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Kimizuki Shihou had a seriously problem. It wasn’t that pain in the ass, Hyakuya Yuuichirou. As annoying as that guy was, he was reliable in a pinch, and under the pain of torture, Kimizuki was probably willing to admit that he was also pretty funny at times.
No, this was a bigger problem. He was in love.
That wouldn’t have been too much of a problem, except that the person he was in love with was a teammate, a guy, and most importantly, as innocent as freshly fallen snow.
Kimizuki sighed and pushed up his glasses, keeping his eyes peeled on the road. They were on a mission to clean out a vampire enclave in Chiba, and that baka-Yuu had insisted on driving the last time they’d gone somewhere, so it was rightfully his turn behind the wheel.
And thank goodness for that because as a new driver, Yuu’s acceleration and deceleration habits left much to be desired, especially if you wanted to hang onto your lunch.
He chanced a quick glance in the rear-view mirror, and there he was, sandwiched between the two girls, quietly napping away, Saotome Yoichi, his precious teammate and unrequited crush. Well, to say it was unrequited was a bit of an overstatement. Kimizuki just hadn’t figured out exactly what he was supposed to say or do to convey his feelings.
They’d been out to dinner, seen movies together, visited each other’s houses to play games, and even slept-over a couple times, but all of these things were relatively normal activities enjoyed between friends, and really, Kimizuki was beginning to suspect that even if he literally used the word “date,” Yoichi would look up at him with those gorgeous green eyes that registered not one iota of romantic intent, and say “sounds fun!”
What’s worse was the fact that, in truth, Kimizuki had never actually asked anyone out on a date. It wasn’t that he was inexperienced in dating. In fact, he’d even slept with a few girls. The problem was that he was tall, athletic, and a high-scoring student, so he was always the one being approached, and never the one doing the actual approaching.
He was beginning to suspect that his feelings for Yoichi were payback for all the girls he’d broken up with after a few days because “I have more important things to focus on.”
In his defense, he had. All of the training and studying he had done before taking the black demon test had been in order to join the Vampire Extermination Unit and therefore receive the necessary influence and resources in order to transfer his sick sister into a military hospital.
He hadn’t had time to philander about with random clingy girls, but he’d taken advantage of the situation nonetheless.
Man, he was really a despicable guy sometimes, and realizing that fact was only making him more anxious because he wasn't sure–even if he figured out a way to confess to Yoichi–if he was good enough for him.
He checked the rear-view again. This time, he promised himself, to make sure there weren’t any enemies on their tail. The fact that Yoichi was in his line of sight was just a coincidence.
But really, Everything about Yoichi was mesmerizing to Kimizuki. He was far cuter than any girl he’d ever met. He was amazingly kind, always trying to make peace between him and Yuu, and cheering everyone up when things got depressing. And when he fought, his heart fortified with courage and his eyes keen with determination, he became unbelievably cool.
Kimizuki smiled to himself, remembering their last encounter with a Horseman of the Apocalypse. Yoichi had merely leaned his body out the window and skewered the thing with his bow all while riding in a car traveling 100 km/h.
Kimizuki had really wanted to kiss him at that moment.
“No, not….Shinoa’s……..curry.” Next to Kimizuki, the napping form of Yuu was apparently talking in its sleep.
Geez, he’s annoying, even while sleeping.
Still, if he was dreaming about Shinoa’s cooking, perhaps it would be an act of mercy to wake him up before it turned into a nightmare.
“Oi, baka-Yuu! Wake up!” He poked his teammate in the head.
“FZEFLISWIP….What? Eh? Kimizuki? What the hell did you wake me up for?!” Yuu yelled, far too loudly considering the fact that everybody else was also napping. Well, not any more.
“Mmmm? Where are we?” Kimizuki heard Yoichi’s soft voice behind him.
I wonder if it would be possible to bottle a voice. I would carry his with me everywhere I went.
Wow. Had he really just thought that? Damn. He was in deep, wasn’t he?
“Oh, look! The sign says 10 km to Chiba, nice timing Kimizuki-san,” Shinoa said.
“Eh? What’s in Chiba?” Yuu asked.
That idiot.
“Did you receive even two brain cells when you were born, baka-Yuu?” Kimizuki shouted, “It’s where the vampire enclave we’re going to exterminate is. Honestly, pay attention!”
“Dude, you don’t have to be so mean,” Yuu replied defensively, “I knew we were going to take out some vampires, I just didn’t know they were in Chiba. I kinda tuned out that part of the briefing. They’re so boring, anyways.”
From the backseat, Shinoa giggled, “Yuu-san is certainly Lt. Col. Guren’s protégé, isn’t he?”
