lotus_beauty

Fic description and first two parts can be found here

Part 12

“Not right now.”

You blinked in surprise as the vampire stalked past him and down the hall. What was going on? “Gackt?” The vampire stopped. You froze—had he pushed him over the edge?

He turned on his heel and came back. “Sorry, I just need to be by myself.” He reached out and touched You's hand. “Okay?”

The blonde nodded and took Gackt’s hand, kissing it and squeezing it to earn a small smile before the vampire turned and headed away again. He wondered what had gotten him into such a state that he didn’t want You to help calm him.

“HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!”

“GYAH!” You jumped in surprise as Hiromi giggled continuously. “Don’t do that!” He tilted his head. “…It’s Valentine’s Day?”

“Yeah! Didn’t you give a Valentine to the master?” she asked curiously. “I made you one!” She held out a pink and red card to You.

You took it with a smile. “I completely spaced it out,” he admitted as he opened the card and read it. “You’re the sweetest girl I know, Hiromi.”

“Too bad you’re taken.” She winked. “Where’s Gackt?”

“He… He’s in a bad mood actually. He told me he wanted to be alone and walked away.” You looked at the card. “Do you suppose I should make him a Valentine to cheer him up?”

She smiled. “It might work! I’ll help you, okay?”

“Alright,” he replied. “Let’s go work in my room.”

“Okay,” she said and followed as he started away. “So how long have you two been together now?”

“I think two or three months,” You replied.

“Wow. That long huh?” Hiromi skipped a little beside him. “Have either of you said you love each other?”

The blonde stopped in his tracks, a blush spreading over his cheeks. “N-no.”

She let out another giggle. “You love him, don’t you?”

“I don’t know yet…”

“Sometimes it takes a while to really realize you love someone,” she said as she took his hand to lead him on. “Don’t worry. You don’t have to say it or anything until you’re ready.” A bright smile appeared on her face.

You chuckled. “You’re right. Besides, I wouldn’t want to scare Gackt off by spouting off love poems to him.”

Hiromi giggled again. “I would pay to see that!”

And indeed, she named the price she would pay to see You recite a love poem to Gackt, but You graciously declined for they needed to take the time to make Gackt a nice Valentine card. They worked all evening and finally finished around sunset to haunt the halls, looking for Gackt.

“I wonder where he went,” Hiromi murmured as she tapped her chin thoughtfully.

“Ren said he hasn’t seen him.” You flopped down on a bench on the entrance wall.

“Hey, what did Gackt get you for your birthday?” she sat down next to him. “You never told me.

“Thank you for the sheet music, by the way,” he said with a smile. “He made me this bracelet.” You held out his wrist to show her the black beaded bracelet. “He told me it was made of onyx and that it would protect me.”

“No wonder he was snooping around the rock books in the library.” She smacked her forehead. “He asked one of the other servant girls how she made such cute bracelets for the other girls. Oh, oh! Let’s try that observatory thingy out behind the castle. He might be out there!” Hiromi pulled You to his feet and dragged him outside.

“What if he’s not?” You grumbled as he followed.

“Well, then we got lots of exercise!” She laughed and jogged away.

The two plodded their way across the grass to the tower that had been built into the back wall and climbed its center spiral staircase. You let Hiromi go first, since she was all excited about running around. Valentine’s Day sure made her energetic.

“Gackt! There you are!” she exclaimed as she came up into the room at the top. “We’ve been searching for you.”

“Have you?” he asked quietly as You’s head came up above the level of the floor, and he saw Gackt sitting on it, leaning back against the wall. He smiled and made his way over to them with the card in his hand. He held it out to the vampire and smiled. “We made this for you.”

Gackt smiled softly and took the card, opening it to read and chuckle. “You two are too sweet. Thank you.” You sat down next to Gackt as Hiromi looked out over the land and voiced her amazement at the sunset on the horizon.

“This reminds me of when we all used to come out here, you, me and Hyde,” she said with a sigh of happiness.

“Who’s Hyde…” You trailed off as he saw the upset look on Gackt’s face.

