Chapter Rating: T for violence and yaoi boy on boy hotness (and shamelessly ripped off material from Twilight's Breaking Dawn)

Chapter 2: New Sensations

Everything was unbelievably clear. It was like someone had hooked him up with a pair of high definition contact lenses. Even the tiniest of details stood out. He could see every vain in every leaf in the trees above him, he could hear the music of the wind rustling through them, and the soft snap as a branch came loose and fell elegantly to the ground. Kaito inhaled in awe, but then paused in confusion. The action felt wrong. It took him a couple seconds to comprehend why before realizing that he didn’t get any relief from the action as one would when getting that needed air. It was strange because his lungs weren’t waiting for it. He held his breath for a long time – five minutes to be exact – but he didn’t feel the burn that told him he needed to breath. It would appear that he didn’t need air, but after taking in another breath he found that he liked it. He liked air. Breathing felt good and much more comfortable than holding his breath had.

Then he heard a beautiful chuckle and turned to face Hakuba who was standing a good five meters away from him. Hakuba looked even more handsome to Kaito’s better seeing eyes. The blond’s hair looked like silk strands of gold, his skin clear and soft looking, and those golden eyes were captivating and much more beautiful than any jewel he’d ever stolen as KID. Those eyes were bright with laughter and amusement, as if nothing were wrong.

And then some new instinct seemed to kick in and Kaito found himself looking everywhere, looking for any sign of danger. He calmed down quickly enough though because Hakuba didn’t appear to be concerned, standing there relaxed like he had the night of Kaitou KID’s last heist.

Kaito faced Hakuba again, but then got preoccupied with the way his body moved. The instant he’d thought to face Hakuba, he was already facing the other teen. There was no amount of time used up in completing the action. The movement had been instantaneous as if he hadn’t moved at all. Kaito stared up at Hakuba in bewilderment and watched as the blond approached him cautiously. He was confused by how slow the other moved, but marveled at the grace in those simple steps as they seamlessly flowed together.

“Kuroba?” Hakuba called out softly to him.

Kaito found that he couldn’t answer his friend right away because he was so captivated by the music in that voice. How the British accent was much more pronounced and alluring to his higher functioning ears. How the accent was also layered with the subtle tones of other accents that were hidden underneath. It was a spectacular blend of European lilts that weaved together into the most beautiful thing he’d ever heard.

“Kuroba? I’m sorry. I know that it must be disorienting for you with all the new sensations, but you’re fine. Everything will be fine. I know you’re confused and I promise to do my best to answer all of your questions.”

Kaito cocked his head to the side and was briefly distracted by the quick and seemingly non-existent movement it took to do that. Then he tried to figure out which of the many questions tumbling through his head he wanted to ask first. He watched curiously as Hakuba reached out tentatively to stroke his fingers across Kaito’s cheek. Kaito marveled at how smooth Hakuba’s skin felt against his. It was like satin and as soft as the finest downy feather. He also noticed how the half-Brit’s skin was no longer cold to the touch as it had been the night he was attacked. The simple touch tingled and felt electric, jolting through his face, down his spine and settled warmly in his gut.

Before he even realized what he was doing, Kaito snatched up Hakuba’s hand and pressed the palm flat against the side of his face, reveling in the touch, the feeling of how Hakuba’s hand seemed just the right size to cup the side of his face. It felt right and as if Hakuba’s hand had been made for this sole purpose. Kaito could feel the hand’s thumb softly rub small circles into his skin just below his eye and sighed. He heard Hakuba chuckle again so he looked up into those captivating eyes. Really, how had he not noticed how gorgeous those eyes were until now?

