Abandoned

Chapter 1

"Your puppy eyes won’t work tonight Levin." Growled the taller of the men.

"I don’t understand." Levin replied pleadingly.

"Everyone’s favorite!" the second man hissed. "Why should you get all the attention?"

"We were all loved equally." Levin attempted.

"Let’s see if you have the guts to defend yourself, cherub!"

A small frown creased Levin’s features. "I am not a cherub and you know it!" He stepped away from the wall.

"Prove it!" The two aggressors spread their arms and cringed as a set of wings burst into existence on each of them. Off-white feathers scattered as they moved into fighting stances.

Levins' frown darkened. It was dangerous to fight out in the middle of a city, wings mantled for all to see. Quickly he scanned his opponents. One of them he could have taken alone, for he was stronger then he looked, but not both. Steeling himself Levin released his wings and spread them out. There was an obvious difference between his wings and theirs. Feathers rained from their sickly graying sets while Levin’s wings shined. "Is this how you chose to use the free will He gave you?" Levin spat. "Taking revenge for slights you dreamed up?"

His attackers’ faces only darkened and Levin gritted his teeth awaiting their rush. "Let them do it quickly." He found himself praying.

The two larger angels rushed forwards and the fight began but the tiny Levin didn’t stand a chance. Only when firm hands took a hold of his wing did Levin realize they had been planning a fate worse then death. He let loose an agonized scream as his attackers pulled and from somewhere a scream of rage echoed his. The larger angels looked up at the shadowed bat winged figure that dropped out of the stars towards them screaming. Dropping Levin they folded their wings and ran, frightened by the thought of facing a rare winged demon. Had they stayed long enough they would have found that the demon was only a touch larger then Levin. He let out a growl and kneeled beside the fallen angel, bat wings mantled protectively. Rolling Levin over he took in a sharp breath as one white wing fell loose to the ground, feathers already beginning to fly free.

"I’m sorry." The demon whispered. "I would have stopped them sooner had I known…" he shook out his yellow blond hair and picked Levin up. He had no good excuses but he could try and make it up to the angel. In a beat of wings that scattered what was soon becoming a pile of moon white feathers he took off and disappeared into the growing night.

*

The cold marble stairs lead down into the crypt, which was lit by large white candles. The stairs ended in an immaculately clean circular room with white, black and navy marble floors. Pacing the center of the chamber a small auburn haired man awaited his companions return from one of the four adjoining halls. He flipped up the faux fur collar on his red shirt and crossed his arms over his chest.

The door opposite the stairs quietly opened and a tall red head stepped out, closing it gently behind him. "He’s finally asleep."

"I suppose he has reasons to be this upset." The smaller man sighed.

"He’s been abandoned Shinya." The taller one reasoned, stepping closer and pulling Shinya into his arms.

"But what can we do about it? I still don’t see why Yoshiki sent us here."

The taller man gave a half smile. "Well what would you do if I abandoned you?"

"I’d track you down and kill you." Shinya smirked. "You’d be one dead Die."

Die turned his head to one side, pondering his lovers reply. "Not what I was thinking but I suppose we could be here to protect Mana."

"Toshiya is the last person Mana has to be afraid of." Announced a blond man, scaring the couple apart. He smirked and removed his sunglasses, proud that he could still out spook the younger generation.

"He just went to sleep, Yoshiki-sama." Die announced with a half bow.

"Quit sucking up Die." Yoshiki threw Die his coat with a smirk and made his way to the door Die had just come from. "We can take care of Toshiya from here."

"We?" Shinya turned to look up the stairs.

Black trench coat wrapped firmly around him the purple haired man made his way lethargically down the stairs. Long bangs shading his eyes, hands in his coat pockets. Shinya and Die recognized him immediately, Yoshiki momentarily forgotten.

Shinya backed away into Die when the man reached the bottom of the stairs. "Hey Kaoru." Shinya announced nervously. "Listen, we heard about Ryutaro and if there’s anything we can do…"

Kaoru said nothing, he simply glanced at Shinya who shrank into Die further. Looking away Kaoru sat down on the bottom of the stairs and glared at the floor.

