(Team Fantasy) [Heist] Iron

[animangod]

Title: Iron
Prompt: Heist
Rating:M or slightly R-ish.
Warnings: Language. Some violence. Vampirism. Needless bloodshed. Death. Brief nudity. Slavery and slightly dubious consent. Ambiguous stuff happens.
Notes: Faie is the old spelling for fairy. Omitted the sexual related stuff and placed a `123456789 where there's a large break in scene. The Faie language is using Gujarati. If there's any confusion over what was said during the scene, I'll be happy to include all sentences and spells in the faie language translated into English. The poem is supposed to be a haiku in Japanese but Translate Google sucks when it came time for that, so it's just in brackets to indicate it's not supposed to be in a language Fai understands.

For the longest time, humans forgot how real their primordial fear was, forgot about the reality of the sharp fanged pale skinned, black-lipped bloodletting creatures that lurk in the dark places, that striked a fear in their race so powerful, ancestors later still carried that same fear, many having never seen one, many believing they were simply urban legends, myths passed down through the generations, distorted by years and mistranslations. Such creatures couldn’t have possibly existed, most wanted to believe. The fear of the vampires was ludicrous yet good for controlling the children. Adults knew better - vampire couldn’t possibly have ever been real. Or so they chose to believe. Up until the day, an army of them came out from the shadows to put the humans back in their fearful place.

The vampires reproduction was much slower than the humans. Humans can have one or more children in a relatively short gestation cycle. Only nine months. But a vampire can mate and bring forth new kin only once every ten years. If they were fortunate enough to find a worthy mate in that time. In the meantime, they had to live and feed off blood. They could eat other food, but drinking blood was what kept them alive. Humans raise and feed cattle so that the cattle would one day feed them. Humans and cattle were no different to a vampire. An animal to be raised only to provide sustenance later in life.

There were several clans upon the vampires, and each demanded a different level of respect and power. Many of the Elite clans of vampires were as beautiful and as enticing as Satan’s hand. Some were grotesque in nature and appearance, yet the most dangerous were the rogue vampires as reason held little room in their flesh, forsaken for destruction as they took and destroyed, until human or vampire slew them. Like humans, each vampire was unique, both in appearance and abilities possessed. Many held many similarities, but no two, not even twins, were perfectly identical.

Over the centuries, some were mislabeled cannibals, or energy vampires, because they had blended in too well with the humans before eating from them, drinking their blood and the some went as far to tear apart the flesh and bones and consume it as part of their meal. Some were vampires and some were humans who had forsaken a self preservation skill. Either way, those few were enough to seek their immediate death. For everyone’s sake.

On the night of Reckoning, an army of rogue vampires, vampires who intended to break the small peace most of the rest of the vampire clans had managed to make with their human prey, took to towns and cities, and slaughtered plenty of docile “cattle”, draining the life out of hundreds of thousands of humans. Many fought back, with arrows, blades, and fire were brought off to defend their lives and the lives of their families as well as vampire brethren trying to save the humans from annihilation as well as kill the rogues that threatened their livelihoods. There were losses on the offensive side, but not nearly as many as the humans gone soft after years of docility and overpopulation.

Two months and eight years had passed since that night, when the ruthless reputation of vampires returned and with them the innate fear of them was brought to the very conscious mind of those left alive, that had to deal with the consequences of what the army had caused. Their numbers weren’t all of the vampire populace but enough that they were once more feared and hated by those that had to hide, live in fear of being killed by that level of brutality. Of course, vampires were drawn to complimentary blood, and many could pick out which ones were a match by their scent, knowing which ones to drink from and which ones would give them a rotten stomach ache, if they did.

Kurogane was one of the individuals that was not killed in those first months, those first years, and like the remaining humans, survival was important to him - however, not only survival but to kill the vampires he found. His father worked with metal and had forged a sword made of silver and damascus steel. It had served his father well and had never failed him when he called upon his strength and the strength of the sword to defend and protect those that mattered to him when their village was under siege. In what time he could, he taught his son how to wield different weapons, Kurogane’s favorite always being that blade that he watched his father wield so spectacularly. His mother taught him how to cook meals over a wood fire and how to make medicines from nature’s garden as he had no talent for building protective wards, a small protective bubble to ward off the murderers as hide his scent.

However one day, his father was killed, eight months after they showed up. He never forgot what he saw, as his mother carried him away, with that sword, as she hid them beneath a barrier to keep them from being detected, watched from where his mother and he were as his father fought off the destructive vampires with the other townsmen, using what they had at their disposal to defeat them. His father promised to join back up with them as soon as he could. However, the men didn’t stand a chance against the overwhelming numbers, and it turned into a massacre. While vampires fell, it wasn’t without inflicting increasing damage to the townsfolk, and if one failed to land a killing blow, the vampires had accelerated regeneration powers to heal from their injuries by backing out a distance to heal up, and coming back in to take on the Slayers’ force once the wound was closed, or would fight and kill regardless of how many wounds covered their bodies until a fatal blow killed them. His father fought until his very last breath, but he would not be able to rejoin his loved ones, not alive, anyway.

Five years later, and Kurogane lost his mother as well. They lived in the same village and were helping to repair it as well as take care of the remaining folk, mostly women and children. It had been a surprise attack, as hunger crazed vampires smashed through the roof of their home. His mother had heard a noise and told him to fetch the family sword. He listened to his mother’s instructions, drawing the sword from its sheath, and went back to his mother, so he could protect her, but the choice was taken from him as he arrived back, only to watch wood spear through his mother, wood from the roof as a vampire came through the ceiling and towards his dying mother. The scent of spilled blood drew them like sharks, coming for the blood. He stood by his mother’s side and killed every last one that got near them. All he could do was make them pay for the death of his father, for his mother, for everyone that had died. He swore he’d make them pay for what they’d done.

Days after, a child came to him. She was so pale skinned, he mistook her initially for a young vampire and glared a promise of death at her. “Be at ease,” she spoke in a soft voice, unafraid. “I am like you.”

Kurogane held the silver blade up against her neck, as if to confirm her story. She made no offensive move and was not phased by the silver, so he drew it back, away from her, for now.

“Who are you?”

She smiled softly, “I’ve come here, to see your mother, Tsubame.”

Kurogane grew defensive, “how do you know that name?”

“I have the ability to see into dreams. People dream before they die, and it was her wish for me to help you.”

Kurogane stood guard by his mother’s frame, as he let the child step closer, and place a soft hand against her face, “let’s let your mother sleep, shall we.”

Kurogane stood there, letting down his defenses as tears dripped down his face, unbidden and unrelenting, as they expressed what words failed him. The people he loved, he failed again, to keep them safe from the murderous vampires.

“There is a workshop in town… the owner no longer lives there. Perhaps we can find something to help ward away the corrupted vampires there.”

Kurogane didn’t say anything, as he rubbed those tears out of his eyes, and sheathed the sword. He tied it to the right side of his waist so he could draw it from the left, his dominant hand. He was not going to mention that the workshop was where his father worked until the time he had died, where he had worked to support his mother and himself and where he had been working hard during the days to make things, traps to kill vampires with, blades and arrow tips both large and small for the women and boys left, where he’d continued the practices his father had been teaching him so they would not die out with his father’s death.

Kurogane invited Tomoyo to eat with him, since he had not eaten since the day he lost his mother, and they’d both need their strength. After filling their stomachs, Tomoyo helped him gather what supplies still remained there and left the ransacked house, pouring kerosene everywhere and setting it ablaze, starting in the room where his mother had died, so that her spirit could rest, knowing there was no way she would return as one of them.

Iron was not a weapon against the vampires, but if vampires were real, then there was a high chance the faie were to, and from all of his studies, iron burned them. So with Tomoyo’s assistance, she kept a tiny barrier around them to keep from drawing in any vampires in the area as they got to work. The fire from the house alight would also ward them away. She taught him how to sew and they spent many hours fixing up a set of his own armour to guard against bites and claws. What silver remained was in small bulk or in sliver size, so was used as a single outer layer to protect him against vampire attacks and Damascus steel, made with iron, to keep the faie away, and a softer padding to line the armour with, using cushioning that had been there to make seating easier on the body.

There wasn’t enough of the metals left to make a lot of armour so Kurogane and Tomoyo worked together and made a shoulder pad for his left shoulder, and took advantage of premade armour initially designed to deflect attacks, armour he originally made for someone else but they perished the very same week he was finishing it up. Additionally, the armour was sewn over, with a waterproof fabric. Black over everything and pinkish red cross-stitch seams since that’s what they had to work with. With the armour being larger than he, it also seconded as a place to tuck small things of value to them, things that would make their life a little easier. Kurogane asked for extra assistance to make sure it was reversible so that the armour could second as a cushion that Tomoyo could lay her head on in times of rest, and she was glad to help out with that. And for another sake, small trinkets were embedded between the layers of armour and cushioning, relevant to them and sealed inside by the sewing. They would be there, protected, should the need for them to be removed ever come.

Finally, Kurogane had the idea to add a collar for around his throat, to safeguard the vulnerable flesh from the sharp fangs and piercing claws that would open up a major vein to the bloodsuckers, so he thought ahead and just like people used on their dogs to protect them against wolf attacks, he made one that was a bit too large now, but that meant he had time and could grow into it without risk of loss of breath. To ascertain it would stay on, Kurogane suffered through small burns on the back of his neck as the price of not being able to take off the damascus steel collar, fitted with silver spikes. Tomoyo fetched cold waters to soothe the burns once the collar was finished being set into place. The worker’s gloves were taken from his father’s shop and a stained rag was tied up to keep his hair out of his eyes.

While Tomoyo could build a barrier to protect herself and those around her, she was by no means a physical fighter. Instead, in the time she spent with Kurogane, she helped out with other tasks. She gathered water, herbs, fruits and berries, legumes and nuts, food that could provide for them. She taught Kurogane further about medicine, and had him teach her her how to make fires, and helped patch up his injuries.

Kurogane spent the next three years protecting the young female more than ten years his junior, as he held stakeouts, hunting down the vampires that had slain their loved ones, fished and tackled game animals to provide them with meat. He spent many moonlit nights and clouded over days hunting them as he was sure they hunted him. In the case of kill or be killed, he chose to kill.

When they could, they took advantage of an empty home, and when an occupied home offered hospitality to the vampire Slayer and his “younger sister” - she may not have been his sister by blood, but she was his sister in bonds - they helped out how they could to ease the family’s life as well. Collecting firewood, cooking dinner, washing dishes, whatever they could do to help. It was a hard life on their own, but when you’re on the run from being caught by blood thirsty creatures, the pleasantries of civilian life had to be forgotten for much time between towns. When they had only another to rely on, Kurogane kept Tomoyo close when it was time for some shut eye, holding her against the cushion side of his armour with one arm and using his armoured arm as his own pillow.

The larger cities were twice as dangerous as small towns. Between civilians who made deals with the vampires, whether for profit or for protection, and the vampires themselves, it was more often a waiting death trap for a known vampire slayer. Many wanted the vampires dead, so that humans were once more the ruling class but those that fought against, those that bared their fangs and weapons against a vampire, they were lucky if they lived through the ordeal having slain the other, and just as lucky were those that were killed in the ensuing struggle. Those unfortunate enough to have slain vampires, and valued enough to keep alive, were sold as blood slaves to only the most elite clans of the vampires, in auctions, paid in blood - some willingly sold themselves into blood slavery if it meant their family was spared. They held separate auctions for those, where you got a blood slave or more for the price of safeguarding the family from being devoured in a single meal.

Eight years and two months had passed since the Night of Reckoning, and Kurogane was in the midst of cleaning up from a deer kill. To clean up, he went to a nearby lake. The sky was overcast that day, a double-edged sword, as it was perfect vampire weather. While vampires would not die due to the sun’s light, it did make most lethargic from a decrease of energy associated with the light and heat of the sun. Because it was overcast, he surveyed the area and when he found no viable threat, he let his guard down a little.

Setting his things down on the embankment, he took a swim in the chilly waters, surfacing near the middle of the lake. He looked around a little as he rubbed the water over his skin, to get the feel and smell of the blood off when he felt a chill crawl down his spine. At first he guessed it was the water, so he swam back towards the shoreline. Shaking off some of the water, he was still drenched as he began to put his clothes and armour back on, when his senses went on danger alert mode. Besides the lake in the clearing of the trees, there didn’t seem to be anything super close by yet, as though floating with the breeze, he heard the quiet sound of laughter. It sounded like a child’s laughter and that of chimes, so there was no way it was Tomoyo. He scanned the area, and at the other end of the lake, he spotted something. At first glance, it reminded him of a smooth white rock yet just slightly more pointed at the top. Upon further gazing, it looked to have little limbs and feathery wings, something he had not witnessed before, but seeing it rang a few alarm bells in his brain. It was no bird, especially since it just sort of floated in the air, so it was definitely a magical creature. Whatever it was.

Worried more for Tomoyo’s safety, he just hoped her barrier would be enough to protect her from the creature, and any or all of its accomplices. But just in case, he hollered out. “Tsukihime! Stay Hidden!” He didn’t want her coming for him if it meant they’d go after her as well. Using Tsukihime instead of Tomoyo should have tipped her off that there was a potentially dangerous threat nearby, and one that could possibly have access to name magick. If she could hide like a bunny, that’d be best. To stay hidden until he came back for her or until she could sense that there was no longer a threat around.

He stared at the winged creature, studying it for future knowledge. Unlike the vampires, who could look like humans but weren’t, this creature held no obvious resemblance to humans. It didn’t take him long to guess it was related to the faie, but there was almost no knowledge left of what faie were like or capable of. Records of faie were mixed, regarding them between benevolent and malicious, spiteful and vengeful, or kind and helpful, perhaps depending on who they crossed paths with. The only thing that was well documented was that iron burns them. A rumor about that was that if they do you a favor, you owe them payment of some sort (and something about don’t say thank you to a faie as that implies you do not intend to pay them for their services).

Ēka ūṇḍā ūṅgha tamanē thaśē
huṁ tārī pāsēthī chupāvavā śuṁ nathī yāda.
Jādu kāma ā hō'ī dō,
mārā māṭē ā jōḍaṇī kāma karī'ē.

The words were repeated as those voices floated with the breeze, yet keeping a distance from him. He saw the one creature, with its wings but it didn’t sound like the voices were coming from it, but all around him and the lake. There were many more faie around, much smaller ones as dandelion seeds took flight and scattered with the breeze, as the smaller seed-riding faie continued to sing their enchantment.

Tēmaṇē jādu pratikāra.

