#I know this is a bad time to drop a fic update because LOOKBACK SCOUT but I wrote it last night so I gotta post it asap

[clockworkspider]

Content warning: non-consensual vampire turning, character death

[AO3 Link (Minor edits made to chapter 1 on that version)]

The blood of an exorcist, one who was raised for generations in the temples, was deadly poison to a vampire. An exorcist could not be turned, not without killing the vampire in the process.

—

Blood gushed from the bullet wound in Keito’s guts.

It was a mistake getting separated from their units. Neither himself nor Eichi were the strongest fighters. Kanzaki or Yuzuru wouldn’t have gotten themselves shot. But they weren’t here right now, and neither was Wataru when you needed his magic.

With heavy heart, Keito had to acknowledge, “I won’t make it.”

He’d made peace with this reality, ever since the day his brother died, ever since they started this bloody war, that exorcists in his family would die young. And yet, he had never imagined he would go before Eichi.

Well, now that Eichi was a vampire, there was no point sending off his soul. He already went ahead and became a demon of his own free will.

Eichi studied him, a cool hand on his neck, and said, expressionless, “you’re right, you won’t.”

“Kiryuu has my will. Tell him…” He paused a bit, and then decided he didn’t want to make Eichi deliver messages for him. It’s all written alongside the will, anyway. “Nevermind. Eichi. I’m sorry that I can’t fulfill my promises to you.”

Come to think of it, he didn’t manage to fulfill a single one. Not the funeral nor the cure. As far as friends go, he was a failure.

He’d like to think he was a better partner to Kiryuu and Kanzaki.

For his part, Eichi was oddly silent. With clumsy gentleness, he arranged Keito in what was probably a more comfortable position. There was an odd gleam in his eyes as he seemed to muttered to himself. Keito managed to catch the words “I have to,” and “no other choice,” and even within his dread of impending doom, Keito felt an additional pang of alarm.

“Are you comfortable?” Suddenly breaking out of whatever reveries he was in, Eichi asked.

“What are you going to do?” As his consciousness started to fade, Keito could not place what exactly was off as Eichi brushed his hand across his face, feather light.

Seeming to have come to a decision, Eichi leaned down slowly, and placed a kiss on Keito’s forehead. “Something horrible, something you never did for me.” And bit down on Keito’s neck.

“No…” If Keito could have fought off Eichi when he was fully conscious, he certainly couldn’t do it now. Never in his life would Keito have expected Eichi to give up his life for Keito’s, and perhaps Eichi didn’t either. “You can’t, you’ll die.”

The blood of an exorcist, one who was raised for generations in the temples, was deadly poison to a vampire. An exorcist could not be turned, not without killing the vampire in the process.

Tenshouin Eichi, when faced with the prospect of losing the other half of his soul, came to an unexpected decision.

“Stop it!” Keito was frantic now, struggling weakly with all that’s left of his strength, but his limbs grew heavier with each breath. “I won’t be the reason you die! I won’t allow it!”

“Shut up!” Eichi said, pulling away from Keito’s neck to respond. “Stop lecturing me for once in your life! You don’t get to dictate how I live or die! I do!"

Trembling, with savage desperation, he tore into his own wrist, before pressing his lips to Keito’s.

As his heart slowed and the world faded against his pleas, all Keito could taste was iron on his tongue. When he returned to consciousness, Eichi laid on top of him, weak, dying.

“No…” As if he were a broken record, Keito couldn’t make himself form any other words even as his consciousness returned. All he could repeat was “no, no, no, no, no.”

Above him, Eichi bursted into a brilliant smile, “it worked…” He said, eyes shining, almost ecstatic as he laid, weak, dying. “Keito… It worked! My life, it’s my own.”

With that, the light in those eyes dimmed and faded. Tenshouin Eichi crumpled into dust, his remains covering Keito from head to toe.

—

“When we first met, I thought you were my very own shinigami.”

—

Later, when Kiryuu found him, exhausted from screaming, clinging onto what was left of Eichi’s clothes, Keito could still taste Eichi’s ashes in his mouth.

