Black and Red: Part 8 ~ [The Pig Pen]

Black and Red

(Part 8)

What was odd was not really the words; for some reason they didn't quite hit Hanamichi's mind, didn't ring clear. What was oddest was two things; one, no one knew where he lived except Rukawa and himself. And second was that the presence behind the door was one that radiated a power so strong that it almost knocked Sakuragi to the floor. And he could feel that the person was holding back, letting out just enough of his power to scare Hanamichi.

It worked. Hanamichi was not only scared, he was dumbfounded, rooted to the floor, staring at the door, trying to reach out with his mind and feel for any kind of hint as to who it was.

Nothing. The power it radiated was almost like a shield; it blocked everything from Hanamichi. His mind struck the barrier and for a moment he struggled to knock it down, having gone against beings like this, with a psychic wall around them. Powerful vampires that killed each time they feed and drained their victims dry could become very strong. He'd never found one as strong as him, though.

This one was twice as strong as he was.

Something in his gut clenched, and he saw Rukawa get up, hastily getting dressed and looking at the door warily, eyes guarded, muscles clenched beneath his sinewy skin.

*Wait.* Hanamichi directed the thought to Rukawa, blocking it from any other telepaths. Rukawa looked at him, icy blue eyes flashing. Hanamichi felt his protest welling up within him even before he opened his mouth. Hanamichi shook his head. *See if you can hide in the closet.* Sakuragi nodded towards the closet at the end of the hall. Rukawa planted his feet apart, crossed his arms over his chest, and assumed a very stubborn look. Sakuragi sighed mentally.

*Go!* Sakuragi pointed, glaring at the fox-eyed boy. Rukawa glared back. *Don't you know what's good for you?! If you hide perhaps I can distract them long enough for you to get away.*

Rukawa glared back, his expression never wavering. Sakuragi finally grunted and spun to the door, pushing his frustration from him in a wave of energy that pulsed through the door and hit whatever object was beyond it.

It was heavy, whatever it was. Big, kind of bulky, and mad. Sakuragi expanded his mind to try and get anything from the thing before it could recover its senses.

Sakuragi reeled back as black anger washed through him, directed towards him and wrapping around him, squeezing the air from his lungs. He gasped and stumbled back again, falling against Rukawa, who grunted under his weight.

"No..."

Before he could do anything, though, the door to his home blew inward, and a group of people surged in. Sakuragi, who had been stunned by the psychic blow just a second ago, was easily overwhelmed as a large group of vampires gathered around him and tied his arms behind his back, pushing him to his knees.

Rukawa, however, fought, kicking and punching like a maniac before the sheer brute strength of the vampires overpowered him and knocked him to the floor, pinning him by digging their knees into the small of his back, tying his hands roughly.

Sakuragi, finally recovering, tried to escape from his captors, but a flash of black and then a splash of red ended his struggling. Rukawa could barely make out Sakuragi off to his right, blood pouring from his lower lip, glaring up at the source of the hit.

Rukawa strained his head upward, his neck screaming in pain, and took in the large, burly man in front of him. He wasn't so impressive; just his muscles, which looked as if they were layered on top of one another, his arms and legs threatening to burst forth from the confines of his clothes. His black hair was cropped close to his head, long on top, and curly. His skin was dark, and his eyes were silver-brown, like Sakuragi's. Only, there was no kindness or gentleness in his depths; the crooked tilt of his mouth displayed a cruelty that sent shock waves all throughout Rukawa.

*Akagi.* Hanamichi said to Rukawa. *One of the head honchos of the Vampire-Witch Council. The rumor was, though, that he died in a fire three years ago. Apparently he's been laying low.*

Thanks to their encounter last night, and the many mind probes that they had undergone during that time, Sakuragi didn't have to waste time or psychic energy explaining to Rukawa what the Vampire-Witch Council was. By now Rukawa knew about as much about Sakuragi as he knew about himself. The Vampire-Witch Council had been made to combine the two largest species of non-humans in an allegiance to govern the non-humans and demons. As much as you could govern them, anyway. Most were rebels, though he'd learned of some pretty harsh punishments for breaking the Dark Laws.