With his free hand Kaito reached out and touched the side of Hakuba’s face, again marveling at how smooth the blond’s skin was as he caressed the strong jaw line, high cheekbones, delicate golden eyebrows, the straight curve of Hakuba’s nose, and over lips softer than anything he’d ever felt before. He had no words to describe how soft those lips were as he watched them part beneath his questing fingers. He absently wondered how those lips would feel against his own and what the inside of Hakuba’s mouth would taste and feel like. Would it be warm like the one time he’d kissed Aoko, or cold like that creep’s tongue had been when the man had licked up the side of his neck…

Kaito was jolted out of the quickly despairing thoughts surrounding his attack when he felt Hakuba’s hand cover the one he held against Hakuba’s cheek, mirroring their other hands’ positions on Kaito’s face. For a moment – two-thirds of a second really – they just stood there staring at each other and holding each other’s faces. Then Kaito surged forward, body acting on his previous thought and kissed Hakuba. Hakuba froze for one long second before kissing him back and that only made Kaito want more. It felt amazing. He savored the feel of those impossibly soft lips moving against his. He removed his hands from their current positions and reached around to pull Hakuba to him, trying to deepen the kiss. He pried Hakuba’s lips opened with his own and started to explore Hakuba’s mouth with his tongue, loving the taste of the other’s mouth. It was sweet and tasted of something so incredible that he was once again at a loss for words trying to describe it and the sensations he was feeling. He loved that he didn’t need to breath. Air was so over rated right now as he continued to kiss those lips, teasing them with his teeth, sucking on them, nipping at them and enjoying every musical moan that passed through them.

Then Hakuba froze again and worked his arms between them to push him away. Kaito growled, pulling Hakuba even closer, harder. He didn’t want to let the other go.

“Kuro…ba,” Hakuba panted, voice strained.

Kaito snarled, one arm now hooked around the back of Hakuba’s neck, forcing the blond to remain close so that he could continue to kiss those wonderfully soft lips.

“Kaito!” Hakuba gasped painfully, doing his best to pry Kaito off of him.

Reality seemed to snap back into focus for Kaito and he instantly let the other teen go, jumping back a good five meters.

Hakuba took in a deep breath of air as he fell back onto the ground, panting and groaning. Kaito gaped as he saw crack-like fissures running along the side of Hakuba’s neck, feeling dazed when they slowly began to seal themselves back up. Had he done that? The very thought horrified him.

“Oww,” Hakuba winced, as he fingered his neck. “Umm… not that I didn’t enjoy that, but please be a little more careful, Kaito. At the moment you are a lot stronger than I am and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t decapitate me by accident. You are a whole lot stronger than you think.”

“Sorry,” Kaito mumbled, only to blink in surprise at the sound of his voice. It sounded like he was singing.

Hakuba let out a breathy chuckle as he rose to his feet in a flash of movement. Kaito tensed and crouched into a defensive position, only straightening out of it when Hakuba’s hands slowly rose up in the universal gesture that said, “easy there. I’m harmless and I won’t do anything.” Forcing himself to move slowly, Kaito approached Hakuba and tentatively reached out to brush his fingers over the disappearing fissures along the length of Hakuba’s neck. The skin was still soft, but before a crack disappeared he could feel the rough edges before they went smooth into seamless flesh. A hand slowly settled over his and held it gently. Kaito looked up into Hakuba’s face and was surprised to find forgiveness and understanding. Hakuba even leaned forward and brushed those oh-so-soft lips against his forehead.

“I’m fine,” Hakuba whispered before pulling back. “How are you feeling?”

“A little… overwhelmed,” Kaito admitted. “There’s just suddenly so much and everything is so…”

“Much more?” Hakuba suggested helpfully. “It’s like everything has multiplied in detail and suddenly there are so many new sensations. It’s hard to take it all in at first and so easy to get carried away with any particular sensation.”

“Ah… yeah,” Kaito nodded, a sharp jerk of his head.

“You get used to it,” Hakuba smiled and it was one of the most beautiful expressions Kaito had seen on the half-Brit.

Kaito became impulsive again, and kissed the blond a second time – this time, however, he was taking great care with how he went about it. He was too afraid to wrap an arm around the blond’s neck again so this time one arm wrapped itself around Hakuba’s waist and the other reached around and up Hakuba’s back resting between the shoulder blades while his hand held the back of the blond’s head gently, marveling at the light feathery feel of silken hair. Hakuba moaned into the kiss, his own arms encircling Kaito.