—

Notes:

So I know this is excessively horrible, and I didn't actually plan for things to go this way when I wrote the last bit. I genuinely only thought of it afterwards. BUT! Consider! It is a good parallels Eichi's whole issue with Keito in this AU for hiding vampirism from him, even tho Eichi wanted to live. In both cases, when faced with the prospect of losing the other, each of them asserted their own moral/will over the dying person's agency! "Do onto others as you would have others do unto you," and all. A big shout out to @dontsteponthatfish and cheshire for being my sounding board as I wrote. It helped tremendously.

Daybreak [Keichi, Vampire AU]

Written for the AU Roulette challenge. I got Vampire AU.

—

In the year 2000, an Old One known as Godfather walked into the sun. On the same day, hundreds of vampires across the world, mostly in Japan, bursted into flames and burned to dust, causing the Great Millenium Fire. 

The ensuing chaos resulting from the power vacuum lead to the War on Supernaturals. Exorcists and hunters across Japan banded under the banner of Japanese Hunter’s Association, lead by Tenshouin Eichi, head of the Tenshouin Zaibatsu. 

—

“How long has it been since you’re no longer human?” Keito asked, as soon as the footsteps of the others have faded. He’s been glaring a hole through Eichi this entire meeting. 

“What are you talking about, Keito?” Eichi said, feigning innocence. 

“This isn’t the time for games, Eichi,” Keito snapped, "How long?” 

Eichi sighed. “I suppose I can’t hide it forever. What gave me away?” 

“As soon as your health miraculously improved you’ve been sending me on a merry goose chase all over the country, you no longer appear during the day, turns down dinner, smiles with your mouth closed, and removed all the mirrors in the office. Honestly, do you expect to just avoid me forever? How hopeless.” 

“Hehe, well, maybe just as long as I could,” Eichi laughed. “Did you enjoy Okinawa? I heard the weather’s lovely. You need a break once in a while, anyway.” 

“You told me someone has spotted the Godfather! And stop changing the topic. When did you turn? Who did this to you?” Slamming his palms on the table, Keito’s voice rose with just a hint of distress. Startled, Eichi realized that his old friend’s anger wasn’t entirely directed towards him. 

“Why don’t you ask the head of the Sakuma Family, aren’t the two of you old friends? They say he knows everything.” 

This gave him pause. “Did he say that to you? What does he have to do with this?” Confusion sank into Keito’s face. “Did he turn you? No… he wouldn’t...” 

“Last month.” Eichi interrupted. “You were dealing with the Yaobikunis.” 

There it was, a flash of guilt. Just what did Keito think happened? 

“I didn’t know how to tell you. Sorry,” Eichi mumbled, feigning hurt. 

“How did it happen?” Keito’s voice gentled. 

“I-it was a dark and stormy night, and I was walking in this dark alley,” Eichi’s voice trembled. “And then suddenly… I was cornered against the wall—“ 

“Eichi!” Keito slammed his hand against the poor desk again, and hissed as he only managed to hurt his own wrist. 

Eichi bursted out laughing. “What? did you think I was a poor victim, who didn’t have a choice in becoming a monster? Oh, you should have seen your face. Maybe I should have let you keep believing in that. Your poor, helpless, sickly childhood friend.” 

Hurt and humiliation bloomed on Keito’s face, he covered it with a scoff. “No, I suppose you wouldn’t have avoided me if it wasn’t your choice. So, this is what you wanted? Immortality through devouring others? Becoming the monsters you kill? What happened to looking for a cure?” 

“And if I say yes, would you exorcise me on the spot? But Keito don’t hate all vampires, right? Since apparently you were pretty chummy with Sakuma Rei. You never told me you had a friend in such high places.” 

“That was a long time ago. We were kids. I thought that if I could befriend and understand him, we’d be able to change the way things were done. Peace with the vampire clans and all that. I was wrong, of course.” 

“Oooh, you never told me any of this. What happened?” 

“We grew up, and found out we were not the first of our families to have such notion, that’s all. Anyway, this isn’t about us. How did you convince Sakuma-san to turn you?” 

“I never said he was the one who turned me.” 

“Then why did you bring him up?” 