One of the biggest laws was not letting humans know about the existence of these non-human beings. And Sakuragi had definitely broken that law. So, Rukawa rationed, they'd sent a powerful council member to deal with one of the most powerful psychics in all of their society.

Rukawa glared.

"Sakuragi Hanamichi." Akagi shook his head, rolling his shoulders and sighing. "You know, son, we had high hopes for you. We were almost certain that you would become one of our best enforcers."

Sakuragi snorted. "This isn't the first time you've asked me, Akagi, and my answer is the same. You know that I've never had any interest in the Vampire-Witch Council or the Dark Laws. I don't bother you, you don't bother me."

"Well, see, under normal circumstances, that would be the case. Such as that display at the bar." He held up his hands, palms facing them. "Now I understand your concern for protecting the secrecy of the bar, and that group was pretty dumb, ready to kill the kid when they easily could have just blocked his memories and knocked him out. Thrown him in a gutter or something." Akagi shook his head. "I commend you on that, a wise move on your part." He clapped a few times before turning serious once more...though Rukawa really couldn't tell the difference between his praising mode and serious mode. "But you couldn't leave it at that, could you? No. You had to find him again, talk to him, let him know about yourself and our world." Akagi glared. "You broke the Dark Laws, and you must be punished."

Sakuragi growled. "I don't go by the Dark Laws, Akagi. The psychics were never part of the society that you listed in your governing laws. I'm only half vampire, and right now you're speaking to my mother's half."

Akagi reeled back and smacked the boy. "Insubordinate hybrid. You're mother always was entirely too stubborn. Powerful, yes. We could have used that. We thought that by killing your father that we could convince her to ally herself with us. But she was willful, independent, and idealistic to a fault. She didn't like how we dealt with certain matters inside our society, so she shunned us and flat-out refused to join us. For that she died."

Hanamichi surged forward, again pushing with his mind to knock Akagi backwards. It worked, at least somewhat, but for some reason Sakuragi looked like he was struggling.

Akagi chuckled, a deep, nasty sound in the back of his throat. "Haven't you figured it out yet? Every vampire in this room is blocking you, cutting you off from using your full power. You're as vulnerable as your little human...shall I say friend?...here." Akagi looked at Rukawa for the first time then, and Rukawa only stared back, something welling up inside him, an unfamiliar urge, sensation, almost a wave of palpable energy that was ready to be set free.

Rukawa didn't have any idea what he was doing, but he felt like he should...concentrate. On that energy. So he did, focusing solely inward, reaching out and grasping the power. Then, with a grunt of pure exertion, he released it, the energy flowing outward and hitting the vampires that held Sakuragi and him. They flew backwards, slamming into the walls and knocking picture frames off their hooks. They were stunned, their concentration broken long enough for Sakuragi to throw the rest of them backwards, levitating Akagi off the floor. The bigger man was gasping and scratching at his throat, as if he couldn't breathe. Sakuragi glared and stood, the binds falling from his wrists like a dead snake, coiling at his feet as he rubbed his offended joints.

"What do you think now, Akagi? Still underestimating me, ne?" Sakuragi growled, and Akagi gasped, his face turning a sickening shade of blue as his eyes bulged. "I could kill you now, but I'm not. You go to your Council and explain about this terrible mistake you just made. How attacking Sakuragi was a bad idea to begin with, and that it was unprecedented."

Akagi gasped. "He's...psychic."

"Of course he is! You think I'd let a human find out about us? I sensed it in him from the beginning, when I saw him at the bar. If I had left him alone for a second longer, he probably would have dealt with the vampires on his own. He's very powerful. But I stopped him to learn more about him, find out which of his parents had psychic blood. I was trying to protect him, Akagi, one of my own kind, from the human world. If I hadn't found him, then he would have grown up and his powers would have been crazy. That burst of energy he used was so uncontrolled and powerful that we were lucky it didn't kill us."