That sounded like it came from behind the feathered one, a shadowy figure approaching and he glared trying to focus on what was there. Was it humanoid? He couldn’t be sure, but the more he tried to focus in on what was coming, the more whatever the things were chanting affected him, and it took great effort to keep his eyes open. He rubbed at his eyes with one hand, as he pulled his blade out and pointed it at the feathered one, his attention shifting to the tiny voices to the feathered one and to who, or what, ever was walking closer from the other side of the lake. However, as strong willed as he was, he had no talent for warding magical effects and the spell took its effect, as his world faded to black.

Tēmaṇē mānava badalē apavādarūpa chē, tamē nathī lāgatuṁ nathī?

Whatever was said, the words barely registered in his ears as he fell heavily to the ground, the incantation having worn through his defenses, pulling him into a deep sleep.

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“Tēmaṇē mantra pratikāra māṭē pūratī majabūta chē.”

“Tēmaṇē lōha pahērē! Tē baḷē!”

Kurogane heard voices around him. More than one. That was not a good sign. He slowly forced his eyes open to see what was going on, staying quiet as he looked about. He was definitely not in the forest anymore. The air was cool and he felt like they were underground somewhere. There were small creatures, some only as tall as a tiny fingernail while others were no taller than a young kid in the room, with a distinctly non-humanness to their features. Some had skin taut against bone structure others more rugged as though their skin was made from pebbles. Heads slightly pointed, and speaking a language he failed to understand. The room was not large, the walls luminescent with some kind of biological matter - grasses and vines from the looks of things. Some of the creatures moved further away as they saw voluntary movement from him.

Tēmaṇē pahēlēthī ja jōḍaṇī tōḍī.

"Then put the restraints on him, regardless."

Tē pahēlāthī ja karavāmāṁ āvē chē.

Kurogane understood enough to know he needed to get out of that situation, and moved his left hand towards his hip to grab ... something. Whatever it was was no longer there, and he noticed a faint purplish glow around his wrists, keeping them pinned together.

"The hell!?"

"So, you are cognitive once more. Seems the sleep spell wore off quicker than is normal."

"The hell am I?!"

"You're not far off, Slayer," the vampire joked.

"The name is Kurogane!"

"Very well, Kurogane," the vampire said casually, making a written note of that on a flat piece of wood.

"You didn't answer my question. Where is this place?"

"This... this here is Processing."

"Processing for what?"

"For auction of course."

"Auction!?"

"Loud as well," the vampire sighed as he moved closer, and Kurogane made a move to stand, although that didn't work out any better for him. Although he saw nothing there, it felt like his feet were weighted together and to the ground. The vampire paused short of reaching Kurogane.

"Well, Kurogane, there was a trap laid for Slayers like yourself and you fell right into it. Now you're going to be sold to one of the pedigree vampires that will come to the auction at the next moon."

"Was anyone else ensnared by your faie tricks?"

"I'm surprised you know it was the faie ... however you are not the first nor the last the faie will help us catch."

"That's not what... was...where your kind found me, was there anyone else taken?"

"... " the vampire looked to his faie allies.

Taḷāva khātē an'ya kō'ī naśvara hājara hatī, a few of them spoke out.

"They state there was no other mortal, Slayer or otherwise, found in your vicinity."

Kurogane let out a relieved breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. That means she's still out there.

The vampire stepped closer as he and some of the faie moved in within swinging range, should Kurogane be able to break through his magical bonds. Something he'd need a faie spell to do so. "Now, Kurogane, would you be willing to take off your armour?"

"No … Why the hell would I do that for?!"

“So that we can look for any injuries or marks of Claim.”

“I belong to no one! Especially not to any of your kind,” Kurogane declared.

“Well, that will change soon enough. You might as well get comfortable beforehand. Although I can assure you of their rank in our society, there’s no telling what kind of personality will come with the one to have the bigger bank for you.”

Kurogane grew silent instead of rising to comment, focusing more of his attentions on trying to break free from the magical restraints that bound him.

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As the moon rose high in the sky, Kurogane glared at the vampires around, looked over the caught Slayers. For now, he continued to silently resist the magical restraints keeping him physically in place - he was nothing if not stubborn and a survivor. Every one of the caught vampire slayers were forced in place and made to wear a sign, announcing how many Vampires had been slain by them and what their blood type was. The vampire from processing could tell all that from a single drop of blood. If a name was given, it too, was written on the sign. Kurogane held no doubt that there were at least a few there that not only knew blood magic but name magick as well, two of the most powerful magic there was. It was why Kurogane was supplied. Names had power to them, so he never gave them his other name. He would let them know the name his father supplied him with, his surname, but he would not share with them the name his mother had given him. At that time, he thought only Tomoyo knew his first name, and only she did he plan to share it with.

Other slayers showed resilience to their situation. Like him, plotting on getting free, while others showed signs of giving in to their fate. Those willing to sell themselves were sold elsewhere so there was a reduced chance of a coup against them from the subservient humans getting ideas from the ambivalence of the slayers.

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The Valeria Clan were close friends with the Ashura Clan, neighbors in the northern lands of snow while their Clan was located in a slightly more hospitable terrain. Most months only saw the sun for about four hours each day, the dusk and dawn hours most prominent and full out night was also about four hours. Although plant life wasn’t necessary for their specific survival, plants fed their food, which was their primary reason for growing crops in the first place. So it fed what fed them and that was what was important.

Son of the clan’s second prince, Yuui quite often helped with the gardening efforts. He liked to watch the green things grow, and he didn’t mind getting his hands dirty. Yuui liked taking care of the food but his twin brother and eldest son, Fai, like to take care of the “Food”. Fai enjoyed caring for the animals, making sure they were comfortable and clean, that they were getting enough food. Sometimes he would sing made up songs to them to ease them. Yuui made friends with nature itself, the plants and water and the rocks around, while Fai made friends with the animals, the faie, and the human village located within their territory, started when a young couple asked to be spared a quick death in return they would willfully donate blood when asked. Even alike in appearance, they were their own selves.

Within the past two decades, they were blessed with a younger sister, Chii. Their mother, Freya couldn’t have been more proud than when she held her baby daughter, successful in delivering three children. Most vampires birthed one, maybe two, in their whole lifetime, and she had brought in a third life. Fai and Yuui adored their baby sister, and showed it in different ways.

Fai cooed and smiled at her and loved to carry her around and dress her up with fancy laces. Yuui had less concern with fashion and fussed to make sure they were dressed for the weather, and spoke to her as he would to someone he considered equal status. So far, she’d only spoken her name in response; yet, even with her limited verbatim, she was still quite expressive, and it didn’t take long for those that listened to figure out what she was trying to say.

When Blood Auctions were held, they were one of the many Clans that were granted special invitation to attend them. A good reason for this was lesser clansmen were not as capable to control potentially defiant and resourcefully lethal slaves. They were not banned from having a blood slave; they just had to find another means of obtaining one than a Blood Auction. That usually meant a human had to offer their life and blood to a vampire in trade their family to be unharmed. It didn’t always work out in the human’s favor, and sometimes a vampire broke that blood oath. A crime that was a little too common amongst lesser clansmen, and even some of the higher clansmen.

Since his clan had their own mortal village, there was no need to buy a blood slave except for getting one that’s a personal meal provider than one any of the clan can feast upon should they have complimentary blood. Fai and Yuui occasionally were able to procure a personal blood slave that matched their tastes. Yuui prefered ones that seconded as a companion, which often led him to the other kind of blood auction, while Fai intentionally went after ones that still had a lot of untamable and protective spirit, not interested in one that would stop being true to themselves.

Having received an invitation to the latest Blood Auction, Fai went to it, and wandered through looking at the different slaves that were available. Yuui was not with him, since he was at one of those indentured sales. So he brought his young sister instead. She rode atop his shoulders, so she was not trampled underfoot, as other clans members looked at the slaves and not necessarily to what was at knee level.

Some clans, while high in power decided that meant they needed to ride the high and haughty horse, as the saying goes. Fai did not feel that way. Power was not something you let get to your head, or you end up like some of the unlucky souls now for sale, or under their foot as they use brain over brawn. Power was good, but not if you let it inflate your ego.

As he perused the selection, Chii’s hands in his hair as she held onto him that way, looking for anyone that struck his or her fancy, he noticed some had been stripped of near all clothing, left with only enough to be decent but none held a weapon.

Up ahead, Chii saw something that looked quite dangerous, and tugged on her brother’s hair to let him know, “Chii!” The small tug and Fai stared down at Kurogane, seeing he was still clad in dangerous armour. He gently set one hand on top of hers and smiled even if she couldn’t see it. He bided his time as he looked at the others, inspecting the quality of care and their stats, before making it in front of Kurogane and sizing him up. The human stood taller than he by nearly a whole hand, making him almost eye level with his younger sister on his shoulders, as he forcefully stood on a slightly elevated platform.

In all visible regards, he was well kept, he was of the ideal blood type, and he still had a lot of fight left in him, as Fai was not blind to the small squirms to break the restraints, the clenched fists and teeth, and eyes filled with fire. Detracting from him, the armour on his body looked snug in places like he’d grown into it instead of the other way around, and had not been removed by their faie allies - if it was standard armour the faie could remove it, and he would have had that taken from him, but the cold iron hidden under the black fabric made that not possible, as the close exposure needed to remove it would have burned them, could even kill them. And his collar which had no breaks barely gave the neck breathing room. Blood that directly came from the neck always tasted better than anywhere else, and that was for all intents and purposes cut off for their kind by his spiked collar. If one of them wanted to risk a stab in the eye, they could go for the collarbone instead.

“I will have you,” Fai spoke quietly, smiling at Kurogane before moving on to look at the rest. Chii looked back at him before moving on with her brother to stare at the others and clutch at her brother’s blond hair.

Once all the members attending the auction had a chance to look at the selection available, some left not finding a slave quite matching what they were looking for, while those that remained waited near the slave they wanted, some clan members waiting by different slaves since they were after more than one. Fai and Chii waited near Kurogane, waiting for his blood to be auctioned off. There were others of course, others that could overlook his dangerous armour and his resilient personality, but Fai noticed that some of them only wanted Kurogane so they could personally break his spirit. Fai had no intention of letting them. Kurogane was not blind to see some of those impure motives, to hear the words spoken about him and the captured Slayers around him. He listened as he resisted, so if he ever needed the information about them, it was readily available.

Once it got down to selling, unless the slave you wanted was being sold at that moment, Blood Auctions were incredulously boring affairs of standing around and waiting, before the real action happened as you bid and outbid others for the slave of your choosing, until the price went too high and the other participants dropped out of the running. Well sought after slaves went much higher than others, while those with only a couple of takers would stay relatively low or be quite high - it all depended on how much a clan member was willing to pay in blood to get a particular blood slave.

Six hours passed as others were sold and there were only a few slaves left to be auctioned off. Fai was not sure if it was intentional that they saved the most dangerous for last, for those with enough patience to wait out the ordeal for one of the harder to catch and even harder to tame Blood Slaves. If it was, that was good thinking as it weeded out a few of them and wore on the slaves-to-be as well, while if it was unintentional, then perhaps they should get more auctioneers. Six hours was a long time to wait for the same slave, and Chii slept in his lap for hours, up until they announced Kurogane was to be auctioned off.

Fai picked up his sister and nestled her in the crook of one arm, as he stood up to be actively seen as a contender for Kurogane’s blood, and he studied the competition. Some he knew for a fact he could outbid them - others were a little more plentiful in their Blood banks, and it would turn into a battle of wills, of who was willing to pay what it took to get Kurogane’s blood. No matter, Fai thought as he was determined that Kurogane was coming home with him.

As the auction went on, Fai played on their impatience to get Kurogane, and used that to his advantage as he offered up the asking price for Kurogane, a high bid to begin with due in large part to his blood type and prowess in the field of combat - a buyer had to be serious about obtaining him. As the bidding got progressively more, when the bid slowed down, Fai offered a bid just slightly higher. Just because he was determined to win the auction, he didn't want to spend more than he had to to claim him as his. This drew on for another two hours before Fai was able to claim the winning bid.

Kurogane glared at his purchaser, the scrawny looking vampire having a self-satisfied smirk on his face and the young vampire riding atop his shoulders. He scowled at them both. Fai filled out papers, the promise of exactly how much blood would be transferred from his clan’s blood bank

Fai grabbed hold of his chin, careful of the silver spiked collar, as he pulled his head closer and stared into Kurogane’s eyes. “You’ve denied me access to your beautiful neck, so I’ll just have to get creative in how I claim you as mine.”

Kurogane didn’t comment as he stood there, before Fai pulled his head closer, keeping a firm hold of his chin and jawline, before kissing his lips. Fai waited until Kurogane opened his mouth a little, probably to say something instead, before he caught just the lower lip in his mouth and let his sharp incisors pierce into the tender flesh of Kurogane’s bottom lip. The initial piercing stung some, before the pain disappeared and it felt like Fai was putting something inside him, instead of drawing blood out.

Kurogane waited until the teeth withdrew, so he didn’t rip his lip open, before pressing some distance between them. Kurogane ran his tongue across the pierced flesh, finding the lack of blood odd since he just got bit. “You bastard! What the hell kind of spell did you just put on me?” Kurogane accused him.

“I just gave you a little something to make this more of a … symbiotic relationship,” Fai said with a coy smirk. “Now your life depends on being a blood slave.”

If only looks could kill, as Kurogane glared daggers at Fai, not quite sure what the vampire just did to him, but vehemently disapproving of it either way.

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Outside the auctioneer building, dawn approached. Fai stretched his limbs out, getting ready to head on home. “Alright, it's about time we take to the skies and head home.”

Kurogane was still partially under restraints - the auctioneers had the faie allies take off the one that kept him rooted but his wrists were still securely held. He was a bit apprehensive about this whole flight idea, not that he was given much choice in the matter, since he just got purchased as the vampire’s personal meal provider.

Fai grinned at Kurogane as he poked his cheek with a single digit, “Is Kuro-yum afraid of flying?”

Kurogane tched at the vampire, as he swatted that finger away, “I’m not afraid of flying ... if you were a dragon, I’d totally jump on your back.”

“So then why is it any different if I’m a vampire?” Kurogane chose to just stare at him like he was an idiot.

“Well we have some distance to travel,” Fai mused before picking Kurogane up off his feet.

“What the hell?!” Kurogane yelped, not having expected that.

“Silly, it’s much faster to just carry you,” Fai merrily chirped as he held onto Kurogane, without any difficulty.

“That doesn’t explain why your hand’s on my ass!?” he exclaimed at Fai as a heat overtook his cheeks.

Fai laughed, “Wooops... sorry~” he chirped out. He was not sorry at all, yet shifted his hand lower to securely hold onto Kurogane’s legs near his knees. With both Kurogane and Chii secure, Fai was soon airborne and heading back to where he lived with his family. As Fai zoomed past the local surroundings, Kurogane tried not to let the windchill get to him too much.