“He was another lord’s son,” Hiromi was off again. “He came here to study with the tutor Gackt had. After a while, he went back home and I think he’s married now. He was such a nice guy. Gosh, I’m getting hungry! I’m going to go get some dinner. Should I bring some back for you?” she asked the blonde.

“Um, sure” he told her and watched her trot down the stairs. He felt Gackt’s head on his shoulder and sighed quietly. “Come.” He patted his lap and watched the vampire climb onto what You deemed his favorite spot. You pulled the vampire into a hug and held him quietly. He could tell something was wrong, but it wasn’t the same as earlier. They sat there in silence for quite some time, You rubbing the vampire’s back to comfort him.

“Hyde was my first lover.”

His words cut through the silence, shocking the blonde. His first lover… From the way Gackt was acting, he could tell it hadn’t ended well.

“Hyde stayed with us for a while because I had a tutor his parents wanted him to study from. When he arrived, I realized I looked at him differently than anyone else, and he made me feel a way no girl ever had. As we studied and spent time together, I realized I really liked him, more than I should have.” Gackt sighed. “Far more than I should have.”

You sat in silence, listening to the vampire speak. He shouldn’t have been so shocked, since he knew that Gackt had lovers before him, but he didn’t know his first had been a man. Had all his lovers been men? His thoughts silenced when Gackt went on.

“One day, I finally told him how I felt, and he told me he liked me too. We decided to keep it a secret, because I didn’t know how anyone would react. He taught me a lot of things, and I thought I’d fallen in love with him. He was so smart and kind, I never thought he’d do what he did. One morning, Ren came in unexpected and found us together. My parents were with him, and they weren’t too happy about what they found.

“They forced Hyde to leave and informed me that he was betrothed to someone already. I tried to reason with them, but they told me I would have to marry a woman as well, to produce an heir. When they finally left, tired of fighting with me, I went to find Hyde and demand to know why he didn’t tell me. I thought I loved him and he used me,” Gackt’s voice wavered. “I couldn’t believe it.”

“So, that’s what you fought with your parents about,” You mused aloud.

Gackt nodded. “But not just that. They demanded I find a girl to marry, and they wanted to be quick about it so I wouldn’t have it in my head to be with another man again. So if they wanted me to make them happy, I would make them happy by being the most perfect son ever. My anger consumed me from Hyde’s betrayal and my parents forcing me to do something I didn’t want. My anger drove them away and I don’t know if they’ll ever come back…”

“They’ll come back,” You tried to calm him, he could tell Gackt was crying now. He never knew vampires could cry.

“But what will they do if they come back and see I’m with you? They’ll drive you out and demand I marry a woman.” Gackt wiped at his wet cheeks. “I don’t want you to leave.”

“I can’t leave. I’m a prisoner,” the blonde said quietly. He smiled a little when he felt the invisible collar at his neck tighten a little for the first time in months. He gently moved Gackt’s hands away from his face and wiped the vampire’s cheeks himself. “I won’t leave you.” He watched the vampire bite his quivering lower lip. Poor thing didn’t know how lost he looked, but You knew he could feel it. The blonde gathered his lover into his arms and held him, listening to him cry silently. How long had it been since he last cried?

For the first time since he’d gotten there, You really felt sorry for Gackt. He’d always felt that this demon form of punishment had been right for his anger, but now that he’d heard about Hyde, he wasn’t sure what to think. Was Gackt still clinging to his memories of Hyde, or was he angry at this man? How could You even judge someone he never met? Did he really use Gackt or actually care about him? And what could You do? He didn’t want Gackt coming to him because of memories with someone else. He wanted Gackt to like him for him. What if the vampire was only keeping him there to satisfy his need for company? Would he really do that?

You shook his head. Gackt was a good person. He wouldn’t do that. He’d even separated himself from You that very day just to be alone and think. You told himself that Gackt could function without him, even if he did want You to be near him. The blonde glanced down at the man in his lap as he realized his crying had subsided.

“Better?” He kissed Gackt’s head when the vampire nodded. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being honest with me.”

“Ah, well, there’s more,” Gackt said as he sat back and let You wipe his cheeks.

“More?” You ran his hands through the vampire’s dark hair lightly.

