off and went to his own bedroom.

As soon as Hide’s bedroom door clicked shut, sleepy eyes drifted open. “Oyasu min, Hide,” came the muted reply, too soft for even the vampire’s acute hearing to catch. Then the eyes slid shut again and all was still.


~End of Chapter One~