25. Expectant Ending (1/2)

title: of the darkness||chapter: expectant endingcharacters: ryou, shou, camulachapters: 25-25||words: 1,126||total: 28,042genre: family, supernatural||rated: pg-13challenge: diversity writing challenge, ygo gx, j6, multi-chapter with 15-25 chaptersnotes: it's an au. it involves vampires.summary: shou invites his

other in after ryou returns from a long trip away. that is his first mistake. it only gets worse from there.

"she'll need an actual healer if she's going to survive," yuusuke proclaimed, looking down at chaos hunter. aside from various bumps, scrapes, bites, and horror on various scales, the hunter was the worst casualty of them all. ryou counted as that himself, as his vampirism did not end with camula's death. only his slavery to her had and he accepted that much.

"i'll check with the village," shou said, rubbing the back of his neck. "but what are we going to do after that?" he glanced at ryou with slights hints of nervousness in his eyes. ryou didn't blame him for that. by all rights shou was the master of the mansion and all that came with the family.

ryou was, after all, dead. he just hadn't stopped walking, talking, and interacting with the living, and wouldn't for some time to come. unfortunately, part of that interacting with the living including having to drink their blood.

at least he could make his own choices on that now, though. he owed manjoume for his freedom, and a marufuji always paid his debts.

something else came first, though: the answer to shou's question. "i'm going to leave," he said. all conscious eyes turned to him at once. "i can't stay here. it isn't a big enough hunting ground for me, and someone else will learn what i am soon enough." that was if chaos hunter didn't recover and take it into her head to go after him personally. he would neither blame her nor be surprised.

"but where would you go?" fubuki wanted to know, corners of his mouth turning down. "it's a big world."

ryou turned his attention

iefly to the outdoors, then back. "i know. that's why i don't know. but it also doesn't matter. i'm going to travel." a vampire needed a lot of territory to avoid overhunting an area. it would take him time to find a place suitable, if there even was one. he didn't know how vampires like camula, born into the

eed, could do it, and he didn't want to ask any of them. he would find his own way, as he always had.

yuusuke rested a warm hand on his shoulder. "you won't go alone." he said nothing else on the matter. ryou considered telling him that was foolishness, that it would be best if he made his journey to nowhere alone, but yuusuke only gave him a look, as if he'd read ryou's mind and knew what he was thinking.

as if he needed to, really. but the thought of having company didn't really displease him that much.

fubuki's frown vanished as if a cloud had passed away from the sun. "we'll all go! i'm a bard anyway, and i should get out, see the world more, make up some more songs… that aren't about asuka, she's really getting on me about that." now he grinned, wild and happy as he'd always been. "the adventures of a bard, a storm mage, a wizard of shadows, a shape shifter, and a vampire, seeking their fortunes in the world together! can you imagine all the songs that i could write about that?"

ryou cast a look toward shou. "you'll be all right so long as you don't taste any more of my blood in the next few weeks." he wouldn't leave shou as a thrall, not now that camula was no more. shou deserved to have a life of his own, without his

other's curse hanging over his head.

shou looked at him, set his hands on his hips, and glared in a way that could only remind ryou of himself. "i'm going with you."