Nocturnal Romance

I am aware of unfinished projects completely. This is just for the Halloween season and by request of Samurai Smee. I totally owe this whole story to her. Another AU... I got the lyrics translated from a youtube video. Good song and I totally recommend... the lyrics seemed to fit...Enjoy. This will be divided into two parts, the first setting up the "stage" of the fic and the second "performance" will actually be the good stuff, if you know what I mean. The more interest generated the faster it will conclude.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or its characters. Nocturnal Romance and the lyrics belong to Moi Dix Mois. No money is made from this.


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Nocturnal Romance

Dakishime au tsumi to maboroshi haitoku no yoru ni

-sin and illusion intertwine on this night of corruption…

…mayonaka no butai ni wa aishiau tamashii no

-Two lovers’ souls that met on this midnight stage…

~Moi Dix Mois "Nocturnal Romance

Part One: Stage

The hours of darkness were chilly and brusque against my already goose-bump riddled skin, but not so much as from the air itself but from what lurked in the night. It was humorous, how I had never considered myths and legends to be factual, even now that I was facing down two beings that would rather steal my pungent pulsing blood from my slender veins rather than talk tediously.

Their claws were fully extended past any ordinary realm for probably any organism I was even vaguely familiar with or could research in moments, while their bone-white teeth glistened under the sparse light of the streetlamp above our heads in the park. It was enough to cause anyone’s breath to come to them in rapid spurts, just enough to keep them alive only a moment or so longer.

Anyone but me that is.

I was more inquisitive than frightened, even though it seemed my life would probably come to an end in just moments when the larger of the two, with his fierce cherry hair pulled off the nape of his pallid neck into a high ponytail to accentuate the black, almost erratic tattoos that covered his body. He was unclothed from the waist up and the nighttime didn’t seem to affect him one bit. I couldn’t help but notice, even in the middle of my impending doom, that he resembled something comparable to one of the Greek statues that littered the present chapter of my history book.

The one accompanying him, if he were any comparison in strength, compensated for it in just regal good looks. He fanned himself with his elongated plum claws as he watched his partner with an air of trivial revulsion. He had a delicate and luminous face with scarlet and golden feathers accenting his right eye and drawing interest to the superior features he possessed, like how his twilight tresses framed his cheeks.

But no matter how close they advanced on me, my breathing never gave into the terror mode. My skin had begun to feel like Braille but that was the only change aside from my heart beating only somewhat quicker and my jaws slack. Who would not be astounded by these creatures of the darkness though?

Creatures so atypical that no one gave much prospect to their survival any longer: Dracula, Nosferatu, Count, all names for one creature: the Vampire. I was a peculiar one alright.

But there is more of an explanation than I started with, for how I was standing in front of two of the most exquisite beings on the planet, and how they were dying to have me for dinner.

Like my father and his father before him and so on down the genealogy list, I was accepted following high school to one of the most prestigious schools in the region, Tokyo University, as I lived just above the area in Kanakura.

The campus was as perfected as the content of the courses with generously proportioned and recently renovated buildings from the preceding generations, vivid gardens with extensive walkways of which the sakura blossoms in the spring would waft down upon.

Our dorms were top of the line as well for the undergraduates, high speed internet for those assignments due at a certain time, black and grey plastic and metal work stations efficiently organized with a solitary bed per room. I, of course, kept mine tidily made with cerulean colored sheets and a comforter. We were free to decorate the walls as we wished, within reason of not painting over the austere white.

I wasn’t exactly the creative type and therefore I merely hung up a corkboard for all of my assignments and classes to keep track of all of them. I still had so much time ahead of me as far as a potential graduation approaching.

It was this board that led me away from the security and wellbeing of my dorm room to a classmate of mine, Kurosaki Ichigo, and his home. I had known the guy since high school, the orange-haired youth always in some type of dilemma whether for his attitude or the color of his locks.

I was consulting the white boxes with my perfected kanji in them; mid-terms were approaching us fast, when I realized that I had agreed to meet with Ichigo to study with more of our friends from high school, his girlfriend Inoue Orihime and Yasutora Sado.

I only saw them for our one class together on Mondays and Wednesdays, World History part one, and even then it was fairly limited to a small amount of minutes before and after class we could share in the hallway, mostly with Ichigo and Orihime speaking animatedly. I was actually, just a little, envious of them.