“Eh?” Yuu looked confused. “What does baka-Guren have to do with this?”
Shinoa giggled again, “Ah, I heard from Shin-nii that Lt. Col. Guren is always falling asleep in officers’ meetings.”
“Do you mean Major General Hiiragi Shinya?” Mistuba asked.
“Mmm!” Yoichi piped up, “I really like Shinya-san! He helped me so much with my sniping. I feel like I can take on anything, now.”
Really, this guy is so cute, Kimizuki couldn’t stop himself from thinking. I’ve got to find a way to ask him out properly.
Kimizuki cleared his throat, trying get everyone’s thoughts, especially his own, back on track. “So, what’s the plan this time?”
“Hmm?” Shinoa responded. “Same as always, isn’t it? According to our information, there should be about ten vampires, all with first level weapons, so it should be a cinch. Yuu-san and Kimizuki-san will take point as usual, while Youichi will watch our backs. Let’s pull this off without a scratch, eh?”
“Man, this is going to be too easy!” Yuu said, all fired up.
Well, it was true. With three black-demon weapon-holders, there was no way even double the amount of first-level vampires was going to be much of a problem.
“Ah….It seems boring, though.” Yuu whined disappointedly.
“Well, it can’t be helped, can it?” Kimizuki shrugged. “Orders are orders so we’ve got to-“
“Hey, Kimizuki, let’s have a contest!” Yuu interrupted.
“Huh? As if you could beat me at anything,” Kimizuki scoffed.
“You’re so on. I’m gonna leave you in the dust,” Yuu grinned. “Whoever kills the most vampires wins. Loser has to kiss Yoichi.”
“WHAT?!” “Eh?” Kimizuki and Yoichi responded simultaneously.
“Huh? What’s the problem?” Yuu looked genuinely puzzled. “There’s gotta be a penalty and it’s not good to kiss girls unless you love them, right?”
“AND IT’S ALRIGHT TO KISS GUYS??!!! SERIOUSLY WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUR BRAIN???” Kimizuki roared.
Kimizuki was pissed. How could that idiot Yuu just go and promise Yoichi’s kiss in a bet like it was nothing? God, he knew Yuu was a dumbass, but sometimes, his idiocy really passed over into asshole territory.
“Ah. Yeah, I guess Kimizuki-kun would be grossed out by something like that.” He heard Yoichi say in a small voice.
What? Oh, no. No. Oh, shit. What had he done?
“No. I mean, it’s not…I didn’t…” Kimizuki was panicking. He hadn’t meant to make it seem like he was against kissing Yoichi. It was just the opposite. He’d just rolled along with baka-Yuu’s stupid reasoning, and now he-
Before Kimizuki could take back what he’d said, a huge explosion suddenly erupted underneath them.
The world was suddenly spinning as the car was flipped into the air. Kimizuki bailed out, trusting his teammates to do the same.
As he flung himself out of the car door, his eyes darted in every direction searching for the enemy. Nothing. Damn, it must have come from the other side of the car.
Kimizuki somersaulted in the air and landed easily on his feet. He drew his twin swords and scanned the area for his teammates. They had to get into formation quickly.
He saw Yuu standing with his sword ready and quickly sprinted to his left side. In his peripheral vision, he saw Shinoa and Mitsuba get into position.
But, where was Yoichi?
“Oh-ho-ho?” A mocking voice emerged from behind the dissipating cloud of smoke, “I was wondering what was creeping around in my backyard. A little flock of lambs. How nice.”
Before them was a single man, or rather, a single vampire. From the way he stood, brimming with confidence, they knew immediately that he was strong. In one hand the vampire held a rapier-like sword, in the other, was a trembling Yoichi, his bow lying a few meters away. Since he had been in the middle seat, he’d been slower than the others in exiting the car.
Now he was captured.
“Fufufu~” The vampire laughed, “I bet this one is tasty.” He bent his head to bite into Yoichi’s neck.
“Yoichi!” Yuu shouted.
But before Yuu had even opened his mouth, Kimizuki was running forward as if compelled by some supernatural force. He jumped, both swords ready to strike.
“Don’t you fucking touch him.” His voice was barely audible, but behind his words was a store of malice even a demon could respect.
The vampire smiled at him.
Letting go of Yoichi, the vampire aimed at the gap between Kimizuki’s blades. Kimizuki had anticipated the attack, and angled one blade to deflect the blow.
But the vampire was too fast.
White spots dotted Kimizuki’s vision, and a searing pain brought him to his knees as the vampire’s sword pierced his left shoulder. Kimizuki knew that in a moment, the vampire would drag his sword across his body and take his life.