“I just wanted to confirm something, that’s all.” Eichi said, voice cold. “As for the cure, I’m tired of all the false leads and dead ends. The flesh of a sea god, the company of a fae, only to delay the inevitable for another day, another month, another year all the while my body fade away when the answer has been staring me in the face all this time! You think if there’s another cure to mortality, humans wouldn’t have discovered it by now?” 

Taken aback by the sudden outburst, Keito simply stared for a moment, before closing his eyes. 

“I’ve been trying, but it looks like I haven’t been fast enough.” He paused, taking a deep breath. “I do not hate vampires, because vampirism is a disease, and every vampir is a vector. I’ve seen it turn people into empty, hollow shells of who they use to be. You’ve simply traded one illness for another. 

“Sakuma Rei may be a kind hearted person, but he cannot help being a monster, because his blood necessitate him to take from other sentient beings, the way humans take from livestock. That’s all there is to it, at the end of the day. I never wanted to see you become like him.” 

Eichi laughed, humorless. “My family has been sucking on the sweat and blood of humans for generations, but you only have a problem with it now that I’m doing it literally.” 

“I’m an exorcist, not a revolutionary, your family history is none of my concern. You, however…” He paused. The words ‘I wanted to save you’ clung to the back of his throat, useless. 

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Keito.” Eichi’s countenance softens. He puts a hand on his heart as he closed the distance between them. “I feel more alive than I’ve ever been before in this crumbling, broken body, and I haven’t killed a single human for it yet.” 

Keito held still as his childhood friend wrapped his arm around him, felt the unfamiliar coldness as Eichi leaned in, so close he could feel the graze of teeth—

“Don’t!” He shoved Eichi away. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he recognized that a thrall this strong could only belong to the Sakuma clan. “You’ll poison yourself. I’m an exorcist, remember?” 

It was concern in Keito’s eyes, not wariness. “So Keito does love me…” Eichi muttered, “You were more worried about my life than your own.” 

“What are you talking about?” 

“It was the younger Sakuma who turned me,” Eichi said, “he’s been our informant for sometime now. You knew Ritsu-kun as well, didn’t you? 

“You know, it’s funny, he noticed that I was sick, and told me it’d be lonely if I were to be gone. When I asked him why he’d make such an offer, he simply said, ‘Ecchan is my friend, and I don’t want him to die.’

“And I remembered all those times you’ve held my hand as I woke up in the hospital, since we were children. All those time, you’ve known there was a solution, and you’ve never uttered a word to me… All this time, I thought it's because they’re Keito’s enemies, that you despise them so much you’d never even consider the possibility. But you don’t. So why… I don’t understand, Keito. How could you just watch me die, over and over, and do nothing?” 

Keito stared back at him in silence, before finally, he spoke. “Sometimes I wonder about the same thing. Everytime you have to go to the hospital, I think, I could have prevented this. Every time your body failed, I thought to myself, ‘if he dies, it’s because you didn’t save him. You held the life rope in your hands, and didn’t toss it.’

“But whenever I considered it, I knew it wasn’t right. There’s a darkness in you that I could never exorcise. I didn’t want to see you become a vampire no matter what. Something about that thought terrified me.” 

“So it is me, then,” Eichi said, calmer, resigned. “Keito is always like that, after all. If I start draining people dry, you’d be willing to exorcise me, right?” 

Keito didn’t answer. “Sakuma Rei have been looking for a cure to vampirism. You know that, right?” He placed a hand on Eichi’s head, just like when they were children. Eichi let him. “Don’t kill anyone until then.” 

And what would be left of me, once I’m cured? Eichi didn’t ask. A weak and dying body? Instead, he said this. 

“When we first met, I thought you were my very own shinigami.” 

–

I have another scene in mind in the same AU for ibanagi in which I'd expand more on the Godfather lore. It's completely unrelated to this scene besides the fact that it takes place in the same universe.

Incidentally, also unrelated to this scene:

Knights and Trickstar are still idols in this AU

UNDEAD is a rock band.

Eichi's a big fan of Trickstar in particular.

Leo and Ritsu are the only non-humans in Knights.

Kaoru is the only human in UNDEAD.

Trickstar are fully human tho.