During middle and high school years I had taken on plenty of pursuits, but I had never made much out of them, always ending with a fruitless and wasted endeavor. Of course, my youthful spirit never took violent blows until I graduated and became the top of the entering freshman class. Then, the first few girls and even one guy I tried to attract ended in bitter disappointment, with me studying the entire weekend to struggle and alleviate the lonesomeness.

I tried not to mull over these things too much as I rode public transportation in the form of several bus routes with diligent men and women on their way homes from long days at the offices and similar jobs after a drink or two. It was around seven o’clock then, the time it started getting shadowy.

I stayed shrugged in my warm white waist length jacket and tried not to make eye contact until I got closer to my destination. It wasn’t that the neighborhood was that violent yet, but it was getting a step closer every day.

But once I got to Ichigo’s house, I ended up wishing that I had just stayed at my dorm and called him later with an excuse that I had overlooked the study date. Our study group probably wasn’t going to help with the test at all and then after the skirmish between him and a girl named Rukia, I was sure that I would have been better off watching soap operas and trying to gain information from them.

Rukia was a new girl that had begun to tag along with the group. I didn’t know much about her, other than she was kind of strange or awkward, like she didn’t spend a lot of time around people and she was as translucent as tracing paper.

For Sado and I, the study group turned into a three hour argument between Ichigo, Orihime, and Rukia over any petty thing that the first and third could bring up to throw in the other’s face, with Orihime acting as mediator. After that, there was an hour of studying maybe with snacks.

I couldn’t help but feel I had wasted a great deal of the night as I said my ‘good byes’ and left for the first bus. It was after ten then, since they wouldn’t let me go. I wasn’t really tired and the chill had me wide awake as I stood beneath one of the plastic-covered booths. It would be a few more stops and then a walk to the boy’s dorms.

Hardly anyone rode with me at this time of night and I was thankful for lessening my paranoia enough that I tried to read for recreation, pressed against the cool metal sides lining the oddly colored pleather seats. The novel I had chosen coincidentally was a new series about vampires.

The next time I glanced at my watch, it was around eleven, which sounded appropriate considering all of the wait times and delays I had to face. I would be home before midnight it seemed. I couldn’t help but smile in a smug manner to myself. I was not your typical raucous college student, out all hours of the night with so much work to do.

The nighttime air was colder than I realized as I stepped off the last bus under well lit avenues while I tried to draw the collar up around my face. If I got any colder, my glasses were in danger of sliding off the end of my slim nose. I could already see my warm breath.

I wasn’t one for taking risks and tonight wasn’t so much of an exception, just more a bending of my norms as I ducked down an alley I knew would put me a few streets closer to the school. Little did I know of course, that it might be one of the last things I would ever do on this earth.

At first, the alley appeared to be completely clear from one end to the other, so I stepped down between the cold grey walls made of cement and glass. It was innocent enough I thought and then that was when they appeared. The red head and his glamorous partner just seemed to fall from the sky.

And that was where we were to start with.

“Yumi, doesn’t he look like a decent snack?” the red head smiled as he took another step toward me. It wasn’t that they were fearful of me, I was human after all, just that they had me cornered and were going to give me a minute to try and redeem myself through foolish methods.

‘Yumi’ sighed before he responded with: “Renji, you shouldn’t play with your food. It isn’t beautiful.” He was still studying his nails. My mind was uncomprehending. I had always thought that the final minutes of my life would be spent reflecting, but instead they were going to be wasted because I had a brain freeze.

Renji growled a reply back as he began to circumnavigate me in flawless and feline steps, putting even a ballet dancer to shame. He was so fluid, like water, and his hair like blood as his fingers curled around my neck, just deep enough that his nails pricked the flesh.

And if I had shut my eyes for even a second, I would have missed the transition time to licking my sanguine life off of his graceful and cold fingers. He smiled as my blood began to coat his teeth and lips, like syrup to a child.

“Mmmm,” he moaned as he tossed back his head, his hair brushing over his shoulders. If I had looked down, would I have seen an erection?