But, there was still something he could do.
Behind the vampire,Yuu was already in the air, sword poised to strike.
Kimizuki dropped his swords and grabbed the hilt of the vampire’s sword with both hands, preventing him from blocking Yuu’s attack. To the left and right, Mistuba and Shinoa were running towards them, ready to flank the vampire if he tried to flee.
The vampire narrowed his eyes. Clearly he had underestimated their fighting strength.
The vampire dropped hold of his sword. Without even turning around, he blindly ducked and jumped back, narrowly avoiding Yuu’s swing. Reaching his hand up, the vampire grabbed Yuu’s ankle, making to throw him into the ground.
But before he could move his arm, a green arrow pierced clean through the vampire’s head.
In the commotion, the vampire had forgotten about the supposed weakling he had first attacked. He evaporated into dust.
Yuu landed in front of Kimizuki and immediately grabbed his collar with both hands.
“What the hell are you doing, jumping out of formation?! You could have been killed!” He yelled.
For a moment, Kimizuki was totally speechless. Then he remembered exactly who he was talking to.
“You’re the very last person I want to hear that from!” He yelled back, shoving Yuu off and pulling the sword out of his shoulder.
“Kimizuki!” “Kimizuki-san!” “Kimizuki-kun!”
The rest of his squad came running over.
“Baka!” Mitsuba yelled sending a chop to the top of his head. “Is your name Yuu? I don’t think so! You’re supposed to be the smart one, dammit.”
Crap. Now on top of being in a shitload of pain, he was getting really embarrassed.
“Ki-Kimizuki-kun, are you alright?” Yoichi, dropped down on his knees next to him.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Kimizuki said, although a sudden shooting pain from his shoulder reminded him that no, he wasn’t.
Yoichi wrapped one arm around him and pulled Kimizuki into a hug. “I was so worried,” He sobbed into Kimizuki’s uninjured shoulder.
What am I even supposed to do in a situation like this?
Maybe it was because he was feeling a little light-headed from the pain, but Kimizuki allowed himself to rest his cheek against the top of Yoichi’s head.
“Hey,” He said softly. “That was some really good shooting.”
“Eh?” Yoichi looked up, he green-eyes still overflowing with tears.
“Yeah,” Kimizuki smiled at him. “It was really cool. Your shot right there. I bet Shinya-san would’ve been impressed.”
Yoichi’s only answer was to bury his face into Kimizuki’s shoulder and cry harder. Whatever reaction Kimizuki had expected to elicit from Yoichi, it hadn’t been this. On the other hand, the one he loved was crying into his shoulder, so he supposed that it was well worth getting skewered in the other one.
“I swear, each and every one of you in this team…” Shinoa was the last to approach, shaking her head. “How are your injuries?” She asked Kimizuki.
“I’m fine. My demon will heal me in no time,” He answered smartly, “We can continue on the mission.”. He reached for his swords on the ground, intending to place them back in their scabbards, but the one he grabbed with his left immediately slipped out of his hand.
Tch. He clicked his tongue. Kimizuki hadn’t counted on a shoulder wound impairing him this much.
Shinoa crossed her arms over her chest. “No matter how you look at it, Kimizuki-san, we can’t approach a vampire enclave with one of our fighters this injured. We’ll have to at least camp for a night and wait for your demon to heal you. Let’s retreat for now. I saw a rest-stop a few exits before on the highway where we can probably stay.”
Damn. He really hated being the one to hold the team back.
“And since you’re injured. I can certainly drive us there!” Yuu announced puffing out his chest like he thought he was a hero.
“I wonder if it would have been better if the vampire had killed me,” Kimizuki muttered under his breath, but of course, not so quietly that Yuu couldn’t hear.
“Hey! It’s only because you’re injured that I’m not going to punch you one.” Yuu growled back.
Kimizuki rolled his eyes.
At least he could sit in the back with Yoichi while Mitsuba looked at his wounds.
The rest stop was empty, so they took refuge in what used to be the gas station. There were a couple of rooms in the back, and they even managed to find a rotting cot that Kimizuki could lay on while he recovered.
Yuu was standing watch by the front of the building, while the girls went scrounging around for non-perishable food that might have survived the apocalypse. They hadn’t anticipated having to stay overnight anywhere.
Kimizuki stared at the ceiling, trying to ignore the pain radiating from his shoulder. He could feel the demon at work, stitching together the wound and restoring his body back to its fighting form, but as was expected, the demon cared little about how much pain its host felt while the healing process took place.