The door shutting signaled Yoshiki’s departure and Die shrugged to Shinya, unsure what to do.

The adjoining hall held only two candles that guttered angrily casting deep shadows across the myriad of faces that lined the walls. Yoshiki blanched slightly and shook his head. "Damn Mana and his dolls." He muttered, making his way to the opposing door. The cold and creepy eyes stared forwards, porcelain skin coated with a thin layer of dust. Finding the door a crack open Yoshiki slipped inside.

A single candle sat on the black bedside table showing only a corner of the frilly white bed that occupied the room. The bundle of moving sheets in the beds’ heart revealed that Toshiya wasn’t as asleep as Die had thought. A tiny black rabbit was the first to peek out from under the sheets to regard the blond man. Yoshiki smiled as he approached and the furball hopped out and into Yoshiki’s hands.

"How much did he teach you before he left?" Yoshiki sat down on the edge of the bed. "Do you know who I am?"

"Leave me be."

"Did he teach you anything?" Yoshiki asked, disbelief coloring his tone.

"I don’t even know where I am." Was the bitter reply.

Yoshiki ran an angry hand through his long hair. "Let me tell you a story Toshiya. It may help you to understand why you’re alone." A pair of suspicious brown eyes peeked out from under the silken sheets. "A long time ago The Maker came to me and gave me two gifts. The first was near immortality. Only under certain and very specific conditions can I die. The second was Japan." Yoshiki glanced at his companion who was moving to sit up. "I was given the whole continent to do with as I liked.

"Faced with eternity I knew I could take my time in deciding what I wanted for our little island chain. So I traveled. I’ve been every where in Japan." His eyes grew clouded from memories long past. "When I finally chose to settle down I knew one very important thing. Facing eternity is more appealing if you know you aren’t facing it alone. For how can you watch everything grow old and die while you remain young? Only a few centuries and I found myself craving more like me. I chose pairs at first, careful to ensure their love could stand up against anything, including eternity. They were my Children and I loved them dearly.

"Then one day I met a young man named Gackt. He was dying when I found him, caught in the middle of something he had nothing to do with. I asked him if he was afraid of death and he smiled at me. He told me that death would only delay his search long enough for his reincarnation to occur. What do you search for? I asked him. His eyes went distant as he announced The other half of his soul.

"Gackt was a romantic searching for true love and I found myself offering him immortality to continue his search." Yoshiki glanced out of the corner of his eye and found Toshiya had moved to sit beside him. Corn braids of raven hair highlighted with blue attempted to hide his angry tear stained cheeks. "I believed that Gackt would be careful when he finally chose the person that would join him in eternity." Yoshiki closed his eyes and sighed.

"Then Mana came along. As you have no doubt witnessed that man could charm the teeth out of your mouth and you’d love him for it. Mana sensed that my Gackt was different so he seduced him and learned of my gift. At first I was suspicious of Mana but Gackt was so happy. I foolishly backed off and allowed Mana to be changed."

Yoshiki glanced down at the content rabbit curled up in his hands, gently rubbing it’s long ears. "Mana stayed with Gackt long enough to learn as much as he could before venturing out on his own. He didn’t stray far at first, unsure of his abilities, but Gackt could feel the change in his love. He discovered he had not found his soul mate, just a power hungry charmer. Devastated he shot himself, fearing that I would be angry for his apparent mistake. But I knew the fault did not lie with him, but with me. It is my fault Gackt shot himself and it is my fault you are here, alone." Yoshiki turned to look the younger man in the eye. "I elected to leave Mana alone for the time being provided he didn’t cause any disturbances. I knew where he was and expected he’d lie low for a while. Then he changed you. Unsure of his motives I posted some of my Children outside the crypt. You went in but never came out. I can only assume Mana spotted one of my watches and abandoned you rather than stay and be spied upon.