When Kaito returned to his senses again he pulled back and gently pried Hakuba away from him, bringing them to the ground so that he could set the other teen down. Hakuba was panting again, yet his face wasn’t flushed. He did look properly dazed though and Kaito found that expression to be so adorable that he had to hold himself back from kissing the other boy again. He settled for nuzzling his cheek against the top of Hakuba’s head.

“Mmm,” Hakuba hummed, pressing the side of his face into Kaito’s collarbone. “We need to stop this if you’re going to get any questions answered. Aren’t you even curious about what sort of creature I am? About what you’ve now become?”

Kaito stopped his affectionate nuzzling, pulled back and looked down at the teen he had cradled in his arms.

“What are you? …What am I?” Kaito hated how lost he sounded.

“We are vampires,” Hakuba informed him before bitterly adding. “Creatures of the damned, forced to live off of the life blood of other beings.”

Kaito’s gut churned. Vampire?

“But vampires are just a myth. A fairytale,” he protested.

Hakuba snorted and stood up and out of his arms in a flash of movement.

“And the Pandora jewel isn’t a fairytale myth?” he asked. “You’ll find that there is much more to this world than you could possibly imagine. More than all the fairytales in the entire world could ever hope to tell you. Not that you’d want to rely on such fables. Very few of them are even close to being true. I’ll tell you more about our kind later though. I’m sure that you are very thirsty by now.”

And suddenly Kaito was very much aware of the horrible thirst that tore its way through his throat. He reached up and held his throat as if that could stop the burning, but then the strange new feeling of his own skin distracted him again. It was smooth beneath his fingers and yet it was like stone and equally as hard. Distractedly he reached out and felt Hakuba’s neck again and found that it was the same in spite of the fact that it still felt soft to him.

Hakuba took hold of both his hands to get a hold of his attention again.

“You need to hunt Kaito,” the blond told him softly.

Kaito jerked back violently. Hunt?

“I’m not a killer,” Kaito shook his head. “I refuse to kill anyone.”

“You don’t have to kill anyone,” Hakuba informed him in the same soft tone. “Do you think I would have brought you clear out here deep into the Aokigahara forest if that were my intention? Do you think that I’ve gone around killing people to satisfy my own thirst?”

Kaito frowned in confusion before looking up at Hakuba again.

“What do you hunt then if not people?” he demanded.

“Humans aren’t the only ones with blood flowing through their veins Kaito,” Hakuba stated. “While it is true most of our kind stick to a human diet, there are alternatives.”

“What kind of alternatives?” Kaito asked.

“Animals,” Hakuba rolled his eyes as if it were obvious. Now that Kaito thought about it, it kind of was. “Come on. There should be some deer around here somewhere or maybe a bear or two. We might need to leave the Kanto region if we want to get a decent meal, but we should be able to find something to at least hold you over. Maybe we could head north to Kyushu or Hokkaido.”

Kaito only nodded and decided to just go along with what Hakuba suggested since he was obviously the more experienced vampire here. Wow… he just couldn’t get over that. Vampire… he was a vampire now. And Hakuba was a vampire too…

“How long have you been a vampire?” Kaito asked.

“A very long time,” Hakuba sighed heavily. “For so long that I only remember a few moments from my humanity and even those few memories have started to fade.”

Kaito watched as those brilliant golden eyes dulled and suddenly looked so old and sad that he couldn’t help but wonder just how long his friend had lived. They looked so empty and lonely… and then the look was gone as they flashed brilliantly and a coy smirk graced those wonderful lips.

“Enough distracting. You need to hunt. I’ve chased you for the past three years, now it’s your turn to chase me. Try to keep up.”

And then Hakuba was gone in another flash of movement. Kaito tore after him, surprised at his new speed as he hurried after his friend. He was steadily catching up but he started to slow as they reach a wide stream. Hakuba, however, didn’t even hesitate. He simply jumped high into the air, did a gymnast’s Arial Twist and landed on the other side of the stream facing him with a broad grin before racing off again.