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The green acres stretched for miles around, with many groves of trees, and only bits of white, pink and yellow blossoms, and small patches of exposed dirt to offer other coloring to the variety of greens on the ground. Large houses were built far apart and in a way to keep the vampires in the shade during the sunnier hours. Fai and Chii’s was more of a mansion than simply a large abode, where they kept cows on the large pasture during the limited sunny hours but brought them in, to feed from, once the sun set. In the further distance, Kurogane thought he could make out smaller homes or at least smaller buildings, not quite sure what their purpose was of yet.

As Fai landed at the doorstep of his home, he set Kurogane down so he could walk on his own two feet while he moved to carry Chii in his own arms now instead of on his shoulders. “I can only guess what kind of vampires you’ve dealt with before that led to a slaying career, but so it is clear…” Fai began, opening the doors and walking backwards inside as he faced Kurogane, getting him to go along with him, “the Valerian clan frowns upon needless death - rogues, those who have descended into madness, and those who have gone to the pain are the ones who are killed foremost, and prey when a need arises, for instance if our own life or the lives of our family are threatened with death. Otherwise, we do our best to let prey live long lives, by not feeding too much from a single source at one given time. On top of that, the choice to give and how much always belongs to the prey. Even if it’s in your best interests to give blood, none here are allowed to take any without your permission. Most vampires follow that code, feed only when given permission from the living prey, and kill prey only when necessary, but it’s the corrupt ones that ruin that reputation for us.”

Kurogane couldn’t help but be and look surprised by what Fai said about feeding. Them asking permission to feed and then if they were denied permission they wouldn’t feed. He had never seen that amongst them, having the rough luck of almost exclusively meeting ones that were killing for blood. He could get a good idea of what Fai meant by rogues. The vampires that kill for the sake of killing, wasting not only life but, for them, food. That was one of the highest crimes a vampire could perform, according to one thing he overheard different clans’ member talk about while at that coerced auction. What he wasn’t clear about was, “To the pain?”

Fai nodded with a somberness. “To the pain. When living becomes too unbearable that death is a form of mercy. It is deemed acceptable, at that point, to put them out of their misery. It is the duty of the elite clans to eliminate all known rogues, as they are dangerous not only to the vampire communities but the communities of the prey as well.” Fai brought back that sunshiney smile, “But if you happen to be well-behaved, I can see about arranging that should there be news of a rogue vampire, I can have you join me when I’m to take care of them. Your expertise in the slaying field, proof by the armour you donned yourself with, would be quite beneficial on such a mission.”

“I had a weapon too,” Kurogane commented absentmindedly.

Fai smiled at that, “well when the auctioneers found you, there was no such thing on your person.”

Kurogane blinked before staring at Fai suspiciously. “How would you know how they ‘found me’?”

Fai blinked realizing something. “Of course, they told me how. It was in the documentation of you. Why, what could you have possibly imagined I meant by that?”

“... have you been stalking me?”

“I’m sure if I had been, Kuro-puppy would have known about it long before now.”

That didn’t really answer his question and he continued to stare at him, trying to size up whether he could believe this vampire or not. He seemed like he was hiding something but for now it eluded him what it could possibly be.

“Now, let’s get you into some clean clothes. Those clothes look like they haven't been cleaned in a long while,” Fai chirped as he patted Kurogane on the arm while his mother came over to them.

“Is this your new Blood slave, Fai?” she asked him.

Fai smiled, as he turned around, walking up and handed over Chii to his mother. “Yes, Mother; he says his name is Kurogane.”

Kurogane could see a large resemblance between the three of them. The female had high cheekbones, pale almost white skin, slender frame and had shimmering blond hair. Her lips were a dark red, darker than either of the two younger looking ones with red splotches covering parts of her face. And Kurogane wondered about that, as he had seen quite a few vampires in his time with fleshy pink lips to darker reds and even as far as black, but he hadn’t connected that to a particular cause. She was shorter than Fai and seemed more somber than his bright cheerfulness, even as she held her daughter, supporting her body with her arms. He noticed their ears were slightly different, his mother’s and his sister’s being more similar to another than they were to Fai’s, which made him a little curious but not enough to ask. Kurogane stayed quiet as she looked him over, and he could feel her judging him.

“I can’t say I’m surprised to see you bring home someone like him. Make sure he doesn’t cause too much trouble.”

“Of course Mother,” Fai said with a big bright smile as he moved and had his arms suddenly wrapped around Kurogane’s right arm. “Don’t worry; I’m going to take good care of him so he won’t be any trouble for you at all.”

Fai led Kurogane along through his home, giving a general explanation for rooms they passed by on the way to his own chambers. Inside his room was a large bed covered with blankets, pillows and furs neatly arranged. That was about it in the immediate room that looked neatly organized. There was a vanity desk across from the bed with vases of flowers and a hairbrush on it, with paintbrushes and scrolls taking up the rest of the space. There were pictures of varying quality stuck on the walls, crystals and kites dangling from the ceiling and small trinkets and pieces of jewelry strewn wherever seemed convenient, clay pots that held random objects the vampire owned, a spot on the wall the vampire had cleared for throwing blade practice and a star map directly overhead. Fai even had a tree growing in one of those clay pots with blossoming white petals the shape of dragonfly wings. There was one other door in the room which Fai opened, leading to a closet with softly glowing blue walls, filled with both clothes sold for women as well as men, shoes of different styles and sizes as well as a couple piles of toys near the back where a full length mirror was fixed upon the wall. Kurogane stood in the entryway glancing around the room full of linens that cast light in the windowless rooms. With the opening of the linen room, he looked back and the placement of the crystals didn’t look so random after all.

"Now let's see..." Fai said as he rummaged around in a pile of neatly folded clothes near the back before pulling out some clothes that as he examined them were much too large for his slender frame and made a small pile in his arms of them before heading out, Kurogane stepping out of his way, while Fai set the pile down on his bed.

"These outta get you started ... so now you just need to get undressed," Fai said cheerfully as he turned to face Kurogane.

Kurogane silently gestured that his wrists were still bound up, and Fai walked up to him and hovered a hand just over his wrists as he quietly murmured a spell in the faie language, the restraints turning from a glowing purple to a low blue before fading altogether. Kurogane could feel the moment the restraints were no longer keeping his wrists cuffed, and chose to gently rub at his wrists as though checking they were really gone. Fai stepped back and sat down on his bed beside the pile of fresh clothes.

Kurogane was quiet as he began to take off his clothes, starting with his chest armour, unstrapping it from himself and letting it rest on the floor at his feet. The shoulder pad was next as it was secured under his opposite arm. He placed it on top of his chest armour. He paused there as he looked over his shoulder where he could feel Fai watching him.

“Is there a problem?” Kurogane asked.

“Mm mm, no problem here,” Fai said with a content purr to his voice. He sounded like he was enjoying this.

Kurogane sent a tch and a scowl his way before he continued changing out of his clothes while Fai continued to watch, silently admiring the reveal of the mortal’s body in front of him. As the rest of his clothes came off, Fai could see small lines of where his clothes fit a little too close in some places, noticed small lines showing how much his body was exposed to the light, his torso and upper legs the lightest while his lower legs and arms got some sun and his face got the most. Examining, he saw many scars decorated his body, flesh that had been cut and in some cased stitched back together, badges of victories from the battles life threw at him and his will to survive and live through it all. His body, while different levels of tanned, held finely toned muscles and did not look to carry much fat.

Fai couldn’t help but stare in appreciation, enjoying the imperfect beauty. By nature, vampire bodies could heal almost any wounds sustained, silver and fire being rather exceptional in that bad enough wounds didn’t heal all the way, and severe enough wounds - a proper beheading and or being incinerated for instance - there was no healing back from that. So he rather enjoyed seeing the flaws - natural, accidental and incidental - each scar left a record and told a story, and Fai hoped to learn more about each one at some point.

Once Kurogane was fully naked did Fai stand up and get a clearer picture of just what else came with the blood. Fai looked on before handing over the clothes about Kurogane's size. Kurogane accepted them at first before looking them over, not quite familiar with how to put on the different style of clothes.

“The buttons go in front, in case you were wondering,” Fai helpfully added which led to an embarrassed sounding tch, as just a hint of color showed itself on Kurogane’s face.

“Coulda figured that out on my own,” he grumbled quietly.

“Probably,” Fai said with an amused smirk.

Kurogane tched at him once more, before setting the top to the side for now and deciding to put the pants on first. Those couldn’t be too difficult if the vampire had actually found a pair in his size. It took only a small effort to get the pants on, to the small disappointment of Fai, having hoped it’d take him a little longer. As Kurogane went to pick up the top once more, Fai looked at his left side since that was closer, at his hand, rough and calloused from use, little knicks and scratches left as scar marks and a large jagged one that branched off across his side. Fai wondered what could have caused that kind of mark. And then Kurogane was pulling the top on, struggling a bit as it didn’t go on as smoothly, and Fai moved over to help, unbuttoning a few buttons at the top to ease the struggle, and it came down a little smoother, as Kurogane managed getting one arm into a sleeve, taking extra time to get the other sleeve on as the different design made the way he was most used to ineffective in putting the top on, giving Fai plenty of time to stare at his exposed abdomen before the fabric slid down and Kurogane went about staring at the still buttoned buttons and the ones Fai undid before trying to do them himself taking a bit to get the hang of them, but once he had the hang of them, they became a little easier to do.

“So would you mind if I have a drink from you?”

“Did you mean it… when you said you’d only take with permission?”

“Of course I did, and when you tell me to stop, I’ll stop. After all, it’s in my best interests to do that. When the prey learns they can’t trust you to honor your words, it tears up the whole system and I’d probably have to starve to death. Starving to death just sounds really awful and I don’t want any of my family or my prey to go through that kind of pain,” Fai explained.

Kurogane studied him, looking for any sign he was not being honest. When he found none, he decided to give the blond a chance. “ … fine, but you better stop when I tell you to, or I’ll kill you with my bare hands.”

“I’m sure you would,” Fai said being straightforward before turning to bright smiles. “So is there somewhere on you you’d prefer I feed from?” Obviously not the neck, darn it all - blood from the neck was almost always the tastiest place to draw from as the blood was full of nutrients and with a trip down from the brain, the fatty tissues giving it just that subtle but incredible flavor made it the most irresistible location for a vampire to draw from, not that other veins weren’t great too, but if you’ve got the choice, who doesn’t want better quality flavoring and nutrients - yet he wanted to know if there was somewhere Kurogane would be a little more comfortable if he fed from.

“Uh….”

“How about your lips?” Fai asked, placing a finger against them.

“How about no,” Kurogane said wanting to place at least a couple boundaries. It was his body after all.

“Mm, then how about…” Fai began trailing his hand down, skipping over the collar, sliding past the collarbone to rest on his shoulder. “around here?”

Kurogane’s gaze followed where Fai was putting his hand on - he’d had bruising there before that usually healed up quickly so figured it was relatively safer spot - “I guess that would be alright.”

Fai’s hands worked their way, sliding buttons free one more and slipping one sleeve down Kurogane’s arm a short ways. Kurogane stood there tensely as he watched each move the vampire made towards him, before Fai leaned up and planted a kiss on his cheek, catching him a bit offguard.

“Yknow, if you stay so tense with your defenses high, it’s gonna hurt when I bite into you. Just relax, and it probably won’t hurt at all,” Fai said softly as he maneuvered the shoulder with his hands, rubbing circles into it with his thumbs.

“Probably?” Kurogane asked, raising a brow at Fai, making a small grimace at the kiss, and wondered if Fai was maneuvering his shoulder more to try and relax him or to draw the blood there. Either way, it did help some.

“Most have told me they only notice a tiny prick, and that’s it, but they’re quite willing to donate blood, or are easily distracted by pleasant things that they didn’t even notice, until the teeth were already in.”

Kurogane looked at Fai apprehensively before letting out a sigh, consciously working on letting that side go slack and malleable. Fai pressed a kiss there, as Kurogane dryly commented, “sure tell me to change clothes only so you can take the new clothes off. You just like naked flesh.”

Fai chuckled softly at that before he bit into Kurogane’s shoulder, far enough from the spikes not to risk getting stabbed by one. Kurogane made a small grimace as the teeth sunk in, but as Fai said, it didn’t really hurt like that.

Fai was slow in taking of the blood, while Kurogane tried to focus on how much Fai took by the way his body felt as his blood left him. Fai kept a slow pace, taking his sweet time to enjoy the meal, and to give Kurogane ample time to decide when to stop the feeding. At first, he didn’t really notice anything but that unfamiliar feeling of having another’s mouth on his shoulder and his tongue occasionally lapping at the skin there. As that grew a little more … familiar, he started to feel a little sluggish but as he began to feel weak and woozy on his feet, and in the still quiet of the room, able to hear the rushing sounds his blood made as it traveled at a heightened pace, he realized his body was going into early stages of shock and he reached out and grabbed Fai’s elbow as a brace of sorts, “that ... that’s enough.”

Fai listened as he pulled away, licking over the fresh bite mark he made. “You should drink something - to rehydrate with,” Fai said as he used his thumb to wipe up a trail of blood, and licked it up.

Kurogane didn’t quite hear what Fai said over the rushing noises inside his head, yet he did notice Fai’s lips, prior to feeding were a soft shade of pink; now, they were almost crimson red. His face, having been a pale white before, without a single blemish, now looked like most of his cheeks were quite red and there were splotch patches of red elsewhere on his face, which gave him the idea that the color alteration was a side effect from feeding off blood.

Kurogane took in deep breaths, as he continued to hold onto Fai. Losing that much blood at once took a lot of his energy and strength, and understandingly, Fai slowly led Kurogane to sit on the end of his bed.

“Why don’t I fetch you some water? You look like you could use a bit of rest.”

Kurogane could only coherently make out one word. “... water …” He tried to stand back up, but his legs were not cooperating with him and he fell the short distance back onto the bed. Fai gently pried Kurogane’s hand off his arm and set it down at the base of the bed so he had something sturdy to hold onto.

“Stay; I’ll be right back,” Fai instructed and even if Kurogane wanted to protest, his body wasn’t about to let him do much of that.

Fai came back quickly carrying a container of water and one more suitable to drink out of.

Kurogane had hardly moved in that time, having gotten as far as moving a hand to the bit shoulder as he examined it curiously. Since he’d never let a vampire feed from him before, the usual cautionary side of him temporarily pushed away in favor of that curious side of him. From such blood loss, he was surprised a bruise hadn’t formed, where the vampire bit him - and over the rapid, loud noises, echoing inside his head, pushing him towards resting, he tried to make reason of it. The only thing that didn’t surprise him was he couldn’t make out the clear impression of some of his veins that he would have been able to prior to being fed from.

Even as drained as he was, his senses let him know immediately when Fai was back in the area and he shifted the sleeve back into the correct position, although the top was still half unbuttoned, and Kurogane wasn’t positive if he let go of the bed, he wouldn’t fall right off onto the floor, if he tried and buttoned them right now.