"I wanted my Children to choose carefully so they would never have to be alone. Mana has disregarded this ideal and so alienated himself from my Children and I. If he truly loved you, he would not have left you behind."

Toshiya looked away and fought to hide the new wave of angry tears bearing down on him. Abandoned, left for dead, betrayed. Yoshiki’s arms wrapped around him and despite this being their first meeting Toshiya found himself comfortable in his Father’s arms.

"I failed you once Toshiya and I will not let it happen again, nor will I let you become another Gackt. I have found someone to look after you, for he is just as alone as you are. He lost his love to the humans recently and I won’t let him join Ryutaro in death. Learn what you can from Kaoru till you are ready to begin on your own. And remember that I will always be around if you need me."

"But what about you?" Toshiya whispered, pulling away to look Yoshiki in the eye.

"What do you mean?" Yoshiki glanced at the younger man, the rabbit slipping away to curl up in Toshiya’s lap.

"You said being alone for eternity could drive a person mad, but you never found anyone. Or you never said anything." Toshiya gently rubbed the bunny between the ears and puased. "How can I find someone…if you can’t."

Yoshiki managed a small smile. "It took me a very long time, but I finally found someone. I nearly lost him. Don’t give up Toshiya. I waited for centuries, you just have to be patient and remember what Mana taught you."

Toshiya’s eyes narrowed. "Like what?"

"You know how it is to be abandoned for eternity. Now you’ll never do it to someone else." Yoshiki found himself teasingly ruffling Toshiya’s hair. "Now let’s go. Kaoru’s waiting. Do you have to pack?"

Toshiya glanced around the room. "All I have is the clothing Mana brought me…But I was never a big fan of his fashion sense…"

Yoshiki chuckled. "Well see what you can find till Kaoru can take you shopping. And see if you can dig up a coat, I think you might need it. It was pouring when I arrived." Standing he made his way to the door, assuming Toshiya needed a moment to change and pack.

Toshiya pulled back the covers and carefully touched his bare feet to the marble floor. Adjusting his navy silk pajama bottoms he moved towards the black wardrobe hidden in the shadows of the dark room. He didn’t make it far before a wave of dizziness struck him and he collapsed.

Yoshiki was instantly by his side, helping him to sit up. "What happened?"

Toshiya gently shook his head in an attempt to stop the spinning. "I’m sorry. I guess I’m just exhausted." He replied quietly.

Yoshiki frowned. "How long has it been since you fed?"

"The last time Mana came he gave me a cat. I didn’t save any of it, I never thought he’d leave me."

Yoshiki’s lip curled in disgust. "He’s been giving you pets? I never thought Mana capable of treating something this badly." He leaned Toshiya against his shoulder and rolled up his sleeve, offering his wrist to the younger man.

Hesitantly Toshiya took the offered wrist, Mana had only ever given enough to change him, nothing more. Canines lengthening he hesitantly sunk them into Yoshiki’s cool flesh.

Tiny pinpricks of pain before the pleasure. Yoshiki let his head fall back as the rainbows exploded in his mind. To repay their donors for their help a vampire’s teeth acted much like a snakes, injecting a harmless poison into the blood stream that would release endorphins in the brain. Yes the donor would be left tired and weak but happy, half believing they’d taken some drug, other half believing they’d just been fucked senseless. Nothing a little sleep and a big bowl of cheerios wouldn’t fix. Yoshiki almost had to pry the starved boy from his vein lest he be the one falling over after a few steps.

"Kaoru will take you hunting, I promise." Yoshiki panted. "Now pack your things."

"I’m sorry." Toshiya mumbled, knowing he’d taken far too much, eyes closed, awaiting punishment.

"Don’t be. I should have thought of it. I’ll be in front of the stairs. Don’t be too long." He patted Toshiya on the shoulder and left the room.

The black rabbit appeared at Toshiya’s side and looked up at him curiously. It’s little nose quivered as Toshiya fought back his tears again.