There was a knock on the door frame.
It was Yoichi.
“Ne, Kimizuki-kun, do you have a second?” He asked nervously.
Kimizuki smiled, “Well, it doesn’t look like I’m going anywhere ’til I’m healed up, so, yeah I guess so.”
Yoichi came into the room and knelt by his bed.
Kimizuki swallowed, suddenly feeling nervous. His thoughts were all jumbled up and his emotions were everywhere. Yoichi was right there beside him and he didn’t know what to do.
“Kimizuki-kun, you saved me from that vampire,” Yoichi said, sounding just as nervous as Kimizuki felt.
“But, you were the one who actually killed it,” Kimizuki said quickly, looking away. “And I jumped out of formation and ended up getting injured. I probably did more harm than good.”
“It’s true-“ Yoichi hesitated, his hands fiddling with the edge of the mattress. “It’s true you should have stayed in formation, but….for some reason, it made me really happy that the cool-headed Kimizuki-kun would risk everything for someone like me.”
“For someone like-“ Kimizuki echoed, not sure if he understood what he was hearing, but if there was ever a time to be sure, he knew it was now.
He caught one of Yoichi’s hands in his.
“Yoichi….about before…” Kimizuki began, turning to face him.
God, he had no idea what he was doing.
“It wasn’t that I didn’t….want to kiss you,” he continued, struggling to find the right words. “I just didn’t want to risk…anyone else…doing it.”
He felt like he was drowning in Yoichi’s beautiful green eyes.
“Actually,” He whispered. “I’ve…been the one who’s been wanting to ki- mfph.”
Yoichi’s lips were suddenly on his, and Kimizuki felt like he was plummeting through the sky. So close to Yoichi and he thought he could smell cinnamon and taste apples. A new item to add to the list of everything about Yoichi that mesmerized him.
Yoichi broke away for a moment, the biggest, brightest smile on his face. “I’m so glad you finally said it. I’ve been waiting and waiting for you to do something, I thought that for sure Kimizuki-kun likes me, but you never tried anything, so…”
Kimizuki was beside himself in shock. He had always assumed that Yoichi, who was kind to everyone and cried for everyone, had never seen him as anything other than a friend. To think he had actually been wanting, actually been waiting…
“Can you,” Kimizuki licked his lips nervously. “Can you do that again?”
“Mmm!” Yoichi answered brightly, and brought his lips closer. This time Kimizuki was ready for it, and he half-sat up, ignoring the pain in his shoulder–this was way more important. Wrapping his free hand around the back of Yoichi’s head, he pulled him into him.
Kimizuki didn’t want to push things too fast, but he couldn’t help but part Yoichi’s lips the tiniest bit with his own, and slip in the tiniest bit of tongue. Just that much and his head felt like it was reeling, and he couldn’t tell if it was the pain in his shoulder or Yoichi’s intoxicating scent, but hey, if he passed out, at least he would exit consciousness a happy man.
After what seemed like years, they parted, both a little out of breath.
“So,” Kimizuki said, settling back down onto the bed. “Will you go out with me then?”
Yoichi giggled.
“Hmm? Maybe I have to think about it?” He teased.
“Come on, I’m an injured man, have a heart.”
“Of course I’ll go out with you,” Yoichi said, nestling his head on Kimizuki’s chest. “You know, when I heard Yuu propose that bet, I was really excited at first. But then-“
“Yeah, I said that stupid thing,” Kimizuki sighed. “I’m really sorry about that, Yoichi. I tried to explain, but-”
“I know,” Yoichi said, lifting his head up to look into Kimizuki’s eyes. “When you came running to save me, I knew that you couldn’t have meant it like that.”
Kimizuki tightened his hand around Yoichi’s.
This all still felt like a dream, but if it was, he didn’t want to wake up. He closed his eyes, noticing that the pain in his shoulder was nearly gone.
“Heh,” Kimizuki quipped. “Leave it up to baka-Yuu to come up with something as troublesome as a dumb contest.”
“Hahah. But, you know, just because you’ve kissed me, doesn’t mean you’re allowed to lose on purpose,” Yoichi teased.
“You…” Kimizuki blinked at Yoichi, “Just how easy is it for you to see through me?”
Yoichi giggled, “Kimizuki-kun is really easy to read, actually.”
Kimizuki smiled, “Well in that case, you should know that I want you to kiss me again.”
So Yoichi did, still giggling as their lips met.
The next day they raided the vampire enclave. Shinoa and Mitsuba racked in a kill each, while Yuu and Kimizuki each bagged two.
Yoichi, however, brought in four.
No one ever suggested any contests after that.