“You know, that smells wonderful,” Yumi complimented appearing beside him and sniffing appreciatively. “Mind?” He licked one of Renji’s fingers. They were just scratches though, nothing that could hurt me yet.

Renji pushed my head to the side, so that my long and pale neck was exposed to him. I could feel his wintry tongue preparing my skin for the needle points that were sure to follow. Just to scare me into further paralysis he scraped them a few times, most likely leaving red trails in the wake.

That was when we heard the effortless voice that the shadows seemed to create.

“Drop that boy,” a velvet voice spoke, seemingly disembodied from my position, as I could not move my head and risk having my throat sliced open. Both Renji and Yumi turned to look as it was obviously something even they could not ignore in all of their bloodlust.

I hadn’t even been aware I was a foot or so above the ground until I heard my sensible white shoes touch down with my numb legs. In my condition I could scarcely stand and ended up on the inflexible and unforgiving concrete on my stunned ass as I slid down the nearest wall.

“What is he doing here?” Renji all but shouted as he began to gesture down the darkened exit. Had it been that dark before? Maybe a streetlamp had given way or maybe the vampires made it so? I could hear the faintest of footsteps heading in our direction, methodical one right after the other and at an even and unrushed pace.

“The question is-“the man said as he began to appear out of the murky abyss, “what are you doing on my territory?” Any thought of my impending death was instantly forgotten the second he stopped just beyond the fingers of darkness.

Calm gunmetal grey eyes surveyed the scene, two disorderly vampires and one college student on his ass, as his midnight tresses caught in the wind sending the strands billowing around his shoulders and face. I couldn’t help but notice the bone white and possibly porcelain hair clips the locks were threaded through; three across the top and two on the right side.

With these divisions in his hair, this put three different smaller sections of the silken tresses across his pale face. He had rather long black lashes for a man, framing those enchanting eyes of his with a slender face and stern lips.

But there was something extremely exotic about him, like some type of other worldly charm. The casual black suit he was wearing was cut exactly for his frame with a deep red shirt underneath contrasting well. My eyes caught the top three unbuttons were unfastened nonchalantly.

He appeared to be dressed more for a night of social drinking than for combating vampires. I watched his lips move with fascination as he spoke to my two attackers very calmly; he didn’t even take his hands from his pockets. He didn’t look as vampiric as the other two, so I wasn’t sure he was actually a creature of the hours of darkness and rather something that hunted them instead.

Whatever he was, he was beautiful and I couldn’t halt my instant attract to him.

“We are deeply sorry Kuchiki-sama,” Renji stammered as he and Yumi began to back off somewhat. They both looked terrified from the man that was standing close to me. His eyes scanned me before he looked back to them.

“You should be. You are lucky that I am going to let you go tonight…alive.” Those gunmetal eyes turned red for a second, or so I thought. It could have just been a trick of the light, as it was such a quick change.

“Yes sir, we’re leaving now,” Renji told him as he and Yumi still backed down the alley. There was no way they were going to expose their backs on purpose to an enemy. The man seemed to be disinterested in their attempts at making amends for he turned to me next, withdrawing a handkerchief from the depths of his pocket.

“You are bleeding,” he told me as he knelt before me. I was? I didn’t remember. I thought I saw him sniff the air a little, but it could have been another trick of the light.

“I am?” I asked stupidly. I wished I could have kicked my own ass for sounding so uneducated compared to him. Then again, I didn’t even know him.

“Mm.” He began to dab at the liquid, those eyes concentrating on mine. “They did not seem to harm you.” The flow of his words held my attention, no contractions. He offered a hand to me and I could hardly remember lifting mine in return as he pulled me from the ground. I wasn’t even aware of the vicious sensation in my throat from the cuts.

“Who are you?” I asked, catching the wonder reflecting in my own voice as we began to amble down the alleyway again. I probably sounded like a little kid to a man so cultured.

“Kuchiki Byakuya,” he spoke evenly as his hand moved from mine to the small of my back, almost pushing me along. I had never heard of him of course. “But you would do better to forget that name,” he added quietly.

“How can I when I owe you my life?”

“You owe me nothing,” he said as we stepped into the light. “Just forget about the entire night.” His hand lingered on the small of my back longer than it rightfully should and he had moved those delicate and perfect lips closer to my ear so that only I could hear his velvety voice.