As Fai entered, Kurogane’s gaze was already aimed at him. Fai smiled as he entered with the water and poured some into the goblet, holding it out for Kurogane.

“Such a good boy you’ve been,” Fai cooed at Kurogane.

Kurogane made an annoyed noise even as he firmly grasped the goblet. “Oi - knock that off. I am not some kind of pet that needs your condescending coddling.”

“But you’re so cute, and you even put yourself into a collar - just like a puppy.”

“Hah!?” he sputtered out.

“That settles it - from now on, I’ll just call you Kuro-pup.”

“That’s stupid. Don’t call me that.”

“But it’s so cute, just like my Kuro-pup.”

“You bastard,” complained Kurogane.

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Kurogane stared out the window as he reclined in the windowsill. He heard the steps of the vampires and other blood slaves going to and fro about the place but they all left him alone. All except for one. “Kuro-pup~”

“That’s not my name,” he growled out in response, barely side-eyeing the blond vampire, who was in no way trying to be sneaky, as he announced his presence with flamboyant actions.

“But it’s so much cuter ~” Fai said with a wide smile.

“How is that cute?!” Kurogane barked at him, not seeing anything cute about it.

Fai pressed a hand to his cheek, and feigned a sigh of pity, “Kuro-pup doesn’t realize cute when in its right in front of his face.”

“That’s because it’s not cute.”

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“Yuui~~! What am I doing wrong?” Fai wheedled as he laid sprawled out on his brother’s bed, his head buried in a pillow, while his brother changed clothes.

“What is it now?” Yuui asked calmly, unperturbed by his brother’s antics. It’s not the first time and it certainly was not the last.

“Kuro-pup isn’t eating any of the food I bring him - he looks at it like I’m trying to poison him~ he hardly speaks to me and he doesn't want to wear any of the nice clothes I’ve given to him. He just keeps wearing that drab armour stuff and skulking in the windowsill; I think he even sleeps there! Yuui~ help me~!” Fai whined.

“Calm yourself brother,” Yuui said gently.

“I am calm!” Fai insisted lifting himself up only to flop back on the bed.

Yuui finished getting dressed before moving to sit by his twin brother. “Try looking at things from Kurogane’s perspective. No matter what we claim, that we mean his life no harm, he probably still feels we are the single biggest threat to his life, and his armour is basically all he has left to protect himself with against any backlash. If you were surrounded by a whole clan of Slayers, who’re constantly carrying lethal weapons and you no longer had your claws, and some Slayer that paid to possess your body told you to give up your regenerative powers as well because you won’t need them, would you feel inclined to do so in that situation?”

“.... Well… no, I guess not,” Fai conceded with a sigh as he sat up. “But then, what should I do so he is more comfortable? I’m worried about him; if he doesn’t eat, I won’t be able to get a good drink from him and if he doesn’t bleed, he’s gonna get really sick~! The last blood slave we had to share. He started refusing food. First it was just a little pain, and then he started feeling weighed down and being really foggy-headed. And then he died! I don’t want my Kuro-pup to die like that too!”

“Take him out for a walk; give him some space. He’s used to fending for his own meals so perhaps if you trust him to eat on his own terms, you’ll have less to worry about concerning your Slayer pup,” Yuui offered. Fai instantly brightened up.

“That’s a great idea. Dogs love to go out for walks~ Thanks; you’re the best brother ever,” Fai declared giving his brother a kiss on the cheek before running off to go find Kurogane.

Yuui smiled a little as he watched his brother head off, and wondered if he had really heard anything past going out on a walk.

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“Kuro-growly, where are you~?” Fai sing songed as he approached the window where Kurogane had spent most all of his time there hanging in there. The window was currently open, something it hadn’t been previous times he visited the human. The sill still smelled strongly of the man’s scent, but like a bloodhound, Fai could smell a trail leading outwards. Climbing through, he headed out, curious where the other got off to.

Fai stopped on top of a hill overlooking most of the nearby lands, glancing him in the distance. It was the small fire that had given his location away. Fai perched himself on the hill and focused in on Kurogane. While there was a fire going, sticks burning surrounded by stones, Kurogane himself was knee deep in the water and bent over with his hands hovering over the water’s surface.

Fai watched on as minutes passed like that, of Kurogane staying perfectly still in the waters, waiting for a fish to swim by him, before making a snatch for it with his bare hands. That fish slipped away from him, and he went back to waiting for the water to become calm again and another fish to swim by. His patience paid off, as he caught the next fish to come by, and pulled it out of the water.

Stepping out of the water and up onto the dryer sand embankment, he took the fish as it tried to flail from his grasp to no avail. He set it down, kneeling in the sand and grass, and killed it with a single stab of a sturdy, pointed branch. Sand clung to his wet skin as he moved the fish-bearing branch over the fire and held it there to cook, keeping the branch out of the direct flames so it didn’t burn up and drop his fish. After a few minutes, he moved the fish closer to him to check on how well cooked it was, before putting it back over the fire to cook the other side of the fish.

Fai watched from his distance, and couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped just like that first fish did from Kurogane. He wondered how long Kurogane had been standing in the water waiting for fish to swim up within reach. The water must be quite chilly, and he was just standing there so still, he looked like he was frozen in place.

“Way to go Kuro-fisher,” he cheered from his post, nowhere near in earshot to be overheard by Kurogane. And even if he was, sure that Kurogane was too absorbed with his activities to notice him.

Yet, Fai took notice as Kurogane stepped out of the lake water, he wasn’t wearing his armour. He blinked and rubbed his eyes just to make sure they weren’t playing tricks on him and making him think Kurogane had taken off the armour, but in fact were being truthful, that Kurogane at some point, had felt at ease enough that he put his armour to the side as he went fishing.

Looking again, he was certain his eyes hadn’t deceived him and stared. Kurogane was bare chested, only wearing some black pants, rolled high up on his thighs, a bandana keeping hair up and away from his eyes, and the collar that was a permanent feature. Even from his distance, he could see that under that armour he normally wore was plenty of muscles. He got so focused on ogling Kurogane’s body, one which the Slayer hadn’t fully exposed but once in his presence, he was caught off guard with what Kurogane was doing with his fish.

“No wait, don’t burn it,” Fai gasped out, before hiding his face behind his hands like this had gone from a good movie to it suddenly being a horror movie, occasionally peeking like a little kid before hiding his view back behind his hands as Kurogane cooked his fish.

Kurogane checked on it again and stuck it back for a couple more minutes before pulling it back and biting into its cooked flesh, chewing it thoroughly, before swallowing and taking another bite, eating his fish by the fire’s side.

Fai peeked out again and noticed the fish was away from the fire and didn’t look ashy, just dead and sunburned. Fai couldn’t believe it, but it did clear up some things for him, on why Kurogane rejected his attempts to feed him - apparently his food wasn’t sunburned enough for him. That made him a little curious as he leaned his chin on his hands as he gazed from his place - did the humans develop a taste for fire-cooked food because fire protected them or was there more to the story? He supposed the answer wasn’t as simple as that.

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It was overcast that day, and Fai had gone out towards the lakes with his good friend, Mokona, a faie that had a similar personality and many hidden talents. using them mostly for the good of her friends. Like Fai, she could be a bit of a prankster and could recover from quite a bit. Unlike Fai, she could swallow things up, even things much larger than herself, and spit them back up at a later time. Fai was not quite sure where everything went, and thought it too rude to ask her.

“Fai-chan is going fishing today?” Mokona asked Fai as she sat on his shoulder
“Mm … well I thought I’d surprise Kuro-chan with something he thought as yummy.”

“Puu~ Fai-chan is so thoughtful!” Mokona cheered.

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“Are you okay? You look a little … sunburned,” Kurogane had to say as Fai came over carrying something on a wooden plate.

Fai smiled a bit awkwardly, his usually pale skin blotchy and blistering as it took its time healing, not an easy task at the moment. And a few of his hairs were singed looking. “Well, I wanted to make something Kuro-pup would like to eat. So ah, here you go.”

He handed over the wooden plate that had two fish on it, some parts more crispy well done than others.

Kurogane stared at the fish before looking back at Fai, “Wait, where you… next to some fire?” he asked. That’s what it sure looked like but as far as he knew, fire was one of the most dangerous things to a vampire. If they manage to live past getting burnt, it’s a slow and painful recovery. Not that he normally cared if a vampire recovered or not, since he hadn’t been in the habit of leaving them alive when enough of them killed people like him.

“Well I saw you put one over a fire a while ago, so I tried catching and preparing them your way, I even had one of my faie friends cough up a small fireball, but the fish slipped off into the fire so I panicked and grabbed them and got fire in the face and arms, but… I hope the fish are still good for you.”

Kurogane couldn’t help but crack a small smile. Even if the fish weren’t evenly cooked, it was the gesture more than anything, “...thanks.”

Fai smiled seeing that tiny smile appear, “So, um, do you think I can have a snack later today or tomorrow?”

“Ah, sure,” Kurogane said without the usual levels of ‘fine, just be done with it already’ in his voice.

Fai was even brighter smiles, “Thanks Kuro-fishy,” he said and gave him a noisy ‘mwah’ kiss on the cheek, before leaving Kurogane with his fish, and running off to go tell Yuui his good news.

“YUUUIII~”

“Goodness, Fai, what happened to you? Did Kurogane do this to you?” Yuui asked, concerned for his brother as he could see the burns quite clearly. Could smell them too.

“No of course not!” Fai said to deflect overprotective twin rage from getting out of hand and trying to kill his human. “I was making him fish over a fire. They smelled very unpleasant but I’d seen Kuro pup like his fish placed over a fire.”

“And where was he during all of this?”

“He was probably in his windowsill. I don’t know. He wasn’t there with me and Moko-chan at the time.”

“Mokona was there with you?”

“Yes, I asked Moko-chan to make a puff of fire, which is something Mokona can do, but that’s not the point, Yuui,” Fai said with a small whine, before speaking more excitedly, and moving his hands as he spoke. “The point is he actually smiled! At me! And said thanks and everything. And when I asked if I could have a snack later, he was sorta okay with it and not all hostily and just get it over with scowly. Which is kinda cute and all, coming from him, but that smile, oh my good heavens, Yuui, you should have seen it!”

Yuui let out a breath, as he gently held one of Fai’s burned hands, “I’m happy to hear it worked for you, but in the future, do be more careful. These burns aren’t going to heal overnight, and they may just leave a scar.” He was not happy to see Fai hurt himself, especially for the sake of improving his meal’s time there, but he saw the honest joy there in doing those small things, and making his prey’s mood improve. He wasn’t going to dissuade him from being happy.

“I love you too Brother. Don’t worry, I’ll be more careful if I ever try to make him fish again. Next time I won’t drop them in the fire.”

“Alright; just don’t come crying to me when the burns start to hurt.”

“I won’t,” Fai grinned brightly.

`123456789

By next dusk, the cloud nine feeling had receded, and the pains from burning himself came back to haunt Fai.

“How do you even sleep on your back, and you do it sitting up too? Isn’t that really uncomfortable?” Fai whined, using the lack of sleep as a distraction to try and forget about the persistence of his injuries.

“I honestly wonder how you don’t fail to cease existing when you typically sleep with your head buried in the pillows like a bird in the dirt,” Kurogane scoffed, as he leaned against the door to Fai’s closet.

Fai pouted at him before he hung his head and sighed. Kurogane watched his body language for a while before his little sister propped the bedroom door open as she crawled inside. “Chii.”

Fai brightened up a bit as he saw his baby sister, and to spite his pain went over and scooped her up in his sore arms, cooing over her.

Kurogane watched as a pained smile etched itself on his face, and he tried to hide the pain from her.


`123456789

“You’re that one that helped Fai with the fish and fire right?”

“Puu~ that’s right,” Mokona answered.

“So then, what would a favor cost?”

“That depends on what you need,” Mokona said before plopping herself on Kurogane’s head.

“Aloe plants,” Kurogane said matter of factly, resisting the urge to swat the faie off his head. “Is that something you can do? I couldn’t locate any on this property.”

“And why does Kuro-chan need aloe plants?”

“That’s not my name and they’re not for me. They’re for … someone else needs medicine and aloe is the only thing I know of that’ll actually help.”

“Puu~” she said as she patted Kurogane’s head with one of her paws, “that is something I can help you with. But it will cost you something.”

“That’s fine; just get the plants.”

“How bold of you.”

`123456789

The next night, Fai found a small tin container on his bed when he woke up. Curiously, he picked it up. As he did, he saw there was a small note placed under it, so he picked that up as well. He recognized the writing to be English, choppy as it was, and smiled, before going over to where Kurogane was sleeping, having only recently taken up a habit of occasionally coming in his room when he was tired enough to sleep prior to he never slept in the presence of the vampires.

“Kuro-pup… wakey wakey,” Fai spoke in a light voice, before slowly blowing cool air into his ear to get a rise out of him.

Kurogane moaned quietly and stirred out of his sleep, his eyes blinking as he regathered his senses, and looked over to where Fai was standing close by with a catty smile on his face, “Good evening my sweet treat~!” Fai chirped out.

“S’it time to feed you already?” Kurogane mumbled still half asleep.

“Mm, well I wouldn’t mind a nice meal, but first, do you know who left this on my bed?” he asked lifting the tin in front of Kurogane’s face.

Yes. “No idea. When I came in, you were already asleep and it was already there.”

“Oh darn, because I wanted to thank the one responsible.”

Pretending he had no idea what it was to begin with, “so why all the excitement over that thing?”

“Mm, well, apparently from what I can make out of their writing, it’s supposed to be good for making burns go away faster, or at least making them feel better while they persist.”

“Ah,” Kurogane made a small grunt as he stretched out a little, still tired, since he’d been up all day and had only gotten a little sleep before Fai decided to wake him.

“Would you mind helping me use it?”

“ … spose. Goes on the burns, right?”

“Mm I think so.”

“....” Kurogane was silent as he accepted the small tin container and opened it up. Inside was a yellowish almost translucent gellous substance Fai didn’t recognize. Whatever it was did not grow naturally where they lived. Kurogane was slow in applying the aloe juices, making sure to give the burns a thin layer.

Fai let out a happy sigh as his burns felt a cooling sense of relief, and he watched as Kurogane focused solely at the task at hand, and being rather gentle at it too. Once he’d taken care of Fai’s hands and arms, he looked up at his face, where it was not quite as bad as his hands, but still bright red that had nothing to do with freshly feeding.

“Close your eyes.”

“Why do I need to close my eyes?”

“So I can get your eyelids.”

Fai closed his eyes, and Kurogane applied the aloe to each red area, getting around his eyes, on the outside of his nose and getting his forehead, cheeks and chin. Once Kurogane handed the half empty tin back, Fai opened his eyes once more.

