nopain4                                         
by dolieskewpie 5.24.1999

    “Argh!!!!”  J closed his eyes and paced back and forth on the same
spot.  He needed to concentrate in order to sort things straight,
especially trying to think of some comforting words to say to the
owners of those helpless guilty eyes that were following him.

    So he came…. J sigh.  He was well prepared waiting for him every
single sleepless night.  He expected Sugi to come back anytime, it was
unlikely that he’d let go of his target prey so easily.  He knew Sugi well
enough…he would never give up until he got what he wanted.  However the
long period of peaceful waiting had let down everyone’s guard.  Once
J left the house for an urgent errand last night, Sugi emerged at once.
“This damned creature, what a coward he is trying to avoid me!” J thought.

    “Father, I’m sosososososo sorry ~~~” Ryu cried suddenly.

    “It’s alright, Ryu,” J laid his hand on Ryu’s shoulder, “it is a
blessing that you and Ino both survive.  We are all very grateful to you.
You’ve truly done your best confronting the devil and remain alive!”

    “but…I was so useless….” Ryu looked up at J with his puppy eyes, “I
should have stood guard in front of Ino’s door ALL the time!!!  I could have
prevented it.  Ino wouldn’t be harm at all if weren’t because of me
discovering
it too late….”  Ryu’s tears started to fall.

    “Ryu!”  Ino turned to Ryu tried to squeeze a smile proving that he’s
fine, “please don’t blame yourself.  Sugi….ah..I mean that devil…he came
into my room out of no where.  I should have been more aware and called as
loud as I could to alarm you.  And thanks to you I’m alive as well, I just
feel a little bit exhausted and weak right now……”

    “I guess the devil sensed Ryu’s presence and stopped his
wicked acts,” J turned to Ino, “the holy side will eventually prevail.”

    Ino looked down immediately and remained silent in deep thoughts.

    Ryu noticed Ino’s seemingly troubled face and found that amusing to look
at.  Ino did not tell J everything that happened in the room; he left out
the part in which Sugi was telling him his supposedly autobiographical
tragic love story.

    Well, neither did I tell J everything, Ryu thought.

    He told J that he only found out about Sugi’s presence in Ino’s room
sometimes after the attack was done, and when he reached the door he wanted
to burst into the room at once to save Ino, but Sugi immediately appeared
from behind and bit on his ear.

    In fact, last night Ryu’s heart suddenly went into rapture as he
sensed an unexplainable sinister feeling upstairs. J gave orders of
checking on Ino as often as possible, but it was the irresistable urge
that made him go there at once.  
There seemed to be a voice telling him to go there, not
for checking on or protecting Ino’s sake, but for a strange thrill.  He
rushed to Ino’s door at once.   However he didn’t feel like opening the
door, instead he waited in front of it with his mind gone blank.  He couldn’t 
explain why, there was some odd feeling inside him that he felt like
standing in the hallway staring at the door.  His instinct told him that
if he opened the door, he would let something horrible out free, just like
Pandora’s box.  Was it fear?  Not exactly, since he felt strangely aroused
and excited despite of his timidness in opening the door.  He was curious in
why he felt that way, “why do I have these strange forbidden and
seduced feelings?  Why I am so tempted to come up here but not dare to
confront my temptation by opening the door?” he asked himself.  He knelt
down and placed his head against the door, eavesdropping, trying to get an
idea what was happening inside Ino’s room.  He heard Ino’s gasp, and a
stranger’s voice speaking.  The voice sounded so mysterious and seductive,
there was something familiar about that voice.  That familiarity oddly
resembled the strange fear he had.  He felt like he was inviting danger.
He was entering a one-way forbidden zone.

    He could not hear the dialogues being exchanges inside the room very
well.  He heard Ino’s moaning and little cries in pain.  He had a mental
image of Ino being seduced and made love to….he detested that thought at
once.  The stranger seemed to be telling a story, he concentrated very hard
in an attempt to catch the words.  Every word sounded like a magical chant to
him.  He lost himself inbetween the dialogues, he felt like he was
possessed.  Without a warning, he was awakened at once as he felt a little
piercing pain on his ear…….

    Ryu did not tell J all these emotions that he had at that time.  There
was something dangerous and forbidden about them.  Something told him in
his heart that in order to find an explanation, he needed to see HIM again.

    *for now, let me be a cry baby innocent victim so J would not get
suspicious of my strange feelings.*  Ryu smiled secretly.

    J sense an unplesant feeling among them.  Ino’s unfocused and sparkless
eyes showed that he was troubleminded and struggling with his feelings at
the moment.  J had been trying to talk Ino out of his distress but failed.
What could possibly be bothering Ino?  Could it be that Sugi had tell Ino
something that threw him entirely off guard by temptation?  The devil’s
sweet talk!  J cursed inside.
The light spirited Ryu was strangely quiet right now as well.  But J
understood that Ryu must be too shock and scared from confronting the evil
in close encounter.  He felt remorse that he had put Ryu thru such
horrible experiences.  He decided that he ought to comfort and counsel Ryu 
as soon as possible.

    “I deeply apologize for my carelessness,” J said, “I underestimated that
damned creature.  It is my full responsibility to ensure Ino’s safety.  Not
only I’ve failed but I put Ryu in such dangerous situation as well.”

    Ryu held back his tears and looked up at J with his puppy eyes,
“wuwuwu…..please don’t say that J~~~~~”

* * * * * *

    “I’ll go get some new bandages!”  Ryu said cheerfully as he got up in
the next day.