“No, I can’t go through life owing you something,” I pushed frantically, just looking for excuses to keep him from leaving me in the middle of the crowded street. None of the bundled up passerby’s gave us more than a second glance.

Byakuya sighed as he glanced around and up past the buildings, as if he were looking for more vampires to jump down before he answered me carefully in that smooth as silk voice: “Alright, I will walk you to your dorm.”

I didn’t question how he knew I lived in the dorm, since I didn’t think he would provide me with a believable answer. There were obvious signs anyway, like my tan messenger bag and age range. I would have been flattering myself too much and for dashed hopes.

“Thank you,” I murmured, though I wasn’t clear as to why. He kept his generously proportioned hand on the small of my back as we moved against the crowds fluidly. He was holding me as if I were a piece of china, something valuable and fragile. So I wondered why he had told me what he had.

“Which one is your dorm?” He asked as we neared the campus. He seemed to be heading for mine anyway.

“The one in the middle,” I pointed. I was the only student wandering around this time of the night as we strolled across the dying and brown lawns. He gave a short nod. I couldn’t ignore that statuesque jaw line as I glanced up at him. His looks were almost too striking to be considered a normal human. Maybe he wasn’t exactly human.

I glanced at him again. I couldn’t see fangs or claws. Maybe he was just a human, like me, after all, but it wasn’t likely since the two vampires I had encountered were petrified of him. The familiar light of the first floor hallway lit the small covered entrance as we walked up the three white-washed concrete steps.

“You should be safe here,” he told me as he turned me to face him, opening the door.

“Thank you Kuchiki-sama,” I ventured. He looked surprised, or at least something similar.

“You are welcome…” He didn’t know my name. I would admit I was sort of hoping he had.

“Ishida Uryu,” I told him.

“Uryu,” he murmured, as if tasting my name in his mouth. “Please remain safe.” He encouraged me past the glass door as it shut with a ‘whoosh’ behind me. I spun around on my heel to see him walk away only to be met with bitter disappointment.

There was no one there.

I was hoping I would at least see him walk off. Wait, I should have been able to see him walk off in any direction, since the door was glass. Was he really a vampire, a bloodsucker, a night fiend?

I all but ran to my dorm room to check myself out. A great deal of my fellow students poked their heads outside of their doors but I ignored their cries as I continued on, slamming my door behind me. In the bathroom mirror, under the harsh lighting, the cuts on my neck were as real as I was. They had even begun to throb.

Vampires were real and very much alive in Tokyo, which was for sure.

But how many of them were there? Were they associated with the deaths in the papers? The missing persons? More importantly, was Byakuya one?

I cleaned and bandaged them as best I could before I grabbed my computer and proceed to spend the entire night gathering information. Surely, I couldn’t be the only person that knew about it. There had to be other people, there had to be something about Byakuya.

And it didn’t stop with just my night of searching. It consumed me during class so that I lost concentration and sleep. I would search between classes and any free time I thought I could get away with. I had to know the truth or I thought I was going to die.

I was confused by his actions, touching me and then telling me to forget. I mean, he saved my life and told me to forget the whole exchange! Could he have really meant that?

He was so breathtakingly beautiful! How could I just forget about him?

And so my searching continued, fruitless as far as information on Byakuya went. I had plenty of information at my fingertips on vampires. I really wanted something, anything. I was so desperate for answers. Every night when I did manage to get some sleep between searching and the homework I was forced to undertake, I could see him, perfectly with those gunmetal grey eyes.

Over a month had passed and still no sign of any vampires. I was starting to go through the stage of convincing myself that the whole attack had never occurred, until I looked on my neck and saw the small crescent scars. Then I would remind myself he was out there, somewhere, and there had to be some way to meet him again.

But I had a plan.

Around midnight I got off the same bus I had ridden that night, after going through the entire route beforehand, into the same cold air. The alley was still just as dark and menacing as before and I ignored it once again. I couldn’t help but get my hopes up, that he would show up, after preparing beforehand for disappointment.

Surprisingly though, I wasn’t disappointed in the least, for as soon as my foot touched the first concrete square, I could hear a velvet voice practically beside my ear saying: “What are you doing in my territory?”

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To be continued...