“Thanks for that.”

“Was no big deal,” Kurogane casually dismissed.

`123456789

The sun was just setting and Kurogane watched as the color of the sky changed from shades of blue and white to oranges, pinks and purples. As he sat in his favored sill, he watched as an early riser, Yuui, no doubt in Kurogane’s mind, headed off to tend to the gardens. Since this was their spring weather, he saw him most days heading that way and in a couple more hours, Fai headed to the pastures, one of them visible from his position. It didn’t take long from when Yuui was out of sight and he was by himself again, he heard small shuffling noises, and looked to see Chii crawling around without any other vampire around nor any of the humans that wandered the halls doing work. With a drawn out sigh, he got up from his perch and walked over to her, lifting her up, supporting her weight and head with one arm while he used his other hand to tickle at her tummy, drawing out bubbly laughter as her baby proportioned hands grabbed a hold of his

“You’re a real handful, yknow that?’

“Chii!” she said with a bright smile, and Kurogane couldn’t help but smile back a little.

Kurogane moved to sit on the floor as he watched over Chii. Although she was a vampire by birth, he looked at her more as an innocent child than the kind of monster that cost him his parents.

Kurogane kept quiet as he let Chii clutch on his fingers with her tiny hands. She stood on her own two feet, supported by those fingers and took a few steps before her legs wobbled beneath and Kurogane slowed the descent as she plopped down onto his lap. As she sat in his lap, she pulled one of his hands closer placing her baby fangs on a single finger.

“Hey now…” Kurogane chided, “You don’t just take blood. Since it wasn’t offered, you gotta ask first.”

She took her mouth off of the finger, as she leaned back a little to look up. “Chii?”

With a soft huff, he relented, “alright, go ahead…” he began quietly muttering, “just better not get me into any trouble with that idiot brother of yours.”

Chii went back to putting her mouth on his finger, and biting on it, getting a little blood in the process, when she broke through the skin.

`123456789

“YUUIII~!”

“What is it Fai?”

“You’ll never guess what Kuro-cutey did today~”

“And no doubt, you’re going to tell me anyway...alright what did Kurogane do today?”

“He told me a poem!”

[You suck on my blood.
Go choke on a flower
You pale idiot.]

“I’m not sure what it means, but wasn’t that so sweet of him?”

“.....“ Yuui just stared at Fai before placing a hand on his shoulder. “Fai.. are you falling in love with this human?”

“I’m not in love with him,” Fai casually dismissed, “I just want to give him cutesy names and be there and watch him make all those cute and funny faces and make him happy and drink his yummy blood. That’s all.”

Yuui was silent for a while before he spoke. "Brother, you do realize he is your food. And just like the others, unless tragedy befalls, he will die long before you."

Fai responded somberly. "I know he's human, that he has reason not to like our kind, and that supplying his blood is an act of self preservation - that if he didn't, it'd cost him his life and he has a reason to continue living. I know all this, but none of that means I can't enjoy the time I have with him. And besides, he is not without a heart. After I got the burns, someone dropped off something to make them feel better and he helped put it on me. And just the other week, I caught him playing with Chii." Fai had to point that out. “So I think he’s slowly warming up to us too. He’s been really good lately so I’m thinking to take him to the village tomorrow and show him around the place.”

`123456789

Kurogane looked about the tiny village located in the clan’s territory, with Fai happily showing him around in the early dusk hours, Fai explaining all about the different businesses the village ran. There were small shops set up using what the land provided, as residents gathered food from the trees and the ground itself while others gathered wood or made clay pots, and homes built with timbers, mostly from the yew trees. Kurogane noticed as he walked into the small village that it seemed a lot warmer than the vampire’s place for no seeable reasoning why.

“hey.”

“Yes?” Fai paused his tale of how this one berry shop that had been there for the last sixty years was now more fruitful than ever, to turn his full attention onto Kurogane.

“Is there a magical field or something around here?”

“Why do you ask?” Fai asked with a small head tilt.

“It seems warmer but there’s no fire around to explain the sudden warmth.”

“Very observative. Why, yes, there is. I was able to cast faie magic to make the temperature of this part of the land a level temperature during the dusk hours, no consideration for the wind. When the sun shines on the land, the temperature rises for the humans here. Apparently the humans that live here do better in warmer temperatures than vampires need, keeps their blood circulating through them, so I wanted to make them cozy comfy at least in the ways I could.”

“I see,” murmured Kurogane as he noticed a small child peeking out of a house.

“Fai-sama?”

Fai turned from Kurogane to the child, who didn’t look older than five. Her skin wasn’t nearly as pale in color as the vampire, freckles dotting her face, and a toy animal in one arm.

“Ah, Maya-chan~” Fai said with a bright smile. “How’re your studies coming along?”

“I am still learnin. Father let me help gather eggs yesterday,” Maya said, before pointing at Kurogane, “Is he your new friend?”

“Yes, he is.”

“He looks scary,” Maya said bluntly.

Fai laughed at that, “Ahahhah, he does, doesn’t he? Like a big scary doggy. But since he looks so scary, others naturally want to mistreat him, and yet, scary looking people are usually in need of extra love because they don’t get enough of it.”

“Hey!” Kurogane protested.

“Fai says that, because it’s true,” another voice chimed in, as there was a small weight that plopped down on top of Kurogane’s head.

“Moko-chan,” Fai and Maya said, happy to see the faie, before Mokona hopped off Kurogane’s head as he made a swipe to knock the faie away, instead landing in Fai’s arms who gave Mokona a hug.

“Oh Moko-chan … you’ve been busy so I haven’t seen you in days. Good to see you again,” Fai cooed.

“Mokona had been busy indeed,” the faie said in a cheerful voice.

`123456789

Kurogane reclined against the bark of one of the trees in bloom, as he watched from his perch the different wildlife that appeared within the clan’s borders. Small birds flitted about in the late spring, looking for meals to feed their young, while young rabbits hid amongst the greens as they chowed down on them, staying mostly still to not draw in any predatory attention. Squirrels and birds came and picked off fruit from the trees and the fallen fruit on the ground. The small river that ran through the clan’s territory mostly came from melt water from the rugged areas of the Ashura clan’s territory.

Beneath him, Fai was lazing in the shade of the tree, picking flowers and weaving them into flower crowns, being careful not to disturb any circles of flowers and fungus growing alongside the grasses, portals to where many of the faie lived. Maybe one day he’d go back, back to where spirits were plenty and music was lively with everyone dancing to the beat of the forests drums, but today was not going to be one of those days. Those that return having partied with the faie and ate and drank with the faie change, the flow of time altered from what is familiar. Sometimes the parties last for days and only seconds have passed, other times, it feels like merely minutes and the return back, decades had passed by.

Fai knew all too well the risk for magical non-faie folk stepping inside. The trip to and back had something to do with his uncle going mad, mad enough that he had received instruction to kill him, as he held magic stronger. His mistake was to let him slip away, unable to bring himself to kill his own uncle, no matter how crazed he’d gone. He had let Ashura know, but he had no intention of telling another soul about that mistake, blamed himself for allowing his uncle to live. That his uncle was among the leading ranks that broke the peace they had established with people, he wondered if he hadn’t been so soft, if the night of Reckoning might never have happened.

Fai tried to push those thoughts far away, but they remained there, able to be recalled at a moment’s notice. Staring at the flower crowns, he decided to give himself a pleasant distraction. “Kuro-climb, would you mind coming down here?” Fai chirped from his place in the grass.

Kurogane peered down at Fai, before sighing with a small grunt. He moved from his spot, climbing down a few branches. In an attempt not to crush the flowers Fai was messing with, he grabbed hold of a thick branch near the middle of it and swung from it, landing a few feet away from Fai as Fai moved to stand up and dust the excess greens off his lap.

Kurogane turned around to face Fai just in time for Fai to lift a flower crown and place it on his head. Taking a step back to admire his work, he smirked, “you look so cute like that.”

Kurogane stared at Fai with a disbelieving expression, unfathomable for him how Fai could possibly think it was cute.

“Kuro-flora just has no skill in seeing cute,” Fai said giving him a pat on the shoulder.

“No skill at all,” chimed in Mokona as Mokona landed and twirled on top of Kurogane’s head, before hopping over to Fai’s shoulder.

“They all look lackadaisical to me.”

“How cruel, Kuro-po… after all that hard work, and you don’t even like it,” Fai said hiding his face behind his hands as he withdrew and made crocodile tears.

“Poor Fai-chan,” Mokona said petting his head sympathetically.

“You quit that fake cryin! And you, don’t encourage him!” Kurogane barked, pointing an accusatory finger at them. Fai peeked his face out of his hands.

Kurogane made a low humph, before turning around and tromping off narrowly missing steppin on the same circle of flowers where Mokona popped out of, to the surprise and relief of both faie and Fai.

`123456789

“You’ve been spending more rests lately in my brother’s room than in that windowsill. Should we put a bed in there for you?”

“ … like there’s any room for a second bed in there with all that guy’s stuff.”

Yuui chuckled at that, “Well Fai is quite sentimental and loves to keep things that used to be with the people he really likes since an object will usually outlive the owner, although if there’s no room for another bed, I’m sure there’s plenty of room for you to sleep in the same bed as Fai,” Yuui offered casually just so he could watch the choked reaction from Kurogane as a blush seeped into his face, and he tried to keep his composure.

“I’m fine up against the wall.”

“No doubt Fai would be happy to take you there too.”

Kurogane’s blush only darkened and he thought better than to vocally respond and get into any further trouble.

`123456789
Summer passed quickly for the Valerian clan, as fall came with the first frost since spring ended. Months spent in mostly isolation as Kurogane began to slowly trust the vampires here … others would still have to be able to prove themselves just as trustworthy and dependable to keep their word. But at least these ones were… alright to be around, Kurogane’s opinion of them slowly growing better. Sometimes they were genuinely good company to be around.

Outside snow fell from the skies. Kurogane watched from his seat, noticing a shuffling noise where Fai was covered in furs and walking over. It was easy to tell the two twins apart, by all the tiny nuance differences between them, enough that they seemed so similar if you only paid them little mind, it might be easy to mix the two up, but if you were being observant and treating them as their own selves, then it was much easier to keep the two vampires straight from another.

Fai went and plopped down in Kurogane’s lap, a couple furs falling off and on top of him in the process. “Aren’t you cold, sitting there?” Fai asked as he looked out at the white blanket covering the ground outside.

“Not as cold as I’d be if I was in the snow,” Kurogane casually dismissed.

“So that mean you are cold,” Fai said and promptly began to cover up Kurogane with the different furs he’d had draped on him.

“Oi! What do you think you’re doing?!” Kurogane protested, pulling them away from him.

“Stop fussing; my Kuro-pup doesn’t have a fur coat to keep him warm…”

“Will you stop that?”

“But you’re cold…”

“If you’re so insistent, at least do it properly!”

Fai paused in his efforts and Kurogane huffed at him. Climbing out of the sill, Kurogane moved furs to line the bottom and side so as not to block the window’s view before climbing back in and Fai taking that as a cue to place more furs on top of Kurogane once more and then sit with him, practically laying in his lap.

“Now what are you doing?”

“There’s enough room for the both of us so I’m going to make sure you stay nice and warm.”

Kurogane tched at him but didn’t push him away.

`123456789

Kurogane laid down on Fai’s bed, leaning against the pillows and getting relatively comfortable, before Fai climbed on top of him, making himself cozy in the crook of Kurogane’s arm. By now, he had figured out quite a few of Kurogane’s moods. Since he wasn’t the biggest chatter unless he had a grievance, his body language and reactions communicated more effectively for him. There were days, hours, moments, when he was compliant, willing to go along with … just about anything Fai beseeched of him, some times with a huff or tch and other times with just going with the flow of things. There were times he was so easy to rile up and would chase after Fai, swinging whatever object was handy at the time at Fai in a lame attempt to inflict damage to the vampire. And then there were times when he shrugged off the teases and the jester vibe Fai loved to wear to speak seriously.

Then there were times, Kurogane genuinely needed time to himself, when he would usually wander off to the groves of trees, where he’d sit amongst their timbers - other times, he’d sit in the windowsill and stare outwards, until someone called for his attention, normally Fai, but sometimes Chii, as she tugged on his overhanging leg, or Yuui, when he wished to discuss something with him, and depending on how Yuui said his name, he had a good idea what the subject of the conversation was to be about - Yuui always used Kurogane-san when he wished to talk to him about his elder twin during the few hours Fai typically continued to sleep in.

As Fai curled up against Kurogane, when he wanted to feed from Kurogane, instead of speaking aloud and gathering verbal permission, it had evolved into usually subtle movements and gestures. A willing Kurogane left himself open and vulnerable to Fai while Fai would nuzzle against him, press his lips against a visible vein but wouldn’t bite unless there was that slow caress from fingers, silently giving him the go ahead. If they were rougher that day, then he moved on to find another suitable vein and if Kurogane was closed off or tired, he waited until later to try for blood.

For now, Fai just wanted to nuzzle up with Kurogane, resting his head against his chest, able to hear the heartbeat of the taller man beating away at a constant rate inside his chest. As he lay there with Kurogane, he traced mindless patterns against his chest.

“You have a nice heartbeat,” Fai murmured.

“Yeah?”

“Mm…it’s really nice.”

“Thanks … I guess.”

“Mm, you’re welcome… hey Kuro…” Fai replied, and dropping off the playful pup he usually used when addressing Kurogane.

“Hm?”

“Now don’t get too excited... but I have a strong feeling I’m going to be asked to take out a rogue vampire in the coming days.”

“Is that so?” Kurogane said trying to sound nonchalant about it, but a bit of eagerness slipped in.

Fai made a quiet chuckle. “You should hear the sound your heart is making… you really are just like a puppy. Trying not to look so eager, but your tail is wagging excitedly, and giving you away.”

Kurogane didn’t bother to offer a rebuttal, merely, “so if you get called to kill a rogue vampire, then what? Am I supposed to just wait here until you get back?” Which would be a total downer.

“Silly. If they ask me to do it, then you’re going to be there with me. And no worries - I won’t leave you defenseless; I’ll make sure you have something you can use to help me get the job done too.”

`123456789

Fai kept quiet as Kurogane tested the weapon in his hand. It felt a bit awkward but not uncomfortable, and he tested how easy it was to move with it, the flexibility and familiarizing himself with its range, and looked for blind spots.

“Feels like something’s missing,” Kurogane quietly commented as his hand drifted at the empty space by his hip, fingers twitching to grasp for an unknown item.

Fai saw it and quietly murmured, “Mana bhūlī gayā chō, paṇa jō śarīra haju yāda.”

“What was that?”

Fai posed, grabbing his chin as he smirked. “I was just saying how cute you look~”

Kurogane sputtered at him, as a heat crept into his face. “I am not cute!”