Rukawa could only stare at Sakuragi, having no idea what was going on.

*What is that do'aho talking about?*

"And then, of course, I can always count on the Vampire-Witch Council to interfere where they don't belong. If you had bothered to ask me or even probe the boy, then you would have realized that he is three-quarters psychic. But you're just a grunt, it seems; you get orders, follow them, and ask questions when everything's over and done with, don't you? And as for my mother?" A flash of silver, and Rukawa looked at him. There wasn't a trace of brown in his eyes any longer; the irises were pure silver. He shivered and took a step backward, tripping over an unconscious vampire. "You killed my mother and covered it up, didn't you? Hired a hit man to kill her under the guise that he had discovered what she was, even though you knew all along. And just because she wouldn't ally herself with you." Akagi was thrown against the wall, still conscious and gasping for air. "Get out of here, before I change my mind and kill you." He turned and looked at the vampires scattered around in his hall. As one they flew into the air and out onto the porch.

Akagi stood up and practically ran out of the house, the vampires waking up and following, throwing glances over their shoulders.

Rukawa stood there, staring at Sakuragi's back, not knowing what to do. He had been after him only to be sure he was a psychic? That's what all that had been about? The mind probes, the communication, the sharing of life stories, the...activities of last night. All that had been to make sure he was like Sakuragi? Well, so what if he was? Now what? Would Sakuragi shrug and say "You can leave now?" Or would he not say anything, just wait for him to leave?

Rukawa felt like balloon that had just been popped. And to top all his confusion off, he felt betrayed. Sakuragi had lied to him; whether it had been for his own good or not was beside the point.

At that moment Sakuragi turned and looked at Rukawa, and all his doubts were gone. In his eyes...brown-silver now...was a love that seemed to pour from them and into him, like a warm blanket wrapped around a chilly frame. It enveloped him and made him feel safe. It only took Sakuragi three steps to reach Rukawa, and then his arms were around him, his mouth on his, all the while saying with his mind, *I don't believe it, I love you, we did it, I love you, you did it, I love you, this is unbelievable, Rukawa I love you, have I said that yet?*

Rukawa laughed into the kiss and broke away. "What was all that about, what you were saying to Akagi?"

Sakuragi touched his forehead to Rukawa's, sighing and tightening his arms around Rukawa. Kaede's hands automatically buried themselves into the redhead's hair, stroking the locks into a silky mess. "I had a feeling there was something special about you when I first met you, but I had no idea what. And I couldn't figure it out, either, for the life of me, even after all of our mind probes. I wasn't very concerned with it at the time, mind you, and if I had been solely trying to figure it out, I would have." He shrugged. "It wasn't my top priority at the time." Rukawa flashed a smile. "But then, when you released that burst of energy, it was when I figured it out. Your mother was half psychic, half human, and your father was fully psychic. I thought I recognized him from your memory, but I couldn't have been sure. When you attacked, I remembered where I'd seen him. My mother once told me a powerful psychic tried to court her, but she was in love with my father and refused him. She said he got mad and left, running off with a hybrid...well, her description wasn't flattering. It was mainly because she was a dishonest woman. But anyway, that's not the point. The point is that you belong here. You have every right to know about all this, about everything in my world, because it's your world too." He kissed him again, long, sweet, and meaningful.

Rukawa could feel all the promises behind it, and for the first time in all his life, he felt hope well up in him.

"I think we should leave here. Move, go to a quieter place. How about, say, America?" Sakuragi smiled, and Rukawa smiled back. He would become a basketball player, like he'd always dreamed of, and best of all, he'd be with Sakuragi. The only one he was ever meant to be with.

They sealed it with a kiss.

Part 7