“Before my parents left because of my attitude, they tried throwing girls at me. They would invite ladies from all over to spend time here. Most of the time I was rude to them, but sometimes I would even sleep with a few of the prettiest ones to make my parents happy.” He sighed and looked down. “I was never attracted to them though. The ones I did end up sleeping with were very educated, but most of them were just so… dumb.”

“Girls tend to be when they’re told to look pretty and smile,” You replied with a light smile. He found it slightly amusing that the vampire was telling him about the girls he’d been with.

“There was one girl, I forget her name, but she got so angry when I said she was a little plain for my tastes. She told me off and said she would marry a boy in her town that was 5 times as handsome as I was.” Gackt chuckled. “I wonder if she did.”

“Maybe,” You said as he heard footsteps on the spiral staircase. They looked over to see Hiromi’s head pop up.

“I brought some food.” She smiled as they saw her rise up out of the staircase carrying a tray. “Cha told me to bring you this,” she told the vampire and handed him a wine glass with the dark red liquid in it.

“That’s blood, isn’t it?” You asked as Hiromi set the tray beside them and sat on the other side.

Gackt nodded. “Does it bother you?”

“Not as much as it should, I suppose. It’s not from anyone in the castle, is it?” he asked as the vampire retreated from his lap to sit on the floor next to him.

“No, I can’t drink their blood,” Gackt murmured as he took a sip, his eyes turning red briefly.

“Why is that?” You asked as he turned to the tray to find a variety of food. “Wow, you carried two bowls of soup and extras all the way out here?”

“Gackt wasn’t allowed to drink our blood. He had to hunt for it to lower himself to a feral level. That’s what the enchantress said,” Hiromi told him. “Yeah, I carry stuff all over the place! I used to wait on the girls that the Lord and Lady would invite. Boy, did they have crazy demands sometimes.”

“Dumb, I told you,” Gackt mumbled over his glass, his eyes red.

“So does the magic protect you then?” You asked as he leaned over his bowl of soup and took a few bites. “Mmm… Igao is a master,” he murmured before taking another bite.

“It does, but it’s actually Gackt’s power that she took away from him,” she replied as she nibbled on a bun. “He used to be able to do all sorts of things, like heal, and see and speak to ghosts.”

“Really?” You pondered this. “Why couldn’t you heal my leg then?”

“His power is spread over us. We can only really calm people and little things. If we wanted to actually heal someone, a lot of us would have to gather together and it would be very tiring.” She tapped her chin. “I suppose it might work, but it didn’t hurt too bad to be limping for a while, did it?”

“It was painful sometimes,” You grumbled as the other two laughed. “Will he get his power back when the curse is broken?”

“I think so, right?” Hiromi looked to her master who nodded slightly—it seemed like he wasn’t really listening. “It’ll be so hard to give it up though. I rather like being able to glow and see where I’m going during the night.”

“I wish I could have that back,” Gackt grumbled as she giggled. “The hunters will be sad that they can’t use everything on the carcass of an animal anymore. They’re so used to collecting the blood for me.”

“You drink animal blood?” You was surprised by this. Then again, he didn’t have any actual person’s blood, besides his to drink since the castle residents were protected.

“Yours was the only human blood I ever drank.” The vampire smiled, his fangs showing. “It was very delicious.” You blushed as Hiromi poked and teased him. He never expected the vampire to say that.

You tried to hide his red face behind a glass of water. “Stop saying things like that.” He was silenced when Gackt’s finger touched his chin and turned his face to plant a kiss on his lips. There wasn’t even the metallic taste of blood on his lips which surprised the young man. “I’ve never been called delicious before,” he murmured.

“When you drink from a river of kisses, each and every one is delicious,” Hiromi whispered and winked.

“Very true,” Gackt agreed and smiled at the blonde. “Stop blushing.”

“Shut up.” You leaned down to finish his dinner as the other two talked. Despite his embarrassment, he had to privately admit that Gackt’s kisses were delicious as well. He glanced over to see Gackt smiling softly at the Valentine card in his hands. You smiled as he kept on eating. Very delicious.

~***~

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