Fai just laughed the comment away and Kurogane had a strong hunch that calling him cute was not what Fai had actually originally said but didn’t ask Fai to repeat himself again, having the opinion Fai would only say something even more ridiculous to cover up what he really said.

“Don’t move,” Kurogane said in a serious tone as he made a quick wide slice, twisting the blade in his hand as he did so, the flat edge just shy of making contact with Fai’s throat.

Fai hadn’t flinched, having no fear Kurogane actually meant to hurt him, provided additional proof when the blade’s dull edge was the one pointing at his neck and not the sharp one. He’d seen proof that the Slayer could be trusted not to harm those he had no reason, no motive to hurt and the chance to take the weapon and kill his buyer didn’t even cross his mind once. All Fai could see was Kurogane checking how close he had to let the rogue vampire get to him before he could make a clean beheading. Whether Kurogane genuinely cared for him he wasn’t certain, but he could state with absolute confidence was that there wasn’t a drop of malicious energy towards him, or Kurogane wouldn’t have bothered to flip the blade, knowing full well, Fai would heal from a minor injury.
`123456789

Kurogane glanced over his shoulder to where Fai washed in the clear waters , and something about that tugged at his memory, something important that he was forgetting, but couldn’t place why he felt that way. So he tched, annoyed by the sensation, the sensation something had been taken from him, something precious and irreplaceable, and yet his memory failed him, unusual as that was.

Kurogane brooded, overthinking things, as he sat on the shoreline, back in the clothes he wore before he was taken by those auctioneering vampires. He had an idea Fai left him there like bait, to draw out the rogue vampire they were looking to placate his insanity, while Fai bathed, washed away his scent into the waters. Just as Fai had suspected, Fai was called upon to kill a vampire, and just like Fai said, Kurogane was allowed - encouraged - to wear his armour and was lent a small blade that would get the job done. Kurogane glanced over to where Fai was, in a thin and almost see-through layer of fabric. The glimmer of the water did nothing to detract from his visceral beauty.

It was a brief rustle, that alerted Kurogane and he called out to the vampire. “Hey idiot..!”

Fai looked up from his spot in the lake and looked around, using his own keen senses to track down the movement of their target.

Kurogane gripped the weapon Fai had loaned him, as he closed his eyes focusing on feeling the presence of the enemy, sensing his aura. He drew his weapon, and held it even with the vampire that came.

The creature was a bit disfigure and hunched over with protruding fangs and glossed over eyes. The clothes the vampire donned spoke that he had been a figure of some power. But what surprised Kurogane the most about him is he made no effort to hurt him, instead moving to guard him and viciously hissed at and attacked Fai. Submerging Fai, and trying to drown him, while there were slashes and splashes as Fai defended himself from the vampire. Kurogane's body moved automatically, going over to protect Fai. He didn't know if Fai could even drown, but he wasn't about to let this vampire teach him the answer to that. The water slowed him down but did not stop him as he sunk further into the lake, his armour weighing him down and keeping him on the bottom of the lake. He took a deep breath before his head submerged and he looked through the water focusing on finding the two vampires. The water burned at his eyes but he kept them open as he concentrated. The small blade glowed as he performed a move more familiar with a larger blade. He couldn't quite tell if the other vampire was dead or not, but after that, he was incapacitated, and the smaller blade cracked in a few place. Kurogane let it go as he went over to rescue Fai.

With the vampire stop trying to drown him, Fai made sure he was decapitated before he began swimming towards the surface, the head and body floating up in different spots. When he didn't see Kurogane anywhere, he went back down to look for him, finding that he was fighting a whole different enemy now. With the weight of his armor pulling him down, he was having a largely difficult time getting out of the muddy soil at the bottom of the lake while trying not to breathe in the water. That was something Fai could help him with, and helped pull him free.

Once they made it to the surface, Kurogane was coughing up fits of water between trying to get in more oxygen into his lungs. As soon as he could, Kurogane asked Fai, "Why did he try to protect me and kill you?"

"You noticed that too, did you?" Fai grew a bit solemn when he spoke, "Because he went mad after his blood vow was broken, one where a vampire brutally killed the family he's sworn to protect. It wasn't any fault of his but he went mad from the guilt and rage."

That could have been me. He could have been me.

`123456789

By the time they made it back, Kurogane had gotten sick from his dip in the lake and Fai insisted he get some rest..Kurogane changed from his wet clothes, setting them down, and getting him into dry clothes and warm furs, as he had him lay down in his bed while he brought him food and drink, and did what he could to make the bedrest more comfortable, and decided now was a good time to distract Kurogane from being sick by filling in an early interest of his and asking about all his different scars, tracing the lines of a single scar as he asked about its story, and once he learned it, pressing a kiss to the mark before finding a new scar to learn its story, spending several days, going between waiting on Kurogane in an attempt to help him get better sooner, making sure he got some rest, and learning about the history written on Kurogane's body.

"And where did this one come from?" Fai asked tracing over a large scar that branched about on Kurogane's side.

"That one? That one I got when I fell out of a tree."

After a couple seconds, Fai snickered once before he burst into laughter about that. "This big bad boy is from a tree attacking you?"

"The tree was dryer than I thought and the branch snapped under, okay, so yeah, the branches went down and took me with them as I tried to catch myself onto a more solid branch."

Fai continued to laugh about that, and Kurogane blushed a little as he grumbled out, “You can stop laughing anytime now.”

“Sorry, but that is really funny. Gets attacked by lots of vampires, tiny knicks and stitches. Damages an innocent ole dry tree. Gets his side ripped up.”

Kurogane tched at him as the blush grew. After a bit, the laughter subsided and Fai pressed small kisses onto the injury since it was a rather large scar.

`123456789

Kurogane looked over to where Fai was, laying on the floor with his little sister, supporting her body and cooing at her as her chubby baby appendages wriggled and dangled, her hands grasping at the air. Like that, they looked just like any ordinary older brother with his adored baby sister.

He made a quiet tch as he pulled his gaze away from them. Fai noticed and tipped his head back to send a glance Kurogane’s way. “Something the matter, Kuro-tan?”

“...nothing.”

Fai made a hum before cradling Chii as he stood up and then settled back down near the human, and laid his head in Kurogane’s lap.

“Are you sure about that?” Fai asked as he stared up at him. When all he got was a tch, Fai looked back at Chii, and waggled a finger at her to hold onto, “I don’t think he’s being honest with us… what do you think?”

“Chii,” she spoke as she grabbed the offered finger.

It grew quiet for several minutes as Chii nommed on her brother’s finger before Kurogane quietly spoke, “...if it weren’t for the blood drinking, wouldn’t think you were vampires.”

“Eh?”

“I told you, it’s nothing,” Kurogane insisted.

“Now that you’ve started to speak, you have to finish the thought,” Fai told him.

“It’s just, you don’t seem like monsters. Except the need for blood, you could almost pass as a human.”

Fai thought about that. “I’m not sure if that’s supposed to be a compliment or an insult.”

“I’m not sure either.”

`123456789

Chii sat in the doorway of the large sitting room, staying quiet as she watched her older brother merrily laugh off the verbal threats aimed at him as Kurogane chased after him, on a verbal tirade, “... get back here so I can cut open your skull and clean out your brain of all your garbage thoughts!”

“Ahahahhah….~<3 You’ll never succeed in scrubbing them away my Kuro-cutie. <3”

“You flighty bastard! That is not my name and quit calling me cute!”

“Ah but Kuro-puppy is so cute~”

“I am not cute! Or a puppy! Get down here and say that to my face!”

“Ah, but you’re still waving that thing around.”

Kurogane growled a bit as he tried smacking Fai with the wooden spoon, to no avail as Fai was standing on the roof, and Kurogane was wondering how the blood didn’t rush out of his head like that.

Grumbling under his breath, he went around the room looking for an object to smack Fai with, while Fai went on stealth mode, hiding his aura and sound as he silently dropped down from the room and walked up right behind him as he went about, before he silently tapped Kurogane on the shoulder. Turning into the tap, Fai stood up on the tips of his toes, barely still on the ground, as he went and gave Kurogane a kiss.

“What kind of spell are you trying to cast on me now?!” he growled out.

“No spell,” Fai said with a smug grin. “just giving a smoochie to my poochie.”

“You bastard!” Kurogane growled out and made a lurching grab for him, Fai dodging to the side with quick reflexes.

“Hyuu~ is my puppy mad?” Fai teased, backing away, and swiveling, leading on a game of chase.

“I’ll show you mad, you scrawny leech!” Kurogane barked, tromp running after Fai, lasting for a couple of hours.

As it got close to calling it a day, Fai was visited by his brother, moving to sit on his brother’s bed. “That slave … Kurogane, he sure is vocal.”

“I know; isn’t it adorable?” Fai said with a smile, as he laid on a fluffy white coat of his on the floor of his room, rolling from side to side.

“I wouldn’t call threatening to mutilate you, adorable, Fai,” Yuui stated.

“Don’t worry brother; my Kuro-puppy just needs his exercise and play hunts. He doesn’t really mean me any harm.”

“Are you sure about that?” Yuui asked raising a brow. He didn’t believe that all the way since Fai had a habit for looking for untamable spirits.

“Absolutely!” Fai said with a bright grin. “Because if he really meant to hurt me, then he would have already done so by now, but he doesn’t. Sometimes I push his limits and he punches me for it, or he gives me violent head rubs when he gets me in his grip, but he has the tools available to really hurt me, but he never uses them against me or my family.”

Fai paused there before he looked up at Yuui from his spot. “... hey Yuui.”

“Yes Fai?”

“I think I really like him, that Kurogane.”

“Who don’t you like?” Yuui casually rebuffed.

“Well, I could name a few names, but I think… I think I really like him. And I think… I think it’d be nice if he really liked me back,” Fai said growing quieter near the end

Yuui stood up and kneeled by his brother’s side, placing a hand on Fai’s forehead. “Well if he doesn’t like you for you, then he won’t ever like you for who you pretend you are. So just be you.”

“... you’re right, of course. He would see through a mask. He has magic like that.”

“Does he realize?”

“That’s the thing. I don’t think he knows he does. But he does have magic - I know he does, but....” Fai began somberly

“But…?”

“.....” Fai turned back to bright smiles. “Kuro has a very nice one.”

“Fai!”

`123456789

Yuui stepped over and stood beside Kurogane’s sill, where Kurogane sat, staring outwards, where Fai was just visible as he brought the cows in from the pasture.

“Something on your mind Kurogane-san?” Yuui addressed Kurogane.

He shifted his attention to Yuui, and greeted him with a brief, “hey.”

“You sure do spend a lot of time staring at my brother when he’s not looking,” Yuui supplied

“Ah?! What nonsense is this?”

“You deny it then? … that your gaze wanders onto Fai, that you get lost in staring at him, you forget to pay attention to what is going on around you.”

“I … what?”

“See? You’re so distracted by him, you’re not even hearing what is said to you.”

“Is there a point to this conversation?” Kurogane deflected.

“That depends,” Yuui began, “I doubt Fai would mind the extra attention. However, as his brother, I do have the responsibility of making sure that’s not malicious attention.”

“I’m sure he can take care of himself.”

“You’re so naive, Kurogane-san.”

“....”

“When it comes down to it, brother has never really had in in his heart to intentionally hurt those he cares about. He has enough power to decimate the lands, but no desire to ever use that sort of power.”

Kurogane wondered if that’s why Fai didn’t really help when they’d gone out hunting the maddened vampire. “What about you?”

“Me? Although I’m better at regeneration, I’m still willing to silence anything that puts my brother or sister close to the coffin.”

“... I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

`123456789

“Oh look - it’s Fai-sama’s friend, the big scary puppy,” Kurogane overheard one child saying, turning to look at the group of children, and the freckle faced Maya was pointing at him. He walked over to the group, not that children needed him to as they went over to him, and crowded around, and some were wrapping their young limbs around him.

“And just what are you lil brats up to?” he asked.

“Fai-sama says scary looking people need extra love. So we’re giving you extra love,” a few of them said near the same time.

He chuckled softly at that, before reaching down and ruffling one of the boy’s heads that clung to his leg.

Kurogane managed to get enough space briefly to sit down amongst the village children.

“Does your collar come off?”

“It doesn’t.”

“How come?”

“That’s just how I made it.”

“You made it?”

“Yes.”

“Why’d you make it?”

“Because, where I grew up, vampires were not as kind as the ones that live here - they don’t ask for a meal, they cut you up while you’re still alive and take without permission, and they don’t only take a little - they leave dead bodies behind.”

“That’s awful! Why would they do something like that?” Three of the girls clutched onto his arms and one hid her face against his chest.

“Because they have the power to kill and don’t who care gets hurt because of it, how many unnecessary lives are lost, as long as they get what they want. My father fought against this senseless violence and to keep my mother and I alive. They killed him and every other grown man that dared to defend their families from death.

You kids’re are fortunate that if you had to be around vampires, that you have such thoughtful vampires watching out for you. Sure they might want a snack or meal now and then, but the ones here, they don’t want to see any of you get hurt.”

“Yeah, we have great vampires here. Fai-sama is really sweet and kind, and Yuui-san helps make sure we have healthy trees and grass to run around and play in.”

“And we got to meet Chii-chan. Although we didn’t really get a chance to play with her before Freya-san came by.”

“Freya-san, as in their mom?”

“Yeah.”

“She was mostly around when my grandparents were growing up. Now, she just comes by when Fai-sama and Chii-chan and Yuui-san are off on business stuffs.”

“But wait, how’d you get away from those bad vampires … the ones that got your father?” one girl asked, clambering into his lap.

“Mother could use barrier magic; under her barrier, vampires can’t track us by scent or by our heat signature, which seems to be how most vampires go around looking for food.”

“But they can still see you right?”

“Yeah, exactly. The barrier didn’t help much if the vampires have you in their sights.”

“But what about you? How’d you find them?”

“I can feel their presence.”

“Their presence?”

“For instance, when you’re around Fai, what’s the feeling you get from him?”

“Kitten fur,” one of the kids piped up.

“Explain more,” Kurogane encouraged the young one.

“Well Fai-sama leaves you with that warm humming feel inside, and you want to smile around him and spend more time cuddling with him and that he knows a lot more than he ever says and also he falls asleep in the sunlight, like a kitten.”

“Very good … and do all the vampires here leave you feeling that way or is it just Fai?”

“Just Fai-sama. Yuui-san is more like grassy fields and waterfalls and sunsets.”

“But sometimes he’s more like the first frost announcing fall and you can see your own breath. “

“Yeah you don’t want to be around Yuui-san when he’s like first frost though.”

“I’m not sure who’s scarier, Mama if we stay out too long or Yuui-san when he’s in that mood,” a boy chipped in. Kurogane guessed it was his older sister that replied, “Mama for sure.”