“Show-off,” Kaito grumbled. Hakuba must have heard him because even though he couldn’t see the blond he could hear a loud carefree musical laugh ahead of him. Kaito growled and raced forward, jumping high but found himself flying forward much further and faster than expected. He cleared the stream easily and ended up forty meters into the woods on the other side. He had calculated that well but ended up crashing through eight trees. He turned around and watched in shock as the eight tall and sturdy looking things snapped and fell away from his path of trajectory, leaving a clear trail of destruction in his wake. Suddenly everything felt surreal and looked so fragile. He could feel the raw massive energy tingling within his new body and realized that Hakuba had been right. He was a lot stronger than he thought. Superman strong it would seem.

“Kaito?”

Kaito whirled around and instinctively looked up to see the blond crouched on a branch halfway up a tall tree.

“Ah,” Kaito frowned, looking back at the broken trees he’s knocked over. If he could do that to trees…

Then Hakuba was suddenly in front of him, holding his face between his hands in a strong grip, forcing him to look into those golden eyes.

“It’s alright. They’re just trees,” Hakuba murmured. “Relax. You’re over thinking it. Just relax and let your body react. The movements should come naturally.”

Kaito nodded, carefully placing his hands over Hakuba’s. Hakuba rolled his eyes.

“I am not that fragile,” he snorted, pulling his hands away.

To prove his point, Hakuba darted over to a nearby tree and delivered a low round house kick to it’s base, cutting the tree clean off it’s base and pushed it over with a simple touch from his pinky.

“But all the same lets try not to raze this forest to the ground,” Hakuba smirked. “We’re supposed to be hunting after all.”

And then Hakuba was off again. Kaito couldn’t believe how fast the blond was. He’d obviously been holding back BIG time during KID heists. However, Kaito knew that he was stronger than the blond was – had even been told so by Hakuba himself – so Kaito added more force to his stride and found himself flying after the blond. He was still a little worried about running into more trees, but he forced himself to relax and just go with it and suddenly everything was so much clearer and easier. Things seemed to slow down around him and it felt like he was running through a picture, absorbing every little detail he passed. His body effortlessly bounded forward and soon he found himself running next to Hakuba. The blond let out a joyous laugh and Kaito could help letting out one of his own.

Running like this was exhilarating! Even better than flying on his glider. He knew that he should be feeling tired after running flat out like he was, but air glided in just as easily through his lungs as it would if he were taking a leisurely stroll. Even as they whipped by branches, they didn’t sting. Instead it felt just as gentle as Hakuba’s caress had been. It was so strange, but so wonderful at the same time. Kaito found himself pushing his body further and let out a whoop as he passed Hakuba and realized that it was the blond who was now trying to keep up with him.

“Kaito,” he heard Hakuba call and suddenly Kaito stopped, realizing that Hakuba was no longer running.

He turned around and raced back to join the blond who was leaning against a tree. Kaito watched him, looking puzzled.

“Were you going to stay in Aokigahara or did you really want to leave the Kanto region and go to Kyushu or Hokkaido?” the half-Brit smirked.

“Sorry,” Kaito smiled sheepishly. “Got a little carried away. We’re supposed to hunting, right? …What exactly are we hunting?”

“Deer,” Hakuba smiled. “I thought we’d try something easy for your first time.”

Kaito mulled that over, pouting a bit at doing anything that was considered easy, but he was too thirsty to argue. That dry burn in his throat was back again with a vengeance.

“Where?” he asked, looking around.

“Stand still,” Hakuba ordered, pulling away from the tree he was leaning on and came to stand behind Kaito and placed his hands lightly on his shoulders. “And close your eyes,” he murmured in Kaito’s ear. “Listen carefully. What do you hear?”

Kaito did as he was told and allowed every sound he could hear wash over him. He could hear everything from the muted twittering of birds in the distance, the bubbling of the stream they’d jumped earlier, and the sound of branches rubbing, rustling, and snapping against each other. And then he heard it, his hearing focusing on that area ahead of them. It was a lake with soft waves crashing and sighing on the shore, the sweet smell of damp dew-covered grass in the very early morning. There was the soft thudding sound of hooves, the splashes of a tongue lapping up dew and the soft crunch of grass being eaten and then the loud heavy thumping of a heart that now held his complete and utter attention as it pumped thick streams of blood…

The thirst in Kaito’s throat increased ten-fold.