    “Be very careful!”  J said, “or I think I should send someone else to
do so.”

    “Don’t worry, I’ll be okay!  It’s broad day light, Sugi will not appear
during the day ma?  Plus that little puncture wound had healed itself
already, I don’t feel anything at all.”

    “…..alright…” J didn’t want to be an over-reacting / protective mentor.

    Ryu hopped out of the room.

    J turned his gaze back to Ino on the bed.  He was still sleeping.  J
had decided that the three of them would stay in the same room during the
night from now on.  No one would be out of each other’s sight in any second.
He noticed that Ino’s face and body were sweating.  There was an anguish
expression on his beautiful face.  J reached out for the wet towel placed next
to the bed and wiped off the sweat gently.  The boy had gone through so
much, J thought, he felt pity for him and an urge to protect this fragile,
delicate being.  Ino was startled and woke up suddenly.

    “Nightmare?”  J asked.

    “…….oh…….” Ino was surprised and blushed.

    J sat down next to Ino.  J couldn’t help but asked,  “so what’s been
bothering you?  Are you ready to tell me?”

    Ino stole a glace at J and turned away immediately, he looked down for
awhile and then finally said,  “I feel so…so ashamed…..  just awhile ago I
thought you.…you were Sugi….”

    “…….?”
    “oh…please forgive me Father!!! I’m a sinner….I …couldn’t get Sugi off
my mind….he…”  Ino uttered and found himself stuck.

    J looked at Ino quietly, “Did he say something to you that night?”

    “….yes indeed…”  Ino gave up, “I was afraid to tell you because…I
really believed in it.  He told me stories about my past life, how we used
to be..hmm…lovers… I just felt so pity for him, and that I felt a strange
fateful feeling between us.  It is almost as if he has been waiting for me
for centuries…..”
Ino paused and continued, “I….I felt so special at that moment.  I had
never felt this way before.  It was like I am THE one.  I’m needed and
wanted by another individual so desperately., filled with emotions that
were so strong and intense….I was just overwhelmed…”

    Ino’s face turned redder and lowered his head further down.  J’s fear
had come true.  So the damned creature had used his dark charm to lure the
innocent….

    “Did…did you promise him anything…?? Or…did he give you something or
you gave him something…????”  J tried to calm himself down.

    “oh.…you mean…oh NO!!!  Ryu saved me right on time before anything
could happen!!!”  Ino clarified at once, “I mean, he left right after he
finished
his tales, he didn’t mention anything else at all nor did I have the chance
to react…”  Ino further explained as he saw J’s panic expression.

    “Look,” J put his hands on Ino’s shoulder, “that ‘individual’ you’ve
mentioned is NOT a human being.  He is a vampire, a powerful creature from
the dark side.  His ability and mentality are beyond ordinary human’s
limit, there is no way we can understand his actions.  Do not judge
him in the normal human standard.  His definition of love would be very
different from us and who knows if he just made up the story in order to get
your sympathy!!”

    “but…Father….his eyes looked so sincere…..”

    “The devil would say anything just to gain your trust.  He had wronged
your past life just to get you feel guilty for what you did, thus a
hopelessly nice boy like you would feel like oweing him and feel the
responsibility to pay him back by returning his so-called LOVE!”

    Ino remain silence because J had said everything he had been feeling.
He was quietly disgusted in himself.  Why would I be such a heartless cruel
animal in my past life?  Ino thought in distress, “if what Sugi said were
true, I must pay him back in this life.  My conscience won’t allow my
escape of responsibility, even if they were my sins from my previous life.
In fact…even if it weren’t true, I might just as well surrender to the
beautiful demon….after all he had spent so much effort in pursuing me…..”

    “Remember!”  J spoke boldly, “you do NOT owe him anything nor you
should feel sympathetic toward him!”

    “…..I….but what if….”

    J sigh and said, “look, the creature had seen through your weaknesses.
You are lonely, and you are desperate for attention and concern all your
life.  He knows that you would fall for him if he made you feel like you
were the destined one for him, as if he couldn’t live on without you.  That
is just a sweet trick from the devil.  And all those tragic love thing
sound like a pathetic scam, he just want to manipulate you by making you
feel sympathetic and guilty.   If you fall for that, he'll win his first
step in getting what he wants---damn you to the eternal darkness.  In
another word, he wants to drag you to hell!”

    Ino was confused.  What Sugi had said sound so sincere and touching,
they deeply touched his heart and indeed controlled his emotions and
thoughts.  But J’s words sounded like an alarm clock, slamming him hard with
the sharp warnings and tried to awake him from a sleep that he did not want
to wake up from.

    J advanced himself and sat next to Ino on the bed, he put his arm
around Ino’s shoulder, “those lies he told, I bet he had repeatedly telling
them over and over to his targets.  You’re not the only one at all, and
you’re 
definitely not SPECIAL to him!  You’re no different from all other
helpless foolish victims he had played around with and then dumped them in
a garbage can labelled as HELL!”

    J looked far way and paused for awhile, “trust me….I know about it….”

    Ino was startled at once.  He remembered Ryu’s words about J’s
past......

    “I’m sorry if I’ve made you feel bad,” J turned back to Ino, “remember
that I’m here to protect you.  I want to help you and I’ll always be by
your side.  I promise, I won’t let you facing the demon alone.  I will help
you fight it.”

    He gave Ino a warm hug and got up and said, “now let’s armored up
ourselves!  I’ll show you everything about vampire killing!”

* * * * * *

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