Kurogane smiled a little, understanding the kids point of view well. If he had not discovered the vampires that seeked death and destruction, he too would have thought his mother was the scariest when she was mad. Sure, his father could give him a strong scolding, but it was favorable if he deserved a punishment to be scolded by him than to have his mother upset with him.

“Mothers can indeed be frightening but they do want what they think is best for you in the end because they do love you. Now, have you ever met someone, and you just knew, without explanation, you just knew that they were not to be trusted or that they were going to do something to hurt someone you like.”

Most of them affirmed they knew someone like that. “Well, that’s basically what I look for to find the ones that are ...not like Fai or Yuui or even Freya and Chii. There is nothing good left to be found about the ones I went after to make sure they couldn’t harm another village.”

“So then, what is the collar for?”

“When I made it, I knew silver was dangerous to vampires and the iron in the steel was dangerous to faie, who I didn’t know but guessed worked with those vampires I was after.”

“Why is silver dangerous to vampires?”

“Because. … while they can touch silver, cuts with the metal don’t fully heal.”

“Why not?”

“ … I honestly don’t know why. Probably has something to do with messing with their regeneration powers. I just know if you cleanly behead them, they don’t suffer from it and they don’t come back from that.”

“So you used a sword to behead the vampires that wanted to kill people?”

“Yeah.”

“Was your sword silver and iron too?”

“ … yeah. Yeah, it was. My father made it.”

“...Did you forget about it?” a boy asked.

“Why do you ask?”

“Cuz that happened to me too. It’s one of the faie sleep spells. It puts you to sleep and then when you wake up you feel like something is missing but you can’t remember what it was because they took something from you, and the spell is to try and make you forget about it.”

“And you know this how?”

“Because my brother reminded me about what got took from me. And then I remembered that that was what was missing. So I asked my parents and they said they gave it to the faie for safekeeping because they didn’t think I’d miss it.”

That got Kurogane thinking about things. “So do any of you know the language of the faie?” he asked curiously.

“He does,” most of the kids outed one of the smaller boys.

“Alvin’s really good at it too,” four of the girls offered.

“Is this true?” Kurogane asked the boy, who nodded shyly.

“Would you mind translating something for me then?” Kurogane asked, giving the kid the choice to back out. Just because he could, Kurogane wasn’t going to make him.

Alvin nodded shyly, “um, what … did you want to know?”

“Was wondering… what does… Mana bhūlī gayā chō, paṇa jō śarīra haju yāda. mean? Or is that just gibberish that Fai said?” Kurogane gave his best attempt at repeating the words Fai once said to him. Words he was certain had nothing to do with how cute he was. Which he wasn’t.

Alvin was quiet for a minute as he translated the words into the faie language. “Those words means: even if the mind forgot, the body still remembers.”

Kurogane began to think over that, but he didn’t waste any time in making a small smile. “Thanks kid,” Kurogane said, reaching over and giving the kid a gentle hair ruffle.

One of the kids whispered to another, “Big scary puppy isn’t so scary … scary people don’t smile like that.”

Later that day, Kurogane saw Tomoyo in a dream.

`123456789

“Yuui.”

“Kurogane.”

“I don’t know how else to ask this, so I’m just going to be blunt. Do you think you can find my sister and bring her here?”

“That depends. She is human like you?”

“She is human, but she doesn’t have a habit of killing vampires. She’s a dreamseer so I’m sure she’ll know you’re coming if you decide to go.”

“And if I find her, how would I incline her to come with me? Even you show signs you don’t fully trust me.”

“Well, …” Kurogane began but doesn’t quite have the words to finish it, so switches to a different subject, “besides, I just thought you would understand best what it means to have your baby sister in your life … to know she’s as safe as she can be.” He then pulled out a folded paper that he’d been carrying. “Show her this; that way she will know it’s from me and that it’s safe to come with you. She won’t be in a big city; we avoided those. So you might try the small towns or in a heavily forested area.”

“Very well,” Yuui said collecting the paper, “In the meantime, I ask that you not inform my brother of this request of yours. ”

“That’s fine with me. Not the first time I was told not to tell Fai something.”

Yuui studied Kurogane before getting a knowing smirk. He bowed his head briefly, “Then I’ll be off. Do take care, of brother and yourself, in the time between.”

“You don’t have to ask twice.”

“I wasn’t asking.”

“I know.”

`123456789

“Hey Kuro-fish, have you seen Yuui around anywhere?”

“Your brother?”

“Yeah I can’t seem to find him, and he’s not answering any of my calls.”

“Nope, haven’t seen him recently, but I’m not your brother’s keeper either so I wasn’t exactly looking for him either. Maybe he went to another of those slave auctions.”

“If he had, I would have known that an auction was being held, but there’s been no word of one of late,” Fai said quietly musing, holding his chin with his thumb and forefinger.

“Well, what do I know? Maybe he just needs some private time to himself,” Kurogane said with a casual shrug.

“I think you know where he is,” Fai said looking over Kurogane.

“Why the hell would I? His whereabouts is not my business.”

“You smell like you’ve seen him today.”

“......” Kurogane stared at him before accusingly pointing his finger at him, with an outraged expression, “first of all, you have no idea how weird that sounds! And secondly, sometimes he comes and visits me before he goes to garden and whatever else he does but he does that in the beginning of dusk so I haven’t seen him since then.”

“....” Fai let out a sigh. “Well, I guess if that’s how it is, there’s no helping it. I guess it’d be too much to hope that you knew where he is.”

“Well if you don’t know where your own sibling is, I’m not sure why you thought I’d have a better lot knowing. Not like I have telepathy or anything.”

“...Somedays I think you do.”

“Well that’s dumb. I don’t have any magical powers.”

You do have magic, Kurogane, I’ve seen it; you just don’t seem to remember about it anymore.

`123456789

Fai stared out the open window, his fist holding up his chin, when Kurogane came over and sat on top of his leg since it was there. “You gonna sit here all day and roast or are you actually going to go to bed?”

“I’m just worried about brother. It’s been days and he still hasn’t come home.”

“Well sitting here ain’t gonna change that.”

“No, but… you… this is where you spent many days and nights… I was wondering what made it so special that it came to always carry your scent.”

Kurogane sighed aloud, as his hand combed through his hair, “You are such an idiot. You look, and yet, you do not see.”

Fai laughed at that. Kurogane tched at him before standing back up and tugging at Fai’s arm, “Now, you need your rest. If he finds out you’ve been neglecting your health, he’ll scold you for sure.”

Fai could resist the pull, but didn’t as he went along with it, “my my, is my chow puppy concerned over my health?” Fai teased him.

“I am not a puppy,” Kurogane said with a huff, not even bothering to deny the other stuff at this point. He just wasn’t going to say them aloud.

Fai was a bit surprised that the puppy part was the only complaint and denial, “Is Kuro-pup not feeling well?”

“I’m fine,” Kurogane rebuffed as he walked Fai towards his room.

“But you didn’t deny being concerned,” Fai said with an inquiring tone.

“What about it?”

“Well, … are you?”

“Am I, what? Am I taking you to your room? Yes.”

“You know what I was asking, Kuro-care. And since you won’t deny it, I’m taking that as a yes, you are concerned,” Fai declared.

“Take it as you wish.”

Fai smiled.

`123456789

Fai waited until Kurogane had set the cup of tea down before he flopped down onto Kurogane’s lap and made himself rather comfortable curled upon his side.

“You bastard!” Kurogane said more from surprise and habit than anything, before shifting to readjust and get comfortable once more, letting out a sigh as he went and picked up his tea again.

“... hey Kuro.”

“Hm?”

“Do you think Yuui’s okay?”

“Sure he’s fine, wherever he gone off to. You’re twins right?”

“Yeah… what’s that-”

“So don’t you have some kinda twin telepathy or whatever?”

“Well yeah, but I can’t reach him … something is blocking me.”

“The fact that something is blocking you … doesn’t that mean he’s still out there and alive?”

Fai smiled, realizing what Kurogane was doing. “... thanks,” he said quietly into his side.

“What was that?”

“Kuro is being really thoughtful.”

Kurogane scoffed at that, even as one hand absentmindedly leafed through Fai’s hair, occasionally catching when he came across singed strands. After a while, Kurogane spoke up again. “You ever think about cutting out the burned ends?”

Fai made a small hum as he shifted to stare up at Kurogane, “I did once, but then they reminded me of your smile, so I quickly dismissed the thought.”

“ ….. “ Kurogane couldn’t help the surprise he felt or the small blush that rose at Fai’s words.

“Why do you ask?”

‘... forget it.”

“Awh ~ Is Kuro-cutie getting shy and embarrassed?”

“No,” he denied. “And don’t call me cutie. The last thing I am is cute.”

Fai moved to poke Kurogane’s cheek, “Shy puppy. Don’t you know if it’s the last thing you are, then it is still a part of you, so therefore you are still cute.”

“Not cute,” he grumped with an annoyed expression.

Fai laughed it off as he went back to snuggling against Kurogane, and he let out a huff as Fai’s weight shifted and he went back to idly running his fingers through the blond hair.

“So does Kuro-in-denial like my hair?”

“Hm?”

“You’ve increasingly been mussing around with it, so it makes a guy think those kinds of things.”

“Hm…”

“That’s not really an answer, Kuro-pup.”

“Well, there’s not much you can do with it at this length besides muss it around. A few inches longer and I could probably start putting braids in it.”

“Wait… you know how to braid hair?” Fai asked intrigued by this possible new development.

“Well, yeah; after Father was killed, I helped take care of Mother’s hair more than I had already, and when she died, I sorta adopted this other orphan to be my sister. She had long hair so when we had time, I would help take care of it for her. When we could manage, we got her some nice ribbons to decorate her hair with.”

“Awh - that’s so sweet of you,” Fai cooed, getting a bop on the back of the head for that. “Ow?”

When the cooing stopped, Kurogane began to comb through Fai’s hair with his fingers, before sectioning out three small parts of Fai’s hair. With what he had to work with, he began weaving the three sections, making a tiny braid, able to get five full twists out of them.

“Yeah, as I thought. There’s not enough length here to make a braid look good on you.”

Fai smiled at that, then went and kissed Kurogane on the nose. “Thanks, anyway, for trying.”

`123456789

For the first time in nearly two weeks, what stopped Fai from reaching his brother via twin telepathy was lifted as he heard his brother’s voice inside his head.

Fai. Where are you?

Fai responded immediately, even as he handed over Chii to Kurogane. Yuui - where have you been? I was worried sick about you.

Listen, Fai. I need you to head down to the lake, the one you can see from the windowsill. You need to come alone.

Yuui - what’s going on? Are you in trouble?

I cannot explain anymore.

Alright Yuui. I’ll be there soon.

Kurogane looked at Fai curiously, cradling Chii in his arms, “Something the matter?” he asked as Fai began to leave.

“Nope - everything’s fine. I just have something I need to do. You be good for Kuro, alright Chii?”

“Chii!” she said waving her arms.

“Do you want me to come?”

“I want you to look after Chii for me and I’ll be back soon.”

“Alright,” Kurogane said as he supported the toddler in his arm.

With a smile, Fai took off, dashing out of the house and down towards the lake where all he could see was a lone female with dark black hair he was sure he’d never seen before.

“Where’s Yuui?”

“Yuui is it? He’s with my body guards. Don’t worry- we made sure to take care of him during his time with us. I have no doubt you did the same with my big brother.”

“So you’re Tsukihime.”

“I am. And you are the vampire that stole my brother from me and his father’s sword from him.”

“Tē tamanē chupāvavā māṭē kahyuṁ hatuṁ.”

“And the fact that you didn’t notice me then, I think I did a really good job of that. You realize that the sleep spell cast loses effectiveness when it has already been used on the individual.”

Fai’s not sure what caught him by surprise hardest, the fact that Tsukihime understood what he said to her, or the fact that apparently prior to when he went to take Kurogane’s sword, that spell had already been used on him.

“Anē mātra tēmanā agā'u śuṁ chupāvavāmāṁ āvyuṁ hatuṁ?”

“You should know by now, Kurogane is not my brother in blood. And that you and I both share similar lineage.”

“You are not vampire.”

“And neither are you, not fully anyway.”

“So you are faie, then.”

“So is your grandfather. Like me, he took a form befitting human and kept that form up.”

“To be able to assume such a human form, that requires a great strain on the faie’s magic, does it not?”

“Indeed. Your grandfather was a very powerful faie, but he found someone he loved and chose to be with her and equally she chose him.”

“And what does my grandfather have to do with the current situation?”

“Because there was a price to be paid for his actions. He asked of a favor from the faie. However, before he could pay it off, someone discovered his secret and killed him So the debt falls onto his blood family. Your mother is incapable of paying off the debt so it falls to her children instead, who have inherited their grandfather’s abilities.”

“That is fine; we will pay the debt that is owed. However, how does this debt have anything to do with Kurogane?”

“It is because … Kurogane is my brother, both in obligation to a promise I made with his mother, and by my own choice to be his sister and look out for him. That is why, your half of the debt can be paid off by freeing him from your blood spell and returning to him that which was stolen.”

“... and if I refuse?”

“Well, then you’ll still have your grandfather’s debt to pay and his little sister’s wrath to deal with.”

“That doesn’t sound like a very pleasant option.”

“It’s not. I wouldn’t choose that option.”

Fai was quiet for a bit.

“You hesitate.”

“... I don’t want to lose Kurogane.”

She smiled understandingly, “you love him.”

Fai made an awkward expression. “Is it obvious?”

Tomoyo stepped closer, “Yes, but Fai, you ought to already know…if you really love someone, you cannot force them to stay with you. With the blood spell you put on him in effect since the purchase of him, you took away a lot of his free choice. By returning Kurogane with not only his weapon but his freedom, it gives him the chance to choose what it is he wants.”

“I understand. Then what of Brother? If not Kurogane, what price did you want for his return?”

Tomoyo chuckled, behind her hand, “I never had any intention to make you trade my brother for your brother. Your brother promised he would pay his half of the debt and then he’s more than free to go. Although you can always tell Kurogane that’s what the trade was, since he doesn’t need to know about your grandfather’s debt.”

“You’d have me think that my brother was being held for ransom, when really you were only interested in having an old debt taken care of. Kurogane’s sister is very cunning. Why was it Mother was incapable of paying the debt exactly?”

“Because …” Tomoyo spoke seriously, “It was your grandfather’s debt so only male lineage with faie magic from him could pay off the debt. If it had been your grandmother that asked of the favor, only female lineage with your mother’s vampirism could inherit the debt.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” Fai said sagely.

“So then, will you comply?”

“Since it’s in Kurogane’s best interests to do so, then yes.”

`123456789

“Moko chan… do you remember where we hid Kuro’s sword?”

“Puu!”

“Would you mind fetching it for me?”

“Are you sure Fai?”

“Yes. Very sure.”