“By the lake ahead of us,” he growled, a little shocked at how harsh his voice sounded.

“Good,” Hakuba practically purred in his ear. “Now… wait for the breeze again. What do you smell?”

Kaito wanted to say “you” – Hakuba’s warm spicy honey melon, lemon tea, and cinnamon smell – but there was also the smell of the trees, grass, moss, and all those other earthy scents surrounding them. He forced himself to focus again, seeking out that spot ahead of them to smell the fresh lake water that was surprisingly unappealing to him even in his tortuously growing thirst. He focused on the sound of that beating heart and the smells surrounding that. It was a warm smell, rich and tangy, and so much stronger than all of the nature smells surrounding it, and yet it was almost as unappealing as the lake water.

Hakuba chuckled and Kaito knew that he must have made a disgusted face.

“It takes some getting used to, but it’s much better than the alternative,” Hakuba informed him.

Kaito shivered. No, he wasn’t going to kill people. He’d much rather eat the stinky deer than do that.

“What now?” he asked.

“Whatever you feel like doing,” Hakuba murmured. “Don’t think about it. Just follow your instincts.”

And then Hakuba’s hands as well as the rest of him were gone. It was like a leash had been removed and Kaito let himself drift, barely even awear of his movements as his body instinctively fell into a hunter’s crouch and stalked through the forest as he approached the lake. He paused at the edge of the woods and eyed his prey. It was a doe that was grazing in the grey dawn. Kaito focused solely on that deer and the hot warm pulsing in its neck. Kaito could feel his throat tighten as he tensed and prepared to pounce. A second later and he was on the deer, pinning it to the ground and sank his teeth into its throat, jaws locking easily over the pulse point. It was effortless to bite through the fur, skin and muscles. The flavor wasn’t especially appealing, but the blood that flowed into his mouth was hot, wet and it soothed his raging thirst. He drank eagerly, draining it dry. The warmth of the blood rushed throughout his entire body heating him up from the inside out.

He pouted when the deer was bone dry. He was still thirsty. He heard Hakuba’s melodic chuckle and looked up to see his companion resting leisurely in the trees.

“Not bad. You didn’t even get any blood on you. Not a drop wasted,” the blond mused.

“Why am I still thirsty?” Kaito asked.

“Because you’re young,” Hakuba grinned, jumping out of his tree.

Kaito automatically watched how graceful the movement was. Everything about the half-Brit was suddenly graceful and captivating to watch. Did he move like that now?

“We could try to find another if you’d like,” Hakuba suggested. “There aren’t many animals to feed off of here in Aokigahara though, so maybe we’d be better off going some place else. We would have to pass by some human populated areas though. If we were to leave Aokigahara, would you be able to make it?”

Kaito thought about it for a moment. He was still thirsty, but it wasn’t as bad as it had been before draining the deer.

“Maybe one more before trying someplace else?” he suggested tentatively.

Hakuba’s understanding smile was enough for an answer.

They were off again then, skirting around the lake – Lake Motosu if Kaito wasn’t mistaken – and then they were back in the forest, racing through the trees heading east – if Kaito’s sense of direction was working right – before going south. Kaito could see Mount Fuji growing closer as they practically flew over trails and paths and the occasional rice paddy whenever they left the forest to race over open ground, but Hakuba was good at keeping them away from houses and buildings and busy roads and such. Not that there were many people out and about at the moment. Kaito judged that it was near four or five in the morning if the grey sky was any indication with a gradually growing light in the east.

They were now in the woods just north of Mount Fuji in the heavily forested region. As they were running, an interesting smell caught Kaito’s attention. He stopped instantly and allowed the smell to flow over him. He changed direction and took off running in a hunter’s crouch. He sensed rather than heard Hakuba stop and chase after him, ghosting behind quietly. A few seconds later and Kaito could hear the heavy thud of big paws. This animal’s scent was warm and much more appealing than the deer. Kaito took to the trees and continued stalking his new prey from above until he could see a lumbering black bear as it made it’s way through the forest. It was bigger than any of the black bears he’d seen at the zoo and twice the size of the doe he’d hunted earlier.