“Alright,” Mokona said with a small nod before hopping off into the faie dimension. Several minutes pass by before Mokona hops back out carrying what looks like only the sheath.

“Here you go Fai,” Mokona said handing it over.

“I’ll definitely get you a special treat, in appreciation, Moko-chan,” Fai promised before holding onto the sheath in his hands, still a bit nervous on how Kurogane would react. Fai carried the sheath back to the lake where he could now see Tomoyo and both his siblings as well as Kurogane, who was carrying Chii on his shoulder at the time. As he approached them, he quietly cast the enchantment to return the sword back into its sheath.

“Well, Fai. Do you have anything you’d like to say to Kurogane?”

“Yes. Kurogane, this belongs to you. After you fell unconscious, I took it from you.”

“I know. A couple of the kids told me enough to figure that out on my own.”

“Well, today I’m returning it to you, as well as removing my claim over your blood. Please step over here so I can do that.”

Kurogane willingly did so, and when one hand settled on a part of the sheath, Fai used his free hand to gently tug on Kurogane’s collar and bring his head down close to him, so he could speak in his ear, “If you decide to leave me, my heart will miss you,” he told him, before he tilted his head a little and gently bit Kurogane’s lower lip, removing the claim spell the same way he placed it on him. Once it was removed, he let go of both Kurogane and his sword, taking a step back.

“It is done.”

“Thank you, Fai. That means that you are a free man once more Kurogane,” Tomoyo spoke gently. “So what would you like to do?”

“Well first things first,” Kurogane said, and gently returned Chii into her brother’s arms so he could actually inspect the family sword, to watch the way it hummed with life with the soft whisper of its name. Yes, this way definitely the family sword. He sheathed it once more, and placing it back into that place that was empty before his gaze fell back on the other, “Okay family hug,” he declared.

Tomoyo went and wrapped her arms around him while he wrapped one around her, “Hey idiot, that means you too.”

Fai was not going to second guess that, as he went over with Chii and joined the hugging.

“Mokona wants a hug too,” Mokona piped up.

“Yeah yeah, come on over here,” Kurogane said and Mokona jumped up and landed on his head, hugging him that way.

Kurogane looked over at Yuui, “there’s still room for you too in this hug.”

Yuui gave a polite smile as he stepped in as well, getting in between his brother and Tomoyo, as Kurogane gave them all a hug.

“Does that mean you’re gonna stay?” Fai hopefully asked, enjoying the hug while it lasted.

“Not quite,” Kurogane began, “Your house is nice and all, but I need my own place. Thinking about setting up a place in the village nearby. The people there are friendly, and the vampires that come by are actually good company to have around.”

Well it was more than Fai originally thought possible, “so that means you’re staying in the area?”

“Yeah, and if you want, you can help me scout for a good spot to build a home.”

“I’d be happy to help,” Fai said thrilled.

“Mokona wants to help too.”

“Like a family project,” Tomoyo threw in.

“Yeah, well you know what they say. The family that works together stays together.”


Thank you for reading! How did I do?
Please score my fic according to these guidelines:
1. How well did this fic fit the prompt? (1-10)
2. How well written was the fic? (1-10)
3. How much did I enjoy this fic overall? (1-10)
Please remember that you must provide some form of identification, either by logging into dreamwidth, or by providing a link to a blog or profile on another site, for your vote to be counted!

Comments

[miyakodea]

How well did this fic fit the prompt? 1

Sorry but Fai stealing Kurogane’s sword at the beginning and then returning it at the end really did nothing for me. It was more of a basic theft than a heist. Even then the theft of the sword was hardly stressed or a main part of the storyline.

How well written was the fic? 4

There are a lot of run-on sentences and some of them were really confusing to read. You managed to go into a great amout of detail (sometimes too much) describing things but when it came to other aspects you seemed lacking. One of the biggest problems for me was the additional subplots you threw in but never followed up on, instead leaving them hanging. Kurogane apparently has powers of some sort but we never figure out anything about them. Fai and Tomoyo have a mixed lineage but it is only mentioned in passing. There is also apparently a debt that needs to be paid but we have no idea what the debt was caused by (It more so seems like a last ditch thought to get Fai to release Kurogane). Apparently Tomoyo is part faie but had no issue touching what you stated could harm or even kill a faie. Finally, there is still the ‘fact’ that Fai has developed feelings for Kurogane, whom will die long before Fai.

How much did I enjoy this fic overall? 4.5

I enjoyed some of the clever lines and Fai’s interactions with Yuui. You managed to make their sibling relationship very realistic. However, the story is just full of way too many contradictions and loose plot lines to really be enjoyable. I think another issue was that I kept anticipating a heist (ex. Tomoyo gathering forces to take Kurogane back) that never came.

[missdrusilla]

Thank you for the fic!

1. How well did this fic fit the prompt? (1-10)
Score 4 - The stolen family sword was mentioned, but I don't think that's considered as a heist

2. How well written was the fic? (1-10)
Score 6 - Easy to follow as no timeskips involved. But, a lot of things still unexplained, such as Tomoyo's identity, the debt of the twin's grandfather, Yuui's character, etc. Kurogane was a bit OOC.

3. How much did I enjoy this fic overall? (1-10)
Score 6 - I like the vampire story, KuroFai relationship development, and siblingship between KuroTomo & the twins. And I like happy endings! Would be more awesome if we get to learn about the unexplained things mentioned in my previous comment. I'm looking forward to a re-write, if you are willing :))

[animangod]

Well there'll definitely be a rewrite at some point and or a companion piece, the first reason being since real life got in the way of me giving this fic the ending I originally meant for it, and so ambiguous stuff is, well, not so ambiguous.

[miyakodea]

I would absolutely love to read this fic again after it has been reworked! I was looking back at the posting schedule and saw that you were a pitch-hitter! The ever present Olympics deadline must have been one heck of an ominous presence when you had so many plot bunnies running around and such a short amount of time to wrangle them in. I recall reading other works written by you in the past and, if those works are any indication, a rewrite will turn this into a pretty epic piece of work.

[animangod]

"I recall reading other works written by you in the past and, if those works are any indication, a rewrite will turn this into a pretty epic piece of work."

That was a genuinely really sweet thing to say, and I'm probably going to spend a really long time treasuring having you type that.

scores

[(Anonymous)]

1. How well did this fic fit the prompt? (1-10)
The prompt was heist- which is a word that calls to mind a certain type of robbery although by strict definition it just means to rob. But if I was to read this fic with no indication of what the prompt was i would have assumed it was slice-of-life.
5

2. How well written was the fic? (1-10)
It was an entertaining read although the pacing was a bit off at points. I would have to say that the beginning was quite heavy that I assume the rest of the fic would carry on that mood but was quite surprised how the tone made an 180 once Kurogane was bought.
6

3. How much did I enjoy this fic overall? (1-10)
The ending seemed a bit rushed but I did enjoy reading this fic.
7
a link to prove I am real: http://winblossomwin.tumblr.com/

scoring

[(Anonymous)]

1. How well did this fic fit the prompt? (1-10)
(5) 'Heist' kinda makes it sound like there'd be creeping around money vaults and really complicated plans to steal things, but the stealing that happened here was aided by magic, so I wasn't expecting that. Well, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but stealing things wasn't the focus of the story, so I feel like this fic went a bit away from the prompt.

2. How well written was the fic? (1-10)
(7) The writer invested a lot in worlding, and the characters were entertaining. I was looking for more action though, because of the prompt, but if I think of this as more of the 'family bonding' variety of story, it's nice.

3. How much did I enjoy this fic overall? (1-10)
(7) I like Yuui a lot here, even though he's not the main focus of the story. :) The ending feels a bit rushed, but the story seems interesting enough.

This is me on tumblr: http://www.ningenshiken.tumblr.com/

[kittenintheskyy]

1) 5. The prompt was sort of just an after thought.
2) 8 I really enjoyed this! I enjoyed the way the fic flowed and the character development as well!
3) 8

[imtoolazytodoanything]

1. How well did this fic fit the prompt? (4-10)
Except for kurogane's sword, it technically didn't contain any Heist soo.

2. How well written was the fic? (8-10)
I didn't find any problem with it. It liked how you developed the characters and you use some good descriptions. I liked it

3. How much did I enjoy this fic overall? (8-10)
I enjoyed it. It was an interesting story to read, and i liked it.

[dazedream]

1. How well did this fic fit the prompt? 1
2. How well written was the fic? 6.5
3. How much did I enjoy this fic overall? 7.5

The concept was interesting, but deviated from the prompt almost entirely. Honestly, I'd forgotten about the prompt until I reached the end and was asked to score - it had that little relevance to this fic. The theft of Kurogane's sword was a plot element but because he forgot about it, it was also absent in my mind. If the theft had more impact, I would have upped your score, but no conflict arose from the missing sword or memories; it felt like the sword was just thrown in there to tie a vampiristic family bonding and romance drama to the prompt.

The story was easy to follow and had some really interesting elements; I loved the intricacy of your worldbuilding. The alliance between the vampires and faie was something I would have liked to see more of, and I enjoyed the example of interspecies relationships between Fai and Mokona. (The image of Mokona as a fairy is a delightful one!) However, all the reveals at the end felt slapped on; you introduced a bunch of new plot threads and then failed to bring them to a satisfying conclusion, leaving a lot of loose ends. It felt a bit like you couldn't find out a way to fit in the backstory anywhere else, but right at the end didn't work either. The story did it's best work when it stuck to the romance, the sibling relationships, and the vampirism elements. I loved how Kurogane and Tomoyo's meeting paralled canon, and it was tangible how much support and comfort they drew from each other. 'Tsukihime' as a nickname for Tomoyo was also an interesting choice; I wondered whether Kurogane had bestowed it to Tomoyo or whether it came from her faie heritage.

The happy ending fell flat for me, as Tomoyo has not had the development Kurogane has in learning to trust the vampires. I would have been more satisfied if the ending had focused on KuroFai, as their relationship had the most build-up. The whole debt subplot introduced at the end is a really interesting one, it just lacked punch due to the sudden introduction and dearth of foreshadowing.

On the whole, this entire fic feels unpolished. I see that you were a pinch-hitter, so my guess is you didn't have enough time to execute all your ideas, which lead to rushing the plot to reach the ending. If you ever polish this fic up a bit, I'd love to read it. Thank you for writing!

[cloverfield]

“It’s just, you don’t seem like monsters. Except the need for blood, you could almost pass as a human.”

Fai thought about that. “I’m not sure if that’s supposed to be a compliment or an insult.”

“I’m not sure either.”

1. How well did this fic fit the prompt? 5/10

At its most basic, a "heist" is a theft, and there was certainly that; Kurogane's sword being stolen was a good start to work with. I do feel that the concept of a heist was not really the main theme of the fic, however; while the fic can certainly branch out more than a strict interpretation of the theme, I still would have liked to have seen a little more working within the theme. That said, you did very well on the fantasy side of it- this is definitely a fantasy world, with vampires and faie and Mokona, oh my! I really liked your worldbuilding, and I feel like, if this had been for a slightly different prompt than heist (maybe one to do with family) this would have been better suited for it.

2. How well written was the fic? 7/10

I thought the use of a completely foreign language for the faie speech was really interesting, and I was really intrigued as to what was being said, though the context clues did help understanding. And I was surprised at how... peaceful this felt, especially since vampires are usually associated with violence! You're very good at descriptions, and I enjoy the pictures you paint with your imagery. I did notice a few instances where the fic could have flowed smoother, or used a few edits, so I hope that if you have the opportunity to rewrite it, you can polish it up a little. I was a little confused as well to the relevance of the debt and family genealogies, so it would have been nicer to see that fleshed out a little more. It doesn't need much, as this is a good story with a lot of potential!

3. How much did I enjoy this fic overall? 6.5/10

I'll be honest; the references to slavery and the slightly dubious consent made me uncomfortable, especially because I was not expecting them from the warnings you listed; I'd appreciate it if you could amend them to include slavery and consent issues as those themes (especially when associated with deprivation of liberty through whatever means) can be triggering for some. That said, I did find the story enjoyable, and it had a soft sort of flow which was nice to read on a cold night. (It's absolutely freezing here at the moment!) Yuui in particular stood out as a really interesting character for me, and I enjoyed his interactions with Fai and Kurogane very much. Thank you so much for pinch-hitting; I really appreciate you stepping in for the prompt and the hard work you put into making this fill. I hope to see you in the Olympics next year :)

[notpotable]

Thank you SO much for pinch-hitting for us! GO TEAM FANTASY!!

To address familiar concerns

[animangod]

One, thank you to those that left reviews and comments.

Two, from a certain point, the feeling the ending was "rushed" "slapped on" or other choice of words, is quite accurate. This was not the ending meant for this fic, I'm not even sure where the thought for the debt came from - probably just a way to make the story have an ending, on time. Tomoyo's heritage was not intended to have faie connection when the story started but by her word choice, in the faie language, could be explained off as always having been part or full faie and hid her burns from iron exposure from Kurogane, and Kurogane's mom's price was that she would one day expose Kurogane to a year in servitude to the same breed who would soon kill her. When I get to doing a rewrite, basically that whole bit of that ending will no doubt be scrapped and traded in for the ending that I meant this story to have.

Three, there was large thought the prompt "Heist" wasn't included except for the theft of Kurogane's sword. However instead of working off just Heist, I was focused on the sentence that came with the prompt "I will steal your greatest treasure and I will be your heart's desire". Finding that to get to a stage where one is the other's heart's desire, there needed to be a lot of world building and a significant amount of time for the two to become well-acquainted. What was (supposed to happen was a tie-in at the end back to stealing your greatest treasure, but that didn't really turn out so well in the ending that got sent to the Olympics competition.

Four: there was one individual who was not warned enough about slightly dubious content and slavery, and in my sleep depravity at the time of posting, I didn't even think of them as things to warn others of. So yes, I will go add them now.

Five: There was a comment mentioning Kurogane and his powers. Apparently that is something that needed more detail to come across properly since the one time I tried to show it was when Kurogane and Fai were at the lake, but that came to me from what happened in Outo, where Kurogane had a plain sword and yet channeled his technique to slay the demons after they hurt Fai, and it broke the sword, while others like Ginryuu and Souhi can take his techniques no problem. It came across to me that perhaps he has magic, but he need a sort of medium to channel it, such as a sturdy blade. Which is where the he has powers came from.

Six. Really wish I could have gone into more details over some stuff, and the fact that in my research for the vampire clans for this story, there is a way to turn a mortal into a vampire, so they have the same long life and drink blood stuff that other vampires are gifted with, and it's actually quite simple. But alas. That must be something reserved for the rewrite.

Seven. I am happy to hear that there were some things I did well on, things that made others happy and then other things I can still improve on. Looking forward to reading more KuroFai writings and producing more now and in the future.