With a light jump Kaito fell through the air and landed on the bear’s back. The bear reared up onto it’s hind legs, but Kaito held firm and tore into it’s neck. The bear fell forward and rolled around trying to dislodge him, but Kaito wasn’t having any of that. With a sharp twist of his hands the bear was pinned and it roared as Kaito began to drink it’s blood. Again the blood was hot and wet, this time tasting so much sweeter than the deer’s. The bear’s struggles grew weaker the more he drank, its roars choking off into a gurgling whine until it died. Kaito drank all he could from the bear and felt much more satisfied this time when he’d finished consuming every last drop.

“Typical. You’re a natural.”

Kaito looked up and spotted Hakuba perched on top of a large rock.

“It smelled and tasted better,” Kaito blurted as he looked down at the dead husk that once was a living creature. “Why is that?”

“Because deer are herbivores,” Hakuba explained. “Bears aren’t. Carnivores smell more like humans and taste better because of it. It’s a poor and lacking substitute for human blood, but for those of us who choose to hunt animals instead of humans, predator animals taste best.”

Kaito nodded as he thought that over. Then he became gradually awear of a scent to the west. Deer again. Even though he’d already had so much to drink the thirst flared again. It wasn’t nearly as intense as it had been before but still… Gods… was it ever going to stop?

“Would you like some more?” Hakuba asked. “I wouldn’t mind a snack myself.”

Kaito shrugged. He wanted more, but he could tell that he didn’t need any more.

“It’s a small herd,” Hakuba mused, head facing the sky. “We could have one or two more before we stop and try to figure out what to do next.”

Kaito nodded. That sounded good to him. He followed Hakuba again, but this time the blond took the lead in the hunt, participating this time instead of just observing. Kaito marveled at the way Hakuba’s body glided through the hunter’s crouch before they sprung upon the unsuspecting herd. Hakuba’s movements were quick and precise, snapping the neck of one deer before taking out another. Kaito only claimed one deer for himself and let the rest of the terrified herd get away. When he was done draining his, he found that Hakuba was already done with his first and almost finished with the second deer. Kaito watched, fascinated by the way Hakuba’s throat moved as he gulped down the blood, how those beautiful lips pressed what looked like kisses into the deer’s neck as that mouth moved making sure that it devoured every drop.

Kaito absently wondered if he looked like that when he’d fed on his own two deer and the bear. A small part of him that still held on to his humanity screamed how wrong and horrible the act was. What a monster Hakuba was – what Kaito himself now was. But the voice faded as another, stronger voice pointed out every detail of Hakuba’s feeding and comparing it to Kaito’s own recent experiences. Pointing out how Hakuba hadn’t even wrinkled his clothes the entire time they’d been out in the woods, looking just as perfect as he always was.

When Hakuba was finished with the deer, he set the drained carcass down looking entirely satisfied, eyes hooded, and lips parted slightly. It was a beautiful image. Kaito found himself kneeling in front of Hakuba, and capturing the other teenaged vampire in a long lazy kiss. He could taste the traces of fresh blood that were still in the blond’s mouth, and realized that that had been the spicy taste he’d experienced the last couple of times he’d kissed Hakuba. The only difference was that this was fresher and tasted all that much sweeter for it. Hakuba moaned into the kiss, pulling Kaito in closer, his tongue gliding along Kaito’s until it was in Kaito’s mouth, tasting Kaito’s own prey.

“Kaito,” Hakuba murmured against his lips as they parted.

Kaito shivered. Hearing his name spoken like that in that voice from those lips did something to him. He felt warm all over and was filled with a new need and the force of it shocked him. Kaito had always thought that he had loved Aoko and while it’s true that he did in fact love the messy haired girl, he’d never felt this kind of attraction before. This feeling of lust, of want, of need he felt for Hakuba in this moment. He’d never been this captivated by another person before.

“Hakuba,” he gasped back, pulling the blond back in for another kiss, but the blond froze and a half-second later he was gone.

Kaito blinked in shock when he found himself holding nothing but air. He frowned in confusion when he looked up to find Hakuba standing a good ten meters away. Had he done something wrong?